Monday, A Film Premiere, Spider-Man and Lemon Chicken

Monday actually started on a high, my daughter had her first film premiere at the Everyman Cinema in Broadgate.

I drove into the City and, amazingly, we got there in good time. We even managed to find a parking space just a short walk away. So far, so good.

We walked through one of the City buildings and came out into the square, where we then proceeded to ask several different people where the cinema was. Nobody seemed quite sure. Eventually, a City worker pointed across and told us it was opposite us.

And there it was.

Tucked underneath another building, surrounded by scaffolding. Of course it was.

When we finally arrived, we were asked, “Are you here to see Spider-Man?”

“No, we’re here for the premiere.”

I have to admit, that felt rather nice to say.

We met up with the cast and the other parents and headed into the cinema, which was lovely. The film itself was only around 15 minutes long, but that really didn’t matter. The best bit for me was sitting there at the end and seeing my daughter’s name come up in the credits.

Her first film premiere and her name on the big screen. A very proud mum moment.

Afterwards, we headed back towards home and ended up at TukTuk in Golders Green for dinner. They do the most amazing lemon chicken and stir-fried vegetables, and it was the perfect way to finish the evening.

From wandering around Broadgate trying to find a cinema hidden underneath scaffolding, to watching my daughter’s name roll across the credits, and finally ending the night with a plate of lemon chicken.

Not a bad Monday at all.

Wednesday morning I woke up at 6am to a sound we haven’t heard much of lately.

Rain.

Yes, actual rain! And to be fair, we desperately needed it after all the hot weather.

The only problem is that rain sounds very different outside our house now. Recently, my neighbours cut back the ivy from our wall, and before that, the rain would just gently slide down it and I wouldn’t hear a thing.

Not anymore.

Now huge droplets come slapping down into my front garden.

Splat. Splat. Splat.

So there I was at 6am, listening to the rain making its grand return.

Unfortunately, the rain wasn’t the only thing making its presence known that morning. My back tooth was absolutely throbbing. It had been hurting for a few days, but by Wednesday it felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, and I decided I couldn’t leave it any longer.

I managed to get an emergency dentist appointment and had an X-ray. Thankfully, everything looked okay, although the tooth has a CEREC crown on top of it and the tooth underneath wasn’t particularly great in the first place.

It was still really painful, so I practically begged for antibiotics. I’ve now started taking them and have been told to rinse with salt water four times a day.

So Wednesday began with the long-awaited rain and quickly progressed to an emergency dentist appointment.

Never a dull moment around here.

The gardener came, which was definitely needed. He cut down what I can only describe as a mixture of weeds and straw — because after months of hot weather, I’m not sure you could technically call it grass anymore. He also tidied up all the overhanging trees and plants, and suddenly the garden looked like somebody actually lived here again.

Then I realised something.

I hadn’t had the gardener since 1st July!

So, technically, this three-month heatwave has actually saved me money. Hardly anything has been growing apart from the weeds, everything else has slowly turned to straw, and there hasn’t been much for the gardener to do.

Maybe there is an upside to a heatwave after all.

A Family Dinner That Took a Turn

Unfortunately, Friday night gave us another one of those moments where everything is perfectly normal one minute and completely different the next.

We were at my parents’ house having a lovely family dinner when, right in the middle of eating, my dad suddenly blacked out.

One minute he was sitting there eating, the next we were wondering what on earth was happening.

Was he too hot? Was he unwell? Had something caused his blood pressure to drop? We had no idea, and at that moment you don’t really have time to sit and work it out.

My son and I managed to lower him safely onto the floor and we called the paramedics.

Thankfully, they came and checked him over and he was okay, which was an enormous relief. They suggested he go to hospital to be properly checked, and all of us agreed that he should.

My dad, however, had other ideas.

No.

He absolutely did not want to go.

And this is where I’m slightly torn. Half of me completely disagreed with him. If you suddenly black out for no obvious reason, surely it makes sense to go to hospital and find out why.

But the other half of me understood exactly why he didn’t want to go.

Unfortunately, I probably know the reality of A&E better than anyone else in my family. I’ve spent more nights than I care to remember sitting in hospitals, and the thought of spending Friday night on an A&E corridor, potentially waiting for hours and hours, is enough to make anyone think twice.

That doesn’t mean I thought he was right to refuse. I would have much preferred him to be checked properly.

But I understood.

Thankfully, Dad was okay, and what started as a lovely Friday night family dinner certainly gave us all a fright.

I think our family could really do with a few boring days now.

Saturday was pretty much spent adding everything that didn’t sell at the car boot onto eBay.

And guess what?

I’ve already sold one washing line.

Yes, ONE washing line.

Clearly this called for a celebration. LOL.

At this rate, I’ll have recovered the cost of the car boot sometime around 2032.

It rained pretty much all day on Saturday, and although we desperately needed it, my poor garden still resembles a mixture of half straw and half mud. However, I can actually see little patches of green beginning to reappear, so maybe there is hope for the grass yet.

The downside to all this rain is the washing.

I haven’t been able to put any outside and I can already feel it piling up. The irony of selling a washing line while being unable to use my own is not lost on me.

Do I miss the heatwave?

No.

Do I miss 25 degrees?

Absolutely.

I’ve already found myself reaching for my zipped sweatshirt, and once the zipped sweatshirt comes out, we all know what that means.

Autumn is on its way.

Saturday was also a busy day for Looking4care. We were helping another family arrange a carer for their loved one. First they wanted the care, then they decided they didn’t want it, and then at 9pm on Saturday night they decided that, actually, they did want it after all.

And that really is what Looking4care is about.

Families don’t always know exactly what they need straight away. Situations change, people change their minds and sometimes you suddenly realise at 9pm on a Saturday night that yes, you really do need some help.

So we helped them find a carer.

After all of that, Saturday night definitely called for fish and chips.

We decided to try somewhere different because the fish from our usual place had become so thin that lately we seemed to be paying mainly for batter with a small piece of fish hiding somewhere inside it.

This time we got a delivery from somewhere we already knew was good.

And it was delicious.

Proper thick fish. Exactly what you want with fish and chips on a Saturday night.

There was just one slight problem.

We hadn’t ordered enough chips.

By the end we were practically scraping the bowl trying to find the last few.

And Finally... Goodbye Substack

I also started sharing my blogs on Substack recently, thinking it might be another place for people to find Honestly, Though.

But by Sunday morning, I’d deleted my account.

I quickly realised that I was getting random people liking my posts, not necessarily because they had read or enjoyed what I’d written, but because they wanted me to follow them back.

And that’s not what my blog is about.

I’m not writing Honestly, Though for likes, followers or numbers.

I write it because these are my crazy weeks. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re stressful, sometimes they’re completely ridiculous and sometimes they’re really tough.

If people want to read about them, then brilliant. If something I write makes somebody laugh because they’ve had a week just as mad as mine, even better.

But there’s another reason I keep writing.

I want people who are going through difficult times, illness, caring for someone, endless hospital visits or just one of those periods where life seems to throw everything at you at once, to know that they’re not alone.

And if somebody reads my blog and thinks, “That sounds like what I’m going through,” they can contact me and tell me about it.

Because I think it’s fair to say, I’ve been through quite a lot!

So, goodbye Substack. It wasn't for me.

Honestly, Though isn't going anywhere.

You can still find Honestly, Though on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

I’ll keep writing about the good days, the bad days, the ridiculous days and everything in between.

Because life certainly keeps giving me plenty of material.