Back to the day job.

Tomorrow I return to work, well, the day job, after taking the whole of August (and a few odd days of September) off.

What did I do?

I grew a beard. And shaved it off.

I went to St Petersburg and communed with the spirit of Dostoevsky.

I went to Norfolk and ate fish and chips and did other English seasidey stuff with the (extended) family.

I went to Edinburgh to sample the fringe.

I wasted a lot of time on the internet. I have a myspace addiction now.

Oh, and I did some writing. Not enough. But some.

So the endless summer has finally, and all too quickly, ended. This last day I spent with the kids. (They're back at school on Wednesday, or rather Claire is. The infants' school rang this morning and coolly announced the building work isn't finished so can we keep Luke at home for another day!) We baked cookies in the morning, went for a stroll around Crouch End, then Claire and Luke did some more baking in the afternoon, me banished from the kitchen because they wanted to make a treat for Rachel and me.

I got to clean up after them.

But it was a great day. They hardly watched TV at all and I don't think they fell out once. I even managed to do some reading. (Nearing the end of To The Hermitage.)

And now it's back to work, and Highgate Tube Station in the morning. I can't help thinking I should have kept the beard.