Weeknote 39+40/2025: I would have gotten away with it too
Murder mysteries, mini-breaks, and making up for lost time
Hello! (Yes, I’m still here)
No, you haven’t had a mini stroke. It really has been four weeks since my last weeknote.
In the first two of those four weeks, I’ve had a lovely long weekend getaway, weathered some converging work deadlines, attended a wonderful Esports conference in Edinburgh, celebrated my eldest turning 21, and been accused of murder. Don’t believe me? Lay on, Macduff!
A Much-Needed Break
The long weekend in Glasgow arrived just in time. We were all exhausted from adjusting to new expectations, and the mental fatigue this generates is real, let me tell you! My partner and I drove down for a few days at the Village Hotel. The room was excellent, and the pool and spa were exactly what we needed to revive our energy.
The main aim of our trip was to catch up with our daughter and her boyfriend amidst some retail therapy. We heard all about their start to the latest university session and exciting news about an upcoming house move. On the Sunday, after a long drive home, my partner and I watched Frank Turner at the Lemon Tree. I’ve long been a fan of his songs and thought I was overdue seeing him live.
Despite it being a Sunday evening, the venue was packed full. While I really enjoyed his set, something felt off: strange sound mixing really subdued the guitar and vocals at points. My partner, who hadn’t heard many of his songs before, felt the performance was a bit samey. I think Frank and his band The Sleeping Souls would be brilliant to see at a festival or open-air venue, but the intimate Lemon Tree wasn’t quite the right fit for their sound on this occasion. That said, I fully admire his passion for keeping small venues alive across the country and, after reading this article, understand why he chose the Lemon Tree over a larger venue in Aberdeen.
Back to Reality
The return to work brought frantically approaching deadlines. It was the perfect time for my body to decide to add a complication: my operation wound needed additional care. Thankfully, a really supportive doctor helped sort things out (as we compared depressingly similar education-related horror stories about local state school senior management - not the first parent I’ve had this conversation with either). Since then, things have been healing well with a change of treatment. I have to remind myself that, without the operation, life would have been pretty awful indeed.
Esports and Education
Later that week, I was able to travel to Edinburgh for the Phase25 Esports conference at Murrayfield Stadium. Hosted by Nik Turner, speakers at the event included Shoubna Naika-Taylor, Euan Jardine, Alex Hirbe, Bubba Gaeddert, Brian Baglow, and Gavin Ferry.
I also got talking to Michelle Brodie from Brechin High School about how her local authority in Angus has embraced the NPA in Esports to enhance options for students across the region. I caught up with former colleagues from NESCol too, and we’re planning more local linkups between our organisations this year. It’s exciting to see the Esports education community growing in Scotland! Once the Esports suite has been constructed at my school, I’m looking forward to chatting at length with James Hood from eRena Sports to map out a strong opening!
The Murder Mystery Highlight
The absolute highlight of the fortnight was my daughter’s 21st birthday celebration. I know!! We aren’t old enough to have a daughter who is 21! That said, it’s true. She, her boyfriend, and their dog came up to Stonehaven, and we gathered family and friends for an Italian-themed murder mystery party.
Everyone threw themselves into their characters with gusto. My mum was particularly brilliant - she’d written out and practised choice Italian phrases to drop into her character’s dialogue at just the right moments. The atmosphere was electric as we worked through the clues, accusations and interruptions flying across the room with increasing theatricality.
At the end, I was unanimously accused of murder, despite my impassioned pleas to the contrary. They were right, of course. I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for my meddling kids!
It was exactly the kind of celebration my daughter deserved - full of laughter and just the right amount of chaos. It happily rounded off two weeks, one murder accusation, and several lessons learned about not letting life pile up before writing about it. Until next time - and I promise it won’t be another month.
Take care and thanks for reading! xx