I really don’t know where the last week before Christmas has
gone to. I don’t seem to have achieved much in spite of ‘to do’ lists and
agendas. On Monday I was up early and in
the new Primark by 8 o’ clock. It was
delightfully quiet and I was able to pick up a few bits. Nothing major, just some cheap leggings and casual
tops, definitely clothes that are not meant to endure. I then went on to the gym, shopped in Asda,
drove to the flat to unpack and was round to Sue’s by 11.00am. I only went for a cup of tea but ended up
having lunch with her. I hadn’t seen Sue for the whole of the weekend and had withdrawal
symptoms; we definitely needed a de brief for sure. Phil went to the pub for
lunch and a couple of pints with Dan & Tom as this was Phil’s last
opportunity to see Dan before he starts a new life in Australia. In the afternoon
I spent 3 horrible hours shopping at the city centre. I hate this time of year and it reminds why
we try and disappear for Christmas whenever we can.
Joe the carpenter promised that he would start on Tuesday
but the wood delivery didn’t turn up so he said that it he would be round on
Wednesday. My Tuesday was much the same
as Monday, gym followed by lunch and another 3 hours in the centre. It was so busy and I was knackered by the end
of it but I did at least manage to finish my Christmas shopping and I also
managed to find myself a party dress. I
went in all the shops but eventually found a frock in Jane Norman. I was adamant that I would wear something
other than black this year, I tried very hard, I really did, but I ended up
with yet another black dress. I think a
girl can’t have too many LBD’s but this one is slightly different to all my
other black dresses in that it’s an off the shoulder job and is sprinkled with glitter. Sounds naff I know, but it does look better
on than off. It will do.
I was up very early on Wednesday morning, I checked my phone
and picked up a voice message from Joe the carpenter saying that the lorry that
the wood was on, had broken down so he wouldn’t be able to start work until
Thursday. I had a feeling that the new
staircase would be a problem and my instinct was proving to be right. I decided to go to the gym, but before
setting off, I woke up Phil because he needed to be up and about. Georgina was coming home from university for
Christmas and he was picking her up from CMK station and taking her to see her
grandparents. Georgina is spending
Christmas in Rome so this was her only opportunity to see grandma and granddad
before Christmas.
With Phil out for the day, after the gym, I came straight
home as I had lots of things to do that I can’t do when Phil is around. It was lovely having the whole flat all to
myself. I was able to move the sofas and
clean the wooden floor, in fact, I ended up moving and cleaning behind all of
the furniture in the lounge. It amazes
me how just how much dust we get in this little flat and because everything is
white it really shows. My time home
alone gave me the opportunity to clear out my drawers, catch up with washing,
clear out my make-up bag and I also gave the bathroom a good going over. I just about had time to make a big pot of
chilli before cleaning my teeth and going to see Tina, my hygienist at the Two
Mile Ash Dental Practice.
I never relish the thought of a session with Tina, she’s a
nice enough girl but she is fairly brutal with me; even she admits, that she
takes my pain threshold to the limit.
And my appointment on Wednesday afternoon was no exception. It had to be done though. Tina says that the pockets in-between my
teeth are full of blood and could prove fatal if not dealt with. I was quite
brave on Wednesday and so Tina was able to do some deep cleaning, however she is
going to keep an eye on my pockets and if they don’t improve she will need to
do some work under local anaesthetic.
Apparently flossing helps so I brought myself a pack and will try and
remember to do this every day.
Phil met up with the Wednesday night boys at The Ship in the
evening. Jim wasn’t able to go as he was
driving Dan to the airport. We do wish Dan
well in this new, exciting chapter in his life and I bet the lovely Kylie will
be thrilled to see him. I think in the
New Year, it will seem very strange for Jim & Shirley when Tom goes to
Korea, still, I guess there is always Skype, Facebook and they can of course
always jump on a plane. Harriet and I don’t
see each other every day but I don’t know how I’d feel if she decided to move
to the other side of the world.
Sue & I met up with Jan at Carluccios in the city centre
on Wednesday evening. Sue & I couldn’t
decide between Loch Fynn in the Hub and Carluccios in the centre so we let Jan
decide. Jan choose the latter and
actually it turned out to be the right decision. I have only been to Loch Fynn once but I
remembered it to be a little cold and very much lacking in atmosphere. Carluccios was packed and buzzing; it was
just a little unfortunate that our very charming waiter, forgot to put our
order into the chef. I thought we’d
waited a long time for our food and it was only when he came to apologise
offering us a complimentary bread starter to share, that I realised why the
wait. The breads were nice but too
filling and I can’t say I really wanted my spaghetti carbonara when it finally
arrived. Still the girlie chat was great
and it was an evening which made me realise how lucky I am to have such nice
friends.
Thursday turned out to be a weird day. I’d woken early (quarter past four) and got
up for tea and a bit of telly. I went
back to bed and the next thing I knew, it was 8am. I was disturbed by the carpenter and his 2
helpers who had turned up early to do the steps. I knew the forecast was rain and hadn’t really
expected them to turn up at all. I
quickly got dressed, put in my tooth and made them all tea. I didn’t feel like the gym but I kind of
decided, it would be best to get out of the way. I arrived back at midday only to find the
gang in the midst of taking out the mid step.
It was a crucial point and I had to wait until they had banged out the
metal step before they could provide me with a ladder to get up to my front
door. This wasn’t easy and not helped
that it was pissing it down with rain.
After lunch Phil decided to go to Staples, the middle step
wasn’t back in situ so he had to jump down but at least he managed to get
out. No sooner had he left when Steve
phoned to say that he would be round in half an hour. Unfortunately he arrived just as the team
were securing the middle step back in place, so he too had to wait in the
pouring rain before getting up the ladder.
He got up with with a slight wobble or two, and once inside, I made him
coffee and sausage rolls. It was really nice
to see him. Things seem to be going good
for all the Pemberton family and I am pleased for them. Phil got back a short while later so he was
able to catch up with Steve which was good.
Steve said that Mads is off work until the New Year so hopefully we
shall be able to catch up with them in-between Christmas and the New Year.
I do have to say that Joe the carpenter and his work mates,
worked tirelessly all day in the rain yesterday, virtually nonstop. They finally downed tools at half past four
and things hadn’t gone as well as they’d hoped.
I kind of thought that the steps would be tricky and would take longer
than anticipated and so far, I have been proved right. The steps team are coming back again today and
we have been told that we won’t have access from 8.30am until half one today at
the earliest. I have decided that we
shall take ourselves off to do a food shop.
It’s about time Phil made some input into Christmas 2012 because so far he
had done diddly squat. I have been
hammering my credit card of late to the limit and I think it’s high time that
Phil got his out. It's Christmas and we need to indulge. Sod the diet.
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