Day 642

Day 642...

Well, we have a Monday and the penultimate day at work for this year...although ordinarily I don't work Mondays! But today I was only in for a couple of hours to help out another colleague.

But it did mean that I could get ahead of some last minute admin bits and bobs, including the very important task of setting up the payment of wages!

By around 11.15am I was home and it was time to figure out the rest of our day. Both Simon and Ethan have already finished work for the holidays and Simon had spent a couple of hours this morning working on his personal website. But we had other ideas for this afternoon...

Onto the internet I jumped and I was able to secure two tickets to go see Spiderman No Way Home at a local cinema at 12.25pm! The cinema on a weekday and at a lunchtime, something that only ever seems to happen around Christmas. We grabbed a coffee and a quick bite to eat before heading off to a great little cinema on the outskirts of Nottingham. The Savoy has been in place since 1935 and is in fact the only surviving pre-Second World War cinema in Nottingham!

So how was the movie I hear you ask? Absolutely fantastic; I laughed, I held my breath, I cried and then I cried at least twice more. It was what a superhero movie should be all about, a chance to switch off your brain and marvel (see what I did there?!) at the action taking place in front of you. It was filled with story and characters and emotion as well as all the special effects and action shots. And all the cast were brilliant and I have a new appreciation for Tom Holland...all I will say is there is a topless scene...and then I had to remind myself I am old enough to be his mum!!! But seriously go and see it, support your local cinema, and lose yourself in another world - something I think we all need a little of at the moment.

On the way home we stopped off at a local supermarket to pick up a few bits and pieces ahead of a bigger shop later in the week as we get ready for Christmas and indulge in the tradition of buying way more than we actually need!

Back at home and we decided to grab a coffee and sit and watch a few You Tube pieces all about the Spiderman movie. We have a little habit of watching a channel called Screen Crush with Ryan Arey who does some amazing dives into all the easter eggs and references for a lot of the movies and TV shows that we watch. It's always great fun to see if we have spotted anywhere near the amount that he can find.

And that was Monday, I think I may have a little time to put a few jigsaw pieces in place and then it will be time to chill, drink some wine and have a little extra dark chocolate ahead of my last day in work for the year tomorrow.

See you all then.
xx

Day 641

Day 641...

Well after a rubbish nights sleep (thanks night sweats!) it was a slow start to this Sunday morning.

Late morning we took one of our elderly neighbours out for a coffee. She has been very intrigued with the prospect of us having an electric car and so we had promised to take her out for a drive and a coffee once we had it.

I think she was suitably impressed and after we had enjoyed a coffee and cake we headed back home. We invited her in for more coffee and chat and to show off our Christmas decorations. 

Our neighbour very sadly lost her husband to dementia last Christmas and as her children all live abroad she has had to cope with it all on her own. She was hoping that one of her sons and his family would be spending Christmas here with her this year but the current 'pandemic' situation has put paid to that. This is the unseen, and not talked about enough, side of the restrictions that are being forced upon us; an elderly lady cannot see her family at Christmas, never mind the first anniversary of the death of her husband who she had been with since the age of 16 (she is now 84). The heartlessness that is going on is beyond belief.

But back to my day...and a very quiet rest of the day split between jigsaw time and a few mundane jobs.

Nothing much more to say for today. Time to cook dinner and then stop and disconnect for a few hours; today feels like one of those days that as rumours abound with what will be happening, and when, I need to step away from social medias and shut the world out...if for just a little while.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 640

Day 640...

And we have arrived at the weekend...the weekend before Christmas!

My day started with a little podcast recording for this week's episode of the Disney Dream Girls. It's been a couple of weeks since Michelle and I have been able to record due to 'life' getting in the way so it was lovely to have a chat about all things Disney.

While I recorded Simon was able to nip out to the post office as we had a parcel and some Christmas cards that needed posting. We then had a few jobs around the house to get done; there were multiple loads of laundry to sort, paperwork to file and Molly's phone contract to update.

We then needed to assess the current Christmas present situation and decide whether what we had already bought was sufficient. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised at what we had, although we did jump online and bought a few more bits this afternoon but I'm pretty happy that we have everyone covered.

Although, I've not really had chance to assess what I have bought for Simon so far, but I think I've done pretty well, but we will see!

I then did a little more online shopping but this time of the grocery variety; I have a collection booked for Wednesday but wanted to update it all today so that on Tuesday I won't have to worry too much about it...hopefully! I am busy co-ordinating what's happening this coming week to make sure we have everything we need for Christmas next weekend.

And by late afternoon it was time to stop and indulge in a little jigsaw time. My current jigsaw is proving to be a little tricky and is taking a bit longer than I would like but at least it gives me something to distract myself from all that's happening in the big bad world.

It is easy to become depressed and lose faith in the world at the moment; rumours of more lockdowns that could be happening, hearing of hospitality businesses that are beset with cancellations, a general feeling of malaise over the current restrictions and the worry that the majority will just simply 'go along' with whatever is asked of them whether it makes any sense or not is all a bit too much some days. But we carry on and try to make the best of what we have because what else can we do?

See you on the morrow.
xx

Day 639

Day 639...

We have reached the end of the working week for me and it was my usual full day in work for a Friday.

I had lots of work to be done as we near the end of this term; invoices to create and then email out, registers to bind, funding details to confirm, funding codes to check and new starter packs to start along with the usual banking and emails!

Back home and with a much needed coffee to warm me up my next job was to sort out the butchers delivery that had arrived. A couple of joints of meat for over the Christmas break along with our usual sausage, bacon, chicken and mince.

While I was sorting all that out Simon headed down the gym. He'd finished work earlier than normal, and as his team had reached their goal they have now finished until the new year. Ethan has also finished today until the new year but I still have a couple of days to work next week.

I managed to get an update on my dad's car situation and it's looking highly unlikely that the problem will be resolved before Christmas, so my dad is going to be without transport for at least a couple of weeks.

And I think that is pretty much it for today...see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 638

Day 638...

A Thursday once more and as I have worked a few extra hours already this week I was able to take the morning off work in lieu of those hours, which gave me a full day at home.

With a relaxed start to the day I started to potter about the house determined to get a few bits and pieces done. I'd got laundry that needed doing and so over the course of the morning I managed to get three loads completed. I then wanted to write a few Christmas cards and sort a parcel for posting and this is where things didn't go quite to plan...

I fetched the address book out of a cupboard ready for card writing and found an old notebook that I'd never used and so decided to throw it out...I then looked in the cupboard a little further and noticed a few other bits and bobs. This then resulted in that cupboard getting a good clearout, and clean, which had a knock on effect onto three other cupboards!

By the end of the morning I'd cleaned and re-organised four kitchen cupboards and had at least two black bin bags full of rubbish! Oops!

As lunchtime rolled around Simon and I decided to go out for one of our lunchtime walks; the first time since late November that we'd been home together on a weekday and the weather was suitable for walking out.

But when we were about three quarters of the way through our walk Simon's phone rang and it was my dad; his car had broken down and he needed our help! Once back home I left Simon at home and jumped in my car to see what I could do to help my dad.

Thankfully he had broken down just a few hundred yards from his house. His car had simply lost all power and the onboard systems were saying that the car had a 'low battery'. Now his car is a very snazzy, high end model and is only just over a year old so there is no way that the battery should be failing. I got on the phone to the recovery company and thankfully they were able to get to us in under an hour.

It turned out that my dad had had a similar problem yesterday while at home and he had phoned the same recovery company who had told him that his cover didn't cover any problems at home. But today when I spoke with the same company they told me that was wrong and that he actually does have the correct level of cover for issues happening at home!!

It transpired that there is a potential problem with the fuel sensor which is causing his car to shut down which meant that it needed transporting to the garage for repair. This in turn meant waiting for the tow truck to arrive. Thankfully, the recovery company really looked after us and recognising that my dad lived just a few doors away arranged for the tow truck to call at my dad's house to collect the car keys before towing the car which saved me and my dad from sitting waiting in a cold car.

This then meant I spent the rest of the afternoon at my dad's house waiting for the tow truck company to arrive.We had been told they would be with us by 4.50pm, and then we had a phone call to say it would be by 5.30pm! 

I took the time at my dad's to have a look through some of his Christmas decorations; in previous years he had always decorated the house but the last few years he hadn't bothered. It was always my mum, when she was alive, that was the driving force behind Christmas and she had always decorated the house extensively and it was a rare year when she didn't buy new decorations. It is through my mum that I have a love for all things Christmas and it is this time of year that I feel her presence and miss her a little more.

I managed to find a few boxes and discovered some of her Disney decorations which I have now brought home to add to my own collection;

Wind chime Mickey

There is a missing figure, which we think is probably a Mickey!

I already have these as both mum and I bought them at the same time on a trip to Disneyland Paris

Love that this has the price tag still on...$12!! Wow!

Dad has a number of bigger boxes up in a loft room that I haven't been able to go through yet...I'm not very good with ladders and I was only able to get about half way up to have a look. I'll have a look another day when I have Simon with me!!

We then had a phone call from the tow truck company to let us know that there was no way they would be able to collect my dad's car today and get it to the garage before the garage closed for the day. So instead they are going to collect the car tomorrow morning and take it straight to the garage then.

This all meant that my afternoon just disappeared and I wasn't able to get all the things done today that I wanted to get done. Simon has also had a busy day as he is busy working with his team to get to a point where they can stop for their Christmas break in the next day or so.

So while Simon worked a little later than normal I was able to jump online and sort all the postage for the parcel I need to post, along with the Christmas cards that I had written earlier in the day. 

And that was Thursday! See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 637

Day 637...

Middle of the week was upon us once again and for me it was another full day in work which ended with our Christmas concert.

The work day was filled with the usual admin bits and bobs and I am busy wrapping up the end of this term and getting ready for the new term after Christmas. There are invoices to produce and email, registers to organise, print and bind and new starters to organise. 

And then after the end of our usual pre-school day we hosted our Christmas concert for the first time in two years. A very simple affair with the children dressed in suitably festive costumes and singing a few Christmassy tunes. Much fun was had by all and it was lovely to have everyone together to celebrate the season.

Although a lot of schools have decided against holding Christmas activities in person the current guidance still said that we could go ahead and we decided to stick with our decision. We followed the recommendations and it was lovely to do something that felt more like 'normal'!

Back home and I used the time to get a couple of emails sent before getting dinner ready.

And that was pretty much this Wednesday and all that is left is to settle down in front of the TV to watch this week's episode of Hawkeye!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 636

Day 636...

And we have a Tuesday and we have had a full day in work for me as I was covering another member of staff this afternoon.

It was a pretty standard sort of day at work, lots of admin, banking and meetings but I managed to achieve quite a lot so was happy with the day. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow at work as we have our Christmas concert!!

Once home I had a few parcels to sort through that had arrived today which were all Christmas presents and then I needed to go through some of my emails and get on top of a couple of outstanding ones.

At the end of the working day it was time to head down our gym for a weights workout.

And that was pretty much my day...have I mentioned we got our new car yesterday? I've been able to drive it a bit more today...well just to and from work...but so far I'm loving it!

How sexy does this look?!

I'm still getting used to all the gadgets and settings but have managed to take advantage of being able to pre-set the climate control so that when I got into the car this morning it was lovely and warm!

See you on the morrow.

xx