A Slow Week and Some Good News

It's been a slow and steady week for the most part this week.  I wasn't working at the CS until Wednesday, so I had 4 lovely days off at home just relaxing and doing what I wanted to. I managed to get back to the gym on Sunday and Monday, which was great.  It was nice to catch up with friends I haven't seen for a few weeks and lots of news was exchanged.

On Tuesday, I went to see the nurse at my GP clinic. I needed a smear (TMI), a general health check and some bloods taken for cholesterol and thyroid function. It was good to get everything taken care of in one visit, especially now I'm working.  Anyway, I got the results today and everything was normal, save my cholesterol which as I've mentioned before is currently high.  The GP gave me a year to lose some weight and try to get it down, and I'm happy to say that it had come down from 7.1mmols to 6.4 mmols, which was very good news.  The best birthday present I could have (it's my birthday next week). I know it still needs to come down further, but it's encouraging that it is finally going in the right direction in a more significant way.

On Tuesday night, we had tickets for a live recording of Jools Holland's TV show, which is filmed in a studio in Maidstone, Kent.  We were hoping LB could arrange a sleepover with friends, so that we could go, but in the end it didn't happen, so we went out for tea instead.  The tickets were free, so we didn't lose any money. It would have been a very late night too,especially with work the next day, so it was probably just as well we didn't go.  Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get tickets again sometime.

Work on Wednesday came as a bit of a shock after 4 days off. The manager leaves today for his two weeks leave and there's still a question mark over whether I'll be getting any help to run the shop in his absence.  As the day wore on, he had arranged to meet with a couple of candidates who might be able to help, and one of them seemed to be available, which meant the day ended on a more positive note. I'm hoping it will all be confirmed and arranged by the time I go in tomorrow.

Today, I was back at a different gym again, for another class that I've not managed to attend for a couple of weeks.  Again, it was good to see people I haven't seen for a while and I enjoyed the class. The rest of the morning I spent doing a some work on my personal finances, so that I know where I'm at with them. 

I had to pay for LB's Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition next year, which is costing £220. OH gave me the money to cover it though.  As part of the award, she needs to do 30 or 60 hours of voluntary work.  There was talk of her coming to the shop with me, but I think she's found another opportunity closer to home.  It was good that she sought it out herself.

Today, I also paid my allotment fees for the year, my credit card bill for the month and then started to put some money in a savings account for LB's university fees and living expenses, should she choose to go, and I'm going to do this every month from now on, now that I haven't got any debts to pay off anymore. It's never to early to plan for this and even if she decides she doesn't want to go to university, the money will be there for driving lessons, to buy a car or rent a flat or whatever.

This afternoon, I popped out to do a few errands, such as posting off some birthday cards and doing a bit of clothes shopping for the coming season.  I bought a couple of black sweaters, (one thick, one thin) two black tops for work, black socks and another pair of black jeans for work. Very boring to wear the same colour all the time I realise, but I just enjoy wearing black and although I tried on garments in other colours, they just didn't look quite right to me, so black it was. I also bought a new night dress from M&S, yes black again, but with multi-coloured birds printed all over it. It's so pretty.

Whilst out and about, I banked a couple of small cheques in the building society that I've had for a few months, and topped up my Oyster card in readiness for the next couple of weeks at work. It's one less thing I'll have to worry about on the way to and from work.

Tonight, I cooked a chicken casserole for OH and I and later I'll be having a shower in readiness for going back to work tomorrow. I'm working all weekend, but am quite looking forward to it, as I haven't worked on the weekend for a few weeks and it's usually less hectic and much more enjoyable than during the week. Let's hope so anyway.

OH has also been busy this week and has completed the repairs to the decking, which is now looking much better.  The new wood will take a while to tone down and blend in with the older wood, but it looks a lot better and more to the point is a lot safer to walk on now.

Anyway, I hope to catch up with you again in the next week. 

Have a good weekend.