This Week - W/E 10th December 2022

This week has been mixed again. It started off slowly on Sunday. OH was feeling very unwell after overindulging on his night out with his cousin. He was subsequently out of action all day, so I took the dog out and then had a quiet pottering kind of day.  To be honest I needed one, as I'd spent every spare hour during the previous week cleaning, in preparation for our visitor. It felt great to not have to do anything much and just take it easy.

On Monday, OH was feeling a lot better thankfully. I was working in the afternoon and went early again to post some online parcels and do the weekly shop. Work is getting busier at the moment, so it went quite quickly. I did a bit more shopping when I left and then was home by 7pm and was able to relax and do a bit of patchwork.

My sister had contacted me whilst I was at work, so I rang her for a catch up and a chat about Xmas presents this year.

Tuesday, I felt pretty tired when I woke up. I just didn't feel like rushing around with the dog, so that I could get to the gym on time, so I gave my usual class a miss and had a long slow dog walk instead. It was nice to get out and get some fresh air.

Disappointingly, I received a £65 traffic fine on Tuesday, after the disaster I'd had a couple of weeks ago. I'd  dodged it for a while, due to the postal strikes, but it found it's way to me eventually. I'm hoping there are no more to come, I'll just have to wait and see.

It feels like I take one step forward and two back financially at the moment, but such is life. Many people have it a lot worse.

I spent the rest of Tuesday at home, save for popping out to the Post Office to post more online parcels. This week is the last week I will be selling online before Xmas, due to the coming postal strikes. I caught up on a few jobs around the house and made some more pickled beetroot from some bunches I'd bought at Lidl. I was down to my last jar.

OH was back on the roof, trying to finish off the last of the jobs that needed doing. The scaffolding came off the next day, as he managed to finish everything and the scaffolders were in the area, so agreed to take it away. 

The weather is much much colder now, so I'm wrapping myself up in lots of layers to keep warm, both inside and out. I enjoyed just spending my day off doing exactly what I wanted.

On Wednesday, I was due at work for 5pm again. I had a leisurely day, we did a tip run and I walked the dog back home. OH got the Christmas tree and boxes of decorations down from the loft and I wrote and sent off some Christmas cards before heading off a little early to work. 

I did a bit more Xmas shopping before and whilst at work. My staff discount has become available for the store in which I work, so I was able to buy a couple of things for LB and my niece and used it for the first time. It wasn't super busy and I was put on a new section to tidy up at the end of the night, which was a bit of a challenge. It's all good to help me get more familiar with different parts of the store though.

Thursday, I was due at the dentist at 11.30 am. I wasn't looking forward to one and a half hours in the dentist chair. It's been a number of years since I've needed any serious treatment.

Before heading off, I spent some time in the morning deciding on my Xmas wrapping theme for this year. I haven't bought any new wrapping paper this year to speak of, as I still had quite a few rolls left over from previous years and I want to use them and start from scratch next year, possibly not using paper at all.  I'm looking forward to wrapping gifts this year. Now that we don't buy for lots of people, I enjoy it more and it's easier to use reusables.

Anyway, I went to the dentist. It was quite a long session of treatment and was very uncomfortable at times. Not the actual work on the tooth, but the coldness of the water used in my mouth. I came away with a very swollen face. I was going to check out a couple of nearby charity shops, but I just couldn't face it, as I felt very self conscious, so I came straight home.

I spent the afternoon decorating the Xmas tree and taking the dog out, after which I felt really tired.  We were going to go out and do some Xmas shopping, but I couldn't face it, so we had a cosy night at home instead, with no pressure to rush around amongst crowds of people. I think it was the right decision. I just needed some quiet time after quite a traumatic day. All being well, I've now got a reprieve from dental work until January 3rd, when I go back for the last part of my treatment.

Friday, I was due at work for 5pm again, so I spent the morning walking the dog, doing some laundry, washing up, baking some jam tarts to use up some pastry, etc., etc. Just pottering really. I set off a couple of hours early and did some more Xmas shopping. I've only really got OH to buy for now and he wants some new clothes, so we need to go shopping together for those.

I didn't have a great shift at work. Some shifts are just less enjoyable than others due to a number of factors and Friday night wasn't a shift I particularly enjoyed, put it that way. The car was iced over when I left at 10pm, so I had to de-ice it before I could head off home. The roads had been gritted too, so I was glad to just get home safely.

On Saturday morning, I woke up feeling really tired. I think that working in the lead up to Xmas is taking its toll on me both physically and mentally. Only two weeks left to go, but then the really busy sale period after Christmas starts. I'll be glad to get to mid January when hopefully things will calm down a little and I might get to take some leave.

Anyway, despite this, work was good today. There was a good atmosphere and the shop was really busy, so the time passed really quickly. When I got home, OH and I watched a movie on Netflix called The Swimmers about two young female Syrian refugees who made their way to Germany along with thousands of others at the height of the conflict in Syria. It was really good.

I was happy to get to the end of the week this week. LB is coming home next Tuesday and I'm really looking forward to seeing her.