Life Slowly Returns to Normal - W/E 7th January 2023

This week has largely centred around life returning to some sort of normality after the madness of the festive period. On New Year's Day, OH's cousin and his son returned to his wife and her relatives, leaving his daughter and her friend to stay on a couple of days longer to explore London. 

The girls had been travelling in Europe for a couple of months and it was a good opportunity for them to take in the sights here in London. They are lovely girls and were very easy to have around.  They had a lot in common with LB, so they seemed to get along quite well.

Whilst they were out at a theatre show in Central London and OH was out cycling on New Year's Day, I got to stay home and chill with the dog. It was nice to have the house to myself and to do very little all day. I caught up on a bit of YouTube, did some laundry and even got some patchwork out for the first time in a week. I also allowed myself the treat of watching the movie Footloose on TV. It was great. 

On Monday, I was back at work in the afternoon. It really was the busiest day I've worked over the holidays. It was insane.

On the way home from work, I picked up LB from the bus station, as she was returning to London from Norfolk.  She and the girls spent the evening catching up on each others news. The girls were leaving the next day, to return to Europe to catch their flight home to Australia. I think they enjoyed their time in London. I hope so anyway. They managed to see a lot of the sights in the time they were here. 

On Tuesday morning, I was due at my final appointment at the dentist to rebuild my tooth. I wasn't looking forward to it, particularly as it had been very uncomfortable the last time, but I needed to get the temporary cap replaced by a more permanent one, so it had to be done. I'd had no trouble with the temporary fix over Christmas, it had served me well, but I was careful not to bite into things that were very hard, such as nuts.

The dentist appointment took a little longer than I expected and I was in the chair for an hour, but the finished result was really good. It looked like a new tooth. I now just have to go back for a check up in two weeks time to make sure it's settled in okay. Whilst I was there, I also managed to book LB in for her yearly check the next day, which was good.

I got a nasty surprise when I got back to my car. I'd got a parking ticket. I've parked in the same spot many times over the years and never got a ticket, but I completely missed the signs that say you can't park there between 9.30 and 10.30am. The signage wasn't exactly clear because it was obscured by dirt and barely readable, so I might try to appeal. So much for living a frugal life!!

When I got back from the dentist,  OH and I had arranged to drive the girls to Gatwick Airport to catch their flight, as because of rail strikes in the south of England, the rail services to the airport weren't running normally. It was a three hour and a half hour round trip, as we hit some traffic due to a road closure, but at least we got them there safely and in time to catch their flight.

On Wednesday, I was working in the late afternoon/evening, so I spent the day taking down the Christmas tree and the decorations. The house felt bare, as it always does when they had gone, but OH was very happy as he always is, to put them away for another year.

It was also LB's last day at home on Wednesday. She was doing her last shift at the theatre and then packing up all her stuff ready to go back. The Christmas holidays have gone by so quickly. 

When LB got home from work, she did me a quick haircut, as I desperately needed one and I hate going to a salon, and then I dropped her off at the dentist on my way to work. Her checkup went okay and the dentist didn't want to see her for another year, so that was good news.

Work on Wednesday was pretty busy again. I keep thinking that it's going to calm down, but I was reliably informed that it stays very busy for the whole of January.

On Thursday, it was time for LB to pack up and for us to take her back to her Halls of Residence in South London. It's a 3-4 hour round trip. I cleaned her toilet and sink when I got there and helped her unpack a little before we left.

It was horrible to leave her at her halls again, although this time around she was feeling much more confident and was really happy to be back there, which was good. She was planning to move all the furniture around in her room.  Needless to say, we left her to it.  It's her birthday in a week or so, so we have arranged to meet her in town and take her out for lunch that weekend.

When I got home from taking LB back, I needed to check my Premium Bond account, as I'd received a message to say I'd won something again. I was so happy when I found out I'd won £150. It's the most I've ever won so far and it should at least cover the parking fine I got this week.

The house felt a little empty after having so many people in it over the New Year, but it was nice to just be able to please ourselves and not have anything pressing to do.

Friday and Saturday, were when things fully returned to normal. I was working both days and OH returned to work in his basement office at home. 

Saturday was a horribly busy day at work. I ended up staying a bit longer to help clear up, but then felt defeated and overwhelmed, as at the end of the night it looked like I hadn't done anything. A nice surprise that happened on Saturday and which I'm posting separately about, helped to make me feel better.

Next week, full normality resumes and hopefully life will be a little less hectic, which we will both be glad of.

How do you feel about getting back to normal after the Christmas period?