Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe it has been over a week since I last wrote something here. The time has flown by with little productivity to show for it.


Last Friday I finished work for two weeks – I’m half way through the first week and it still doesn’t feel like I’ve had any time off. Although it has been lovely not getting up early for work, I’m still getting up early for other things.

I got most of my Christmas shopping done last week, but I’m still running around and fighting the crowds for a few small things I forgot to get. My eldest son’s girlfriend leaves on Boxing Day to move to the West with my son and anything I want to send with her really has to be given to her in the next day or so. I haven’t done the food shopping yet, but will attempt to get to the food market early tomorrow to do that.

It should be sunny and warm for Christmas Day and, as my youngest son has his arm in a sling, we have decided on an antipasto platter for our Christmas meal. So I will be buying cheeses, ham, cabana, smoked salmon, olives, dips and other nibbly bits to put on it. I’ve bought a Christmas pudding and will make some custard. There should be enough food to last all day long and maybe even longer! I’ve already got a bottle of bubbly chilling in the fridge and that’s all I need to make it a great Christmas.

Last Monday my youngest son had his shoulder stabilisation surgery. We booked into the hospital at 11.30 in the morning and he finally went into surgery at 2pm. He was starving after having fasted since 7.30am and I was too after unintentionally fasting with him. I had totally forgotten to bring food with me and there was no cafeteria at the hospital. As we didn’t know exactly what time the surgery was scheduled for, I couldn’t run down the street to buy anything, even though I did have to run out a few times to move my car as there were only 2 hour parking spots available.

The surgery went well. My son was discharged from hospital the next afternoon, a day earlier than we had thought. He recovered very well from the anaesthetic and woke up chirpy, chatty and wanting to send text messages on his phone before he fell asleep again. He’s on some pretty strong pain killers and tends to be a bit sleepy and vague which is annoying him. But it looks like we can cut back on them soon as the pain isn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

I’ve hired an exercise bike for six months so that my son can start working on his fitness again at home. He wants to play football next season, which starts around April, and really has to regain a lot of fitness in order to do that. He won’t be able to get on the bike for a few weeks yet, but I’ll be able to use it too. After getting on the scales this morning I really need to get on the bike!

Tonight I have a couple of friends coming over for dinner. I’m cooking Mexican – guacamole dip for starters, chilli con carne with a cornbread topping and salad for mains and I’ve already made a margarita icecream for dessert. I’ve cleaned the house, started the loads of laundry and I’m ready for the rest of the day!