Yoga

Right - decision made. I've signed up for yoga classes on Tuesday evenings. They may not make me fit but at least I'll have to move and breathe a bit. That might prepare me for the summer when I'll cycle in to work.

I'm also going to go for a massage tomorrow evening with the yoga teacher. It's all go.

Goldie escaped today when a delivery man came to deliver a parcel to the wrong address and spent most of the day loose. He is dirtier than a pig. I've spread newspapers around the floor and he is lying on them so I hope they'll help to remove dirt and dampness.

Tomorrow is parent-teacher consultation day so b is heading to that. I'm hoping Ian might manage to ring me some day soon but the phones must be out of order still. I wonder did he have his annual hair cut today, as he intended?

My parents are heading to Egypt today for 2 weeks, and my sister and husband to Kenya. 5th February is the big birthday day at their house - my father will be 87, my brother 49, and his daughter 14 (I think).

Sunshine and a good night's sleep

It is a beautifully sunny day here, though cold. Sun makes a great difference to my spirits, though also causes all cobwebs and dirty spots in the house (and there are many) to be highlighted. However, I think I have an excuse this weekend to do very little so I'll just concentrate on the 2-week pile of ironing and doing a hoovering of the kitchen and living room.

I had a great sleep last night and it was hard to leave the bed this morning. As a result I had a lie in - to 10.30 - unheard of!

In, out, down and home again

It's been an eventful and long 36 hours. 8am yesterday saw me checking into hospital. The day ward is very new and clean and modern. I had to wait a long while before I was brought to the theatre but had lots of visits from various doctors and nurses all filling in forms, checking and double checking that I was who it said on the form and whether what was on the form was what I was really signed up for. By 10am I was knocked out for the count and remember waking up at about 12pm. The rest of the day was spent snoozing, though suffering a splitting headache.

B collected me at 6pm and it was fantastic to get out into the fresh, windy, air. They wouldn't win any awards for conservation in a hospital with the high level of heat!

This morning I went to a meeting in Waterford. I thought I'd be fine as I was being driven by someone else. However, my emotions seem to be affected by the anaesthetic and it really wasn't a good idea to go. Ian rescued me from a fraught meeting and let me cry on his shoulder and bought me some chocolate. Thank you, Ian!

On arriving home I decided to be sensible so have cried off going to a 50th birthday party for Jackie tonight. I think she was a bit annoyed so B is going on his own for the pre-dinner part of the occasion. I feel bad but I don't feel up to it, with that splitting headache not yet gone away.

Today's Irish Times magazine is a very interesting edition about energy and things green. It's well worth a read. Maybe it might even inspire me to grow veggies again this year.

Should I change the name?

I'm going to have to make a big decision soon. Should I change the name of my blog to reflect the reality? No blogs from C or I for some time, only the parents continue.....

It's pay and bonus review time of the year, not a time I enjoy as it involves lots of spreadsheets and hassling people to give me their recommendations. Tomorrow I have to present everything I have to the other managers and see where we go from there.

It's still wet here, though warm. That insulation we put in the house during December is really of benefit as I find myself turning off the heating during the evening, something I would never have done in the past.

Someone let Goldie out the gate today and he disappeared for a few hours. It's not clear who let him out as we had no visitors and no post. Maybe someone thought we were the doc's surgery and opened the gate. As a result, Goldie is exhausted. Pippa didn't wander away so she is her normal lively self.

It's op day on Friday. I'm a bit nervous as I don't want to have a general anaesthetic, but I've no choice - or do I? Saturday is Patron meeting day. It's likely to be controversial as I sent a letter to all members over Christmas bringing up various issues. I got a nice response from one of them today, but others will not be happy bunnies.

Hustlers

Have a look at this. We thought we had trouble with hustlers while in Havana, but at least we didn't get caught as much as Kugler. Have a look at Guardian travel from yesterday's paper. I wonder how he will get on at Isla de la Juventud this week.

Ian is packed for going back to school, Goldie is barking, Gay Byrne is nattering away on Lyric, and it is a generally lazy Sunday afternoon. We've just had a lovely mid-afternoon dinner. I've done some bread baking, a very relaxing occupation when it involves yeast and kneading dough. Now there is noone to eat the bread so I'm putting it in the freezer for later consumption.

We visited the office

Ian and I called into my work today and managed to see everything but my office. His impressions are: "it's big; impressive; wondiferlous". Lots of robotic arms were going backward and forward and small groups were in deep thought looking at machines that were apparently not working. The engineers had just solved a problem that had been giving them grief for 24 hours so they were hoping to get home in time to see "the match" on TV for the afternoon.

We won't, of course, mention yesterday evening's match played in Newport..... I suppose that Munster have to concede something at some stage in order to sharpen their new year form.

Happy new year

Back at work a week already, it's amazing how easy it is to get stuck back in after what was a lovely break. I've been suffering from a cold all week. It needs to go away before all my energy comes back. However, work was encouraging as the GM has been reading self-improving books over Christmas and is really taking them seriously in his campaign to make our company a great place to work. Change has to start at the top, so we're getting places.

This morning I have taken down the decorations on the Christmas tree and any other sundry Christmas bits and pieces that were around the house. That definitely marks the end of the season. Ian goes back to school tomorrow so we will be back to just two of us and the dogs.

Pauline's party for women only is today. She has an open house all day to raise money for Adapt House, a women's refuge. I'm not sure when I'll go over, but probably this evening for a while.