Helloooo from my bed. in Sparkly, frosty wintertime 2016 (started a little late!)

I did end up taking yesterday off work, my asthma was not playing nice. I had decided on Thursday night when I couldn’t sleep because lying down triggered coughing fits. In the morning I waited for the post because Friday is www.graze.com day. When my graze box arrived, I took it (along with a lemon and ginger tea) to the bathroom and ran a very hot bath. I put a loverly ballistic in, popped on a radiolab podcast then lay back and closed my eyes. It was very nice and relaxing.

However, I had things to do - I needed to photocopy a load of paperwork regarding T to post to the Senco at the secondary school and I needed to get Rich’s passport application to the post office. None of us, currently, have valid passports and we figured that, while we can’t afford to go abroad, there isn’t any point in getting them renewed. However, Rich has been chosen to go on a trip to New York with work so it needs renewing asap so he can give his passport number to the travel office at his place of employment.

So, when the water cooled off I hauled my cough-wracked body out of the water and got dressed. I did all the photocopying, wrote post it notes to go with each item to explain it and popped it in an envelope. But by this time I was finding the world was at an odd angle, no matter how upright I was, the world swayed slightly off centre . The walk from the car park to the post office was taken carefully with much deep breathing, and I was fourth in line for the passport window… Fourth. Each one takes 5 to 10 minutes! There wasn’t anywhere for me to lean so it was half an hour of sheer will power that kept me upright!

It was the second time we’d been to sort the passport - the first time Rich’s countersigner had used the wrong type of pen. Therefore we’d already paid the check and send fee. Once she had checked it all and got ready she told me the price which included the check and send payment again… I pointed out that we’d already paid that bit and she had to find a supervisor to cancel the transaction… Then we started again!!

By the time I was home I had an hour before school pick up! David Attenborough soothed me through that with tales of Madagascar and the elephant bird.

The girls and I vegged, watching Thursday night’s Death in Paradise together and then the phone rang! why the exclamation mark? you ask. Because it was my mate O, from Australia. We were best mates in London in the 90s, she moved back home in ‘97 and we haven’t seen each other since but, in March, she and her husband are coming to Europe!! They’re staying with us for one night so we were making plans and reminiscing on an adventure we had travelling around USA on Greyhound buses and visiting the Bahamas, getting away from the tourist resorts by getting an island bus (which was a battered up, white mini bus) and travelling inland.

And do you know what? That conversation really perked me up, I’ve felt a lot better since it! I’m still coughing but not as much or as badly and the world has stopped spinning any more than it should.

That was a good Friday. It really was.