The Power of Positivity

Although it’s a wet, grey miserable Monday morning and I’ve got a hangover and am watching The Jeremy Kyle show, I have decided that the way forward is the power of positivity.  After looking at the right hand side of the blog and reading back some of my titles and seeing blog titles like ‘Bit of a crap week’, ‘Boring Boring Boring’, ‘One wedding and a funeral’ and ‘A desperate housewife’ I’ve decided that if my life is going to get any better than I need to change, big time.  No more negativity, no more cup half empty, from now on, come the new month of October, it’s all going to be positive. 

You may recall that I subscribed a couple of weeks back to the ‘Simply Prizes’ competition magazine in a mad moment and blogged cynically shortly afterwards that I didn’t stand a cats chance in winning.  Well I take that back, because since signing up and entering hundreds (literally) of comps I’ve had a result.   Since winning twenty quid on a scratch card sent to me by my kind sister, I’ve since won a free holiday!  I’ve won a free week in an apartment in Tenerife, just the accommodation mind you, not the flights, but I managed to get return flights for both of us for only £200 which includes our luggage and transfers.  We fly out on the 8^th of January 2011.

When I got back from Abingdon on Friday afternoon I opened the post to find that I’d won another free holiday; a weeks holiday in Turkey in a 5* hotel including flights.  I have yet to receive the booking confirmation pack so we haven’t booked but still, I am very excited.  I did another competition on Saturday courtesy of the Mail and I think I have won an all expenses weekend in Venice for 2 but this has yet to be confirmed.  I think I shall carry on with this competition lark, my persistence and patience is paying off!  I am taking it very seriously, I have ordered printed self adhesive address labels to save me writing my name and address one thousand times and I have even gone as far as ordering fancy arty farty postcards, figuring the bolder they are, then the more chance I have of getting selected.  All I need now is a mega cash prize win then I/we will be sorted.   Be positive Claire, you have got to be in it to win it!!!!!!!!!

We’ve had a gentle pleasant few days since returning home from Abingdon.  We stopped off at the carvary in Shenley Church End on Friday for lunch. You really can’t beat their roast dinner at £5.25 on weekdays; it really is the best in town.  I got on with domestics when we got home and Phil took the KA and went to Northampton to do some driving with G.   Early on Saturday morning I went to the market to buy the usual fruit and vegetables and when I got home I thought we were going to the gym but Phil decided that we would walk to the cinema to watch ‘Eat Pray Love’ the film that I’ve been banging on about for ages.   I didn’t mind missing the gym too much because the walk to the centre, there and back was 7k, I know that for a fact because Phil clocked the mileage on his new i-phone.  He was even able to tell him the actual number of steps but I can’t remember the exact amount but I can tell you it was in the thousands.   The film was a bit of a disappointment.  I could tell Phil was bored because he was huffing and puffing and sighing a lot, and to be honest, I thought it was long and drawn out.  I think when you’ve read the book and worn the t-shirt, the movie never lives up to the book.  It was okay but it was too long and I wouldn’t recommend it; after all the hype in the media, it certainly didn’t live up to expectation.

Sunday was a lazy day.  Phil awoke early on both Saturday and Sunday and I was tired for the entire weekend.  We laid in bed reading papers and books on Sunday morning.  In fact, I read 3 books over the weekend and caught up with a backlash of newspapers.  I bought 3 biographies whilst in Abingdon at WH Smith for a bargain price of 5 quid; I read the autobiographies of Clarissa Dickson Wright the famous half of Two Fat Ladies and Kathy O’Beirne, an abused catholic child brought up in Ireland.  Both reads were excellent.  I also read a slightly dated biography telling the story of Davina Mccoll which wasn’t so good.  Harriet picked up my copy of ‘Committed’ by Elizabeth Gilbert from the city centre which I have started but have yet to finish.  I love reading with a passion, it takes me into another world but I have to be in the mood to read.

As I predicted, Phil dedicated most of his weekend to the new love in his life, his new black sexy i-Phone model number 4.  He got slightly exasperated at times because its technology is very advanced and Phil struggled to get to grips with his ‘aps’.  However he did manage to put in all of his contacts albeit that he had to do this manually and he also took these black and white photographs of himself, me and Harriet, which I think are rather clever.   He did loads of other things with his new phone but I got a little bored listening and after a while I switched off.  Long may his love continue!

Phil was so absorbed with his phone and new software that he really didn’t have time to go the gym on Sunday but although we were late up I took myself off for a 5k run; I didn’t do the weights or swim and actually I didn’t even shower there because I wanted to get home to start the Sunday lunch.  I cooked roast chicken with loads of veggies and Yorkshire pudding which was really yummy even if I do say so myself.  Phil settled himself in front of the telly to watch the Singapore Grand Prix and I practically waited on him hand and foot all afternoon but I didn’t really mind, his days in Abingdon are long and hard and he really does deserve some R&R some times. 

Sue & Alan invited us to join them at the quiz at the Cricketers in Oldbrook last night.  I did warn them that I was no good at quizzes but they didn’t seem to care.  Alan was driving and picked us up which was good of him.  They weren’t many participating in the quiz because I gather it has only been going for a couple of weeks. Sue said it was a laugh the last tim
e she went and she wasn’t wrong.   It was really good to catch up with Sue & Alan and made a pleasant change for a Sunday evening which would otherwise be spent in front of the television.  The staff at the Cricketers were hospitable, we didn’t have to pay to enter the quiz and they even laid on free food!  We didn’t win but the company was great and it’s the taking part that counts.  Thanks S&A for inviting us out and for driving us. 

The alarm this morning was a horrible awakening; Phil got up with out too much trouble but I had a hangover and was very reluctant.  I did get up to make tea and to make sure Phil took his diabetes tablet and also to handover a packed lunch, which, thank god, I had the hindsight to make the night before.   But as soon as Phil left, I took myself and my tea back to bed and didn’t wake until Harriet came in at quarter to nine to say goodbye.   So I’m late, late late but who cares.   I said from now on I’m going to be positive and so a late start is no big deal.  I shall take my time getting things together, today is rubbish day and mine is already out.  We’ve got 2 house viewings today, one at 12.20 and another at 12.30pm so I shall do a little light housework and then take myself to the gym.   Although the thought of exercise makes me feel very weary; I think I shall make myself a strong coffee and take an aspirin before I think of going anywhere.  I think I should probably wipe off last nights makeup which I inadvertently didn’t get around to when before I climbed into bed last night.  Yea,h that’s a good start Clairabella, a deep cleanse and then coffee and then you can start the day. Oh dear, something tells me it’s going to be a long one…………..