Birthdays & Blogs

It was Phil’s mums 80^th birthday last Thursday; before we went away I booked a table for lunch at a posh restaurant just outside of Melton but because of Phil’s new job I had to cancel it.   I tried to rebook the table but the restaurant doesn’t open for lunch at the weekends so instead I booked a table for 4 at the Bowls Club.  I’d ordered a birthday bouquet from the florists in Newport and we picked this up en route to the M1 just after half nine on Saturday morning.  The traffic was heavy but we made good time and got to Phil’s mum and dads house at quarter past eleven having stopped off at the Bowls Club to drop off the flower arrangement, balloon and an iced cake from M&S.  I did try and order a personalized cake from the bakers last week but they needed 5 working days which didn’t give me enough time.

Phil’s mum has been feeling very tired and lethargic which is a little worrying as this is most unlike her.   The Bowls Club isn’t the most romantic of settings to celebrate a special birthday but Bet appreciated the flowers and the cake and we all had a nice meal.  Mum and dad opted for the gammon and Phil & I both chose steaks.   The service was a little slow and George was getting a little impatient because he likes to have his dinner bang on the dot of midday.   Still we all enjoyed our meals and at least it saved Phil’s mum from cooking.  After lunch it was back to the house for tea and cake and we left just after 3pm.  Saturday night was X-factor and falling asleep on the sofa.

We managed a reasonable lie in on Sunday morning and didn’t get up until 8am.  I think the jet lag is finally disappearing along with the colds.  Thank god.  I had a rough day on Friday and felt very sorry for myself.  It wasn’t so much the streaming and sometimes blocked up nose or the tickly cough but more my head which felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.  I’m not the sharpest at the best of times but on Friday I had to think about everything I was doing.  Bar from driving to the Chinese for a meal for one for our lunch I didn’t go out of the house. At least it gave me a chance to catch up with my TV recordings and I did manage to give the upstairs a bit of a clean.

Phil wanted to walk to his office just to see how far and how long it would take us so after a cup of tea and a modest breakfast we adorned hats, coats and scarves and set out along the canal.  It was a pretty walk, the ground was white and frosty and the canal was frost in places.  Phil clocked on his iPhone that the distance was 2.2k and it took us 30 minutes to reach our final destination.  We went a different way home and it seemed to take slightly less time.

After the walk, Phil got showered and went over to Northampton to pick up G.  They did some driving practice and then spent the afternoon at the cinema. Feeling a darn sight better than the day before, I decided to try a workout at the gym.  I managed to do a 40 minute weight session but decided against any cardio as I really didn’t want to overdue things.  I felt okay but today I need to step up the mark and get back into some serious training.  It’s not fair that it takes so long to build up muscle strength and only a few weeks to loose it.  I’ve got off lightly with not gaining any weight in Goa but this jelly belly bod is in dire need of some toning. 

We’ve nothing terribly exciting planned for this week so maybe struggling to post; I will give it a go but please don’t expect much.   Some friends, Derek & Maureen have just done a cruise round the Caribbean and have sent us the link to their blog.   It’s very interesting and definitely worth a read.  Here is the link:  http://dandmcaribcruise.blogspot.com  Derek & Maureen are off to Australia and New Zealand in the New Year and will be doing a blog which Phil & I will definitely be following.  Once I have the link I will add it to our blog listings.