*Quote of the Day from Goodreads this morning: “Every now and then I like to do as I’m told, just to confuse people.” ― Tamora Pierce, Melting Stones
The blurb reads: The beloved fantasy author’s mother had wanted to name her Tamara, but the nurse either misheard or misspelled the name on the birth certificate, resulting in Tamora.
When I got my “Quote of the Day” from Goodreads this morning, first I laughed, and then I simply had to go and “Like” it, because it could well have been something that I’d said 🙂 (which is what Julian said, when I read it out to him: “That sounds more like something you’d say, because it’s what you do!”) and I simply couldn’t resist re-posting it here! 🙂 I’ve never read any of Tamora’s books, but maybe I should go and have a look at them…
Well, today’s been very busy – once again! First of all, Paul was supposed to have been here early – as in 7.30am early – but he didn’t arrive until after 9! I’m quite annoyed with him actually – he could have – not to mention should have – rung us, or sent us an SMS or something – it’s not as though we were just going to be lounging around doing nothing all day – he did know that we had appointments! Anyway, as it turned out, the transmission on his truck died (or something) and he had to borrow Clarke’s van – but the thing is, he was late, he didn’t let us know, and I wasn’t amused! Julian likes to go for a walk first thing in the morning, and of course, I have my treadmilling to do – but someone has to be able to let Paul in, and because Julian gets all grumpy if he isn’t able to go for his walkies, I send him off on his walk, while I sit around and twiddle my thumbs! I put off brushing my teeth, putting on my makeup, and doing my treadmilling until after breakfast, and I really do waste a lot of my time because I’m unable to start on anything sensible – unless Julian finishes his walk and gets home before Paul arrives. I don’t really mind doing this, because he’s doing a good job in my bathroom, which will be finished soon (I hope!) and we’ll no longer have this “clashing walks” problem! but I’m really, really annoyed about this morning! If I’d known he was going to be so late I could have brushed my teeth, put on my makeup, and done my treadmilling, and still have finished in time to let him in when he arrived after nine o’clock this morning! We’d told him on Friday evening when he left that we had a busy day today (Monday) and to let us know if he’d be here, or if the painter was coming. He didn’t – Julian had to ring him last night, and Paul said he was going to be early. Now, I don’t blame him for his truck breaking down – that’s just one of those things that happen – but it mucked up our whole morning because he didn’t let us know! We ended up in a frantic rush, because I had to be in Ringwood at eleven o’clock, and I wasn’t able to start doing anything about getting ready until after nine o’clock! (Julian gets grumpy when he can’t go for his morning walk – and I get even grumpier if I have to rush my makeup!) Anyway, I went off for my first shoe fitting in Ringwood, and I was actually pleasantly surprised! They were almost finished, they didn’t look as clod-hoppy and cumbersome as my current torture devices shoes, and what’s more, they were actually almost comfortable! I’m told that they’ll be ready in about a week, so I guess I’m going to have a pair of new shoes before Christmas! (I wonder which will be ready first – my shoes, or my bathroom!) Then we came home and had lunch and a cup of coffee, but before we went out we made a point of telling Paul that if he finished and wanted to leave before we got home, to please ring us and let us know that he was leaving, and to make sure that the house was secure. Well, we got home this afternoon, and he wasn’t here, and he hadn’t rung us to tell us that he was going. I think both Julian and I are going to be having a few words with him tomorrow morning! Grrr! About half the grouting has been done – I guess the rest will get done tomorrow – if and when Paul bothers to arrive! Julian and I will both be going for our walks tomorrow morning, and if Paul turns up while Julian’s still out, and I’m on the treadmill, he can jolly-well cool his ruddy heels and wait for one or the other of us to find it convenient to let him in! (I’m really very cross about this morning, and this afternoon – not that anyone would notice though! 😉 )
On the way home from Ringwood we stopped off so that I could have my Warfarin blood test done (again!) and we’re still waiting to hear if the almost double-dose of Warfarin is doing the trick – I’ll let you all know tomorrow, or this evening, if they call before I’ve finished this! This afternoon I went off to finally get the results of that long-ago blood test – apparently absolutely everything is “really good”, except now I have too much iron in me! (I was prescribed iron supplements in the first place because my iron levels were too low) but now I’ve been told to stop taking them, which is fine with me! They’re enormous capsules which I hate trying to swallow, anyway! 🙂 After that, we went on to The Glen to get some more Flipper food and to start looking for a nice dinner setting which will be our Silver Wedding Anniversary present (we always go out and get something together for our Anniversary – something that we both want, or need) Well, once again I walked the length and breadth of a shopping centre – twice – and what’s more, I walked up the stairs there at The Glen, rather than take the lift or the escalator, and I noticed something… When we were in Doncaster and I was doing all my stair walks, I was only able to go up the stairs, leading with my right foot – if I tried to go up the stairs leading with my left foot, it didn’t work, and I’d almost fall – my left leg just wasn’t strong enough to lead, going up stairs (but it was vice-versa coming down the stairs!) Today, I was able to go up the stairs leading with either foot! I guess that walking on the treadmill has strengthened both of my legs! I didn’t come back down the stairs though because we had a trolley full of shopping by then, but I reckon I’d probably have been able to lead with either foot coming down, too! Next time we’re at The Glen, I’ll try it! 🙂
Food: well, I’m back to the Ryvita crispbreads with ricotta and tomato for lunch again, until I can think of something else to have (Ooo! I just have! semi-soft hard boiled eggs crushed up on Ryvita, with a slice of low-fat cheese and some sliced tomato, with plenty of salt and pepper! 🙂 ) We both had a very, very thin slice of that lovely Siena Cake (Panforte) that Mitta brought over on Saturday – it’s so nice, and it was a bit like having a small slice of rich-fruit wedding cake for our Silver Anniversary! Tonight we’re having a reprise of the pork fillet cooked with onion that we had the other night and which was so nice, along with plain boiled potatoes with a bit of plain Greek yoghurt and chopped spring onions dobbed on them (we’ve run out of chives, and forgot to get some more this afternoon!) half a tomato, and beans!
Weigh-in this morning. Was pretty much what I expected after our weekend of debauchery! I’d gone up five points yesterday, and I figured that I’d probably gone up another five this morning… as I was getting the scales out, I said to Julian “I bet I’ll weigh in at 65.2kg this morning! Another five points on yesterday!” – then I got on the scales, and… yes, exactly 65.2kg! 
Well, it had to happen! I’m hoping that with no more “indulgences” between now and Christmas Eve (with our extremely rich egg-nog!) and Christmas Day (with Christmas Dinner, pudding, and Christmas Cake, and maybe the odd chocolate or three!) that I might (and that’s a very big “might”!) go down again – I hope I do, but if I don’t, well this was the reason I went down so far – so that I have further to go before I hit the 70kg End Goal Weight limit! 🙂 So this morning I went from 64.7kg to 65.2kg – exactly as I predicted, up another five points! Oh well, “Say la Vee”, as the French are so fond of saying! 😉
So tomorrow, my favourite eldest daughter and I are off to Chadstone Shopping Centre! We’ll pick Lee up at about 10 o’clock, and Julian will drive us to Chadstone, where he’ll unload us. I will be using the wheelchair tomorrow, for a change, as Chadstone is just too big for me to limp around with just my stick. Besides, it’s easier to bowl the people who insist on walking in front of me over when I’m in the wheelchair! 😉 We’re specifically looking for a Christmas Present and stocking fillers for Julian – as well as handbags, rings, and more jeans for me 😉 We may, or may not have lunch there – it depends on how efficient we are at finding what we want! I’ve also been told to look out for dinner place settings, as unfortunately we didn’t see anything we really liked at The Glen. Anyway, I’ll tell you all about our shopping trip tomorrow night, because once again – that’s about it from me for tonight! Do call back again tomorrow night though, to hear all about our Grand Christmas Expedition to Chadstone, and whether my weight is continuing to go up, or if it’s steadied down a bit… and if Paul has seen the error of his ways… Until then, though, try terribly hard to bee good (because! 😉 ) remember that although you cannot stop the waves, you can learn to surf, and don’t forget to keep cool – or warm – depending on the weather, to drive carefully, and to look after yourselves – but most importantly, don’t forget to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂
My Word! 