I’ve mentioned before how between us we spend more time looking after my mother-in-law these days. Then a few days ago it was a question of mislaying her teeth but not before I mention yesterday’s super-motivated Rachel in action.
Even though I have been super-tired lately, super-motivated Rachel sprung into action early yesterday morning announcing we were going to the gym. This is all very well, you might think, except it was 7am, we were both still in bed and I wasn’t really awake enough to protest much or at least negotiate a more reasonable time.
Before I knew it, Rachel was up and already pulling on her sporty clothing while giving me one of her motivational smiling looks. Next I was staggering out of the house and into the car while still trying to figure out what day it was.
Turns out Rachel had booked a session with one of the personal trainers and this left me to pootle around myself. There were only a couple of other people in the gym so we almost had it to ourselves – bliss! Every now and then, Rachel would tell me how many calories she had just burned before she realised it was equivalent to those in half a biscuit. It was so funny being there!
On another day, I had been to the charity I’m involved with first thing, then my volunteering in the Coffee House before heading up to my mother-in-law’s house.
Just as I returned into our road at 4pm, when looking to have some LUNCH and PUT MY FEET UP, the phone rang. It was Rachel, saying her Mum had just called as apparently she had lost her dentures. So without even getting out of the car, I turned around and drove all the way over to her house. I walked in and her dentures were right there in front of her, on a trolley within easy reach.
We could do nothing except have a laugh; we could both see the funny side of it. So then I labelled a little beaker and gave strict instructions to store her teeth in said beaker. The beaker had to be kept on the trolley which is mostly in front of her chair. Again we had a little laugh and I’m happy to say it seems to be working!
Today is Saturday, Parkrun day. Having felt so tired for this week, my time was slow at 28:53 and I knew it would be. I even had to walk for a couple of minutes at the start of the third mile and I connected this with generally feeling so tired, I’ve been sleeping continuously for 9 or 10 hours each night.
So the run was a tad slow but never mind, it was a good feeling nonetheless. My friend Barry, who has been away skiing for a few weeks and therefore not running, thrashed me by a few minutes with ease.
As we chatted afterwards, Damon came in and did a somersault over the finish line, Sarah then came in, followed by Rosie. Then someone came up to me and asked if I was Doug. I had been recognised by a former colleague in the Probation Service who I think moved away 20 years ago. I was astonished he recognised me, especially as I was looking very disheveled. So another week he’ll join us for coffee and we can properly catch up with each other.
This Coronavirus business is certainly gathering pace. We have decided to “lay-low” for a bit. This started last week when I decided against going to an exhibition in London. We have Rachel’s mum to think of, she must be very vulnerable to the virus.
I have been astonished at people’s behaviour, although we have kept a distance from the shops – we are generally well stocked with most foods anyway. The thing we are short of is bread flour, especially wholemeal. The shelves are absolutely bare in Sainsbury’s and probably elsewhere. So how many people out there are dusting off their unused breadmaker machines?
I have just clocked the news that the US is now stopping flights from the UK. Seeing as how I’m meant to be flying there in two months time, I wonder if this restriction will still be in place?
And then there’s travel insurance. I was just getting around to arranging some and now this! Well I can see I’m going to have to watch this situation carefully and try and find my way through this tricky situation.