...And Counting

This is going to be a blog post in bullets and in no particular order. I don't think I have it in me to construct a coherent sentence, but I'm desperate to write something.

• This is the last weekend in this house and I've hardly been here. It's very weird. Boy disappeared off to London and in a way, it feels like he's already left home.
• I spent 2 hours looking at curtains for the flat. I came out of the shop with 2 plastic boxes and 2 lunch containers.
• The exercise has worked! On Friday evening, Dave took me for a bike ride. It was the route that previously took me hours...I did it in 40 minutes and when we stopped, it was to look around. I think I surprised him somewhat.
• My butt still hurts from the bike ride. 
• I am really rubbish at DIY. Tomorrow, it will be the third time I try and get the kitchen right.
• I have way too much shit in my house. Why do I have so many knick knacks? And stones. What is it about stones?
• The flat is beginning to feel like home again. Even if it is filled with DIY detritus and has nothing of mine in it yet.
• My neighbours are pleased to see me move back. It's really touching how they have all come up to me in the last few weeks to have a chat, to welcome me back.
• When I first rocked back to the flat, I was shocked and appalled how badly maintained the outside was and spent half a day cleaning and clearing up the communal area. A couple of weeks later the family downstairs cleared out the patch of ground behind them.
• The Cat knows something is up and is stressing. I'm concerned how she'll cope with the upheaval. Heck. I'm concerned with how I'm going to cope with the upheaval.
• I'm putting the stuff I don't want outside the house, so people can help themselves. I don't have the time to spend cataloguing and flogging the stuff on-line. Also, if someone needs it and can use it, why not?
• Acrylic nails are brilliant. I'm on my third set and they are lasting so well and it's lovely having good nails, even if they are covered in paint.
• In the next 5 days, we will have finished the renovations on the flat and moved. 
• If the previous statement doesn't show the power of positive thinking, I don't know what will.
• Realistically, I'm going to move and then have about a month's worth of niggling tasks to finish off. 
• I worry that the month's worth of tasks will remain unfinished for years.
• I am desperate to get back to writing and working. It feels like my Life and Plans for World Domination have been on hold for the last 3 months. Not to mention the money that has been leaking from my bank account.
• My hayfever is appalling at the moment. My eyes itch and stream. Ugh.
• I beat sinusitis last week. I'm so chuffed. Though I definitely can't recommend anyone else snort Tea Tree Oil. I think I broke every aromatherapy rule with that one. But I'm still here and I'm not coughing up the greenies anymore.
• The most difficult part of moving will be my study. My Goddess do I have a lot of crap in here and no, I mustn't lose anything. And that's not even talking about half of the books!
• I have this week off. Next week, it'll be all Go Go Go! at work and then I will spend money I don't have to colour and cut my hair, get some eyebrows and have a facial.
• All this exercise malarky has given me ideas above my station. I'm now thinking of taking up running and martial arts.
• I am genuinely shocked Dave still wants to be with me after the last 3 months. I've leaned on him heavily and I know I've driven him nuts and he's got his own stuff to deal with. I think he's nuts. A sane man would have been running for the hills right about now. Instead, he spends his time contemplating my kitchen and how we are going to tile it.
• I'm not going to worry about healthy eating this week. If I remember to eat at all, it's going to be a miracle.
• I am now just a little bit excited about moving and the next part of my Life. 

Adventures on a Bicycle

See! Photographic evidence

Have I mentioned I don't cycle? The last time I sat on a bike was about 20 years ago. I biked a bit when I was growing up, but on quiet roads and not very far. I had a bike for a bit when I first moved to Hunstanton, I remember being freaked out by the traffic and being told off for cycling on the path.

My husband bought me a bike. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a white Raleigh; sit up and beg bike with a shopping basket that was supposed to take me to and from work, just down the road. I think I managed a few journeys and then drove. I'm pretty sure my Mother-in-Law ended up with the bike. I didn't miss it. Again, my road craft wasn't good enough and I lacked confidence.

Dave bikes. He has quite a few bikes. I warned him in advance. You're not getting me on the back of a bike. I said. It's not going to happen. 

I'm not entirely sure what happened. I still don't remember the thinking that lead to me borrowing a bike to wobble about the road outside of his house. Nor do I remember how he managed to get me all kitted up and got me to do a 2 mile trip. I personally suspect hypnosis. Or magic. I'm pretty sure I am not in my right mind.

I told him I was unfit.

I told him I have no gear.

I told him I am terrified on the open road.

And still, yesterday we went out again.

Personally, I think he's a masochist. Listening to me complain and apologise for the 5 miles to the pub and the 5 miles back home again and having to go at a snail's pace, must have been hell. Especially, knowing that he could have done the same journey in 25 minutes, instead of the *cough* hours it took us me. Well, it serves him right. No good deed goes unpunished.

He let me ride his Stiffee!

You pervs! This is Dave's Stiffee!

Tee hee!

It's a mountain bike made in Vancouver that really is the dogs bollocks (pardon my French). Apparently, it's like me being lent Red Rum to go on a hack. Actually, after my performance yesterday, that's not far from the truth.

I had fun. Even with the whinging and aching and swearing and the going very slowly and stopping often.

It was a lovely day, sunny and warm (but not too warm or windy). He'd chosen a route in the middle of nowhere. There were fields and birds and a wallaby (yes, there really was a wallaby). I realised yesterday how much I miss the outdoors now I don't smoke. There's this whole thing going on outside, which I've not been taking much notice.

It's great. It's changed my mind about the whole exercise malarky. Now I've got something I really want to do, I want to get fitter sooner rather than later so we can do more of that! I liked it. I really did.

What surprised me was that the Stiffee didn't hurt my back at all. The first bike I borrowed was a Pashley Princess. This bike, I'm told is one to cycle round the village with a loaf of bread or a bunch of daffs in the basket, saying "Morning Vicar." It was not the most comfortable and even with a new, wider and padded saddle, it didn't do my back much good.

The Stiffee had it's own discomforts, my knees come up quite high, which means I have to work a bit and the grips were hard on my hands. But it was still brilliant to ride. It's not the bike's fault I'm rubbish.

We are looking around for my own bike, which I'm gently excited about. Knowing myself as I do, I'd like to get a lot more proficient before I part with cold-hard cash. My resources to fund whims are diminishing. If I continue to have fun biking then it will be worth the money and then some.