Friday Five!

I'm improving, thanks.  A trip to the toilet still pretty much does me in, but I've been able to sleep the last two nights (mostly), and I turned my O2 back down to its normal setting yesterday.  I'll be so glad when this is over.  (Though it's been lovely not having to do the washing up!)

I'm improving, thanks.  A trip to the toilet still pretty much does me in, but I've been able to sleep the last two nights (mostly), and I turned my O2 back down to its normal setting yesterday.  I'll be so glad when this is over.  (Though it's been lovely not having to do the washing up!)

That's great! Glad you're being well looked after. 

Me too, glad to hear you are feeling better JfKimberley.

So sorry you have been ill, and glad to hear you are on the mend!  Take it easy, don't do too much. Let the dishes continue to be off your roster of duties!

If my calculations are correct, it's Friday again. 

1) It's neither raining sideways nor freezing cold out. It seems to be kind of dreary gray and in the 40s.  Lovely weather - and excuse to get out of the house (finally) and go look in the shops. Maybe have a nice pot of tea and a nibble somewhere.

2) Something has been gnomming on the Daughter's knitted projects. My new turtleneck wool sweater now has several holes in the arm. I've not even gotten to wear it yet! She says she has to undo the whole arm and will replace it with the leftover wool she has from the original construction. The silverfish/roach motels from Germany have arrived this morning and will be strategically placed - the back room has a wall of cubbies with baskets full of knitting yarn, so this could be grim. Have not seen any bugs in this house other than some very small silverfish-looking things and the spiders, no mice (thank goodness) so hopefully this will do the trick.

3) The Christmas market is open at St. Enochs. I hope the crazy German guys are there and have the flame-broiled sausages for sale again this year.

4) It's "farmer's market" weekend. I hope the butcher has his charcoal grill going and is selling those angus beef cheeseburgers (they are reeeeally good) again.

5) The Daughter found an amazing recipe for hash that uses chorizo, ham, and bacon in it with the potatoes, onions, and garlic. It is to die for.  Hmmm. Food, I seem to be on a food train this morning. Opened the fridge a few moments ago and there's nothing but veg and healthy food in there. I want a Pop Tart! (Oh, well. Lunch soon anyway.)

Happy Friday. Next week is Thanksgiving, but I'm not paying 50 quid for what passes for a turkey here!

That's great! Glad you're being well looked after. 

My husband has been incredible throughout.  I've never been in doubt, anyway, but he's once again shown me how amazing he is.

In fact, that's my #1.

1. My husband has been the perfect amount of supportive-without-smothering, concerned-without-freaking-out, and patient and understanding while I've been sick.  In short, he's just been himself.  I love my husband! 

2.  This will not be all about my illness.  I have other things going on in my life.  I think.

3.  Oh!  My husband has discovered the Asda next to his job isn't too horrible to dash into after work, and today he's trying their click-and-collect.  I might have a new grocery alternative...!  They don't have chicory, but they do have fennel, which is an acceptable (though very different) substitute.

4.  It's m-f'ing nearly December already!  Did you guys know it's not the beginning of November?  I seem to have lost some time.

5.  Red Dead Redemption 2 / Online for PC is quite good.  Even the online aspect isn't too griefy.  My husband's favourite activity in the game is to find a saloon where he can play poker.  Somehow, playing for virtual currency in a virtual world is more fun than playing for real money in a digital world.

Glad to hear you're on the mend and that your husband has been fab jfk!

• I'm really desperate for a free weekend but there's not one in sight until January. We were supposed to have one this weekend but my FIL decided he and his wife want to come up to visit. It's nice of them to drive all the way here but I just want a lazy Saturday!!
• Sounds like my job will need me for a couple of weeks at most after the holidays so I'm starting the job hunt (again). No official word yet but my contract technically still ends on December 19th so it's time to get the ball rolling.
• We're making (some) progress on our second wedding/vow renewal plans. Have a venue picked out for the ceremony - the very romantic Registration Office in Glasgow. It'll be just like when we went to the courthouse in the US except that my husband's family will get to be there too!
• It's grey, wet, and dark what feels like 75% of the time now. Boo!
• The Christmas light switch on in town is tomorrow and they're bringing up the reindeer from Aviemore! We visited the reindeer centre a month or two ago and they are sooo cute so I can't wait to go in and see them tomorrow.

Glad to hear you're on the mend and that your husband has been fab jfk!

• It's grey, wet, and dark what feels like 75% of the time now. Boo!

Thanks, everybody who has wished me well.  It was a bad one, but I got through it without professional intervention, and I'm going to call it a win.

As soon as the clocks go back, it's like winter gets accelerated over here.  I like to tell myself that it's only (about) a month to the solstice, now, so things will start looking brighter soon.  We can do it!

1. I am so tired this week... I was in Germany at a music festival last weekend. It didn't finish until 2am Monday morning, then I had to be up at 7am to get to the airport. Didn't get home until 8:30pm, went straight to bed and was up at 5:15am for work Tuesday morning, and 5:45am Wednesday morning (but woke up at 5am), and 5:45am Thursday morning (but woke up at 4am). I only averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night between Monday and Thursday . Got about 8.5 hours last night, but have a headache today and I'm on a night shift tonight.

2. Work has been manic - came in Tuesday morning to find the observation system was down so I had to do the weather observations manually (and we had fog on the airfield)... I was knackered so I spent all morning making stupid mistakes. On Wednesday we had our office refurb (we've moved from PCs and small monitors, to laptops connected to large screens), so there were guys building desks, moving furniture and generally being arsey with me all day, while I was trying to actually do my job amongst the mess (not my fault they turned up 2 hours later than scheduled and then complained they didn't have enough time to complete the work).

3. My parents are no longer coming on the South Africa trip (due to my dad's broken hip), which means my options are to either cancel as well, or go on my own and spend the trip trying to make awkward small talk with my brother (who I only see maybe once a year and I really don't want to spend 24/7 with him for 3 weeks) and then enduring Christmas with his wife (who is nice enough, but we don't really click - I find it hard to talk to her) and her dad and sister, who I've barely met before. The whole point of me going in the first place was to actually spend time with MY parents for Christmas, but they won't even be there now... but if I cancel, I can spend the holiday with them.

4. Not to mention, as per number 1 above, I'm tired. I don't think I can manage the stress of navigating a 3-week trip across SA which I haven't even planned myself (I can't even remember what we're supposed to be doing when we get there) and probably wouldn't plan for myself. I'm not sure I would enjoy it... in fact, right now, I'm dreading the thought of going. On top of that, I'm travelling overseas for 3 months on 8th January which leaves very little time to get ready or relax before I go (my parents are rescheduling their trip for February, but I can't go because I'll be overseas again)!

5. So, my current plan is to cancel the trip completely.
Problem is, having contacted the travel insurance company, while I can get all my money back, it seems like a massive hassle to get the necessary paperwork for it (I'm supposed to contact the airline to get a cancellation invoice with reasons for cancellation, but it's Qatar airlines and it seems their only offices are in the Middle East). So, now I'm debating just cancelling the flight - I'll get a refund of 75% - and just writing off the money I'll lose from it (£190) and from my non-refundable train ticket to Heathrow (£35) and not bothering with a claim.

Overall, I'm just exhausted right now (it's almost midday and I'm still in bed), plus emotional and headache-y (due to hormones), and my IBS seems to be playing up for the first time in ages... so I'm really not in the best state of mind to be making these decisions... but my parents only have until this weekend to cancel/postpone the trip .

ksand24, when I went back to my family's home in 2012/13 to apply for my marriage visa, I had made a prior verbal commitment to my mother to go on a trip with her, my sister, and my niece.  I assumed the whole family was going, but then I learned my dad had claimed work prevented him, and I suddenly realized it was only going to be my mother, sister and niece... I did not want to go.  I begged everybody to please come along, and my dad (in a rare moment of directness) said, "You could not pay me to go on that trip."  I felt socially obligated to go, and it was horrible.  And the whole time, I was thinking, "I'd rather be at home with my dad and brother..." (or, better yet, back in England with my now-husband).  Anyway, all of that to say, cancel your trip.  If you go to SA, I know it won't be as bad as my trip with my mother and sister that year, but I do know you'll be wishing you hadn't spent the money and that you were back in England with the family you wanted to spend Christmas with.

Got an email today from a company I had a telephone interview with more than a week ago.  The guy sounded keen, but since then it has been absolute radio silence and I thought I had been ghosted.  The job involves analysing messages about farming using AI, but the hard part is that they are in Swahili.  Not joking. 
Ksand, another vote for spending Christmas how you want.  Just make up an excuse. 

ksand24, when I went back to my family's home in 2012/13 to apply for my marriage visa, I had made a prior verbal commitment to my mother to go on a trip with her, my sister, and my niece.  I assumed the whole family was going, but then I learned my dad had claimed work prevented him, and I suddenly realized it was only going to be my mother, sister and niece... I did not want to go.  I begged everybody to please come along, and my dad (in a rare moment of directness) said, "You could not pay me to go on that trip."  I felt socially obligated to go, and it was horrible.  And the whole time, I was thinking, "I'd rather be at home with my dad and brother..." (or, better yet, back in England with my now-husband).  Anyway, all of that to say, cancel your trip.  If you go to SA, I know it won't be as bad as my trip with my mother and sister that year, but I do know you'll be wishing you hadn't spent the money and that you were back in England with the family you wanted to spend Christmas with.

Thanks, jfkimberly . And sorry to hear about your trip - I'm glad I'm not the only one who has felt this way about this kind of situation!

That's what I've been thinking too... my brother and I get along okay, but we don't really know each other that well (I think I've only spent about 3 weeks total with him in the last 5 or 6 years),, and while one of my friends suggested it would be a good time to get to know him better, I'm really not comfortable with that - I'm a private person and don't like to talk about personal stuff with people (even family members).

Our other brother (the one who didn't get married) is flying out to SA a week after me (he needs a break and doesn't want to cancel), so it would be me and one brother for 1 week, then the 3 of us (plus the in-laws) for the rest of the time... but I'm just not looking forward to it. I really need my parents to be there too, as a buffer, so things don't get really awkward (they know the in-laws better than I do).

So, the next thing I need to decide is whether to make a travel insurance claim or just write off the £225. I'm terrible with sorting out that kind of stuff... I still haven't sorted out my damaged shed claim yet (I thought it was getting sorted but then they emailed back wanting more paperwork and information and I've been putting it off)!

Happy Friday everybody!!


Nan- I’ve been itching to go to a Christmas market this year. Hopefully it’s there for you and they have the sausages

JFK so glad your on the mend and your hubby is so great!

Elee I feel you on the no free weekends. It’s tiring a bit! Yay though on wedding venue!

Ksand- relax/rest. Your body sounds like it needs it and if you can get most of the money back and it doesn’t set you to far back do it.  Hope your dad is alright though!

Jimbocz- I just learned about AI farming so cool!

Right here’s my friday 5:

It’s Friday and taking little one Christmas shopping tonight for her hubby and grandma. Looking forward to the time together

I’m super exhausted no matter how early or late I go to bed, my body loves to wake up at 1:30 every morning. Yay!

I thought I was safe from redundancies, but was put through the process last month. I freaked as I’m pregnant, were putting an offer on a house and I didn’t wanna miss mat pay. I secured an internal position today so feel a lot of stress taken off me.

We get to go to America in 25 days for nearly three weeks!

It’s fruit or fat Friday at work today- lots of goodies to make it through the day!

• We're making (some) progress on our second wedding/vow renewal plans. Have a venue picked out for the ceremony - the very romantic Registration Office in Glasgow.

  If it's the registry office at Park Circus, it's actually really nice... you must have seen pics before you booked?

  If it's the registry office at Park Circus, it's actually really nice... you must have seen pics before you booked?

It's the one on Montrose Street, just near George Square. I didn't see any at Park Circus available for vow renewal ceremonies but it's a beautiful location! The room we're looking at looks lovely, nothing too fancy (which is perfect for us). Have to phone back next week to officially book it and pay!