Girl Home Alone

On Friday Phil picked up Georgina and they drove to Melton to see Mum & Dad.  Georgina had been in Rome for Christmas and this was her last chance to see her grandparents before going back to Uni.   I decided to forgo the health club and dedicate my day instead to doing jobs around the house.  To save on petrol Phil had taken my car and I don’t really get on very well with the Land rover, besides there was tons of stuff to do at home.  My first job was giving the flat a good clean and by a good clean; I mean moving all the furniture and cleaning the laminate floor and the skirting boards.  I was surprised just how dusty it all was because I only did it before Christmas.  

My next job was cleaning all the windows, inside out.  I have some excellent cleaning stuff for cleaning PVC, it takes some work but it brings it up a treat.  My last task of the morning was to give the metal steps a coat of Hammerlite.  I had sprayed them before Christmas but they had chipped when the carpenter took them off.  The paint gave a much better finish, okay not as quick as spraying but well worth the extra time.

In-between cleaning and spraying I found time to put a roast chicken in the oven and it was ready and on the table when Harriet came for lunch.  I was feeling very pleased with myself for my time management skills, and boy, was I ready for something to eat when Harriet turned up.  Harriet didn’t stay long because she was in her lunch hour but that was fine because I wanted to start painting the staircase with Sandolin.  It took me almost 3 hours to do just the bottom tier and I didn’t feel that I had made much progress.  I was knackered by the time I decided to down tools when the light started to fade. I decided to have a soak in the bath because I was covered in Sandolin; I’d just dried my hair and put on my dressing gown when Phil walked through the door.  He was earlier than I had expected.  Phil had noticed that I’d painted the steps but I was disappointed that he hadn’t noticed that I started painting the new staircase.  Still, I suppose it was nearly dark when he arrived home.

I did go to the health-club on Saturday morning but I didn’t have a very good workout because I was so stiff from painting the day before.  I was both surprised and pleased when I got back to the flat to find Phil on his hands and knees painting the staircase.  I wasn’t too happy to find him painting in his good clothes and straight away got him to change into his old stuff.  Between the 2 of us, we painted for another 5 hours and by mid-afternoon we had finished the first coat.  I think you will agree our new staircase looks a million times better. Unfortunately it does need another coat but this can wait until spring.  At least we have got on one coat which will give some protection against the elements.

Yesterday I found myself home alone once again because Phil took Georgina and the sofa-bed from the caravan back to her student rental flat in London.  When he’d gone I took myself off to the gym and afterwards I went to The Odeon in CMK to watch The Impossible.  The last time I went to the Odeon with Sue it was freezing cold but I quite like The Odeon because it is so quiet, also it is cheaper than Cineworld.  Yesterday there were only 3 other people seeing The Impossible and thankfully the temperature inside was warm.  The film was good despite bad reviews but it was very sad and made me cry from start to finish.  I felt quite depressed afterwards.  I hadn’t been home long when Sue & Brian knocked on the door.  Sue was worried because she couldn’t get hold of me and was checking to see if I was okay.  This was sweet and I was fine but it was nice to catch up with the pair of them over a cup of tea.   Our Sunday evening was quiet; King Kong followed by Celebrity Big Brother and then bed.

My NY resolutions are rapidly disappearing out the window and I feel a little disappointed with myself.  I am struggling to lose the few extra pounds I gained over Christmas despite some long workouts in the gym.  And although I promised not to blog about the trivial stuff, here we are, only in the second week of 2013 and here I am banging on with the same old boring stuff. I am so sorry but old habits die hard.  Hopefully things will hot up when we fly to Lanzarote on Thursday.  Only 3 more sleeps and I can’t wait.  This girl needs a change of scenery (and temperature) before she disappears up her own arse staircase