stop feeling guilty, small rant (BENCHLAND) (Part 2)

Life after a breast cancer diagnosis Living with breast cancer
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Oooh! Pecan donuts! Sounds delicious!

Bad luck for your friend. I hope they sort it for her quickly and banish the #£&£%/’ BC again. :crossed_fingers:t3:

Concert was quite good but my back didn’t appreciate an hour or so on a church pew and, frankly, I’d rather have been watching the Strictly final with a mugatea and some cake/chocolate/both, especially as OH decided, at the last minute, after I’d planned the day around it, that he couldn’t face going!! :roll_eyes: Ah well. Duty done on his behalf.

He also decided against the cinema, wanting instead to get out in the fresh air so we went for a walk at a local country park instead. This suited me better because I was struggling to decide what I would do for nearly 3 hours. I could drive home - 20 mins each way - or go for a walk/see what shops were open, but not both. And 3 hours is a long time to hang about when it gets dark early!

Whoop! Whoop! Swim finished! BBQ on the beach was fab. :grin:

Mary Berry’s Humble Pie is in the oven. Actually, it’s mine: I made it this morning from her recipe! I also marzipanned the Christmas cake and made a birthday card for my friend whose 70th is on the 6th Jan. She surprised me by giving me a Christmas present (we’ve never exchanged presents before, in the 15 years I’ve known her!) , when we went for lunch last week, so I’ve knitted her a couple of baubles: one with “70” on. Birthmas/Christday presents! :face_with_hand_over_mouth: I’ll deliver them to her house.
Must go. Need to cook and mash some spuds for with the pie…

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Hurrah for finishing the swim BBQ was spectacular, though did notice a huge consumption of the glitterberry, twas not me…
Good job you didn’t have to wander around for hours, great decision OH.
Hope humble pie was yummy.
Getting lots of little jobs completed around the house, have a big bag for the charity shop which hopefully will drop off tomorrow.
Am sprawled out on the CBA bench not moving for nothing haha xx

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Well done on finishing your swim JCJ. The nativity play was performed today, very successfully. They always rise to the occasion. So now 2 days left of term and then I’ll join you on the CBA bench if I may Katy.
Alicat

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Of course Alicat the CBA bench is one of my favourites hahaha. Glad your nativity went well whew!!
Unfortunately missed GD’s first nativity but was sent the video. GS had a fabulous video, all kids in his class in pairs dancing to a Xmas song it was brilliant and looked lots of fun was def impressed. Something completely different.
Managed to “get off” that bench and went into town today so only have to pick up food on Xmas Eve hurrah. That means I can faff around the next couple of days. xx

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Glad the nativity went OK Ali. Always a nerve-wracking time with the teeny people?! :grin: I bet you are all exhausted: it’s been a looong term! I don’t miss that exhaustion - I remember some end of term days when I was so tired I couldn’t even speak! - but I do miss the fun and anticipation of Christmas in a Primary school.

I couldn’t go to GD’s first nativity because it’s so far away but DIL sent me a copy of the PDF that the school shares with parents and guardians, which had lots of photos of the whole cast and an individual one of GD in her donkey costume! That made me smile because I was the donkey in our Benchland pantivity on ice, years ago! :joy:

I wasn’t too keen on the humble pie. It was basically cauliflower cheese with leeks, peas and mushrooms with a puff pastry lid. Looked delicious but I seem to have gone off cauliflower. I hated cauli cheese, as a child, preferring a cold cauli floret and a hunk of cheese whenever Mum made it for the rest of the family. As an adult, I grew to like it but, for some reason, I’ve really gone off cauliflower again. What’s that about?

Most of the Christmas to do list is ticked off. Just got a final fruit and veg shop to do tomorrow, pick up the turkey from a nearby farm shop on Saturday and clean the girls’ room. OH will have to clear all his c**p out of the way first!! Oh yes, and wrap the final present for YD, which only arrived today.

I am quietly very relieved: BIL announced he was going to bring other BIL, who resides in a psychiatric nursing home, down to visit us on Boxing day and enquired if we had a downstairs loo as latter can’t manage stairs. We haven’t. OH thought we could meet them in a pub for lunch instead. On Boxing day! The girls will still be here so there will be seven of us. Good luck with that!! I am proud of myself for not saying what I thought, remaining outwardly accommodating: it’s Christmas, they’re his family, whilst leaving them to sort it out between themselves, secretly hoping they’d, as always, talk each other out of it. Tonight, OH announced they’re going to put off their visit until Easter. Hoorah! I hadn’t realised how much it was stressing me out. My mood has lifted considerably. I’d have graciously gone along with it whilst inwardly screaming: “I WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH MY GIRLS QUIETLY AT HOME. AND HAVE BOXING DAY PIE!!” YD, who was also gritting her teeth and not wanting to be the one to say “NO” is hugely relieved too! :grin:

Hope your last day is fun, Ali, and the little ones aren’t too over excited. Extra delicious treats on the Kn*****ed bench for you to enjoy with your feet up!

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Hi,
Last day over at last it’s certainly been a loooong term! As usual I’ve gone down with a cold just in time for Christmas, my son (35) who still lives with us (sigh) has just tested positive for covid, (mine was negative) and husband is also just starting a cold. I think we’re just going to hibernate for the next week!
I hope you both have a fabulous time with your families this Christmas and thank you for giving me the confidence to join you on this thread. XX

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Aaah Alicat, how typical a cold just in time for Xmas arrrgh.
Hopefully you can enjoy the hibernation, we have a lovely bench for those who are feeling under the weather. Cosy duvets etc and most importantly a bell that you can ring anytime. You are very much welcome in Benchland.
JCJ, hope your girls are with you safely have a wonderful Xmas minus the BILs hahaha, whew!
Picked up food earlier, no queue couldn’t believe it…passed the butchers on way back up the road no queue there either!
Had a small nap this afternoon didn’t sleep well last night so am all caught up.
Feet are up and just chilling, ready for tomorrow, can’t believe it’s almost here, woo hoo xx

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Hope you don’t feel too rubbish, Alicat, and that your colds are just colds. Hibernation over Christmas and New Year is always a good plan. I am very glad you plucked up the courage to join us. You’re very welcome.

The girls are here. The journey was vomit-free and not too much traffic. GD has been well behaved so far. The santa sack I made for her is now full of presents “from Santa” (Mummy & Mama!) on the landing which will be interesting because “Santa doesn’t exist” She asked outright if he was real and YD won’t lie to her, which I fully endorse.

They’ve all gone up to bed. GD is sleeping in my room and, rather than subject myself to OH’s snoring, I’m on the sofa. It’s a comfy 3 seater and I have my duvet and pillow. I also have all the salty snacks and chocolates within reach! Must resist. Must… :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Alarm set for. 8am to put the turkey on, although I suspect a certain 4 year old - sorry, "NEARLY Five!“ - will wake us all up before then. :smiling_face:

Have a lovely/merry/quiet* (* select as desired) day tomorrow. xx

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The girls have gone. The house is back how we have it for just us two… apart from the Christmas pretties, and they’re staying up until 12th night! My usual sadness about them leaving is slightly alleviated by the realisation that I get my room back! It’s been fab. Love my girls :heart_eyes: and GD has been considerably less stroppy and more enjoyable this time.

I’ll be alternating between the CBA bench and the K one for the foreseeable future! Don’t know about “Magic Nana”: more like “Kn******d Nana”! :joy:

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PS. Absolutely no idea what we’re having for dinner tonight! :thinking:

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The good thing is your girls are with you over Xmas which is really lovely, such a joy.
We had a great day, ate too much haha. Finished off by playing quiz games. Lots of laughter.
Am now through at YD’S, came by car this afternoon woo hoo too much stuff to try a train journey.
Weather good but meant to snow tomorrow brrr. Xx

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Glad you had a good time. Enjoy being at YD’s. Great you had a lift and didn’t need to battle with the trains! Are you there for New Year… Sorry, Hogmanay :face_with_hand_over_mouth:?

I hope everyone else had a pleasant time having the sort of Christmas they wanted.

The weather here has been quite mild but so damp and grey. However, I’ve cheered myself up by booking our “Easter” holiday - actually the week before Easter: we come back on Good Friday - and I not only got it half price, with another £10 off for using their app, but only had to pay £20 deposit. Win. Win. We’re going to single storey barn conversion in a little village just outside Stratford upon Avon. It’s only an hour drive away and it’s somewhere new to explore.

Now I have everything crossed that OH’s medication changes go to plan so that he’s OK to travel: he has to gradually reduce one of his PD meds by 1/3, over 4 weeks, and then they’re going to give him a new, better version of another of his drugs. Apparently, his PD "will get worse before it gets better“ but it’s a necessary change because he’s starting to have (probably drug-induced) hallucinations: only minor and quite amusing at the moment but they’re likely to become much more scary if he doesn’t adjust his meds. We are in for a shaky few weeks. I’m not looking forward to it. I don’t suppose he is either! :confused:

Further research is required to find somewhere for our summer holiday, although I have found some possibilities. Wish I could bring the seaside closer to us! :stuck_out_tongue: I’ll probably wait and see how he is, though before booking anything else as we can’t get travel insurance. Two weeks in July/August will be a lot of money to risk!!

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Oh my gosh that sounds wonderful and a bargain woo hoo.
Hoping fingers and toes crossed things work out well with OH’s meds without too much trauma for you both.
Just munched bacon roll (more in shed) watching snow fall brrr sky is very heavy.
Before I left for here went into town and picked up a couple of bargains just small things wasn’t much of a bargain cause realised I’d been charged full price for 1 item grumpily will head back there. Have no receipt cause didn’t come out of self service checkout. Hope I don’t have a battle on my hands grrr.
No major holiday for me next year YD has lots of weddings so will be babysitting.
When I came here had been in around 10 mins and GS said he was happy, so wonderful, made me super happy xx

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Happy New Year!!
Can you believe it 2024??
Happiness and best wishes to all xx

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Lol, Katy! Like minds! I just picked my tablet up to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy New Year! :tada: 2024!!? I’ve only just got used to it being 2023! :joy:

Are you still at YD’s? Did you get snowed in? It’s grey and damp here, Still. Although we did have some sunshine this morning but it had gone by the time I was showered and dressed! :roll_eyes: Weather warnings for heavy rain this afto and strong winds tomorrow. Lovely?!

Cheering myself up with a slice of Christmas cake and some sheep’s cheese: an amazingly delicious combo. Plenty in the shed.

OH is on his first day of reduced meds. OK so far. Wish us luck…! :crossed_fingers:t3::confused:

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Yes still here, no snow at all disappeared a couple of hours later as the rain came. It was only pretty because we were not going anywhere haha.
ED stayed away in a hotel a picturesque village that had a street party sounds lovely. Was worried about them getting there because of all the weather warnings but was no problem at all whew.
Had a delicious meal delivered yesterday by GS’s dad, yum, ate it all haha.
Fingers crossed for the next little while with OH, hopefully there will not be too much difference xx

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Goodness! We’ve had some rain! It feels like it’s been raining forever! The park was largely underwater on Wednesday and several of the shops along the main street were flooded. There were abandoned cars in the road, up to their hubcaps in water. And we got off lightly compared to other parts of the country!! Amazingly, although the river is still very high, the flooding has dispersed very quickly. Yet again, we’re glad we live up a hill from the river, even if it is a bit of a pain trekking back up with shopping… Or chips!

OH is noticing the reduction in his meds but he’s (mostly) staying positive; slightly more shaky and more frequent ‘freezing’ which must be scary. He’s coping well enough for me to have risked booking our summer holiday. I found a place with “luxury lakeside lodges” at a marina just 30 minutes drive from home. I didn’t even know the place existed and it looks fab. Perfect for us as, apparently, there are plenty of walks for me, level paths around the lodge for his little potterings and a large private deck when we want to just sit about (ie most of the time?! :smiling_face:) The description says there is a “view of the lake from the French windows” although it is not visible on any of the photos so I suspect it might require some gymnastics to see it: maybe on tip toe on a chair? :stuck_out_tongue: Also there are cafes and interesting shops at the marina so we’ll have things to do. One of the 2 weeks I wanted was booked between me finding the place and OH getting around to looking at the details, so I thought I’d better get in quick before there was no availability at all. 2 weeks booked from mid July. Hurrah! Costs about the same as the poky shed we stayed in last year and looks much posher and with considerably less stress to drive there! No seaside :confused: but I can settle for a lake instead. :grin:

Did the food shop on Tuesday. A half price bag of Lebkuchen stars fell in to my trolley. Nom nom nom. Love them! I’ll put some in the shed - virtual ones, obviously, because nobody’s having any of these!! :joy:

Bit of a scene at knitting today: Two women were studying on “our” table, having not noticed the sign saying the table was “Reserved for Knit and Natter 2pm to 4pm today”. One of our group asked them, politely, we thought, to move and one of the scholars got uppity about how she was spoken to (It took three attempts at increasing volume to get her to hear as she had ear buds in!) . She was rather verbally aggressive. It got quite heated and the library staff had to intervene! So much for a quiet afternoon having a cosy knit and chat?! Happy New Year everyone?! :joy:

Most of the Christmas decs came down today but I’ve left the tree until tomorrow :slightly_frowning_face::heart_eyes::christmas_tree:

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Hello again,
Coming out of hibernation slowly. These last 2 weeks have been awful. I’ve got a chest and ear infection, never had them together before! I’ve also been deaf in my ear for nearly 2 weeks. On my second lot of antibiotics. Due back at school next week but I’ve been signed off for a week. OH is getting better slowly and son now has pneumonia. This has really been a nasty bug!
I hope OH symptoms don’t get any worse. Your holiday sounds lovely, must look for something for us.
Ali

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Oh, Ali, I’m sorry you’ve had such a *%/& time. Sending hugs and hoping you all feel much better soon. Don’t you rush back to work. Get properly better or you’ll just be ill again. Here’s hoping 2024 improves rapidly for you. :crossed_fingers:t3:xxx

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Goodness what an awful time Alicat, fingers and toes crossed you are all well very soon, sounds terrible…
Arguments in the library, what are you like JCJ??? hahaha
Oooh your holiday places sound brilliant this year, exciting stuff.
Hopefully OH will not be too uncomfortable over next few weeks.
We have not had much rain just very hard frosts that are lasting all day so it’s super cold brrrr.
Flooding arrgh lucky you are on a hill!
Been quiet this weekend a lot of faffing around doing nothing really. Def needed to recover from xmas, travelling etc.
Do hope there is something tasty in the shed tonight?? xx