I've got a sore throat today. Too much snoring, I reckon! There's definitely a role reversal in our house - the woman (me) snores and the man doesn't!!!
Charles says he likes me snoring, though. He listens through the bedroom door and when he hears snoring he knows I'm asleep.
Asleep means I'm not going to get up and come bother him!! :-)
Dragonfly, by Natalie
Natalie hopes he will turn into a handsome prince...I've been in such a lot of pain today. I only slept for four hours last night so have had a thumping, woolly head all day; a vague pain in my knee that I've had for a couple of days has turned into a big, un-ignorable, burning thing; I have the killer back pain from hell (the cause of last night's lack of sleep); and on top of that I have an eye infection that won't clear up. What on earth have I done to deserve so many hurty things all at once? I can't have that much bad karma, surely?!
Had a crappy email this morning as well. We spent a few hours in Tooting yesterday with my friend Abdul, during which he had expressed interest in some tango information, and Charles said he would email it on. He didn't have Abdul's email address, so sent the tango links to me and asked me to forward it.
Reasonable? Yes?
Oh no! Apparently, because Charles had promised the information to Abdul, he should have sent it directly to Abdul and, because he hadn't, but had gone via me instead, he wasn't showing interest or friendship towards Abdul. Eh??!! The fact that Charles doesn't have Abdul's email address is neither here nor there, obviously - and does the fact that Charles had only gone and spent four whole hours chatting to him yesterday mean nothing? On what planet is a four hour conversation not showing interest or making an effort to get to know someone?! Strewth - men!
Anyway, I was feeling a bit low today, due to all that crap, and could have done with a cuddle really. Unfortunately Charles was having a Man Moment - "I vant to be alone" - so I took it out on the housework instead, scrubbing, dusting and laundering away for several hours. Woo, does our flat sparkle now!
I've just decided that I'm going to run the Windsor Half Marathon which is in September.
This means that I have to actually do some running as practise, beforehand, if I want to survive for more than a few metres on the day. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination a runner. The last time - well, the only time - I ever did any regular running was in 2003 when I was trying to lose weight and I used to drag myself out of bed at 5.00 each morning to flump along the pavements for 20 minutes. (I had to do it that early so that it would be dark and nobody would see me!). My attempt at getting back into running last year involved just three runs in Richmond Park with Charles until a muscle pinged in my leg, and then I gave up. Haven't done a thing since, really!
Sooo, my first practise run this morning. I thought I'd start gently, with a little run to the shop to get some cheese. (Well, I don't want to overstretch myself!!) A walk down the garden to the back gate was my warm-up, and then 5 minutes of flumping - er, running - along by the Thames until I hit the main road.
Off I went, joggety jog. My new white running shoes gleamed merrily as they pumped up and down. My lungs wheezed scarily as they pumped in and out. Thud thud, cough cough.
I realised within about 4 milliseconds why proper runners are all flat chested. If you have boobs, running hurts! Ow! And yes I was wearing a properly supportive sports bra, but when your chest has a certain level of fattage, there is no bra in this world that can hold everything totally still! (I could have done with a bra for my bum and another for my belly, too - bouncey or what!)
Anyway, I managed to keep up the run for 5 whole minutes without stopping, until I reached the street. From there I walked to the corner shop, feeling that I had certainly deserved my rest. And my cheese. I felt very proud!
* * *
This evening I showed Charles our family photo album - me as a baby, through to my awkward, fuzzy-haired teens. He quite enjoyed flicking through it and seeing what I had got up to back then.
"Is this what you mean when you talk about us spending some 'bonding' time together?" he asked.
"Yes, that's exactly it!" It's only taken him two years to get it, but who am I to quibble - I felt like the teacher whose pupil finally understands the theory she's been trying to drum into him all year.
"I like it! Shall we do some more bonding on Tuesday evening?"
Aww, bless!
I'm not usually keen on HR people. They are usually so rigidly into their policies that they forget the 'Human' part of their job title.
I have to take that back now, however.
Last week I had taken a week's holiday but had managed to cry throughout the entire week instead of enjoying a break. (Charles had bravely done his manly duty and let me snot all down his chest for a part of each day/night - lucky boy!) When I mentioned this to Boss Number 1 in passing this morning, she said I should actually take the week's holiday as sickness, for stress, provided HR were OK with that. Woo, she certainly wins her Best Boss Badge today!
The thought of talking to HR was a bit scary though. I chickened out and emailed them - only to have an immediate phone call back, saying that we need to have a face to face talk. Poo! But in the end the HR woman was ever so kind. I sniffed and squeaked my way through a conversation with her and she suggested I should do various things, such as call our company's confidential helpline, speak to a financial advisor, get counselling for the fertility treatment that me and Charles are embarking on, and ask my boss to reduce my workload. I should even take afternoons off whenever I feel the need!
In fact, all I really need is for Charles to get a regular income so that I don't have the stress of carrying us solely on my weeny wage, and for a good, regular sleep pattern to be established at our house so that I'm not so stonkingly tired the whole time. But I thought it was really kind of her to suggest all those things.
And, even though it's against company policy to let me take holiday as sickness without a doctor's sicknote, she said in my circumstances she will let it go through. So I like HR today!!
