Action Packing

 Busy week ahead for me. Three birthdays are imminent - my daughter, my mum and a friend - so I am knee deep in wrapping paper and organising the posting of two lots of cards and gifts in order to have them arrive in good time, given that the current vagaries of the Royal Mail delivery service means they could turn up on schedule or they could turn up sometime in May. You have to factor in these considerations these days. It's all a bit sad, really. Fortunately, because Heather lives half an hour up the road, I know her card and gift will turn up on her actual birthday. I am a reliable postal person.

I have a check-up at the dentist. I should have had this check up three weeks ago, only the day before the appointment - after I had suffered the usual shower of text reminders that I had an appointment, do NOT forget your appointment etc etc blah, blah, blah - the surgery sent me a message saying they sadly had to cancel my appointment and could I reschedule, because the dentist was on HOLIDAY! I mean, for chuff's sake. They didn't KNOW he was going on holiday all the time they were sending me reminders? Did he spring a surprise holiday on them - 'Ooh, by the way, I'm off to Spain tomorrow for a holiday. Cancel my appointments and inconvenience my patients, will you?' 

Anyway, as usual, I have refused to complete the requested medical forms on-line because a) I am not happy sending confidential medical information through the internet b) it's not convenient for me to waste my time doing so when I can waste their time (which I pay for, being a private patient) at my actual appointment time and c) I have a mind to be bloody awkward which is becoming an increasing habit as I grow older. I shall go for the appointment, which will last approximately 10 minutes for which I shall be charged a stupid amount, and I shall leave thinking maybe I missed a trick by not training to be a dentist. 

I have my diploma tutorial on Wednesday. Nearly half-way through the course, can you believe it? I have taken to keeping a supply of biscuits in my desk drawer because sometimes during the tutorial, I have need of sustenance to keep me alert. If the pace of the tutorial slows and my attention begins to drift I think, 'Oooh - biscuit!' and I can sneak one out of my drawer and have a bit of a nibble. This morning, I launched myself into the rough draft writing of my assignments for term 2. The deadline is 30th April but I like to be ahead of the game. Plenty of time yet, as my old GCSE and A level students used to say about their coursework deadlines. They were invariably wrong. 

Do you remember me getting locked out of my friend's house when I went to Kent a couple of weeks or so ago? Well, when I was stuck outside in the lashing wind and rain in only my jim-jams and a pair of thin socks, I stood on a sharp pebble. It was worse pain than standing on a chunk of Bambino's cat litter which he kicks all around the place in an ostentatious manner when he is doing his pees and poos but not as bad as standing on the pin of an electric plug or a piece of Lego. Anyway, apart from a mild expletive at the point of contact, I didn't think any more about it, until two days after we arrived home when I developed a pea-sized lump on the sole of my foot and when I poked it, it bloody well hurt. 

Turns out (after much investigation on my part because there was no way I was going to fall into the clutches of my local GP surgery again, not after the whole 'possible cancer' débâcle last year) that I had sustained what is imaginatively called a 'stone bruise.' They take a long time to mend because you are constantly treading on them and therefore impeding the healing process. I mean, I could sit on the sofa for three weeks solid and not use my foot at all, but that's hardly practical, is it? However, once I knew what I was dealing with, I whipped out the arnica cream and began a twice daily application thereof, and since then, although the lump is still evident, the bruise has almost gone and I don't rocket through the ceiling when I press it. And I can walk, which is a good thing. 

My car needs cleaning. The weather is grim - all greyness, drizzle and muck - so I want to time the car clean appropriately so the cleaning isn't a complete waste of time. But it does need doing. I bought a dangly car air-freshener for it today because during the Winter months the car takes on the scent of 'Eau de Wet Dog.' Now it smells of 'Eau de Funeral Parlour Lilies' which is better than it sounds. 

Finally, I am in novel-reading mode. I am especially enjoying some modern Gothic horror/ thriller type stuff. I find that a good dollop of time spent on reading novels helps enormously when I am writing my own fiction or, as I am doing at the moment, editing a novel ready for publication. It all combines to make me feel like I am being a proper writer which, in turn, brings me great joy. 

Joy is much needed at the moment.  

Here is Nell, being neither action-packed nor smelling too damp. She was resting her chin on my knee and giving me a bit of side-eye for fidgeting.