Is it just me or do the days get that much shorter?
I woke up this morning full of beans ran my "little photocopy" (child that's spitting image of parent to me and you) to school and came back home with the best intentions of getting on top of the filing, clearing out the shed of unused dross and cooking the afternoon meal for when the "little photocopy" gets back from school.
Well like I said it started out as the best intentions. Having been recently made redundant, I thought I'd squeeze a visit to the local job shop to register onto a couple of job clubs and set up appointments with employment advisers. Honestly, if you're unemployed and seeking a motivation killer, there's nothing better to dampen the mood than a visit to a job shop. Or maybe it's just my local one.
First of all the door creaked and needed short sharp brute force to open. Then looking like an intruder who didn't know their own strength, the three members of staff just about mustered the energy to turn and look at me before two of them carried on their conversation - something about a trip to the local market, clothes and colours - whatever!
The other asked me if I needed any help. "Well, er yes." I said. And I proceeded to ask what they did. She gave me a short run through, asked benefit related questions, said bring a passport NI proof and proof of address. Ok I said 11am tomorrow morning. I asked her who I'd be seeing. "Jan." she said with a nod of her head in the direction of the talking heads. Jan didn't flinch or bat an eyelid.
Blimey, I thought this should be interesting. I took my appointment card and left sharpish to avoid tumble weed following me out of the door!!
Well roll on 11am tomorrow, my meeting with emotion-void Jan should be interesting..............
Anyway, shorter days. Did I say squeeze? Hardly a squeeze. By the time I was done with this it was already 11am!! Hold on, I have barely finished the morning school runs and its pushing on lunchtime?
Rushed home to have breakfast whilst listening to an LBC gripe about not being able to get doctor appointments when ill. One chap said he rang on a Monday and was offered an appointment for Friday. No bad I thought in my best Robert De Niro expression. My surgery firstly has grossly objectionable frontline staff who are all dead behind the eyes and secondly think nothing of giving you an appointment for two weeks time. Their timescales are so ridiculous that if you time it well, you have your perfect excuse for bunking work all scheduled nicely!
Anyway, I digress. By the time breakfast was done. It was dishes, laundry and working on creating some semblance of a hygienic working area for gastronomic delights - tidying up the kitchen. This all done, I glance at my watch. WHAT?!! 2:30??!!
I hang the washed clothes, grab bag, keys and cardi and it's off to school for 3:30 - afternoon runs. Collect "little photocopy" and the three cousins minus one who is at dance until 4:30. I get two cousins home ask them to change quickly so that I can get home before picking up other cousin. It takes them over half an hour!! My life has ebbed in dead time due to the inability of two "little people" to hurry (my fault I should have terrorised or made threats to kill in the most maternal way possible). So end up schlepping back to school collect other cuz. Deliver a cooler box and I'm only just sticking the dinner on at 5:30 or thereabouts.
Three cousins are collected around 6, "little photocopy" eats around 7, is shooed off to bed by 8 and my filing is giving me sorry looks.
