Well my friends I cannot lie, this morning I cried out of utter frustration and the ties that bind us in the name of bureaucracy and lack of common sense. No DBS. I rang and I may as well have spoken to my bottle of perfume; it would have had more empathy. The DBS check has been with the police for 50 days now; they have 60 days to reply - that is 60 consecutive days. If I do not hear by then, I, yes I, have to ask for it to be chased up and then the Police have a further ten, working days this time (of course it is) to conclude their check! I will not be working in August. I am so angry. I have had CRB, MOJ and DBS checks for years and in the meantime my savings, which I have worked all my life for, are diminishing daily. So I cried. Went to the gym. Cried. Then sorted myself out. Hello Monday and here starts another week.
Monday: After the gym I come back to the flat and have caught up on BBC1 in Ibiza. Watched Rudimental, Calvin Harris and now watching old Pete Tong at the Albert Hall. How I missed that I will never know. So angry about it and what a fun night it looked too. Had a 90 minute phone call with my dear friend Jackie in Stoke (we haven't spoken for two weeks as she has been away) and we caught up on all the news and gossip. It is so lovely when I hear from people. I was going to walk up the library and get a book on vegetable gardening but it looks a bit gloomy out there now and to be honest I can't be bothered. But hey, looks like I have plenty of time ........ sigh.
Tuesday: One of the great things of living in London are the transport links. Today I met up with Sarah my friend from the Meet Up group. She come to the bus stop outside of my flat and we caught the bus up to Hampstead Heath. This has been on my hit list of places to visit. Sarah, as you may recall, is off on a trip to Iceland, America, Mexico and Argentina - how envious am I. And the clock is ticking for her trip. Oh to be able to shrink to get into a bag. The bus cost the princely sum of £1.50. Hampstead Heath is wonderful. The view from Parliament Hill is breathtakingly stunning. London is a wonderful city.
We had a lovely few hours just walking around, getting lost at times (well not really lost). We went to Kenwood House and had a drink in the cafe. The weather was cloudy, blue skies a touch of rain - usual British summer. But it really was a lovely day and Sarah and I were chatting all the time. We have a great deal in common, being the same age and we have shared many childhood memories that we feel have shaped our adult lives. It is is a shame she is off on her travels soon, but like I said to her, if I can get out to see her in the next couple of years I will. But I think I will have to win the lottery first. But as I always say, there is hope. Also, you can all click on the ads on this blog lol and that will generate a few pence :)
Needless to say I slept very well on Tuesday night.
Wednesday: Today, once again thanks to Facebook, I met up with an old Primary school friend, Richard Baker. We went through school together up until the age of 11. It was so funny as he looked exactly the same but an adult! Crazy. We were recalling stories of when we were aged between 5-11 years old. Richard could remember people and that reminded me of them and we laughed and shared so many stories. We both have a fond memory of Caran d'ache crayons, even after all these years. Things that were important to us then have remained with us all these years later. But I really do think that we need to organise a reunion now. How great would that be?
Meeting my old school friends the past few weeks has been totally amazing. It has reminded me that OK we may be getting older in years but we really haven't changed. We all had dreams when we were younger and some of us have fulfilled them; whilst others have not. But don't you think it is wonderful that after all these years, we still want to meet each other and to spend time with each other. We grew up in homes where there was a (probably) rented black and white TV, we played out all day, every day, in the school holidays, there was no internet or Xbox. But here we are some 40 years later using all this wonderful technology to find each other again. That for me is totally priceless.
Thursday: I had to wait in today as my new FitBit has arrived, courtesy of FitBit who have replaced it free of charge. How great is that? You may recall I lost my original device, probably in St James' Park back at the start of July. I contacted them to see if they were able to locate it or do something and this is the result. A total replacement. I am chuffed. I have now purchased some additional bands to wear with it so that if the clasp does come undone again, it will not full off. So a quiet, boring day really. I resisted the temptation to check anything .................. what is the point?
Friday: Don't you just hate it when you have had a terrible night's sleep. Firstly, I had lovely clean sheets. I swear, if I ever won the lottery (and let's face it that is not going to happen is it) I would have clean sheets every day (OK well I probably wouldn't but you know what I mean). I had a quick shower before bed, covered myself in lovely smellies, got into bed and boom ........ eyes wide awake. Midnight, one o'clock, two o'clock ...... finally sleep until, yes you guessed it 3.33. What is it with me still, after four years, waking at 3.33. Back to sleep and wide awake for 6 o'clock. So today is going to be a long day. I have a couple of options but to be honest not sure what I am going to end up doing. But hey, you know me, every day is an opportunity.
Well it is no Monday and I don't have a clue what I did on Friday. This is the problem, every day just feels the same. Well I have looked at my photos and now now what I did..... I went to Westfield at Stratford on the tube. Westfield is a huge shopping centre and it was great, I really liked it there. I do not particularly care for shopping these days but it was OK there. Never got much a few bits and bobs that you can't get local. But I had a lovely Papaya salad at a Thai place, it was like being back in Bangkok .... except it was much more expensive.
Papaya salad and iced lemon tea - delicious
Westfield has a lot of food outlets from around the world, amazing. It obviously it has the usual KFC, Pizza Hut etc but also some small independent outlets. Also, they have these really cool lookers where you can recharge your phone or iPad free of charge. You get 30 minutes free charge, all secure and safe. How great is that, especially if you have an iPhone like me and it just eats up the battery. This is the way to go. Charging stations ...... bring them on!
Treated myself to a lovely new cape thing for the winter, very artsy and I love it. But I don't want it to be cold just yet. You know me, it could be summer all day long.
Back to the flat and a lazy Friday evening watching Sex and the City and chilling. London life really does suit me.
As always, with my love x
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