Keith took me to work this morning as Mike had been hinting about going to Abbie's house. As we were officially closed, we had to wait at the back entrance for one of the duty officers to let us in, which he did at about 7.45am, thankfully!
It was a gorgeous morning and we all trooped in, well aware that thousands of emails had been sent over the weekend when we were closed and the phones turned off. We couldn't do anything until Nicola came in and then there was a meeting about the best way of coping with the thousands of requests to freeze memberships.
I was able to do a few quick admin jobs and then we were given tasks to do, almost like a conveyor belt in a factory! I tackled the emails from Friday evening and filled out a form with the details. However, as soon as I was tackling them, new ones were appearing from today! As well as Joanne and I who normally work on a Monday, there were three other staff members in and Sheila was dashing about doing the banking. It's our end of year next week, as well! Sara was dealing with refunds and then made a start on the top of the email list - there were still almost 1200 emails to deal with.
By 1pm, we heard that the company who administer all of our direct debits were going to take over so we did as much as we could as the names and details were going onto a spreadsheet. Before we left we had a very quick meeting to say that today was our last day and that, thankfully, we would be paid while we were off. To say we are lucky is the understatement of the year.
I said goodbye to my colleagues and walked out, feeling very emotional. I just prayed that it wouldn't be long before I'd be walking back in and looking down at the sports hall with people playing early games of badminton and a fitness class going on.
Keith met me and we went home to start arranging for Mum and Dad to go into The Hawthorns, as I've managed to change their minds. With the way things are going, nobody will be allowed out soon and I really don't fancy doing shopping for two households! We called to see them and they were relieved but a little apprehensive, I think. I keep assuring them that it's a trial month and they can return home at the end of it if it doesn't work out.
Sophie came home a lot earlier than usual as the roads were so quiet. With Keith, she cooked a delicious beef curry for dinner padded out with lots of vegetables. We're having to use things up in the fridge and freezer for a while, which is no bad thing!
At 8.30pm, Boris gave a speech to the nation and said that from now on we all have to stay at home and only go out for truly essential items. I am just so glad that we're going into Spring and Summer - can you imagine what it would be like if it was November and Christmas was looming? It doesn't bear thinking about!
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