A fond farewell...

Last night, our wonderful town council informed people who had taken over our three sites, a big operator called Everyone Active, who already run leisure centres in Daventry and Moulton, and have places all over the country. We braced ourselves for a barrage of calls from customers this morning, and Sara was asked to stay behind in the office with us to help, rather than go to our new place of work.

When the lines opened at 10am, it wasn't manic at all, which was a relief! Gradually, our office was emptied and computers, chairs and cupboards put into a van. Nicola kept throwing stuff out of her office and lugging shredding bags about! It was mayhem!

My desk

Looking down towards Sara's desk

Over to Sheila's desk

I tackled as many emails as I could and tried to ignore the chaos all around! I was very glad I had a short day again, and finished at 1pm! I said goodbye to some of the staff who were staying at the centre before I left and had hugs, which was lovely. I have to admit to feeling a bit tearful! This month and last have been a tad traumatic. I think I will be glad when 2025 is over!

I headed home under grey skies and collected the funeral wheelchair and Keith, and we drove to Kettering. I made an appointment with Lloyd to talk about a pre-paid plan for my Mum, and then we popped to Tesco, as I needed more Christmas cards. 

I was able to buy cards for my Mum, but they didn't have any more boxes of cards, which was annoying! I paid for the two I bought, but when we got to the car, Keith noticed I had bought a card for "My Wife"... grrrrr! I had to go back into the store, explain that I didn't have a wife, and swap it for "My Mum"! What an idiot I am!

We trundled off to the care home, and Keith sat and read the newspaper while I chatted to Mum for an hour. She seemed a little brighter today, but still isn't eating a lot, which is worrying. I made her eat a chocolate, and it was nice to sit and chat and watch A Place in the Sun.

Back home, Keith and I pootled about, and when Sophie returned from work, she had a huge box of gifts to be wrapped for a Christmas office do on Friday. Some presents were traditional (chocolates, gift cards) while others were jokey (Brillo pads, cloths and washing up liquid). We cleverly disguised them and put the pack of Brillo pads right in the middle of a huge box!

It took Sophie over an hour to wrap everything, and thankfully, Keith had already prepared tonight's dinner of chilli con carne with rice. After we'd eaten, we watched another episode of Shetland from series nine. The chilly conditions on screen matched our chilly house, as we hadn't turned the heating on tonight, for some reason, and I just knew the temperature had plummeted outside!