Jury service!

I was a little nervous this morning and worried about getting to court on time so Keith dropped me off at about 8.45am. I'm glad I asked him to take me as the traffic was horrendous. I used to leave at 8am when I volunteered at the CAB and managed to get into town for about 8.35am so this morning was a particularly bad one!

I had to show my summons letter and we had our bags checked. I, of course, was frisked, as I always am, just like at the airport! Once inside the jurors' waiting room (think small airport departure lounge) we had to show ID and we were given expenses forms and a guide to what to expect.

I sat next to a very nervous lady but I realised most of us newbies were in the same boat and all a bit unsure of what to expect. We went to see a courtroom and then a lady from the catering team explained what happened about lunch and gave us meal vouchers for the ten days. We were also shown a video and then we had to wait. We had a television near us and were told we could change the channel if we wanted. One of the men sitting near us ran through the channels and found the Adult stations! That raised quite a titter, I can tell you! Funnily enough, I was called up with several of the people sitting near me, all of whom were very friendly.

At intervals one of the court officers appeared and read out our names. I was called to a particular court and fifteen of us went to the courtroom. I was chosen and then had to swear an oath and the jurors who weren't picked went back downstairs to see if they were needed on another case.

Obviously, I cannot say what happened in my case, but it was very interesting and although I was nervous to begin with the court staff were excellent. We broke for lunch and then went back until about 4pm but our case wasn't finished so we will be back tomorrow.

I walked to my car with another female juror that I had become friendly with, and Keith met me as I walked to the car park. By now it was dark so I was doubly glad Keith had come to pick me up!

We drove home (Soph and Mike were in the car as well) through extremely heavy traffic and it was bliss to relax after my day. It wasn't tiring in that we had to do physical stuff, more hard work on the brain with the concentrating and taking notes! I found it very interesting and enjoyable, which was a bonus!

Business as normal.

I was supposed to have started Jury Service today but they didn't have any new cases, so I was told to go in on Tuesday instead. I went to work as usual and mid-morning all of our phone lines went down! The office manager was in (being very loud as normal) and kept barking instructions at Sara to let customers know and to use an old number that had been kept, which was a good thing!

By 2pm it was all back to normal and I went to collect Sophie from work before heading home for a few brief minutes. I had told Lisa I was available on the Monday night and we only had six children in the after-school club, which was a bit disappointing. However, we played cards and Monopoly with them and the time passed very quickly.

I sped home at 6pm for a well-earned drink and at 9pm Sophie and I ventured out with Monty to walk around the estate for a few minutes. I was desperate for a better night's sleep (Keith has a cough at the moment and we were both awake from 2.30am until 5am) and hoped that getting out for a gentle walk would help!

Afternoon tea!

I didn't sleep very well last night as my son didn't get a lift home as planned. I woke up at 1.30am and asked Keith if he was home but he hadn't returned. I decided to text him but my message went unanswered (no surprise there). I got up at about 2.30am and stared out of the living room window for a while but gave up and went back to bed. Finally at 3am, after I'd called him, he texted me to say he was staying at a friend's house in Brixworth... I ended the message with a grumpy "Thanks for telling me!"

We awoke to a glorious day with beautiful, clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine. It's been cold too, but I much prefer that to the mild damp weather! Sophie and I went to get Mike and rather than being in Brixworth as he said, he was at a house in town, and was very tired and hungry. I had a short, sharp word about keeping in contact with me so I could sleep at night!

I took him to work at 12pm (he was shattered) and then drove home to get ready to go out with my Mum and Sophie for afternoon tea in Woburn. It took us an hour to get to the small Buckinghamshire town and after driving through the grounds of Woburn Abbey and seeing some deer, we parked and had a mooch around two lovely shops selling homeware and gifts.

Our afternoon tea at The Woburn Hotel was booked for 3pm and we were taken through to a lovely cosy lounge where Sophie and Mum sat on a sofa and I took one of the two armchairs. Our plates and cups were arranged on a small table and it was all very comfortable and warm. There wasn't a log fire but that didn't matter!

We enjoyed ham and mustard, egg and cress, cream cheese and cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches, followed by scones with jam and clotted cream and an assortment of cakes. There was lashings of hot tea and the staff were excellent and very friendly. My only gripe was the £4.85 we were charged for three tiny finger sandwiches of cheese for Sophie who wasn't keen on the selection in the afternoon tea.

We were all full long before we'd eaten all the offerings so we boxed up the leftover cakes and Mum took them home with her. We'd had a really lovely time and Mum had thoroughly enjoyed herself.

We took the scenic route home in the growing dusk and meandered through Newport Pagnell, Tyringham, Filgrave, Olney and Castle Ashby. We dropped Mum off at home and then sped over to Brixworth to get Mike from work. He had been waiting a little while and was freezing cold, bless him!

Sophie and I didn't fancy a big dinner in the evening so we made do with leftover pizza from the boys' tea!

Catch up Saturday!

It was bliss this morning to not have to rush anywhere - apart from taking Sophie to work - and when we returned, I made a list of all the things I had got behind with. The last three days have been a bit hectic and even the poor birds in the garden were running out of food! Saturdays have lately been a day when I can finally catch up with myself and take a breather!

I caught up with writing this, tidied up the conservatory and sorted out some paperwork, as well as doing lots of little jobs that I'd delayed because of lack of time. I even managed to order a new phone and was kept hanging on for ages when I tried to cancel my old phone contract. I gave up in the end!

I took Mike to Brixworth at lunchtime as he is off to a party tonight and told me he was getting a lift home. It's only in the next village so that was reassuring!

Keith and I picked up Sophie in the evening and enjoyed a delicious coq au vin for dinner. The season of Christmas films has started and the adverts are beginning to appear on the TV! It's only six weeks away!

Another busy day!

I knew this week would go by very quickly and I was proved right! Where does the time go?

I was at work again at 8am and this time took some crosswords in with me to complete between phone calls. We were very quiet indeed and Sara has promised me that she will give me some extra work to do as the time drags if we are not busy taking calls.

I was able to get away at 2pm and rushed home to have a quick lunch before starting work again. Lisa had decided to put on film night again so we watched Happy Feet but the children were very distracted this afternoon and kept getting up, turning around and even fighting! I threatened to turn the film off and make them all sit and look at one another, and that seemed to work for a short while!

I suggested to Lisa that we try and take them out into the playground before the film to try and get them to burn off some energy so we'll try that next week (if I'm there...my Jury service has been delayed until Tuesday but I don't know what other days I'll be needed).

After the film we played games with the children before their parents arrived. One of the mums then happened to say there'd been a bad accident on the road that Keith normally takes to bring Mike back from college, so my blood ran cold. After calling home and getting no answer (and imagining all sorts of things) Sophie called me back to say there were all back and had been for some while (and hadn't even been on the road in question!).

Because of the road being closed, we anticipated that one of the boys would be late staying with us as his mum had had to turn around and use a different route. However, she used her brain and called her sister who lives nearby and he was collected before 6pm so we could go home as normal.

I sped home and Sophie and I relaxed with a glass of wine before preparing dinner. Yippee! It's Friday evening!

Birthday celebrations!

I was at work at 8am today and unfortunately the office was a lot noisier than last week! In between phone calls I wrote some of my novel as I had used up all the data on my phone which was very annoying! I need to get a new one, with some urgency, soon!

At 2pm I rushed off like a mad thing and collected Sophie from uni. We then sped home where I hastily gobbled a sandwich and went to my second job. On days like this I do wonder if it's a good idea to have two jobs with so little time between them. I always feel very stressed as it approaches 2pm and dread getting a long and complicated call about two minutes before my session ends as it could really delay me getting home.

As the weather was dry today we took the children out for almost an hour and watched some of the Year 6 pupils practising for a Strictly Come Dancing evening at the Derngate in Northampton. I admired their teacher who showed great patience with them all!

At 6pm I rushed off home again and picked up my family as we were all off to see my Mum and have a quick birthday drink with her. Their friends, Garry and Gloria, were still there and had been enjoying a small buffet with Prosecco. My Mum was thrilled with her presents and cards and we toasted her birthday with a glass of fizz.

We left at about 7.30pm and called into the chippy in Broughton for dinner. It was bliss to finally get home, enjoy our meal and then catch up with Modern Family. Keith, much to my surprise, had bought me a bottle of whisky in the shopping and made me a drink as I relaxed. He's a hero!

A friend in need!

It's been a gorgeous day today with clear blue skies and sunshine. My friend Lynda had asked me to take her to Leicester this morning as she had an appointment for some work to be done on her teeth and as she was having a sedative, she needed someone to drive her home.

I picked her up at 8.15am and we headed out to the M1 in heavy rush hour traffic. Thankfully, the motorway wasn't too busy and very soon we were turning off at Junction 21 and driving into the city centre. Lynda guided me to where the dental surgery was and we parked on a side street nearby.

Her appointment was for two hours so I sat in the waiting room and read my Kindle until she was all done. At 12pm the nurse came down from the treatment room and asked if I could go and get a prescription for her a few doors away at a pharmacy.

By the time I got back to the surgery, Lynda was all ready to go but I had to sign a form saying I was responsible for her which was a bit of a shock! We returned home and I started to get a wee bit worried about the time as we were still on the M1 at 1pm and I had to start work at 3pm!

However, I dropped her off at about 1.30pm after making sure she would be OK on her own. I really wish she would have let me take her to her Mum's house, but she refused. I sped off to McDonald's to get myself something to eat and called Sophie who gave me her order as well. I drove to uni and we sat and ate our lunch in the car!

Back home I took Mike to Brixworth and then headed into work where we took the children out for a good half an hour to make the most of the beautiful, if slightly chilly, day. We also played a couple of games of Monopoly so that was good. I'm being paid to do this!

After the session ended I dashed home to get Keith and Sophie and we drove to Brixworth to pick up Mike who had been seeing friends. I bought some beer for the boys in the very busy Co-op and then it was finally home to relax with a glass of wine and 90 Day Fiance! Bliss!