Decisions, decisions!

 It's unbelievable that today is the last day of September... where has this month gone? I'm glad it's October tomorrow, though, as this month has been a touch stressful!

I was in at work from 10am until 2pm, and the shift passed very pleasantly. I sped off to get Mike, and then it was home for a quick change before Keith and I went over to Howden's in Kettering.

The weather has turned today, and it was chilly, rainy and windy. I had a pair of fabric sandals on, which were definitely the wrong choice for the conditions today! We met Matt at Howden's who has taken over from Georgia, and he seemed in a terrible rush, and mostly unaware of what our design looked like. I was unimpressed again...surely, if you know you have a meeting about a kitchen you would look at the design first?

He asked us lots of questions (such as which appliances we wanted, sinks, door handles etc) and I felt like we were being put on the spot. It all felt very hurried and not at all what I was expecting. He ran off downstairs to grab a more technical design of the kitchen and asked if we had a builder/fitter yet. We have been in touch with someone who project manages lots of different trades, and who has some great reviews, so he went off to call him while we waited in the depressing upstairs room. I played about with the kitchen doors and the worktops, but I felt very disappointed with the rushed meeting.

Matt came back upstairs and finally revealed the cost - around £12000 but if we took delivery next week and arranged storage at nearby premises, they could knock the VAT off, thereby reducing the price to just over £10000. This price was certainly in our budget, bringing the total cost to just under £20000 with the building works and fitting, but without any flooring, lighting, tiling or the new fridge freezer.

Again, with the stress on taking delivery next week to take advantages of the sale, I felt like we were being put on the spot. Spending this amount of money and then having to live with any mistakes we might make just felt wrong to me. Plus, we have had so much upheaval this year and in the last few months especially, that I was inclined to wait until the new year.

We said we would let him know by the end of business tomorrow and drove to Aldi to get something for dinner tonight. I fancied something warming and comforting, so we chose some thick vegetable and beef soups, a couple of loaves of sourdough bread and berry crumble for dessert. I also put some olives and hummus crisps in the basket to enjoy before dinner.

We sloshed our way home and talked about the kitchen. I am so wary of making a big mistake and then having to live with the consequences, so I felt that we should wait and do some more research. The man from Harborough Kitchens has still not delivered his design and quote, so I'm going to call them tomorrow and find out what's happened.

Keith watched Newcastle play its evening, and I prepared dinner which was hardly an onerous task!

Catching up.

 I tried to make use of the couple of hours before I started work this morning by changing our bedding, but I confess I'm not keen on these new hours! I like to be up and out, and then finish early!

Keith took me into work as Sophie was working from her office today, which meant two trips there and then two trips back in the afternoon. I'm also finding that parking at almost 10am is difficult, so not good! Yes, I know I'm being moany!

In all fairness, Nicola did ask our opinion about the new hours this morning, and we all said that they weren't ideal. Understandably, we can't go back to how it was after just a few days, but the hope is we can revert back in November when all the furloughed staff return to work. Let's keep fingers crossed!

After the first flurry of calls again, we had a very quiet shift with about 150 calls between the five of us! At one point we were handling over 100 calls each during the shift! I did a lot of cinema work, which I find very enjoyable, plus I dealt with some whiney emails!

At 4pm Keith collected me, and I popped to the Co-op at Moulton to buy some food for the collection this evening. At home, I tidied up, sent the proof of sale off to Mum and Dad's home insurance company and then welcomed my ex-neighbour and friend, Sarah around. We had said on the residents' Facebook page that we had some Nespresso pods to give away and she said she could make use of them. It was an ideal excuse to sit and have a good chat as we hadn't seen each other for about a year!

Sophie arrived home looking very glamorous and asked about Hannah, Sarah's daughter, who she used to be good friends with. I can't believe that the children, who were at Primary school together, are now lovely young women!

Keith cooked a delicious curry in the evening and then we watched an hour or so of The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton, who was very pleasing on the eye!

A storm brewing...

Traditionally, at about this time of the year, I list the storm names for the Autumn/Winter season.

Here they are for this year:

Aiden

Bella

Christoph

Darcy

Evert

Fleur

Gavin

Heulwen (different!)

Ian

Julia

Klaas

Lilah

Minnie

Naia

Oscar

Phoebe

Ravi

Saidhbhin

Tobias

Vince

Wilson

 I wonder if we'll ever get to Wilson!

New working hours

 Today was the first day of our new hours - 10am until 4pm - which seems to me to be a crazy idea. What about people that work all day and need to call us about something?

I looked at Google maps first thing and noticed a huge jam on the A45 caused by, I later found out, a lorry shedding its load. I'm just glad that Sophie wasn't going into work as she would have been seriously held up! I warned my colleagues but when the time came for all of us to leave and start work, the road had been cleared.

It felt very strange to be at home past 8am this morning. At work, at 10am, there were four of us answering the phones, and Denise was also in to make calls to prospective members, so the noise level was very loud when all of us were on the phone at the same time! And that happened a lot! At one point we had about ten calls in the queue but it did quieten down slightly as the day wore on.

At 4pm we all logged off, and before going home the four of us had a chat about the new hours. None of us like the new regime at all as it gives us little time to do anything else at home. I yearn for my old hours back - they suited me so well and gave me a lovely work/life balance. I am now working Wednesdays, which was never the idea, and Jo said she hates going in on a Friday as this used to be her day off to spend with her husband.

By the time I arrived home, it was 4.30pm and after changing, I set about calling Sky and then Mum and Dad's home insurance company to cancel their policy. Sky, surprisingly, was great and very understanding, and even the company that provided their home and contents insurance arranged for me to email them with the proof they had moved, so that was easier than expected. 

I did an hour's paperwork before relaxing with Keith in the conservatory and playing cards. Sophie cooked a meaty pasta bake from scratch and it was delicious!

More progress made...

 We've had another very busy day trying to restore order to the house, and sort out the various boxes and bags! Keith went into the garage and managed to clear a lot of space, and as soon as he was able, he popped to Aldi to get food for dinner tonight. Our shopping regime has been sorely disrupted!

When he returned, we went to the tip with a load of stuff from our garage, including an old weights bench that I've been trying to get rid of for years! I sorted out the shelves and stored everything away tidily so we were pleased with the progress we made.

Inside, I sorted out Mum and Dad's paperwork and put it all into folders in a small filing cabinet they have. This will make it easier when I have to contact all the various companies to end services or subscriptions next week. We also managed to take one of our old and tatty leather sofas out to the garage and put one of the new ones in its place. The conservatory will be lovely and cosy when they're both in!

Bit by bit we were beginning to restore order, and Keith and I made another trip to the tip with more stuff we didn't need any more. Why we kept some of it, I'll never know! My poor car was in a right state from all the rubbish so I hoovered the boot and used some upholstery cleaner on the front passenger seat that had chocolate smeared all over it. Another irritation from the last few days!

Sophie had a video chat with Daisy and Laura in the afternoon and Mike called from Euston to say he was on the train and heading home. Keith and I went down to pick him up from the station, and while Keith had a bath I prepared dinner of roast chicken. We had decided to buy ready cooked chickens and just do some roast potatoes with them, bubble and squeak from last night's veggies and some ready-cooked Yorkshire puddings. When that had all been done it was my turn to soak in the bath, which was much-needed as I ached all over!

Sorting out!

Last Tuesday, Sophie had taken a coronavirus test as she had been sent a request to take part in a survey. It was uncomfortable for her, (especially sticking the swab up her nose) but it came back negative this morning, which was a relief for all of us.

We faced a weekend of hard work and, as well as sorting out Mum and Dad's stuff, we needed to get rid of some things of our own to make room in the garage. To be honest, I didn't know where to start as there were boxes and bags everywhere!

We spent the day sorting through everything and Keith made lots more room in the garage for boxes. It will do us good to have a clear-out as we hoard things as well! We had made tentative plans to go to Market Harborough for a cup of tea and a slice of cake, but the weather has been terrible, with a nasty, chilly wind and rain. Not a great idea to be walking about in the open air!

Sophie and I did venture out to the charity shop in the afternoon and I popped to the Co-op in Moulton to buy some nibbles for lunch. We had a rest and enjoyed our late lunch of olives, red pepper hummus and breadsticks washed down with a "fake" Negroni. It was so cold we put the heating on in the house and in the conservatory!

I made Keith set up the new television this morning - he kept putting it off as he was afraid he'd lose the picture completely, and in-between shifting stuff about he did manage to catch some sport!

By the early evening, we'd all had enough of sorting through boxes and trying to find room for everything. Keith had prepared beef casserole with dumplings for dinner - perfect fare for such a cold and miserable day!

After we'd eaten we watched Enemy of the State starring Will Smith. On the new television, it was great to watch and made an enjoyable end to a somewhat hectic day!

An emotional day.

I took Sophie to work this morning so that I could use her car and met Keith at Mum and Dad's house to do the final cleaning and meter reading. We still had a load of stuff to take to the tip so we did that (without any wait) and then headed back to read the meters and mop the kitchen floor.

I called the estate agent to say we had vacated the property and we left the key in the little box by the front door. When we finally locked up and walked away, I did shed a few tears. My parents had only lived there for four years, and my Mum was sometimes unhappy in the house, but it was still emotional, nonetheless. 

We went home, and I emailed the meter readings to a local woman who is a representative for the company that supplied their gas and electricity. Our own house is a complete mess at the moment - a little like one of those hoarding programmes where you have to climb over stuff to get anywhere. We're determined to sort it out as much as we can over the weekend.

I had a meeting at the care home at 1.30pm so, after trying to get through to Sky to cancel Mum and Dad's subscription, I tidied myself up, put some make-up on to look vaguely human, and drove over to Kettering. I was hoping to finish in time to go and get Mike from work, but he had warned us he might finish early so he could get ready for his trip down to London to see Abbie.

I told the care home staff that we had sold Mum and Dad's house, and said that I wanted to bring some of their stuff in for them, namely pictures and ornaments, as well as some photo albums and books. I wasn't there for very long and stopped outside Mum's window to call her, but she didn't answer the phone. I then called Keith but he had obviously gone to get Mike so I headed home where I remembered I hadn't had any lunch yet!

Mike was catching the 4pm train, which was good timing as I needed to collect Sophie at 4.30pm. We set off and became embroiled with terrible traffic in Kingsthorpe. I was worried we'd be late, but we made it with five minutes to spare! Phew!

I had to wait a while for Sophie but I was content to read my book in the car and relax. It had been a hectic day! Back home I took Keith to the pub as he was shattered and then it was back to enjoy a glass of red. The weather has been cold today with a nasty, sharp wind that had us putting the heating on this evening! Brr!