* Lots of extra work and running around was done at The Store to cover for Supervisor while on holiday.
Due to my being poorly bad with allergies far severer than normal, however, no overtime was done by me. My regular 5 hours was all they got; it was all I could cope with.
And actually, considering how ill I was feeling, they were extremely lucky that they got even that.
* Mother's concert has been and gone. The attendant support from our family was thus: The Grandpapa, The Great Aunt, Aunt Amanda (she of the "Bugger Me" post, fame), Uncle G1 and of course yours truly.
The music was, as always, superb. The people in charge of selecting the music tend to make excellent choices from the wide range pieces and composers that have been crammed into the simplified and oft' misunderstood category of "Classical Music", and as usual, I wasn't disappointed. All three pieces were sublime and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
If forced to choose, I would say that my favourite was the second of the Orchestral Committee's choices; composed by Edvard Grieg (he of the Morcambe and Wise 'Piano Concerto' sketch fame). It is called 'Peer Gynt: Suites No.1 and No.2', though it is commonly known simply as 'Peer Gynt', and it is totally brilliant. Each individual movement is amazing on its own and together (when you join the two suites up there are eight in all) a fascinating and dramatic story is told. If you haven't heard it, I advise you do so, post haste. Buy the record/cassette/CD/MP3 Download/whatever, rent it from the library, borrow it from a friend or family member, type the title into YouTube (it's there; I checked), telephone in a request to a radio station...however you do it, do it. It is (in my opinion) worth it.
* The Grandpapa's 80th birthday was a success. The celebrations started on the 5th July with my mother's concert and carried on right through the week - his actual birthday being on 8th July - to a grand family day out on Severn Valley Railway on 12th (which due to my concert, I couldn't attend). The week through; presents and cards were received in plenty, games were played and enjoyed, laughter and merriment abounded, food and drink of the tastiest (and naughtiest) kind flowed in an unending stream and good times generally were had by all (but especially, of course, by him).
On a personal level, also, I got to do something that I haven't managed to arrange for some time and spend an afternoon with him in his flat. Just the three of us; me, him and Bingo (my dog was an essential element to proceedings) relaxing together on our own with no-one else to bother us. We watched a film and then a couple of Inspector Morse episodes; drank (a lot) of weak, inexpensive wine; ate sausage sandwiches and a whole host of other scrumptious and totally-bad-for-you stuff; lounged companionably on his luxurious leather sofa; spoiled the dog with unsuitable treats and excessive tummy rubbing. He dozed off towards the end of the afternoon, and with him and the dog snoring gently I helped myself to yet more food (I am so incurably greedy. If nice food is there, I eat until it is gone) and settled down with my notepad to get a bit of writing done. It was a comfortable day, a slow day, an uninhibited day; two people stepping off the narrow track of life and kicking back to enjoy one another's company in an afternoon of slovenly inactivity. It was a wonderful day and I don't know about him, but it was just what I needed.
* The Kidderminster Choral Society's annual Summer Singing concert was held yesterday evening and was a roaring success. Just like mother's orchestra, the choice of music was impeccable, but (unlike any production given by mother's orchestra) incredibly informal and relaxed. The performers were dressed in a variety of outfits - the only instruction being "if you can, fit in a bit of red, white and blue to symbolize the Union Jack" - and the audience were involved to such an extent that, particularly during the progression of HMS Pinafore, they were openly swaying and bopping along with the music and singing along (whether they knew the words, or not). The first half was short; five or six Madrigals and a solo each given by the two lovely and breathtakingly talented young ladies that were later to play the parts of Josephine and Cousin Hebe. Then after the interval the play (and the real fun) began.
It was 10:45-PM by the time mother and I finally crawled through the door on hands and knees to be greeted by a wagging dog and a stiff drink. It had been a very long and hard day for both of us (for differing reasons), but we both agreed that in spite of the difficulties it had been (again, for differing reasons) a successful one.
Choir will reconvene again in September to begin preparations for the next concert. The other two main concerts of the year are far more stately and decorous. No unseemly behaviour to be found there; Concert Etiquette expected. The Christmas Concert is as unruly as the Summer one, however - more so, in fact - and in any case, being a part of a 'Formal' production is fun too; just in a different way.
I wonder what we will be singing...
* As previously mentioned, I have been poorly bad. I don't know why it is, but my allergies are far worse than normal; to the extent that rather than merely being miserably uncomfortable I can barely function.
I hope that this is just an anomaly rather than the new norm. I don't think I can cope with feeling as though I am coming down with a chest infection for three quarters of the year.
* Due to the excesses of the previous week I have gained 3lbs of the 10lbs I had previously lost back, putting me back over the 18-Stone threshold by a 1/4 of an lb. I did not, however lose control and completely give in (...well, other than that Thursday at The Grandpapa's...) so in spite of the gain, I still feel that overall I am winning. Hopefully I will lose the 3lbs over the course of the next couple of weeks and then be on track again and not behind by too much.
I wish that I could blame The Grandpapa, or rather his birthday, for my slip from the rocky upward Path Toward Healthiness, but of course I can't.Tempting though it was - and boy! It was - nobody forced me to eat anything I shouldn't have, especially not in the quantities that I did. The fault is entirely mine. I have nobody to blame but myself; nobody at all.
=SIGH=
That really sucks.
* No more strawberries have been had. This is bad. The season will be over soon. I must rectify the situation before it is too late.
* I seem to be working on two stories at once. My brain is flitting between the two of them and I find myself writing a few paragraphs of one - if that - before being forced to turn my attention to the other.
This sounds fine in theory. The problem with it is that bits from each tale are sneaking in through the back door and incorporating themselves firmly into the wrong plot, which of course is not only confusing and frustrating but at the same time wastes a good deal of time while I endeavour to sort the resulting mess out.
Still. In the case of one of them, it looks as though it might actually work - at least to a point - so maybe it isn't such a bad thing. Perhaps there is some method in the ongoing madness of my imagination after all.
Just a little. You never know.
.....and, that's it.
Wow. That doesn't sound like a lot, does it, for two weeks? I have barely accomplished anything, have I?
Oh dear.
There must be more than that, surely?
.....well, I did an awful lot of sitting down not doing much and avoiding housework. But that doesn't count because I've been poorly bad. That sort of behaviour is allowed when you are poorly bad.
And I cooked a batch of spaghetti bolognese sauce to put in the feezer. And two casseroles. And a curry. And my cheaty version of Chicken Kiev. That's not too bad.
And I've walked the dog, of course.
Sort of.
Short walks.
Probably too short, actually (but it's just been so hot!).
And I sent a bunch of polite e-mails demanding refunds for The Grandmama from Amazon.
And -
...And...?
OK, that appears to be it. But it's added a bit on, hasn't it? I haven't been a total waste of space the past fortnight. Right?
(...this is your cue to say "right"...)
=SIGHS=
Alice x
PS: ooh, ooh; I've got another one! I helped Best Friend 3 with her shopping. Twice. See? That's productive. That's being useful. That's contributing.
Yep.
=nods=
I feel much better now.
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