OK, long time no waffle. I apologise if anyone has been waiting for some! Partly too busy, partly Blogger not publishing what I was writing (hopefully fixed now via a change of template) and partly cos I've been off work and thus additionally busy. Why is it that being at home when you would expect to have all the free time you want actually means no time to think at all?

Anyway, where was I?

Friday 4th April was the day after I'd been ill on the way to work. Woke up still feeling fairly bad but not as bad as Joan. I stayed at home late in order to take her to the Doctor as she really was not well. Some sort of sinus/chest infection jobby that had also produced a nasty looking rash on her legs. Not fun. I won't go into all the gory details and stuff on here but suffice it to say another three visits and four different types of tablet later (including some that stopped her from going out in sunlight and couldn't be taken with milk) she is finally back at work today. Suffering is not quite the word for what she has been through so it is quite nice to finally see her up and about again. I was a bit worried for a while.

I can't recall much of what was done on what day after that as I was just busy working when at work and looking after Joan when at home. But basically that pattern continued until the 15th which also happened to be Richard's 30th Birthday. Joan was fit enough by that point for them all to come round for an hour or so in order for him to have presents. The 16th was Helen's birthday and also my last day at work for a while.

She popped along to see Joan in the afternoon while I got taken out to lunch along with the rest of the group as a "thank you" for all the work we had put in getting the revised rural bus services in and publicised. The plan was to go for a pizza but it seems Pizza Hut refuse to take bookings during the school holidays and when we got there the place was full up to busting. So we went to the pub instead. Had smothered chicken which was fairly nice but not up to Garfunkels standard, and not what I will have should I ever eat there again.

Anyway, getting home that night was pure bliss as I am also back at work today for the first time since then.

OK, so Thursday the 17th was not a particularly fun day for me as I had the first of my Wisdom Teeth out. Only the one as the lower one on the right never developed in the first place. As I'd never had any teeth pulled out before I wasn't sure what to expect. And apart from all the hanging around due to Mr Norfolk running late, waiting for the drugs to kick in etc it wasn't actually too bad. OK, so him pulling felt like pushing and I am still not keen for tomorrow to come but I survived. No major bleeding or anything, just a bit of discomfort for the next few days and a couple of meals worth of soft, squidgy food. Hopefully it will be the same tomorrow despite it being 2 this time. Must remember to buy some pain killers just in case though.

After that though it was time for relaxing, eating Easter eggs and so forth. Or so I thought. Wrong!

Despite the solemn vow last year after all the painting and stuff that we were not going to do any decorating during 2003, I still seem to have spent large chunks of the last week up to my elbows in paint. OK, so I knew I would have to do four doors as they were newly hung (probably mentioned above) and in need of a top coat, but I didn't anticipate doing the kitchen as well. And not just the door! Still, it looks much better blue than it did in green. We even replaced the roller blinds with vertical venetian ones with no real fuss or bother. I do have to confess to being happy with ther result even if I didn't want to do it. Definitely nothing else getting painted in our house this year. The garden of course is another matter, as we bought a load of paint for the fence yesterday. Does it ever stop?

We did manage a whole day of relaxy stuff sort of by virtue of coming in to Ipswich on Thursday last. Did a spot of shopping (woo, new pedal bin for kitchen, new trousers for me) and had a reasonable lunch at The Rep. Joan's was wonderful, mine a bit bland. We had planned to eat in Pals, but just as we had made our minds up the fire alarms for the whole Buttermarket centre went off so we were forced to relocate. Also went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner that night as Grandma was up for a few days. Good time had by all.

Despite not having taken a tablet for a couple of weeks now, I am still having the odd dodgy dizzy moment with increasingly fewer electric shock zappy feelings. Still feel a bit sick of a morning and indeed there have been a couple more throwing up incidents, although fortunately not while in the car. Very odd, but no way I'm going back ont he damn things now.

So now I am back at work and find once again that while I've been off the book production has gone all to pot and back again. Sonic nit-picking basically meaning something needs changing on nearly every page, but of course he isn't in today or tomorrow to clarify what he means by some of them so nothing is going to get done until Wednesday at the very least. I sometimes wonder why I even bother.

Oh, and we have managed to find the time to watch a shedload of films since I last posted but I haven't got the energy to mention them all now. Perhaps next time...