Fun Monday # 9 A day in the life of, or my life in a day!!

On this our ninth 'Fun Monday' enidd challenged us to write a post describing a typical day in our life. She encouraged us to make you laugh, cry, paint pictures, draw cartoons or even carve vegetables. I'm not sure that the humdrum life I lead will do any of these well maybe you'll cry with boredom!!

I would like to be telling you I woke up with the sun streaming through the windows to be greeted with breakfast in bed together with the daily newspaper which I read leisurely before taking a luxurious shower. The reality is that I was awoken abruptly around 6 am with hubby bumping into the wardrobe as he tried to find clothes he needed for work without turning on the light. Now bearing in mind I did not go to bed until after 1 am this still felt like the middle of the night, I did manage to drift off for another hour or so and when I finally got up it looked like it was going to be a dull overcast day. The sun did emerge by mid-morning but it has remained cold and windy all day, with a brief hale storm earlier this afternoon.

Having been away last week I knew I had a lot to cram into this particular Monday. The first thing was to get a couple of loads of laundry done and put outside to dry (weather is an important factor here in UK and I don't have a tumble dryer). I did a little cropping with the photo as I decided not to give anyone the opportunity to make wisecracks about what's on show (I'll just say Bridget Jones and leave it to the imagination). Ok I'm being a spoil sport and have ignored enidd's instructions to make you laugh!!

I made breakfast, making sure I took my mother a fresh jug of water (this is twice daily task as its too heavy for her to carry) then I sat at the computer to eat and catch up on reading some more of the posts I missed last week. I also listen to the radio at the same time. This is where I can get totally carried away and loose all track of time so after 9am news I dived upstairs quickly showered, washed and dried my hair and came down to sort out the shopping list for my mother, collected together the things to take to bank and post office (bank and PO are in different directions and I usually try and walk). My mother who is supposed to have her shopping list ready by Monday morning (she never does) and was busy asking me to add items she had forgotten, the doorbell rang and it was some medication being delivered for my mother (one less thing for me to do).

I then sorted out the plastic bottles to take to the recycling bank which is in the corner of the car park where I do my main shop. What's to sort out I hear you say but anyone who read my earlier post about re-cycling may remember we are governed by some strict rules. In this household there are some people who don't always remember to bring bottles and and cans to kitchen, take off labels, remove tops and squash bottles (my main focus today was plastic bottles other stuff is collected from the house but last week while I was away cans and aluminium were not put out).

I did a quick bit of tidying up (this is where I'd like to tell you I have someone in to help with the heavy cleaning but there's only me and I try and do a bit each day).

I finally left the house some time before mid-day and went to the bank on the way to the supermarket. The bank was meant to be a separate walk but running late made it impossible (or so I told myself actually I was being very lazy). It took me much longer than usual to do the weekly shop, there was a queue at the meat and deli counters and a few shelves had been re-located so it took extra time searching for some of the things I needed.
I got home after 1pm and annoyed my mother because I sat in the car (approx 5 mins) to listen to a part of a programme discussing the pros and cons of having elderly relatives come to live with you when they need care. I was particular interested in hearing about different people's experiences. Unfortunately I did not realise my mother had come to the kitchen especially to open the door and things then got a little heated as she was cross I didn't bring the shopping straight in and I was mad because it felt like I had no time to do what I wanted even for a few minutes. It takes mum a long time to put her shopping away but I feel it's important she continues to do this while she can and so I always wait until she finishes before I deal with my own shopping. I do find this frustrating as she will often tag other things on, like making a cup of tea or a sandwich for later.

By the time I had put everything away it was 2:15pm and I was just getting myself some lunch and was about to sit and read the paper when I remembered I hadn't checked the answerphone. There was a message from a friend/ex-colleague saying she would be in the area around 1:30 and could she call in for coffee. I gave her a quick call and she was still close enough to call in for an hour before picking her daughter up from school. So it was good to catch up on all the changes that have taken place since I left work.

By now it was 3:30 pm and I walked to the post office to collect my mum's pension and post a letter for her. I then had dinner to prepare, I started some ironing and it was back on the computer to complete this post. Reading back over this, the day seems to have slipped past me in a flash. Before I retired all these things were fitted around a full day's work how ever did I cope. As soon as I have published this hubby will be home and after dinner I will spend most of the evening finding out how everyone else spends their day.
As I said my life is fairly monotonous, daily routines are interspersed with the odd lunch date, visit to hairdressers and weekly swim. Now last week was much more interesting and I will be doing some posts about Spain so hope you'll pop back.