Tag: weekend

Weekend catch up

We last left off on Saturday Morning when I was looking forward to an afternoon out eating and drinking with family. I think I have finally recovered from that night out now after drinking enough Spanish lager to sink the Armada. In fact it wasn’t a big boozy night out, we were very civilised and had a great meal out first but we finally fell into bed around 01:30 am. Coupled with a poor nights sleep, I was rather tired on Sunday and wanting to eat lots of stodgy food to keep away the hangover.

We visited Monton Village for the evening, firstly having a great meal in Zous bar and grill where the steak was superb not to mention the children’s milkshakes which were the best I have ever tasted, I am not exaggerating! Then we went over the road for a few cocktails in Vintage Ambience where the staff had our kids enthralled with their juggling skills akin to Cocktail the movie. Children are allowed in the bars until 9pm so we ventured back to my brother in laws house for the rest of the evening for more drinks and pizzas. My wife was mixing her drinks with red wine with her meal, rose wine afterwards and some cocktails too. It was no surprise she could not recall the taxi journey home a few hours later.

Sleepy Sunday

Sunday was a relaxing affair after the boozy night previously with me picking my dad up for him to come round and have his Sunday dinner with us. It was an afternoon sat on the sofa after cooking the dinner watching football. Thankfully we had done most of the house chores the day before, so Sunday really was a feet up day. A good job considering how lethargic we felt. On my way back home after returning my dad home, I felt those hunger pangs you get after a night on the beer and headed to McDonalds for more junk food. It is fair to say, I slept like a baby that evening, catching up on some much needed sleep.

Back to Work

Monday saw me return to the office for the first time in seven weeks with holiday and a course keeping me away. Thankfully it was an easy introduction back, catching up and getting myself straight with all those emails, etc. It was good to see all my work buddies and we had a laugh catching up on what I had missed over the last two months. A nice sedate re-introduction to work before I get fully back in the swing of things on Friday when I am in work all weekend.

So that is what I have been up to over the last few days. Have you done anything exciting or notable, maybe you have just chilled out too? Whatever it was feel free to share it with me.

Saturday morning

It’s 9am on Saturday morning and I am currently sat on the sofa with Trudy my dog lay across me whilst I’m sipping my second cup of tea.

The house has only partially stirred from their slumber which really means I am the only human up and out of bed. The pets are up, fed and alert wanting a piece of my attention.

After having a few cold beers last night watching television, I have woke to find I placed a small bag of Cadbury chocolate in the fridge last night. Even before breakfast, I am nibbling on cold chocolate washing it down with a hot cuppa. I prefer to eat chocolate when it’s been in the fridge, cold and harder to break. This is a perfect way to wake up.

Looking outside it appears cloudy and threatening to rain. The street is so quite with not so much as a dog walker stepping out into the cold morning. I’ll eat a little more chocolate and sip a bit more tea before I drag myself off the sofa and venture out with the dogs.

Later in the afternoon we plan to go out with my brother & sister in law for some food and drink. Sunday is looking like another peaceful and relaxing offering too. With me returning to work on Monday, it seems ideal to have an easy weekend first.

Whatever your doing this weekend, I hope you enjoy it.

Back to normality

Today marked a resumption in my shift pattern after finishing my course on Thursday and six weeks of working Monday to Friday. I should have returned to work this afternoon but with a bit of foresight, I booked some holiday and will not return until Monday.

So today it was enjoyable to have a day off in the week when my wife is at work and my youngest is at school. Just me and the pets and a list of chores to get through, which actually suited me to the ground.

As I was waiting for a boiler guy to come round and give us a quote for a new boiler as our old one (which is actually only 7 years old) is on its last legs. Whoever put in the current boiler chose a cheap model which is clearly not up to the job. We have had nothing but trouble with the boiler ever since we moved into the house 7 years ago with breakdowns every 12 to 18 months. Recently it has felt like we are just throwing money at it now and if this was a car (failing to start, running badly) we would have got rid long ago. Unfortunately a new boiler is anything from £1000 to £2000 and you never actually are prepared for this unlike buying a new car.

My dad had to replace his 20 year old boiler last year and he used a local company and has been happy with the boiler and the service so I gave them a call hence the visit today. The quote has just come through costing £1850 for a top quality boiler, there may be movement on the price if I ask for a lesser quality make, we shall see. One thing is for sure, we need a new one.

In between this visit, I did the clothes washing, sorted the dry clothes, hoovered the whole house and managed to get my hair cut. By 3.30pm I was ready for a cold beer, well it was 5pm somewhere in the world, so why not?

It is now just gone 7pm and I am sat on the sofa, writing this post whist sipping a beer and watching some sport. With all my chores done I can look forward to a chilled out morning tomorrow.

Although we plan to go out tomorrow afternoon, the rest of the weekend will hopefully be a relaxing affair.

Something different

For the last six weeks, I have been on a course with work and out of my usual routine of working shifts, something I have done for eighteen years. When I have previously attended courses these have lasted for anything from one day to one week. So the thought of working Monday to Friday 8am-3pm daily did initially make me wonder how I would adjust. Adjust I did and as I enter the last couple of days of the course, I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and also enjoyed working Monday to Friday, having every weekend off.

If you work shifts then you will know where I am coming from. I am well and truly out of the routine of “living for the weekend”. Those daily rush hour drives into work that have you stressed before you have even started. The Monday morning blues, excitement of Fridays and repeat. I did think the weeks would drag and I would spend my days counting down the time until the weekend but thankfully that has not been the case.

Sure some mornings the traffic was the pits, other days everyone appeared to have stayed in bed and I enjoyed a simple drive in. It is strange how some days are busier on the roads than others, two days are never the same, I do wonder where do people go sometimes?

Having every weekend off with the family has been very enjoyable. Guaranteed weekends off allowed us to plan things in and that has to be one of the best things about working Monday to Friday. Shift work does allow me some weekends off but I do enjoy my days off in the week when everyone else is in work. So the roads are quieter as are the shops.

One regret whilst on the course has not been making the most of the time I have had in the evenings. Returning home by 3 or 4pm has allowed me plenty of time in the evenings to either exercise or do some chores about the house. I certainly would have liked to have exercised more in the evenings by either jogging or swimming but this course has been taxing on the brain.

You would think that sitting on your backside all day listening and learning with going for coffee being the most exercise you get all day would mean that you would be full of energy in the evenings. Sadly not.

Each evening all I have wanted to do is sit down, have dinner and do very little else. Some evenings I have been asleep by 10pm completely shattered after a day of doing very little. Some say, “the less you do the less you want to do” and I do believe that saying. I suspect getting up at 6.20am for five days consecutively has an impact as well as the amount of thinking you have to do which means you are shattered when you get home.

Before I know it I will be back at work and into the old routine, wishing I was back on the course having a laugh with my colleagues and finished by 3pm. I had better enjoy the last few days whilst I have the opportunity.

Loving it all

Every wondered what to write on your blog? Are you always thinking of an earth shattering post to write? Do you think that your week has been so average that whatever you write would bore the pants off people? I have thought that this week but then thought, does it matter? So I decided to write this post anyhow. After all it is my blog, so I will post what I want.

I am currently going into the last week of my six week course and it is going so fast. With working shift for the last eighteen years, I thought working Monday to Friday would be a difficult transition but it has been very enjoyable. As the course has gone on, the weeks are going quicker, as are the weekends. This time next week, it will be all over and I will have to plan returning to the real world and back to work.

I can safely say that this course has been the best one I have been on and the twelve strong group have been a blast to be with. It is fair to say that as a group we have got on really well and moulded together so much so that we have planned a meal out on our last day. We even have a whatsapp group now and hopefully when we return to our work we will keep in touch and help each other through our work.

Generally it has been a good week as I head towards the weekend. It is Friday evening, I am enjoying a well earned beer and settling down for some decent television. Tomorrow I will take my boy over to Lancashire for a football match. We have tickets to watch a game and we are both looking for some dad and lad time. A trip out, go to a new ground, have a beer and watch some football and I cannot wait. On Sunday we plan to have my brother and sister in law around for dinner.

That is the weekend planned for me, what does your weekend look like? Do you have any plans? Let me know.