Fatigue
My mind is numb from the past couple of days. Mostly it's because I'm absolutely wrecked from getting up in the wee hours of the morning yesterday so we could hit the road to Gatwick by 3.30 am. We weren't far off that goal, once Simon got his butt in gear!
It was an uneventful drive down. We didn't even have much traffic to deal with on the M25 around London, which can sometimes be known as Britain's largest car park.
It took us five minutes to wait in the queue and get Malorie and Braden checked in. Then it was off to McDonald's for a bit of breakfast while we waited for their gate to be announced on the departure screen.
Up to this point, things were going smoothly. I even managed to work out how many points it would be on Weight Watchers for a plain toasted bagel and a small tub of Philadelphia Light.
But a little while later, as Simon and I were buying him a cup of tea and myself a cappuccino (skimmed milk, of course), the fire alarms started ringing in our area. My instinct was to rush back to Malorie and Braden, though I practically had to drag Simon, who wasn't in a rush to do anything. Fortunately it was only a couple of minutes before announcements were made that there was no danger in our area. My heart rate went up, but otherwise no damage done.
Malorie and Braden made it through the departure lounge to their gate, so Simon and I headed off to the car. I used to wait until their plane actually took off, but now I just make sure they get to the gate by ringing one of them on their mobile phone, and I give them plenty of change to call me on my mobile if there's a problem comes up like a delayed flight.
But as soon as Simon and I walked into the multi-story car park, we could see the air was thick with smoke. Well, I could see it. Simon didn't have his glasses on, and since he smokes, I don't know that he could recognise the smell of a skunk, let alone smoke. We looked around but couldn't find the source, so we left.
When we were back on the M25, we debated on whether we should ring and see if Ricky and Jack's dad could pick them up from school so we could do a bit of sight-seeing in London. We're always saying we're going to do it, but we never do. This time, we didn't do it once again, and instead we decided that when we go back to Gatwick to pick Malorie and Braden up, we'll take the exit marked for Hampton Court Palace and do some sight-seeing there.
The main reason we didn't go into central London this time? I didn't have my camera.
The trip north on the M1 was as uneventful as the trip south had been, only by the time we got back to Derbyshire, my knees ached and I needed to walk around, so we pulled into one of the motorway services. That's when it happened:
I blew my diet.
I thought I had done a good job of picking something out to eat. It was a pasta salad with fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts. I worked out the Weight Watchers points before I bought it, but when I was halfway through it, I realised I'd forgotten to work the points out for the whole salad! There went a huge chunk of my allowance for the day out the window.
Back on the motorway, I changed the channel on the radio to the Sheffield station I prefer listening to (Simon likes the Chesterfield station, but I cringe at half the DJs they employ so try to avoid it) in time to hear the words on a breaking news bulletin "smoke ... explosion ... London".
I panicked. The radio station didn't elaborate, choosing instead to play a couple more songs. I worried that the smoke we'd smelled at Gatwick had been from something more serious than we originally thought. Fortunately Simon took over the driving when we stopped, so I frantically pushed the buttons on the radio until I found a channel giving details on the possible terrorist attacks on the London underground.
I can't say I was happy with the news, but I was happy that it was nothing to do with Gatwick Airport, Malorie and Braden. I was also glad to hear that the bombs in London seemed to have malfunctioned, and no one was killed.
The news also helped me come to a decision. I'd been hoping to take Ricky and Jack to London to the Tower of London this summer, but that trip is now cancelled. If it were me going alone, I'd say screw the terrorists, but I won't risk my kids.
I tried to get some rest today, but there was just too much to do, and Simon and I spent most of the day out shopping. Now I have to be his personal chauffeur and taxi Simon and Allan out on their binge drinking night. Maybe I should hand them some change as they get out of the car and point them to a bus timetable!
It was an uneventful drive down. We didn't even have much traffic to deal with on the M25 around London, which can sometimes be known as Britain's largest car park.
It took us five minutes to wait in the queue and get Malorie and Braden checked in. Then it was off to McDonald's for a bit of breakfast while we waited for their gate to be announced on the departure screen.
Up to this point, things were going smoothly. I even managed to work out how many points it would be on Weight Watchers for a plain toasted bagel and a small tub of Philadelphia Light.
But a little while later, as Simon and I were buying him a cup of tea and myself a cappuccino (skimmed milk, of course), the fire alarms started ringing in our area. My instinct was to rush back to Malorie and Braden, though I practically had to drag Simon, who wasn't in a rush to do anything. Fortunately it was only a couple of minutes before announcements were made that there was no danger in our area. My heart rate went up, but otherwise no damage done.
Malorie and Braden made it through the departure lounge to their gate, so Simon and I headed off to the car. I used to wait until their plane actually took off, but now I just make sure they get to the gate by ringing one of them on their mobile phone, and I give them plenty of change to call me on my mobile if there's a problem comes up like a delayed flight.
But as soon as Simon and I walked into the multi-story car park, we could see the air was thick with smoke. Well, I could see it. Simon didn't have his glasses on, and since he smokes, I don't know that he could recognise the smell of a skunk, let alone smoke. We looked around but couldn't find the source, so we left.
When we were back on the M25, we debated on whether we should ring and see if Ricky and Jack's dad could pick them up from school so we could do a bit of sight-seeing in London. We're always saying we're going to do it, but we never do. This time, we didn't do it once again, and instead we decided that when we go back to Gatwick to pick Malorie and Braden up, we'll take the exit marked for Hampton Court Palace and do some sight-seeing there.
The main reason we didn't go into central London this time? I didn't have my camera.
The trip north on the M1 was as uneventful as the trip south had been, only by the time we got back to Derbyshire, my knees ached and I needed to walk around, so we pulled into one of the motorway services. That's when it happened:
I blew my diet.
I thought I had done a good job of picking something out to eat. It was a pasta salad with fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts. I worked out the Weight Watchers points before I bought it, but when I was halfway through it, I realised I'd forgotten to work the points out for the whole salad! There went a huge chunk of my allowance for the day out the window.
Back on the motorway, I changed the channel on the radio to the Sheffield station I prefer listening to (Simon likes the Chesterfield station, but I cringe at half the DJs they employ so try to avoid it) in time to hear the words on a breaking news bulletin "smoke ... explosion ... London".
I panicked. The radio station didn't elaborate, choosing instead to play a couple more songs. I worried that the smoke we'd smelled at Gatwick had been from something more serious than we originally thought. Fortunately Simon took over the driving when we stopped, so I frantically pushed the buttons on the radio until I found a channel giving details on the possible terrorist attacks on the London underground.
I can't say I was happy with the news, but I was happy that it was nothing to do with Gatwick Airport, Malorie and Braden. I was also glad to hear that the bombs in London seemed to have malfunctioned, and no one was killed.
The news also helped me come to a decision. I'd been hoping to take Ricky and Jack to London to the Tower of London this summer, but that trip is now cancelled. If it were me going alone, I'd say screw the terrorists, but I won't risk my kids.
I tried to get some rest today, but there was just too much to do, and Simon and I spent most of the day out shopping. Now I have to be his personal chauffeur and taxi Simon and Allan out on their binge drinking night. Maybe I should hand them some change as they get out of the car and point them to a bus timetable!
posted by Melinda at 7/22/2005 06:55:00 pm
7 Comments:
Hmmm, that's a thought. I wonder how far it is to walk from King's Cross train station to the Tower of London ... The kids will complain but they'll get over it! ;-)
Man, I'm tired from just reading that. :P LOL
I heard about the latest in London. Crazy nitwits.
Don't beat yourself up too much about the diet, Melinda. It's not worth it. Just say, "Okay. I screwed up this one meal," then move on.
Fortunately, I think I've gotten over my diet goof. I've even managed to make up the ground I lost, points wise, plus I'm going to go jogging in the morning ... Me? Jog? This is going to be interesting! LMAO
I look forward to reading about how your jogging goes. :-)
You could always just do a brisk walk. One mile (a little more than 1.5 km) in 15 minutes' time is a good pace. I used to walk 2 miles per day in 30 minutes or less, 5 days per week, and it helped me lose a lot of weight.
Regarding my previous post, I retract the "crazy nitwits" statement. It wasn't strong enough. Nothing is strong enough to express my feelings about this shit.
I didn't make it this morning to do the jogging -- we were out late last night and I still felt groggy this morning despite the fact I wasn't drinking. By the time I got my act together, it was almost time for qualifying to start! LOL I'm going to the university library in a bit, but when I get back, I'm going to go jog then. I'll let you know how it goes, Gary! :-)
My first few jogging sessions are going to consist of warming up, walking briskly for five minutes, jogging for two, walking for five, jogging for two, etc. That is, if I can even last two minutes! Then I'll increase the jog time until I'm doing a steady run around the lake.
I say lake. By American standards, it's just a really big pond! LMAO
Hey, even just a brisk walk can be enough to help the weight come off.
My friend Kate says that this "routine" I've been using -- walking, power walking, jogging, back to walking -- is called "fartlek" and is a legitimate method of training, especially if it means you stay out longer than you would if you just jogged.
I've taken today off though. Torential rain, though it's not cold, but it's also good to have a day off to rest the joints a bit when they're carrying this much weight around. ;-)
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