Had a good week I have

(Apologies this is quite a long post but a lot has happened – I should have written during the week but didn't feel up to it!)

OK, OK all you grammar experts out there I know the post title isn't grammatically correct but it came into my mind from somewhere (don't even bother asking from where because I haven't got a clue!)

Don't worry I'm not planning to bore you to death with a one sided conversation but I'd like to share bits of the week with you if you have time to read.

I started by being a domestic goddess on Sunday and making my Christmas cakes – I made two just in case son 1 and FDIL need one for themselves this year. I used a different recipe and thought I'd be very clever by doubling up the ingredients to make both cakes at the same time – good time management skills there I think you'd agree! I divided the mix between the two tins which looked OK before they were cooked but I was a little disappointed in that they were both quite shallow when they came out of the oven – never mind I'm sure they will taste delicious. I don't do the whole fancy, shmancy icing thing – thank heavens for ready tolled marzipan (almond paste) and fondant icing! Last year we found a lovely fine sprinkly sugar with a rainbow effect which makes a plain cake look a little different. I'll show you the end results!

Monday was my day off which I spent with son 1 and should perhaps be referred to as 'The day that I spent a lot of money'. I offered to buy them furniture so we trundled off to that famous UK store when you don't pay a deposit, pay nothing for a year and then pay the balance over four years. I couldn't believe it when the salesman asked if I wanted to pay a deposit and the balance on delivery – I gave him one of my looks, you know – over the top of my glasses (the fact that I can't see a thing when I do that is neither here nor there!) I resisted telling him not to be stupid and went for the best credit option – who wouldn't? We chose a lovely suite – 2 seater sofas, one as a sofa bed and one normal and a foot stool with a little storage box. All in a lovely shade of mink with a cream trim – close your eyes and imagine it! We then went on to buy towels –FDIL had decreed that she wanted a 'bluey green but not too green' so from the rainbow of colours available to us we opted for a lovely shade which was appropriately named 'Lagoon' ( I should say here, for those of you that don't know, FDIL is currently away from home Monday – Friday on her training placement for her degree, hence son 1 doing all the shopping).

Tuesday did not start well. I stupidly took my cereal out of the cupboard (at eye level, no stretching or bending) in a slightly different way than usual and 'ping' my back went – such a simple mis-movement has left me in agony all week and hobbling round like an old granny (apologies to those grannies out there who are quite sprightly), I am pleased though to have provided so much entertainment to my staff and colleagues over this last week!

I work in a very target and performance driven environment and as such this is used to measure our Unit's performance month on month. We had a system introduced earlier in the year which provides a monthly 'scorecard' with a score of 1-5. The overall score for each subsection is an aggregated score of further subsections and the final overall score is aggregated from each subsection – are you still with me? Until this month we had been bobbing along happily with a score of three, not quite reaching that elusive four (five is something we can only dream of) we were really optimistic of achieving four this month and were very disappointed to find that a freak lower score elsewhere left us on a three. We toodled along to the monthly performance meeting on Thursday, resigned but disappointed with our score and discussed it with the man who can make changes (oh to be so powerful) – and, you've probably guessed it, he changed the lower score which automatically changed the overall score to a four. I am so pleased for everybody who has worked so hard to get us there – we are the only Unit out of seven to have achieved this heady height and I think we have every right to hold our heads high. Obviously we need to keep up the good work – hey, no pressure!

The week was rounded off on Friday with a phone call from son 2 mid afternoon. I always worry when he calls on my mobile – usually means he needs money! However when I spoke to him I could feel the excitement in his voice. "I think I've just been promoted" he said "well anyway I've got a pay rise" He went on to say that the regional manager had called him in to his office for an impromptu meeting and told him how well he was doing (you may recall he started a new job in July training to be an Estate Agent which caused me a little worry) he said that his name was being mentioned in 'high places' and that the company was very impressed with his record so far. And as a result of that they want him to change his job slightly and instead of working out of the Ipswich office he is to work across three offices, Woodbridge, Kesgrave and Ipswich, spreading his time across all three – focusing on sales rather than just the junior work he has been doing. I.Am.One.Proud.Mum. He came home last night grinning from ear to ear – his face hurting from grinning so much, well done son!

Not much more to go, honestly, but I need to mention that I went out with the girls from work last night. We met in a wine bar and progressed to an Indian restaurant, now I'm not one for spicy Indian food but I love the creamy dishes. I can't remember what I had but it wasn't a Korma although it was similar and very tasty. We are quite an eclectic group when we go out – people seeing us out wouldn't expect us to be together but it works. We range in age from Karyn in her mid-thirties (there's your mention Scotty!!) to Judy who recently retired, we talk about a huge range of things and as none of us actually work together anymore there is inevitably the need to catch up on the gossip about work. Sitting in the middle of a long table meant that I was switching back and forth between conversations – and catching some interesting snippets from them all! Unusually for me I didn't get home until gone 11 o'clock (!) and I was dropped off by the lovely Sue hoping that somebody was still up because I'd changed bags and didn't have a key! Luckily Son 2 was up and eventually heard me knocking on the door.

That's it – I'm done. I've had a fab week this week apart from the stupid back problem which is still niggling – bring on the next one!

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Heather xx