Eighteen Days ......

I can hardly believe it ... eighteen days of doing whatever I want , getting up when I want , and nothing to do but make plans of things to do , and feed and look after cats . Its probably not that long since I had a holiday but it feels like years and years . We plan a few days away before the CatCalling starts in earnest , but prior to that my sister is coming to stay for this weekend . She always moves into our house when we go off , so that our cats aren't left alone and one of my catcalls that starts this Friday she will take over as she knows the cats and its for a friend and its very close to here .
My first day , tomorrow is mapped out a little as N and I are going to meet my mother at Kirkharle courtyard , for coffee and to catch up as its a while since I saw her and even longer since N saw her Grandma . N can't bear to be prised away from her friends so I was surprised she agreed to come with me but this is one thing she will usually agree to and happily join in with . Besides the great coffee shop the courtyard itself is situated in the middle of fields and the setting is quite idyllic , there are also some great little shops selling crafts , jewellry , artwork, farmers market produce, and both a pottery workshop and jewelly design shop which we love to prowl about .
After that if the summer weather persists I might go out on my bike and take some photographs . We celebrated the first day of my holidays and the fact that D was out ( we weren't celebrating his being out exactly ) by ordering takeout Indian food from the Plaza Tandoori which involved driving round the coast where the waves looked amazing . ( I should add he seems to do much of the cooking on weekdays so it seemed a good plan as he wasnt there to cook and was also eating out . )
Ive just contacted a friend via e mail who moved out to Texas and now New Mexico where we spent some time together at a conference a couple of years ago . Wonderful to hear from her again . Alberquerque just the most amazing place too . Happy memories of our time there .
Time for bed , its close to midnight ....

Feeling Special ....

Very different day to yesterday . Maybe the sunshine and warmth . Late , N and me went to get her a school jacket and then to Borders for cards and a coffee upstairs ( in Starbucks ) . As we were leaving N asked if she could take her coffee away in a cardboard cup and the young man offered to top the coffee up and thus re heat it for her . His comment "it feels like the first day of summer and I want to do something to celebrate and hot coffee for you will be a good start . " N commented on how special a takeaway coffee can make you feel . People hate Starbucks with a passion and I understand the arguments but ... the staff in the two Starbucks I have frequented are amazing . A couple of years ago , I drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of skinny muffins , and there were days when it was just good to have somewhere in life where everything was always the same . One memorable day when I was carrying too many things , books , magazines , keys , bags , and then on top the tray and right on my back all the cares of the world and the Barista of the Day glanced at me , picked up the tray for me and steered me and half of my belongings to a table in the corner with a sofa attached and indicated I should sit down . Without a word he went back to his coffee making and milk frothing , and though I said Thank you so much , I have no idea if he knew how much that gesture meant .

In 2000 , I became seriously ill over the course of a couple of days and when I finally got through Accident and Emergency and onto a ward , all I knew was the pain in my chest and the difficulty of breathing and the doctor who held my hand when he told me that there was a big shadow on my lung x ray and they didn't know what it was and there were several possibilities some serious but easy to treat and some " more sinister " but he didn't plan on talking through those " yet" . He didn't need to , I had worked out from the line of questioning and overhearing the shorthand " PE" that they were thinking clot ( pulmonary embolism) . I didn't watch Casualty all those years for nothing .
Finally finally finally , a drip was set up and I was lying in a bed and a nurse was standing by me and she asked me if she could try to make me comfortable and she adjusted my pillows and sheets and smoothed my hair and in that moment she was an angel and my fear disintegrated and I felt so completely happy and out of pain and that there was a chance that everything would be ok . Again I thanked her , but her shift ended and I never saw her again and I have no idea whether she had any idea what she did for me .