All Change

It has to be said that 2010 has not exactly been ideal so far. My beloved Sean has lost several friends and a relation and my dear friend Dav lost his mother in the last week. All very sad indeed. And now, to compound all this sadness, out Letting Agency has been terribly underhand and have served notice on our flat.

Those who know me will realise what a homebody I am and I seem to have been nesting for much of my life. My flatmate Julie has decided enough is enough and will be heading to Cornwall so I shall need to find somewhere new to live by 19th March. It's all too scary to even begin to contemplate and I am desperately battling my anxieties in order to have - what should be - the holiday of a lifetime.

My life is about to undergo a massive overhaul.

A New Hope

So after the horrors of snow and the nightmare of closing pools I paid my first visit to The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace - the nearest pool to where I live that is still open. Well, one where you can swim properly anyway. Well the first thing that gets you is the cycle route there. It's up hill most of the way, but I can probably get there in about 20 mins. The roads have been seriously damaged by the snow however and the pot-holes are scary. The centre itself is very poorly signposted but eventually I found the entrance and it's not difficult to be impressed. Sumptuous cherry-wood changing rooms; long lanes in a spacious pool; cool but not cold water. I did my mile (34 lengths) and whilst it was difficult for me I soon got into my stride. I was a little non-plussed as to where the showers were. I am SO not used to individual shower cubicles I thought they were toilets! Scary cycle home where I had my brakes on most of the time. God knows I am going to be late for work tomorrow. Oh well.

The important thing is that the NSC inspires one to be fit. It's so large and has just undergone a re-furb and I simply felt that I wanted to be fit and go here regularly. Certainly it has been a major jolt to my system, not having been in a regular exercise regime since my accident before Christmas.

October to December

My Christmas Present

Sean Warhol

The Gosport Terrorist

Getting There

OK, so this week I lost 2 pounds and am now back to having officially lost 4 stone. Next week I shall be weighing in at Crystal Palace, assuming they have a similar scales to the ones I am used to. This week, Friday to be exact, Lambeth Council is closing its las decent swimming pool in the borough. A disgrace to the council and a shameful state of affairs two years before the Olympic Games. At least Crystal Palace isn't planning on closing in the near future! The thing is it is quite a distance from where I live (about 4 miles - up hill!) and 7.5 mile from work. It is also 50m long, which will take a while to get used to. I am used to swimming in a 30m pool. Oh well, at least it will get me used to the massive pools in Sydney!

Christmas Pudding

No, this isn't a reference to Sean's delicious homemade dessert this Christmas that I managed to have far too little of. Indeed this refers to the 3 pounds I managed to put on in the three weeks leading up to Christmas. I guess is was just really bad luck that my accident took place just before the biggest food intake of the year but I began to get seriously stressed as to how much I might have put on.

In actual fact an increase of 3 pounds is not so bad in the scheme of things and it has helped me focus for my last big push before I go to Oz. I am now weighing in at 13 stone 11 pounds and my goal is 13 stone three pounds. I am now back on my cycle and back in the pool. Hopefully I can reach my goal by February 7th.

Christmas TV

Doctor Who left me cold. Tennant should not have done those last four episodes and buggered off before the BBC product-placed him so much he began to piss everybody off.

Nan’s Christmas Carol – see above

Gavin & Stacey - end of an era? It was 2007 for crying out loud, get a grip!!!

Eastenders – New Year’s Day – unintentionally hilarious if you had not watched it for 3 years.

Get Well Soon

Sean
xxx

New Year's Eve

Celebrations this year were a great success with Sean hosting a lovely dinner party. The only down side was that Sean has put his back out. Needless to say he presented a marvellous dinner even on painkillers, of Salmon En Croute, homemade Champagne Ice Cream and lashings of booze. Sean and I shared a kiss under the midnight sky in Kingston, floodlit by the full moon and countless fireworks.

Back In The Swim

Cutting through the agonising pain in my arm I managed to get to the swimming pool in Clapham on my bike on Tuesday morning. It hurt so much that I honestly thought I might not be able to lower myself into the pool without crying out. Gritting my teeth, I simply got on with it and amazingly managed two miles. I was a little afraid that I may have done some serious damage but in actual fact, the exercise seems to have some it some good and I feel less need to use the pain killers.

So just as I am beginning to feel as if things may be going back to normal, I am advised by the staff in Clapham that the pool will be closing in early 2010! This means that Lambeth will no longer run a pool suitable for dedicated swimmers, (Brixton’s is a family pool only 25m in length and useless for lane-swimmers). Upping the ante, I guess I shall have to head to Crystal Palace of a morning – eeek!

Christmas Magic

This year presented me with a very different Christmas with Sean and I staying with his sister in Gosport over the festive season. Moira and Les were the perfect hosts and their house near Stokes Bay is wonderful, housing no less than two Christmas Trees! It was lovely to relax, eat good food and generally veg out for a few days. There were also children present, which always adds to the magic of Christmas and Sean took the opportunity of showing me around the place he grew up.

It was bitterly cold on the coast but it did blow the cobwebs away somewhat and the views over to the Isle of White and Portsmouth were stunning.

For Christmas this year Sean bought me a gorgeous blue/green cashmere sweater and a simply divine scent from Penhaligons. Also Sean furnished me with a pocket guidebook to Sydney, which I have managed to read cover-to-cover already.

Boxing Day saw us all de-camp to Sean’s brother Paul’s house in the afternoon, where he had baked a ham and roasted a turkey. Here, Moira was introduced to virtual tennis on the Wii and Team Joe won a game of Family Fortunes.

Come Monday, Paul offered to drive both Sean and I home, with the help of his new Sat Nav system which was terribly kind. Home was cold and quiet but thankfully I had tided up before I left and before long I was snuggled up in bed, still buzzing from such a great, long weekend.