Wednesday 8 July 2015

Fantastic result

What does one do with over 4 weeks off?

Breakfast: Oats so Simple Golden Syrup Porridge Pot
Lunch: Morrisons salad with cooked chicken and 2 boiled eggs
Dinner: Pizza Express - Leggera Pandana
Snack: Bakewell Tart Nakd Bar

Today has been a really great day, despite my back continuing to hurt (which I will need to address really soon). I slept pretty well and came into work to find my lovely work colleague had purchased the biggest melon I’ve ever seen in MY LIFE. I suggested we strap it to our stomachs somehow, and walk around so we could find out what it was like to be pregnant, however apparently it weighed more than a standard human baby at full term so we decided to just admire it, instead. I also decided to take a photo and stick it on Facebook, proclaiming how amazing my friends melon was (I am that immature).

Following on from the email my Boss sent me yesterday, we had a really quick meeting to confirm my notice period and I suggested 6 weeks. He seemed really shocked by that as I think he assumed that I would accept 8 weeks. However as I said in my earlier post, I need the ‘end date’ on my P45 form to be before I join my new company, so I stated 6 was the maximum I’d be happy with. We went through a few things quickly and that was that – He confirmed in an email and…. I get to go on garden leave from next Friday! This is amazing news! This means I have over FOUR weeks off work that I’m paid for… I only lose out on 2 days salary between jobs before I start my new one. Wow and … wow.

What can I do with a month off? See friends, seem family, catch up with people – the prospects are endless and I am really happy with the result as I can distress, clear my mind of all the negativity that I’ve been dealing with for the last few months and really get myself sorted before I start work. I’m thinking I’d really like to go to the gym loads – Yoga, Pilates, spinning during the day. 

It’s. Just. Awesome.

At lunch time, my lovely work friend and I both decided that we had had enough of walking into town and buying the same things. Due to meeting my friend tonight and eating out, I was loathed to suggest we go to a restaurant at lunch time, so suggested we go to the local Morrisons – whilst this meant driving, it’s close enough that I can drive there in 5 minutes, so we had plenty of time to go and investigate alternative healthy options. I don’t know if it’s me, however I was quite disappointed with the range – You had a few ‘healthy’ sandwiches (egg and cress etc) but that seemed to be it. After walking around aimlessly for a few minutes, I decided to go for some boiled eggs, a salad and some chicken. Hardly ground breaking sadly! On the other hand, I did find that even Morissons stock the Bakewell Tart nakd bars, so grabbed another 6 of them to tide me over for the next couple of weeks :-)

I can’t say the salad was inspiring – It didn’t have any dressing, for a start and as I’m really looking for food I enjoy eating and look forward to shoving into my gob, I don’t think I’ll be having that combination again. However, as I’ve only got 7 working days left in the office, my lovely work friend and I are going to do a bit of a ‘Supermarket tour’ so on Friday (as I’m working from home tomorrow) we’re going to go to ASDA and see if we can fare a bit better. One good thing about Morrisons however – my friend found some vegan ‘Jus-Rol Ready to Bake cinnamon rolls’ so she was rather happy as apparently ‘That’s her weekend sorted’ (How she can remain so slim is beyond me!).



My friend found a vegan Thai curry at Morrisons, so we came back to the office and ate it in the kitchen - Once she had warmed her curry up in the microwave, my friend managed to trip and spill a lot of the curry - over the floor, over the table and unfortunately... Over me! I was wearing one of my new Phase eight jumpers in grey, so lovely dark red Thai sauce was VERY noticeable - cue me running to the sink and trying to sponge it out... I think it's gone, thankfully :-)

Despite the fact that I still don’t have much work to do, the afternoon managed to jog along tolerably and I managed to leave at 5:00pm and drive to meet my friend in Reading at 6:30pm. Dear God, the traffic was horrendous! I ended up being 35 minutes late, however my friend was over an hour late - As I waited for her, I decided to go and browse the clothes in 'House of Frasier' thinking 'I won't buy anything but may as well have a look. TWO items later.... :-) I'm really chuffed I found another two things that fit and look good - both designer brands and when I tried on the 'XL' it was too big - Honestly, that felt really, really good. 

My friend finally got to Reading (or to identify her my ‘Gastric bypass friend’) and is still doing incredibly well since her operation in December 2014 - she looks AMAZING. We decided on Pizza Express, after I suggested 3 options (Yo! Sushi, Wagamamas or Pizza Express) and she narrowed it down as she wasn’t keen on eating rice or noodles at the moment. Rather than have the superfood salad, I thought I'd have the Leggara Pandana which is a pizza under 500 calories that has Goat’s cheese, caramelised onions, spinach, red onions, tomato and garlic oil with a salad in the middle. 

We chatted for ages and when my Pizza came, I have to say I was slightly underwhelmed - it was rather burnt and wasn't overly nice. It was a real shame as I've not had pizza for ages and I was really looking forward to it. After dinner, we went for a drink and I decided to have a hot chocolate - I felt slightly guilty which suggests I still haven't conquered my issues with food. Why do I feel guilty for having a hot chocolate? My first one in over two months?

My friend asked me to sign her passport photos and deed poll documentation as she's changing her surname back to her maiden name after getting divorced. We were chatting about how we had changed over the last 7 years or so and it's crazy, really, really crazy. She's a lot more open with her feelings since talking to a counsellor and I believe I am, too - It's really nice to have friends who you can be honest with - I know it doesn't sound like it's much, but for me, it's something I've always struggled with... being open with my feelings to people.

Tomorrow, I'm working from home - This means I can have a lovely lie in and have a really chilled day. I'm even thinking of defrosting a kipper for breakfast and shaking it up a little bit! Woaaaaaaaaah Imogen, crazy stuff! :-)

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