All bought today - in order of extravagance :

A dress ring from Dotty P’s

A pair of sofas

A revamped understairs cupboard

The ring was a pleasant surprise, I thought it was only a fiver, but there was 20% off today! The sofas were a tad more expensive, but at under £200 delivered, a good compromise : we wanted something smarter than the mismatched pair we currently own, but didn’t want to splash a lot of cash while Bones is still with us, as he has a tendancy to puke over them! The cupboard - well, we had been discussing it for a while, but somewhat impulsively today decided to get it done before Christmas. There may be a painting blog next weekend - now you’ve not had one of those for a while, have you?!

And yes, talking of blogs, I’m really going to try and get the holiday one done this weekend

*&@$ but it’s cold in this country…

Some of you may remember that a while ago Shoulder Doc diagnosed chronic pain syndrome, and referrred me to a Pain Management (or Anger Management as my boss nicknamed it) Clinic. Today was the day to go and see them.

I just wasn’t at all sure what to expect from this appointment - so was very pleasantly surprised to have a really in depth discussion about the shoulder, the history before and after, and my overall health - and to then be presented with some very positive sounding options going forward :

1. They’re writing to my GP with some ongoing analgaesic recommendations that should work better for me

2. They’re referring me to an NHS acupuncture clinic

3. They’ve given me an appointment for a TENS machine familiarisation session, after which I’ll have a machine on free loan, which I can subsequently buy from them if it proves effective

4. They’ve given me an open appointment to go back & further discuss & possibly have - wait for - a botox injection in the main shoulder muscle to force the muscle to relax and let the other treatments do their thing

5. And they outlined several other things that can be done if none of the above makes much of a difference

Woo hoo! I feel really positive going forward on this. She was one of those increasingly rare doctors who was going to spend whatever time was needed on a consultation, and really listened and empathised. And delivered.

We’re back! As of about 2am today, after slithering down the M6 in jolly old November rain, like only the British (and in particular Manchester) can produce.

Proper holiday blog (with pics!) will follow in due course, suffice to say we had a bloody good holiday, and apart from seeing the cats again, are not at all pleased to be back! We may go and pick up some 2009 brochures this Saturday and start dreaming…

The last 7 days have disappeared in a blur of work and stinking cold, we enjoyed our afternoon at the theatre but apart from that it’s been busy and snotty on a non-stop basis.

But now Holiday is nearly here, the house is almost tidy, the suitcase is almost packed (and as I type there’s a small black cat curled up asleep in it!), the cold is almost gone, and the in-tray when I left it yesterday was almost empty.

See you in 2 weeks!