This weekend I slept for 8.5-9 hours every night and I took two naps. I’m still sleepy.

My trains were delayed yesterday, I should have been home in three hours; it was five.

Horatio’s new flat is awesome. I’m very excited for him to get all moved in.

Still feeling like there’s something I’ve forgotten to do. I’m going to make a list of all the things I need to do before my parents arrive so maybe I’ll find it then.

Sorry to be so brief, sleepy.

I feel uncomfortable taking so many drugs to get through my day. I worry about what it is doing to my body, my immune system and also that I might become dependent on them.

So to that end I haven’t had any codeine since Sunday [or Monday?] night when I was having trouble sleeping because of the pain.

Last night I had a sneezing fit and my whole face was swollen and I was pretty miserable, but I wasn’t in pain as such. I left it and had a very fitful night’s sleep, I kept waking up.

When I got up this morning I was pretty miserable, my teeth were aching as usual and my face was still pretty swollen and I finally decided I deserved a break so I had 30mg of codeine with breakfast.

It feels so good to not be in pain. Everything is clearer and easier and I feel pretty okay.

This makes me want to have codeine everyday!

Which is why I avoid taking it.

In high school in my economics class we had to do a project on current events. The teacher didn’t tell us a due date, just that we had to keep working on it throughout the trimester and he’d ask for it when he was good a ready.

I never did any homework until I had to. Most of it was done in bed last thing before I fell asleep… and yet I managed a 3.2 GPA or higher throughout my high school career. Go me.

Anyway, I was ill one week and missed a day of school, it turned out that was the day he asked for it. So when I got back he asked for mine and I claimed I’d left it at home – oops. So he said he wanted it the next day.

So that afternoon I got all the old newspapers out of the garage and sat down at the dining room table with PJ Harvey’s Is this Desire? and did the whole project. It was autumn turning into winter out the window.

Now, every time it gets autumn-y outside, I want to listening to Is this Desire?. The last few days have been rainy, windy and generally miserable – and frankly so have I. This illness is getting to me. I’ve tried to stay ahead of it and not let it get me down, but I think I’m losing. I just want to sleep all the time. Here’s hoping that PJ can cheer me up.

[fannish moment] P.S. Happy birthday, Tori!! [/fannish moment]

My cousin added me as a friend on MySpace and he had a blog post talking about the word blog and how it didn’t have any meaning as far as he was concerned and maybe it would be akin to someone vomiting or similar. The post amused me a little then made me feel both nerdish and old since I remember when ‘weblog’ was born and I watched it hump journals/diaries and their strange offspring is the blog. But we all know I hate that the worlds merged and I think it has dummied down my beautiful internet but that’s another rant for another day.

I’m still ill. I finished my course of antibiotics and I’m still steaming twice a day. I’m also still having to take 15mg or more of codeine everyday to stop my teeth from throbbing out of my mouth. I do try and go without it as long as I can, my main taking it moments are at night. I’ll wake up and my entire face will be swollen and throbby and if I didn’t take something I’d be unable to sleep.

I got my referral from the doctor to see an ENT on the NHS. I have an appointment on September 20th with Nasal Disorders. How cool is that name?! I’m sort of pissed off because if the waiting list was this short why did my GPs keep trying to put me off? I can only assume that they would have referred me eventually, but they assumed [like I did] that I would get better. I also have an appointment with my dentist on the 29th where hopefully he’ll confirm that my teeth are fine.

The headboard I ordered in June showed up a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think I shared the story of it properly. I spent ages researching the different styles and materials etc. After I settled on one I liked I researched more to find the cheapest price. I found a good price and placed my order, printed my receipt and left it at that. After four weeks I thought I should see how it was coming, so I got my receipt out and discovered that the website I bought from didn’t think it was important to name themselves on the receipt. Because I’d been to so many websites researching I had no idea who I ordered it from. I decided to leave it until I got back from France since some websites quoted lead times of eight weeks.

We got a call from them on the Tuesday after I got back and it was delivered on Thursday. It was more beautiful than the pictures lead me to believe. We put it between the bed and the wall and on Friday I bought the washers, nuts and bolts we needed to fix it to the bed. We rearranged the bedroom after that. I’m so very pleased. Before the room felt more like mine than ‘ours’ so having the foot of the bed facing the door gives us an equal footing.

I decided today that I’m going to freeze my gym membership. I keep beating myself up for not going and I cannot keep doing that, it isn’t going to make me get better. Plus we can use the money it’ll free up for the next few months. We have to freeze it for at least three months, but I’m leaning towards four so we can start afresh in the new year after Christmas and our eighth [!!!] anniversary.

Also very good news: Horatio has a flat!! He spent some time researching various properties in Leeds and places he might like, went twice to look at various properties, really like two of them. He decided on a beautiful converted office in the north east not far from the centre. It is a ground floor flat, one bed, private entrance, off road car parking facilities, huge rooms. It is gorgeous. It was my favourite of the ads I saw. I’m so very excited to see it. I’ll get to see the outside this weekend, but I don’t think I’ll see the inside until September or October. He’ll need time to get settled in and start his new job etc. I’m so happy for him and so very proud of all he has accomplished. Very exciting new chapter in our lives.

I started cleaning the kitchen on Friday, I finished today. Weasel kindly helped with some bits, so between us we have de-frosted the freezer, re-arranged the tea and some other foods, washed all the surfaces and walls, scrubbed the sink, tidied the windowsill and everything in-between. It feels like a different room. I’ve also just ordered some nice shelves to put by the kitchen door [to outside] since we never use it. We’ll be able to store all the bread paraphernalia and sort out a better arrangement for our recycling. It should be here on Wednesday.

This is my first project to try and get the house sorted before my parents arrive on the 5th. I need to clean the bathroom, we’ll need to re-arrange the library to account for air bed and giving them some space to be comfortable. I also want to generally tidy up. In theory I should be ready by the time they arrive. I’m both excited and very nervous of them staying with us. I’ve had to plan to put a phone in our bedroom so I can still talk to Horatio every day since my parents don’t know I’m with him* [they think we're friends]. We’ll see how it goes I guess!

* I would tell them, but I’m afraid they’d encourage me to leave Weasel and marry Horatio and make babies which just isn’t what any of us want.

Last Friday night Weasel, Doodle and I went to see Bourne Ultimatum. It was fantastic! I love the Bourne films and this rounded off the story nicely. I loved the action, one liners, minor mysteries, startled looks etc. Definitely go and see it if you can! You don’t need to have seen the previous two for this one to make sense.

Yesterday we went to see Stoat and Mal to celebrate Stoat’s 60th birthday! I was very tired, so I wasn’t good for much. We chatted lots and he loved the plates we got him [square, white, gorgeous - if he hadn't liked them I was going to keep them!]. He also got a beautiful watch and some other bits and pieces. Was really wonderful. Doodle and I spent most of the day battling the Farm Game. We only have three more squares to expose out of 25 then more words scattered throughout. I’ve loved playing it. The main website is here – my saved game is here.

This Debbie title comes from one of our French adventures. When we were driving down, a car passed us with the license plate V88 ALE which I read as V8 & Ale; not a tasty combination.

Further French adventures include:

Bayeux & Beaches
We took the car out to Bayeux to see the tapestry* and went back to the château via some of the landing beaches from WWII. Bayeux was a lovely little town, we walked all over. The tapestry was a little disappointing because they had these personal radio things that told the story as you walked along. Sadly, it didn’t take into account people wanting to stop and look at something in more detail. So it started talking when I was at one then it moved on while I couldn’t. It got to four while I was still in front of one. It couldn’t be paused so one just ended up missing bits and not hearing all about it. It was impressive and worth seeing, but it could have been better.

Afterwards, we had some wonderful pizza [very garlicky for me!] and then some delicious ice cream. I love pineapple ice cream and I can only seem to get it on the continent.

We went to see so many of the landing beaches, they were very lovely. I don’t remember all that I saw, but it was moving in places, exciting, fascinating and very worth it. We also saw some German bunker thingies that were very interesting. Lovely day out.

* One of the little boys there heard someone talking about the tapestry and when he referred to it he said ‘tapas tree’ – we all agreed it was a very tasty idea.

Driving in car with Tori
Horatio traditionally didn’t like listening to Tori because ‘her lyrics are weird’ [and yet he likes Cibo Matto; go figure]. Anyway, I wasn’t feeling too hot and I thought she might cheer me up so Horatio let me play some things. I lovely driving through the countryside [France is beautiful] with the man I love with her playing. It was bliss. I hope I don’t forget how that felt.

Coastmaster 2000
Horatio is very good at climbing hills, he’d shoot ahead and then we’d coast down the hills, I coast much faster than him and I loved to sail by and shout ‘Coastmaster 2000!’ I startled him good at least once. It entertained me tremendously.

I’m sure other bits will come back to me and want mentioning, but that’ll do for now. I’m hoping now that I’ve released myself from the gym I won’t be so stressed and/or tired so perhaps I’ll be able to keep up with Debbie again.

I’ve tried writing a Debbie about seven times between now and when I got home on Sunday. I haven’t managed it.

Mostly because I haven’t felt very well. While I was away I had a bit of a relapse. My teeth and nose started hurting again and I have been very tired. I tried to soldier through, I only went to the doctor’s on Thursday. She prescribed more antibiotics, this makes seven courses this year. I have more codeine since nothing else seems to touch my teeth. I’ve got to get a dentist appointment just in case it is something to do with my teeth. I also got a referral to an ENT on the NHS since it’s getting to the point that I cannot afford to keep paying privately.

The referral should list several area hospitals and their waiting times so I expect to pick and see someone hopefully within six months, meanwhile I’ll keep seeing the private one. All of this started December 20th, 2006 so those of you keeping track, it’s been nearly eight months.

France was okay, overall I’ve rated it 7/10.

The Drive
Horatio and his Dad arrived at 11 and I got home from the hair dressers at 10 past. We loaded my bike, I kissed my wife and off we went. The bike rack was grumpy and kept jumping off so we had to stop twice to fit it. When we got to Dover there was confusion over the number of roundabouts and which one we were to take a right at, so we got stuck in some minor traffic and got there 25 minutes before departure [they recommend 30 minutes - we have been refused entry for being one minute late before]. Thankfully there were about six other cars in the queue with us. We got through, but put on stand by. Those of you who fly know this term, you’re not guaranteed a place, but if there is one you’ll get it. So we queued up and they loaded all the other cars. We were sixth in the standby queue of ten. They radioed over that there was room for six, we were hopeful. They let the first five go through. Then they radioed some more and decided the bikes on the back of our car meant we wouldn’t fit. So they let the car behind us go.

We drove over to the Channel Tunnel and went to France on the train. Driving onto the train then riding with a sense of moving in a not moving car was a very neat experience. Unfortunately, the Channel Tunnel comes out in France much further to the east that the ferry port. So we ended up having a very very long drive. We didn’t get to the hotel until 1:30am. We were all shattered. The next day we went to the château and I had to avoid cars for a day or two after that.

Kittens
The first morning at the château after breakfast Horatio and I went for a walk. It is a very rural part of France so getting to the next house along took us 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. When we rounded the corner there was a kitten under a tree, we went to say hello. During our approach another one showed up, then another, then another, and another until there were eight. We played for a little while then continued with our walk. They decided to follow us down the middle of the road. A car came along so we moved to the side of the road, the kittens didn’t. I stopped the driver and tried to get the kittens to move and they wouldn’t, so he crept forward and thankfully they moved and none of them got hurt. We decided that we couldn’t keep going with all these kittens so we headed back thinking they’d stop at their farm. They didn’t. The followed us back to the château. Their Mama even joined us, so we had nine cats following. We tried running the last little bit and hiding in our house, but it didn’t work. They went into one of the other houses and we had to lure them out with milk. We had three other people helping by this point. Once we got them all in the same place, we put them in a large basket. They kept jumping out, so we put a grill on top. Once they were in the basket, we put them in a car and drove them back to the farm. We didn’t walk that way after that so we didn’t see them again.

The Baby
Horatio’s step-brother and his fiancée have a two-year-old little girl. She’s unbearably cute and so sweet. We went out to dinner one night and we’re all talking and I guess she was feeling ignored or something because she randomly leant forward putting a hand on her lower back and said ‘oh me back’ in her Northern England accent. It was so funny I cannot even relate. So after that every time Horatio and I saw her we’d get her to say it. Hilarious. We tried to get her to say ‘long cat is long’ but it was harder, so she just said long cat and repeated long over and over again. She was an excellent source of entertainment.

The Bike Rides
The first one we went on was excellent, I was still in pretty good health and it was just me and Horatio so we made good time and explored all sorts of place. We took what turned out to be a monstrous hill into Brix. Overall, we went up 300 meters worth of hills. It was a lot of fun and if memory serves we went about 20 miles in two hours.

The Cakes
There were 30-40 people staying in the three buildings that make up the château. One of the boys, Chris hung out with Horatio and I sometimes*. We spent one memorable afternoon making delicious sponge cakes. I’ll post pictures later, but I made a chocolate one and he made a lovely strawberry and cream one. They turned out perfectly and everyone really liked them.

* Notably when we watched Die Hard I, II & III and Rush Hour I & II. I enjoyed all of them, I’m please to finally know what all the fuss about Die Hard was. I expect I’ll need to see 4.0 some time and Rush Hour III now that it is out.

I got a new cycle computer, water bottle holder and water bottle. I have a lovely Sigg water bottle that can hold a litre, I take it to the gym and everywhere with me. The problem is that it doesn’t fit in my little bag, so if I just want my wallet and keys to go into town I would have trouble fitting my big bottle, the little 600ml fits perfectly.

We ate a lot of cheese and bread, I’m all cheese and breaded out. Same with salad. In France, being vegetarian means that you only eat salad. Finding non-salad vegetarian food is a challenge.

It was wonderful being with Horatio for so many days. Would have preferred more alone time though. I’ll have more stories I’m sure and I’ll also post photos, but it’ll all have to wait for another day.

I’m sorry that this is so disjointed, I’m really very tired, any time I stay still for long enough I fall asleep. Plus I sort of overdid it yesterday [Simpsons Movie, long walk to pharmacy and to get paving stones] and today [setting up garden umbrella now that we have paving stones to hold it down, two loads of laundry and not eating properly because food doesn't sound good].