A whole lot of Lizzy; a little bit of Frank

Life has quickly gone back to normal. The fact that some stupid truck driver, unaware of the height of his truck, ploughed into the Wrecclesham bridge, toppling over and causing absolute mayhem for most of the day for road and rail users alike, was not as abnormal as one would think (or wish).

As for me, this morning I returned to the gym and was relieved to discover that there was no sudden difficulty in using any of the machines. I always think I’m going to be struggling after a break but I guess two weeks isn’t long enough for the muscles to forget.

I’ve just realised that I forgot to mention the most amazing news from Wednesday. Being Weigh In day, I was dreading looking down at the numbers, particular given the last time I had finally dropped below 80kg. I figured two Weasel weeks would be enough to increase my mass considerably.

For reasons both glorious and mysterious in equal measure, I was 79.5! That means that I gained 300g…which I can’t believe but thoroughly approve of. It’s particularly gratifying when I realise that it’s slightly more than a bag of spinach.

But back to today…at the gym I discovered a new running machine that I can actually use without falling over. It sort of has robot legs with stirrups for the feet and handles for the hands. I can’t remember the last time I actually ran and the feeling was quite alien though exhilarating.

Full of vim, I arrived at Starbucks to discover that there was still no hazelnut syrup. I tried the almond which I liked slightly more than the pecan but it still wasn’t good. (I could have had the sugar free version of hazelnut but I don’t like the chemical aftertaste from the sugar substitute.)

I was waiting for Lizzy who I was having a coffee with. I’ve mentioned Lizzy before. She worked at Starbucks years ago (and still remembers my order) and has since been honing her skills by gaining a squillion degrees and qualifications. She’s really very clever and determined and is considering a big life change. She wanted to pick my brains so we met for a coffee.

There followed a most delightful hour. It’s such a delight to sit and chat to someone with a desire to experience life to the hilt. She is also superb company and is happy to listen to my nonsense. (That’s not self deprecating. I’m quite proud of my nonsense but not everyone else enjoys it.)

She has taken some interim shifts at Starbucks so I’ll get to see her more often which is obviously lovely.

Then, almost as soon I reached home, I realised I’d forgotten to buy a few things that I needed. I would have made Mirinda a coffee except that that was one of the things. I went back into town.

Obviously I ended up in Starbucks and this time Chantelle was in. I haven’t seen Chantelle since the beginning of September when we originally went to Provence. In the meanwhilst, she’s been to Greece and looking very brown and well sunned. She said she’d had a brilliant time but now had a bit of a cold which was pretty obvious given her croaky voice. She then got all excited telling me about Frank.

Frank is a six week old French bulldog puppy who is ridiculously cute. She’s picking him up permanently after he passes his eight weeks (always the case) but she pops over and sees him quite regularly.

The rest of the staff reckon she’s worse than a new mother.

I think it’s cute.

On the way back home, the traffic in the Borough was pretty full-on. There was talk that the truck that crashed into the Wrecclesham bridge this morning was to blame but I think it’s these renovations…