(no subject)
Nov. 2nd, 2021 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
turpsMy MiL is home and the house is back to normal.
Furniture is back in the right place, the cats are more relaxed, not that they were frightened of my MiL, just they weren't impressed with someone new in their space and hated the thump of her walking sticks when she walked around.
Not that she was a demanding guest at all, and I enjoyed her being here. But hosting for five days is a lot.
The trip to York was good, if very busy. Arranging the scooter hire was the best thing we could have done. We drove down in the morning, parked up in a dedicated Shopmobility bay in the car park, my MiL was given the scooter, and then she was away. That day I more than doubled my usual step count and by the end of the night my knees were ready to go on strike. But my MiL looked so happy as she scootered around. She was able to look at the shops and stalls herself and I think we circled the centre of the shopping area multiple times.
Sadly, all we could do was shop as it turns out that going on a half-term holiday, at Halloween, when most people were staying in the UK for their holidays meant everything was booked solid, and I mean everything. We asked about the wheelchair-accessible ride car in Jorvik and was told the next available slot for anyone was the Sunday, so that was out. All the museums were fully booked, even the ones outside, and anything we checked was a no go. Which was sad but didn't affect the breakaway that much.
The hotel we'd booked was a cheap and cheerful Travelodge. We had two accessible rooms opposite each other, directly through the door from reception, so that worked out nicely. Though my MiL choose the one with two single beds, and despite pushing them together felt she was falling through the middle so that was a shame.
Also, we'd booked breakfast, and on arrival, we found out it was breakfast in a box, with a cereal bar, a bottle of orange juice etc, so that was a surprise. However, the next morning, when I went to pick up our boxes, they had none to give as they'd been so busy so we got a refund for them and drove to a nearby chain pub. They have a branch near where we live so knew they did cheap and cheerful breakfasts with unlimited toast and coffee and a hearty buffet, so, sold!
The hotel was attached to a Sizzling Pub and the night we stayed they had a quiz night, mostly attended by uni students. We had a nice meal and people watched, and my MiL enjoyed all of the, often sexualised, team names.
The next day we went to the Designer Outlet, where sadly all the scooters were booked so I was designated wheelchair pusher. Most thing were still too expensive but I checked out quite a few shops and enjoyed the Haribo shop and the Lindt shop, where I got Corey some of his Christmas presents. He loves Lindt chocolate so while it's actually much cheaper to buy boxes in the supermarkets the specialist shop had pick and mix unusual flavours, so I got some of those which I'll top up with the more ordinary kind.
Saturday we went to Metrocentre where again my MiL was on a scooter so got to look around all the shops at her ease, and I told my poor legs that they'd get a rest in a few days. She had to take a little driving test before getting that scooter, and actually failed the first time. But thankfully, was fine the second attempt.
Sunday she came to Tim Hortons with us and we introduced her to the wonders of the £1.99 breakfasts, then onto Company for the usual grocery shopping. Followed by a drive to the beach where we drank coffee watching the waves as it was chucking it down and really windy.
In the time my MiL was here I think we hit every one of the main coffee chains multiple times, ate out often, I made multiple hot drinks and meals, became a pro at getting the wheelchair in and out of the boot -- made easier when James started to park outside our back gate, which we're not supposed to as it means driving over a long section of path but as there's no dropped curb near our garage meaning an extra five minutes walk to get from our car to our house, he did it anyway and just generally had a nice time.
At York, apart from the chocolate at the Outlet, I bought a lovely candle, two jars of wax melts and two splendid prints which I love. So all in all, a nice haul.
My MiL also got to see me do one of my online jobs. I was hoping it would be finished before she arrived as it's one of the speaking ones where they want people with strong accents to help train smart speakers. Sadly it started late so she got to listen to me record the list of commands. What amused me was one was sent back with the comment there was a weird noise in the beginning, and it was James snoring *g*
So yeah, it was a good few days, but it's nice to be back to normal.
Or normalish as James is back home as he had a fall at work this morning and has hurt his back. When he goes down he's got no way of breaking his fall and apparently fell like a sack of spuds. He was trying to walk it off but in the end, they sent him home and now he's flaked out on the couch. He'll be fine in a few days I'm sure, it's just a shame this has happened when he's had such a good spell of not needing to be off sick.
Furniture is back in the right place, the cats are more relaxed, not that they were frightened of my MiL, just they weren't impressed with someone new in their space and hated the thump of her walking sticks when she walked around.
Not that she was a demanding guest at all, and I enjoyed her being here. But hosting for five days is a lot.
The trip to York was good, if very busy. Arranging the scooter hire was the best thing we could have done. We drove down in the morning, parked up in a dedicated Shopmobility bay in the car park, my MiL was given the scooter, and then she was away. That day I more than doubled my usual step count and by the end of the night my knees were ready to go on strike. But my MiL looked so happy as she scootered around. She was able to look at the shops and stalls herself and I think we circled the centre of the shopping area multiple times.
Sadly, all we could do was shop as it turns out that going on a half-term holiday, at Halloween, when most people were staying in the UK for their holidays meant everything was booked solid, and I mean everything. We asked about the wheelchair-accessible ride car in Jorvik and was told the next available slot for anyone was the Sunday, so that was out. All the museums were fully booked, even the ones outside, and anything we checked was a no go. Which was sad but didn't affect the breakaway that much.
The hotel we'd booked was a cheap and cheerful Travelodge. We had two accessible rooms opposite each other, directly through the door from reception, so that worked out nicely. Though my MiL choose the one with two single beds, and despite pushing them together felt she was falling through the middle so that was a shame.
Also, we'd booked breakfast, and on arrival, we found out it was breakfast in a box, with a cereal bar, a bottle of orange juice etc, so that was a surprise. However, the next morning, when I went to pick up our boxes, they had none to give as they'd been so busy so we got a refund for them and drove to a nearby chain pub. They have a branch near where we live so knew they did cheap and cheerful breakfasts with unlimited toast and coffee and a hearty buffet, so, sold!
The hotel was attached to a Sizzling Pub and the night we stayed they had a quiz night, mostly attended by uni students. We had a nice meal and people watched, and my MiL enjoyed all of the, often sexualised, team names.
The next day we went to the Designer Outlet, where sadly all the scooters were booked so I was designated wheelchair pusher. Most thing were still too expensive but I checked out quite a few shops and enjoyed the Haribo shop and the Lindt shop, where I got Corey some of his Christmas presents. He loves Lindt chocolate so while it's actually much cheaper to buy boxes in the supermarkets the specialist shop had pick and mix unusual flavours, so I got some of those which I'll top up with the more ordinary kind.
Saturday we went to Metrocentre where again my MiL was on a scooter so got to look around all the shops at her ease, and I told my poor legs that they'd get a rest in a few days. She had to take a little driving test before getting that scooter, and actually failed the first time. But thankfully, was fine the second attempt.
Sunday she came to Tim Hortons with us and we introduced her to the wonders of the £1.99 breakfasts, then onto Company for the usual grocery shopping. Followed by a drive to the beach where we drank coffee watching the waves as it was chucking it down and really windy.
In the time my MiL was here I think we hit every one of the main coffee chains multiple times, ate out often, I made multiple hot drinks and meals, became a pro at getting the wheelchair in and out of the boot -- made easier when James started to park outside our back gate, which we're not supposed to as it means driving over a long section of path but as there's no dropped curb near our garage meaning an extra five minutes walk to get from our car to our house, he did it anyway and just generally had a nice time.
At York, apart from the chocolate at the Outlet, I bought a lovely candle, two jars of wax melts and two splendid prints which I love. So all in all, a nice haul.
My MiL also got to see me do one of my online jobs. I was hoping it would be finished before she arrived as it's one of the speaking ones where they want people with strong accents to help train smart speakers. Sadly it started late so she got to listen to me record the list of commands. What amused me was one was sent back with the comment there was a weird noise in the beginning, and it was James snoring *g*
So yeah, it was a good few days, but it's nice to be back to normal.
Or normalish as James is back home as he had a fall at work this morning and has hurt his back. When he goes down he's got no way of breaking his fall and apparently fell like a sack of spuds. He was trying to walk it off but in the end, they sent him home and now he's flaked out on the couch. He'll be fine in a few days I'm sure, it's just a shame this has happened when he's had such a good spell of not needing to be off sick.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-04 06:52 pm (UTC)Lancecat also disapproves of visitors. He always looks like he's just waiting for them to leave so he can relax properly!
Those prints are so much fun!
Poor James! I hope his back will soon be better. *sends him lots of healthy thoughts*
no subject
Date: 2022-01-11 06:24 pm (UTC)Lancecat also disapproves of visitors. He always looks like he's just waiting for them to leave so he can relax properly!
Cats can be so weird. Milo doesn't care if we have visitors, but Murphy is ridiculous. He's like Lancecat, constantly on edge until he gets his space back.