There was good weather during my two days off last Thursday and Friday so I enjoyed a mixture of beach and sorting my UK Tax declaration. By using the wonderful Skype phone I was able to talk with a HMRC inspector and get some really good advice.

On Saturday I picked up my new glasses but the lady in the opticians was most unhelpful and paid very little attention to her job. (More of this later). I went into work and did some admin prior to the weekend sequence of Masses.

Later that evening I went to bed early but was awoken at 1am by loud music from an other apartment. The same had occurred last night. I reported it to the 24-hr neighbourhood team but there was no reply so I reported that to the Apartment boss!

The choir had been fantastic on Wednesday at the rehearsal and were OK at the Mass but it all convinced me that short term memory is an issue and that the sooner we get the rehearsal suite built the better.

On Monday I was in the chapel for the 8,30am Mass to kick off the Novena which I had steered for the Papal Visits to Cuba, USA and the World Meeting of Families. That went well and gave me time to drop into LabCorp to get some blood tests done. In the event the queues were so long that I would not have been able to keep my next appointment. so at 10am I was back at the office preparing for a meeting about the School Masses. It was a great meeting in which all were able to exchange views and I was able to widen things to non-musical matters.  I had hoped to lunch on a bargain (reduced) chicken noodle thing but never got to it since I discovered that the chicken was blue. I went back to the store was loud in my complaint and walked away with a few lunches of my choice! Bargain!

In the afternoon I worked with colleague Neil to prepare a daily e-blast to the parish about the Pope’s visits etc. The end result was a great feat of collaboration. On my way home I stopped at Goodwill and bought an unused $150 juice extractor for $10. Bargain number 2, I thought.

On Tuesday I went to my usual physiotherapy and discovered that it was my last. The last session was a good deal longer at 3 hours as it included a meeting with the doctor. It will be great to get some time back again! I went into work but was really tired so I left at 3.30pm for a rest at home.

Refreshed on Wednesday I was in early for the School Mass. The choir was excellent and all approved. I had a funeral during the late morning but was back for a meeting about the new rehearsal suite. It was a very positive meeting but I can’t say more here. During the afternoon I had a wedding meeting and time to prepare for choir practice.

The choir were good although tired and a little depleted by known absence.

Today, Thursday, the first stop on my day off was the doctor to check if a thyroid test was among those he had ordered. The retinologist from the scare last week had suspected a thyroid problem. So convinced that it was included I went again to LabCorp and completed the tests very quickly. My next stop was the radiologist for an x-ray of the left foot which I’d sliced when I stood on some glass on a beach a few weeks ago. Even though it was no longer painful the radiologist agreed that it was the right thing to do. I had still had no breakfast or lunch since the blood test included a fasting one, but I still had to visit the optician to complain about my new glasses and more particularly about the treatment I had received on Saturday. The technician this time was excellent and spotted the issue immediately, promising to address the staff issue also.

It was 2.30pm when I dropped into the Long Bar for brunch. I was home soon after intending to pop out again later but fell asleep in the chair and decided against it when I awoke. Now at 10.30pm an early night beckons. I have the dentist in the morning!