Sunday 15 December 2013

Strictly Semi Finals

Saturday was so busy I didn't get time to write my blog!

In the morning we headed to Hatfield to pick Andrew up for his Christmas break and I had a minor panic attack when I realised it is only two weeks away. That's the trouble when you are not having Christmas on the actual day, you sort of give yourself an extra week when actually in reality it is only three extra days.

Thankfully Peter's present got delivered just before we left so at least that worry is out of the way. I shall wrap it when he is next in work, which should be Tuesday and then I can relax a bit.

Anyway I digress. We were delayed on the way back home due to an accident on the M1. Thankfully we heard about it before we got onto the motorway and diverted to the A1(M) instead. This was relatively clear but it is rather the long way home. Infinitely quicker than being stuck in an hour's delay though. Incidentally this is the second time in two days we've almost been stuck in a severe jam on the motorway. Let's hope it isn't third time unlucky.

The afternoon was spent packing away my drug delivery. There was a lot of it this month and it all had to be checked against the delivery note and counted. Now normally I just glance down the delivery note to check everything I ordered has been delivered but, in view of the trouble I had ordering the stuff, I decided it would be better to make doubly sure. The last thing I want is to find I'm suddenly without needles or dressings on Christmas Eve.

Once that had been done I sat down for a chat with Andrew and a cup of tea and opened my post. There was a misery gram from the Lethal and Deadly. I'd forgotten my Warfarin clinic appointment. Rat's, I'd got it in my head that it was on the 20th, well it is now as that's when they've rebooked it.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going through the freezer and kitchen cupboards checking what I'd got in and what I'd still to get. I'm not one of these who thinks the whole day will be ruined if there is no sage and onion stuffing. Neither do I feel the necessity to stock up as though I'm feeding the five thousand. Anything I miss we can get by without and I'll be getting just enough and no more. After all it is just one day and you can only eat and drink so much.



I have made provision this year to allow my boys to have Christmas lunch without me should I be fortunate to get the best present of all. I've instructed Andrew on how to cook the turkey etc. I've also stocked up on a lot of 'bung it in the oven/microwave' meals that they can prepare with minimum effort. Yes Andrew can cook but you can only have so much pasta and besides they will want something they can whip up in minutes not hours.

To be honest I've lost hope for this year. I think it is far more likely that I'm going to be spending Christmas at my desk dealing with domestics than I am sitting in a hospital bed looking forward to a new life. I've now set my sights on 2014. This time next year I WILL have had my transplant, hopefully.

Today is going to be a restful day, well sort of. I've still got the ironing to do but thankfully not a lot of it. And I've still got Christmas cards to write. I'm doing them in order of ease of delivery. So cards going abroad go first, then cards being sent to different parts of the UK. Then the hand delivered ones for the neighbours and friends in the village and my colleagues at work. It still means writing dozens of cards but at least I don't have to panic about getting the hand delivered ones done today.



The Christmas tree goes up this week and I start putting out the cards we've already received. How are some people so organised? The tree I'm leaving to Andrew to do this year. I feel I've got enough on my plate as it is.

Strictly Watch

Well it was a bit of an up and down show but then it always is when the contestants have to learn two dances instead of one. I don't know why the emphasis is put on how difficult this task is. Most of the dances have been performed before or are similar to those they've already done and frankly, at this stage, they should be picking things up quicker anyway.

First up was Natalie and in between the first and second dances we were treated to the judges views. Surprisingly they said what I've been saying for weeks. Natalie's dances all look the same. She hasn't improved as much as the others and is now being over taken by some. So if they think that why do they consistantly put her at the top of the leaderboard and overlook mistakes? I think Natalie will make it into the final but she won't win. She has an unfortunate smug way about her, as does Artem, and I think she will pay for being the judges favourite. One thing I have learnt during my years watching Strictly, the public do not like favouritism.

Patrick was a charm. For me his Waltz was the best dance of the night, though I could have done without that tight lipped grin. Yes his Paso lacked a bit of shaping but I've seen worse get higher marks (Natalie). I would love Patrick to get into the final but unless the public get behind him I fear he may end up in the dance off again. If he is in the dance off with anyone other than Suzanne he's gone.

Sophie was elegant and precise as always. There was more animation in her face this week but once again she was deemed to be too stiff and too emotionless. Give Sophie a dance that requires effortless elegance and she excels but give her something needing a bit of facial expression and passion and she just can't do it. I'm not sure on Sophie and I can't say whether she will be in the final or not.

Suzanna I think will be the one to bow out this week unless the public save her from the dance off. Suzanna is nothing if not enthusiastic but sometimes it comes across as desperate. It doesn't help when the costume department dress her as a little girl or a sex goddess. She is neither of these things and I think, given the chance, she could out elegant Sophie. To get into the final she will need to reign in her facial expressions and work more on her feet. Should the dance off be between Suzanna and Patrick I think Suzanne will go. In fact if she is in the dance off with any of the other four Suzanna will go.

Surely Abbey has to be the odds on favourite to win. She has just got better and better and her self depreciating lack of confidence has won her legions of fans, including me, who couldn't stand her in the beginning. Abbey is the only one of the five guaranteed to make it into the final and unless something dreadful happens she has to be the odds on winner.

Right time to think about lunch. Next blog Friday (I hope).


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