Mandy: Thursday 30th May
When I handed in my notice at EHN in February Verena said that apart from having a wonderful time travelling we would learn new things about each other being together 24/7! Well after 30 years together I didn’t think there would be much to learn. However, after nearly 52 years with myself (smile) I have learnt something new during the last six weeks.
We do not spend much time sat by the pool or sunbathing but we do go for a swim once a day. There is another pool on site which everyone prefers because it is oblong/rectangle and therefore you can swim up and down. (Many people do various amounts of lengths before breakfast!) We still prefer our pool…….the pool that we overlook from our balcony. It is round-ish and our neighbours on site say that is it not so easy to swim in. Well I find it easier. I swim around in circles happily and so thought that was a good thing…..however this morning Glen said “swim in the opposite direction” no problem I thought……. but no I couldn’t go around as normal but instead had to keep correcting my direction and bumped in to the sides of the pool!!! What was wrong with me!! Have I damaged myself since being here the last six weeks? or have I always had one leg or arm shorter than the other? Something I would not have noticed until I swam in circles here? Are there friends, work colleagues, family out there nodding saying “well we didn’t want to say anything…” have I been limping all these years without realising it? All these things were running through my mind as I started circle number five……
Glen on the other hand did not seem concerned about my direction problem or unlikely underlying limp. No, he was more interested in the slow pace at which I proceed, which ever the direction!
As I was swimming around yesterday I sneezed. Glen, sat on the side of the pool having completed his five laps a good ten minutes earlier, said that because I swim with such a gentle force, that as I sneezed I propelled myself backwards!!! Well I started to giggle and then he said “for goodness sake don’t f*rt or you will propel yourself right out of the water!” Well I laughed so much I nearly drowned!!!! I laughed uncontrollably the whole of the next circle and a half….. I expected someone to come running thinking I was crying and had a problem but not a single neighbour or pool guy came to my rescue! For those of you who do not know Glen well, this was made all the funnier as I have only ever heard him say that word about four times since meeting him! ……..Still laughing now, fun times (big grin)
Glen has just said that it was a private fun moment not to be shared on the blog but I feel he has entered into a contract (by starting this blog) in much the same way as people do when they invite camera crews into their homes …. the only difference being that he is not getting paid for the intrusion into his privacy of course! (Sheepish smile)