Pumpkin's Positive Post: time to myself

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Good day to all of my lovely myLotters. I hope you are all well. Thoughts especially with those of you affected by Milton. We have family currently on holiday in Orlanda. Thankfully, they're all OK and didn't experience more than some strong winds and a short curfew. As for me, there are a few things going on that haven't been good. I have mentioned some things before but I've not really been able to word it all well. If I try and explain briefly, it is very vague. With further explanation, it seems to come out as a very long 'poor me' word salad! I will stick to the positives. I feel it is a good thing that positivity is easier for me I have taken some time off work. I was off yesterday and have next week off. Next week, my husband and I will be away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. We were hoping to visit thermal spring baths in Bath but husband has a wound that might make that impossible. If he can get a waterproof dressing, we could still do it. We don't have any specific plans. We're staying at a hotel in a Wiltshire village that's not far from the city of Bath. I'm hiring a car, which I'm picking up today. Yesterday (Friday), I hadn't made any plans. Because I have to book my annual leave a year in advance, I booked enough that I had some leeway regarding what we did if/when we went anywhere. Anyway, I had a random day with my eldest son (Midi). Youngest son Mini) didn't want to do anything (he never does). Husband had other things to do and wasn't really well enough to do much else. We had discussed ideas. By ideas, we decided on games and drinks. We went to a nearby arcade where we had a drink, and played pool and air hockey. I played on some of the other games and won some tickets, which I exchanged for a pen that was shaped like a chilli. I gave that to Midi. We then decided to get the bus into the city. The arcade is between our town and the neighbouring one. There's not a lot to do in either. When we got to the city, we had a late lunch at a Taiwanese place. I hadn't realised it was Taiwanese. It was somewhere I'd been before but it had changed since then. Still the same owners, they'd just expanded the shop and made a few changes. We each had a bento box and a lychee fruit tea. They put various bits of fresh fruit in the teas. Even though it was the same drink, they added slightly different fruit. I don't know if that was deliberate or if their fruit is premixed and they just spoon it out. We also shared some salmon and cucumber sushi. I was very pleased to see that. It seems avocado has taken over everywhere. It was such a relief to see something with cucumber and no avocado Midi asked me if I wanted him to treat me to something from Forbidden Planet (I think it's quite a well known shop that exists in other countries but, for those who may not know, it's a shop that sells geeky stuff like sci-fi, anime, games, and suchlike). We went in there. I got excited over a plush 'Morph' (a character from a children's art show from my childhood). That was too expensive. Midi bought me a Morph keyring instead. He also bought me a game. It's a card game called Betrayal. We have a game called Betrayal at House on the Hill. This is the card game version. We will need to play that. We've also got some other new games. One I bought for my nephew but he'd already got it. That's called Mobi and I'd describe it as like Scrabble but with numbers. Another I bought for myself is called Block Party. You have to build things with blocks, other places guess. You might get extra points for things such as using the fewest blocks. We've not played that yet. Lastly, I've got a game called Escapology. I'm assuming that's an escape game. That's my birthday present from my parents. I can't play it yet because it's not my birthday until next week Where did I get to? Oh yes, after Forbidden Planet, we went to a pub called Slug & Lettuce. We had a cocktail called a Swiftie. I only wanted it because it comes with a little had. I'd had it before and they didn't have the hats. I was rather excited to see they had them this time. The cocktail is served in a disco ball cup then the cowboy hat is screwed on. There is a hole in the hat for a straw. We had a good day. We then had some bus trouble but, thankfully, my big sister had called us anyway and she'd offered to come and fetch us. We all had some dinner at my parents' where my little sister also was. We had a quiz. My dad was asleep so he didn't join in. I won the quiz, big sis came second, then Midi, then my mum and then little sis. I picked up presents from people as I'll be away on my actual birthday. Bis sis gave us a lift home and also gave me my present from her. We got home later than we usually would. That was partly because big sis and I were having a bit of a decompression (I think that's the right word). Being at my parents' is stressful. I've often questioned why I bother. But that's another story, and it doesn't fit my positive theme. I'm very much looking forward to my short break. Today, I'm picking up a car and will be seeing some friends later to celebrate a colleague's 40th birthday. I must remember her card and gift. There are a few family birthdays coming up. My sister-in-law messaged me about arranging something for hers and her son's birthdays in December. There are four other birthdays to think about before then! It's understandable that she wants to plan early, though, as it can be tricky to find places in December. It'll be her 50th and her son's 21st so they want to do a big meal with all the family. That'll be nice as we don't see much of them. That's my positive post for today. What's yours? (Image is of the cups in which our cocktails were served)