Fired and Re-hired, Then Fired Again..... The life of an amateur juicer.

I week has gone by.... and yet again I've not had the chance to go into details about the coffee enemas, so now seems as good a time as any doesn't it? But then the week has gone by too, and I want to tell you how Amanda is. So once again this is going to have to wait for a few days, I will get there though, I promise.

Wendy thanks for your kind comments and observations, it's lovely to hear from friends on the blog.

Amanda is amazing, she has incredible strength of body and mind, I'm only a helper..... Which does take the pressure off a bit some days, but other days
 I add pressure without even realising.... I'm aiming to improve my score card in this area.

Amanda 'Alan Sugar' Boyd, issued me with gutting two words 'You're Fired' (In true Apprentice style, I jumped into a black cab, and muttered that she didn't know what she was missing out on, that I am the best juicer, second to none in all of Oxfordshire, possibly the UK, then the camera's cut - and I returned to reality!) and this did free up a little more of my time. Thursday witnessed a re-hiring situation, a short term 24 hour contract, where Amanda was feeling very fed up..... Ahhhh the sweet buzz of the juicer, and the rattling plastic supplement containers.... How I missed you both. Once again I felt useful! But then all I wanted was to see a little smile in Amanda's eyes. I think she may have feign fed up-ness to kindly allow me to bask in the sensation of helpfulness once more! Ha ha! Thursday passed by, and as it drew to a close Amanda's mood had lifted, and she was back in control of the juicer.

On the Wednesday we were attending the Penny Brohn Centre, Amanda's new found 'independent woman' skit even challenged my chauffeur requirements. She informed me on the Monday that she would be taking the Banbury to Bristol SmartCar Challenge (BBSC) herself. Hmmmm I thought, in a surprised non believing hmmmm way.

Wednesday morning arrived, and as I settled into the passengers seat, held securely in place with the slightly twisted seatbelt, gripping firmly onto my most recent read 'Molecules of Emotion', I wondered what I was in for. Here I was co-piloting for Amanda on the BBSC, something which I hadn't foreseen. In addition I was requested to complete the return leg, which again was making use of one of my many, many talents! Ha ha! I jest, I like driving (not the SmartCar, but I like driving), and I'm pretty good at it, having driven everyday as part of my job for almost 8 years. I have extremely good observational skills, and anticipate other drivers movements and actions in my stride, but that's enough about how wonderful I am on the road, I was no doubt about to be absolutely terrified for the next couple of hours. Partly due to 'nervous passenger syndrome' and secondly due to Amanda's lack of driving prowess (sorry sweetheart). It was 7.15am as we set off, and at 9.15am we rolled into the Penny Brohn car park, totally unscathed and completely relaxed. I'd taken in the low sun kissing the cut, dry fields of burnt yellow, and the mist in the valley. The mist acting as a filter allowing to sun to simply give it's presence away as an umber glow, visually stunning. I love late summer, early autumn mornings, the coolness of the air, the sun and the mist are a beautiful combination, add the turning of the leaves in a few weeks, and the 'Summer Autumn' is at it's peak. I also managed a couple of nervous chapters of my book, glancing up every time Amanda touched the brakes.

Amanda headed off to her Shiatsu Massage, and I wandered in to the cafeteria and helped myself to some muesli and dried fruit. Everyone had finished breakfast, I was pretty sure they wouldn't mind me diving in. I opened up my laptop and sorted out the Organic Grocery emails.

Once Amanda returned from Shiatsu, the sun was out, and the we had an hour before her group meditation. We headed out to the garden. Amanda did a yoga session while I continued to read.

One of the old chaps who took part in the 'Retreat into Stillness' had returned to the Penny Brohn for the day too, Amanda greeted him him a big hug. He came over and chatted briefly, he was very into his fishing like I am. A lovely man.

After our lunch we headed home, Amanda had picked the correct journey, as the rain was bouncing off the surface of the M5, making visibility quite a challenge. Traffic slowed to 40mph for ten or so minutes while the torrential downpour tried to turn the road into a river.

That evening I went for a fish with Stu - the rain from Bristol caught up with us at about 8pm eventually pounding it's way through our not so waterproof waterproofs. Still, a lovely evening's fishing was had.

Friday was Cranio-sacral Therapy in Oxford, and seeing as it had been raining throughout the day I decided to accompany Amanda to Oxford, instead of manning the Organic Grocery Stall. Her session was booked for 6pm.

We got in the car at 5pm and I decided to take the back road. My reasoning was due to the very heavy persistent rain,and the chance of being caught up in accident based traffic jams.

As I reached the back of Banbury, Amanda proceeded to rant in my ear, that going the back way to Oxford was crazy, whilst I argued, hitting the motorway in such bad conditions during rush hour was complete insanity, there was the potential for accidents and delays all over the shop. People tend to forget that the roads become 'greasy' with hot weather then a deluge of water. I even made up statistics to back up my theory of back roads versus motorway. But she continued to 'go on.... and on'. I turned aggressively back into town at the traffic lights back toward the M40, growling that this was a stupid idea. Whilst Amanda continued to inform me that my idea was stupid.

After 10 miles on the M40 we came to a grinding halt, a 5 mile tailback.... nice.

'You're just loving this aren't you' she snarled.

'Nope, there is nothing more than I hate in the world than being stuck in traffic.' I replied.

Unsurprisingly this spiralled into a rather heated discussion, whom many would class as an argument. I threatened to get out and walk back to Banbury as I thought it would be a better option than spending the next 5 miles crawling along the M40 with her arguing with me and herself. It went quiet for a while, then her hand moved across onto mine - same old story really! Ha ha!

I didn't even say 'I told you so'..... but whilst I'm here.... 'I told you so!!! 'I TOLD YOOOOOU!' Ha ha!

When we reached Eau die Vie, I dropped Amanda off and was then guided by Oxfordshire's answer to Cat Weasel into a reverse park just around the corner. A very helpful chap mocking aside, and no doubt I will dress and look something like that in 30 years time. I headed to the nearest pub, ordered a pint of Black Stripe, found a comfortable looking red leather chair and buried my face in 'Molecules of Emotion' for an hour.

Afterwards we chatted over our food about her session. Amanda explained to me about the Cranio-sacral Therapy and what she gets out of it. It's all about listening to the body, rather than the bombardment of thoughts our brains constantly throw at us. Turning the brain off, trying not to let it interfere. Yes thoughts and visions appear, but via sensations generated whilst different areas of the body are being moved - nothing naughty may I add. It sounds very deep, and some day, once I've learned how to meditate fully I may have a crack at it. See what the dark recesses of my body and mind hold. I'm sure the Cranio-sacral Therapist would be incredibly disappointed with me! Ha ha!

I'm going to try and do something nice tonight.... it's difficult, as I can't do anything really alternative with the food, which I'd normally do. So I have to think outside of the box. Maybe just a simple bit of romance. Candles, sweet smells and soft music. We've already got a movie to watch for tonight, so we will end the day snuggled up on the sofa regardless.

My wife is a sensitive, loving, astonishing woman, she deserves a little romance. I think I've been lacking in this department recently. I think just letting her know she is loved dearly and unconditionally goes some way to filling this gap..... but I need to do a little more.

See you folks x