Doesnt time fly. Hard to believe this is my 100th post! We are moving offices this weekend, so not allowed into the office tomorrow and have to be out by 6pm today. A real shame that, I reckon. Combines nicely with the external meetings I already had arranged for tomorrow ! So at least I dont need to be fighting over the lap tops for 'working from home' type arrangements....
So it is a weird day today of trying to work and pack up crates etc.
Any other news from me? I heard that some friends of mine living in NZ are expecting a baby (Darren and Katie for anyone that knows them) which is quite exciting! She is due in Feb 05 I think.
Apart from that, nothing much of interest to report to be honest. Mum's last day at work (ever) today so I doubt she'll be very productive...Have to confess to being slightly envious that she is allowed to give up working! Dad is going to keep going because he enjoys it so much and couldnt imagine what else he would do with his time !
Blogger was being v slow today so I am not entirely sure it will work. So, in contrast to my usual entries, I wont do a particularly long one!
Last night we did make it to the gym. We nearly killed ourselves in the process of being determined to be able to do what we usually do but I feel better for it this morning. I feel slimmer already!
We also went to our local where the management is changing after the end of this week so it may never be the same again!
I had an interview today. For a job for after my secondment ends. I'm not particularly confident that I will get it so I wont say too much about it- but I would love it if I did get it and am not sure what I will do if I dont! So yesterday evening was spent preparing for that. Simon cooked me a lovely dinner whilst I locked myself away thinking deep thoughts and then it was time for Big Brother!
Tonight we really must go to the gym as we have both been very remiss of late.
Trying to have a quiet week as I was very stressed last week through doing too much. It will come to a point when I am bored but until then I am enjoying not having too many plans!
What a horrible summer! Although saturday was lovely (co-inciding with our day of relaxation by the docks with the newspapers which was brilliant!). We say Fahrenheit 9/11 on friday night. Good film even if the spin is so obvious it does make it lose some credibility.
Not much more news really. Went to a great bbq on saturday night and to some people from work's yesterday. So all in all a reasonably busy but not crazy weekend!
There is too much on at the moment. So last night I did even more things! I did go to the gym (exercise really does help if you are feeling like life is getting on top of you) and we did clean the flat between us. It is positively gleaming now !
The weekend doesnt look too bad and we are planning to try to keep our diaries much freer to give us space and stop us getting too overwhelmed with life.
I am pooped! It has been such a busy time of late, celebrating all sorts of things, that I am completely exhausted. I am supposed to be extremely busy at work too but I dont seem to have the energy for that as well!
Mum's birthday went well. The Duck ride was in an ex WW2 vehicle- created for the D-day landings- which can go on land and in the water! It was brilliant. Not least because the 'guide' on board had all sorts of interesting facts about London and it made it all very interesting. I had lunch with her on my own which was lovely and then the rest of the family joined in for the activities later in the day. The theatre wasnt even as bad as I was expecting and Mum loved it which is the important thing. Just a weekend away 'en famille' left and all the celebrating is done! I hope they NEVER forget their 60ths as so much time and effort has gone into celebrating them! It was sweet to see them holding hands as we walked around London yesterday afternoon too- I guess I dont go out and about with them often enough these days to be used to it but it was something I quite enjoyed watching.
Tonight is 'go to the gym and clean the house and go shopping' night ahead of a dinner party at ours tomorrow.... Lots to look forward to then !
is today (60- of course). So I have a half day. We are meeting for lunch at 'the Old Bank of England' because that is where she wanted to go! Then onto that Duck ride around London (it goes in the water and on the land and - you've guessed it- it is what she wanted to do) and then a meal and then watching the 'Lion King' this evening (Now I Really hope you have realised that this is what she wanted to do!). My brother and Dad also have the afternoon off and Simon is joining us later for the theatre. She has some flowers being delivered this morning so I hope she doesnt leave too early for the train to London in her excitement for it all !
Not much more news really. Simon didnt get home til 8pm last night which wasnt too splendid for 'our' night together and we had promised to finish off my application form. So only time to watch big brother before feeling the need to sleep last night. Not much of an exciting 'date night' but there we go!
Last night I went out for a drink with some people from work- someone was leaving from my team and as she is the colleague I am closest to I really wanted to go (despite being v v tired from the weekend!). It was a really nice time, although the inevitable gossiping did re-appear as soon as our manager left. Not too nice really.
Had a long chat with a friend of mine who hasnt been too well and who I havent spoken to for over a year. It was so nice to catch up with him a bit and we have put a date in the diary to meet up which will be brilliant.
S and i are trying to decide between a night in (when we feel guilty about the stuff we havent done around the house but doesnt involve moving anywhere!) or going to the cinema tonight. (Would be great except we are off to the theatre for Mum's birthday tomorrow so who knows whether we'd appreciate it as much if we went out tonight too!).
Mum and Dad's surprise party on saturday night (sorry couldnt mention in advance as didnt want to risk them finding out!) was brilliant. They honestly didnt have a clue. Not quite sure how many turned up but it was somewhere between 80-100 people and almost all of them were there when Simon and I turned up with them to what they thought was my Aunt and Uncle's anniversary celebration party. It was so cool to see the look on their faces. We had to get everyone to sing happy birthday for them to realise what was going on and to give them time to collect themselves! It was so brilliant. Stephen did really well organising people on the night and the band were excellent for us all to dance along to. Simon's parents came along and were almost leading the dancing- they were really getting into it all. I am so pleased that we did it and managed to keep it a surprise. They are so very chuffed indeed and havent stopped talking about it ever since.
Then it was Governor's day on sunday. Simon was busy from 9am to 6.30pm and it was very tiring for us all. Both sets of parents came along (there was much post-party analysis as you can imagine) and it was a lovely day. I dont think we could all appreciate it properly as we were all a bit spaced out after the night before but the new format works very well and lots and lots of people came along and were really included- not just in watching the all-star cricket and tennis matches but in playing inter-divisional team sports too. Loads of things for children (and big children) to do such as face painting and dodgems and a jazz band and a free all-day bar-be-que and soft drinks.
But I definitely need a weekend now for a break! And more birthday celebrations this week with Mum's actual birthday yet to come!
This blogger keeps on changing its format ! I just get used to one level of it and then it changes again!
Last night I failed to go to the gym (hadnt been for a week so was very naughty). Instead started on an application form for this potential job for when I go back to the Bank. Simon was brilliant and really helped me out with it a lot despite having been sent home from work sick yesterday. He is having trouble organising governor's day for sunday so i hope it all works out for him!
I am really looking forward to a night in tonight - perhaps with a video and bottle of wine....(and perhaps doing some ironing? wow what exciting lives we lead, eh?!)
Very busy weekend ahead with my uncle and aunt's wedding anniversary party and then governor's day on sunday. But hopefully all will be good. Have a good weekend every body!
People at work are now being really horrible about each other on a daily basis. It is so difficult not to get drawn into the ramblings of who has said or done what to whomever else. It makes for a not very nice atmosphere on the team. So I am not very happy here at the moment!
Spent a very pleasant evening with my brother last night thinking about things for my parents' birthday celebrations. Am very excited about it all!
Not much else is news- letters from solicitors telling me that we might become homeless later this summer hasnt done much to boost my confidence in the English property system but we will keep praying that things work out OK in the end....
I got totally soaked on my way in to work this morning! Failed to notice the cats and dogs coming out of the sky and so didnt bring an umbrella. As the vast majority of my 20 minute journey to work is walking, I got a little of what the weather had to offer. Just as well I hadnt had time to dry my hair properly this morning then!
Simon is stressed about the event being organised for Sunday which is called 'Governor's day' at the Bank of England sports club. I guess I have never before had to think about the logistics of getting everything sorted but am painfully aware of it all now! I am sure it will be fine but Simon feels that he will be bearing any blame for things going wrong as he has final overseeing responsibility on behalf of the big G. The new G is organising it in a different way from previous years which adds to the pressure I suppose.
I am trying to keep on top of my parents' 60th birthday celebrations as well as organising moving house (which is still happening, with a few glitches and hitches we think we are still on course at the moment!). So this is the bigger picture of our life!
So getting rained on on the way into work seems like the least of my problems !
Some people mention food in their blogs all the time. I guess it isnt as important to me as it is to some people. But today I had a disappointment. I had been looking forward to a day when I would have a chance to grab something from the new pie and mash shop that opened where the bagel shop used to be. I was hoping that this means the success of good, old-fashioned food over poncy stuff that noone can pronounce or knows what it is. There has been a queue out of the door every lunchtime since it opened. I still think the idea is a very good one and I hope it succeeds. But the pie wasnt very nice. Admittedly the veggie option probably isnt where they focus their efforts but the mash wasnt brilliant either. Maybe it is the cardboard box i ate it out of i'm not sure. But I dont think I will be returning there....
Last night involved me not cleaning the bathrooms as I had intended to and instead sitting and attempting to read sunday;s papers that i hadnt had time for on sunday! Didnt get far in that either though so will need to make more progress with something tonight !
What a busy few days. One of my best friends had her birthday on Friday followed by her wedding on Saturday! And then my Dad had his 60th birthday yesterday. So it was all go. Simon and I had friday off to make sure we got over to the right part of the country for the initial birthday and then wedding celebrations in time without having to leave work ridiculously early and being totally stressed! And for him to have something to look forward to after his own birthday where he worked ridiculously hard. Except he had some severe muscle spasm in his neck and he could hardly move so we couldnt do the lovely walk in the Chilterns that we had been planning. But we managed to relax anyway.
The wedding was brilliant. I was given a few compliments on my (new!) dress and also the reading which I did during the service. It was really nice to hear those comments as I had felt extremely nervous about the whole thing. They had a totally wonderful time and looked like the perfect bride and groom.
Dad's birthday was lovely too. We went to an extremely posh restaurant- that featured in the Observer's food monthly magazine on the actual day that we went there! We worked out tha that the meal cost the same as my grandparents' house did when they got married but as Dad was paying it really doesnt matter too much!
They are very intrigued about the surprise 'present' my brother and I have lined up for them (Mum's 60th is in 9 days' time!) but I wont say too much on here in case they end up reading it ! But I am really looking forward to it too- all will be revealed eventually!
I did a reasonably long post yesterday but it doesnt seem to have appeared anywhere! I was telling you that it was Simon's birthday yesterday. I didnt mention that I was surprising him with his parents coming up to join us for dinner just in case he read the blog! But he was very surprised which was very nice.
We are having problems in the sale/purchase of properties. I was thinking only the other day that it all seemed to be going too smoothly. Everyone is (I hope) still committed but the timings dont seem to be working out too well. I had a long chat this morning with the lady we are buying from (who is very nice and we had a great long chat about holidays too!) which was part negotiation and part trying to reassure each other that we are committed. Our holiday dates dont seem to co-incide with each other's which is terribly annoying and they havent got anywhere to move into (despite telling us that they would be prepared to go and rent somewhere so we could dictate the timetable). Anyway wont bore you with more details (probably bored you all already!) but here's trusting it works out OK in the end....
So let's all wish Simon a happy birthday today (27- bright young thing still).... We are going for a meal this evening (although the weather forecast is gale winds and torrential rain).
Not much other news. Had a busy afternoon yesterday going backwards and forwards to the school I am governor of- I was supposed to be sitting in some maths lessons but the maths teacher told me when i got there that all his lessons are in the mornings! So we had a nice chat about the curriculum and I came back to work. To leave again at 4.30 as there was a full governor's meeting at 5.30! The meeting was actually quite interesting as Channel 4 want to come and do a documentary at the school (as it is a special school for autistic children) and we were debating the rights and wrongs of this project. It is going to be brilliant for autism awareness but they want to focus on three or four individuals and it could clearly end up portraying them in a manner which they might not be comfortable with at the end result. I think we are going to wait until they have decided who they want to focus on before we give it our final blessing. Interesting though...
This time a little bit more permanently. Although i am around and about the country quite a bit over the next few weeks !
Turkey was great. It was lovely to see my friends again (it had been just over 2 years ago- when they had 4 children- when i saw them last). So to meet the 5th child in their family was a real treat (do they always get more placid the more children you have?). They are such a well behaved family. The parents are so kind and hospitable and made me feel so very welcome. The weather was perfect- well very hot and clear anyway. We didnt do too much sightseeing but we did go to a lot of places and I met some of their Turkish friends and I feel that I have a feel for the 'real' Turkey which is nice. Istanbul is a much nicer city than I was expecting actually. It has a lot of character and the people are really friendly. I will almost certainly be visiting there again.
Anything happened since I have been away? (Except the shock Greek euro 2004 victory?)
For forgetting to telly ou that I wouldnt be back until today! And now I probably wont be back until next Tuesday either. I have been in Edinburgh with work. It was FREEZING up there! It is supposed to be summer! And the work was a bit of a nightmare!
But the hen weekend at the weekend was brilliant. We went to some of the places we went as students. Rachel's friends are all so lovely (there were so many people there!). And given she is one of my best friends I was amazed that there were so many people I hadnt met! But some of them were originally friends of her man's. The Irish are brilliant, arent they? They so know how to include everyone and to have a good time. We went to the beach and to a pizza restaurant and stayed in on the friday night and played games. It was such fun. Anyway I have forgotten what my husband looks like!
Tomorrow I am off to Turkey for a long weekend to visit some of my most special friends in the whole world who I know from my NZ days and who have now gone to live out there (with all 5 of their children!). Cant wait to see them. Wish SImon was coming with me but he already had plans for the weekend which is why I decided to go (it is my 30th birthday pressie from my parents actually!).
Anyway take care and I promise to provide a more regular service when I am back in the country more permanently!
For forgetting to telly ou that I wouldnt be back until today! And now I probably wont be back until next Tuesday either. I have been in Edinburgh with work. It was FREEZING up there! It is supposed to be summer! And the work was a bit of a nightmare!
But the hen weekend at the weekend was brilliant. We went to some of the places we went as students. Rachel's friends are all so lovely (there were so many people there!). And given she is one of my best friends I was amazed that there were so many people I hadnt met! But some of them were originally friends of her man's. The Irish are brilliant, arent they? They so know how to include everyone and to have a good time. We went to the beach and to a pizza restaurant and stayed in on the friday night and played games. It was such fun. Anyway I have forgotten what my husband looks like!
Tomorrow I am off to Turkey for a long weekend to visit some of my most special friends in the whole world who I know from my NZ days and who have now gone to live out there (with all 5 of their children!). Cant wait to see them. Wish SImon was coming with me but he already had plans for the weekend which is why I decided to go (it is my 30th birthday pressie from my parents actually!).
Anyway take care and I promise to provide a more regular service when I am back in the country more permanently!
