Well what have I been up to since last week? Not a lot really!
Work has been quite busy, and I'm trying to catch up with the work I should have been doing while I was sick. I've been developing a new process, well that makes it sound clever, its not really, I've been making it up as I go along, with a good bit of help from my friend, but its starting to come together now, and seems to be working quite well - result! This week however I have to start making phone calls to a bunch of people who haven't returned information to us, despite repeated requests. I hate doing things like that, hate confrontation, and much prefer to be good cop, but its my turn in the bad cop chair. So far the ones I've called weren't there, but that won't last, so I'm not looking forward to next week, when the calls start in earnest! But I'll do it, I'll dig out my professional hat from the corner where its well hidden, and brush up on my contract compliance patter, they'll wish they'd just sent us what we asked for in the first place!
I had a quiet weekend, missed out on both social events I had lined up though. I was so shattered from my first full week back at work I could barely stand on Friday, let alone stand in a pub. Hubbs was off for the weekend too, which makes a change. So we went and did a bit of shopping on Saturday and then decided to catch up on a few jobs around the house. We started a bit of a bedroom and wardrobe sort out. Cleared out a mountain of junk and got rid of a couple of bags of clothes, still more to do, but it was a start. But again I was shattered and couldn't face moving anywhere.
On Sunday Hubbs and CC were dispatched to the tip to get rid of some of the mountain of junk, and the day continued in a similar vein, defrosting the freezer etc. I must be desperate to see spring, and hoping that a bit of a spring clean will hurry it along. I am very sad though, as I quite enjoy a bit of a clear out. I may even start another Ebay campaign with some of the bits that were too good to throw, but I just can't find a good enough reason to keep. See if I can cover the airport parking / transport again for this years summer holiday.
Wow Summer, that feels a very long way away at the moment, In fact even Spring seems further away than ever, It was -5 when we got into the car on Saturday morning, and not far off that most mornings this week so far. But will we get any snow this year, that's the question.........
Well my progress on my NY resolution is coming along well. Was due to catch up with a friend today, and was really looking forward to it, but something came up and they couldn't make it. I am however meeting up with an old friend that I used to work with tomorrow, She lives in Canada and is over for a few days. It will be great to see her, its been years. Can't wait to hear about all her exploits and meet her little girl. Then its birthday shopping for the Hubbs, He's 50 next week, and I'm really struggling to know what to get him, made worse by the fact that the usual tacky 50 stuff isn't in the shops yet as they are still selling of the Christmas stuff. Arrggghhhh, why wasn't I more organised and picked it all up months ago. Oh well tomorrow I will trawl the shops in search of tacky stuff. Wish me luck!
C x
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
So far so good!
Well its the 10th of January and so far my resolution of sorts for the year is going well. Had a champagne breakfast with the ladies of the A team on Saturday. It was lovely, there were just 6 of us, but not one moment of silence in 3 hours. I think the waitress got a bit frustrated with us, kept asking if we were ready to order our hot breakfast, and we hadn't even been to the buffet table. Ooops, well we got there in the end, and a very nice breakfast it was too! It was a very civilised way to spend a Saturday morning, and one I'm happy to repeat at any time in the future. Although hopefully there will be no disasters on the day next time, so I can have a bit more champagne without worrying!
If only I'd known when I started that job back in 2006 that I'd be making friends for life. Its a testament to how well we all get on that there were no awkward silences. Everyone was eager to find out what was happening with everyone else, sharing news and the odd juicy bit of gossip. I count myself extremely lucky to have found all of these friends. There is an almost 30 year age span across us all, but you'd never know to hear us carry on. I can honestly say I love them all as if they were my family, but in a way I guess thats what we are, a bizarre, slightly dysfunctional, but always supportive family!
The only one missing from the original crew on Saturday was R, she was the first one to leave the team due to funding issues, and went one step further and moved half way round the world. She has recently returned to the UK, and I've been lucky enough to be in contact with her. She came out for our Christmas lunch, but couldn't make breakfast.
R invited me over to the house today for a cup of tea and a catch up. It was sooooo nice to see her, she even made welsh cakes too. 3 hours passed in a flash, and felt like 10 minutes, and we laughed so much I nearly fell off my seat. The Welsh cakes were gorgeous, as is her house. She looks so well and was on fine form. We have promised not to leave it too long, it was so much fun. She gives just the most amazing cwtch's too, and I had a lot to make up for, she's been gone for over two years. So as well as lots of laughs we had lots of hugs too. A perfect way to spend a morning if you ask me.
I've also had an invite to a 40th of an old friend this weekend, and an old school mate is over from Northern Ireland and has invited me to meet up with a bunch from the old days for a drink in a local pub. Add to that an old mate that used to work for me a few years ago, who will be over from Canada next week and wants to catch up, and a promise to visit a very good friend thats a bit under the weather, which I'm hoping to manage sometime in the next week. All in all things are coming along well so far! All of which makes for a happy me!
This is even my 4th blog in 10 days......................
C x
If only I'd known when I started that job back in 2006 that I'd be making friends for life. Its a testament to how well we all get on that there were no awkward silences. Everyone was eager to find out what was happening with everyone else, sharing news and the odd juicy bit of gossip. I count myself extremely lucky to have found all of these friends. There is an almost 30 year age span across us all, but you'd never know to hear us carry on. I can honestly say I love them all as if they were my family, but in a way I guess thats what we are, a bizarre, slightly dysfunctional, but always supportive family!
The only one missing from the original crew on Saturday was R, she was the first one to leave the team due to funding issues, and went one step further and moved half way round the world. She has recently returned to the UK, and I've been lucky enough to be in contact with her. She came out for our Christmas lunch, but couldn't make breakfast.
R invited me over to the house today for a cup of tea and a catch up. It was sooooo nice to see her, she even made welsh cakes too. 3 hours passed in a flash, and felt like 10 minutes, and we laughed so much I nearly fell off my seat. The Welsh cakes were gorgeous, as is her house. She looks so well and was on fine form. We have promised not to leave it too long, it was so much fun. She gives just the most amazing cwtch's too, and I had a lot to make up for, she's been gone for over two years. So as well as lots of laughs we had lots of hugs too. A perfect way to spend a morning if you ask me.
I've also had an invite to a 40th of an old friend this weekend, and an old school mate is over from Northern Ireland and has invited me to meet up with a bunch from the old days for a drink in a local pub. Add to that an old mate that used to work for me a few years ago, who will be over from Canada next week and wants to catch up, and a promise to visit a very good friend thats a bit under the weather, which I'm hoping to manage sometime in the next week. All in all things are coming along well so far! All of which makes for a happy me!
This is even my 4th blog in 10 days......................
C x
Thursday, 5 January 2012
My almost New Years Resolution
I'm not one for New Years resolutions, not of the usual type anyway. I never keep them in any case. Most people's make it to at least mid January and sometimes the end before they get left behind, mine very rarely make it past the first week, some not even surviving New Years Day. What can I say, I have the willpower of a slug! So all the dieting, giving up chocolate, not biting my nails and all other equally meaningless resolutions have been banished this year.
I hadn't even discussed resolutions with myself this year. It wasn't until I was looking back on last year that I realised one of the best things about 2011 was my friends. So I knew what my 'almost New Years Resolution' had to be, so called because it was after New Year when I decided it. That I will spend more time with, and spare more time for my friends. I am blessed to have some wonderful friends in my life, some of them old (as in I've known them for years, not that they are decrepit), some of them from more recent years and some of them relatively new. All of them however equally unique and special in their own way. Each of them brings something different to my life, and all of these things are valuable to me. These are the memories that will make me giggle in my old age. I will also endeavour to catch up with the friends that I have lost touch with a little, and instead of the platitude of we must catch up sometime, I will make time to do it! So there you have it, and I think thats probably the best NY resolution I've ever made, and the one I stand most chance of keeping!
One small aside, the other thing I resolve to do this year, is blog more........... how long do you think that one will last? hahahahaha
C x
I hadn't even discussed resolutions with myself this year. It wasn't until I was looking back on last year that I realised one of the best things about 2011 was my friends. So I knew what my 'almost New Years Resolution' had to be, so called because it was after New Year when I decided it. That I will spend more time with, and spare more time for my friends. I am blessed to have some wonderful friends in my life, some of them old (as in I've known them for years, not that they are decrepit), some of them from more recent years and some of them relatively new. All of them however equally unique and special in their own way. Each of them brings something different to my life, and all of these things are valuable to me. These are the memories that will make me giggle in my old age. I will also endeavour to catch up with the friends that I have lost touch with a little, and instead of the platitude of we must catch up sometime, I will make time to do it! So there you have it, and I think thats probably the best NY resolution I've ever made, and the one I stand most chance of keeping!
One small aside, the other thing I resolve to do this year, is blog more........... how long do you think that one will last? hahahahaha
C x
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
My 2011 Part 3
I will try very hard to make this the last installment, but I can't promise I'm afraid. After all a year is a very long time, 365 days, and I do waffle a lot......
The next big event of 2011 was our long awaited holiday. Many a happy hour had been spent with our friends planning and booking it. The day finally arrived and we headed off for two weeks in Florida. Our friend knows a guy that works for virgin, and as we handed over our boarding passes to get on the plane we found out we had been upgraded to Premium Economy. Well that certainly is the way to travel, I never ever want to turn left on a plane again! It was a fantastic start to what would turn out to be a fantastic holiday. On our first day in Florida we went to Islands of Adventure, home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was amazing, as a huge Potter fan I just stood looking around in awe. I couldn't quite believe that I was actually here, and seeing it all first hand. It is an experience that I will never forget, and if I start to I have several hundred pictures to refresh my memory.
Over the course of the two weeks we visited all of the Disney parks, all of which are amazing in their own right, and hold so many happy memories it would be impossible to capture here. We also visited both of the Disney water parks, although Typhoon Lagoon was my favourite, even if I did get sunburn there. I loved each of the Disney parks for different reasons, and I don't think I could pick a favourite. We also visited Islands of Adventure again, and saw the whole park this time instead of just the Harry Potter bit and Universal Studios. We did visit Harry again tho, it would have been a crime not to!
As well as visiting all the parks we also spent a day at the beach. We drove out to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic coast, and had a great day soaking up the sun, swimming in the sea and experiencing a bit of life as the locals do on a Bank Holiday Weekend. We also drove out to boggy Creek and had an airboat ride, seeing a bit of the local wildlife in the process. We saw a big gator, and an American eagle, and after the ride got to hold a baby gator. All in all an experience not to be missed.
Add to this a bit of shopping in the sales, bagging a few bargains, several nice meals, and a bit of sight seeing and you have a pretty fine holiday. It couldn't get much better could it? Well on the last night we were heading for a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe as a last treat. We discovered that Ce Lo Green was playing at Hard Rock Live next door and the kids were all gutted that we hadn't got tickets. A guy strolls up to the table and asks if we want to go and see the concert, on the house! Of course we said yes, and our last night was rounded off perfectly with only about 1000 people watching Ce Lo perform. It was fantastic, what an experience and what a perfect end to a fantastic holiday.
While we were away there was the small matter of a birthday, my 40th. I had a lovely day, and have come to terms with the idea of being 40 now. It really is just a number!
The rest of the year has passed pretty much in a blur. Back home and back to work, then beginning the count down to Christmas. All was going swimmingly until from totally out of the blue I had the most horrendous pain in my neck and shoulder. Lots of painkillers, Diazepam and goodness knows what else, lots of massages, almost constant heat packs and several weeks later I have come out the other side of my second relapse this year. I somehow managed to get everything sorted for Christmas, with a lot of help, a small miracle as I couldn't drive for weeks, but we got there. Decs up, pressies wrapped and all good to go.
We had a lovely Christmas this year, Hubbs had 4 days off, which is unheard of. We went to the pictures and had a lovely family day on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day brought the usual visits and then dinner at home, perfect! On Boxing Day we went to Stratford to feed the ducks, a tradition that we do on one day over the festive season every year. It was lovely to get some fresh air, and escape for a bit. Then in the afternoon we went to my mum's to catch up with my Step Brother and family. All in all a lovely Christmas, and an extra day to just do nothing, all together.
Which brings us neatly to the end of the year. I shall try and blog more often this year, it will make the round up at the end so much easier.......
C x
The next big event of 2011 was our long awaited holiday. Many a happy hour had been spent with our friends planning and booking it. The day finally arrived and we headed off for two weeks in Florida. Our friend knows a guy that works for virgin, and as we handed over our boarding passes to get on the plane we found out we had been upgraded to Premium Economy. Well that certainly is the way to travel, I never ever want to turn left on a plane again! It was a fantastic start to what would turn out to be a fantastic holiday. On our first day in Florida we went to Islands of Adventure, home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was amazing, as a huge Potter fan I just stood looking around in awe. I couldn't quite believe that I was actually here, and seeing it all first hand. It is an experience that I will never forget, and if I start to I have several hundred pictures to refresh my memory.
Over the course of the two weeks we visited all of the Disney parks, all of which are amazing in their own right, and hold so many happy memories it would be impossible to capture here. We also visited both of the Disney water parks, although Typhoon Lagoon was my favourite, even if I did get sunburn there. I loved each of the Disney parks for different reasons, and I don't think I could pick a favourite. We also visited Islands of Adventure again, and saw the whole park this time instead of just the Harry Potter bit and Universal Studios. We did visit Harry again tho, it would have been a crime not to!
As well as visiting all the parks we also spent a day at the beach. We drove out to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic coast, and had a great day soaking up the sun, swimming in the sea and experiencing a bit of life as the locals do on a Bank Holiday Weekend. We also drove out to boggy Creek and had an airboat ride, seeing a bit of the local wildlife in the process. We saw a big gator, and an American eagle, and after the ride got to hold a baby gator. All in all an experience not to be missed.
Add to this a bit of shopping in the sales, bagging a few bargains, several nice meals, and a bit of sight seeing and you have a pretty fine holiday. It couldn't get much better could it? Well on the last night we were heading for a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe as a last treat. We discovered that Ce Lo Green was playing at Hard Rock Live next door and the kids were all gutted that we hadn't got tickets. A guy strolls up to the table and asks if we want to go and see the concert, on the house! Of course we said yes, and our last night was rounded off perfectly with only about 1000 people watching Ce Lo perform. It was fantastic, what an experience and what a perfect end to a fantastic holiday.
While we were away there was the small matter of a birthday, my 40th. I had a lovely day, and have come to terms with the idea of being 40 now. It really is just a number!
The rest of the year has passed pretty much in a blur. Back home and back to work, then beginning the count down to Christmas. All was going swimmingly until from totally out of the blue I had the most horrendous pain in my neck and shoulder. Lots of painkillers, Diazepam and goodness knows what else, lots of massages, almost constant heat packs and several weeks later I have come out the other side of my second relapse this year. I somehow managed to get everything sorted for Christmas, with a lot of help, a small miracle as I couldn't drive for weeks, but we got there. Decs up, pressies wrapped and all good to go.
We had a lovely Christmas this year, Hubbs had 4 days off, which is unheard of. We went to the pictures and had a lovely family day on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day brought the usual visits and then dinner at home, perfect! On Boxing Day we went to Stratford to feed the ducks, a tradition that we do on one day over the festive season every year. It was lovely to get some fresh air, and escape for a bit. Then in the afternoon we went to my mum's to catch up with my Step Brother and family. All in all a lovely Christmas, and an extra day to just do nothing, all together.
Which brings us neatly to the end of the year. I shall try and blog more often this year, it will make the round up at the end so much easier.......
C x
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Review of my 2011 Part 2
Happy New Year Everyone!
Well back to 2011. At the start of April we picked up our new car, its lovely. As its a model that hasn't been out long they put a few extra's on it for us free too. We have a gadget that the car does a parallel park all by itself, not that we've tried it out yet, that's quite a leap of faith to take! lol Its quite orange in colour, we let CC choose and orange is her favourite colour, I wasn't sure at first but its grown on me and at least it stands out in a carpark! Hubbs was very pleased with his new toy and insisted on driving the long way to everywhere to try it out. As it was the school Easter hols we took advantage and took it for a bit of a spin, the long way of course!
April was a bit of a hectic month all in all. My Stepfather was in hospital, so we were taking Mum backwards and forwards. My friends son had an op so was in hospital for a few days, so we were trying to help them out a bit too. I was back to work, and we were in the process of an office move. I'm very glad we had a few Bank Holidays and so a few long weekends, don't know if I'd have been able to take the pace. I have written a lot about work in my blog, so shall leave that one alone, except to say that we may have lost the battle, but we won the war. We have eventually been given an office that the whole team can sit together in, good things come to those that wait!
April also brought a Royal Wedding, the first of this generation. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for the Royal family, I'm very British. As a child I was a huge Diana fan, and had scrapbooks and all sorts of other memorabilia. So I was looking forward to seeing William get married. We sat and watched all of the coverage, from about 9 am, it was a really nice day. Hubbs cooked a big breakfast, and I barely took my eyes off the TV, seriously I didn't move from the spot for about 5 hours. Hubbs was working later, and CC had been invited to her friends for a garden party so I took up an invite from Jelly to a Royal Wedding BBQ. It was a lovely afternoon and evening, and topped off a great day perfectly.
May started off on a nice note, we spent the Bank Holiday Monday in London, soaking up all the pomp and ceremony from the Royal Wedding. It was an amazing sight and atmosphere. A moment in history and it was fantastic to experience it. Made me even more proud to be British! The sun shone all day too. We went into the Abbey and saw the trees and flowers, and Catherine's bouquet. I have always watched the Royal Weddings on TV, and have always wanted to be there in London on the day. This was the next best thing, and I am so glad we went!
May also brought our last Awards night with the gang from work. We had done one every year, for a few years giving everyone silly awards, and as the A Team had wrapped up this was to be the last one. A great night was had by all and some very silly awards were given. Everyone got medals and the ladies had tiaras too. A few people got very drunk, and we added a few more memories that we will look back upon and smile.
The next big event was my friend P's hen night in July. I would miss her wedding due to a holiday, so I was determined to enjoy the hen night. A bunch of us all headed off to Leicester in a huge limo, and checked into a hotel over there. We had a mooch around the town, lined our stomach's with some food and narrowly avoided getting into a fight. Quite a successful afternoon all in all. One old chap stopped the hen and asked if it was her birthday, given that she was wearing badges, a sash, a T-shirt and several other things all proclaiming she was a hen, we all had a little giggle. One chap, possibly the village idiot (if he wasn't there was a village missing one) started swearing at the hen, and seemed a little surprised to get the same response back. He obviously thought he was hard when he retaliated once more, but soon did a runner when he realised there were about 15 of us. Lucky for him he did, we're Cov girls and it would not have been pretty! The evening was spent dancing on the tables (literally) at Bistro Live. We all made it back to the hotel in one piece, there was no fighting, no-one was arrested and no-one ended up in A&E. Add to that the fact that we all made it to breakfast by 9am and we can chalk the entire weekend up as a complete success, and a good time was had by all!
In other news, it was the final Harry Potter film. We did of course watch it on the weekend it was released. I cried for most of the film, my 3D glasses even steamed up at one point. I am gutted that there will be no more to look forward to.
This part of the year brought quite a bit of nice weather, a few BBQ's with friends, a few other get togethers and nice meals, nights out etc. I even wore a dress a few times, I now own two summer dresses, a huge breakthrough in me becoming a girl! So a bit of an improvement on the start of the year really!
C x
Well back to 2011. At the start of April we picked up our new car, its lovely. As its a model that hasn't been out long they put a few extra's on it for us free too. We have a gadget that the car does a parallel park all by itself, not that we've tried it out yet, that's quite a leap of faith to take! lol Its quite orange in colour, we let CC choose and orange is her favourite colour, I wasn't sure at first but its grown on me and at least it stands out in a carpark! Hubbs was very pleased with his new toy and insisted on driving the long way to everywhere to try it out. As it was the school Easter hols we took advantage and took it for a bit of a spin, the long way of course!
April was a bit of a hectic month all in all. My Stepfather was in hospital, so we were taking Mum backwards and forwards. My friends son had an op so was in hospital for a few days, so we were trying to help them out a bit too. I was back to work, and we were in the process of an office move. I'm very glad we had a few Bank Holidays and so a few long weekends, don't know if I'd have been able to take the pace. I have written a lot about work in my blog, so shall leave that one alone, except to say that we may have lost the battle, but we won the war. We have eventually been given an office that the whole team can sit together in, good things come to those that wait!
April also brought a Royal Wedding, the first of this generation. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for the Royal family, I'm very British. As a child I was a huge Diana fan, and had scrapbooks and all sorts of other memorabilia. So I was looking forward to seeing William get married. We sat and watched all of the coverage, from about 9 am, it was a really nice day. Hubbs cooked a big breakfast, and I barely took my eyes off the TV, seriously I didn't move from the spot for about 5 hours. Hubbs was working later, and CC had been invited to her friends for a garden party so I took up an invite from Jelly to a Royal Wedding BBQ. It was a lovely afternoon and evening, and topped off a great day perfectly.
May started off on a nice note, we spent the Bank Holiday Monday in London, soaking up all the pomp and ceremony from the Royal Wedding. It was an amazing sight and atmosphere. A moment in history and it was fantastic to experience it. Made me even more proud to be British! The sun shone all day too. We went into the Abbey and saw the trees and flowers, and Catherine's bouquet. I have always watched the Royal Weddings on TV, and have always wanted to be there in London on the day. This was the next best thing, and I am so glad we went!
May also brought our last Awards night with the gang from work. We had done one every year, for a few years giving everyone silly awards, and as the A Team had wrapped up this was to be the last one. A great night was had by all and some very silly awards were given. Everyone got medals and the ladies had tiaras too. A few people got very drunk, and we added a few more memories that we will look back upon and smile.
The next big event was my friend P's hen night in July. I would miss her wedding due to a holiday, so I was determined to enjoy the hen night. A bunch of us all headed off to Leicester in a huge limo, and checked into a hotel over there. We had a mooch around the town, lined our stomach's with some food and narrowly avoided getting into a fight. Quite a successful afternoon all in all. One old chap stopped the hen and asked if it was her birthday, given that she was wearing badges, a sash, a T-shirt and several other things all proclaiming she was a hen, we all had a little giggle. One chap, possibly the village idiot (if he wasn't there was a village missing one) started swearing at the hen, and seemed a little surprised to get the same response back. He obviously thought he was hard when he retaliated once more, but soon did a runner when he realised there were about 15 of us. Lucky for him he did, we're Cov girls and it would not have been pretty! The evening was spent dancing on the tables (literally) at Bistro Live. We all made it back to the hotel in one piece, there was no fighting, no-one was arrested and no-one ended up in A&E. Add to that the fact that we all made it to breakfast by 9am and we can chalk the entire weekend up as a complete success, and a good time was had by all!
In other news, it was the final Harry Potter film. We did of course watch it on the weekend it was released. I cried for most of the film, my 3D glasses even steamed up at one point. I am gutted that there will be no more to look forward to.
This part of the year brought quite a bit of nice weather, a few BBQ's with friends, a few other get togethers and nice meals, nights out etc. I even wore a dress a few times, I now own two summer dresses, a huge breakthrough in me becoming a girl! So a bit of an improvement on the start of the year really!
C x
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