More on that weekend away....

It was the Operation team's weekend away..then a couple of years ago, Programming joined us. Someone came up with the new name of the PrOps weekend..what a suitable name..after all, between us, we do 'prop' up the festival. Good that we are all together, and the links that are being made, and the light bulb moments that are happening: 'Oh, is that what you do? Oh, gosh, is that what happens? Oh, you have that information then?', I suspect that in a year or so we will wonder how we ever used to put on the festival without the two groups meeting up!

The downside, if you can call it that, is how big the group has got, and I do miss the small group of 14 of us who used to be holed up in a bunk house in North Yorkshire, almost 10 years ago when this weekend away was born..I suppose we were the early pioneers....the wagons and horses seem a long time ago now.....

But given that the week leading up to the weekend was not a good one for me, and ended up with me 'losing it' big time with a certain person (losing it means tears, shouting and broken crockery, but no-one was hurt..well, I cut myself picking up the pieces and bled a lot...and after when I looked down there were large coffee stains all over my white t shirt..I thought I had missed my mouth when drinking, but D pointed out drily that I should have checked the cup was empty before I threw it....) but the stupid thing is that once we get time to spend together with our friends, we have a surprisingly good time...I laughed so much that weekend, like I haven't laughed so much in aged and ages..just laughed helplessly and remembered how good it can be...and I didn't get drunk either... anyway, a few pics from the hotel when we went for tea..they don't mind you wandering about, and it was all decorated for Christmas..perhaps next year we could stay there instead???

Weekend away

It was good. Very good. My lift was late fetching me from Crewe station..oh who would have guessed..anyway, we arrived at our destination for squishy sofas, coffee and home-made biscuits: the hotel we discovered last year, where we had to go just to book in for afternoon tea on Sunday...so we sat side by side, with our yummy elevenses, with our matching lap tops and matching i-phones, and went on-line and registered them with O2..all great fun....

Then it was off to check the pub for the evening gathering, and remind them of our arrival..a roast dinner for £3.50..surely not? After that was sorted, on to the centre to put the usual welcome letters, little toys and chocolate on everyone's pillow. I had my spreadsheet with the details of all 50 people expected at the weekend, and hoped I had got it all right....

Then off to the pub, where we gradually took over a section as tables became vacant..and we all got our roast dinner, and then a selection of gorgeous deserts to share..why didn't think of it before? A carvery is just what we want, everyone eats when they want, no waiting, and there is enough food...a great success.

The weekend was good for me..a chance to catch up with friends, plan for the festival next year..a space for shopping on Saturday afternoon, and the annual pub quiz, put together by DC and me over a few very late nights this week!!!

Then, after lunch on Sunday, time to relax and chat with a few friends, then time for that afternoon tea we had booked..mmmmm..we were not disappointed.....

Hello and goodbye....

yes, after a year or so's faithful service, I have been unfaithful to my sony phone, and so it is goodbye...I am moving on to pastures new......

...my sexy new i-phone

it has taken them a week to transfer my number, but now I am up and running, and getting used to the texting...it has such an intelligent predictive text memory, the more I text, the better it gets at predicting what I am going to say..scary...having one small computer in my pocket which is my phone, e-mail, music, photo library, calendar, text....I have to pinch myself how far technology has come..and how affordable..well, it is a business purchase, and even my phone bill has gone over to the business now..am I going to refuse???

Just struggling with my contacts, downloaded from Outlook and my phone, have been all evening trying to merge them, and get the alphabetical display sorted by first name...grr....still, lvoely new toy..you'd lvoe one Liz.....

End of blog silence....

Those of you who express concern about me cos I have not blogged for a while: bless you, your love and hugs are much appreciated. Just strange times...lost the will to blog...nothing to say....have been good and bad..so busy at work, it has been ridiculous, mostly writing funding bids with tight deadlines..lots of work. I needed to get my volunteer's newsletter out, I worked on it from midnight until 2.15 am one night, it was the only way.....

Been struggling with the usual stuff....the new kitchen still feels weird, not really mine. I haven't been here much, and with C home now doing the shopping and cooking, I feel a bit like a visitor in my own home. if I do try and cook a meal, as I have for the past thirty five or so years, C hovers around interfering and telling me how to do things, as if I didn't know..the lack of personal space still gets to me..maybe that is why I have been working late....

Also struggling with, can't live with him, can;t live without him scenario with my business partner: why? oh, constant lateness, lack of communication..what can I say? It drives me mad, but would I be any happier of I walked away? Answers on a post card....

Do you remember this?

which became this......

well, it now looks like this....

I can hardly believe it is my house....

Go on, smile....

The things I do for you..I promised to write about locking myself out..I did write a long blog post at the weekend, but it vanished, and you know, that just makes me so cross and I can never be bothered to write it again.


So here is the pic of the boots I bought at my shoe party, but you don't get the whole story..except the knee length red suede ones were to die for..but I couldn't zip them all the way up.....sob...


The next day I was at my desk reading e-mails when I realised I had 5 minutes to get to an important meeting. I ran out and got there just in time, but when I returned at 4.30pm I found the lights on but no-one home. N had gone to do a visit and left for the day. My keys were tantalisingly visible on my desk....I went to the office across the road where they keep a spare key for us..mmm..we must have borrowed it and not taken it back...nothing for it but to go to M&S, buy a microwave meal for one and head for the bus stop. Except I was cold and tired and I reached the taxi rank first....door to door, that's my style.


It all went wrong after that, the state of the kitchen upset me and I collapsed, as mentioned in my previous blog. It was serious, weeping, collapsing, feeling alone as a best friend I wanted to ring was off limits, and I was finding it really, really tough...


I rang my secretary to borrow her office key. With all the lights on, my keys visible, not to mention my laptop, I knew I couldn't leave the office that way all night. Oh, I forgot, she was in London a the Opera. (Can't get the staff..) N is not local, I didn't want to ask her to come back so late.


About 9 o'clock I stopped crying long enough to think to ring M, my Chair. He has a key. He also knew when I spoke on the phone that I was crying. I said I was ok, and would come round for his office key. He said ok. I took time hunting for my spare car key, in the chaos that is my house at the moment. I eventually found it and went outside to get in the car and go and pick up the office keys. Except my car was not there. Panic. I looked in the car port. I checked the street. More panic. And then it dawned on me....I had come home in a taxi cos my car keys were locked in the office..my car was still in town.....


I had to go back in and ring M and snivel, and say, sorry i am so stupid, I can't come and collect the keys because....he said, I'll be round. He drove me to the office, I got my keys, locked up and then he drove me round until I remembered where I had parked my car...and he employs me to run the charity.....


Oh i forgot to mention, earlier in the day I had taken my phone and charger into O2 because it wouldn't charge any more. I gave it to the boy (so young..) and complained something had broken. My phone won't charge. He took the items out the back to test. He came back, and said, the phone charges perfectly now I have scraped the melted chocolate off the connector bit....oh. Must have been in my pocket....

I've had better....

oh yes, I've definitely had better. Last week was not a good one, hence the blog silence, apart from a couple of blogs about the party weekend.

The whole kitchen stress continued, with the relationship between me and Mick (yes, a builder called Mick, unusual that....) hitting an all time low, we haivng to ring him when the plumber/electrician/painter arrived on different days, all with issues, which meant I would ring Mick to sort it out, and I would get caught in the middle. Clvie was away, which was fine on one level, but I was dealing with it all, and feeling that being a 'girly' was not helping, I was meeting classic blokey patronising crap.

Added to that, I was flashed by a speed camera last week, and on Yuesday received the polcie summons. As I am on 12 points (see last year's blog re November's court appearance in Bath)I am already on borrowed time and will have to go to court again and will probably lose my licence. I am only six months away from having 6 points taken off, it will be three years in April since that disastrous time....

At least having time on my own, with Clvie away for the week meant I could do what I wanted (sort of...) On Wednesday I came back and had another crisis with the kitchen, and what with feeling everything else was bad, I simply collapsed on the sofa and cried for what seemed like hours. That was the night I had locked myslef out of the office....more about that later....

The morning after...

You know I hadn't been sleeping well. The night before the party had been particularly bad. So I was used to being awake most of the night, and fell in to bed at 5.30am at the lvoely Liz's, only to sleep until 8.30am. A whole 3 hours! Then from 8.30am until 10.30am..quite the best night's sleep for ages.

I showered and went downstairs at the same time as Martin, to discover Liz about to cook breakfast. I said no at first, I was still extremely full from the night before, but as she was cooking bacon, I thought I might as well have a rasher. Or two. And a sausage, Oh, are you doing eggs? Ok then...so i ended up with a plateful too, and we sat and ate and chatted and it was lovely and relaxing and chilled....

Until I realsied I had to leave and get my train, and I had left my glasses at S& K's house, so we jumped in the car, and I ahd to accept I would miss my train. Never mind,I would get on Martin's train and change at Milton Keynes. I would get to Watford at 5pm instead of 4pm, but never mind.

We did a dash to Heaton, Liz dropped us off and we ran down the stairs. The wrong stairs. We had to run back up, out of the station, across the bridge and down the other stairs...just in time to see the train pull out...bugger..so we ran back up the stairs, across the bridge, and back to Liz who was waiting, just in case.

Then followed a drive to Stockport to catch up wit the train, with Liz telling us in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't do this at every station....oh..meanie...anyway, we made it in time, and jumped on a packed train, and managed to get seats near enough to talk. Which we did until we fell asleep, and napped all the way to Milton Keynes.

I bid Martin goodbye, and hopped off to sit and wait half an hour for my connection. I made yet another phone call to organise my lift home.

When Martin texted later, 'Did you get home alright?' my texted reply was, 'I rang DC who promised to pick me up, but cos I was later, he didn't want to, so I rang Clvie who was busy and sounded inconvenienced, and annoyed about the timing and traffic, so I sat on the platform and felt tearful and unwanted. But he did pick me up. So ...that is a girlie reply to your blokey question, and yes I did.'