Happy Nanoo Nanoo Day!

It's the 1st November and we all know what that means. Nanoo Nanoo starts today (that's NaNoWriMo to the lay person). While I would never attempt something so foolish as trying to write a novel, I'm generally in awe of anyone who gives it a shot. My writing creativity reached it's peak in Higher English when I was 17, when I wrote an essay about my gran's funeral. I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything, but it did make everyone who read it cry. I believe the words "touching" and "heartwarming" were used. That's all I'm saying. ;)

Anyway, good luck to all of my friends who are participating in this mad month. I'll be the ever faithful cheerleader, trying to boost morale when inspiration starts to flag (which I'm sure won't happen!). I'm sure you'll all do wonderfully!

My sister and nephews are doing well. Katie was really shaken when I went home, but she seems to be over the worst of it. She hasn't driven again yet, but she's talking about doing it before the end of the week (she needs to drive for work). She was pretty much back to her usual self by the time I left yesterday, if a slightly battered and bruised version. The kids are great. It doesn't seem to have affected Lewis at all, and Kieran doesn't even remember the accident! He thinks he broke his arm by falling over! My wee sweethearts! It was so good to see them.

Finally, I think this'll probably be my last entry at blogger. I'm really starting to miss Blurty. It's like homesickness. My mouse keeps hovering over the update button on my user information page when I want to make a new entry. And I feel more able to make little frivolous posts on Blurty when I have a little something to say. When I make a post on Blogger, I always feel like it needs to have some substance (not that you'd guess that from reading my entries!). I'll probably change my mind again in six months, but I'll try not to. I'll miss my pretty blog, with all my customisations, but I think I'm a Blurty girl at heart.

Anyway, I think most of you followed me over from Blurty, but just in case, you can find me at http://www.blurty.com/users/eileen.

Car Accident

My sister and nephews were in a car accident last night. Barring a broken arm for Kieran though, they're all ok. Mostly shaken.

Katie was driving home last night and was about to turn into the road to her village. There was a 36 tonne lorry coming in the opposite direction, but she saw indicators so thought he was also turning into the same road. She started turning since she was closest and the lorry would be slowing down, but it turns out the lorry was actually going straight ahead, so it ploughed into the passenger side of the car at 30mph, pushing it halfway along the road before it stopped. The driver of the lorry (who is also ok) said he hadn't indicated, so I'm not sure what happened. It was raining heavily though, and it's possible Katie saw a reflection from another car or something and mistook it for an indicator.

There was no passenger sitting in the front, so Kieran got the worst of it because he was on that side in the back seat, but luckily no worse than his arm because he was in his child seat.

The car is a complete write off, and I'm so glad that they all came away relatively unscathed. I haven't told anyone at work yet because I'm worried I'll get upset as soon as I mention it. Whenever I think about how close they came....

Anyway, they all got home from the hospital last night. They were going to keep Kieran in overnight because he was very quiet and withdrawn at first, but he brightened up after a couple of hours, so let everyone go home. We now just have to convince him that having a cast is the coolest thing in the world, because he's not to pleased about it at the moment!

So weird!

Right now, in Samoa, it is 1.40am on Wednesday 18th October, and right next door in Tonga, it is 1.40am on Thursday 19th October.

Right next door!

Weird.

Dude! Emily Gilmore is the mum (or mom, if you'd rather) from Dirty Dancing. I never realised!

I'm having a bit of a crisis of faith. I miss Blurty. This is why I've been quite quiet lately, because when I want to post something, I can't decide where to post it! Especially since I mainly want to post my thoughts on West Wing. But I feel like I shouldn't post on Blurty anymore until I decide for definite that I'm going back there. I don't like my blog posts being spread out like that.

Naughty shopping.

Pretty (brown) shoes!

You know, for someone who doesn't like shopping, I have been doing rather a lot of it lately. I need to stop myself. Although the shoes were an absolute necessity! I went to take a skirt and jumper back to the shop yesterday (trying to save myself some money, see!), but I was past the 28 day returnm period (I've been busy), so couldn't get a refund. But they let me exchange them, which they didn't ahve to do, which was nice. I got a pair of woollen light brown trousers and a dark brown wrap top. But I have no brown shoes. Hence the necessity. See?

Get in there!

Come on you wee beauty!

Home & Away

I'm in a deep state of sulking. I missed the Wombat Grade 2 exam! I've bgeen waiting for it for months, and it had to arrive right in the middle of my hectic two weeks of business trips! I'm so upset, especially after my outstanding result last time! No fair!

*pout*

In other news, I'm home. Thank goodness. I'm so not cut out for this jet setting lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to be ungrateful. A lot of people would kill to have a job that sent them to Bermuda and Madrid, and I appreciate that. I'm just not one of them. I'm a little homebird, who doesn't like to leave the roost unless I have to. Especially when it's all work and no play. I was in Madrid for two and a half days, and the most I can say for it is that the hotel the conference was at was very nice. And the road to the airport is...like any other road (albeit with slightly more crazy drivers than you get in the UK). Oh, and Madrid Airport is bloody HUGE! Of course, the same can't be said for Bermuda. I did have a lot of fun. Still. Nice to be home.

I have a feeling that autumn is well and truly here. Finally! You have no idea how happy I was to step out of the airport when I got back from Bermuda to a dark, rainy morning in the UK. I love this weather!

Bermuda (so far)

So much for me not getting online. I've barely done any work for the past two days! OK, granted, I was in a conference for the past two days, with five minute breaks between each hour and a half (minimum) presentation, with no lunch. But it didn't really feel like work. I was surprisingly alert through the whole thing, even with jet lag.

Tuesday night, I went to a cocktail party at the MDs house. AMAZING view. I didn't get to see much of the inside of the house because we spent all night out by the pool (they all have pools!), but watching the beautiful sunset over the Atlantic ocean isn't a bad way to spend a Tuesday night.

Last night Gary (the guy from my team who I came over with) and I went out for dinner with my boss and his wife, which was lovely. We went to a little outdoor restaurant with lovely food, and we sat drinking wine/beer and chatting till about 11.30pm.

I tried to do work today. I really did. But I have to access the server in London to do anything, and my computer really doesn't like that. It takes me about 15 minutes to even open a file, let alone do anything with it! So I got a bit of training done and a little bit of work, and before I knew it, it was 12.30pm and time to head down to the harbour for the afternoon boat ride! Which was fantastic, by the way. I felt a bit self consious at first being the only peely-wally one there (Gary goes on the sunbed once a week), but it was so hot that I had to sit on the back of the catamaran and take my cardy off and hitch up my skirt! I even went out on a canoe! It was lovely. I've had about three glasses of wine, and now back at the office, waiting for 5pm, to go to my bosses house for dinner and drinks with people that I used to work with, but have since moved to Bermuda.

All in all, the trip has been a pleasant surprise so far. I have enjoyed myself far more than I thought I would have, and I'm starting to see the attraction of moving out here!

Bu-Bye!

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm travelling for work for the next couple of weeks so I won't be around much. I'm in Bermuda all of next week and doubt I'll get online at all, then I'm off to Madrid for a conference next Tuesday. I might get online between the two trips, or I might just sleep. We'll see!

Don't have any loud parties while I'm gone!

Bank Job

I've updated my "Song of the Moment" on the sidebar. It's now Bank Job from the new Barenaked Ladies album Barenaked Ladies Are Me. I finally managed to get it downloaded earlier in the week (I was looking for the delux edition, which includes the album that will be released next year sometime). I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It'll probably be a grower, like their last album. But there are a couple of really good songs on first listen, including Bank Job. If nothing else, you can always rely on BNL to make you laugh.

We all had our ski masks
And sawed off shotguns
But how do you plan for
A bank full of nuns

But I guess we panicked
We all have taboos
And they were like zebras
They had us confused

Golly Gosh, And All That Bally Hoo!

How introducing us to guns is supposed to help us bond as a company, I have no idea, but whatever. It actually turned out to be a relatively amusing day, a day out of the office at least. Although I'm not sure I'd go again.

But it turns out I'm a bit of a natural with a gun. At least, I started out that way. We went round five stands, each with a different way of releasing the clay. Some rolled down a hill, some flew up into the air towards you, some flew up into the air away from you, etc. I got 9out of 10 on the first two stands, had a bit of a slip on the third and only got 6 out of 10, then got back on form for the fourth stand and got 8 out of 10. Unfortunately, I completely blew my score on the last stand and only got 3 out of 10! In the end, I was only 5 behind the person who won the prize for top gun, so if I'd only kept up my standard, I could have won. Never mind, I can't be too bitter when the guy who won had been in the South African Army for two years.

I did ok on the archery too, getting 42 out of 50 on that one. And my team won the prize for biggest overall score! Woooo! We got a shot glass each. Shot! Geddit?! ;)

Now I have a very sore shoulder where the butt of the gun kept banging against it. Those things have a massive kick! Although I'm just pleased I stayed standing. I'd watched an episode of West Wing the night before where Toby went clay shooting, and the force of the gun knocked him on his back. I had mental images all day of that happening to me.

I missed out on the dinner that night because I was off the the theatre to see The Last Five Years. It finishes this week and my friend wanted to see it after I raved about it, so I went with her. Even better, second time round!

Winter Shopping

I went shopping today at Canary Wharf. Actually, my friend wanted to go shopping because she loves shopping and had never seen Canary Wharf. I just tagged along because I didn't have any other plans. My friend ended up buying just a couple of items, while I went a bit crazy. Probably not the wisest idea considering I don't get paid till Wednesday, but oh well!

I'm so happy with one of my purchases! It's my first winter purchase of the year, so you know what that means. Christmas is just round the corner! Ok, ok, I won't go on about it. I'll just leave you with this photo of my super-cute scarf and hat combo (you should be so proud of me Caz!).

Miscellaneous Thoughts

The results for my September 2007 exams will be released on 21st December! The 21st December?!

a) People are most likely going to be travelling home that day for Christmas
b) Christmas! Are they trying to destroy it?! I'm probably going to be miserable about failing.
c) The results used to come out at the beginning of November and the exams were in April. Now they keep pushing results back and back, but not changing the date of the April exams. If you're planning your exams around any resits you might have, this completely screws that plan up because you're effectively losing two months of study.

I know it seems insane to be worrying about this just now, but this is how early we need to start planning things. It's just one thing in a long list to indicate that the Institute are taking the piss! Grrrrrrr!

I made lasagne for the first time the other night. It was very nice, if I do say so myself.

House! I want to talk about it, but I can't work out how to do spoiler tags in this blog, and my comments are a bit more spoilery than my last ones. I might make a special entry in my Blurty.

I've put my name in the pool to be an audience member for Strictly Come Dancing. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

It's the final of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on Saturday night. I'm so excited. I know that Connie is going to win, but I'm still holding out hope for Helena. I love Helena! She's come through against all odds (She's been in the bottom two nearly every week, but ALW has always saved her. Then amazingly enough, she made it through both public votes last week and didn't have to do the sing-off for ALWs save. Yay!). I don't get what the public has against her. I think she was unlucky enough to be clearly the worst in the first week and the public hasn't really forgotten that. But based on her performances since, I'm putting that down to a bad song, because I think she's great! She could totally do it, if the public could just get their heads out of their arses! Connie is a good singer, she's professional, she has stage presence, blah-de-blah-blah. There's just something about her I don't like. I wish I could put my finger on it. But I'm not too worried though, because I honestly think that all of the three finalists have what it takes to be a good Maria.

I'm going clay pigeon shooting on Tuesday. Look out people, they're giving me a gun! And a bow and arrow! I must admit, when the activity was first suggested as a team building exercise, I really didn't want to do it because I don't like guns and it all seems a bit too upper class for me. But everyone else seemed enthusiastic about it, and we'd been through about 10 other ideas and couldn't reach a consensus, so I wasn't going to be the only one to veto this idea. But the teams have been selected and the trash talking has started, so I'm starting to think it could be a good laugh. We'll see.

House Season 2

My lovely, lovely boxset arrived on Friday! Joy! I probably would have finished it by now, but I had plans to go away for the weekend. As it is, I've only just started the second disc, but I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm enjoying it even more because I can watch it guilt-free, without the worry of studying looming over me.

A couple of observations:

~ It's very funny. I have laughed out loud at several things, and I don't tend to laugh out loud when I'm watching TV on my own.

~ I can't say that I really like any of the three underlings, Chase, Cameron or Foreman. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly dislike any of them (even Chase, which is more than can be said for him in season 1). There are times when I really like their storyline or something they've done. But there are too many times I don't. I think the ratio of me liking them to not liking them is about 50/50, whereas I tend to like House, Cuddy and Wilson a lot more often. Especially Wilson! :P

But my opinion of them in comparison to season 1, Foreman is pretty much the same, Cameron has gone down, and Chase has gone up. So I guess Chase is doing better than any of them.

~ It's not as formulaic as season 1. And some of their patients are actually dying! Much more realistic.

~ Is it just me, or would anyone else love to see Stephen Fry as a guest? I had it in my head a while ago that this was actually happening, but couldn't find anything about it, so concluded I'd just made it up. But ever since, I've been thinking about it and would love it to actually happen!

Exam Round Up

9.45am - 1pm - Assets
Not bad actually. I don't think I could have asked for a better paper, in fact. If I failed it, it's not through lack of knowledge, but through lack of detail. I don't do well with wordy exams, and I might write something that I think is worth 10 marks, but only get 6 for it.

2.15pm - 5.30pm - Liabilities and Asset Liability Management
(I only discovered that was the name of the subject today when I hard to write it on my exam paper!)
Worse than the morning paper, but better than I expected. I nearly started crying when I read through the questions, but when I started to work through them, I realised they weren't so bad. There were a couple of things I made up on the spot, but I expected it to be a lot worse.

The crappy thing though is that it's actually one subject and I have to pass both papers to pass it. I could get 100% for one of the papers, but still fail if I fail the other paper. And have to do it all over again! But all in all, it could have been a lot worse. I really had no hope going into it this morning. I'm not saying I've passed. Just that I might have failed by less than I was expecting! It's a sad day when it comes to that phrase making me feel better! :P

7.30pm - bedtime
I was planning on cleaning the flat, but I really have no energy. I'm going to order take away, then plonk down in front of the TV to watch Gilmore Girls.

I might just clean the bathroom. And the kitchen. And put a wash on.

Aahh, no studying! :D

I Don't Trust It!

My water was due to be switched off at 8am this morning, and for the next three mornings, for "essential engineering works". It's still on.

Building work was supposed to be starting in my house at 8am this morning, to add a fifth flat to the loft space. I got a letter today saying it had been postponed to mid October.

Two things that were going to interrupt studying for my exams on Monday, suddenly disappearing? Call me paranoid, but I don't trust it. Something else is going to go wrong, and this time I won't be expecting it! A nice little power cut the night before my exams, maybe?

In other news, Kieran started nursery yesterday. Where is the time going? My sister said that, despite her being worried about him being clingy, he was fine. In fact, he couldn't run away from her to the toys quickly enough. And she was fine too. She didn't get emotional. Much!

Goodbye Chips

My dog was put to sleep this morning. He was having difficulty breathing over the weekend, which was attributed to bronchitis, so my parents took him to the vet and got some tablets to help it. Unfortunately, it got much worse last night and he was taken to the vet again first thing this morning. After some x-rays and tests, it was discovered that his windpipe had collapsed and that he had also developed Cushing's Disease. There was an operation he could have undergone to fix the windpipe, but the trauma he'd experienced over the weekend had exacerbated the disease, and he would still have been extremely ill. So it was decided that the kindest thing to do would be to put him to sleep.

He was an old dog with a lot of health problems, and every time I'd go home, I'd worry that that would be the last time I saw him. But even though I've been expecting this phone call from my parents for a while, it doesn't make it any easier.

Chips originally belonged to my brother in law and we took him in when my sister and brother in law moved in together and they weren't allowed pets. It was only supposed to be a temporary solution, but 10 years later, he was still at my parents house. He was a crazy little Jack Russell pup who mellowed a lot in his old age, but I was still gobsmacked at the amount of energy this 14 year old dog had. He was almost completely blind, but that didn't stop him wanting to play football in the back garden every chance he could get. It didn't matter to him that he couldn't see the ball unless he was two inches away from it! He would sleep in my bed with me whenever I went home, and he liked nothing more than someone taking his collar off and giving his neck a good scratch!

He was such a good dog, and I'm going to miss him so much.

Big Mistake. Big! Huge!

I have been so tired lately, which I don't understand because I've been getting as close to eight hours sleep a night as possible, which is practically forever for me. I usually get by on about six hours sleep perfectly fine, but I find myself barely being able to function at work at the moment with the extra couple of hours.

I got home tonight and was so completely wiped that I lay down for half an hour before I did anything. Two hours later I woke up. This was a big mistake for several reasons.

1) I didn't do any studying tonight - not a huge deal though, because I don't know how productive I would have been anyway;

2) I bet you I have trouble sleeping tonight, despite the fact that I still feel like a walking zombie;

3) That will just mess up my study day tomorrow because I'll feel tired and lethargic all day. I don't mind feeling that way at work, but it pisses me off when I ruin my study days by feeling that way!

Typical Me

I really like this photo of me.



It pretty much sums me up. Plus, my hair is so shiny! :P

12 of 12 (but not!)

I was going to do one of those 12 of 12 posts, but Blogger is being all funny with me and not letting me load all of the photos. (I know, I know, it's supposed to be done on the 12th, but I missed that bit in Helen's post when I decided to do it yesterday. Yes, it took me two times reading it for that to register, despite it being the point of her post. I'm thick, so sue me!) Which is fine, because it was turning out to be a really boring post, and I was just using it as an excuse to tell you something anyway. So I'm just going to tell you the normal way.

I sat my theory test for driving yesterday.


I passed! Woo!

Why Do You Build Me Up?

My mum and oldest sister are coming to visit me in December. The main purpose of the trip is for them to get a bit of Christmas shopping done and for me to treat them to a West End show, Wicked. It's been organised for a while and they booked their flights months ago.

I mentioned it to my other sister last week when I was getting ready to book the theatre tickets, on the off-chance that wanted to come. She was really excited about it. It'd be a weekend away from the kids, which she's never had since Kieran was born. She just had to make sure that Graeme could get the time off work to watch the boys, but that wouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't.

But I got an email from her today saying that she can't get the time off! She hadn't even considered that!

Boo! I'm really, really disappointed. Once the idea took root in my brain, I started to get really excited about it, a weekend with just my mum and her girls*. Finding out it wouldn't be happening threw me in a way even I didn't expect. I was really quite down about it for a few hours after I got the email.

I've spoken to my sister since, and we've come up with a couple of different options, included her trying to convince someone at work to swap holidays with her, so it's not compeletely hopeless. And even if she can't come down, I'll still have my mum and my other sister, which will be great! But how much better would it be if it were the four of us? So, please keep your fingers crossed that she can get the swap?


* I did also mention it to my dad, but his reaction was:
"A shopping weekend in London with four women, even if it is my wife and daughters? No thanks!"

Big Love

I really can't stand Nicki! Like, really really. I'm not really a fan of Chloe Sevigny, so I was a bit against the character from the very start, but she is actually horrible! She's a conniving, vindictive little cow!

Min? Danielle? I'm not alone in this, am I?

Naughty girl!

So I did a naughty thing today. I popped out at lunchtime to buy my lunch, and as I was making my way to M&S, I passed Monsoon. With a sale. I thought "I'll just pop in and see if there's anything decent", knowing full well that I detest sales and I would probably walk in and walk right back out again because of the mess and the crowds.

But!

The second I walked in, my eyes fell on this dress (edited with photo taken tonight). Only one left, and it just happened to be in my size. And it's so pretty! I decided to try it on for the hell of it, knowing that I don't usually look good in dresses.

Well!

This one is very flattering! I look so pretty in it! And for me to say that about myself is high praise indeed!

So I bought it! Yay! But no. I have absolutely no reason to buy it. I have nothing to wear it to. No weddings, no christenings, nothing! Last year I had these events coming out of my ears, but this year, zilch. I shouldn't have bought it.

But it was half price! It would have been rude not to.

All Hail The Rain Gods!

It's raining! It's actually raining! Although sod's law dictates that it had to happen in the middle of my first driving lesson in a month! Being a learner driver, driving for the first time in weeks in the middle of a thunderstorm with a new instructor and new car is not fun. Although I think I do like my new instructor. He makes me laugh and I'm not as tense around him. And I definitely prefer the new car (a Vauxhall Corsa as opposed to a Ford Focus - the car of the devil!).

Oh yeah, I changed my driving instructor, by the way. The other guy was doing my head in with his contradicting instructiions and his crazy car!

My water was turned off for essential maintenance work today. Which is fine. I was given plenty of notice and told it would be back on by 12. It actually came back on at 2.30pm, but I can handle that. It's what I expected. But it's still only just a trickle at 7pm! And then I come home from my lesson to find a notice saying my water is going to be off for four, count them, FOUR mornings in a row next month! So based on today, I can expect to be pretty much waterless for almost four full days. Did I mention that it's the fours days immediately before my exams? Grrr!

Happy Birthday Lewis!

Today is my other beautiful nephew's birthday!

He's one years old and I can hardly believe it. It's strange. On the one hand, I can't believe he's one already, but on the other, I can't believe he's only one because it feels like he's been around for longer. It's funny how you can get so used to someone's presence that you can't remember what life was like without them around.

By all accounts he's had a wonderful birthday. He saw all of his grandparents and (nearly) all of his aunties and uncles, he went swimming where he got his first taste of the rapids and slides (all in the careful arms of Daddy), he went to the park and tried to follow his big brother onto the big boys climbing frames, and of course he got lots of presents. Although I must add that when I called to wish him happy birthday, he was happily playing with the empty pack for the air freshener.

The Rocky Horror Show

After the success of the special production of Rocky Horror for the Royal Court's 50th anniversary, the current UK touring production was convinced to drop by the West End for a 3 week limited run. And I got tickets!

I went to see it last night, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I've been to see the film version in one of those audience participation screenings where people get dressed up, you get handed a bag of props as you go in (eg newspaper to cover your head as Janet and Brad are walking up to castle in the rain, because the ushers squirt the audience with water guns) and you shout out stuff throughout the film (eg whenever Janet's name is mentioned, the audience yell "SLUT!"). But this was a theatre in the West End. Surely that kind of stuff couldn't happen here....

Well, I was right about one of them. There were no props or water guns or stuff, but there were a few Magentas, Columbias and Frank n' Furters in the audience, and all the usual stuff was yelled out. It was a bit strange being sat in one of those theatres, where UK audiences are usually very restrained, to hear the words "SLUT" and "COCK" being shouted at every available opportunity. It got a bit annoying at times when people were just heckling and not shouting the traditional cult stuff, because it interrupted the flow of the show, but usually it was brilliant.

The best bit by far though was my friend's reaction. She knew nothing about Rocky Horror except that it had the Time Warp in it. So the first time someone yelled something out, she looked a bit scandalised! I had to quickly explain the whole thing under my breath (I would have done it earlier, but I had no idea that she didn't know what to expect) before she started drawing people dirty looks or she got up and walked out or something! And she was more than a little shocked when Frank n' Furter revealed his costume (I still can't believe that she didn't know about him!), but she was more into the spirit of the thing by this time, and it was a laughing shocked rather than a we're-british-and-don't-accept-that-kind-thing shocked!

All in all, it was a good night. I prefer the film version because it's more polished, and as fantastic as David Bedella was last night, Tim Curry is the original and best Frank n' Furter! But the show was still really good fun.

At least the next time I go to the theatre, it'll be outside, so I'll hopefully not feel like I'm melting throughout it!

When I'm Wrong, I Admit I'm Wrong

Usually.

I just watched a full episode of Top Gear...and it was hilarious! Although, it can't seriously be that funny every week. I mean they set fire to a bloody caravan site, for god's sake!

The World Cup of Cuteness!

I love this! Posted by Moreena over at The Wait and Wonder.

Weekend Round-Up

I had a fairly uneventful train journey home on Wednesday night. Although there was a cute guy sitting across the aisle from me, which made it difficult to relax because I was scared of falling asleep and drooling all over myself! Actually he probably wasn't that cute, but he was Scottish and after four years in London, I'm a sucker for a Scottish accent now. Actually no, he was that cute.

Thursday was my dad's birthday. The big 63. OK, so not exactly a landmark, but still. He had a very chilled out day, sunbathing in the garden in the morning and going out for a late lunch/early dinner in the afternoon, with various visitors throughout the day. It was a nice day.

I can't remember what I did during the day on Friday (my memory sucks!), but I remember that my sister brought Kieran and Lewis round in the afternoon and Kieran threw up all over my dad. Poor baby, he was in pretty bad shape for a while. But he went to bed for a couple of hours and woke up feeling absolutely fine. My sister was supposed to be going to a wedding that night, with us babysitting, but she wasn't going to go when Kieran fell ill. However, he was so much better after a sleep, that we managed to talk her into going. She phoned several times throughout the night to check up on him, but he was fine. In fact, he was more than fine. Both he and Lewis were in high spirits and an absolute joy to babysit (bit of a change from the last time!). I had so much fun.

I went through to Glasgow on Saturday to catch up with some friends from my uni course. We went to Wagamama's for lunch, which was a strange experience because it's a place that I strongly associate with London. I often go there for dinner before heading off to the cinema or the theatre and, until recently, thought it was a chain limited to London. But it was good, as always, and it was really nice to catch up with my friends. I usually only have time to go through to Glasgow once when I'm home, and tend to always meet up with the same friends and neglect others for many months. That's why I didn't mention I was coming through Sharon. It's been about eight or nine months since I've seen those guys and I was feeling really guilty, especially since I blew one of them off recently when she was in London.

Sunday was a day I've been looking forward to for months. The Wimbledon men's singles final and the World Cup final in one day! How awesome. I even changed my train and took an extra days holiday when I realised I made the grave mistake of booking my train to clash with the World Cup! And how utterly predictable that I woke up on Sunday feeling terrible. I got dressed for mass long enough to realise that there was no way I was leaving the house that day, got back into my pyjamas, crawled into bed and stayed there for the rest of the day. I did watch the games, but fell asleep during them a couple of times.

Tennis - I got my dream final between Nadal and Federer. After the first set where Federer crushed Nadal 6-0, I thought my hopes of a close final were misguided, but no! Nadal came through in the end. It wasn't as close as I would have liked (I would have liked to see it go to five sets), but I think he challenged Federer more than anyone else could have. He never really had a shot at winning, but I think it could defintely be a different name on that trophy in a year or two. I do like Federer and was happy for him when he won, but it gets boring when that same person wins over and over again.

Football - What can I say? I'm gutted. I really wanted France to win and think they deserved it. I thought they were the better team and were attacking more. Italy seemed to be playing a much more defensive game, which isn't a game of champions. And to lose in penalties! How horrible! And Zidane. Oh wow. This was actually one of points in the game I fell asleep. I drifted off somewhere in the middle of the first half of ET and woke up to the commentators saying that Zidane had shamed himself. Luckily, it was replayed right away and I couldn't believe it. More than anything, I feel so sad for Zidane. He's a great player and has had a fantastic World Cup, but his career is always going to be defined by this one act in his last ever game. It was completely out of order and he totally deserved to be sent off, but I hope the Italian player deserved what he got. I'd hate to think that Zidane brought that kind of shame on himself over something really small. It just makes me really sad.

Then another uneventful train journey back to London. I was sat at a table with three lovely pensioners, and it amused me to watch them eat their packed lunch from empty margarine tubs. It reminded me of my gran. There was also another cute boy, but only for a short portion of the journey, so I took full advantage of drooling over myself when he was gone. ;)

Give Me A Break!

I got the train through to Glasgow on Saturday and, instead of giving me the discount for my Young Persons Railcard, the rail assistant applied the discount for the Senior Railcard. I'm guessing it was an innocent mistake, but coming on the heels of finding the gray hair, it would be quite easy for me to develop a complex about this!

An update of my trip home is coming when I can be bothered!

Going Grey

I blame Jazz and Amanda for talking about this recently.

I just found my first grey hair!

While I'm not bothered about it, I am a bit flabbergasted since I'm only 25.

Wimbledon

There is no better weather forecast than the start of Wimbledon.