I could have taken today off work but I wanted to save some days for next week so I opted to go in and do the 9am until 4pm shift. The leisure centre was only open for these hours anyway so it was pretty strange to arrive and be too early to go through the public entrance! I had to go around the back, and luckily I remembered the code to get in!
I worked with Sadie until she left at 2pm and we mostly booked cinema tickets for people. Peter Rabbit must be a huge hit and we were sold out for the two screenings today! To be honest, I didn't mind being at work as the weather was atrocious and rained for the whole day. When I left at 4pm it was really coming down heavily and the roads were starting to flood.
Keith and Sophie went to get ready as tonight we were due to meet my old school friend Julia in Milton Keynes along with her family. I went to fetch Mike from work and then freshened up when we arrived back home.
The journey to Milton Keynes was horrible. It continued to rain heavily and some people carried on driving as if the weather was dry and sunny, ignoring the fact that the roads were covered in water and throwing up huge arcs of spray behind them. We managed to park easily and hurried to the restaurants using umbrellas. It was nasty!
I'd booked a table at Zizzi as they had a good vegan menu for Julia and her husband, Rob. We walked in to find we were the first to arrive and ordered some drinks. Mike and Keith had a beer each at £6.50 a bottle! Sophie and I took the waitress's advice and ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio as it was cheaper to order that way than keep having glasses!
While we were waiting we scanned the square at the front of the restaurant and just when we were beginning to think they had been held up, we saw Julia and her children, Sasha and Evan. There was a flurry of greetings and my old school friend hadn't changed a bit! She was still slim and lovely! The children sat at the end of the table and seemed a bit quiet and reserved. I chatted away to Julia and when her husband arrived after parking the car, he was very friendly and charming. We all got on very well together and my two certainly took part in the conversation, which was great.
I hadn't been that impressed with the food when we ate at a Zizzi on New Year's Day in Stratford, but tonight I was pleasantly surprised. I chose the Chicken Prosciutto with herby potatoes and green beans and the meal was delicious. Mike and Sophie had pizzas while Keith opted for the lamb shank, which he said was good, but on the small side.
Julia and her husband shared a vegan spaghetti bolognese and a pizza and they certainly had plenty to choose from, which was a relief. They even ordered a vegan chocolate pudding and I was really impressed! As we had been drinking beer and wine and Julia's family hadn't, we made sure we had two separate bills and ours was a whacking £50 more than theirs! Blimey!
It was sad to say goodbye but it's great that I can keep up with Julia on Facebook so I wished them a safe journey home tomorrow and hoped that we'd be seeing each other again soon. We returned home on the M1 and the rain still hadn't let up!
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