Out with the girls!

Work was a tad stressful today as Sara was off and I was looking after the customer service email box, I had two weeks' worth of films to put on, and there were over twenty emails/orders to process as well. Shirley was back in after being off sick yesterday and asked lots of questions, so I felt very frazzled! The last straw was the cancellation of a swim session at one of our pools and I had to email a number of non-members to let them know and ask if they wanted a refund... which they all did!

At 4pm I sped home and wallowed in the bath for half an hour as I was out tonight at Fiona's house for a meal. Sophie spruced up my hair for me and Keith very kindly gave me a lift as parking is a nightmare on the street where Fiona lives. When we arrived there was a taxi double parked (Lynda's) and someone delivering food so it was chaos!

Fiona gave us a glass of fizz when we arrived and we went upstairs to her lovely cosy living room where there was fire burning in the grate. We sat and chatted with Dennis (her husband) and it was lovely and relaxing. The smells coming from the kitchen were wonderful!

Back downstairs in her equally cosy dining room, we enjoyed a delicious starter of spinach leaves, baked halloumi and orange segments in a gorgeous dressing. This was followed by a lamb shank, Dauphinoise potatoes and tender stem broccoli. The meal was washed down with copious amounts of red wine!

While we ate we had a good chat and it's an indicator of how we're all getting older by our choice of subjects! We discussed how to get stains out of clothes and our ageing parents (Andrea, Lynda and me), as well as making a will and retirement plans!

We still managed to have a laugh, though, despite some of the serious things we talked about and it was lovely to sit and catch up with my friends over a wonderful meal. Our dessert was rhubarb crumble served with custard and by 11.00pm I was texting Sophie to ask her and Keith to come and collect me. We gave Lynda a lift home so it was midnight by the time we got back.

It was a lovely night, and I was so glad tomorrow is Saturday and I had told Sara I couldn't work!