Not a bad day - just a bad start!

I had a feeling today was going to be "difficult" when mum phoned me at 7.30am this morning to say we'd been burgled at work. It's been a while, so I suppose we've been lucky and they didn't do a lot of damage - just broke into a couple of machines and damaged one of the doors to get in.

I was unnerved by a couple of things just before I went to work...someone had called my mobile at 4am and
there was a car parked outside the house which made it difficult for me to reverse out of the drive. He then followed me for a good way as I drove into work. So I was very jittery! As it turned out, the mobile call was from the security firm as the alarm must have gone off again after mum and dad left. Because of the damage, they had difficulty turning the alarm on, and then found out that their phone was off the hook at home! I never heard my mobile otherwise I'd have been going in as well!

The day did get better! Work was pleasantly busy and I managed to get a lot of the end of year payroll done. The weather has been lovely and when I got home from work I dragged Keith out for a walk which we badly needed. We admired all the daffodils on the banks of the stream and the wind blew the cobwebs out of our heads!

Whiel we were out, Keith decided to take us to the pub for a meal (two for one, remember!!) which was lovely. We had a delicious meal - I had cod which was perfectly cooked.

So, all in all, not a bad day after all!

Birthday Girl, Part 2

I can't believe Sophie is 14 years old today! The years have gone by so quickly! She had a good day and did everything she wanted to do, from breakfast at MacDonald's this morning to chicken fajitas for dinner tonight. We also went to Weedon this afternoon so she could have a look in the jewellery shop there and spend her birthday money. Whilst there we had a look at the wallpaper in a small interior design shop and I nearly fainted at the cost of a roll of flock wallpaper - £97! For one wall we'd need two rolls so we will certainly be looking at other options! I can remember the days when flock wallpaper was completely naff!

Of course, all day I kept thinking it was Sunday! That was until I took Keith to the pub at 6pm and now it feels much more like a Monday. It's back to work for a short week tomorrow but next week will be even shorter as I'm off Monday and Tuesday for the wrestling...

The morning after the night before...

Despite only having about five hours sleep (not good, for me!) I feel OK today. I got to bed at 2am and was wide awake by 7.30 this morning, probably because of the wine which has a tendency to keep me awake.

Last night was very successful and we all had an enjoyable evening. There were ten of us in total and we tasted nine wines. I put foil over the bottles so nobody would know what they were and asked everyone to rate them out of ten. Although I had a good idea of everyone's tastes it was interesting to see what scores were given and what people liked and didn't like. It was also interesting to see how tastes had changed. My dad used to be a fan of Gewurztraminer, but last night he hated it! I gave the couple who brought the winning wine a little box of chocolates and the runners up a creme egg each which added to the fun! The wine I put in, the Gewurztraminer, came last...oh well!

So, today has been very lazy which has been great. I managed to get control of the television and watched Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was absolutely mad, a classic "screwball" comedy and although I enjoyed it, the film was just slightly too over the top for me to call it a favourite.The rest of the day was spent eating some chocolate and having a nap. Our planned walk just didn't happen, mainly because Keith and I felt a little tired after a busy few days. If the fine weather continues we'll get out into the fresh air tomorrow.

Happy Easter everyone!

 Archie enjoying the spring sunshine.

Entertaining

I dropped Sophie off at work today as she's going to help out with mum and dad. I felt so guilty as I drove away but there's no way I could spend all day working and then come home to get the house ready for tonight.

It's been better weather than forecast today with lots of sunshine and, as yet, no showers. I made a quick trip to Tesco and it was manic! I'm so glad I only had a few things to get. I bought Sophie a cake for Monday and a book that I'm hoping she'll like. She knows that she's got the wrestling to go to next week in lieu of a big party and lots of presents.

Good news with the complaint to Beckworth Emporium, though! A very nice man called David apologised and sent me a £5 voucher which arrived today! I'll have fun spending it!

Stressed? Me?

Today has not been enjoyable. In the past I've always taken Good Friday off but this year I knew the weather was going to be grotty and our cleaner at work was on holiday so I had no choice but to go in. Going home early (the other option) was out of the question as we had no staff at all coming in to help and it was the start of the Easter school holidays!

Although we were busy, it was not too bad and luckily Sophie helped out by serving in the kitchen and even looked after the Birthday Party that was booked in! She's growing in confidence and I think that it will do her good to do the odd bit of work here and there to earn her own pocket money and give her an idea of what real life's like! Plus the experience of dealing with the public and handling money will be most beneficial when she gets older.

I took a few quiet minutes to plan my Wine Tasting evening tomorrow and I feel much happier now I've decided what we'll be doing and how I'm going to organise it. I just hope I can fit 11 people around our table!

The wet weather gave way to a sunnier late afternoon but I don't think it'll last. It would be nice to get out for a walk on Sunday and burn some of the Easter egg calories off!

April Fool's Day

I hated not posting a blog yesterday. As I said this morning, it wasn't until I was in bed that I suddenly remembered I hadn't written my blog, and of course, by then, my laptop was turned off and I just didn't have the energy to go back downstairs, turn it back on and write a blog that was probably not that interesting!

I can't believe that it's the start of yet another month. Time is certainly passing by very quickly but writing this is very good at letting me remember just what I did with my life while the time was whizzing by!

Today has been OK...we've been doing the cleaning at work over the last few days as our cleaner is off on hols. It's such a pointless task, but has to be done. Tomorrow is the last day and then I'm off until next Tuesday, although poor mum and dad will have to go in on Saturday as we're busy and we're short of staff as one of our weekend workers has just got married (in Jamaica) and is having her party on Saturday night. Needless to say a lot of our other staff will be going to the do and just have to have the day off to get ready...

It goes without saying that we're now officially squatting in our premises as we have no formal lease...everyone is now off until well after Easter but are we worried? Nah!

An old work colleague visited us this morning with her two children. It's been 16 years since I saw her - we worked at Levi's and although we were in different departments, we had a big thing in common as we were married within a few months of each other. She's now on her second marriage and has three children (one was at school) but it was lovely to catch up and find out what she was doing since I saw her last.

The weather which started off so beautifully, turned this afternoon and when I went to get diesel (and beer for Keith) I got soaked. Where has our lovely Easter gone?

Ooops!

It wasn't until I was tucked up in bed last night that I realised I hadn't written this!

To make up, I'll write another today! Yesterday was pretty quiet and uneventful so not much has been missed. It was a day of April showers and "interesting" skies but thankfully, no snow. I felt so sorry for the parents of the young girl killed in Scotland when the school bus had an accident on the treacherous roads. It made me think of Sophie and the trips she's been on with school. It's every parent's nightmare.

Anyway...I must go off to work. I will be back later!