Hurricane Hayley...

Hayley "Whirlwind" Brown - my self given name for the weekend. It was a fiendishly busy one, even by *my* standards.

Friday night, I went to the gym for my spinning class (just to pick up some much needed speed for the rest of the weekend), and spun home to cook a big pot of chilli for Sunday (explained later) and do some bits and bobs to help mark out with his "mid-life crisis" party.

Saturday... up at 5:30, and over to my house in Norwich for 7:30. This is where I really work up some steam. By 8am I have painted the fence outside the house (a second coating of "forget-me-not" blue - ironic, as it still seems to be staining my hands some five days later...). I cleared the front garden of weeds (and some plants), and then set to work on the inside of the house. I painted lounge, parts of the dining room, and the bedroom - all in a glorious shade of White (with a hint of spittle). I'm not sure whether I managed to get more paint on the wall, or on me ;-) I cut the grass in the back garden, cleared some weeds etc. there, hung new curtains and a shower curtain, and in general gave the place a bit of a clean through. Phew... Martin came and signed the contract, and all seems tickety boo chez Quebec Road for at least a little while longer.

After that marathon, I headed over to see Jane and Jamie and little Ben - to give Jane a big bag of clothes I am getting shot of, and (more importantly) to get a cup of tea before I drove back to Lowestoft for the evening. I had been supping water out of the tap all day in Norwich, having forgotten to take a kettle with me! Lovely to see Jane and Jamie, and I CANNOT believe how big Benjamin is now! Bless him! He is a gorgeous hunk of pure cheeky chunkster... absolutely gorgeous, happy and strong little fella.

Having waved them goodbye, I went home to see Mum and Dad (Mum made a delicious beef stew thing). They were going to see "Riverdance" at the Marina Theatre in the evening, which was just as well as I had planned to spend the evening with Ricki, celebrating her birthday. I think that "Riverdance" might have been a poor choice for Dad - a kind of "look what you won't be able to do for the next few weeks" slap in the face for him ;-) He is being operated on (today, actually)... a sort of double hip replacement, where they actually resurface the hip joint with steel. I am obviously deeply concerned for him... not looking forward to visiting him tonight in Hospital (I have developed an aversion to them since the start of this year), but can't wait to give him a hug at the same time. Anyway... lets not dwell.

Mum and Dad went out early, so I went to see my Nan and Grandad who were babysitting for my Aunt's three children. Bless them... I do love them so much. I picked up Ricki from her parent's house (I LOVE going there, and sitting in her old bedroom - it makes me feel like I am 17 again!). We had a really pleasant evening. Went into Oulton Broad for a few drinks, and bumped into some guys from school. Spent much of the evening reminiscing about our mis-spent youth - and how often I used to sit around watching the others snogging, while I was just waiting for the boys to leave so that we could go to the sweet shop ;-)

Sunday, I got up early, did some shopping for my gig in the afternoon, and spent a couple of hours with Mum and Dad, Tracy and the boys... mainly watching the boys argue over the presents I had bought Oscar for his birthday. Ahhh... happy days. I wish that more of my life was spent worrying about whether my Sister said I could play with her new lego or not ;-)

I n the afternoon, I raced home, scooped up the chilli I had cooked on Friday, and headed over to my friend Sophie's house. She has moved just up the road from me, and was 40 in the summertime. Due to certain circumstances, she was unable to go ahead with a 40th birthday party that she had spent a long time organising for herself. So, her Mum and some friends of hers decided to surprise her last weekend. And boy, was she surprised, bless her! We laid in wait in her house, and waited for her to come home... there was the cruel addition of party poppers - all set off as she came in the door. I think I honestly would have died on the spot! Anyway... the afternoon went off swimmingly. All of the invitees had bought along a couple of delicious dishes each - including an amazing cake in the shape of a male torso by Sophie's friend Tami. Utterly breathtaking package, clad in red glossy underpants. It might take me several days to recover from the shock of that! ;-) (and judging by the faces of a couple of the guests, it might take some of them a good deal longer! 

Judging by my face on this picture, I am still contemplating it several hours later... ;-)

By about nine, the party had wrapped up, and I headed home to say goodbye to PW and Noel. They have been camping on Scotland for the week, and I went home to make them a lentil curry to take with them. [This is going to be a difficult week for Mark actually, as tomorrow (Friday) would have been his Mum's birthday.] I finally fell into bed at some point close to midnight, praying for Monday morning to come so that I could chill out a little at work... It seems though that my work was not done. Sophie invited me to hers for dinner on Monday evening, to help eat up the leftovers (yummm), Tuesday I went into the London office, and in the evening met up with John and Steve Doogan at Wagamamas, and last night I had my friend Lynn and her bloke John over for dinner (followed by the pub quiz at the local pub). Tonight, of course I am off to the hospital... and so we go on to the next weekend. You know what they say... no rest for the wicked! ;-)

Love, Peace and "pass the valium"... as they say in Histon.
Much Love
Hayls
xxxxxx