100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4566526.stm

Christmas Canaries

Well... yesterday was fairly eventful for me. It took me a full (count 'em) THREE hours to get to work at the new office yesterday, prompting me to try and find a new route for my next visit to the Citigroup building in Canary Wharf. I took a bus to Cambridge station, a train to Liverpool street, a tube (after five attempts to get on) from Liverpool Street to Bank, and the DLR to Canary Wharf... god knows which route to take next week; there are so many variations, and I don't think any of them will shave off the hour I would like to save on my journey time!

The new offices are scarily high up (we are on the 38th floor), but I *think* I like it. It all seems quite empty and a little eerie at the moment (we are all rattling around in a frankly HUGE space), and it also made me realise what a small concern Monis actually is! We take up barely any space in the office, and are outnumbered several times over by other business units. And yet... we are one of the top earners... it is amazing really. My new "hot desk" is without any essentials (no drawer in which to put my salt and mustard, no telephone, no bin... the important stuff!), as apparently "hot deskers" (those of us who go in once or twice a week) have no rights... tsk tsk. However, it is quite nicely placed (right next to the emergency exit, a short walk to the kitchen, and well away from the window view that, quite frankly, freaks me out a bit!). Lunch was spent exploring all the new shopping opportunities... it is much better than I thought it would be, in that there are several women's clothes shops all clustered together in one mall, AND a Waitrose! Joy! :-D

In the evening we had the office Christmas party at The Marriot Hotel in Canary Wharf area. This was very pleasant (entirely well organised by Arpi); good food, a good laugh, and I actually managed to stay relatively sober. The only problem really was the journey home... having narrowly missed the 23:15 train to Cambridge, we (Tim Dodd from one of the other business units) and I had to get the 00:07 slow train home... this took an age, and seemed to stop at places I have never even heard of!! I managed to get home at 2am... schnarl schnarl. Very annoying when you have to leave just when the party is getting started, but still make it home later than most! It seems that the usual suspects from work went a leeeetle bit OTT in their celebrations, and some didn't make it home at all... tsk tsk tsk... would you credit it?! ;-)

Anyway... got a quiet day today. Have to get parcels off for friends abroad (Jen - I am SO sorry I didn't post yours sooner! I promise it will be worth it...). SO many of my friends seem to be moving house at the moment, or are waiting on moving, it will cost me a fortune in "New Home" cards in the next couple of weeks... John is moving, Nikki and Carlos, Tracy and the boys, Jamie and Adele, and Chris (who sits next to me at work). Janine and Simon managed to get their move sorted a couple of weeks back; a nice easy move across the road to a bigger house.

Much love
Hayls
xxx

PS. BIG First birthday shout to little Eloise Hart-Davies. We hope you have a lovely birthday! Can it REALLY be a year?!

Some Stories Can Make Your Day...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6178659.stm

Check out the image halfway down the page (click to enlarge it).

The Labyrinth

First things first; Henry is much recovered, thankfully! In fact, I spoke to Tracy this morning, and he was naked except for a pair of cowboy boots, and calling himself "Buffalo Henry". He apparently had a herd of pink cows that he had to save from snake attacks, which had "milk in their boobies" and were "made of pink bubble gum, so can't be eaten"??!!!

We had another nice weekend. Friday night I went over to Mark's parents, and ate chicken hotpot with his Mum and watched "Muriel's Wedding", which I have never seen before and was just great... Saturday, I got up mega-early, and did most of my Christmas shopping before 10am! Was fantastic! I then went for my massage, which was just gorgeous - although being loaded down with bags just seconds later seems to have caused some major muscle ache! heh... Saturday afternoon, Mark and Lindsey turned up... and Mark, Mark, Kurt and John (Mark's Dad) went to the football, while Lindsey and I put the world to rights in the kitchen! Saturday night, we had quite a few drinks at the local, and I had the most delicious curry I have ever had in the Indian (Rajestani Lamb? Curried lamb shank... melt-in-the-mouth-tastic!).

Sunday, we got up fairly late, I made scrambled eggs for us all, and we did a bit of work in the garden. Doug turned up for a chat and a cuppa, and then Mark and I went for a walk in the woods nearby (Mark took his hacksaw, for doing a bit of ivy clearing on the way!). In the afternoon we went to Mark's pares for a bit of tea and a chat, and in the evening we went with Doug to see Pan's Labyrinth at the cinema... this is an absolutely amazing Spanish film, and I fell in love with it! Can highly recommend! Very moving, lots of symbolism, and the most beautiful cinematography I have seen in a long time...

This week is a busy one... tonight have netball (and possibly drinks after), and tomorrow I have to schlep to Canary Wharf for the first time, and we have our Christmas "do" tomorrow night... getting home is gonna be interesting, and am actually thinking of not drinking, to facilitate my journey (particularly in light of the serial murderer in Ipswich)!

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

My Boy

Was rudely awoken by my Mum this morning with the news that little Henry (my Nephew) was in hospital! Thankfully, he seems fine today, but what a shocker! It is REALLY frightening how what appears to be a bit of a nasty cough/cold for a child can so quickly become very serious! Yesterday afternoon, Grandad commented on Henry's nasty cough, and although Tracy said it sounded quite a harsh cough, she had no cause for deep concern. To cut a long story short, poor Henry's condition worsened quite rapidly (temperature raised, became floppy/sleepy, vomiting) - culminating in him panicking because he couldn't breathe between coughs - Tracy says it is a blessing that he likes having the baby monitor in his room for the music it plays, as she managed to hear him having breathing difficulties! Thankfully, Sam was around (as he was sposed to have Henry last night), so they managed to get him first to a walk-in medical centre locally, and then in an ambulance to James Paget Hospital. Tracy said it almost broke her heart when he still managed to squeak out that he loved her, and that he could see the Christmas lights through the window of the ambulance... Thankfully, on arrival in hospital, he responded immediately to the drugs they gave him on the Children's ward, and was reluctant to stay in bed (not through fear/illness), but because he was desperate to play with the doll's house on the ward! The weird thing that we couldn't work out, was when the ambulance arrived to say he was being taken to hospital, he went into a blind panic - although Tracy says he has no experience of hospitals, in the negative sense at least! Must have picked it up on CBBC or something! Anyway... he is home now, and looking very pale/tired with bloodshot eyes, bless him. It appears that he may have had Croup, which is a viral infection that can turn threatening for some children. It is also contagious, so she has to keep him away from little Oscar for the next couple of days - which may prove difficult! She has also been told that he has a heart murmur, which may/may not be due to the viral infection, but there will be tests for this... I am SO relieved that he has got out of this mostly unscathed though. Makes you realise how fragile we all are!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful really! Wednesday night, we (Mark and I, and Robert and Emma) went to see The Broken Family Band, who I have to say were pretty amazing. The band play an excellent set, interspersed with much joking and chit chat by the lead singer - made for a really good night out. This was at the end of a fairly stressy day in London - I had to pack up my desk in the St. Mary Axe office, as we are moving en masse to Canary Wharf this weekend. I am SO looking forward to adding another 45 minutes to my journey into London once a week, to go and sit at a 'hot desk' (I have no allocated desk this time) on the 38th floor of a big terrorist target next to London City Airport.... call me cynical if you like, but it doesn't fill me with joy! I guess I can't really complain, as all the others have to be there every day of the week. But, still... whinge... whine... splat.

A pretty quiet weekend planned. Tonight, Mark is out with some work friends in the Local, and I am going to his Mum's for dinner (I have the chicken stew in the slow cooker already!). Tomorrow morning, Mark will undoubtedly be sleeping off the beer, and I am going into the City for a full body massage (THANKS JEN!) and to finish my Christmas shopping... in the evening, Mark and Lindsey are coming to stay the night, so it should be good to see them. No plans for Sunday at the moment, but am hoping to spend some quality time with Mark.

The garage/workshop is going great guns at the moment - the roof is going on as I type, so that will be good! Can't wait to see the finished result - looks nice enough to live in at the moment! Speaking of which, my house is not up for rent yet... so finger's crossed for that!

Anyway..
Love to all. Have a great weekend, and I promise I will try and get some cards written this weekend!

Hayls
xxxx

Le Weekend

Well, a varied weekend....

Spent much of it in the pub really, so not *that* varied! Friday, Mark and I went to the local for a drink (or seven), and had a really good night. Saturday we just spent the day doing errands (Mark in the garden painting the garage, and me ironing), although Caroline popped in with Phil and the children, which is always nice. Late Saturday afternoon we popped to the local footie ground and watched the reserves play half a match, which was bitterly cold! In the evening we went to the pub (surprise!), and then for curry.

Sunday we went around a few shops in the morning, and did a bit of Christmas shopping. Went to Mark's pares for a lovely lunch, and I stayed there while Mark went home to spend some time with a friend of his. We had a fairly quiet evening with said friend, and are hoping things work out for him.

Am sorry to be back at work today - feeling tired, and having troubles with my email this morning! Nevermind... roll on home time!

Happy belated birthday to Nikki for last Saturday - I hear she had a lovely time in Birmingham with her Husband, Carlos (newly married, so am enjoying calling him "husband" on her behalf!).

Much love
Hayls
xxx

...Straight Up

NOT on ice, as previously thought. Darn... not sure how I get these things so muddled! Anyway... a gorgeous production of Swan Lake, and for the first time I actually found the ballet quite stirring - emotional even! I guess this is why people go back for more... (or maybe it was the sight of a firm bottomed young Adonis of a man in white tights?!). Anyway... we had a lovely night. Mark's mum seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, and Caroline had her first night away from baby Emily without too much trauma for poor Phil. He did look incredibly nervous when we left!

Speaking of babies... here are some gorgeous pictures of my friends Tesla and Nile and their new baby son, Namar. What a handsome little guy he is! I wish them all the very best.

Cheers to having no plans for the weekend...

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx