Life is a Rollercoaster...

First off - HAPPY NEW YEAR! In case you are one of the few people that have not received either a text message, email or Facebook greeting wishing you a good one, am making sure you get it here...

Well - sorry for the delay in blogging. Have had a bit of a dry spell of late - I guess I can put it down to being very very busy at work and at home the last couple of weeks.

Today is a funny old day. Am desperately waiting on the end of the phone for some good news and some hopefully ok news... Jane has gone into hospital today to have a c-section, and hopefully will be 'avec baby' in the very near future. She spent the entire weekend in hospital last weekend being 'induced', but all they managed to do was induce extreme tiredness and a great deal of discomfort - unfortunately, not quite the level of discomfort required to eject mini-Miles. Jamie says that he has been putting farleys rusks in Jane's knickers, but as yet the gateway to the world is firmly and resolutely shut. On a more serious note though, she is almost two weeks overdue - so it looks like there will be one more attempt at natural birth, and failing that the Greek method will be used...

The not so good, in fact awful, news is that Mark's Mum has been taken into hospital today with pneumonia. I am hanging on for some news of how she is doing (at the moment all we have is a GP's diagnosis that she has fluid on her lungs, and that she has been taken to Addenbrookes in an ambulance), and I am hoping to hear something really soon. Goodness knows how or why this has happened, I can only hope beyond all hope that she will be ok.... she was in bed at the weekend with a cold and some weariness/fever, but we were expecting her to be back to herself post haste. :-s

So.... not sure I can rabble on about the other stuff going on here at the moment, it all seems a little bit minor. Our kitchen is finally in the process of being fitted - Mark is doing a superb job, and I am incredibly proud of him. Its a very very clever man that I have landed myself there. I have joined a gym, and am loving it (as always - I wonder why or how I managed to ever give up going in the first place!). Other than that, life is going on...

Fingers crossed for some all round good news.
Love to all
Hayley
xxxx

Jack Frost Nipping at my Nose...

What a roller coaster of a week! Had some great great days/evenings, but have also both been sick as dogs in our own particular ways.... also, poor old Mark's mum had been ill on the lead up to Christmas (was sick and very tired), although she had a reprieve at the last minute and made it to Caroline's for Xmas dinner...

Last weekend we (Mark and I) struggled against our respective colds, and entertained Jez and Marta from Madrid. Was SO great to see them both - and we were soon back on old form, and extracting the urine-a-go-go.... was a really fun night! I cooked chilli, and then we walked into the village and met Jamie and Chris in The Red Lion for a few pints. Jez and Marta left in the early hours of Xmas eve (they had to get to Norwich in time for a panto with Jez's family), and Mark and I both headed to work for a few hours.

That afternoon we headed to Lowestoft... Mark had taken a turn for the worse (very very snotty and feeling a bit feverish), and so we were not exactly in the festive mood by the time we arrived. We had a nice evening though - Mum cooked fish and salad, and we were all entertained by Henry's mounting excitement at the impending arrival of Father Christmas. Bless his little heart, he bought back so many memories of my own childhood, and that terrible feeling when you think that you will never ever get to sleep, and Father Christmas consequently won't come and visit. We had to put out the "Santa Stop Here" sign in the front garden, and sprinkle "magic Rudolph dust" on the lawn (which basically consisted of 'oats to tempt the reindeers' and glitter 'to light their way' - a gorgeous innovation by Henry's school teacher!). Tracy and I read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to him again this year, and yet again he piked up on the fact that Father Christmas was smoking... I find Henry an unusually perceptive child (but I guess we all find our own particular little acquiantances particularly sharp). I asked him whether he thought that Father Christmas would get wet when he came over the sea to his house - he said that he *would* get wet, as the full moon was out and it would pull on the water like a magnet??!!! Where on earth does he learn stuff like that?!

I got up at 7:30 (to the sound of Henry's ear piercing screams of delight), and watched him open his presents. Sam called at 8:30, so I made my excuses and went to visit Nanny and Grandad (both ill with colds - Grandad more seriously with bronchitis!), and Alison and Kevin and the children... all very pleasant. After Aidan decided to give us a rendition of some song or other with his new electric guitar, I made my excuses and left! Mark was unfortunately suffering quite badly, and didn't surface until gone 12:30. We had a lovely Xmas dinner in the afternoon (joined by Nanny Brown); I have never had goose before, and thoroughly enjoyed it - especially the crispy skin with chinese 5 spice rubbed into it! Yummm..... We spent the rest of the day watching the boys play with their new toys (of course, Henry only wanted to play with Oscar's toys, and it seems that Tracy would have been better off buying Oscar a few small blocks of polystyrene, since the ones out his toys kept him amused for hours!). I was spoilt, and am now the proud proud owner of a set of GHD hair straighteners from Mark! yayayay!!!! Mum and Dad also spoilt us with lots of vouchers from John Lewis, and Tracy bought me a rather cool digital picture frame which I am looking forward to filling up!

Boxing day was another fairly sickie day... I didn't feel top notch, but we came back to Cambridge to watch the boxing day football (Cambridge Utd vs Histon). This was a fairly tense match, not least because Mark's family were divided in their loyalties! heh... unfortunately, it was Mark and I that had to do the walk of shame on that occasion (1-0 to Cambridge in the end) - although I have to say it was a very close match, and Histon in no way let themselves down! In the evening I cooked Sausage and Mash for Mark's parents, and we had a nice evening watching TV and exchanging gifts in front of the fire. Unfortunately, Nanny Brown ended up in hospital; she had been vomiting all day Boxing Day, and has what looks to be a clot in her leg :-(

Yesterday, I had to return to work. Unfortunately, I only made it for half of the day. I had woken up feeling a bit nauseous, but by lunch time I could no longer contain it - one sniff of the soup I had taken for my lunch had me running for the loo. I spent the afternoon in bed, and only managed to get up for a cup of tea and to watch a movie later in the evening. Ah well - I think it did my waistline good, but have no clue what prompted it!!! Perhaps all the yucky stuff I have been swallowing with my cold :-(

Feeling a good deal better today - looking forward to the weekend. I have my parents coming tonight for the weekend, and I am planning to hit the sales with them tomorrow! Yay! On Sunday, Mark's parents are joining all of us for lunch, and in the evening Jane and Jamie are coming over to see us. Can't wait to see them - has been a long time, and it might be the last time I see them without a tangible baby! The baby is due on the 2nd January, so I am hoping it doesn't put in an early appearance! I will get my marigolds out and some hot towels, just in case... ;-)

Plans for the new year at the moment are to spend it with Kevin and Heleen and their two young children in Hitchin. However, the way we are both feeling, a lay on the sofa might not be such a bad idea!

Hope you are all well - have a great weekend!
A really Happy New Year to you all - especially my far flung friends in Brisbane, Copenhagen, Madrid, Cambodia, Den Haag and Beirut...
Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

Its all so Bloody Rock and Roll... heh ;-)

Whoooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Reformed rock chick on the loose! ;-)

Well... sort of... somewhere under the thermal vest and court shoes there is a rock chick trying to get out. After much whinging and procrastinating last night, my cousin Mark talked me into driving to Norwich and back in one evening to go and see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the UEA (his treat). Boy am I glad I did! It was ace... a real harking back to the good ol' days or something - days when I actually listened to music in the house, instead of bloody BBC Five Live on the radio! Have fully decided that the first installation in the new kitchen will no longer be an oven, or the much awaited dishwasher... it will be a stereo, with BIG speakers! ;-)

Anyway... back to reality. ;-)

I had a fairly nice if lazy weekend - football on Saturday (we lost 1-0, but a fight in the bar afterwards made up for the lack of excitement... heh). Sunday was spent cleaning in the morning, and loafing around Robert and Emma's in the afternoon, as Mark was at work.

Tonight am out for one of many Christmas parties in the next week... am out with the netball crowd (expecting a fairly big and rowdy bunch of us), and invading a local pub for a shclap-up-meal... am hoping it surpasses the lunch I had in a different local pub last year, which consisted of powdered soup and turkey twizzlers no less...

Last week was the first of my parties of the season - lunch with the Monis crowd in Bath... Yes - Bath IS a bloody long way to go for lunch!!! It was very nice though, and John and I made the lost of our destination by leaving the crew in the pub and going swimming in the Thermae Bath Spa. This was lovely - an open air rooftop terrace, with a gorgeous heated pool - nothing beats being rained on while bobbing around in a steaming pool overlooking the lights of a beautiful city. I can highly recommend it! The usual shenanigans occured at the Monis do - Toppo "overshared", Geoff got all twinkly and EM told bad jokes... and of course I got giggly - some things *have* changed though.... I didn't get ridiculously drunk and make a fool of myself this year! ;-)

Anyway... had better get on. Have to go to London tomorrow for meetings, and Thursday is the Cambridge office Christmas Party... then the weekend stokes up again with Football on Saturday, and dinner in Hitchin... no rest for the wicked, hey?!

Much love for the festive season
Hayls
xxx

BRMC - Whatever happened to my rock n' roll (punk song)

Meet The Parents

We had a nice and calm weekend with my parents in tow.

Friday night Mum and Dad didn't turn up until fairly late (various train-related complications), but we managed to end the night on a good note - an entirely pleasant Slimming World vegetarian shepherd's pie, a couple of bottles of vino, and a good session of putting the world (well, Lowestoft) to rights...

Saturday:
Mark worked, but I took Mum and Dad into town for a spot of Christmas shopping and a trawl around the shops. Was lovely, and very very Christmassy - am still finding it all a bit of a shock since coming back from Asia! We had a nice lunch in Pizza Express, and spent a large portion of the day exploring the new John Lewis store in Cambridge. I managed to buy a nice black dress (in a size I can't normally fit in, so that made *my* day!), and even started the Xmas shopping for all the kids in my life!

In the evening, we went to The Indian Ocean in the village for a yummy dinner - a couple of drinks in The Red Lion, and a not too boozy finish to the night.

Sunday:
We went to Newmarket and had a look around the shops there - its my first visit to Newmarket town itself (as opposed to the racecourse, which I have frequented a handful of times). I was quite taken with it, and suspect it may be the place that I finish my Christmas shopping at! A good, but small, selection of shops (lack of choice can focus my mind better) - including my fave (TK MAXX... yay!). Best of all though was that the shops were almost entirely empty... bliss compared to the madness of Cambridge on Saturday!

We had a nice roast dinner in The Red Lion in Cheveley (not sure we could find it again - but the roast beef was outstanding!), and then dropped Mum and Dad back to the station. Mark and I went home, did a bit of kitchen planning, and then settled down for an evening in front of the fire (by God we needed the fire! Its so cold...). Had red wine, nachos with cheese and dips, chocolates, and watched Star Wars I (for Mark) and The Magdalene Sisters (for me). A lovely evening...

Looking forward to tonight as going out for a few drinks in the village for my birthday. Have invited lots of people, but so far looks like there will be a poor turnout (combination of the night of the week, and the fact that I couldn't afford to pay rent-a-crowd to turn out! ;-)

Hope you are all well
Lots of love
Hayls
xxx

Return From The City of Angels

Well... I'm back! YAY! Don't all scream at once! ;-)

We survived chaotic Bangkok (said City of Angels, as it is known), we positively thrived in Cambodia, and chilled in Laos. A glorious holiday, yet again... and yes, the usual stories relating to weird eats (I excelled myself this time by eating fried wood crickets and silk worms (pictured), along with the normal frogs legs and weird fruit and veg), cheap shopping/haggling tales, temple visits, and lovely local people. A variation on our normal routine is that I decided to spice things up a bit by leaving our passports and traveller's cheques in a distant hotel.... a very exciting mid-holiday thriller... would the money get through or not? Would we have to spend the rest of our lives in Cambodia sans passport or money? Heh... all is well that ends well. We got our stuff back, but not until after a rather scary non-encounter with a man that couriered them for us to Phnom Penh, and then proved increasingly difficult to track down! (thankfully he was unaware of quite how much moulah he was actually carrying!). Mark loved my style... ahem.

Anyway - this is just a heads up really! I will bore you RIGID with photos as soon as I have pulled my finger out and sorted through them (there are far too many of me looking a little "tired" (read drunk), and far too many blurred ones taken by me when "tired").

Hope you are all well... got my parents coming this weekend for a pre-birthday bash (the big day is next week). This year am unsure whether to fully embrace what can only be described as true "middle-age", or for the first time ever try to pretend that it isn't happening!

Much love,

Hayls

xxxxxx

Bo Fo' Sho'

A bit naughty... but very funny!