The Great Train Journey

Wednesday is another day in which I work in Manchester, however,
because I work a normal day 8.30 - 5.30, I travel by train rather than
drive. I pick up the train from Dewsbury into manchester piccadilly.
This morning I only just made it however....

I was up at normal time of 4.55am when the alarm clock penetrated my
slumbers. Ablutions, then into the bedroom where I dress, don on my
running gear, and hit the road for 15-20mins jog. A cold dank morning,
but at least it wasn't raining!! Not very fit. Struggle to keep going
and not walk for a bit. Kept going.

Back indoors. Upstairs sort washing pile. Downstairs shove washing in
the machine. Back upstairs. Clear the clothes horse of dry washing.
Fold put away. In bathroom for shower and hair wash. Back into
dressing bedroom. Make up. Hair. What to wear??? That is the tortuous
part of the morning and the reason why I nearly missed the train! What
I and planned to wear didn't work. Standing there looking at a
wardrobe full Of clothes I don't wear very often if at all, hoping
that something I do like wearing will leap out and grab me, it's not a
good idea when on a tight timescale with a train to catch! The
Wednesday office can be chilly, and it's cold outside. I need to wear
boots (low heels) as it's a trek from station (I can catch a free bus,
but feel very self righteous walking the just-over-a-mile), and I do
want to walk quickly. So that means one of three longer skirts, and a
cardigan or jacket. Try in. Take off. Reject. Try something else. A
decision is made. Downstairs. Washing finished. Better take it out of
machine. Fold. Leave on side. Maybe rob will hang. But then he always
hangs wet washing next to dry washing and then nothing dries. Maybe
better If he leaves it to me. Now I am late. Socks on. Boots on.
Keys. Money for parking. Money for loo at Manchester (always need to
go). Car keys. House keys. Bags. Glasses (needed for driving). Out the
door. Lock. Reverse up drive. To station. Whizz into parking place.
Out of car. Lock car Get ticket. Back to car. Open. Ticket on
windscreen. Grab bags. Train coming in. Shit. Lock car. Run run run.
Neednt have jogged this morning. Board train in nick of time. No
ticket. Buy on train. And here I am. 'we will shortly be arriving at
Manchester piccadilly. Please remember to take all your belongings
with you. Thank you for travelling with trans pennine express'.

The day has begun....
This msg comes from my iPhone

Chocolate!!!

Not good news for anyone on a diet for whom it is an irresistable
temptation! It's also not any good for anyone with high
cholesterol .... but it slips down so easily especially mid morning
when hungry!! ....and the thing is, M&S do sell the most devine
chocolatey chocolate cake you can imagine. Not just anyones chocolate
cake, an M&S chocolate cake!!! None of your cocoa flavoured chocolate
cake, but a chocolate chocolate cake. So when colleagues at work
presented me with this sumptuous delightful chocolate cake at 10.30
this morning, just when the breakfast has all but disappeared from the
pit of my stomach, and lunch is such a long way off, I just couldn't
resist!! Singing 'happy birthday' (in unusual office style: start on
the wrong note, too high so no-one can finish it except maria who is a
soprano) because it's my last day with the mon/tues client before the
big day, they gave me a card, the chocolate cake (for us all to
devour) and an M&S voucher with one pound for every year!! How lucky
am I!! So, I just had to cut it, and present it to my Mon/tues
colleagues on 50th birthday napkins (also supplied), and have a piece
myself!! Don't tell my personal trainer!! I will just have to hold my
tummy in even more on Friday now!!

Of course I am on my lunch break now!! Sitting in starbucks with a
large cuppa and an unopened prawn sandwich with no appetite to eat it
because I had too much chocolate cake!!! But, I am still drooling. I
am also still smiling at the generosity of my colleagues. Next tues
will be bubbly time methinks!! They should like that!! They deserve
that!!

I like the Mon/tues crowd. It's quite a stressful place to work, but
they are a friendly bunch, and I have got to know some of the
barristers quite well. I suppose it's because I am appreciated that I
like it there, although I do generally enjoy work. It's most unusual
for me to have a sour face at work unless I am tired and then any mood
is possible!!

Half way through my cuppa now and starbucks is very crowded. Its
1.20pm. It's v popular amongst the workers, although most only
enjoying a latte or some fancy coffee or other. It's a bit of a walk
for me, but the comfy sofa does help to escape the 'being at work'
feeling.

Chilly outside, but dry thank goodness. I don't mind it being cold so
long as I have enough layers on, and so long as it's not too wet!
That's a tall order of course in Manchester. Being on the west of the
country means more rain!!

Talking of layers, one of my mothers stock phrases whenever we
complained that we were cold when growing up was ' well, you should
wear a vest'!!! How uncool was that! I wouldn't have been seen dead
wearing one as a teenager. I wouldn't have been able to cope wit the
embarrasment of someone noticing a glimpse of a vest at the waist
band!! No way!!! We would rather be cold my sister and I, than anyone
notice a bit if thermal material about our persons!!

Of course, once you reach 40, you really don't care what people think.
Comfort is more important than being cold, shivery and fashionable.
Now I'm nearly 50 I care even less!!! Of course I have my self
respect, and I don't think Gok* would be wholly disgusted with my
attire, but I must be warm and dry if I am to be pleasant with those
around me.
*for the benefit of my sister in the USA, Gok is an inspiring TV
presenter and fashion guru who, like trinny and suzannah is liberating
women throughout the Uk by trying to make them feel good about
themselves again!!!

Well, I seem to have moved from chocolate to thermal undergarments in
the space of, oooh, 30 mins or so. My sandwich is as yet still
unopened before me, and my large mug of tea almost empty. My lunch
break is coming to an end, and I must depart back to the office,
sarnie in hand, ready to munch through it around 3.00pm.

Until another tim ....

The Master Chef at work

Today's blog is written via the internet....I have just 15 minutes to put something together, but I may add something via iphone at lunch time....we shall see.

I notice that there are a couple of typos in the previous one (from iphone) : but I shall keep them there as a reminder that using the iphone keyboard can be problematic if the text of the message is vitally important!!

Whilst MasterChef was showing on the TV, I tested my own culinary skills by cooking Rob (husband) a steak and me a couple of lamb chops. I'd like to say that the aforementioned programme is an inspiration to me, but all it does is highlight what I don't know about cooking. I can do some basics, but I could do with learning a few more. I can't be asked to read cookery books at all, I don't find them at all interesting, and think I would prefer to be shown. Maybe a cookery class would be good, the challenge would be to find the right one. I don't really need very basic. I mean, I know how to cook meat and a few veg, and I am not particularly interested in learning how to cook game or pastries. What I could really do with is learning about sauces, herbs, spices and things to give basic food flavours, mindful of the fact that I still need to be able to cook a meal, from scratch, in 30 minutes when I get home from work at 7.30 each evening!! Oh..... and I need the food to be healthy: I don't want to learn to cook with lots of butter and fat that I really don't need to consume!! Not a tall order then!

Rob enjoyed his steak, and my lamb chops were ok, but I prefer chicken and salmon and minced lamb. However, it did make a change - and I did buy British!!

I do like the programme though, although I think the presenters make it especially enjoyable. Rob of course spends his time helping me in the kitchen calling out 'Yes Chef' as per professional kitchens. Now he has come a long way : 22 years ago his cooking comprised a boiled egg and a tin of potatoes. Now he can put a meal together, meat or fish, although less confident with the meat. At least we can prepare food together in the evening, especially useful since he arrives home a little before me.

Well, that is all the time I have for this today....I am at work, and now need to start. Its 7.20am.(I usually work for this client from 7.00am to 6.00pm on a Monday and Tuesday - so feel I can afford a few minutes off to do the blog). I should also add that my journey to / from work is between 50 minutes and 1 1/2 hours depending upon traffic: travelling across the M62 from Leeds to Manchester. Of course, that sort of journey time is par for the course if you are used to commuting into London, but here people tend to spend far less time getting to and from work. Personally, I don't mind. I just get on wtih it...and at least I am in gainful employment to help pay the bills, and for high days and holidays!!

Enough ramblings...over and out!!

Lunch time bites

Am playing with my iPhone now, seeing if I can update this blog using
the phone. Keyboard skills are always iffy on this gadget. You see, I
can touch type, but using my thumbs is a completely different issue.

For anyone who doesn't have the benefit of an iphone or iPod should be
aware of the following:

When you return home with the fancy phone nearly packaged in a little
box, the instructions provided are unhelpful. As with setting up most
computers, you are looking at a couple of hours to get it set up,
obviously less if you have done it before!

Then, when it comes to using the keyboard the biggest irritations are,
you keep pressing return in the middle of a sentence, or the auto
correct changes the word, but you don't notice!! Hence any mistakes in
this blog!! Also, I haven't found a way of setting up my own auto
corrections which means one of my friends is referred to as 'do'
instead of di.

Of course the benefits far outway the irritations. I am therefore more
than happy to send out emails and texta with poor spellings or, worse
than that, making absolutely no sense whatsoever! Many a time I sound
like one of the British airmen on 'allo 'allo!! I just hope my
intended recipients don't mind!

.... And so to the next step in accomplishing the Blogger tool ...
Posting to my blog by email. From the
iPhone, I thought this would be much easier than having to sign in
first.

Well, lunch break is drawing to a close and I must return to my intray
and the joys it beholds for me...

Another day another dollar!

After the fantastic weekend, I am now back to work. We arrived home at 5.30pm yesterday having stopped off at Bar Hill Tescos (very conveniently located just on the A14 - you woudn't know it was there, although the sign posts do alude to a 'superstore' but that could be a B&Q). We often stop there on the way home if we have food bits to buy - since by the time we reach home, the shops would be shut!!!

Now, in Manchester, in the rain, its back to the daily grind. I am of course thankful I have a job as there is yet more doom and gloom on the news today, and they are talking of negative inflation.

So, I will press on with my work here ... put my head down for the day, and get as much done in 10-11 hours as I can...

Birthday Celebrations

I had a fantastic day yesterday.

My husband and friends planned a surprise meal for my 50th!

I have been married to Rob for 22 years, and I didn't realise he could be such a good liar, nor indeed did I realise that he would be able to keep a secret! Mind you, I didn't press him with

questions and I refused to discuss my birthday with anyone less they let some little snippet of information out that would enable me to put two and two together and make four.

He had totally convinced me that it was just the two of us to put me off the scent. I had thought we might be eating with the usual crowd, but he convinced me we were eating early because we were going to have a really late night, alluding to us going to Ronnie Scotts jazz club. Even then I thought maybe Di and Rol would be meeting us there. When we walked into the restaurant at 6.30pm, they showed us to a table at the end of the large restaurant: a table for two in the corner with our backs to the room. Odd I thought. Usually couples are placed facing outwards into the room. There was a massive table down the length of the restaurant. I even said to Rob "look, there's a massive do on here tonight".

Whilst we munched our way through the poppodoms, rob explained that we weren't leaving until 10. He had asked for a later table, but the restaurant had said they were really busy, and could we come earlier. Imagine my surprise when Matt (step son no. 1) leant over my shoulder "surprise!" Even funnier, I still didn't know who it was as I couldn't get his face in focus it was so close to me. I stood up and, turning around said, 'I'm sorry I still don't know who you are!'Then there was a line of 31 friends leading down the length of the restaurant all queuing to say hello. We worked our way down it like a bride and groom at a wedding!!

The usual friends were there: Ann Nigel with Emily and Sam, and his girlfriend Lucy. Then there was Deborah and Martin, Julie and Simon, Anne and her partner Adam. Matt (Lou was at an East End Boys concert booked a year ago). Val and Matthew. Brenda and Mick. Di and Rol. Nick and Jo. Tony and Trish (cricket friends). Cousin Cathy (not that I know another Cathy, but I always refer to her as Cousin Cathy - she probably doesn't know that). Arthur (Robs cousin) and wife Trish. Pam and Bert (U Charles relatives and friend of Stella's). Mick (an old friend and clerk from when rob first started) and his wife P. Rebecca Hayward and her new partner Charles.

There were others who weren't able to be there which was a shame. Would love to do it all over again!

No, we did not go to to Ronnie Scotts.

Yes, it was a late night.

We sat up chatting until 2.00am, when tiredness forced me to my bed, but what a fantastic memory of my 50th. I don't have any photos...so hopefully Emily, who was taking lots of snaps, will be able to pass them on to me!

Well, my 50th is not actually until the 2nd Feb, and Rob and I are going away for the weekend which will be lovely: relaxing he says.... more another time!

PS. this blogging-ing is a new experience for me. I have always been totally rubbish at keeping a diary, I wonder whether this will be any different. I know the experience is supposed to be quite cathartic: but its odd to think that just about anyone can read them. Lets see how long I can keep this up....or will it by like all my diaries in the past: 3 weeks worth of gibberish and then nothing....the pages empty through to the end of the year!!!