Holidays are for relaxing aren't they?

Holidays are a strange animal aren't they?
You look forwards to them in the belief that you will be able to laze around doing exactly as you wish, becoming relaxed, refreshed and generally rejuvinated.

So often the reality is rather different.

Not this time, however.

Mostly.

:D

I have had a blinding time and it's not finished yet.

I've been to see
Which had me crying with laughter throughout, although perhaps not for the reasons that the makers intended.

The Dr Who Exhibition at Earls Court.

Which was fun, as much to see the props up close and personal as the background to some of the shows.

The Viktor and Rolf exhibition at the Barbican.

Where I could have spent the whole day.
Really, if you're interested in design, go and see this exhibition.
The concepts behind each of the collections is well explained and the sheer visual energy is glorious.

I've discovered a brilliant pub.
The Angelic in Islington.
It has the BEST ladies, which was piping Eddie Izzard over the sound system when I was there, meaning I spent far longer in the loo than is normal for me.
The only reason I'm posting it is the solid knowledge that very few people will be directed there from here and so it will stay MY secret !

It been my littlest girlie's birthday too, so much fun was had by her and her friends during their sleepover [ much of which was caught on film by one or other of them, but which has been deemed FAR too embarrassing to be shown -though I suspect it'll do the rounds of her own friends- due to certain 'smellyvision' events! ]
It was followed up by a visit to London for a riverboat trip, a flight on the London Eye and then food at the Rainforest Cafe.

Of course, today has been spent mainly in my PJ's, but even so I've managed to do some supervisory painting [ ie I've stood by, given instructions and generally irritated my littlest girlie who was the one doing the actual painting ] of a fuchsia and purple chalk board/magnetic board on her bedroom wall, and a trawl through some of last weeks newspapers.

As for the rest of the week, well I'm aiming to see the Dali and Cy Twombly exhibitions, look for some new work-wear, and maybe pootle around some of the galleries.
What ever I end up doing I'm sure it'll be fun.
:D

Pass me a tissue

My favourite films are those that make me cry uncontrolably.
No matter how often I see them.
And no matter how well i know the lines and what's coming.
My throat closes.
My nose tingles.
And then the tears start running down my face.

*sniff*

Help restored

I am SO looking forwards to seeing this tonight

Thank you BBC4

Feel Good Films

Its peaceful tonight.
There's hardly any traffic passing by my window.
All the rest of my family are either asleep or in their rooms.
Its nearly midnight, and I've just finished watching one of my favourite feel good films.

It pokes all the right places in my psyche.
Prods me into looking at whats important in my life and how I might be able to achieve it.

And makes me laugh while I'm crying.
Yes....of course I cry.
Possibly not at the places that you would , but who cares.
I get choked when it touches on the parts that are important to me.

Like these.






Its got me grinning just posting them again.
:D

I miss my particular parner in crime for much of that kind of silliness.


I wonder what she's up to right now?

Valentines Day

I got woken this morning at some ungodly hour....
Ok, it was only about 8am, but it was my day off , and the girls weren't at school, so 8am IS ungodly so far as I'm concerned.
....by my phone going off in its text mode.

Now the only reason i get texts is if plans suddenly get changed, or if its work.
So i dragged myself out of bed and looked at it.
Nothing.
Sweet Fanny Adams.

I'm not sure what the hell was going on with it.

However, back to Valentines Day.

Dave is a sweet traditionalist and always gets me a dozen Red roses.
And this year they were added to with chocs, champagne and a sweet little teddy.
:D


I know its daft, but it means a lot to me that he does this.

I was reading one of my online friends blogs and she was writing about how it makes her feel on edge when she sees people walking near her house with flowers because each year she hopes that her husband will get her just a single rose, and each year she knows that he won't but she still hopes.

So this year I made sure that he knows how much I appreciate that he does this.

And we've just got back from seeing this.



And it was absolutely AWESOME.

Go and see it NOW.
:D :D :D

Casino Royale

I just got back from watching this guy.
Awesome.

Pixar and stuff

Yesterday I got to do loads of stuff that I like doing.
I got to see the Pixar exhibition at the Science Museum.

I got to drink tea and talk to one of my fave people.
In one of my fave places.

I bought lots of sweetie type goodies for my girlies [ and for me ].

I stuffed my face with loads of meaty goodness at one of my fave restaurants.

I bought a shirt from M+S.

I saw a woman on an old pushbike cycling through Soho singing an aria at the top of her voice.

And perched in an apparently random fashion on the edge of a blockbrick warehouse, a beautiful piece of old church architecture with a large stained glass window.

I really must take time to take the photos that I've logged in my head sometimes as I travel .
There's a view from waterloo east station across the roofs and chimneypots that sit level with the platform, a twisted silhouette, black and ivory of 2 trees that is just glorious in a field on my way to work, at least 2 hidden gates going no-where, just relics of old walkways long disused and so much more.
Things that I pass by and see, unable to stop as I drive or rattle inside a railway cariage.
I wonder if that lone foxglove will show again this year?
And I wonder if THIS time I'll get to capture it.

calm.

We went to see Munich last night and I don't think i've been in such a silent cinema for ages.
Suprisingly a couple of people walked out before the end, and the guy sitting next to D was asleep [ though thankfully not snoring ] but I really liked it.
Even at 164 minutes.

Not so pleasant was having to walk out under what was promising to become a full scale ruck in the bar/nightclub that is in the same complex.
I just hope that Emma doesn't want to start going there in the near future, because seeing a tall blonde girl throwing a punch at the bouncer and her boyfriend laying into another one as their friends all pushed their way out to 'help' was not a sight that was likely to make me let her go.

As we drove out the first of 3 police vans tore past us, blues and sirens going, so it was obviously escalating nicely.
:(

Today has been good too.
I took Em and Jo to the pool and although I did very little actual swimming [ mainly playing with Jo ] i didn't stop for a couple of hours, and feel good for it.
I also booked an induction at the gym for next sunday, so that if I want I can go while D takes the girls in the pool.

Actually, i feel pretty positive about making this whole getting healthier thing.
We're eating far more veg, cutting down on the stodge/fat/sugar, and getting less sedentary in small but significant stages.
So i hope that we can continue and make this work for us all.

Oh, and I have 2 possible outfits for the gala thing.
Once I get them I might just post a couple of pics so I can decide which looks best because you can see stuff in a photo that you overlook in a mirror.

Possibly.

If I feel brave enough.

:D

9 years

Yesterday was our ninth anniversary.

Nine years since our first date that is.

We went to the cinema and saw chain reaction on that first date.

We went to the cinema for this anniversary too, but saw Nanny McFee :D
Ok, we had our littlest girlie with us, so we were a little limited as to what we could see, and she sat in the middle of us, so it wasn't what you could call romantic, but we had fun.
:D
We went for food first too, and did silly drawings on the tablecloth and pigged out on chocolate maple waffles for dessert.*drool*

I've found some more old pics this weekend , and one of them has to be the WORST pic of me that i have ever had taken.
It's so bad that Dave and Jo both didn't believe it was me.!!!!

Actually..isn't that such a pain when someone argues with you that you are wrong about whether a pic is of you when you KNOW completely and totally that it is.

In this case my dad took me and my best friend Jackie to Brands Hatch to watch the motor racing and listen to the radio 1 road show, and i wore the dress that had caused me to be ever so slightly late for my cousins wedding [ I was being head bridesmaid ] because intead of walking quickly the couple of miles to her house to get changed I fannied around in Mexborough High Street and bought this dress.
It was cream and navy striped polyester and I loved it to bits.
* laughs*
But the real disaster is the hair
*cringes*
I went to the hairdressers and showed her a pic of a soft perm, but I got a real tight afro!
It's the only time a hair cut has made me cry.
By this time I'd got over it a bit, and if I remember rightly in the end it was ok, since I cut most of the frizz out and then dyed it mid brown, but the bits of perm left at the ends came out a really gorgeous copper and everyone thought i had an expensive custom colour.