Bad mother

Holly wasn't well last week, all through her AS exams. I just thought it was a cold. She went away for the weekend but phoned up saying that she had a high temperature, ear ache and a sore throat. So I took her to the doctors as soon as she got back and he said acute tonsillitus. I felt awful because she had been ill all week but as soon as her exams were finished I made her go into work on the Friday and Saturday. And now she has been really unwell this week. But we seem to be over the worst and she has caught up on her sleep.

Today I interviewed an 81 year old who offered me coffee and cake. He bought out this amazing coffee cupcake with an almost liquid centre and a chocolate covered coffee bean on top! Such a lovely man and so interesting to talk to.

Looking forward to Friday and the weekend...yay! It is the Ickenham Crop on Sunday and I am looking forward to a day of scrapbooking.

Sam's sister's wedding

I was asked to take some photos for Nat and Scott at their wedding today. Just casual photos as they had two photographers there for the formal side. So I took loads, just to be on the safe side. Nat looked stunning and the whole day (to me) seemed perfect. I loved this photo of their first dance. I liked the way the lights almost seemed to make a heart above their heads and the slightly old fashioned look. Sam, Ian, Callie, Abbie and Tyler all looked fab; the girls were all bridesmaids and Tyler was a page boy. Ian and I just took photos!

One of those weekends....

when I don't seem to achieve anything much at all.

Today has just been frustrating. I spent over 5 hours just going through my bills, online banking etc; just making sure I was up to date. I have got so behind over the last two months with the long hours at work and constant 'catching up' with everything else. Well, I finally got my bills paid. Got mad because I didn't pay my Mastercard bill in time and now will incur interest. Then got madder still when I realised that I could not find my invoices folder for SI. I have back ups but they are not recent. My fault of course. I was so sure that I had copied the invoice folder onto the new PC along with my assignments. Infact I know I did because one solitary invoice remains but the main folder - gone. I searched everywhere but it was gone. I tried my keydrive, my portable laptop, my external drive but nada. So now I can only hope that Ian (Sam's hubby and computer geek (in the nicest sense lol))) can access my hard drive on my old laptop which won't boot up. I know there must be a recent copy on there plus all my other work that I need and didn't manage to transfer over before the crash. Life sucks sometimes...even if I only have myself to blame for not backing up.

So I have done nothing else today apart from drink coffee and eat chocolate. And feel sorry for myself lol.

Holly has four days of AS exams starting tomorrow. Three Biology on Monday followed by another six, maths, chemistry and politics. She is SO stressed and there is nothing I can do for her. Just be there with lots of cuddles. She needs to get four A's to stand any chance of getting a good Uni next year to study medicine. I can't help because it is all double dutch to me.

Il Divo

We went to the Trafford Centre today. I haven't been there with Eileen for years as it gets very crowded on a weekend. But hey, this was Friday, it wasn't that busy and we wandered around the various shops, bought some fabulous wood and ceramic spice drawers and distressed cream metal birdcages from The Pier, had lunch in Selfridges, coffee in Starbucks and altogether a lovely day. After picking Josh up from school, we relaxed at home until it was time to head into the centre for the concert. It is even longer since I have been into Manchester itself...well as long as you don't count the train station! I hardly recognised it, the last time I was there was before the bomb. I was really surprised to see a big wheel, similar but smaller than the London Eye, just in the streets. We were a little early so I dragged Eileen into Primark; a very new experience for my sister. By the time we had finished (and the store was far nicer than the one in Watford) we were just a little late for the concert. So loaded down with a very large bag filled with tee-shirts, we pretty much ran the rest of the way to the Arena.



It was so funny when we arrived; we were up in the Gods, maybe six rows from the top. I had to hang onto the staircase bars as we made our way to our seats. I felt like I was going to fall over it was so steep, but I was amused to see that others coming in after us were doing just the same. So we sat there with our lukewarm wine in plastic beakers and salt and vinegar crisps, looking the height of sophistication waiting for Il Divo to come on. Il Divo were just fab. I am just amazed that four guys can sing like they do, they filled the Arena with song after song from their albums and at least one brand new one. Their backing band and orchestra were fab as well. An amazing night that ended all to quickly.

Manchester

My boss retired today and invited our team out for lunch. We went to a local Tapas bar just south of the river and all shared a mixture of dishes. It is the second time that I have been to this place and the meal was wonderful, spicy chorizo, garlic prawns, chilli spiced fried potatoes just to name a few dishes. We walked out into the hot sunshine afterwards and I just wanted to go to sleep!

After finishing work, I went straight to Victoria to catch my coach to Manchester. I was going up there for the weekend as we had tickets to see Il Divo on the Friday. So after 4 1/2 hours on the coach, a 1/2 hour wait at Manchester for the train to Cheadle Hulme and a short walk the other end, I finally get there for about 10.30pm!
Fortunately there was a very large, very cold glass of wine waiting for me....

Holly's 17th birthday!

I can't believe that my little baby has turned 17! We woke her up this morning with smoked salmon and cram cheese bagels and present opening in bed. I had bought her lots of surf style clothes; a gamble because I haven't bought her clothes for a few years now. Far better to go shopping with her her ...oh and MY credit card of course!

Then we had this amazing day at a new spa in Watford; Presence. It is an independent gift shop with an internet cafe at the back and now a spa on the first floor. This spa is fab; it looks gorgeous, wood floors, white walls, dark wood furniture, huge fabric and leather sofas, driftwood sculptures and seascape paintings on the walls. The treatments are to die for. We started with an infra red sauna, not my favourite but I am not a sauna person. Then Holly had a stone massage and I had a Tibetan massage. Mine invloved warm, perfumed oils and then a deep (read hard!) massage with little linen bags filled with salts and hot pebbles. She spent ages working on my back which always feels knotted from poor posture when working. It felt so good afterwards. Then I had a luxury pedicure, a 'workout' facial, lunch, a go in the floatation tank and then relaxing in the dusk room. Holly had similar treatments and loved them all. I can't wait to go again! We followed up with a spot of shopping and back to the coffee shop.



So for the evening, Holly chose to go to Ask for pizzas. Her boyfriend Sean came as well and we had a fun night followed by a pirate birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Banana Frog!

So Banana Frog is a year old today. Congratulations Bev! You have achieved so much over the last year. You have worked so hard to make BF the success it is and I just hope that you continue to go from strength to strength. If you haven't seen Bev's amazing stamps, just go check them out here http://www.bananafrog.co.uk/catalog/index.php