Bye Bye Noz :(

Had a delicious meal of mushroom stroganoff with Norris and Liam, as we will see her next in January. A funny thought, all things considered. Had lots of fun looking through the atlas at obscure places in South Americas and the world, and making up pizza recipes for the current Pizza Express competition.

A long and somewhat complex day at work, lots of meetings and juggling of commitments. Will be a busy week!

The Extra Day

More resting this morning, then met with Robin, Marion to have lunch with them, along with Stuart and Teena who the family used to go diving with.

Went shopping, disappointed with what I found in the way of clothes, who wears all this rubbish they have for sale? Came out solely with some dull work trousers, still lacking a few work style tops.

Went to the Duke of Cambridge to meet with Norris, Natalie, Becky and lots of other Norris friends to see her off before she goes to South America. Though she has kindly invited us round for dinner tomorrow, so we will see her again before she goes. Home for final jobs before a busy 4 day week.

The Middle Day

More resting, some limited tidying of the lounge, some moderate exploration of Brixton ... and finished watching the end of the Sherlock Holmes film I slept through the other day.

Charlie got lots of writing done, good thing to as his dissertation is due at the end of Sept.

3 day weekend ... 72 hours of possibilities!

Slept a lot, after getting home from drinks with the Brixton posse last night. We were grafted somewhat onto the side of Alex's work 'let's get to know Brixton' Friday after work pub session, met some interesting people including Greg, who showed us one of the games he has made, 'Who has my chicken?'

So good to catch up on sleep, I needed it so much. So after a lazy morning, went swimming in the afternoon with Alex and Andrew, then they and Erika came round for dinner, Wii and chatting about the canal boat trip which begins next Saturday. So soon ...

Spent the evening watching Scott Pilgrim ... which had so much promise ... sigh!

Sleepy Tired

A long but positive day in Geneva. Made the sight error of getting a taxi home and facing roadworks traffic in extremis. Just heating up a moussaka before bed, and a slightly early start tomorrow. Roll on bank holiday weekend!

#Splish, Splash, I was having a Swim#

Did 20 lengths this evening, felt much better for it. Lots of kind words at work and outside work for my new qualification.

CIM - Passed!!

Just found out unexpectedly that I passed my remaining 2 CIM modules, meaning that I have successfully completed my course.

Phew!!

I think I get some letters after my name, so I reckon I will now be something along the lines of BA Hons. MPhil ACIM ... not bad for a small chinchilla! A bit unexpected, as I thought the results were coming through on Friday, but I almost prefer it this way. Lull you into a sense of security and then ... BAM!

Pretty exhausted today at work, so having a lazy evening at home. Snuck into the second hand DVD shop on my way home, and agreed with myself that I was allowed to invest in Series 2 of Futurama if it was still there. It was, so I bought it. I figured providence could decide whether I deserved it or not.

Fish is back in the cinema, I think watching the Illusionist.

MegFest II

Drove with Matty down to Wiltshire to spend the weekend at Norris' parents' house. Just as we did for her 30th in Sept last year, people brought tents, games and various activities. Greeted by Anne's (Norris' mum) legendary courgette and brie soup, had a great round of the hat game, and spent the evening having a BBQ and gathering around the campfire for guitar and soft singing. Perfect!

#Heathcliff, it's me, Kathy!#

Had a fun evening celebrating Andrew's birthday, going for drinks and Karaoke with Alex, Roger, Andrew, Erika T, Charlie and Matty. Some legendary renditions, 'The Power of Love' by Andrew, 'I Drove all Night' by Alex, 'I bet that you look good on the dancefloor' by Roger, and an eye-watering, ear-splitting 'Wuthering Heights' from my good self.

Animal House

A long day at work. Chilling out at home with Fish this evening and making a start on the new pile of DVDs ... starting with Animal House.

Marvellous Matalons

A day of interviews, phew!

Met up with the wonderful Matalons, Charlie's Aunt and Uncle (Hella and Elias) and their son Izzy at Il Posto, our favourite Italian restaurant at Victoria. Their daughter Kelly had flown back to Greece already, but they were on good form after a day of sightseeing by the river and at the Tate Modern.

Discussed volunteering for the Olympics, which Elias did with gusto in 2004, opportunities for Fairtrade in Greece, and the varied beauty of different Greek islands (verdict being there are so many to choose from, so it is too hard to decide!)

No Strikes :(

A departmental away day at work, another chance for me to grow my confidence in our new director, he is exceptionally insightful ... looking forward to seeing how he restructures us ... we need it!

A poor show from me at the bowling afterwards, definitely no strikes, then a quick drink and a fun chat with a few remaining colleagues.

Unexpectedly found Charlie when I got home, as I knew he was supposed to be joining the family in Cambridge. He had been completing a rough cut of the wedding video, and had also picked up the 170 strong DVD collection he bought from Ebay ... not at all extravagent! Spent the evening cooking lasagne, and catching up on my E-jobs ... hence new blog entries! Nice ...

A Big Family Lunch

Charlie, David and I all went down to Brighton to have a massive family lunch, courtesey of Theresa and Demitris. All the Amarillios and Matalons were there, about 22 in all with parents, girlfriends, children, spouses etc. The children were little powerboxes, constantly wrestling each other and shouting, just mad!!

Went out into Brighton after a lovely BBQ lunch, a bit breezy, but good to get out. Came back into London with the Matalons, who are flatsitting for Erika while they are on Honeymoon.

Tired but happy after a lovely few days.

The Day Afterwards

Managed to get down for breakfast, apparently some people stayed up till 4am!! Dan and Erika wearing bride and groom Mickey Mouse ears, courtesey of Dan's sister's family's recent visit to Disney World.

All checked out and headed to a local pub for a relaxing lunch. We decided to kidnap David, as he would only be in the UK till Mon, and bring him back to London with us for the evening. I was exhausted and took it easy, but once back at home they played Wii and board games all evening.

Ding, Dong, the bells are gonna chime!

What a wonderful day! An extremely relaxing morning getting ready and having our hair done etc. Erika was fidgety, but confident that everything was going according to plan. The ceremony was so sweet, there were lots of tears for my part. Luckily Robin (Charlie's Dad) and I looked after each other, sniffling away in the front row! A very intrepid wasp also wanted to get involved in the ceremony, but as the vows included 'protecting', he didn't last long.

The Happy Couple, Erika and Dan

The weather was a bit drippy, so we had all the photos in the grandeur of the hotel, really beautiful. Was lovely to see everybody, Matalons, Amarilios, Erika and Roli (Charlie's Grandparents), Keith, Danni and Mattie ... so many lovely people.

Me and Robin, Charlie's Dad

The meal was delicious and the speeches excellent, great to see Robin keeping the football shirt motif alive! Was good to chat to the best men too, as I had only met one of them before (there were 4).

The Bridesmaids, or 'Best Women'. Me and Gilly Keat, Dan's sister

Great to see the family Smith in the evening too, very kind of Erika to invite them. Lots of disco dancing in the evening, along with crazy Elias prancing around as an enormous ballerina ... I think you had to be there ;)

Wedding Eve

Worked a half day before picking up my mended wedding ring, before meeting Charlie at Waterloo to head down to Guildford together. Lovely to see David, Sammy and a very excited Erika at the hotel, also Robin, Marion and Theresa who I have not seen in a short while. We even saw Dan before he headed off, though the clever boy sent a delivery of flowers to his imminent bride after he left ... genius!

Had a very relaxing evening as Matalons and Schnurrs arrived. Theresa, Erika, Gilly and I had a slightly quieter evening at an Italian restaurant close by, while the others stayed in the hotel. But meeting up afterwards we all were enthralled by the beaity of the Perseids meteor shower which stunned us with its beauty, making our necks sore and feet cold, but totally worth it!

The Middle of all Weeks

Only working a half day tomorrow as then off to Guildford for Erika and Dan's wedding. All packed and ready, just hoping that my various work awkwardnesses sort themselves out ok.

Has been an up and down week in many ways, I just hope that I will be able to detatch from it ok this weekend. Seems pretty likely :)

Tidying False Start

Had a proper lie in after a bit of a false start yesterday. Went for a run with Alex, but the heat was a bit too much and had to walk for a bit. Maybe swiming might be better. Met in SW9 for brunch with Charlie, Alex, Andrew, Norris and Erika T. Then back home to tidy, whilst Andrew and Alex battled each other at Super Mario Kart and Wii Baseball.

Made slow progress at tidying, impaired by a growing headache. So instead of meeting the others for dinner and board games in the Hive, stayed at home and rested, eating chicken soup to soothe my achy brain.

Mild Jobs and a Dead Chicken

Lie in interrupted by postman bringing my wrap for the wedding on Friday. Tried to offset with a lazy morning in bed. Dropped off a massive bag of charity shop stuff on the way into town. The jewellers were lovely about the lost diamond in my wedding ring, they are fixing it for free. Apparently tiny diamonds are always hard to set properly. And I will get to pick it up before the wedding, hurrah!

Had a little play on a Boris Bike (which I have now registered for, we used Charlie's registration). Then we visited Kirsten, who seems to be recovering well from her hip op, and was on good form.

Then back home to treat Dan and Erika to a 3 course meal or wild mushroom soup, roast chicken and hot chocolate fudgy pudding with cream. They are still very chilled out about Friday's celebrations, good for them!!

Hooray for a Restful Weekend!

Pleased to get to the weekend after a busy week. Charlie did me a surprise treasure hunt which was lovely, just like old times. Went to Speedy Noodle for dinner, and met up with Erika for a quick drink before going home to watch The Princess and the Frog, which I (shocker) fell asleep halfway through.

Went to see Enron last night, a very different type of show. Would I recommend it? Maybe ... but only if you like documentaries.

Whimsical Wednesday

A busy day working from home, had a couple of unexpected teleconferences, but still managed to get a few bits and pieces that had been building up done.

Girly Evening

Went down to Reigate after work for Erika's dress fitting, only a week and a bit to go now! Was good to catch up with Theresa, Judy and the Powells, we went for a girly Pizza Express afterwards.

Had a good chat with Erika as she kindly drove me home in her posh car afterwards.

The Great Outdoors ... again!

Had a wonderful weekend camping in East Sussex with Charlie's old school friends and their partners (plus one offspring and one dog). Was a bit scary in our Tesco tent on Friday night when the rain was plummeting down, but the blazing sunshine on Sat made up for it.

Was lovely to bond with our goddaughter Mattie while bouncing on our airbed with a torch ... so much fun! And she definitely knows who I am now! Joy :)

Got a great pair of vintage shoes for Erika's wedding in Steyning, a lovely very English town.

Played Werewolf by firelight on Sat night, as always some interesting interpersonal dynamics.