Don't hold back, tell it like it is...

On the back of a depressing day at work I say to Tully that I'd like to be 3 again, and that it must be fun being her.

She replies that yes it is fun, but that "you're too big and will just get bigger and bigger and older and older until you go into the ground and are dead..."

Thanks for that Tuls - it that really cheered me up!

Dirty Dancing!

About 2 years ago Lindsey phoned me up to say that she'd heard that there was a West End production of Dirty Dancing, and that she couldn't contemplate going to see if with anyone else if I was up for it! Needless to say I was! But somehow through a mixture of high ticket demand (when we first started looking you had to book about 9 months to a year in advance) and disorganisation on our part we have only just managed to organise ourselves to go - and that was really only brought about by my realisation in February that if we didn't go before around August time it was going to be another 2 years before we'd manage it!

So, the men were called in to look after our respective kids and Lindsey and I had a day off and went to London. Actually I took 2 days off as I travelled to Kenilworth during the day on Friday to spend some time with her and her kids as I hadn't seen Ewan since he was 4 months old in April 2005, and I'd not met George (now 16 months) at all!

On Saturday morning we left Saul in charge and headed to the station to catch an incredibly overcrowded train to Marylebone station. On arrival we went to Covent Garden for lunch and a general meander around soaking up the atmosphere before wandering down the Strand to the theatre for the show.

Well, what can I say. It was FAB!!!! Somewhat cheesy in places, but completely wonderful nonetheless... Lindsey and I had spent much time the evening before boring Saul with wondering how they would have adapted the script, and how they might do various scenes on stage, but I'm pleased to say thanks to a very clever stage design it had been only very slightly changed from the film. It has to be said the audience was approximately 90% female and of a certain age, and the few men that were there looked rather bored throughout (they must have earned themselves serious brownie points for going along!), but all the girls were loving it!

A few words of advice for anyone thinking of going. If you are female get on with it - you won't regret it. If you are male and thinking of taking your other half then don't: pay for her to take a mate as she'll enjoy it loads more without you sat next to her tutting all the way through ;) And finally, not that I'm obsessed, but girls if you have an even vaguely weak bladder go to the loo somewhere before you get to the theatre - the audience ratio means the queues when you get there are huge!

Day out at Crosby

After wussing out of going camping this weekend with Jon and Mand, we decided to go to for a day out at Crosby beach instead as none of us had been to see Antony Gormley's Another Place before.

I have to admit I've seen more picturesque beaches, but I'm not sure it was any the worse for that, and Tully certainly had no complaints. My only criticism is that as I'm somewhat lumbered with a weak bladder at the moment and, at the end we went to anyway, there wasn't a public loo! Eeep!

Night out

A couple of weeks ago when collecting Tully from nursery I was given a note to say one of the other Mums was organising a Mums night out. I decided to sign up as I'm always moaning that I don't get out enough, and that I don't have enough friends! I was a little nervous as I knew that none of the Mum's I've got to know a little were going. Despite being poorly all week Mark convinced me I should still go along tonight and I'm glad I did.

There were 7 of us in the end, and it was nice to put names and children to faces. We just went into Sale, meeting in the Slug and Lettuce and then heading next door to Da Vinci's for a meal. Very enjoyable!

Our Holiday

As per usual Tully has stolen all the thunder when it comes to blogging our holiday to Suffolk. From my perspective it was the most enjoyable holiday we've had since having Tully - both fun and relaxing.

The accommodation was really nice - we had a private patio area that caught the sun all afternoon and evening, the rest of the public grounds including the play area, lake and the animals were beautiful, and the pool was amazing, especially as we never had to share it!

On the Monday morning I had booked some time out and had a massage with a local therapist that the farm had recommended when we booked. Lovely! Another reason it was so relaxing was the fact the cottage had freeview including CBeebies! Now I normally try not to let Tully watch TOO much telly per day, but when she got up we turned the magic of CBeebies on and left her to it giving ourselves lovely lie ins every day! Yey! And I'm not feeling too guilty about it as the rest of every day was really action packed too!

Other highlights for me were seeing where Mark went to school, the trip to Walton-on-the-Naze and going to the Waddington Air Show on the way back home.

Day off!

Today Mark and I decided to have a spontaneous day off work. We had a really lovely day - after dropping Tully at nursery I went back to bed and had a bit more snooze time and then read my book for a while.

Then we went out to lunch at Francs which was really delicious, before trying out the cinema that opened relatively recently in Altrincham for the first time and seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

It was a little crazy at times with very bad science which always upsets me (I can't watch most cartoons as the apparent lack of gravity and other bad science drives me insane!) but overall it was quite enjoyable. Jonny has already given it a better review than I could here, and I pretty much agree with everything he says especially the iron fillings and the fridge comments! The only bit I feel I need to add is the annoying sporadic use of magnetism throughout - something theoretically showing magnetic type properties that seems to come and go randomly. Grrr! :)

10 Years!

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of Mark and I getting together. We both kind of forgot about it on the day as since we got married neither of us have done anything to recognise the day. Luckily I have a recurring appointment in my work Outlook Calendar to tell me, so it's lucky I've never got a new job (or at least a job in a new company) otherwise we'd never have known!

Maybe one day we'll go back to Hungary and revisit Budapest, and more specifically Keszthely on Lake Balaton where we got it together after each partaking of a cocktail or 5! :)

Scan

We had the second scan today, and took Tully with us so she could see what it was all about. The baby was in a slightly odd position so they couldn't quite do all the checks they'd normally do but everything they could see was normal.

The one thing they could check was the sex (hurrah - I don't like surprises at all so I'm not sure how I'd have coped if they couldn't tell) and it's a boy! I was very surprised as I was so sure it'd be a girl. I can't see me with a boy somehow but at least Mark will have someone on his side instead of having 3 females nagging him!

Llandudno

We decided on the spur of the moment to go away camping this weekend. I found a campsite about an hour away that could take us that was pretty good - it had everything you'd need in a campsite: flat pitches, a play area, decent toilet blocks (although bizarrely despite having 2 there within spitting distance of each other at one end of a rather large site - surely it would have been sensible to put one at each end!?) but I think we'll try a few more before finalising on a 'local' site we use regularly for such sporadic trips away.

However the good part of the weekend was the trip to Llandudno. I've never been before as I've either stopped along the coast a bit closer to home, gone to Conwy or carried on past into Snowdonia or onto Anglesey. And I have to say it was lovely and far nicer than any of the other places I'd normally go...


The sea front was an impressive Georgian facade, the beach was clean and it had everything you would want from a tradition English seaside resort with none of the tackiness. I was very impressed and will definitely be going back. The only slight down was the lazy donkeys that packed on for the day just slightly too early! ;) Poor Tulster.

I've already started looking for a campsite that is a little bit closer to it...

Quick trip to Florida

I had to 'pop' to Florida this week. I set off on Tuesday morning following the bank holiday, and got home again 3 days later. It was a bit strange as I only got to my hotel at about 10:30pm on Tuesday, so only really had 1 evening away (evenings and nights spent in airports and on planes don't count!)

I've had trips this short before, but always in Philly without the domestic US transfer and it really makes a difference to the length of time it feels like you are away for...

My one evening was quite entertaining though... I joined in with an organised event hosted by Team Cuisine!... We were split into 7 teams with each team preparing 1 dish for the entire group: my team prepared stuffed mushrooms. Other idshes on the menu were stuffed tomatoes, stir fried prawns, chicken kebabs, spinach and goats cheese parcels, endives, and a dessert. It was all really delicious and good fun too.

Magic cleaner!

OK, so I know this is very sad indeed, but I have discovered a magic product.

The sealant around the bath was getting disgustingly mouldy and nothing I tried really seemed to shift it. I randomly decided to Google for some advice a couple of weeks ago and found someone recommending this from Lakeland... So a couple of weekends ago I made a special trip to get some along with some jelly moulds for special Eurovision puddings. I do love Lakeland and find it one of those shops where I always end up buying all kinds of extra things whilst there, but I was mostly well behaved - only 4 unplanned items made it into the basket! ;)

Anyway, back to the magic cleaner. If I'd known how magic it would be I would have braved the embarrassment and shared before and after pictures with you. As it is you'll just have to believe me that the bathroom looks very nearly almost like new and I am very very impressed!

Eurovision

Bah! Russia did not deserve to win!!!! And whilst we certainly didn't deserve to win we really didn't deserve to come last. hope they can find a way to make the voting a bit fairer. Even Malta defected this year and failed to give us any points!

Anyway, this year not only Jonny and Mandy came round, but also Steve and Karen as they had already arranged to come and visit the Hills before any of us realised it was Eurovision weekend. It was lovely to see them as we were out of town the last time they came to visit and we'd not seen them since their wedding in 2005! Whilst I don't begrudge them having a weekend off parenthood it was a shame we didn't get to meet Poppy... It did make me think that it was about time Mark and I had a weekend break though as we've not had any time away together since we went to Philadelphia last July! Mum and Dad beware! :)

As last year we played this drinking game - or rather everyone else did... Mand came up with the idea that I should eat a cocktail sausage every time they had to drink but I politely declined!:) Not as many key changes this year which let us down, but lots of costume changes, fireworks and even females in false beards! Fab!

The general standard was really quite high, and I do think other countries take their entries more seriously than us. As a collective once we collated our collective scores we put in votes for Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, although my top score went to Ukraine, with Iceland and Bosnia in joint second place.

As per usual I provided far too much party food, as well as loads of lasagne, salad and garlic bread (perfect Eurovision fodder as it can be pre-prepared and then just shoved in the oven so you don't miss any of the action!). Overall a very good evening - just a bit of disappointment about the results...

No water!

We woke up this morning to discover we had no water. Initially I thought it was just our road, but when I went to the shop to buy some bottled water so I could brew up I realised it must be more widespread. I still don't know how much of Sale was out but almost everyone in the store had trolleys of almost nothing but water, and the water aisle was looking particularly empty! Luckily just at that moment a man brought a pallet with some more on (although only 6 4 bottles packs) so I grabbed a couple and legged it quick!

It's strange though how removing the water supply just for a few hours (it came back on early afternoon) has such an impact on life! You don't appreciate how much you use it until it's gone! It really made me think about how people survive after various disasters when people lose not just a clean water supply but power too and in some cases their homes and possessions. Not that I thought it'd be a walk in the park before mind, but I was such a wuss today it made me wonder just how I'd cope if something bad really happened! Not well I'm guessing!

Well, the news is out...!

This may surprise a few people but it isn't eating too many pies that is the cause my ever expanding midriff! It has been becoming increasingly difficult to hide so we've been slowly going public with the news that I'm once again pregnant over the last couple of weeks. I have to say it's a bit of a relief as it means I can finally breathe out at work and wear large elasticated trousers too!

I'm a bit over 18 weeks pregnant now, and whilst I don't remember exactly I'm sure I was much smaller when carrying Tully which was the last time I managed to get to this stage. So either this one is HUGE, or more likely my tummy muscles think I'm having a laugh and are on strike refusing to do as much work in holding everything in again...

We finally told Tully last week: needless to say she is very excited about becoming a big sister, and understands a surprisingly mature amount about what is going on now and will happen when the baby comes. Having said that I still think it'll come as a rather large shock to her when it arrives and she discovers she is no longer centre of attention.

We got for the 20 week scan in a couple of weeks (a week late as I have to go to the US the week I should go) so fingers crossed everything is still ok.

Typecast?

Tully: "Let's play a game!"
Me: "Ok..."
Tully: "I can be the beautiful Princess, Daddy can be the handsome Prince, and you can be the evil wicked Witch!"
Me: :S

Holiday dilemma Over!

And we're going to Suffolk! I know, I know, it's not what you were expecting to hear! If I'm honest it's not what I was expecting to hear either! :) But when we got quotes back from the hotels in Austria even though the Euro amount was similar to last year the exchange rate makes the cost stupidly unjustifiably expensive. So we had a UK rethink and Mark suggested Suffolk based on a) him revisiting his past (and possibly school too?), b) near lovely beaches, c) opportunity for a day trip to London...

So we've booked one of the cottages at Gladwins Farm and I'm really quite looking forward to it! As part of the booking confirmation they've sent their brochure and the cottages look even lovelier than on the website, the photos of the playarea shows it's 4 times the size you can see on the web, we (and by that I mean Tully) can help feeding sheep, goats, ducks, chickens etc (which though not advertised on the web I'd guessed by reading the comments), plus they included a price list for the spa treatments (very cheap so I'll book 2!) and for the home / farm cooked frozen meals that are also incredibly reasonable so I can be lazy and avoid cooking even on the days we don't eat out! Fab!

Holiday Dilemma Continued...

So, over 2 months on and we are no nearer having booked a holiday! This is very un-marrows like and I'm starting to get really quite worried. We've also come full circle.

Not long after my last post we ruled out Austria, and did some serious research and contemplation into going to Florida before finally discounting as by the time we'd be able to go with work schedules being as crazy as they are it would be much to hot for us.

Then we thought about Denmark, getting the ferry and doing some touring about. Again we did a lot of serious research but finally discounted this option because of the long drive to Harwich and then long ferry crossing seemed silly when we live so close to Manchester airport. It does look a really lovely place to go for a family holiday though so we may well go one year in the future.

Then, Mark had the idea that we shouldn't have a traditional week's holiday, but have a month of taking Friday and Monday off each week and having a series of long weekends. A good idea but when I thought about it properly I worried I'd be so exhausted with all the packing / unpacking / rushing about etc that it would take away some of the enjoyment so that idea went out the window too.

However, as part of the above plan I found a wonderful looking farm place in Cornwall, and we'd be going there for a week if it wasn't that they were fully booked by the time I got around to phoning up to see if they had any availability. Still - I'm thinking this is a serious option for next year!
So now we are considering Austria again. I've sent off for quotes from 2 hotels. The Hotel Alpenrose I was considering before, and the Sport-hotel Achensee which is another I've always thought sounded good. So we'll see what happens.

Mandy's Birthday Weekend

Jonny and Mand hosted the usual bank holiday festivities to celebrate Mandy's birthday. First off out for a curry on Friday evening. Mark was still in the US (at very short notice) but as we'd already arranged for Alicia to come and look after Tully I thought it seemed silly for me to stay in on my own. I had my usual at the Spice Garden - Chicken Sangrila - which is rather unusual but I love it and I can get it at so few places I figure why not! I only eat here once a year after all.

Then on Saturday a BBQ party in their back garden. Tully and I went round mid afternoon - but Mark decided to stay at home as his flight was late getting him home and he was feeling a bit rough. We had lots of fun once Tully got over her initial shyness. The Goodridges were there when we first arrived so she had 3 playmates, then with perfect timing just as they were leaving the Braithwaites arrived so the play mates were instantly replaced!

Seeing Vics!

This weekend we met up with Vics. Sadly Fraser had plans to meet his best man to get measured for their suits for the wedding so couldn't make it. Still - it meant all the more chance for us to gossip about him! In fact I'm surprised he still has ears left they must have been burning so much!

We'd booked a cottage just the far side of Stratford as it was roughly halfway between us, and it was really quite nice. We had Sands View, which is 1 of 6 cottages in a large barn conversion.


I had a really lovely weekend - other than the huge traffic jam on the journey down that is. It was lovely to see Vics, and whilst I know it's impractical I wish I got to see her more frequently. Still, it's not toooo long now until the wedding of the century, and for some unknown reason Vics has asked if I will give a speech on her behalf - the fool! :)

Forbidden City and Mao's Mausoleum

I uploaded some pictures of my last day in China ages ago, and only just remembered I didn't get round to adding a narrative.

So, my meetings on the last day got cancelled, which meant I got chance to visit the Forbidden City. My taxi driver dropped me at the northern end which I was initially suspect about, but actually provided easiest access. The only thing was it meant I walked through it by always approaching the various Gates and Palaces from the back. Traditionally visitors would enter from the south when granted an audience with the Emperor.

My favourite place was the Imperial Garden, which was by the gate I entered. Very tranquil.


To my untrained eye most of the Palaces, open areas and Gates looked rather similar. So much so I can't be sure which one this is. I think it's the Palace of Heavenly Purity, but is a good example of roughly what the rest of it was like. Honestly, how much of a heathen am I?!


The other area that I particularly liked was what would have been the first area visitors would see (the last I saw) with the Golder River Bridges.


I continued out the south entrance to the Forbidden City and had a wander around Tiananmen Square. It's huge, and rather austere. This view was looking back towards the Southern entrance to the Forbidden City from about 1/3 of the way down.


In the centre of Tiananmen Square, somewhat breaking it up and making it feel rather smaller than it actually is, is Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. For a couple of hours each morning visitors can enter and walk past his embalmed body. I was too late, but I'm not sure I especially like the idea of it anyway!