ever heard of heating...

I have completed my mighty journey from Reading to Newcastle safely! Hurrah!

I woke this morning at 5.00am. Not easy, especially with it being still dark and after only 5 1/2 hours but I just wasn't tired last night though (for a change!). I did get woken at 2.30am by my phone receiving a text message from my beloved telling me he was home safely after his night on the town with Ron although I thought it was my alarm and ignored it for ages! :o)

I left the house at 6.20am and headed to the station through a deserted Reading town centre. Quite spooky.

Luckily, the train was on time, and so was I. I managed to pop into WHSmith to stock up on magazines and pop, sit and eat a Traditional Cornish pasty from the West Cornwall Pasty Country Company (no sausages rolls ready at that time of the morning) and get a take out tea from the AMT stall (which by the way if you are reading this, I asked for teabag OUT) and be on platform 4 with moments to spare to see my Virgin Train pull in.

Once on board, I settled into my nice reserved seat (what more could you ask for for £14) and was pleased to find that no-one sat next to me. That was going to change at Oxford though but luckily, the old Scottish woman was determined to tell the man in the seat behind me that it was her seat. No harm done as neither seat was reserved. Although I didn't get away scott free, someone did sit next to me from Lemington Spa until Birmingham New Street :oP

My only complaint, well 2 complaints, were;

1. Having to show my ticket to get it stamped on 3 occasions!
2. Virgin trains not having heating! I was sat in a unpleasant draft for the whole journey.

And so, 20 minutes late, I arrived in Newcastle Central Station after a mere 6 hour journey. I don't need to tell you I had a very numb bum! ;o)

L x

got any id...

Guess who's just been id'd at the age of 27? Heehee!

I must definately hold the record now. I thought 26 was bad.

I have just been to Tescos and bought a half bottle of gin. I didn't have anything with me I could use as ID but when they check-out lady asked for a 2nd opinion, they decided that although I didn't look 27, I was at least over 18.

Just call me "young-un".

:o)

L x

no more work...

For 3 whole days! :o)

I could get used to a 2 day week. Wonder if they'll make it law?

Not looking forward to my early morning tomorrow. My train leaves Reading station at 7.00am so I need to leave the house about 6.15am to make sure I'm there in plenty of time and to get myself stocked up on magazines and food and maybe a nice cup of tea. So that means I need to set my alarm for about 5.00am! Oh my God!

Luckily I don't have any heavy bags to carry. I sent my clothes up with Dan in the car on Sunday but I keep worrying about what I've packed so I'll probably end up packing a load more stuff.

I'm off to dancing soon. I've been trying to remember the routines we started last week for our medals but can only remember half of one of them. Hopefully I'll remember it when we start dancing.

And then I need to come home and sort my stuff out, makeup, toiletries and then I think I'll settle down in front of the TV for a bit with a nice glass of wine, or 2!

L x

home alone...

Dan is up at my Mam's as he's working in Sunderland this week and I'm not joining him until Wednesday so until then, I'm home alone! :o( Poor me!

I'm off to dancing tomorrow night and getting a very early train on Wednesday so it's just tonight I need to occupy myself. It's only just occured to me that I should've invited the girls round for some food and wine tonight. D'oh! Cooking for one is never fun.

Oh well, at least I'm off work for 3 days after tomorrow! :o)

L x

dan and lorna day celebrations...

Last night we went out for some drinks and food to celebrate Dan and Lorna Day.

We started the night off with a couple of cocktails in the Sahara Bar. It's a very nice snazzy looking bar although a wee bit pricey. But my "Wibble" cocktail was fantastic!

After drinks we headed off to China Palace for our meal. I was a bit disapointed that they didn't have our favorite duck dish on the menu, nor the mixed starter but we soon found plenty that we liked.

For starters we had Aromatic Crispy Duck and Chicken Satay followed by Pork in Plum Sauce and Sizzling Lamb with Ginger and Spring Onion with Egg Fried Rice. All very yummy and washed down with a very pleasant bottle of house red wine.

After dinner, there was time for a quick drink or 2 before home so we wandered off to the Slug an Lettuce, being our favourite pub in the Oracle. Although I was very sad to find it was closed! The sign in the window promised the "new look" Slug and Lettuce will be open shortly.

So, we headed for home and stopped off for a quick one at the Hook & Tackle instead.

It was a very nice night.

L x

happy dan and lorna day...

Today is Dan and Lorna Day! :o)

Dan and Lorna's all over the world celebrate this happy day. It's a bit similar to the day everyone else celebrates, 14th February, but it's for Dan and Lorna's only!

Tonight we're off to The China Palace for a meal. We've not been for well over a year since the new management took over, refurbished it and changed the name (used to be called The Grand Imperial) so we're hoping it's still nice.

And I hope they still do our favorite duck dish!

L x

daddy did something amazing...

My Daddy has done something amazing! :o)

He has now given over 75 pints of blood! And to celebrate, he was invited to a special presentation lunch so everyone could marvel at his achievement and was presented with a comemerative plate.

Well done Daddy!


Dad receiving his plate


With the other 75 pinters!

L x

geordies...

I found this very interesting (which would ordinarily be called boring) website which has some very fascinating facts on it.

Further to the information on Jarrow, I have found a good definition of Geordie's and the Geordie language.

And you can always learn to talk propa by using the Geordie Translator

L x

jarrow...

Getting all nostalgic about my hometown, I have been mouching about on the internet and have found some very fascinating facts about Jarrow

It's quite amazing that my little hometown was so advanced way back in the dark ages!

You should also read about the Jarrow March.

L x

dancing show...

Finally got the photo from the dancing show on 16th May 2004 at the Rivermead in Reading.

Aren't the pink tailcoats fab! :o)


Susan Pheby School of Dance - Adult Tap Class

drunken adventures...

Oh dear. I think I'm experiencing my first hangover!

Well, what was supposed to be a quiet weekend in due to lack of funds has saw us off to the flicks and drinking in the afternoon!

Yesterday we went to Newbury for a few beverages and some Chinese food. However, starting drinking at 3.00pm is not a good thing! My downfall was the wine. I started drinking it thinking it would help me pace myself as I would drink it slowly but it just got me very drunk very fast! :oP

And my drunkenness caused us to be stopped by the police! How embarrassing. It was nice to know that the police were there to check on me, a young girl being escorted down a street by 2 men aroused suspicions but they let us go when I confirmed I did actually know Dan and Johnson (could've got them a night in the cells if I'd said the wrong thing!) I did apparently make the policeman smile when confessing "I don't like wasting police time!" :o)

And now I'm home with a very bad head! The phrase "I'm never drinking again" springs to mind but I know that's not true! :o)

L x

collateral....

Well, we went to the flicks last night to see Collateral, the new Tom Cruise film.

Dan was looking forward to seeing it as it wasn't the type of film he thought i'd actually want to see. Tom Cruise plays at good baddy. What's also wierd is seeing him with grey hair!

It was quite scary at times, lots of nailbitting stuff (well, to me anyway)

Good film, I'd definately recommend it!

L x

the weekend...

Well, the weekend is finally here! :o)

Once again, we have no plans. Unfortunately, I think this time we really will be having a quiet weekend in. Lack of finances may cause us to lock ourselves in the house for the whole weekend :o(

And because I know we can't go out, I really want to! Yet I bet if we did have plans, I'd probably not be in the mood.

Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see what the weekend brings...

L x

films...

More films I want to see...

• Shark Tale
• Bride and Prejudice
• Cellular (29.09.04)
  

L x

not so sunny september...

It was just under 2 weeks ago that I posted saying it was a sunny September. Hmm, can't really say that now.

The weekend started off quite nice. Saturday was nice and sunny and quite hot but by Saturday night the rain had came (a fact I didn't know until actually leaving the house and realising both my umbrella's had been left at work!) I was just comenting about how chuffed I was with my hair which for some reason looked really cool without me even trying (sod's law! if I'd try to make it nice it would've went wrong and if I try to recreate it, it won't work!)

Though having said that, a look at the 5 day forecast shows big yellow suns until Saturday. Yep, rain for the weekend. How does it know?!

This post reminds me of some others on my blog. I'm not obsessed by the weather forecast am I?

L x

wagamama...

Wagamama are opening up a restaurant in Reading in November.

Having just had a look at their menu I have to say I think we will be trying it out when it opens. Very yummy! :o)

L x

the terminal...

Went to see The Terminal last night.

We wandered into town early to have a drink in Old Orleans before the film. Unfortunately, it's still a popular film and when we got into the cinema there was a big queue. By the time we'd bought our supplies the cinema was full and we were forced to sit in the 2nd row.

The seats weren't too bad in the end, you kind of get used to the looking up at the screen and everything being magnified. The film itself was very good, I enjoyed it lots. There's lots to make you smile and it's very funny at times.

After it ended, we had a nightcap in the Slug and Lettuce followed by one for the road before they kicked us out the pub at 12.30am.

L x

flicks...

We're off to the flicks tonight.

There's quite a lot on at the moment which I want to see which is a bit unusual for me being so picky! :o)

• The Terminal (11.09.04)
• Super Size Me
• Collateral (17.09.04)
• Open Water
• Wimbledon (02.10.04)
• Wicker Park

That's quite a list! I also want to see Cellular, but it's not out in England yet.

The Terminal is my first choice, so hopefully we'll go to see that tonight. The other films I want to see will certainly keep us occupied for the coming weeks. At least we'll be able to take advantage of Orange Wednesdays!

L x

how much does it cost...

To get from Reading to Newcastle by train?

You won't believe me when I tell you it actually costs less than it does to get from Reading to Paddington!

I was expecting it to be quite expensive being the wrong age to receive any discounts (too old for a young persons railcard and too young for a seniors railcard) However, I have just purchased a train ticket to take me from Reading back to my lovely hometown of Newcastle for the measly sum of... £14.00! Fantastic! Yes, those low cost fares they always tempt you with but which you've never actually seen or know anyone who has managed to get one. Well, now I know they exist!

Admittedly it means I will be sat on a Virgin Cross Country train for most of the day (5 hours and 32 minutes to be precise) and departing Reading at an ungodly hour (07:05) but for that much money, I shouldn't really complain.

I was going to fly up as I thought that was quite a cheap option but that would have cost me £44.99. Still not bad but £30.99 buys you a lot of beer up north! ;o)

L x

dancing...

It was back to dancing tonight after the summer holidays. Not sure whether it was the warm weather or I worked particularly hard but I was very hot and sweaty by the end of it! :o)

After dancing we sneaked off to the local for a drink and a chat. 3 house double Gin's later and I crawled into bed and needless to say, slept soundly 'til morning.

Quite a fun night!

L x

lazy weekend...

There were no mornings in our weekend. Fantastic!

Sunday we woke at 12.00pm although we didn't actually get to bed until after 2.00am after a night of eating and drinking.

Johnson, James and Andrew were heading into Reading for the night and invited us along. After a few drinks in the garden, we wandered into town for a curry at The Raj. The service was a bit slow but the curry was good, the poppadoms were especially nice ;o)

After food it was time for more drinking in what seems to be Johnson's favorite pub, The Purple Turtle. Not normally my favorite place but I don't mind it when it's warm and you can stand out the back in the beer garden. I hate to admit it but it's actually not as bad as I first thought. It no longer sends shivers down my spine at the thought of going there :oP

We headed for home and more drinking took place before the boys (except Dan) headed home and we went to bed.

On Sunday afternoon we participated in Sunday afternoon activities - food shopping, washing the car and sun-bathing! Took advantage of the nice weather. Hopefully, next weekend will be just as nice.

So, what looked to be a bit of a boring weekend stuck in the house turned out to be a really fun weekend.

L x

sunny september...

Blimey, it's September already! How fast is this year going?

You wouldn't think it was September. Today is very hot and very sunny! 25 C according to the weather forecast :o) And you can smell the BBQ's!

The fact that it's the weekend is cool, it's normally hot during the week when you're stuck at work and rainy at the weekend but it seems it'll be hotter tomorrow and forecast for 5 days of sun! British weather is strange.

The sunny weather is making me excited about our night out tonight. I like going out when the weather is nice. Makes it more fun!

Just gotta decide what I'm gonna wear...

L x