ready meals...

Mooching about the internet, I came across this website.

I think this takes the term "ready meals" to a new dimension ;o)

How lazy can you get! I think I'd rather eat out all the time.

L x

poker night...

George, Richard, Ron & Becca come round on Friday night for the first poker night of 2006.

The table looked cool covered in our new baize and we had our new poker chip set too.

We played one practice game which took forever, eventually declaring George the winner then it was time to play for hard cash. A £1 buy in got you 200 chips with the option to buy back in if you got knocked out. By 2.30am there had been 4 more buy-in's and the pot stood at £10. George and Richard called it a night (one of which feeling a bit worse for wear) and I thought i'd won but it turned out Dan had a bih pile of 100 chips and so he was the winner :o)

Well, at least I got a share!

L x

summer holidays...

We booked our summer holiday today.

Contrary to what I previously reported, we are now going to Samos for 2 weeks in May :o)

From what we've seen and read, it looks lovely. The coutdown now begins...

L x

venice...

Just got back from our 3 night Christmas break in Venice.

Venice is the third European City I've visited now and it's gone straight to the top of the list.

We spent the mornings sleeping and the afternoons wandering the little streets getting lost. We also made plenty of time for eating and drinking. I was a bit worried that the cold weather would mean we'd miss out on people watching in St Mark's Square but although it was cold, the sun shone and we were able to sit outside with a drink.

It was a great break and a fab Christmas present. One that may just become tradition.

My Venice journal will be available soon (once I've finished the USA one) so in the meantime, you'll have to make do with the pictures.


People watching in St Mark's Square

L x

packing...

I started my packing on Wednesday night with the intentions of "travelling light". I kind of managed it for America and thought I should probably do it for Venice too.

I was a bit unsure when Dan mentioned that his stuff would fit into his rugsack and that I should aim for that too but I was very surprised and pleased with myself when all my clothes for the 3 nights fitted in without any problem. It didn't feel right though!

Anyway, I have now borrowed Debbie's bag and everything is packed.

Well, I have borrowed a small space in Dan's bag too ;o)

L x

back to work...

Back to work today after the Christmas holidays.

Can't complain too much yet saying as it's a 4 day week this week due to the bank holiday and a 3 day week next week due to us being in Venice.

L x

happy new year...

Happy 2006!

Quick round-up of what we did during our Christmas holidays...

21st December
Our last day at work for nearly 2 weeks. I met Dan in Newbury after work and we headed on our way up North. We finally made it to my Mam & Dad's just before midnight.

22nd December - 23rd December The days were spent shopping for last minute Christmas gifts at the Metrocentre and Newcastle. We did manage to find time to visit the beach and have a drink in the Grotto.


South Shields at dusk

24th December
Christmas Eve can only mean one thing, a trip to the Lakeside to meet up with old school friends. There wasn't as many people there as normal but I still go to catch up on the gossip with my mates.

25th December
Yeah, Christmas Day! We woke at 8.30am and Santa had already been :o) There was no present for me to open from Dan or him from me and we'd decided to combine our present fund this year and we bought ourselves a little holiday in Venice. But there was plenty other presents to open, including a PS2.

After dinner, we hit the road to visit Dan's Mam in Nottingham. More presents were opened ad then we went off to the pub.

26th December
We met up with Dan's Dad, Stepmam and Gran today for a very nice meal in Caunton Beck and more presenting opening. After lunch, we went our separate ways and we found we had a flat tyre.


Not quite a white Christmas, but we did see some snow

28th December
Our Christmas duties over, we headed home and had a festive Indian takeaway for dinner. Yum.

31st December
We hosted a black tie New Years Eve party this year so the day was spent tidying and cooking in preparation. By 7.00pm we were done which gave us about an hour to relax and change into our formal wear ready for the guests to arrive.


The hosts

There was mulled wine to warm up the guests as they arrived and plenty of other drinks to keep us going until the big event. At 11.30pm the preparations started to make sure that we were ready for midnight. There was lots to do but in the end we settled on having the champagne cocktails made and then the fireworks were set off with seconds to go meaning everyone was able to watch, drink, kiss and cheer as the clock struck midnight.

The fireworks were fantastic and last for a good few minutes. We'd bought one of the mini display fireworks which was rather loud and very impressive. It seemed that parties and fireworks are the in thing as all around us you could hear them going off.

The rest of the evening was spent chatting and playing guess the bond movie from the intro and we made it to bed just after 4.00am.

L x