5 days to go...

Woooo! Only 5 days til we're off to Sri Lanka :o) I can now count the days on one hand!

And the weather is looking hot hot hot!



L x

One week to go...

It's one week today til we're off to Sri Lanka! :oD

We had to start our malaria tablets today and i'm hoping there's no side effects!

Still a few bits and pieces left to get, namely "first aid" type stuff such as malaria fighting -extra-double strength insect repellent and diarrhea pills! ;o)

L x

anyone want a pa...

Found out today that i'm being made redundant! :o(

It's all moving fast with my last day Tuesday/Wednesday next week! They don't hang about! :oP What that means is that i'll have a few days off before our holiday so I can do all the packing which i'm rather pleased about.

It's not all doom an gloom though. I've already been put forward for 7 jobs with another 2 in the pipeline so things don't seem too bad. Even better is that while all the jobs are more money, a fair few are up to £5,000 more :o)

Every cloud has a silver lining...

L x

the cokies...

Mooching about Google, I came upon this really cool picture of Monkton Coke Works.



What a beautiful sight :o)

L x

snow...

Wooo! Woke up to snow this morning :o)



I bet it doesn't last very long though...

L x

guitar hero party...

Tim is very excited about Guitar Hero being released on the Xbox360 (in March!) so we invited him round on Saturday night. Since it was his birthday during the week, we thought we'd make a bit of a night of it and invited the gang and cooked some food. Becca came too so it was a double birthday celebration, complete with birthday cake and jelly and ice-cream!

We even went out and bought a 2nd guitar so we could use multiplayer.

Poor Tim, for someone so excited, he's now doubting whether he should actually part with cash and purchase it! You know what they say though, practice makes perfect!



L x

happy birthday tim...

Tim turns 28 today! Happy Birthday!



L x

happy birthday becca...

Happy 23rd Birthday to Becca, the baby of the group :o)



L x

johnson's driving day...

We spent the day with Johnson yesterday at the Whitecliff Driving Centre just outside Monmouth for his 4x4 driving day which we all bought him for his 30th birthday.

It was nice and muddy with lots of water which made his driving more fun and I think he had a great day!





L x

queen lorna of england...

Could I be Queen of England?

English Heritage are on the search for the "real" King or Queen of England so if you've already started tracing your family tree then you're a lot closer than me in claiming the throne.

I did start trying to do my family tree a few years ago but I kinda got bored / it got hard and I got as far as my grand-parents! :oP

I'd love to do it but have absolutely no idea how you actually go about it. Maybe this could be my new hobby for 2007...

Queen Lorna x

female beefeater...

The first female Beefeater at the Tower of London has been revealed!

It's quite strange but I think what amazes me more than the fact she is the first female in 522 years is that their salary is only £20,000 a year!

In order to qualify to apply for the position you have to have a whole host of requirements including 22 years in the army. All for £20,000.

Although she will be getting a custom made £1000 outfit to wear ;o)

I think i'll stick to being a PA...

L x

brussels photos...

Photos from our weekend in Brussels can be found in the photogallery.



L x

bling car...

Talking of our Vegas trip, we fancy hiring a car for the day to drive out to the Hoover Dam and maybe take in Lake Mead.

So, first choices at the moment are either...

A Ford Mustang


A Hummer H2


I also like the look of this but not sure how suitable it would be for a trip into the desert...


:o)

L x

life of luxury...

We've booked another Vegas hotel for my birthday trip.

We're spending 7 nights at the Bellagio, Debbie and Jason fly home and then we're planning a road trip taking in the national parks around Utah and Arizona for 5 nights. We're then gonna head back to the bright lights of Vegas for 2 nights before our flight home and we've booked luxury hotel no.2 - Wynn.

The Bellagio


Bellagio Room


Wynn


Wynn Room


We did think about returning to the Bellagio but thought as we'll already have been there, we might as well try out Wynn, and it was $20 less than Bellagio!

Work has now started on an itinerary for our road trip.

L x

travel updates...

I receive regular updates from the world of travel from a business travel agent and although they seem to contain useful information, something about them always makes me wonder if they are a serious article.

Here's some information from today's update.

* BIRMINGHAM Airport apologised to passengers who had recently arrived from the Indian sub continent after a body bag turned up on the baggage conveyor belt. Apparently a passenger expired enroute forcing the aircraft to land in Bucharest. No one, including the Russian pilot, thought to mention it when it landed in the UK.

* USA If anyone travelled to Houston recently on either Continental, British Airways or Lufthansa and have still to be reunited with their luggage, salvation is at hand. Local police have discovered dozens of pieces of luggage in the trash bin behind a pet store.

You can make you're own mind up...

L x

more car trouble...

Marvin got sent to the doctors on Monday and he should be ready for collection today, once we've settled the £600 bill!

Seems he needed a new starter motor and clutch! Lets just hope this is the last he needs in a long time.

L x

back from brussels...

We're back from our weekend trip to Brussels.

We had a great time and due to rain, we were forced to spend a lot of time in the bars sampling that famous Belgian beer! And of course the waffles, the chocolates, chips and mussels (well, just Dan on the last one!)

Another great Christmas present and only 25 days to our next holiday!

Me drinking beer!


Photos of our trip can be found here

L x

brussels bound...

We're heading off to Brussels for the weekend in just over 6 hours!

Happy Christmas Dan & Lorna :o)

L x

happy birthday gareth...

L x

good start to the new year...

What a start to the year.

First of all there's the bathroom... This is the bathroom that around 6 months ago was completely replastered, painted and new flooring laid so should still be looking brand spanking new.

However, there is now no paint on the ceiling or the walls. Why? Because it peeled off. That's right, the PAINT peeled off like wallpaper! Don't believe me? Didn't think so, so here's the proof...










Next to go wrong is the car. Yes, the car we bought to save us money on fixing the old one. The new car that in the 4 weeks we've had has cost around £220 having the key scratch and paint chip repaired and the starter motor looked at. Well, the starter motor is playing up again so back to the garage it goes again. More money!

And talking of car trouble, the garage can't fit it in until Monday which messes up our plans to park the car at Heathrow for our trip to Brussels on Friday.

Oh and finally, we need a new camera! And quick! :oP

Lets just hope the year gets better!

L x

new year's resolutions...

Our new years resolution is once again to pay off as much debt as possible!

We had a setback with our resolution in 2006 when Dan lost his job but by miracle of miracles we did it! By the skin of our teeth! :o)

Here's hoping for good luck in 2007.

L x

happy new year...

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best for 2007.



L x