...Alton Towers

I had a wonderful weekend with my siblings. Neil and Michael arrived on Friday night and we all crashed out after a long week and had a catch up. We got up early on Saturday morning and headed off to Alton Towers. It was a wonderfully sunny day and we all had a brilliant time. It was sad on Sunday to say goodbye to my sister Jill who leaves next Sunday for a year in Kiwoko, Uganda. I wish her all the best for her year and hope it is a wonderful learning experience for her.

Phil and I are now recovering and getting ready for our two weeks off work. We have book a cruise round the Med and can't wait to get away to some sunny climates and catch up on some sleep and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to some serious reading. We haven't decided what to do with our second week off yet. We may spend it unpacking the last few remaining boxes and building the last few bits of furniture. But who knows we might get bored at home and take off for a few days. I'll keep you posted.

...enjoy having family to stay

I had a wonderful weekend in Glasgow with Cheryl and we even managed to fit in a quick visit to Dundee where we met up with my old boss and his family for coffee. It was really great to see them all and to catch up on there news. We also tried to meet up with Michael (my baby bro) but he was working and didn't answer his phone :( Never mind he's coming to visit me this weekend.

Jill (my ickle sis) has been staying with us this week and it's been really great to see her and spend time with her before she heads off to Africa in a few weeks. Michael and Neil and Neils girlfriend Maria all arrive tonight and we are planning to have a fun weekend with a visit to Alton Towers, lots of playing on the Wii and a compulsory game of Cranium. It'll be fab to see them all and have them all in my house for the first time, lets hope the weather is favourable!!

...too much

Our mad few months have continued. My mum came to visit a few weekends ago and we had a lovely time enjoying the one day of sunshine we have had all summer and watching the Wimbledon Finals. Thanks mum for coming over, we were just sad dad couldn't make it too.

During the week I went to Ikea and finally ordered our wardrobes. They arrived last Friday and have now taken over the kitchen waiting for Phil to build them. But Phil has not built and installed the new bathroom cabinet, which looks fab :)

Last weekend we had a lovely weekend in London for Esther Norris's wedding and Ali's birthday. London trips are always good fun and we had a great time playing with the girls and catching up with family. Thanks Ali and Michael for putting us all up.

This week has been fairly normal, just very busy at work, but I'm really enjoying it so that helps. I went to the final book club for the year last night. We had lots of food and some really great chat. It was wonderfully insightful to hear what everyones idea of Adventure is after reading 'Up the Yukon without a paddle'. Thanks Ione, I can't wait for next year.

This weekend I'm off to see my good friend Cheryl in Glasgow. I can't wait to take her dogs for long walks so that we can natter away and catch up on each others mad lives.

Only a few more weeks of madness to go and then we are off on holiday. Hopefully by the end of Sept life will have slowed down a little. But who knows!!

....IKEA again!!

We thought that since yesterday was our first free Saturday in weeks we should really get on with furnishing the house. Having failed to get the wardrobes we wanted on our last trip to IKEA we thought that we would try again. So having checked that they had them in stock we headed off to Manchester IKEA. It was a bit of a struggle to find but we did eventually and as we walked round we picked up some other bits and pieces that we needed. When we finally got the wardrobe section we double checked what we wanted and went over to order it.....only to be told the last of them had been sold that morning!! AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!! How frustrating.

Never mind we had a fun day out, had a bite to eat in Chiquita and went to look at garden furniture. Not sure why since we don't really have the weather to use it. Needless to say we didn't buy any and went home rather disappointed with our lack of purchases.

But we had a nice Saturday night crashing out with a fish supper and can of diet coke. Church this morning was excellent with a super message that I'm sure was written with me in mind! We feel really at home in the Church and all the people are so welcoming and constantly inviting us out for lunch and tea. We are looking forward to getting our new dining table and chairs so that we can return the favour. Now I'm just relaxing on this first quiet Sunday in weeks preparing myself for another busy week ahead. The good news is my Mum's coming on Thursday to stay for the weekend so I'm looking forward to showing her round our new pad and the local area.