Lost in France - Penderff 2008

So, a summary of our holiday. Another lovely lovely time in Brittany, and although Canada is defo. on for summer 2009, we are aiming for visit number 4 to Penderff in May.

This year we
*went to the medieval fete in Hennebont.

*entertained my stepson for a few days. Actually, bless 'im, he entertained Laura in his role as chief swing-pusher

*were saved from the smallest lasagne in the world and certain divorce by our wonderful friends (and landlords) Judith & Jeremy

*spent an enormous amount of time
here

*Went on the ponies - twice for Laura, once for me.

*Went to the Zoo with half of the Woodwards and one Pollington, then on to the Interceltic Festival.

*Went to the Oceanopolis Aquariam in Brest, but probably enjoyed the smaller one in Vannes more....along with the Butterfly House, and most importantly for Laura, a shop which sold Leily Kelly boots. Most importantly for mummy, the boots were half the price they are in England.

*Ate in all our favorite restaurants with our favourite people

*Shopped for handbags (me)

*Shopped for music and junk (Peter)

* Had a wonderful time, and agreed to go back next May!

All the photos can be viewed here, although those of a delicate disposition may wish to avoid the shots of my fat a**e getting off the pony.

What a wonderful world.

Here's why....

School's out forever

Well, we are back from our jollies. A full report and the obligatory 80 million photos will follow....shortly. But I had to share todays little smile....

Laura does like to pick her own clothes, so most of the time I just grit my teeth and let her get on with it. Frankly, it's not worth the argument. But today is a corker - she is apparently missing school, so is dressed in full school uniform, including socks, shoes and hairband. She really is several sandwiches sort of a picnic, and I cannot imagine where she gets it from. We are going to the library this afternoon, and what she doesn't yet realise is that there is no bloody way she going out of the house in that get up!

We're all going on a summer holiday...

We apologise for this break in service, but Team Robinson has naffed orf on holibags. Two weeks in Brittany again, but we are banking on a trip to Toronto next summer....so I hope your offer was serious, Kate'n'Chris! And I am looking forward to a bit o' traveling that doesn't involve airports or lugging a bloody great laptop with me. Actually husband is taking his laptop I think. Me, I've got a pile of trashy (seriously trashy) novels, a soduko book and my embroidery. Luxury.

Young at heart

Bit of a shock today when I went t'dentist. For the first time I was really aware of quite how young my dentist was...as in....obviously significantly younger than me.

Then my cyber-chum Kevin from Helminthedale publishes a post about a seventies children's programme and I am too young to remember it. Hurrah! I feel so much better now!

Mad World.....

Gosh, am I turning into an old tory? Because when I read stories like this I really feel this country is going to hell in a handcart.

Then I read
this and suddenly everything is a bit more bearable again.....

Or is it just me?

Mamma mia

OH MY GOD

I watched this documentary this evening. I watched it with open mouthed horror. I watched it wondering if I should phone Burnley Social Services. If you get a chance to watch it...do.

Please Mr Postman

Our post was not delivered until 5pm today. The Post Office are having a larf....aren't they?

Leaving on a jetplane..

or not. Stuck at Schiphol this time, waiting on a 9pm flight home, now scheduled to leave at 11.00pm. Never mind. Just enjoyed burger 'n' chips and two LARGE glasses of wine in the Irish pub with a colleague, so everything has a bit of a fuzzy glow to it! Off to spend money I haven't got on perfume I don't need.

I should be so lucky....

Nipped over to Leeds with my mother this a.m. She was on a mission at the request of my sister. Niece, who has just finished her first year at Leeds Met, is due to move into into a student house for her second year, after the utter luxury of her student apartment last year. Now, I was never "lucky" enough to be in a hall of residence when I was a stooodent, but frankly...these (privately built) places are posher than anywhere I have ever lived. She had an ensuite bathroom for goodness sake.

Anyway, she is moving into a house with 5 other girls..cue cat fights....and two girls actually moved in this week....so, in fact, cue panic about the awful house, the dirt, the mouse nest , etc etc.....

Mum & I were dispatched to report on the awful house in the rubbish area.....which turned about to be lovely house in vibrant Headingly......the worst we culd find wrong with it was a dodgy socket and some mucky lampshades. My neice had commented on the lack of cable TV and tumble dryer!

Honestly...what is the world coming to? This place was a palace compared to where I lived when I was a student. Mum kindly referred to my student house as a hovel, and, frankly, she was being generous. It was damp, filthy, cold, unsanitary, had things growing on the walls downstairs, had mice, slugs, and silverfish (under my mattress)...and we were happy....we expected nothing less. In fact, living in a dump may actually have been a condition of being awarded an honours degree. (and we got housing benefit!!!! Them were the days!

The windows of the world..

I'm in Sheffield, in a hotel, where the view from my window is most picturesque...the canal..complete with barges. 'cept it's p*****g down. And we are due to have a conference bar-b-q in an hour. I told our delegates from the US and South Africa not to get too excited.....

Yep -it's July - it must be our annual user conference. Two day event. So far so good. The only person I wanted to slap was a colleague not a customer, so that's OK.

Now, must remember to control drinking tonight......must remember......there are 40 + customers downstairs, include two from Salt Lake City...and my boss....must remember!

It's all about you...

I stole this from a couple of blogs I visit.....

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Working in Sales for the same company I now work for, albeit with a different name (the company, not me) (actually, that's not true. I had a different surname then)

Five things on your to-do list for today:
I'll cheat, and do tomorrow as it is late evening now -
1) Do presentation for conference on Wednesday
2) Wrap daughter's birthday pressies
3) Check she can have disco room at her party
4) Get her a birthday card
5) Pack to go to aforementioned conference

What are three of your bad habits?
1) Jumping to conclusions
2) Total lack of self confidence
3) Watching crap telly

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Stop work, have another baby, and give loads of it away.

What are some snacks you enjoy?
Oh blimey....I am queen of snacks...
Popcorn
Chocolate
Crisps
Grapes

What were the last five books you read?
Hattie Biography of Hattie Jacques
Queuing for beginners Mass observation type stuff - brilliant
Two caravans by Marina Lewycka, not finished..finding it harder going than A short history of tractors in Ukranian
Promise me Perhaps this should actually be on my bad habits list. I love these real airport reading, american crime stories. But I read them in a day, so I spend a fortune on them.
Eating for England prose, rather than recipes, by Nigel Slater. Rather lazy book actually. Not as good as Toast.

What are five jobs you have had?
Saturday assistant in public library in London
Library assistant in different public library in London
Barmaid (and a right crap one at that. I kept being told to smile at the punters)
College librarian
Present - which has included sales, training and now product management.

Five places that you have lived?
London - with my parents, till I went to .....
Manchester - to do my library degree, after which I lived in...
Oldham - when I was married, then
Sale - when I ceased to be married, and then..
Sheffield - which I loved, and really didn't make the most of, and sometimes hanker for now.


So...now I am supposed to tag others to do this..so Kate , Kevin....or actually anyone....consider yourelf tagged.

When will I...will I be famous....

I've been published....kind of. In the bi-monthly journal-thing for our professional association they have a feature called "My week". The title is kind of self - explanatory. In 300 words, you write about your working week. And, you know, 300 words is not much. Anyway, it's there, and one who knows me well says she doesn't think it sounds like me...in that it doesn't reflect my warped sense of humour...but as I said, it was only 300 words, so something had to give. Paid up memebers of aforesaid association can judge for themselves!

We are the champions...

Laura had her first sports day a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I was in London, listening to university librarians discuss the future of library management systems.......

I'm tired..

Tired of getting sick. I have tonsillitis for the second time in two months, and the 8 millionth time this year. (I exagerate, but not much). So, the doctor has agreed to refer me to the hospital to have 'em out. Knowing my luck, I'll get MRSA. But the upside is that I'm watching an ancient episode of Hill Street Blues, and I'm going to have a blog catch up....if I can find the cable to link my camera to the computer.

Working 9 - 5

Apparently, my employer has been voted one of the best places to work in IT, according to Computerworld. We are number 51 out of the top 100, zooming up 24 places from last year.

So, that's nice, isn't it?

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

My social life is pretty woeful at the best of times - except for a lovely, impromptu night out in Sheffield last week with katie and Jonathan....thank you for listening to my self-pitying rants, Katie (!)....but it is really being put in the shade by Laura at the moment. From this weekend till the end of term she is going to seven birthday parties, including her own. Thank goodness for a quick trip to the Tesco toy department when we were in Christchurch last weekend.

Actually....now that I think about it, I'm not really doing too badly myself. Aforementioned trip to Dorset to see Vronni & team included the obligatory bar-be-que in the gorgeous new garden. The past month has also included a night out in Leiden with colleagues...and I do mean OUT. We actually ate outside which made me and my other english colleague quite giddy with excitement. And, a very drunken evening at the PTA ball. So really I've nothing to moan about, and I'm sure there are some of you out there feeling pretty flippin' jealous right now!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it...

Not me, I should point out. Laura. She slept with me last night, because Peter was getting up at the crack of sparrow fart to go to London. Anyway, she woke up when the alarm went off (result!), leapt on me, and proceeded to inform me why she was so excited:

1) she is starting packed lunches today. She is absolutely giddy about this. Her best friend, Christina, who is the benchmark for everything at the moment, has packed lunches, and for the summer term, so will Laura. I do feel a little guilty that she is so happy to take sandwiches. Mostly she has had school dinners since starting school because I can't be arsed to make her lunch....ho hum!

2) now this one is a massive working-mummy, guilt-trip jobby. She was beside herself with joy because i was taking her to school this morning. Not just dumped early in pre-school club, but actually taking her to the classroom, and helping her hang up her stuff on her peg. Actually, i enjoy it too. It's nice to see some of the other mums, and the weather was lovely this morning, so it was a very pleasant stroll back to the car. When I did a bit of pick up and collecting after I came back from South America I resolved to try to re-jig my working hours from time to time...y'know...do a long day one day so I can do the school run the next day. But it is difficult to be consistent - I'm off again for three days next week....

Jake the Peg

(Taking the lead from Kate, I am trying to continue my occasional theme of using song titles for my postings....we'll see how it goes)

So, the following morning my knee is swollen to the size..well, of a very swollen thing, and I can't put any weight on my leg. Having had practice when I knackered my knee last time I still manage to get a shower. Well, my hair was a mess and I wiffed of wine (see previous posting).

Luckily the time difference meant I could get travel insurance details from work, and was able to contact our *people* who told me which hospital to go to. It was called "Clinica Biblica" - yep that's Biblical Clinic. Conjures up some bizarre images, doesn't it. Anyway, the nice man in Urgencia (that's Emergency to you and me) got my x-rayed, and confirmed nothing was broken or dislocated, merely (!) strained. Basically I had damaged all the ligaments. And then he put me in plaster from thigh to ankle.....blue plaster!



Said I should keep it on for three weeks, and sent me off with my x-rays as a souvenir. OK - so then I ask the travel company to send me home, which was the point I discovered that you aren't allowed to fly in plaster, and would I mind staying in Costa Rica for three weeks!

So then the hunt begins for hospital who can fit me with a leg brace......more than 24 hours later, by which time I am gettting heartiliy sick of room service and costa rican TV, I am told to report to......Clinica Biblica. Actually, this time I am seeing the orthopedic specialist, who turns out to be a charming Colombian, who removes the plaster with one of those scary electric saw things, then announces I am fit to carry on my travels to Colombia (I think he was biased), but he writes me a note to say I must travel business class...heh heh heh! He also gives me a prescription which includes three injections that I have to administer to myself....injections...that is syringes....with needles!

Anyway, I did go to Colombia (business class), and it was lovely. What a beautiful country! And I discovered the way to jump all the queues at airports.....get wheelchair asistance! oh, except in America. That is still as crap as ever. They even make you get out of your wheelchair to go through the security thingie. Fine for me, but there were some proper disabled people....and they were the airport's own bloody wheelchairs.

So, I'm back now...obviously...still limping and a bit stiff in the knee area. Going to the hospital next week. Good old NHS. Back in this country 5 weeks after a serious knee injury, and have to wait all that time to check I haven't actually done any lasting damage to myself. What do you want to bet I have to wait anothr 5 weeks for the MRI?

Just for you, Kate!

And because I happen to have an hour or so to kill in the BUSINESS lounge at Atlanta Airport.

OK...so....I had to go to Central and South America for a couple of weeks. We have abunch of customers out there who are way overdue a visit. Plus, my new company has a division to manage the whle region, so we are working on some other stuff too.

Meeting in Costa Rica, then a 10+ day tour of Colombia. Got to admit, was not madly keen on the Colombia bit, but hey ho..it's a job...it pays the bills (just).

Anyway..I shoulda known it was going to be a bad trip when I split wine over myself at the beginning of an 11 hour flight. Then I managed to break my watch trying to adjust the time. When I finally arrived in Costa Rica my colleague was nowhere to be seen. My flight was an hour late...but even so....Turned out he had emailed me instructions, but as he has a Blackberry and I DON'T (that's another story) I was left at San Jose airport, not speaking the old lingo, and fending off eager taxi drivers to the best of my ability.

Anyway...eventually rolled up at the very nice Marriott San Jose. It's about 10.30pm by now. And then, about approximately 11pm, I trip over my laptop case, go down lack a sack o' potatoes....and an excrutiating pain in my knee. Who remembers my fateful pregnancy, and my dislocated knee at 6 months? Well, this is very similar! I am freaked, but realisingly it's not actually dislocated this time, I decide to go to bed (well, i'd been traveling for 24 hours plus at this stage), hoping it would all be fine in the morning.

What do you think? All better? No need to call the travel insurance company? WRONG!

And.....that's part 1, Kate. Tune in next week for more tales of our intrepid heroine as she intrepidly continues her travels against alal odds, and has to give herself injections...yes, injections...with a needle.