ashthomas.net

A dull pain in the lower back, achy limbs, a vague recollection of the last 24 hours – could it be the symptoms of the newest strain of bird flu or something much much worse?

Let’s retrace my steps as see if we can work it out.

 It was a sunny morning in Caledonian Rd on the 26th, my alarm didn’t go off at the normal sparrows hour so i knew something was wrong…everyone else had left for work and i was still in bed. It was a week day of that I was sure. And then it dawned on me… Australia Day!!!!

So before the shenanigans started i went to an Events Show with Russ from work to get some ideas for future events. And then it was off to Lau and Dana’s to get ready and then out for a Ladies Lunch – we went to a restaurant called Rocket which was lovely. Lovely food and it was right on the river and a bit of a sun trap which was nice!! We ate and drank our fair share there then popped over the new Walkie at Puteny Bridge.

It was pretty quiet to start with and then as the workers finished their days things started to pick up. The place was booming by 5pm and the trusty old pub songs were being played over and over again and we belted them out with passion.

Several drinks later, our appetites were back and it was in search of the fourntwenty pie – which we found!! Smothered in sauce the pies were consumed at the rate of knots and worth every bit of the digestion issues after. mmmmmmmmm

We were home in bed by 12, so not too bad. And we all had late starts which was nice. Walked into work at 10am and had a presentation at 11! It went surprisingly well and then today has been a very sheepish day… so the dull pain and aches i blame on the snakebites… nasty venom and no way of immunising against it. nasty buggers.

in other news, we had a tops event last week on the London Eye for the launch of a new campaign called London Challenge. It was such a success and a real spectacal! Again, loving the event stuff and really pushing for the move to our (hopefully) growing dept.

I also had my three month review which went really well – yes i still have my job! There didn’t seem to be anything negative that can’t be worked on so very satisfied about that!! And both Karen and my manager Lindsay think the move to events is a good thing and were encouraging about that! Yay!!

Now the weekend - it was pay day yesterday so maybe a new pair of boots will need to be purchased and a new little top of some description – the nautical theme is back with avengance over here and i’m a sucker for stripes!!

Out with Caryn and Max tonight and then a reasonably quiet weekend i think!!

Ok well – hope all is good on the flip side

xxxx

In case you have NO idea what the above sentence means, it short, it means our darling, beautiful, wonderful, AWESOME and RANDOM german has left our shores for good….

It was a sad, sad day in chateau de caledonia when we saw the second member of our make shift family close the doors of our ant ridden apartment… it could have been the hangover but Jayno and I were left speechless for quite some time after….

The farewell was a complete success – i think. The detox was spectacularily broken with Yum Cha on saturday afternoon – after a severe boxing class with jayno in which my arms,abs, legs, shoulders, neck and any other muscle you can think of scream with agony every time i move ( ouch). So Yum Cha we ate and ate and ate our way through steamed dumplings, fried dumplings, crispy pork, steamed pork buns and a number of other yummy dishes. We then went on to The Soho Bar where we ahd reseverved a place that ended up being a CAVE! We drank the night away and except for some rude person deciding to verbal abuse me to the point where his mate had to drag him away from me and then i had a minor panic/anxiety attack and couldn’t breath, all was FINE!!!!

Friday night i went to the cheap cinema again to see Howl’s Moving Castle for £1 – the move is a japanese cartoon from the same producer as Spirited Away – both really really good movies. A little starnge, but when are japanese cartoons ever normal? We ended the night going to a fabulous japanese restaurant ( do you see the theme?) with Zu, Kirst, Merle and Zu’s friends Luna and Sally. We ate sooo much sushi and the first good pad thai i have come across since thairiffic!

so that was my weekend in reverse.

It’s now tuesday and it’s a slow week. It’s grey and miserable and from when i get up  to when i get home, i see no day light – i understand this disorder now… the only thing i have to look forward to this week is another event which is being held at the London Eye on thrsday. very excitied about that and i get to usher lots of kids into the pod thingy’s and get to wear a walkitalkie again!! woohoo!!

It’s OC tonight and i’m all excitied, it seems the sun in Newport Beach is the only thing keeping me going at this stage!!

well team, hope all is well. and that you are soaking up the rays for me – send me some in a jar!

xoxoxox

Hello Again Readers,

I must say, i’m slightly disheartened with the lack of banter in the guestbook – where is the new year enthusiasm, that undeniable gusto that every january brings?? I would like to see a concerted effort from ALL readers old and new and more importantly for all of you who frequent the site and don’t say anything – speak up friends!!

 Ok enough of the tom foolery – and onto the important stuff. What has the last week entailed for dear ol’ ash you ask? Well, not alot to be frank.

The detox is going along very nicely – i am, however, using the term “detox” ever so loosely, it’s more just a change in what i’m eating. But regardless, it’s been 9 days and i’m still alcohol free!Hoorah! And the best part is i am seeing the results: No lasts nights makeup panda eyes in the mornings, no carpet like tongue that requires ripping from top of mouth, more cash in my wallet, and a pair of kidneys that don’t quivver in fear at the phrase “Oh alright, I’ll just come down for one”!!

So in the (lack of) spirit of the no alcohol, my weekend was unsurprisingly dull. Fri night i chilled with Jayno with carrot sticks and hummos watching SATC, Sat we went for a stroll to Angel and then Sat night i went out for dinner with the darling Shaun but after one coffee i was bright eyed and bushy tailed like a possum infront of headlights and stayed up til 4:30am reading!!

Sunday was grey and miserable….raining and cold, so we mooched around the flat, tidied the place from top to bottom and then i took myself off to see a movie – my first solo mission the the cinema!! Went and saw “Just like Heaven” which was predictable but in all the right ways!

And then this week has been a bit slow, but incredibly busy. We are still on the search for a new flat mate and it is proving to be a bit more difficult than we initially expected…and there are loads of people coming through the place but they just seem to find something better! Don’t they understand what they are missing out on!??!?!

So this weekend we see a) the break in the detox because b) Merle leaves our grim shores on Sunday… so not happy about it as i have been living with the crazy german pretty much since i got here. She will be greatly missed!!!!!

Not alot more to report – S.A.D (Seasonal Adjustment Disorder) has prompted me to book in for a sun bed session purely for the vitamin D!! Why am i over here again?

Anyway Readers, best be off

Hope the flip side is treating you well

take care

x

Yes that’s right, welcome to 2006!! It’s January again, a whole year since i started my blog and almost a whole year since i moved over here – goodness time does fly!!

So lots to catch you up on…and what better place to start than the beginning.

Edinburgh – Zu and I couldn’t get out of the office quick enough on monday night, we set off for the airport making it feel like a proper holiday! We landed in bonny wee Edinburgh and began to party with the MacLeod clan ( not you jods!!). Kirty’s parents treated us like old friends and we instantly felt at home in their gorgeous house. The christmas spirit was well and truly in scotland and it was so nice to have some time to relax…only we didn’t!!

We partied til the wee hours of morning, taking advantage of scotlands open til 5am pub policies, ate scrummy food, and did the cultural thing and went to a few galleries. It was such a nice and well deserved break, even if i do say so myself.

We went to St Andrews which was nice, i think we really miss out on the whole uni experience at home, but it was nice to see a lovely uni right on the beach! but they aren’t a scratch on ours!!

So after a relativly large thursday night, we stayed up and went straight to the airport for our 6am flight home. Zu and I barely spoke as we both experienced what can only be described as living through hell… we were both awake for our hangovers to kick in and on a plan which meant serious pressure issues and general uneasiness in the tummy’s! But we survived, went to Zu’s and crashed out to catch up on some z’s.

I went home in the afternoon to find Carla back in town! Yay!

We had a lovely chrissy morning, smoked salmon scrabbled eggs and bucks fizz ( aka champas and OJ) and then opened pressies and chilled out a bit before starting to cook some bits and pieces to take to Lau and Dana’s for our Chrissy Dinner!!

Tim had out done himself as had the girls with the culinary expertise… roast turkey to perfection, roast pork and lamb. Potato bake, three different salads, roast sweet potato! all things yummy! and all washed down with a fair amount of alcohol.

We were 14 orphans but we had such a good time – as far as first chrissy’s away from home, i think ours was pretty damn good! We all crashed out about 3 in the morning looking forward to boxing day where we watched lots of trashy movies and ate lots more food!

Last week i was in at work and it wa sso quiet. It was good to get myself organised before the hordes came back and we had some pretty top people in so we mucked about and hit the sales in extended lunch breaks – snagging myself the HOTTEST black strapless LBD from Reiss for £37 down from £125! Bargain!! – and then it was preparations for NYE.

We bought tickets to a bar called SoBar ( fully took me ages for the pun to sink in…) and had drinks at Lau and Dana’s place before hand. The night took on a mind of its own and while it was NYE it felt like an ordinary evening that we attempted to piece together the next day!

And here we are….2006. The air is still strongly scented with the good intentions of exercise, detox and turning over a new leaf… Only time will tell how long they will last, but fingers are crossed that I stick to mine for at least a month. Fingers Crossed!!

We are having no feedback for renting out the bed next to me ( can’t think why) and so things are getting nerve racking with Merle leaving us in only 10 days!! But Jayno and I have decided to wait til 1st April and then we can move out with Dana and Lau and get a place with the four of us which will be lovely!

What will 2006 bring for ashthomas.net and its author? Who knows, but I hope you all stay tuned to find out!

Hope you are all well.

Take care

Ash