Calm Down Dear

Having spent all evening chopping and cooking and liquidising I just can't settle down now (and there's sweet FA on the telly) so I'll carry on with a domestic theme and do some housekeeping. On my laptop. There's just so much crap accumulated on it that it will be fun or cathartic or some such thing to clean it up. So that's what I'm going to do. Now. I shall do this whilst listening to some Wanda Jackson - an inspired Xmas gift from my very good friends Bryn & Michelle. Come on everyone, lets shake a chicken in the middle of the room....

"The Least Important Most Important Thing"

Its a Mad Men quote and I love it. Just remembered it and so I thought I would share it here before it wanders away again along with most of the rest of my memories. I can't even remember the context now but I'm guessing it was something about prioritising... That's all. Have invited DD round for some home-made soup tomorrow and so now I have to go and home make some. J x

Oh My G....

Whilst browsing all things Les Mis on YouTube (see earlier postings) I came across this.... abomination. Please God someone puts a stop to this before it happens.....

See Previous Posting

A taster of what I was talking about....

Les Mots D'Origine

So I'm sat here listening to the original concept album for Les Miserables in your actual French. Its really interesting because its very recognisably the modern Les Mis we all know and love and yet quite different in many ways (even apart from the fact that it is in French). Sadly some bits are better and some bits are dreadful so I'm never going to be able to look down my nose at anyone and say things like "well actually, I prefer it in the original French" which is of course one of the main reasons for purchasing the concept album in the first place. Tant pis (as I'm sure Fantine warbles at some point). Incidentally, the French have no-one to match the great Miss LuPone.

So this week has been interesting. I've been ill for most of it but struggled into work for a series of short days until I succumbed by Friday and took some personal time (officially "time off in lieu" or TOIL but I've decided to go with the Americanism "personal time" from now on just for the hell of it and because it will probably drive DD to distraction). She's been around all week. She turns up just as I'm going to bed and has snuck off before I get up in the morning - yes, its the cricket. Still its been nice to find her here on those nights when I've had to get up to throw up or do drugs or whatever. Feeling better now anyway so should be fit as a fiddle by Monday ready for a busy week.

Have decided I will go to Portugal this year. Have also decided to go to London with the Aged Ps for my Dad's birthday in February and will purchase tickets for Les Mis for his present (its what he wants and I don't mind at all as I love the show - this will be my 4th time). No-one well known in it at the moment though. But its such a strong show that as long as they can hold a tune they'll be fine.

DD has purchased me a beautiful orchid to apologise for making me watch so much cricket which was nice of her. She'll be popping around tomorrow for our start on Series 1 Mad Men (she bought me the box set for Xmas) and some of my delicious home made soup. Which I've yet to make. Better get on then.... That's all. J x

New Year...

...new illness! Yes, dear readers, I've been ill again. But after all it is somewhat of a New Year/Xmas tradition. Luckily it didn't hit until New Years Day afternoon. We were still in Leeds so I spent the evening and night between bed and the toilet throwing up. I think it was the same thing I had not so long ago and Dr Aged P (Mother division) has diagnosed it as norovirus. Looking this up on the internet suggests she may be right as you can get that multiple times and the papers suggest there's a lot of it about at the moment. Anyway, had Nurse DD here all last night looking after me (whilst simultaneously keeping an eye on the cricket) and I'm feeling better today although still a little weak. Made it to Sainsburys this afternoon though and have had some yoghurt and blueberries which have stayed down so fingers crossed I'm over it. My temperature has come down too.

NYE itself was a bit of a mixed bag. Mix-ups over whether we'd booked a "New Year's Meal" at the hotel - at £70 - we hadn't! Whether one could wear their beautiful new bowler hat at the Sky Lounge Bar even if one had pre-booked a table (one couldn't). Nor could all one's friends who had hilariously all purchased bowler hats from a joke shop wear theirs either... Did find a really nice friendly small bar near the hotel though and we had a real laugh with Jools Holland (can't believe its not live) in the hotel bedroom afterwards. Met up with Sarah and Hugh on NY day lunchtime and it was good to see them both. And then the lurgy descended. Hopefully won't have to go through this again for a while. That's all but I hope you all had a really good time too and I wish you all a happy and healthful New Year. J x

The Eve of The Eve

Nearly there. Off to Leeds tomorrow but for today its unpacking, washing and general preparedness stuff. And, oh, did I mention martinis at Sakura at 1830 with DD and chums? Ah, its good to be back! That's all. J x

Home Sweet Home

Back in the land of Northerners. An uneventful trip home. Quite foggy but traffic not too bad. Settling down for an evening of aloneness. Missing the Ageds but it is nice to be home. No idea what I'll do tomorrow but DD will no doubt feature in the evening... That's all. J x

Dull Day

Woke up this morning and the world looked dull - the rain had washed away all the pretty snow. Went to Cardiff and it was pretty dull with some pretty dull shopping (apart from mother who was able to exchange everything I'd bought her for Xmas). Came home again . Ageds watching cricket highlights - dullsville. That's all. J x

So Cute

Today was "family day" in the Lewis household. Its the traditional day after boxing day when we have my cousin and her family over for tea. Its always great to see Mary (my cousin) and her husband Barrie as they're lovely people and good company (despite being Man Utd supporters). We also get Richie, their son, who has some quite severe learning disabilities and consequently finds it very difficult to interact even with his parents much less with any more distant relatives. Having said that its always good to see him as he's part of the family and he was looking particularly well today. There's also Laura - their daughter - and her two children Ellie and Dylan. Ellie is your typical precocious 7 year old - who was particularly boisterous and exhausting today but Dylan, at 4 years old, is just the most gorgeous child in existence. He is blonde, beautiful and gifted with the sweetest nature. As always happens, when they go through for their tea I reman in the living room (there isn't room at the table and I don't eat anyway!) and the children, who always finish their food first come through to jump all over me whilst their mother and grand parents get time to have an adult conversation with my parents. i just love looking after the kids and, as always, feel a passing pang of regret at not having any of my own particularly when, as happened today, Dylan just falls asleep on top of me. However, it really is only a transient feeling. I couldn't (and wouldn't want to) cope with them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And then finally, its a relief when they go home and that's it - Christmas Tradition - over for another year.

Weather has been mild today and we've had rain so a lot of the snow has melted. Fingers crossed we may get a trip to the Nat Bot Gdns tomorrow... That's all. J x

Nightmare

Its happened again. Bloody cricket. Where does it come from and why does it go on so long? Endless days of people throwing balls at other people. Anyway, so once again I am being left to my own devices so that the Ageds, despite seeing what happened this morning and knowing the outcome, watch the "cricket highlights" (a contradiction in terms if ever there was one - like "sports personality" (thank you Dawn & Jennifer)). So I'm spending time with you, dear readers, again.

No other news really. Looks like the weather is going to improve over the next couple of days so we may get a trip out to the National Botanic Gardens if I'm really lucky. Sounds as though the Ageds don't want to go to Portugal this year so I'm a bit torn. Do I go on my own or do I use the money to go somewhere else? Its the week following the wedding so, given the huge numbers of days off arising from Easter & the nuptials, it might be better to go away at another time. I'd like to go back to Valencia and try and see an opera at the same time. However, having watched the "Best Operas of 2010" on telly this morning I learn that Barcelona has the biggest (and best?) opera house in the whole of Spain so it might be good to go there too. We'll see. That's all for now. Hope you're all still enjoying it all. J x

Christmas Time

Sod the mistletoe, bring on the wine. Lunch has been consumed, Aged Ps are snoring on the sofa which gives me a bit of blog time. Had some fab presents - a display case (bespoke, made by a local carpenter and very very nice), a Gant scarf (which I purchased myself for them to give to me but I love it) and, drum roll, a bowler hat! How clever are the Ageds? I've wanted one for ages and not got around to buying one and they just went onto Amazon, casual as you like, and snapped one up. And it fits and it looks brilliant. Shall be wearing it everywhere from now on (I have it on as I type) and becoming a complete bowler hatted bore (as opposed to just the ordinary type of bore).

Also heard from one of my Team and he's proposed to his girlfriend and she's said yes which is great. Another Team member found out this month that his wife will be giving birth to a boy - trust me, it don't get much more heterosexual than life on my Team...!

And that's about it so far. Watched Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singing In The Rain this morning and decided that I will have a birthday party in 2011 and the theme will be "Hollywood" so get your thinking caps on now. All blog readers are invited - even if I don't like you! That's all. Merry Xmas. J x

Whilst Browsing...

... YouTube I discovered this. Me, Bryn & Denise are actually in it! See if you can spot us...

P.S.

Loving the new blog look. Very cool, very 21st century. Very me therefore. Ha ha ha ha ha ha... etc. (Miss Gulch). J x

So Here It Is...

... well, almost. Hopefully you will find a YouTube video below. Happy Xmas everyone. P.S. Not killed the Aged Ps. Yet. That's all. J x

I survived (the snow this time)

So managed to make it all the way to Swansea. To be fair the roads were clear and the traffic seemed lighter than normal (usual delays at M5/M6 interchange of course). Good job I decided to stick to M5/M4 (and pay to get into Wales) though as there was an accident on the M50...

Aged Ps are well and there is an obscene amount of stuff under the Xmas Tree. That's all. J x

Film Night

A very enjoyable evening watching 12 Angry Men in the company of DD, Bryn & Michelle. Michelle had excelled herself with a vast array of canapes, Bryn gave us an expert's opinion on the film before we watched it and we had fun using up some of the left over alcohol from the party. A great night. Must do it again. Perhaps taking turns to choose and talk about a film?

Shutters were fitted on Tuesday and I'm really happy with them - one of those rare occasions where building (?) work has had an entirely satisfactory outcome. Suppose I shouldn't talk too soon of course as they could fall off the wall tomorrow!

3 days left in work before heading off to Swansea (weather permitting) and, as usual, I have a million things to do... So can't stay here chatting so, that's all. J x

The Return

Well she's in the air and on her way. DD lands at about 1145 and the plan is to be in The Midland for cocktails by 1400. I think she will be hideously jet lagged but she thinks not. Let's see shall we... Even if she is jet lagged I'm sure the lure of a cocktail will be enough to get her out!

Other than that things have been fairly quiet. Getting my shutters fitted Tuesday - they should have been delivering them Monday but they turned up yesterday - but I've taken Monday & Tuesday off work anyway. Will now spend Monday finishing off all my Xmas stuff.

Aged Ps are currently in London visiting my Mum's sister (the one who had the stroke) and will be back Monday. Hopefully the weather will stay good. That's all. J x

Damn Snow

So managed to make it into Warrington with minimum of fuss. Cecilia last night was fabulous (and running into Batey was just icing on the cake). Met some nice people sat next to me who regaled me with tales of Jessye Norman and other divas. They've recommended that I go and see Andreas Scholl in January so I've roped Michelle into that.

Nothing else planned for the weekend (this is me taking it easy Mum!) apart from some Xmas shopping. Looking forward to it immensely. Will spend the rest of my time watching and re-watching The Corpse Bride which I'm currently obsessing over. That's all. J x

Sick as a Dog

Well, I spent all yesterday afternoon and evening throwing up and running a temperature of 38.5 and generally feeling rotten. However managed to sleep for 10 hours last night and have woken up feeling like a new man. Have stayed off work today just to be sure (and its snowed too) but will go back in tomorrow if there's no change. Mother says its because I overdid things last week. She may have a point as I do seem to have been quite busy lately. Perhaps I should be slowing down now I'm nearly 50? But DD seems to manage it. We'll see...

In other news, the evening of Baroque music at RNCM was really good and me and Michelle went to Felicinis for soup afterwards which was really good too. Am off to Lincoln with work on Thursday & Friday and upon my return to Manchester to the Bridgewater Hall on Friday evening to watch Cecilia Bartoli. But nothing else planned at the moment. That's all. J x

This post was typed on Tuesday but posted to the wrong blog! Have stayed off work today again in order to rally my strength for trip to Lincoln tomorrow and Friday but that's now been cancelled on account of the weather. It even looks doubtful as to whether I'll be able to make it into Warrington tomorrow and so may have to work out of Manchester. No worries, I'm sure there'll be plenty of e-mails to catch up on and there's always networking to do...! J x