I finally made it back onto the cross trainer yesterday morning. It wasn't too hard getting the motivation to just get up and get on it but it was so much harder to stay on than I remembered it being. I only managed half the time that I used to do but I guess after almost 9 weeks of not using it at all it was bound to be difficult. Felt quite motivated after that to try and get on it as many days as possible, which seemed a good plan until the Murray match started this evening under the new Wimbledon Centre Court roof so now it looks like they'll be playing through to the end of the match. At one set each and three all in the third at the moment I think it will be going on for a while and it would be a shame not to watch...
*Update* After I posted this then Mum called pushing back any exercise by half an hour. Then I decided it didn't have to be a choice! The wonders of BBC iPlayer meant that I could watch live tennis online and go on the cross trainer at the same time! Either the tennis was a great distraction or I just needed to ease myself into it with yesterday's attempt and I was back up to my usual time again today. Still exhausted but now that the exercise is out of the way I can sit back and relax while Murray and Wawrinka go into the final set.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Saturday, 27 June 2009
The Likes of Us
Went to see another York Light Opera Company production last night. This time The Likes of Us, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical together. I can't say that it was a great story, there was one couple in it that did a few songs but there didn't seem to be any reason for them being there. The main story is of Dr Barnardo and the setting up of his first children's home in London in 1870 and the musical is told by a narrator who introduces a lot of the songs. The narrator in the production, Ian Small, was very good and really helped to keep things together. You could see a likeness with the use of the narrator to that of Joseph, but by then they'd obviously had more experience writing musicals together and used the idea much more effectively in Joseph.
Still another good performance, particularly from James Parkes, playing Barnardo, he had a great singing voice. The only slight annoyance of the evening was that for an audience that was largely made up of little old ladies, I managed to get a seat behind the only man that was over 6 feet tall!
Still another good performance, particularly from James Parkes, playing Barnardo, he had a great singing voice. The only slight annoyance of the evening was that for an audience that was largely made up of little old ladies, I managed to get a seat behind the only man that was over 6 feet tall!
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Wedding Day!
Finally!! Quite an early start this morning, the alarm was set for 7am but Sal was awake before then, I don't think I seemed quite as excited as her when there was still 15 minutes before the alarm and I decided to go back to sleep while she started getting things ready! We were at the hairdressers for 8.30am and they switched the appointments round a bit so that we all ended up being ready at once - not until after a little bridesmaid and a photographer had already been waiting at the house about 20 mins for us though.
The cars - 2 Model A's - arrived about 12pm and as they don't go more than 50mph and don't go on the motorway then we knew we'd need to set off by about 12.30pm. I've no idea what time we did set off because by this point I had completely lost track of time and was more concerned about getting Sal laced up into her dress. Our car arrived at the church and we waited for Sal and Dad to arrive after they had a quick stop at the petrol station in theirs! When they arrived Sal had a quick dash through to the toilet which meant running past the glass door at the front side of the church near where Rob was sitting - thankfully James spotted the streak of white running past and made sure that Rob faced the other way until she'd gone past again!
The service was lovely, I was slightly concerned that I might cry all the way through it but I managed to limit that to almost crying during the first hymn and when Sal started crying during her vows. I had a reading which I'm told went well but it's just a bit of a blur to me now. David, the vicar, had told me at the rehearsal to look at the person in the fourth row but I didn't dare lift my eyes off the piece of paper for fear of losing my place. I also realised as I was reading that I was rocking back and forth on my shoes but when I stopped doing that my legs started shaking, if that's all that comes out on the video I'll be happy - at least I didn't fall down the stairs getting back to my seat which was my other fear about doing a reading!
After a few photos at the church it was back in the cars to the hotel, which was further than the house so in the old cars it took quite a while and everyone was waiting for us when we got there. A few more photos there and a quick drink (or two) and it was into the receiving line for dinner. I didn't realise that I was going to be in the line but it was lovely to get a chance to say hello to everyone and put some faces to the names that I have been hearing for so long.
The food was lovely and during the main course and dessert I'd gone for a little walk to say hello to a few tables (by this point the shoes were well and truly disregarded under the table and my feet were feeling very happy for it). Leah and Rebecca (the little bridesmaids) joined me at this point as they were starting to get a little bored of sitting at the table so we went visiting a few tables for a little while to keep them occupied. I left them at one point to talk to Sarah & Jon and as the desserts arrived and there was a spare place at their table I ate one from there and carried on chatting. About 20 mins later Sal came up and said they had all been looking for me and thought I must be ill as they hadn't seen me for so long! So I moved back to my seat on the top table after that :)
The timing by this point had been thrown completely out of the window and the speeches started at about 6.45 the three of them taking about an hour altogether - including James's quiz of getting to know the stag which I still think the correct answer for Rob's chat up line should have been Hi I'm Harry Potter's double.
The casino had set up outside of the room so as we all moved out for them to get the room ready for the evening and for the band to set up we filled the time with Blackjack and Roulette. I stuck with the Roulette and after winning a little then lost all of my chips. After the cutting of the cake and the dancing it was suddenly all over. It was a great day - I really enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure that Sal and Rob did too - they both looked great and now have a fantastic holiday to look forward to.
The cars - 2 Model A's - arrived about 12pm and as they don't go more than 50mph and don't go on the motorway then we knew we'd need to set off by about 12.30pm. I've no idea what time we did set off because by this point I had completely lost track of time and was more concerned about getting Sal laced up into her dress. Our car arrived at the church and we waited for Sal and Dad to arrive after they had a quick stop at the petrol station in theirs! When they arrived Sal had a quick dash through to the toilet which meant running past the glass door at the front side of the church near where Rob was sitting - thankfully James spotted the streak of white running past and made sure that Rob faced the other way until she'd gone past again!
The service was lovely, I was slightly concerned that I might cry all the way through it but I managed to limit that to almost crying during the first hymn and when Sal started crying during her vows. I had a reading which I'm told went well but it's just a bit of a blur to me now. David, the vicar, had told me at the rehearsal to look at the person in the fourth row but I didn't dare lift my eyes off the piece of paper for fear of losing my place. I also realised as I was reading that I was rocking back and forth on my shoes but when I stopped doing that my legs started shaking, if that's all that comes out on the video I'll be happy - at least I didn't fall down the stairs getting back to my seat which was my other fear about doing a reading!
After a few photos at the church it was back in the cars to the hotel, which was further than the house so in the old cars it took quite a while and everyone was waiting for us when we got there. A few more photos there and a quick drink (or two) and it was into the receiving line for dinner. I didn't realise that I was going to be in the line but it was lovely to get a chance to say hello to everyone and put some faces to the names that I have been hearing for so long.
The food was lovely and during the main course and dessert I'd gone for a little walk to say hello to a few tables (by this point the shoes were well and truly disregarded under the table and my feet were feeling very happy for it). Leah and Rebecca (the little bridesmaids) joined me at this point as they were starting to get a little bored of sitting at the table so we went visiting a few tables for a little while to keep them occupied. I left them at one point to talk to Sarah & Jon and as the desserts arrived and there was a spare place at their table I ate one from there and carried on chatting. About 20 mins later Sal came up and said they had all been looking for me and thought I must be ill as they hadn't seen me for so long! So I moved back to my seat on the top table after that :)
The timing by this point had been thrown completely out of the window and the speeches started at about 6.45 the three of them taking about an hour altogether - including James's quiz of getting to know the stag which I still think the correct answer for Rob's chat up line should have been Hi I'm Harry Potter's double.
The casino had set up outside of the room so as we all moved out for them to get the room ready for the evening and for the band to set up we filled the time with Blackjack and Roulette. I stuck with the Roulette and after winning a little then lost all of my chips. After the cutting of the cake and the dancing it was suddenly all over. It was a great day - I really enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure that Sal and Rob did too - they both looked great and now have a fantastic holiday to look forward to.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Quiet Day
Bit of a quiet day today, Sal had left the day pretty clear for any last minute jobs but there hasn't been too many that were added to the list. Dad and I went to the hotel this morning to drop off the last few things, and we've had three trips to Sainsburys so far today, there will be one more visit to Sainsburys later as there are still a few things to get! Rob's family is arriving about 2pm, Alicia about 3pm and then we're going to get nails done at 3.30pm, to the church for the rehearsal at 6pm and back to the house with our side of the family for food this evening.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Busy Day
Managed to get through my list of jobs for today, with help from Jill. We managed to get from Hedge End to Southampton, to Winchester, to Eastleigh and back home - without getting too lost! Very glad we'd taken Sal's sat nav out of her car before we went and programmed everything in which meant the only difficulty we had getting anywhere was finding the entrance to the Swan Centre in Eastleigh, we drove round the whole thing and eventually found it.
Sal came back from the hairdressers with new hair and beautiful makeup following her trial for Saturday and it was a quick lunch before going to the Rose Bowl to pick up a few things from the shop for presents and then back home to wait for Mum & Dad to arrive. After being very calm and relaxed so far, today was a little blip for Sal but after a big cry when Mum & Dad arrived I think she'll be ok for Saturday now.
Sal came back from the hairdressers with new hair and beautiful makeup following her trial for Saturday and it was a quick lunch before going to the Rose Bowl to pick up a few things from the shop for presents and then back home to wait for Mum & Dad to arrive. After being very calm and relaxed so far, today was a little blip for Sal but after a big cry when Mum & Dad arrived I think she'll be ok for Saturday now.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Fun Day!
Today was officially Jen & Sal's day of fun. Sal's started off less fun with a trip to the gym while I sat in the sun in the back garden making more order of service. - almost finished now. I was also listening to the Hairspray soundtrack which I turned the volume down on after I realised there were quite a few people walking past the back wall and it was on very loud, while I didn't definitely hear any comments I did think there were possibly one or two people suggesting that they weren't appreciating the music as much as I was!
Fun day moved onto Spa treatments at the Hotel, Sal had the facial while I had the back massage (and I'm aching a little bit from it now), after we'd relaxed for a while we moved onto find somewhere for lunch. We ended up at Frankie & Benny's with good intentions that we were both going to have salads but then the menu came and we changed our minds very quickly - Sal took a little bit longer than me but then went for the pizza....and the cherry crumble, while I had the chicken sandwich....and the waffle with ice cream..... it was lovely!
Lunch was then followed by shopping and then an evening of order of service making. Not the most fun end to the day but we did get them finished at least. I have my task list for tomorrow, while Sal has her hair appointment I'm making myself useful collecting the hoop from the bridal shop, the pottery that they painted on the hen day, a few more shopping things to do and waiting for Mum & Dad to arrive later in the afternoon. My main task is to keep Sal calm...hopefully I'm doing ok on that one so far!
Fun day moved onto Spa treatments at the Hotel, Sal had the facial while I had the back massage (and I'm aching a little bit from it now), after we'd relaxed for a while we moved onto find somewhere for lunch. We ended up at Frankie & Benny's with good intentions that we were both going to have salads but then the menu came and we changed our minds very quickly - Sal took a little bit longer than me but then went for the pizza....and the cherry crumble, while I had the chicken sandwich....and the waffle with ice cream..... it was lovely!
Lunch was then followed by shopping and then an evening of order of service making. Not the most fun end to the day but we did get them finished at least. I have my task list for tomorrow, while Sal has her hair appointment I'm making myself useful collecting the hoop from the bridal shop, the pottery that they painted on the hen day, a few more shopping things to do and waiting for Mum & Dad to arrive later in the afternoon. My main task is to keep Sal calm...hopefully I'm doing ok on that one so far!
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Dress Collected - Tick
I think I've finished everything I need to do on my list of wedding things before I go to Sal's. Laraine has shortened my dress for me so now I don't need to hitch it all up just to be able to walk in it and I've been to collect it this evening. Now I just need to add all these things that have been collected to the list of things to remember to take with me, I don't think Sal would be too impressed if I arrived without my dress!
I've got a lovely long week off work to look forward to now so that we can get all the final tasks done before the wedding. I don't think there's too much to do - but it sounds like I hadn't completely handed over my order of service duty and we'll be finishing those off when I get there. Only 9 days to go now :)
I've got a lovely long week off work to look forward to now so that we can get all the final tasks done before the wedding. I don't think there's too much to do - but it sounds like I hadn't completely handed over my order of service duty and we'll be finishing those off when I get there. Only 9 days to go now :)
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