This is a test post.
March 19, 2009
March 15, 2009
10 Hail Mary’s
Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it’s been over a month since my last post…(lucky I’m not religious)
Yes it’s been a while since my last post. The simple answer is that I’ve been uber busy the last few weeks. I also changed jobs and it’s not so easy to blog when it’s quiet cos it’s NEVER quiet!!! Also, we’ve finally started decorating the house so all my free time has been spent on that.
Rather than give you a blow by blow account of the last few weeks, I thought I would give you the edited highlights…
- Decorated the living room.
- Started my new job – all is going well. I’m very busy which is good
- Work is a very sombre place at the moment as there are redundancies looming (I’m unaffected for now…phew)
- Started decorating the dining room to convert it into a sitting room. We’ve painted it and are collecting a new sofa this weekend.
- Alan is in Dubai on business
- Heather had her 9th birthday sleepover a couple of weeks ago
- Hamish jammed his finger in the door and had to go to A&E (nothing broken)
- Looking forward to our holiday in Menorca in June
- Hamish has been off school all week with chicken pox!
So that’s about it. We have some other BIG news but I can’t say what it is for another couple of weeks (and no, I’m not pregnant). So stay tuned for that.
January 26, 2009
Credit Crunch hits the Reid Family
It’s been a while since my last post, I’ve had a real whirlwind couple of weeks. To cut a very long story short, I was summoned by the Vice President of our Division to meet with him in his office a couple of weeks ago. I was informed that Marketing had to ‘get me off their books’ for a while so I was being re-homed in another department until things pick up when I’ll be moved back into Marketing.
So from Monday last week, I’m working in the Tender Team, putting together commercial tenders for the region. It’s not a million miles away from marketing actually so I’m finding it ok so far. There’s a lot of legal stuff I need to get my head round but otherwise it’s going ok and the girl I work with is really nice. Only downside is that I’ve had to move to our main building in Dyce and am working along the hall from Alan’s office!!!
But then again, I dread to think about the alternative!
Fortunately, nothing has changed in terms of job title and salary as I’m only seconded to a different department. Phew. It’s definitely a sign of the times, I was very nearly out of a job, like the 50,000 others in the UK last year. I feel incredibly lucky that I was spared but the reality is that no-one knows what’s round the corner.
January 6, 2009
Hogmanay
So another year, another party.
Although it was a far less drunken affair than last year when I had to be escorted home by my husband on one arm and 4 year old son on the other! I made a complete fool of myself last year so decided not to do a repeat performance.
Like last year, Wendy had a party at her gaff. As my family is spread all over the place, Hogmanay is a time to get together. I had family come from Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Glasgow and Manchester. The Darlington contingent couldn’t make it this year unfortunately. I didn’t drink too much on the whole but that didn’t stop me from doing the Sally Maclennan dance with paper plates and having a few rounds on the karaoke (well it is Hogmanay after all).
My mother, it has to be said, did not fare so well. Her trademark phrase “I just can’t get drunk on Morgans” has been proven wrong, completly and utterly!!! Let’s just say (as I know she reads this), she wasn’t seen or heard from until the 2nd of January. Say no more.
Hamish was over tired following a late night the night before so we headed off just after 1am leaving Heather to continue partying in my absence (that’s my girl).
Gary, my cousin Sharon and my Dad
Libby sings another tune
Aunt Mina and Gary
Oliver and my cousin Yvonne
Ski Torture
I make it look so easy don't I
I mentioned in a previous post that Alan got me a fast track ski lesson for Christmas…let me expand.
I had skied a bit as a teenager then had a refresher lesson a couple of years ago whilst living in Norway. I did better than I thought I would but make no mistake, I was happy just to get to the bottom of the slope without major injury. The problem I had was that I lacked the confidence to go back to the top on my own. Alan has never skied and he had to look after the kids anyway. So that’s about the sum total of my ability to ski. (Don’t be fooled by the photo!!!).
When we moved back to Aberdeen, we enrolled the kids into ski lessons on a local dry ski slope and have got quite good now. Alan has still never skied but likes the idea of a ski holiday to the Alps, so he decided that if I was better then I could supervise the kids on the piste while he learns. A good theory I grant you, it’s just the way he went about it…
Alan does not wait for anything, he has the concentration of a goldfish…he has the concentration of goldfish…he has the concentration of a goldfish…ok so get the idea. He decided to book me a 3 hour fast track adult ski lesson at Xscape in Glasgow which is basically a real snow slope, indoors (it’s refrigerated). Also he decided to do this on the 30th December, yes that’s right, the day before Hogmanay!
And to make matters worse, he was in Aberdeen so I had to go along myself as the lesson was from 7 til 10pm. So I donned my salopettes and hat and slung my skis over my shoulder like a professional and headed for my lesson.
There were 5 of us – 2 quite good and 3 pretty bad (I was one of the 3). He took us to the top of the slope and said, quite nonchalantly “down you go”. I tried, I fell. Shit totally shit. Not even slightly good.
So, skip 3 hours later and I’m actually pretty good apart from having no feeling in my arms on account of me using the rope tow* for 3 hours solid. By the end, I was parallel skiing and doing 5 turns on the slope. I hate to say it, I actually quite enjoyed it although 3 hours is too long by anyone’s standards, even the instructor called it a ‘tough shift’.
It’s a week later and my shins are still bruised! Looking forward to going again though, outside next time!
*The rope tow should not be confused with the poma tow that you stick through your legs – it’s just a moving rope which you hold onto to pull you up. So you have to hold your own weight each time you go up. 3 hours of this was torture but excellent for my bingo wings!
Old Schoolfriends
The next event in our Christmas marathon was meeting up with old schoolfriends. As Jools is the only one still living in Glasgow, it seemed apt that we meet there. Also as my friends are FINALLY having babies, drunken nights out on cider and blackcurrant were also ruled out, although I don’t think I’ve actually drank cider and blackcurrant since I was about 20!
Anyway, the first visit was in the evening. Alan had to go back to Aberdeen for work in between Christmas and New Year so I was doing the visiting alone. Kirsten and Andy had come up from London with their 2 kids Ellen and Rory. They were having dinner at Jools’ with no kids so I managed to gatecrash en route to my sister’s house where the kids were having a sleepover. Jools is still in ‘new mum’ mode as her baby Lewis is only a couple of months old.
I have to say at this point that her house is unhealthily tidy. There’s not so much as a packet of wipes on show. And a stray nappy sack…forget it. She claims her fiance does it all but I’m not so sure.
Kirsten, Andy and Lewis
Kirsten, Jools and Me
The following day, Kirsteen arrived from Perth with her husband Scot and kids Maisie and Tavish. Again we all met at Jools’ house as it was central. This time all the kids came along too so as you can imagine, it was chaos. It was also strange being in the company of other kids where mine are the oldest, it’s usually the other way around.
I hadn’t seen the 2 little ones Kirsten’s Rory and Kirsteen’s Tavish since they were born so it was nice to do my auntie bit for a while. We plied them with biscuits and even managed to get them to sit together for a group photo! I’m sure poor Jools was glad when we all left!
Auntie Jools with Rory
Kirsteen, Scot and Maisie
Old Friends
From left: Heather Reid, Lewis Gemmell, Maisie and Tavish Tares, Rory and Ellen South, Hamish Reid
Ladies who Lunch
On Boxing Day, we packed the car and headed down to Glasgow to enjoy the rest of the festive period.
On the 27th, I went to a girlie Christmas lunch with my sister and 3 friends from childhood. They do this every year but as I’ve been overseas for a while, I haven’t made it until now. Basically they have lunch and drink champagne until they fall down!
This year it was Aileen’s turn to host the soirée. It is customary at these events to bring something alcoholic and bubbly. So, by the time we had finished (around 9pm), between us we had consumed 12 bottles of champagne between 5 of us. Actually I should mention it was more like 4 as I wasn’t drinking to the same scale as my sister and co. This is largely due to the aforementioned bowling night I’d had the week before!!! Also, I’m not a huge fan of champagne and can’t drink too much of it.
In all, it was fun. We had planned another get together in February at Rhona’s house in Killearn but not sure if that was a purely alcoholic plan or if it is actually going to happen.
Elaine before she fell off the seat!
Wendy (my sister) and Aileen
Christmas Day
On Christmas Eve, we continued our tradition of watching a Christmas movie before the kids went to bed. We got them bathed and into their new pyjamas and settled down to watch the flick – The Nightmare Before Christmas. The kids were then in bed by about 9.
We were awoken on Christmas morning with the phone ringing. It was 8.15 and my mum was calling to wish everyone Merry Christmas. Amazingly, the kids hadn’t heard the phone and slept on!!! Once we gave them a shout and reminded them of the day, they were downstairs like a shot to see if he’d been.
Santa was good to the kids this year…
Heather got (amongst other things) Guitar Heroes for the Wii, a watch, Cluedo, make-up, dolls bed, chemistry set, sweeties, money, clothes, etc etc etc.
Hamish got (amongst other things) Mario Kart for the Wii, Lego Batman for the PS2, remote control tarantula (which he’s terrified of), Battleships, Dandy Annual, Ben 10 toys, Lego, Playmobil, Remote control car, Hot wheels, etc, etc, etc.
Alan and I had a quieter time as far as gifts go (this was agreed beforehand). Alan got a maintenance stand for his bike and I got a fast track ski lesson.
After the presents, we had our usual festive breakfast of Coco Pops then chilled out until dinner. We had a stress free Christmas dinner, just the 4 of us, which was really nice. In all, a quiet but enjoyable Christmas Day.
…this is where the quiet part ends!!!
January 5, 2009
Random Stuff from before Christmas
Happy New Year everyone!
Firstly, apologies for not updating the blog sooner, I was away over the whole festive period so am just catching up with everything now. This post is more about the photos than the text. They’re just random bits from before Christmas. The actual Christmas and New Year posts will follow.
Washing of Teddy
I washed ‘Teddy’ just before Christmas as he was getting grubby. Hamish was happy enough for me to do this as long as he sat in front of the machine until it was finished!!!
Albyn School Nativity Play
Hamish played a snowman in the school nativity play (and there’s me thinking Bethlehem is hot in December!!!)
Work Bowling Night Out
If you look at the cocktails on the table, you’ll see why I didn’t drink much during the weeks that followed!!!
December 23, 2008
A moment of Reflection
I could have written this post about my birthday on Sunday and how I got lovely presents and had a nice day and how it was all about me…but I won’t. A brief conversation with my parents on Sunday brought back the horrors of the Lockerbie disaster so I thought I would dedicate this post to all those who lost their lives.
I remember it vividly. It was the 21st December 1988, I was celebrating my 16th birthday by attending a school Christmas dance in the evening. My parents were enjoying a late vacation in Tenerife returning on Christmas Eve. I only found out about the distaster after the dance when I was picked up by a school friend’s dad. I was sleeping at his house that night and I remember us all sitting glued to the TV for what seemed like hours.
Pan Am flight 103 bound for New York had been blown out of the sky over the small town of Lockerbie. All 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground were killed. The flight departed Heathrow 25 minutes behind schedule – had it been on time, it would have blown up over the sea making the investigation more difficult. Lockerbie was only an hour away from Glasgow, where I lived. I guess that’s why it’s still so fresh in my mind.
My parents returned home on Christmas Eve as planned. Christmas was quiet as I recall. My dad was a constable in Strathclyde Police at the time of the disaster. Lockerbie was in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland but given the scale of the disaster, additional police officers from other divisions were called in to assist in the massive clearup operation that followed. My dad was called away several times in the following weeks.
He never really spoke of what he saw. I was only 16 at the time and don’t really remember it all but one thing I do remember was the night my dad came home after his first visit to Lockerbie. He didn’t utter a word, he had a whisky then straight to the bath.
At this time of year, please just take a minute to remember all those who died and their long suffering families and also those who, like my dad, witnessed horrific scenes during those sad weeks that followed.
