wagwaan?

Twice in one day!

I finally resized the pics from my little day out. I knew I'd never take pictures all week, but here are the ones from that one day. Not brilliant, but then I only had the point and shoot with me.
Week in the life

Life's good

I might be paraphrasing here, but a post on my friend Maria's blog reminded me of this saying (attributed to Buddha): Let us rise up and give thanks for today we learned a lot. And if we didn't learn a lot at least we learned a little. And if we didn't learn a little at least we didn't get sick. And if we got sick at least we didn't die.
Now I don't know about you, but that little saying right there makes me smile. Because we all go about worrying about our lives, or getting depressed, but really, if we're still alive, then that's got to be a good thing, right?
I was reminded of this quote when I was speaking on the phone to Danny, our major shareholder at work and a multi-millionaire New Yorker. I told him I'd heard he'd been in hospital and hoped he was better. He was quite straightforward and told me "oh I had surgery for prostate cancer" and went on to tell me about it. He had polio as a child so the op was complicated by his physical disability, and he spent 5 1/2 hours in surgery* and 10 hours in recovery. He said it was 4 hours before he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. But he went on to say that in this difficult economic climate, cancer certainly puts things into perspective!  We also chatted about the fact that my boss has gone to Amsterdam today, in order to attend the funeral of an ex-director of ours, who died in his sleep last week. Aged 61. That's no age, is it?!   Once again, I'm reminded to SEIZE THE DAY. Without being morbid, we don't know how long we've got on this earth, so we really should spend more time making the most of our lives.
*For those who know what it is, I asked if they used the Da Vinci robot, but he said he wasn't a candidate for it. He commented on the price of it too!!

Fingers crossed

DD had her interview with Jessops today. Fingers crossed she gets the job - she really needs to be out there working, and although the future goal is to be a full-time, self-employed photographer, first of all she wants to save up to go to the US and Canada next year. I can't believe that, by the way: my little girl wants to go abroad. All by herself. You have no idea how HUGE that is!
Anyway, she got up bright and early to go do her French assistant bit, and I had a bit of a lie in before popping out to BM to pick up some clothes we'd had put by (I had a 40% off voucher, so it would be madness not to use it, eh?). One of the outfits was a pretty black blouse with white piping frill on it that DD wanted to wear to the interview. Very chic. I also picked up a grey jacket for work, a black blouse with white polka dots, a red cardigan and a bright red blended wool short coat - the whole lot cost me £64, an absolute bargain.
Rushed home in time to get DD sorted and she went off, quite relaxed, to the interview. Some time later, just as the Other Half and I were about to go out again, she came home all smiles. She felt she did well, which is hopefully a good sign. Together, we walked back into town (at the same time as the hordes of fans heading to Vicarage Road for the match), and wandered round the market and the Pound shop. I was nice and warm in my new jacket and old scarf, and felt quite snazzy, I must say!
So - the afternoon has passed having cups of tea, reading my book, websurfing and snoozing. And listening to the rain. How was YOUR day? 

It's Fridaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

We got here at last!  Today I had a brilliant day. The coffee morning was a resounding success. Janie's brownies were to die for and we collected nearly £350, which the company will match, so that's nearly £700 for MacMillan Cancer Support.  I left work at about 2pm and went and had a cup of soup at Pret a Manger next door whilst reading my book. Then I went to bank the coins from the morning, and finally I made my way to South Kensington where I had coffee in another Pret with a lady from a recruitment agency. Just to get to know each other, you understand, in case she has something interesting for me...
After that, it was still not yet 4pm, so I decided to linger a while, and to pretend I was a lady of leisure, like all the people milling around South Ken. Heard lots of French voices because it's round the corner from the Lycée Français (you can even buy Carambars and Choco BN next door to the Tube station - for a price!).  It's also just round the corner from the boss's house in SW3; how the other half live, I tell you.   After I had finished my cafe latte I headed for the Natural History Museum, opposite the French Embassy. I love that museums are free in London. I only spent an hour or so wandering around the ground floor, but it was great. I haven't been there since we went there on a school trip when I was in primary school, and I remember the model of the blue whale from back then. Was rather excited by adverts for the NHM's skating rink that opens for the winter on 6th November!
At about 5 I headed home - slightly delayed by previous signal failures on the Circle Line. We've now got the fire on and we've had a light supper and I am SO looking forward to the weekend. Even the forecast of drizzle and rain cannot dampen my spirits. All the more reason to snuggle up in woollies and sit in front of the fire with cups of tea and a book. Yum.
I'll post the pictures tomorrow, together with some photos from my interpretation of Ali E's "week in the life".  My life is so métro-boulot-dodo at the moment, I am not sure a whole week would be anything but crushingly boring, but a few glimpses might be alright! In the meantime, that's it from me, as The Tudors are about to start.  Nite nite.

Is it Friday yet?

I don't want to seem like a wimp, but I've been exhausted by recent events at work. So much so that this morning I woke up in a panic clutching the alarm, which made me realise it must have actually gone off, although I didn't remember hearing it... Luckily I must have only snoozed for 10 minutes, so I wasn't late for work.
My boss, who had a cold yesterday, has suddenly developed "flu". Man flu maybe?  No, that's mean of me... Anyway,  he wasn't in today and couldn't phone because his "throat was too sore". Instead, there was a steady stream of emails all day long as he worked his way through his inbox.
We kept busy, despite his absence, and we are now all ready for the MacMillan "World's biggest coffee morning", albeit a week late. The chef has prepared the brownies, and I've prepared the posters etc, and we'll be down in the dining room collecting money for charity whilst studiously avoiding chocolate overload. I am intending to get a bit of a weight loss this week, after all.
Last but not least, before I fall into bed for a well-earned early night: I bought a book from this collection yesterday when I popped out for lunch. It's called The Diary of a Provincial Lady and is very funny. I'm sorry I never heard of the author sooner. On the way home I realised I was carrying my Cath Kidston shopper and the book was peeking out the top of it, in its matching CK cover. I didn't do it on purpose, but I detect a trend...
Anyway, night night all. Looking forward to the weekend, and hope you are too.

Phew!

I'm baaaaaack!   DD is a clever girl and mended the PC and reinstalled everything.  Unfortunately, we lost all our cookies so I can't get on all the websites I used to until I request a new password, but it's all good. On top of that, the busy time at work is officially over - last night we had a black tie dinner at the Royal Courts of Justice and I had to stand out there for over 1.5 hours greeting guests and ticking them off a list. Dinner was lovely, and I obviously went over my calorie allowance for the day, but hey...who cares, right?!  Today was lovely at work because people kept coming up to me and congratulating me on the lovely time they had, which was sweet, but I had to put them right (I'm so modest!) - I only did a teeny part of it. My big thing was the committees and Board last week, and the Group Conference Sunday night to Tuesday lunchtime.  I've had enough long days to last me for a while, thank you very much, and I'm looking forward to the weekend.
In other news, DD got a job working for a little French school that operates on Saturday mornings in a nearby town. It exists for French children who go to school here, to help them read and write in their mother tongue, so they don't forget it. I wish we'd known about it when she was little, but she's turned out ok *smile*.  My friend Stephie, who sends her kids there, told us they needed a classroom assistant for the littlies, and she said she immediately thought of C "because she's so good with kids"!   It's just a few hours a week, but she really enjoyed it and it's pocket money...  She also has an interview this Saturday afternoon at the local Jessops photographic shop, so fingers crossed. Oh, and she dropped off her cv with a local photographic studio, and the receptionist who took it said she'd put in a good word for her.  With a bit of luck, she'll be gainfully employed by one of these places in the not-too-distant future, which she needs because she wants to save up to go abroad next year. Oh yes, and she needs to pay me rent!
Joan - I can't believe Amy has moved out and it's just the two of you now. Hope the kids get on alright; reminds me of their dad and me xx years ago - what fun eh?
Anyway, I'll update more another day because tonight I just want to relax.  Glad you all missed me LOL!!