Here was me thinking that I was launching my way into my 31st year and have been reduced to a snivvling, coughing, shivering wreck. Yip, I came down with the dreaded lurgie on my Birthday night. So I'm sitting here from the comfort of my bed, hacking my lungs up inbetween waves of pulsating headaches.
Oh joy of joys.
But it hasn't been all doom and gloom. The last week and half has been jam packed with 'Social' Activities, and I suppose I'd better let you in on them!
Monday 20th
What can I remember from that far back? Well, there was work as per usual, and are you sitting down? I had an early night. I finished up at work, grabbed a chinese on the way home and had an early night!!
Tuesday
It was a particular busy day at work, I was trying to get my FD Sign Off report to reconcille - you know, nothing much other than a miricale getting the Budgeting Framework to Reconcille to the National Accounts Framework!
Still no joys. It's a rather complicated thing to be doing ;-(
However, I was meeting up with Jim, Joe & Norrie later on in the Marquis of Granby at Cambridge Circus at 7:30pm http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/18/1810/Marquis_of_Granby/Cambridge_Circus, to watch the Celtic vs Man U game.
What an evening!!! Celtic scoring and saving a penalty in the last 10mins of the game!! The whole pub was singing to the sounds of the Celtic Bouys and Fields of Athenry. We were all sufficently lubricated and decided to go for a curry afterwards! By the time we finished the curry it was well after midnight, and we parted ways and headed home.
Although Joe & I did pop into the CroBar for a quick one before I made it home around 2am ish.
Wednesday
A bit groggy this morning - I wonder why!! It was another fruitless day in the office trying to reconcile the FD report. I left the office after 7pm and was going to head straight home but Glen wanted to go for a quick drink.
Okay I thought. As long as I can get home for 9pm as I wanted to watch Torchwood (I know, I am a sad geek!!!). But you can already guess what happened......
Yes, that's right. I didn't make it home for 9pm. After a quick drink Glen was getting kinda hungry and wondered if I fancied going for some food. Since I was feeling kinda peckish, I agreed. Hell. I'd already seen Torchwood on the Sunday, and this was just a re-run. So off we went up to the Med Kitchen at Cambridge Circus for a quick bite to eat, then it was off home by 11pm.
Thursday
Am still trying to get the FD reconcillation table to friggin work. It's really, really driving me round the bend.
But at least tonight I have the IE Christmas Drinks to look forward to up in the Crown & Spectre with my team and the IE guys. As the day drags on and I'm still struggling with the friggin FD specifications, Dorian, Joanne and I are all chomping at the bit to get out of the office and up the the Christmas drinks.
It get's to 5pm.
Bugger this. We've all had enough, and decide to leave the office taking Anna with us.
Boy what a night!!
Joanne
More Xmas photo's can be found at; http://picasaweb.google.com/baskers1/IEXmasDrinks
Way, way too much red wine was consumed. When we left the pub, Joseph decided that he would prove his manlyness by lifting everybody up. And he was only drinking bloody lager shandies & water!!!!After we managed to escape Joseph's clutches we made our way over to a Suhsi Bar for food and Karaoke. We got the food alright, but were apparently too late for the Karaoke!! Disaster!!! Well, not that it put us down too much, we were all a bit too well lubricated and tucked into our food instead. Once that was all finished, we all parted our seperate ways and headed home, although Dorian thought it would be a good idea to pop into the CroBar for a nightcap....
Friday
Dorian never made it into the office today. I got a text from him at 9:20am saying that he was going to take today as leave - he was feeling way, way too rough!
I was feeling rather 'delicate' myself and didn't make it into the office until 11:30. But at least i beat Andrew in, he didn't make it in until 11:50am! We all sat downstairs at 12pm for lunch - I poked and prodded some chips around my plate - I couldn't really stomach food, but Andrew was in severe need of Lard.
After lunch I head back upstairs to my desk to work on the FD sign-off report with not much enthusiasim.
But oh my god!
A eureka moment!!!
I got the bloody thing to work! Even with a hangover like hell, I do my 'happy dance' around the office, rejoicing at the genius of my efforts!! I can't believe it works! Hoorah!
After I calm down, I remember that I have a 3pm meeting with Frederick from DCLG Department to talk about Treasury Reporting Requirements and Performance Management - darn, I need to prepare for that, so spend the next 30mins gathering all my things together for my 3pm meeting.
I look up at the clock.
3.05pm
then 3.15pm
3:20pm
3:30pm
I forget, it's 'Frederick' time.
He calls at 3:40pm saying he'll be 20mins. And you know where this is going!!!
Frederick arrives at 4:15pm.
;-)
I take Frederick to my desk and show him all the wonderful and lovely reports/validations that I am rolling out on COINS over the next couple of months - Departments aren't going to know what's hit 'em!! 'I said, who's the Daddy??', I'm the Daddy!!!'. Spending Teams are now going to be armed to the teeth with financial managment reports to take Departments to task.
After we leave there I wander down to the Feathers to meet up with Morrish & Stuart, only to find that they are nowhere to be seen! However, all is not lost. I bump into James who was wandering down the road with a can of Stella in his hand (he's a weegie!!), from the Divali festival in DfT.
I grab James and we goto the Feathers, whilst waiting for Tim to turn up from the Festival.
Wow.
Is this what the rest of my 30’s are going to be like??? Shoot me now. I’m definitely heading out tonight to celebrate my last night of being 30! To the Shakespeare I go later on tonight with a Felicity and Garth (or is it Gary?? - they met on MySpace.com just recently!), Mark & Teresa to see out my last few remaining hours of being ‘30’ in the style I have come accustomed to!
More Flic & Garth photos can be found at ; http://picasaweb.google.com/baskers1/FelicityAndGarth
Much celebrating was done. At the end of the night, when it had gone midnight, they all sing happy birthday to me in the pub. The landlord on hearing this gives all complementary drinks of "jagermeister". Now I've never heard of this before - it's like drinking cough syrup!! God it was minging and will certainly put hairs on your chest!We all leave the pub, and Felicity, Garth and I think it's a really good idea to have a birthday whisky when we get back to the flat.
3am is when I get to bed.
Monday 27th - my birthday!!!
Waking up is painful.
But I glance across the room and look at the birthday present Felicity had bought me!!
It's a cyberman action toy!!
Which goes rather well with the Season 2 Boxset of Doctor Who I bought as a birthday present to myself!!
I am geek girl.
I open up my birthday cards and put them up in my room before heading off to work. Slowly......
I poke and prod the food on my plate at lunchtime - I'm not really in a food mood, and my throat is hurting and my headaches, but I put that down to the 'celebrations' lastnight. I nip out at lunchtime for a couple of celebration drinks with Anna, Dorian, Nishi & Christopher down in the Cruddy bar, then head back to the office for my 2pm meeting.
Hmmm. I seem to coughing a bit now, but I think that perhaps the smokey pub has irritated my throat. I'm definatly not feeling right, but still think that perhaps now that I'm older the hangovers are worse!
Anna, Heather & I leave the office around 5pm and meet Morrish in Westminster Tube station to jump on the Jubilee line to London Bridge to walk to Vinopolis for my birthday celebrations and wine tasting session, whilst having a quick beer in the Anchor Inn waiting for everyone to turn up.
Me and Steve the Morrish monster
Tim turns up with prezzies for me!
Two very nice shiny sparkly bags with shiny boxes with presents inside. I open up the smaller one first.
Now what could he possibly got me? It's fairly light, and moves about in the box... hmmmm... what the hell could it be??? I open up the box and all is revealed.
Are you ready for this?
I don't think that you are!
It's probably one of the strangest presents that I have ever recieved in my entire life.
Can you guess what it is??
No, never in a million years are you going to get this one, so I had better end the anticipation now.
He got me......
.
.
.
A POTATO PEELER
Yes, that's right.
A POTATO PEELER
I did say that it was weird. Very strange man.
I open up the other gift with not a bloody clue what to expect.
Oh.
It's a normal one! Smellies!
Nice Smellies.
After that we go across to vinopolis and start out premium wine tasting tour. http://www.vinopolis.co.uk/groupbookings.php, sampling wines from all over the world and trying to take in what the wine guide is saying whilst sloshing the wine down!!
I quite liked the wine tour, but I don't think the boys did - I think they were expecting to drinks gallons of the stuff!! After the wine we sipped down our Bombay Saphires to cleanse our pallet.
Glen & Anna Cameron, Heather & Felicity
I could feel my strength just sapping away, couldn’t really eat the food, I’d just no energy. Most people went home after the meal, and Steve, Andy, Tim and I just popped into a pub, and I was just sitting there shivering and shaking! Couldn’t even finish my drink! We got a cab and headed home. Thank god we managed to find a cab, I was beginning to feel like I was going to faint at any moment. Straight home by 11pm, took some nurophen and went to bed shivering like hell!
Tuesday
