gothams3rdrobin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gothams3rdrobin) wrote2009-09-01 08:09 pm
gothams3rdrobin) wrote2009-09-01 08:09 pm
Very tired - but not as tired as yesterday!
It was ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thaya_rayal's hen weekend this weekend, so off we toddled to the wildes of Hampshire Friday lunchtime! The plan was for Mel, myself, Mel's Mam, Will's mother Jane and Will's sister Rachel to get the train to London on Saturday morning, meet with Mel's most long-standing friend Hannah and go see Les Miserablé at the Queens Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue.
The plan had to be amended slightly, as Mel's Mam got poorly on Friday morning; while she made it down to Aldershot, she wasn't up for the weekend in London, so she stayed behind and helped Will look after Rowan for me ;-) Thankfully it wasn't a serious bug, but it was a shame she couldn't come along this time around.
Mel, Jane, Rachel and I wended our merry way to London and got to Shaftsbury Avenue with no difficulties whatsoever, promptly finding Hannah in the crowd. We then ajourned to a pub down a sidestreet for a spot of lunch before heading to the theatre. The show was excellent and, while we did have a few mutterings about one or two casting decisions, everyone involved did a fabulous job. Just like with We Will Rock You, it was brilliant to have a little extra context after so many years just listening to the CD - I will never ever listen to 'Master Of The House' in the same way again! *grins* I really, really hated when they let off bangers just off to the side of the stage, though - made me jump Every. Bloody. Time. *sigh*
When the play was over, we met up with another of Mel's friends, Corrine, outside the theatre. We then braved the Underground once more to reach Hyde Park Corner, where we queued for quite some time to enter the Hard Rock Café. It was in there that Mel and Rachel discovered the Mojito - which tastes like mint water to me *shudder* - and a couple of cocktails were imbibed while waiting in the bar area for a free table. Corrine and I were keeping off the liquor, but the others didn't let that stop them! *grins*
The meal was great, though we made the mistake of ordering a couple of sharing platters as our starter - we all struggled to finish our main course, and none of us made it to dessert. Which was a shame, as Jane and I were very tempted by the apple pie.... Everybody was surprisingly sober when the night ended, despite the wine and cocktails that had been consumed, so returning to our hotel wasn't as much of a struggle as I had anticipated ;-) Mel was nicely silly, but then that's not much different to how she is when she's out having fun anyway!
We met up with Hannah again just before lunch on Sunday, on the banks of the Thames just down the river from the Houses of Parliment, as we had booked tickets for the London Eye. That's a very nice experience; the pods you ride in are huge, and they move really sedately so you barely know you're moving at all! Mel got tonnes of really good pictures as we went around. After that, we bade goodbye to Hannah, as she was still knackered from the night before, and decided to go on the river boat tour down the Thames to Greenwich. We went under all the bridges between Westminster and Tower Bridge, taking snaps of things as we went - The Globe Theatre, the HMS Belfast, the Mayflower Pub...loads of history on that one stretch of the river - then disembarked at Greenwich to go look around the market, since the boat wasn't leaving for another half hour. We missed it on the way back though, so we had to wait in line another half hour for the next boat. The return journey was just as pleasant, and the waterboatmen were very funny in their commentary, but we kept catching a cold wind - and none of us had coats! I'd left mine in Aldershot, having spent almost half an hour before leaving trying to get the cat hairs off it! *eyerolls at self*
We then planned to go back to the Hard Rock - the high tarriff the night before having not dampened Mel's enthusiasm for mojitos ;-) - but the queue was just as long as it had been the night before, so we opted to go to a quieter resteraunt just down the road from our hotel. After that we chatted in the hotel bar for a while - Mel and Rachel again drinking cocktails, but these were not as well received (Frozen Margeritas? Uuuugh!) - before collapsing to bed. The river trip seemed to have worn everyone out! :-)
I have to say, though, that throughout the whole weekend we had no difficulties with the trains whatsoever! There was practically no waiting and, while we had to stand for at least fifty percent of the time, at no point were we crushed like sardines, the way Mel and I were when we went down for We Will Rock You. It was very surprising, and I for one didn't dare comment while we were there for fear of jinxing our good fortune! lol!
We were considering doing something on the Monday, before returning to Aldershot, but everyone was knackered by this point. Mel also wanted to see for herself that her Mam was ok again, and I have to admit I was missing my boy something fierce too. Since Pam missed out on the weekend, it was decided that everyone would go to a local pub/resteraunt for lunch; Will, Rowan, and Mel and Will's fathers joined us and we all had a good old natter while Rowan played out in the play area. It was an amazing contrast to when we were in North Wales for Sharon's wedding; there was a playground outside Sue's house, but whenever Rowan went down to play he got harrassed by the local kids, whereas at the pub in Aldershot he played happily with loads of kids. One of them even came over to give him a one-armed hug in farewell when we said Rowan wasn't going to be able to come back out again. Awww! I don't know if it was because it was a pub playground, so there wasn't any territorial issues, but it was so lovely!
Mel's parents brought us back home again that evening, and we were both shattered but it took a while before Rowan fell asleep so I couldn't go to bed particularly early. Then I had to get him shifted this morning as Mam was looking after him for me, and she had to get the bus at eight thirty to attend a doctor's appointment. I really wasn't in the headspace to do any work today - and the part-timers meeting I usually attend on a Tuesday morning was cancelled due to heavy workloads, so I didn't even have the extra hour in the pub to wake up! Plus I'm getting increasingly pissed off at the new way they're working out our productivity now - but that's a rant I don't want to get into at the moment.
Thankfully I have tomorrow off, so Rowan and I can relax for a day before he starts Year Three (!!) on Thursday and I can start getting my own routine back to normal. I won't enjoy having to work on Friday, but that's the price I pay for having tomorrow off. Would have liked to have had today off too, but all the holiday slots were already taken. *sulks* Not like there was a Bank Holiday yesterday or nothing... ;-)
Ah well. Finished and submitted my last Tutor Marked Assignment for the OU's Welsh course today. Don't think I'm going to pass this course, as I expect I'll flunk the End of Course Assesments royally, but I'm passed caring now. Just gonna do the best I can, and leave it at that. Gonna do more academic-type courses from here on out. *determined nod* Languages by correspondance is not for me, obviously.
Now I get to relax for a while....
thaya_rayal's hen weekend this weekend, so off we toddled to the wildes of Hampshire Friday lunchtime! The plan was for Mel, myself, Mel's Mam, Will's mother Jane and Will's sister Rachel to get the train to London on Saturday morning, meet with Mel's most long-standing friend Hannah and go see Les Miserablé at the Queens Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue.The plan had to be amended slightly, as Mel's Mam got poorly on Friday morning; while she made it down to Aldershot, she wasn't up for the weekend in London, so she stayed behind and helped Will look after Rowan for me ;-) Thankfully it wasn't a serious bug, but it was a shame she couldn't come along this time around.
Mel, Jane, Rachel and I wended our merry way to London and got to Shaftsbury Avenue with no difficulties whatsoever, promptly finding Hannah in the crowd. We then ajourned to a pub down a sidestreet for a spot of lunch before heading to the theatre. The show was excellent and, while we did have a few mutterings about one or two casting decisions, everyone involved did a fabulous job. Just like with We Will Rock You, it was brilliant to have a little extra context after so many years just listening to the CD - I will never ever listen to 'Master Of The House' in the same way again! *grins* I really, really hated when they let off bangers just off to the side of the stage, though - made me jump Every. Bloody. Time. *sigh*
When the play was over, we met up with another of Mel's friends, Corrine, outside the theatre. We then braved the Underground once more to reach Hyde Park Corner, where we queued for quite some time to enter the Hard Rock Café. It was in there that Mel and Rachel discovered the Mojito - which tastes like mint water to me *shudder* - and a couple of cocktails were imbibed while waiting in the bar area for a free table. Corrine and I were keeping off the liquor, but the others didn't let that stop them! *grins*
The meal was great, though we made the mistake of ordering a couple of sharing platters as our starter - we all struggled to finish our main course, and none of us made it to dessert. Which was a shame, as Jane and I were very tempted by the apple pie.... Everybody was surprisingly sober when the night ended, despite the wine and cocktails that had been consumed, so returning to our hotel wasn't as much of a struggle as I had anticipated ;-) Mel was nicely silly, but then that's not much different to how she is when she's out having fun anyway!
We met up with Hannah again just before lunch on Sunday, on the banks of the Thames just down the river from the Houses of Parliment, as we had booked tickets for the London Eye. That's a very nice experience; the pods you ride in are huge, and they move really sedately so you barely know you're moving at all! Mel got tonnes of really good pictures as we went around. After that, we bade goodbye to Hannah, as she was still knackered from the night before, and decided to go on the river boat tour down the Thames to Greenwich. We went under all the bridges between Westminster and Tower Bridge, taking snaps of things as we went - The Globe Theatre, the HMS Belfast, the Mayflower Pub...loads of history on that one stretch of the river - then disembarked at Greenwich to go look around the market, since the boat wasn't leaving for another half hour. We missed it on the way back though, so we had to wait in line another half hour for the next boat. The return journey was just as pleasant, and the waterboatmen were very funny in their commentary, but we kept catching a cold wind - and none of us had coats! I'd left mine in Aldershot, having spent almost half an hour before leaving trying to get the cat hairs off it! *eyerolls at self*
We then planned to go back to the Hard Rock - the high tarriff the night before having not dampened Mel's enthusiasm for mojitos ;-) - but the queue was just as long as it had been the night before, so we opted to go to a quieter resteraunt just down the road from our hotel. After that we chatted in the hotel bar for a while - Mel and Rachel again drinking cocktails, but these were not as well received (Frozen Margeritas? Uuuugh!) - before collapsing to bed. The river trip seemed to have worn everyone out! :-)
I have to say, though, that throughout the whole weekend we had no difficulties with the trains whatsoever! There was practically no waiting and, while we had to stand for at least fifty percent of the time, at no point were we crushed like sardines, the way Mel and I were when we went down for We Will Rock You. It was very surprising, and I for one didn't dare comment while we were there for fear of jinxing our good fortune! lol!
We were considering doing something on the Monday, before returning to Aldershot, but everyone was knackered by this point. Mel also wanted to see for herself that her Mam was ok again, and I have to admit I was missing my boy something fierce too. Since Pam missed out on the weekend, it was decided that everyone would go to a local pub/resteraunt for lunch; Will, Rowan, and Mel and Will's fathers joined us and we all had a good old natter while Rowan played out in the play area. It was an amazing contrast to when we were in North Wales for Sharon's wedding; there was a playground outside Sue's house, but whenever Rowan went down to play he got harrassed by the local kids, whereas at the pub in Aldershot he played happily with loads of kids. One of them even came over to give him a one-armed hug in farewell when we said Rowan wasn't going to be able to come back out again. Awww! I don't know if it was because it was a pub playground, so there wasn't any territorial issues, but it was so lovely!
Mel's parents brought us back home again that evening, and we were both shattered but it took a while before Rowan fell asleep so I couldn't go to bed particularly early. Then I had to get him shifted this morning as Mam was looking after him for me, and she had to get the bus at eight thirty to attend a doctor's appointment. I really wasn't in the headspace to do any work today - and the part-timers meeting I usually attend on a Tuesday morning was cancelled due to heavy workloads, so I didn't even have the extra hour in the pub to wake up! Plus I'm getting increasingly pissed off at the new way they're working out our productivity now - but that's a rant I don't want to get into at the moment.
Thankfully I have tomorrow off, so Rowan and I can relax for a day before he starts Year Three (!!) on Thursday and I can start getting my own routine back to normal. I won't enjoy having to work on Friday, but that's the price I pay for having tomorrow off. Would have liked to have had today off too, but all the holiday slots were already taken. *sulks* Not like there was a Bank Holiday yesterday or nothing... ;-)
Ah well. Finished and submitted my last Tutor Marked Assignment for the OU's Welsh course today. Don't think I'm going to pass this course, as I expect I'll flunk the End of Course Assesments royally, but I'm passed caring now. Just gonna do the best I can, and leave it at that. Gonna do more academic-type courses from here on out. *determined nod* Languages by correspondance is not for me, obviously.
Now I get to relax for a while....