It's May and we have sunshine

Does it seem to you as if time is flying by faster than it ever did before? It seems as if we just finish one weekend and the next day we're finishing up another one.

A lot of things have been happening in our life... and of course the minute I typed that my head went completely blank HAHAHAHA... Oh Yeah... Olivia is back down at school and preparing for her final recital at RNCM. It's May 26th for any of you who may stumble up on this blog and be interested. Things are a little unsettling for her just now as she approaches the end of her time at the Royal Northern College of Music; she's faced with the outside world and we're all praying she is either accepted into a program in Amstedam, that she'll be auditioning for this week, or that she finds another company to work with. I can't imagine facing the world, these days, head on like she is about to, but she's a very smart girl and we'll be here if she needs us.

We've had a couple of really pretty days the past few weeks. Lots of blue sky and sunshine and spring flowers and trees blossoming everywhere. The daffodils have run their course for the season but we still have a few tulips. I need to get out and weed the dandelions out of the grass and from beside the driveway before they all go to seed, andof course the lawn needs mowed. Bless their hearts, the missionaries came a few weeks ago and weeded the back garden really well so I won't have to do that. I'm not sure yet if our budget will allow for new plants in the garden but we still have a little time to figure that out.

The repair work in the bathroom is still NOT finished, although the contractors that did the work thinks it is. The insurance company who paid for the work has another thing to say about that! They were sure surprised to see just how little work was done and how poorly it was done for the price they paid. We'll most likely have to have the new ceramic tile floor lifted up so that the repairs that should have been done to the floor, get done! The contractor didn't stabalize the floor so the grout between the tiles is cracking and chipping up because the floor is moving underneath the tiles. It was most likely warped from the water and the contractors didn't even address that problem. Anyway... the bath will have to come out AGAIN and some of the tiles will need to be replaced when the shower is moved to the center of the wall rather than 5 inches from the corner. Sheesh! Did you follow all that? Then there's the skirting board issue outside the bathroom and the water damaged wall they didn't even look at (apparently). It's just a mess which means most of the work is going to have to be ripped out and re-done. Calgone... take me away.

Oh well... moving on...

I've discovered Twitter and would you believe Yoko Ono is following me on my Twitter page. HAHAHA... I found her on one of my friends Twitter pages and was following her when all of a sudden she must have clicked on the follow button to follow me. Imagine that... Yoko Ono... That's too funny! Anyway, I can see why it's fast becoming the hottest new networking site. I inadvertantly spent almost 3 hours on it today before I realised I'd been there that long. I'm going to have to limit my time and stick to it.

Will and I are still keeping well and trying to stay away from all coughs and sneezes inadvertantly aimed in our direction. A good friend of ours was admitted to hospital with influenze but Dr's haven't said yet whether it's type A (aka swine flu) or not. All we know is she's really ill. This new strain of swine flu has everyone concerned. I remember when it hit before with devestating results. Pray it doesn't hit as hard this time.

Well... as I rack my brain I can't for the life of me remember the things I was going to post so it will have to wait for another post. Sorry... but I hope all of you are doing well and that you have exciting things happening in your life.

It's Spring time and the Daffodils are out in all their Glory

Mom would love Scotland in the Spring time... everywhere you look there are fields of Daffodils. She always called Daffodils her 'happy flower' and I have to whole heartedly agree with that! I planted daffies (as they call them here) in our garden a few years ago and they're finally starting to come up in bunches rather than just ones and twos. Another few years and they're be GLORIOUS.

Drummer (our neighbourhood peacock) is in full voice now as well, he's begun strutting his stuff all over the neighbourhood and I'm sure within a few days he'll be waking us all up way too early on Saturday mornings.

Spring this year has brought me a rare surprise... for those of you who know me you might want to sit down for this one... I've found a series of books I can't seem to put down. I finished the first one in less than 3 days which is almost unheard of for me. I'm halfway through the 2nd book and would be finished if I didn't have to work for a living. This weekend may find me finishing it and moving on to the 3rd in the series. Pretty scary huh... me stuck in books... well... if you're a Twilight fan you'll understand why. It took a lot of 'encouragement' from Olivia but I finally broke down and picked up her Twilight book while I was down in Manchester with her last week. I won't go into my personal feelings about the story because that could take up way too much of your time but I will say... more men should read this series and learn a few lessons from Edward Cullen. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

Speaking of being down in Manchester with Olivia... the Opera was incredible and Olivia is really, really good at playing really, really bad! She was boo'd the first night I saw her and that in itself was a great compliment. She really was convincing in her character so much so that the audience couldn't cheer her at the curtain call... It was GREAT!

I went down on Tuesday last week and Will joined us on Saturday for closing night. I must say that if you've never taken a train trip cross country you really should. It's a great way to see what you don't see from the motorway (freeway for you back in America). I'm going back down in May (via the train) to take Olivia to a John Barrowman concert for her birthday which was the 19th of March.

Oh I should say Happy birthday to Olivia and Will, both their birthdays were in March, Olivia on the 19th as I said and Will on the 30th. And since I'm saying Happy Birthday to my family I'll include one of my best friends and little brother Mark who's birthday was yesterday, yup, he was born on April fool's day; Get this though... he was due on Valentine's day. Do the math... My mom's Dr told her he started out as a love child and ended up as a joke HAHAHAHA... and boy is he a jokester! Happy Birthday Mark, you can kick me later!

Well, Will just walked in the door and is asking about dinner so I'll go for now but there's more... the saga of the bathroom repairs continues and maybe that's what I'll comment on next time.

Katya Kabanova... It's an Opera

Well... Last night was final dress rehearsal for Olivia and company. She's playing a really evil mother-in-law in the Opera Katya Kabanova. I'm very happy to report that the final dress went really well... in fact it went BRILLIANTLY! Tomorrow is opening night... I'm going down on the 24th and will get to see 2 performances. Will is taking the train down for closing night. It's gonna be great! Stay tuned...

Call me grumpy guts

So this week has been a big hairy... My manager has had several 'projects' for me to do while my co-worker is in New Zealand visiting her daughter and new grandson. We're hoping to have everything done by the time she gets back because she's not one who takes to change very easily so we're making the changes and all she has to do is get used to them. BUT... because I've been doing so many extra things my own work has backed up over the days. I caught it up today but I'm really tired and find myself a bit grumpy tonight.

I'm really enjoying my time alone in the office; things run so smoothly and it's peaceful... awwwww... so peaceful. I like my co-worker but she's a bit rough around the edges and keeps things stirred up all the time. She keeps threatening to retire early and lately I find myself hoping she does. That would open a whole new can of worms because then I'd have to train someone so that I can go on holiday. I'm getting too old for this... I just want a nice quiet job and no fuss. Calgon... take me away