Friday Five!

Happy Birthday Sobe!  Sending thoughts and prayers for your mom, doctors are often wrong.....that’s why they call them “practicing physicians “!

Exiting for all the bits of wood JFKimberly!
I'm glad you enjoyed Caithness elee27!
KFDancer, hopefully your Mom will know a lot more once they do some more tests.   Then at least you can know what you're dealing with. Good thoughts!
I bought my husband for his 40th birthday (Last April!) the Concorde simulator experience at Brooklands. We are finally going in March next year!!!  But!, you get to bring a guest to 'fly' too for an extra £20 so, I also get to take part in said Concorde simulator experience.  We are very excited!! 
Enjoy your biscuits and gravy Nan. Yum!! 

1.) Off to Edinburgh tomorrow to go to the Zoo - We planned to meet friends so we could see the giant lanterns, but my husband didn't actually look at the dates it's available (2 weeks to go) - so, err....

2.) I'm having so many discussions on job options, wild..........  All good things, but feet are in two canoes!!! 

3.) Having to take random days off until the end of the year to use up holidays, so I don't lose them, so I think there will be a lot of beer making in my future! 

4.) Getting totally manic until the end of the year and into next year. Diary is totally chukka-blok!  Life of a musician at this time of year can be crazy!! 

5.) Loved seeing the pictures from my sisters taking their kids Trick or Treating . There are all these big Victorian mansions in my parents neighbourhood (and one is properly haunted, so they say, they've even written books on it!), so they were all spooky and decked out. I remember going through the Haunted Houses as a kid and pooping myself! So fun! 

You will be soooo close to so many of us when you come. Me, Jimbo, Margo, XoD, and many more. Let us know if you want to do a beer night when you are down!

Yippee going on the Concorde!

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I thought the Concorde bit was a bit overrated.  Not sure I would spend extra money for it. It's never actually flown and is cobbled togethor with bits and pieces from other Concordes. 

The rest of Brooklands is super-cool though.  I thought all the old jet air planes customised  for the Sultans were way more interesting than the Concorde. 

There's a different  museum near Bristol that's dedicated to the Concorde, where they made them.  The rest of the museum was pretty pants when we visited, but the concorde part was really good.  They had an indoor multi media show and having a go at the simulator was free. 

Fun fact about Brooklands:  They claim to be the birthplace of British aviation, but history says different.  They had one guy who rented space there who was, at the time , Britain's foremost aviator.  He had no idea how planes worked, had never flown and was partial to gluing feathers to the wings of his planes.  This was after the Wright Brothers, when French pilots were having long flights.  The British clown was very good at taxiing, and once hit a bump and bounced up in the air  for Britain's first powered "flight".  Brooklands did everything they could to make his life a misery, raising his rent and eventually kicking him out.  Of course, this doesn't stop Brooklands making a bit deal of this guy and proclaiming themselves the Birthplace of British Aviation. 

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I thought the Concorde bit was a bit overrated.  Not sure I would spend extra money for it. It's never actually flown and is cobbled togethor with bits and pieces from other Concordes. 

The rest of Brooklands is super-cool though.  I thought all the old jet air planes customised  for the Sultans were way more interesting than the Concorde. 

There's a different  museum near Bristol that's dedicated to the Concorde, where they made them.  The rest of the museum was pretty pants when we visited, but the concorde part was really good.  They had an indoor multi media show and having a go at the simulator was free. 

Fun fact about Brooklands:  They claim to be the birthplace of British aviation, but history says different.  They had one guy who rented space there who was, at the time , Britain's foremost aviator.  He had no idea how planes worked, had never flown and was partial to gluing feathers to the wings of his planes.  This was after the Wright Brothers, when French pilots were having long flights.  The British clown was very good at taxiing, and once hit a bump and bounced up in the air  for Britain's first powered "flight".  Brooklands did everything they could to make his life a misery, raising his rent and eventually kicking him out.  Of course, this doesn't stop Brooklands making a bit deal of this guy and proclaiming themselves the Birthplace of British Aviation. 

She was in flight for 7 years and did 663 flights!

We had a close family friend who was the test pilot for the Concorde’s (he died a while back) so it’s close to my family’s hearts. And it’s £5. 

She was in flight for 7 years and did 663 flights!

We had a close family friend who was the test pilot for the Concorde’s (he died a while back) so it’s close to my family’s hearts. And it’s £5. 

But not any commercial flights.  More of a prototype, without a full interior. 

The Concorde at the air museum in Edinburgh is brilliant!!! I'd recommend that one. 

We're going in the simulator (which is a real one ,even though it doesn't move anymore) at Brooklands, so that's all we care about. 

I do agree that we need a meet up when you come down.

Friday! I haven't done one of these in a while. Sending good thoughts KFD, kidney tests can be off for a lot of reasons (including too much nsaid use) so try not to panic until there is more testing. I hope it is all manageable.

JFK - your trip sounds wonderful. Plus heat! All good things.

1. I still adore my short haircut. I had it trimmed for the first time yesterday and I was able to easily style it even when it got longer.

2. New laptop is awesome. Also finally got an external CD/DVD drive so I've been busy ripping all the music I couldn't play in my car (which also doesn't have a Cd player). Backing up everything from the old computer so it can be decommissioned is the project for this weekend. I love rediscovering music I forgot I had.

3. I went to The Range with my husband today to finish our Xmas decoration planning. I have lots of ornaments that came from the US, bought a little 4ft tree on amazon, and now we have lights and star and garland (which is tinsel here). And a box to put it all in after Xmas. Its the little things

4. We saw Dave Gorman on Wednesday night and the show was phenomenal. I really love his style and his supporting act was good and different. Plus a very memorable giraffe joke.

5. We had no trick or treaters last night. Hopefully next year we do! Will have to do more to show its welcoming back here. Now we have tasty candy to enjoy (because I only buy candy to give out that I can also eat)

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Happy Friday!

1.) Off work today (using up holidays).  Need to head into town, but it's snowing at the moment and my husband has the Land Rover as he's off to a seminar today in the opposite direction from town.  So I will wait, as I am not sure how my wee Skoda will do in the snow.  At least its cosy here by the fire.  

2.) Waiting to see if I have been offered this job , but have to give an answer to my current employer about new position.  Gahh!!!   

3.) Busy weekend ahead - rehearsals, PT sessions, playing outside at a bonfire/fireworks night tomorrow. Brrr.   

4.) Going to roast up one of my big pumpkins here and make puree and then make some yummy things with it.  Been craving pumpkin butter for ages and ages, since I used my last jar up about 2 months ago 

5.)  Trying to figure out all the craziness in my diary for the next few months. Manic!! 

Hey... I just realized it's Friday.  Again.  Already.

I hope you get news about the job offer soon, PB, so you can decide what to do .  Meanwhile, your Skoda will totally make it!  I drove my Mazda 3 in Detroit snow all the time.  You can do it!  (Or you can continue to enjoy the coziness by the fire while you wait for the Range Rover to return.)

My Five:

1. That was a quick week!  WTF?  What just happened?

2.  Yesterday, I made farfalle pasta from scratch.  Oh, yes I did.  It was great fun, and tasty, too.  And then I made spicy meatballs.  When my husband got home from his half-day of work, I browned the meatballs, then he started a sauce, and we let it simmer for a few hours, and then we had homemade pasta and meatballs in tomato sauce.  Gratuitous photo of the pasta-making attached at the bottom. (I have a wavy-edge cutting wheel thing, but I put it away last month when we had to take down a lot of our kitchen stuff to make room for renovation work... otherwise, my pasta would've been even cuter.)

3.  Steam sent me an email saying some games on my wishlist were on offer, and this time, they got me... Early this week, I spent £1.24 on two very cheap puzzle games.  I've only played one of them so far because one is Sudoku and I know what it is, and the other one was new and different and when I tried it I got instantly hooked... I've been Nonagram-ing the hours away all week.  I honestly cannot account for my time.  Oops.

4.  I had a flu jab on Monday.  While there, I remembered that at my last hospital appointment (respiratory, sometime early this year) my BP was higher than normal and it troubled me, but I forgot about it.  So I asked the nurse if she wasn't too busy if she'd mind doing a check.  It was high again, and she looked at my history and agreed that this is worth investigating, so now I have another appointment for a BP check on the 21st... if it continues to be high, we'll consider further investigation.  Meanwhile, I'm conscious of how much salt and caffeine I'm consuming, and I'm trying to be a bit more physically active.  But those new Steam games I bought are not helping.  Kneading pasta dough was helpful, though!  More of that would be good.

5.  My husband has a very bad head cold with a terrible-sounding sinus inflammation/infection/thing.  His face hurts.  I really hope I don't get it.  He has my complete sympathy, because I know that face-hurting feeling and I do not want it.

I'd have no issue driving in Detroit. I'm from Massachusetts so snow doesn't bother me.  But they're just not great at clearing roads here! (It's the fact that they're icy under the snow that worries me). 

Lol, Land Rover Discovery, not Range Rover. We're not that posh, yet.... Wait until we win the lottery 

FRIDAY!  FRIDAY!  FRIDAY!

1.  My mom saw the specialist on Tuesday and he said her blood work didn't concern him.  He ordered an ultrasound of her kidneys and repeat blood work in a month's time.  As she stopped the medication that was the likely cause nearly 2 months ago, he expects her results will be completely in the normal range when repeated.  So she had been at Doctor Google for nearly 2 months freaking herself out unnecessarily it seems.  Couldn't be more grateful!

2.  Went out with friends last night.  Didn't leave until midnight.  Got home to a screaming baby.  Finally went to bed at 2:30.  At a comedy show tonight and War Horse tomorrow night.  I'm going to be TIRED all weekend, I know it.

3.  Off to the hospital soon for the boy's skin prick test for his allergies.  With a bit of luck, he will not have a reaction and will be booked in for a milk challenge.  Fingers crossed!

4.  Had a tough morning with my daughter this morning.  She was upset about the shoes I put in her tennis kit.  <sigh>  Her football boots came home DESTROYED the other day with mud and I didn't want her to wear her brand new shoes today until we see if these come home covered in mud.  But cue MASSIVE meltdown.  Great when you've had virtually no sleep.

5.  I'm tired.  I could go for a big ole nap.

I agree with the snow concerns here. I have an automatic and definitely will not be going into work on the days its predicted, not worth the risk due to ice. I drove in blizzards in a manual car with no issues, but its different here. Its all ice and not plowed or salted. I know I could control a small spin out, but black ice is no one's friend.

For the job PB, could you accept the new role if its something you want, and then if they offer the other position and you want that more move on? I know it feels awful to do, but you don't want to be stuck if the other company would be better for you!

My 5:

1. Somehow, I'm much better at morning than my husband. I basically have to wake up at the same time every day, or on the days I need to be up earlier I am exhausted and almost non functioning. So even when I don't need to be I end up awake early without an alarm. But he had a meeting first thing this morning, and I realised with 5 minutes to go that he wasn't up and moving. So I brought him coffee and tried to set up his laptop while he woke up quickly.

2. Had an ultrasound for an injury this week. Good news is no torn muscles, bad news is I don't know why I'm in so much pain and PT is making it much worse. So... Hoping they will finally order an MRI.

3. They are launching a medical cannabis trial and a couple women with my condition are doing the rounds in the media bringing attention to it. They're so brave! I am grateful for people like them who are able to put themselves out there. In many US states just having it is enough to qualify without having to prove level of pain/disability because its just known that it's incredibly painful.

4. I really hate needing pain meds. Because of the back injury I needed to increase the frequency of using them or I won't be able to sleep from the level of pain. Grr.

5. My kitty is adorable. She was cuddling the power cord for my work laptop yesterday while I was working from home.

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Happy Friday, everyone .

1) Went on my trip to Paris last weekend - of course, the weather was terrible, so my Friday at Disneyland was rather grey and drizzly (all day long). It was also busy, because it was both the French and UK school holidays, but, hey, it's still Disneyland, and it was all decorated for Halloween .

2) I spent Saturday and Sunday at a multi-TV show convention in a hotel by the Eiffel Tower - it had actors from a few different TV shows. One of the guests was Ben Barnes (he's in The Punisher and Westworld, and he was Prince Caspian in the Narnia movies), who was a last-minute addition to the con after another guest cancelled, but he was totally lovely, and Jason Dohring, who played the character in Veronica Mars whose death totally messed me up this summer.

3) Had an awesome autograph experience with Jason at the convention. On Oct 31st, one of the big fan groups that has supported the show for 15 years launched a charity campaign to raise money to Save the Bees to thank Jason for his hard work on the show (as he is a beekeeper himself)... they raised over $1600 in the first 2 days, so I told him about the campaign and showed him the announcement for it on my phone, and he loved it! He signed an autograph for all the fans who donated (on which he wrote "Save the bees! Are you *bleep*ing kidding me? I love you!") and then as I turned to leave his autograph table, he stood up, told me to wait and pulled out his wallet to give me some money to donate to the campaign on his behalf . It was pretty awesome .

4) Got some bad news yesterday morning - my mum called to say my dad has broken his hip . He was crossing the road in the dark on Wednesday night and although he checked for cars, he didn't see the guy on a bicycle heading right towards him, about to knock him over! He had surgery last night to pin it, which went well, and I think he's doing well today, even sitting up for a few hours . Unfortunately, the accident means that he won't be allowed to travel to South Africa for our family trip next month . At the moment, we're not sure what this will mean for the holiday - whether Mum will stay at home with him, leaving my brother and I to go by ourselves; or if Dad will be okay to stay at home by himself and Mum comes too; or if we will end up cancelling the whole trip.

5) More travelling next week: I'm off to Germany next Thursday for a music festival .