The weekend is here at last

Jo's stress ECG seemed to go OK on Thursday, although we have to wait until we see the full results - but she was relieved it wasn't too stressful an experience - and she did say she was pretty pooped after it was all over.

I had a really busy Friday - mostly caused by the current banking crisis which is beginning to have an impact on the business - so I was pleased when I got home last night and then went out to play football and have some beer and a curry - check the football blog for the photos etc. (http://bvetsfootballgroup.blogspot.com/)


Today I'm watching the golf from one of our favourite courses - Abu Dhabi - it's got this fabulous, although ostentatious clubhouse in the shape of a falcon with its wings outspread. We first went there in 2000, but this photo was from our last trip there in 2007:

Jiggly Jo

Fingers crossed that Jo gets the all clear today at her stress ECG. She's nervous about it - but more from the point of view of the logistics and practicality of it rather than the actual result!

She's concerned about stripping to the waist and having the electrodes fitted to her and then whether she can wear a bra and maybe t-shirt when she steps on the machine. I know, I know - perhaps the image isn't one you want to dwell on, but that was last night's main topic of conversation.

Wednesday is Luca day

I forgot that Carole has her regular Wednesday night class and, when we're around, Luca comes to ours for tea until Gary comes out to pick him up after work. Jo had finally finished off the cardigan she had been knitting, so Luca was running around with it on:



I've also got a video of Luca, but it may not upload at home, so if it doesn't appear here, I'll try again tomorrow from work:

I was back at Bannatyne's again yesterday and had intended to go there again today, but had to hang around at work and never got away in time. It doesn't take a Freud (or a Kelly) to work that one out however. Still, I was probably due a day off - I'm hoping to play squash again tomorrow and then there's football on Friday - outdoors - it's a 50th birthday do for John Moir and we're going for a curry afterwards.

I did manage to meet up with Nigel (briefly) last night (photo on football blog) - I guess the next time I see him will be at our Desert Classic in Tenerife in 5 weeks' time.

That's it for today - no lists, no international photos or quizzes - just a straight diary.

Tedious Tuesday

Not much happening today - all quiet. Is it the lull before the storm?

I've sent Lucy the Eastenders DVD from 28th December - hope it works OK - if not, I'm stymied.

Hoping to have a quick beer with Nigel on the way home from work, before he heads back to the Gulf tomorrow. It's his 50th next week. In fact, it's amazing how many of our sporting group are having big birthdays this year - apart from me, there are no fewer than 2 other 60's; five 50's; and one 70 (Syd) - quite a year!

Getting all set for our trip to Liverpool on Monday to watch the Merseyside derby match. The following evening it's the Carling Cup semi-final second leg at Old Trafford, with Derby leading 1-0 from the first leg. Harry is a Derby fan and I've managed to get the MUFC tickets for that match as well, so it rather looks like I will be staying down in the Merseyside area for 2 nights now.

I've downloaded a few albums recently - Bon Iver, Black Keys, The Fireman (McCartney), Soweto Gospel Choir (for Jo - we saw them at the Fringe) and, most recently, from 1964 Tom Paxton - Ramblin' Boy - I think Jo will like this one - this was as near as she ever got to being a fan of anyone.

Today's international photo comes from our trip to Boston in 2005:

Monday test

Back at work today and I promised Jo that I would try and upload her video of Luca's birthday cake and candles - I had tried on my laptop on our home network and had experienced the same difficulties as Jo had earlier on her PC, so I'm now using the office's internet connection to see if that makes any difference, or whether the video is somehow corrupt and won't upload - fingers crossed!

Hey - it worked! It took some time, however.

Lucy phoned yesterday - they're all fine - but haven't heard from Kelly recently - have they booked their flights to Tenerife yet?

Some squash tonight hopefully, but nothing much else planned for this week - although Nigel has just flown in from Dubai again, so might manage a beer with him sometime before he flies back on Wednesday.

Colin came round to watch the Man Utd - Chelsea match yesterday - it was great and it looks like being a very interesting run-in between now and April/May in the Premiership.

I've also been trying to put Eastenders on DVD for Lucy using the programme (Nero, not Merlin as Jo called it!) that seems to work on her PC, but it keeps crashing my laptop. If I just use Windows to do it, there's no problem with my laptop and the DVD looks fine here, but Lucy can't seem to be able to view them properly - dilemma.