I feel I have been so lazy at writing. I really wish I had more time to write, but my live really feels pretty hectic at the moment.

Last weekend, I barely had time to blink. I left work early on Friday afternoon to get to the station in time to get a train down to London. My friend Arna (from Australia, now living in China) was in town for 2 days and I really wanted to see her. I knew it would be a whistle stop tour, because I had a wedding which started at lunch time on Saturday. I am so glad I went down though – I really enjoyed catching up with everyone I used to work with 5 years ago during the good old days of BKM.

On the way down, I was really wondering whether we would all have visibly changed. After all some of us were going from early to late thirties, or even early to late forties. But I was pleasantly surprised. Arna insisted that she couldn’t see my wrinkles yet (she was just being polite!), but I do think that the bunch of us were looking pretty much like we did before. Perhaps a little wiser, a little more chilled out, but it certainly didn’t feel like it had been 5 years!

I do hope I will have the opportunity to go and see Arna in China. I am working on Tim at the moment. We had planned to take some time out this year or next, but this recession does seem to have scuppered our chances. However, if all changes on the work front and the work dries up, we may still do something like that.

Let’s get back to my weekend. Saturday morning I had to get an early train back. It of course meant that I didn’t get nearly enough sleep. I wish I could have stayed on just a little longer to do a bit more catching up, but it wasn’t going to work out like that. I arrived home in time to have a quick bite to eat, then get ready for the wedding. It was Rick Gandy and Caroline (Caz) Davies’ big day. I felt sorry for them that it was cloudy and even looked like rain. The forecast wasn’t good. The church service was fantastic – the vicar was brilliant. He kept the service fresh and interesting with a mix of serious and a bit of humour.

As we left the church, the sun had come out – just in time for the photos. Excellent! We made our way to the Mere Country Club for a really magnificent reception. The setting was beautiful, the food was excellent, the company at our table, fantastic. I even sat next to a world renowned cricketer (who Tim was trying to recruit for their over 40s team!!). What a wonderful wedding though. We enjoyed it thoroughly!

Later … 8.30 pm Tuesday

I am on the train back from London. Missed my train by 2 hours – it has been a very long day – I left the house at 6.15am and won’t get back home until after 10.00pm!

I can state categorically that today was one of the worst days of my life, as far as work goes. Let’s just say that one person is undermining all the good work we have done on a project and is threatening to rail road the project which is due to go live next week. He also treated my boss appallingly in our meeting which created an awfully embarrassing situation.

I fell so emotionally drained. I realised today that it isn’t work that makes you tired. It’s the emotional difficulties you have to put up with at work that makes you feel tired and drained. I feel like I could sleep for a whole day – and this is merely 2 weeks after my last holiday!

Anyhow, let’s get back to more fun things to report on: On Sunday, Tim and I set of for Delamere Forest to go and do a long walk (10kms). The weather wasn’t too good, but it was pleasant enough as the rain stayed away until we were home. The first hour went well. We were following the map and directions okay. The routes in some areas of the Forest were really not clearly marked at all, and the directions very scanty. After 2 hours, we realised that we must have gone wrong somewhere, because we were only about 10 mins from where we were an hour ago! Eventually we took a turn that took us completely out of the forest (north), when we were supposed to be heading back to the car park (south). I think it is fair to say that we got completely and utterly lost!! In the end we were out for more than 3.5 hours, I was late in meeting up with a friend afterwards, and both of us were completely knackered. The good news is that we got to eat some wild raspberries. And I love wild (and free) food.

On our way home, we took a scenic route. It was very pretty. But then managed to get stuck in a traffic jam behind a group of grey-haired walkers. We don’t know what that was all about. At first we thought it might be a demonstration of sorts, but soon realised it looked nothing more than a big group of oldies going for a walk … and taking up the whole (country) road!

This week ahead is going to be a busy one. Tonight is a write off: bath and bed only for me. Tomorrow I need to go for a bike ride to compensate for the fact that I probably won’t have the energy to get up at 5.00 am to go for my run. Thursday during the day I have a job interview and then I am definitely meeting up with my friend Hayley for a bike ride, Friday I am planning to go to bed at 8.00 or 9.00, because early Sat morning we’re heading south to visit my friend Tamsin on Saturday and Matthew on Sunday.

Job interview? I hear you ask. I must be honest, I have been pretty lucky work-wise. I think I have managed to accumulate some quite unique skills these past years. This is the second job that ‘has found me’. Of course there are no guarantees at this point, because I haven’t gone in to see them yet. However, it is good that I am being approached for certain types of work without looking for it. And so much more so in times of recession. I do hope that this will work out, especially as it is back in the Private Sector. I do like working in the public sector, but the risk is that you get branded as a ‘public sector’ body, and then find it impossible to get back into the private sector. Over the past years, there have been many good projects in the Public Sector. But as Mr Brown and Mr Darling start putting the screws onto public spending, my work in the sector might dry up! In short: keep your fingers crossed!

Not too long until my train gets to Stockport. I can’t wait to get back home. I need a long, long hot bath, a cuddle from both my husband and cat, and then my cosy bed!