Well, officially it is summer, but you wouldn’t know it. I just had to go and add another jumper – and today is the warmest day predicted this week! *sigh* At least the red wine is going down well.

I had better catch up on the last few weeks of my life. Well, it is probably fair to say that I haven’t had a life the past month. Work had over-shadowed everything. Every waking moment I was either sleeping, eating or working. It really catches up on you – in the beginning it is almost exciting, you have the energy, you know that hard work pays off. However, you become weary after a while. By the end, sheer exhaustion is all that remains. Day to day tasks seem bigger than they should, and you’re eventually overwhelmed by them.

At this point, I must mention that if it hadn’t been for my extremely supportive, loving and fantastic husband, I would have struggled to cope. But he has been in the wings, cheering me on, reminding me that the end is in sight.

Our go live was last Monday, 2nd August. And I am pleased to announce that it has been a success. The hard work had paid off. And all of a sudden, I feel like I have my life back. It is still busy, as it is a rolling go-live over the next few weeks, but the toughest bit is behind us. If we make it through the next month, we can give ourselves a decent pat on the back. And by ‘we’, I mean everyone on the project team. They certainly made my job a lot easier as I could rely on them every step of the way. I think they might be getting the “Flagship Reference Site” they were after.

The sad news is that I was working through the sunny bits of early summer. Now, as my life re-emerges, I am met with grey, grim and wet. The weather office has been lying about a warm August …

However, can’t sit and grumble all day. There are some positives. For example, there have been positives and things to look forward to. They include:

• We went and bought Tim a new bike for his birthday. His birthday isn’t until early September, but if we waited until then, he would probably only get to use it next summer!
• Bouchie and Hayley passed all their exams. Well done!
• A Joules (clothing) shop has opened in Wilmslow – hurrah!
• Mini are launching their new bigger 4×4 in September and I have booked a test drive. (Although I am also being lured by the BMW X1!)
• I am flying to South Africa on the 14th September for my annual ‘girlie week’ with my sister.
• We are considering a trip to New Zealand next year for the Rugby World Cup. And if things work out (they never do ….), we might even take a longer break and include visiting Arna in China, all our friends in Australia, and perhaps even stop over somewhere in South America for a true ‘around the world trip’. I must mention that that means we’ll have to synchronise our projects, the economy needs to improve and we had to have saved enough money. Unlikely, but one can hope.
• We hope to go out to Cartagena, Colombia in January 2011 (projects and economy permitting)

I am being called to help with the food. Will continue later…