Swanage Day 2

No real rush to get up today. We went to mum's caravan at 10:30 for breakfast. Mum made a lovely fry up. Toni, mum and I drove to into town to do some shopping and the kids went swimming.

Following shopping and swimming we had a light lunch before heading off for a walk around a bit of Swanage. We stopped off for a cup of tea before going to the beach via the ice cream shop!

Aaron, Gemima and Sam playing in the caravan:


Sam in the sand:


Gemima in the sand:


Aaron digging like mad!:


Aaron tried to take down Toni:


...and FAILS!:


Sam's new creation and girlfriend, Sandy Beach:

Swanage Day 1

Toni, Gemima, Aaron, Shane and I left early (well 09:30 anyway) as it was nearly a 4 hour drive that awaited us to Swanage. Deviated to SWF Post Office to pick up parcel and then we were on our way. Journey started off pretty well until the traffic conspired against us and we got stuck in some awful tailbacks. We stopped off at some services to recharge briefly before heading off again. We had expected to arrive in Swanage at 13:30 but actually got there at 17:00 so it was 7.5 hours instead of 4! Luckily mum reminded me of the Sandbank Ferry so I managed to change our route and take that which saved us another hour of driving.

When we arrived we had a much needed cup of tea before we went and sorted out caravan out. Sophie, Sam, Aaron and Gemima went to go swimming but unfortunately the site pool closes early on a Saturday and Sunday so they came back almost straight away.

We got ourselves straightened out and then took a walk down to the site restaurant where we had a really nice meal before heading back to mum's caravan to play cards. After a few rounds of Chase The Ace Toni, Aaron, Gemima and I went back to our caravan. Sam decided he wanted to sleep in ours so he came too leaving mum, Sophie and Shane in the other caravan.

The view from our caravan:


Toni and I inside our caravan:


Aaron:


Shane & Sophie:


Sam:


Gemima:


I'll post a full gallery of pictures when I get back
And YES I do know its very sad to be on holiday and still blogging LMFAO!

Last day of work!

YAY!
Last day of work before my holiday!
Toni is coming over with Aaron and Gemima tonight and Shane is staying over too. Then early tomorrow morning we are all driving down to Swanage to meet my mum, Sophie and Sam for a week in a caravan!

Taking it easy and preparations

Well after a mad week at work things have finally settled down a bit and so tonight was spent taking it easy. Got in and did some chores, had dinner and chilled in front of the TV. I did get some of my stuff for holiday prepared though so I'll have less to do tomorrow (not that there was a lot to prepare mind LOL)

Was weird again clattering around the house on my own even though I did get a chance to wind down a bit.

I've been spoiled

It's been really nice the past couple of days waking up in the morning with Toni there and getting up together without her having to race off at stupid o'clock. Although I hate the thought of being "normal" I have to admit I do like the "normality" that I feel sometimes in these situations LOL.

Light snack

When we got back from North London Toni and I popped to Asda and got a few bits and just had a light snack for dinner before showering and bed.

Quick tour of North London

Met Toni at North Greenwich after work today as she had agreed to take me through to North London to pick up my Gallien-Krueger bass amp.

I was in charge of directions and actually managed to get us there and back without much hassle (which was a relief for)

Delighted to have my amp now and so I feel more ready to take on my role as bass player in Hollywood Doll.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad,

Hope you have a great day.

Love Keith, Sam & Sophie
x

A most agreeable evening

It was S4B's birthday today so Toni bailed out and came to stay with me for the night. went to Asda when she arrived then we were really indulgent and had chips and dips followed by steak and chips for dinner. We then chilled out in front of the TV for a while before crashing out.

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Mad day at work and quiet house

Today was really busy at work with things going critical once again so it was a relief to get home. Only problem with coming home was that it was empty. The novelty wore off really quickly and with Toni around and Sophie and Sam on holiday I was just rattling around trying to occupy my time. Hollyoaks, EastendersPC, Big Brother, PC games and WWE wrestling are all very well but no substitute for human company.

Lots of texts between Toni and I before we started talking on MSN. She commented that she can't wait for the say when we don't have to talk to each other through a computer, hopefully it won't be too long!

Coffee and parting

It was another of those mornings where Toni and I got up together, had coffee and then parted for out respective works. Didn't feel weird this time, it was nice.

Party fallout!

Not exactly a taxing day today!
Toni and I popped out early-ish to get some milk as we had run out and we sort of tidied up about as people slowly drifted into the land of the living (and a guilty party were outed!)

Once every one was up we all shot off to a cafe for a gorgeous big breakfast. After that we parted company and gave Karen's brother Chris a lift back to Romford. We popped in to see his flat and had a gorgeous coffee before heading back to SWF.

When we got home Toni went and had a bath and I just crashed out. We slept for absolutely ages, got up for a short while before crashing out all over again!

Karen's Cocktail Party

Got the train back to Eltham and then we drove to Erith for Karen's Cocktail Party. Had to meet Karen at GB Tattoos to get her house keys as her friend Karen 2 was getting inked. Toni took the opportinity to book herself in for her first tattoo while she was there.

We then popped to Morrisons to pick up some booze for the party and decided to have something to eat there as well. Drove back to Karen's and met Karen, Karen 2 and Anna.

We sat in the kitchen talking and joking and ordered some Chinese food before Karen decided we should sample the shots that she had bought. We ended up having five each at 17:00! We popped upstairs to get dressed (and stuff *whistles*) and then had our Chinese food.

Rest of the night was a bit of a blur although I know there was lots of sex on the beach and various other cocktails! Some very amusing moments when Toni and Karen started spanking each other and then had a tickling fight on the sofa (although from the photos below it looks a bit more suspect than that!)

Toni getting ready (I've always wanted to try and get a photo liek this):


Your truly looking almost normal for a night out:


Toni looking fab (and studying cocktails):


Karen:


What on earth are they doing (LMFAO):



You can see all the pictures on my Picasa web album here:
160808KarenSCocktailParty

Ann Summers

After waving the kids off Toni and I popped into Ann Summers for a fun browse. There were some lovely things in there that we have our eye on for after pay day but Toni couldn't resist a lovely corset top that she ended up getting really cheap.

Sophie and Sam off on their holiday

Early start today as we had to get Sophie and Sam to Victoria Coach Station by 11:45.

This is them just before we left:


We drove to Eltham and popped into Toni's mums, waking Jade up in the process!

Drove to Eltham station and then hopped on a train to Victoria. As we had woken early and not had breakfast we went into Garfunkel's for breakfast. Toni and I both had Full English, I let Toni have my tomato and re-arranged her plate in a very childish manner:


Following breakfast we walked round to Victoria Coach Station to meet mum. Had a chat before the coach was due to leave and then we waved them off.

A slow Friday night

After a hectic day at work I got home and waited for Toni to arrive.
We then took Sophie to George to try and get her a swimming costume, after some gnashing of teeth we did finally succeed and Toni and I bought some fab coloured tights.

Next stop was Asda and we bought pork chops for dinner as we hadn't had them for a while.

Dinner, Eastenders and Big Brother rounded the day off before we all had an early night as Sophie & Sam were off on holiday with my mum tomorrow.

Smart as new paint in their gay new packet!!!

They don't make them like this anymore!

Madness at work

My word, it's total madness at work.
Not only are we working to a totally unrealistic deadline but we also have a completely mental curveball lurking under the covers that is proving to be more hassle than it's worth.
Every day gets busier and more stressful...........hope we can somehow pull out all the stops and get it done.

Gemima is out of hospital

Great news!
Gemima was given the all clear today and has now been discharged and is back home. Seemed to take forever so I am relieved that she is now much better

Happy Birthday Jade

Happy Birthday Jade,

Hope you have a great day and get lots of nice things

Keith, Sophie and Sam

Gemima, not so good news

Just heard from Toni that Gemima has taken a turn for the worse and won't be coming home today. She is back on nil by mouth and they need to do an ultrasound scan as she is complaining of stomach pains. Fingers crossed this is just a short term blip and she will will be out as soon as possible.

Housework and hugs

Most of today was taken up with doing a mega housework blit on the house. It's not been that clean and tidy in a LONG time. Wonder how long it will last for? Over you kids................ LOL

Toni came over with Aaron once she was done at the hospital. We had dinner and watched Not Another Teen Movie. Then it was time for showers and snuggles.

Gemima should be going home!

Just had a text from Toni saying that Gemima had a good night, her drips are out and she's up and dressed today. The Paediatric team are happy for her to go home and they are just waiting for the surgical team to see her and then they'll know if she can go home today or tomorrow.

Thank goodness for that!

Grumble grumble

Woke up at 09:00 today and decided that I really do not like spending a weekend away from Toni. It is very silly and I don't want to do it again.
*sigh*
Oh well, now I am awake I guess it's time to go and do the housework
Grumble grumble

Not sure I like this

I made dinner and Sam and I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Sophie graced us with her presence and I had a brief discussion with her about have to contributing more towards the house. She didn't seem very impressed but at least didn't explode on me.

Very odd feeling with Toni not being here. This is the first time we have apart on a weekend for months and I don't like it at all. I know there is a very good reason for it but it's still hard to tell my heart that :o(

Gemima is doing well

Quick update from Toni to say that Gemima is doing well. She has been much more perky today and has been eating too which is a great sign!

No Vendetta

I did try and see if I could get a lift to Vendetta but failed on that score. It feels so weird knowing that I have been to every Vendetta since it started (and always with Toni) and this is the first time I've missed it.

Happy Birthday boss!

Happy Birthday Steve

Hope you have a great day and didn't get into too much trouble for being late to meet your mother in law!

Another early start for a Saturday

Got up quite early today as Toni needed to get to the hospital to see Gemima and I needed to get back to SWF to do some Capitals stuff. Plan had been just to get the tube and train back but the Jubilee line was OOS. Toni offered to drive Sam and I all the way back to SWF.

We ended up detouring via Asda so that Toni could get some stuff for Gemima and fill the car with fuel and then we went into Lidl so that I could get me shopping for the week. Following that was a torturous journey back to SWF with countless delays that Toni could have done without. When we got back to SWF she straightened her hair, had a coffee and then had to shoot back. So strange with her literally just popping in.

Met Sam and off to Toni's

Met Sam at Shenfield after work and we got the train to North Greenwich to meet Toni.

Toni made some lovely pork chops, new potatoes and salad for dinner which was absolutely gorgeous. We chilled out and watched some TV and then watch cult classic Critters before admitting defeat and having another early-ish night. Sam and Aaron however continued until about 2 am!

Busy busy busy

Had a bit of a late state today as Mike Babb was driving in and so very kindly picked me up so I didn't have to leave until 08:20 which was nice.

It was deadline day today so it was all a bit hectic desperately trying to finish items off. Lots of things seemed to go wrong and conspire against us but we pretty much got everything done. We did take a brief time out to watch the opening ceremony of the olympics and then ate doughnuts to celebrate Steve's birthday.

On the plus side the day did fly by.

Long day

The early start made the day REALLY long today. It just seemed to drag and go on forever which was no fun at all. Was lazy and had pizza for tea and then watch some TV with some before heading off to bed.

Gemima update

Toni said that Gemima was stable but had got quite bad and they had inserted a tube through her nose to drain off the poison. Poor little thing, must be so horrible and yet she seems to have gone through the whole thing acting much braver than most adults would.

Early start for me!

Had to get up early today as I needed to be dropped off at North Greenwich to get to work and Toni had to go straight to the hospital as she had had a text from Nick saying that Gemima had taken a turn for the worse.

It was a bit weird travelling in from the opposite direction and even weirder being at my office by 08:10.

Night at Toni's

Went to Toni's tonight to give her some relief and support as Nick was taking a turn at staying overnight at the hospital. Gemima was still doing OK and was stable.

She and Aaron met me at North Greenwich and we went to get some bits from Asda before going to have a coffee at Buenes Aires Cafe to meet Jade from work. When we got back we chilled for a bit and Jade made a lovely stir fry with rice noodles. We were going to watch a DVD together but nobody could make their mind up what to watch. I ended up watching Big Brother and then we had an early night.

In a shocking move Jade had tidied up her room so photographic evidence was taken:

Tidy room:


Forget to dust?:


Oh no, a poltergeist is in residence:


Angelic? mmmmmmmmmmm:


Might be needing that prayer flag!

Update on Gemima

Turns out Gemima did have very serious appendicitus and has been operated on already. She is doing well. Toni is staying with her tonight at the hospital.

Gemima not well

Got a call from Toni this morning saying that she had gone to pick Gemima up from Karen's as she had been unwell in the night and was taking her to hospital. She has to have some blood tests as they suspect it might be appendicitis. Hope things are OK and that it is nothing serious.

Strange but nice........

......waking up this morning and Toni still being there as she didn't have to rush off at stupid o'clock. Was nice to get up and get ready together. It was even stranger when I had to leave first and waved to Toni as I went. :o)

Don't take photos first thing in the morning please!

She just can't stay away!

Toni left early this morning to take Aaron back and go to work but then I got a text saying that she had left her client's games and would have to come back and get them in the evening. Naturally I had no objection to her coming back and staying another night.

Had a nice relaxed evening eating, watching TV and chilling out.

After a quick shower we snuggled to some lovely candlelight, if only every day could be like that!

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Snotogram

After dinner and Batman Toni went and had a bath and I wrote a snotogram to Britannia Parking Ltd disputing the ridiculous £80 parking charge and basically telling them that they would be receiving the £2 for extra parking time and nothing else. I also pointed out that their ticket was filled in incorrectly. Will be interesting to see if they dispute things or just accept the £2.

Sleepy, dinner and more Batman

Once we got back tiredness kicked in and we went and had a long sleep which resulted in a later dinner. Being in a Batman mood Sam decided that we would watch Batman & Robin, which was fine with me has it has Uma Thurman in my favourite villain outfit:

The Dark Knight

Toni and I took Sam and Aaron to see The Dark Knight. It was a really good film and although not strictly canon it was nice to see The Joker return and the introduction of Harvey "Two Face" Dent. It is such a shame that Heath Ledger passed away as his portrayal of The Joker was awesome and I'd have loved to see him continue it into more films.

If you haven't seen it yet, definitely go!

Nice late start

Had a lovely sleep in following on from Low Down & Dirty last night. Unfortunately this left us little time for the afternoon plans so we shot off to Asda to get chips and dips and then we had a quick lunch before heading off to Basildon.

Low Down & Dirty

Evolution were holding an 80s night called Low Down & Dirty so Toni and I decided it was definitely worth checking out. While we were getting ready Sophie decided that she wanted to come with us.

When we arrived there was band called Disarm who were playing, very good punky/sleazy style and I can see why Kerrang! are raving about them.

It was a great night with some really cheesey 80s tunes being played. Once again Toni accosted Katie's police hat and also spent most of the night brandishing a whip (which was used to great effect and also split my trousers).

Comedy moment of the night was two of us dancing around like loons to Wuthering Heights in a sort of Kate Bush stylee!

Most memorable moment had to be Sophie saying that her baby was moving and I thought it was awesome that it did it to Back In Black by AC/DC!

Toni & Sophie:


Sophie and I:


Toni:


Me:


Disarm:


Whip me:


Awww:


Let's do the Time Warp again!:


DJ Rex:


The Evolution girls (Sam, Cat, Katie and Rebecca):


Wuthering Heights:





Full set of pics on my Picasa web album:
020808LowDownDirty

Saturday shopping

Got up early and went to the Post Office and then dropped of my new contract into Essex Properties so I still have somewhere to live at the end of August LOL.

Toni, Sophie and I then went to Chelmsford to do some shopping. First stop was HSBC which was in chaos as they are being refurbished and so had no counters open at all but Toni managed to sort out her cash deposit.

Next stop Nat West as Sophie's new account had been receiving strange charges on it and was now overdrawn as a result. Seems they off this subscription service called Advantage Blue which accounted for the charges. Sophie said that she didn't sign up for that. They couldn't find the original paperwork so weren't able to investigate at the time so will call her back. More disappointingly the service is a 6 month minimum contract so Sophie won't even be able to cancel it and will go further overdrawn as there are still another £21 of charges to come until the 6 months is up. Once we get a call on Monday I shall be taking this up with them.

Next stop was game where Toni picked up some driving games for one of her clients and I got a few PC games (including Sonic The Hedgehog which pleased Sophie).

Sophie went off with Shane so Toni and I decided to have lunch before heading home. There was a wait for Pizza Hut so we decided to try Baroosh. Quite a nice place but had to wait quite a while and I had to send my paella back as the peas were still partly frozen. Toni had no complaints with her char-grilled chicken and salad though. Sophie came and joined us as she wasn't allowed to go back to Shane's.

After getting some essentials from Boots we all popped into Ann Summers for a browse. Sophie bought Sam a very funny book and Toni picked up a very nice outfit (which she only paid £20 for despite the label saying £30).

A less than interesting trip into Wilkinson for some essential cleaning products (and some nice cheap jewellery for Toni) was finished off with an "of fuck" moment as we realised we had a parking ticket. Ticket was incorrectly marked though as it stated no ticket was displayed when it was very clearly in the windscreen (it should have said we had exceeded or time limit). Toni is going to dispute it and just pay them £2 for the excess parking.

Friday fun

Was a bit of a mad day at work today. Lots going on, lots to be done but getting that treading water feeling where nothing seemed to move forward. Finished off with a mad game of extreme pool which was hilarious.

Once I got, Toni and I went to Asda to get some bits and I replaced my digital camera. Got myself a nice Fuji J10 (sticking with what I know as I've used Fuji for the last 8 years).
Here are a few test shots for no other reason than because:






Following dinner watched Eastenders and then Big Brother for a Friday night chill out.

Foreword

This is your world
These are your people
You can live for yourself today
or help build tomorrow for everyone.

Es ist Deine Welt
das sind Deine Mitmenschen
Du kannst heute für Dich leben
oder für alle die Zukunft von morgen aufbauen.

C'est ton monde
ces sont tes gens
aujourd'hui tu pourrais penser qu'à toi
ou aider à construire un lendemain pour tous

- Foreword (VNV Nation)