This is my daily diary (or as daily as I can manage) these are just the latest entries, previous entries are listed in monthly segments:
THURSDAY 18th - SUNDAY 21st December 2008 - What a hectic few days... I shall summarise because I don't have much time hehehe... the long and short of it is that well I'm looking forward to Christmas and New Year this time around... please don't expect many updates on here for a while, so I shall apologise now... I'll have limited access for a short time...Hmmmm... anyways all is good here, and will have lots and lots and lots to catch up with soon... latest news though... 138 and 112 on the bowling front... not bad... not bad... good to see a lot of friends and colleagues at my final Christmas party of the year...I've had a few mince pies, heard lots of Christmas carols, watched a few Christmas movies... so happy days!
Take care everyone... HAPPY CHRISTMAS>>> HAPPY NEW YEAR>>> and catch up again soon... ENJOY THE FESTIVIES!!
WEDNESDAY 17th December 2008 - It was good to be back in the office, getting some jobs done and enjoying a nice lunch with colleagues, in fact it was a great meal, ending up eating 3 course meal, one of the best I'd had in some time, started with a melon and fruit dish, which included melon of course, with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, grapefruit and orange...nice...then for main course 2 generous slices of roast turkey breast served with some sage and onion stuffing, and with roast potatoes, carrots and sprouts served with a very tasty gravy. Then for desert I selected... yes you guessed it... cheesecake, this was a homemade rum and raisin cheesecake and it was lovely... well recommended.. all this was very well presented and well, just lovely... as you can imagine I was very full at the end of it, and over 2 hours was really well received by all of us... in the evening I was out with Bruce and Darren fitness training, and I was quite glad actually I was able to run all the food off hehehee... well that's it for another day!.. Mince pie anyone? hahaha
TUESDAY 16th December 2008 - Where did the day go? It just seemed to fly by... I was out doing little jobs around the house, doing exercises on the wii (lost 2Ib since Saturday!) cooking, cleaning, out washing and vacuuming my car, eating lunch, dinner, going in the attic, sorting out a few things, and then in the evening settling down for a night in, within 20 minutes or so I was out the house and up to watch the Harriers play in the FA Trophy, thankfully with hat, gloves and scarf and whilst witnessing 5 goals it wasn;t the most entertaining evening, though I did enjoy the company with Adam and Bill - the first time I'd watched the Harriers this season, they won, which was great and they progress to the next round. Tomorrow I look forward to getting back to the office and some normality, and also I shall enjoy Christmas lunch with my colleagues which will be nice.
MONDAY 15th December 2008 - God Bless us everyone!
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
It's the season to be jolly
And be thankful for all that we have
All the lights and decorations
Put up in the anticipation
Of the joyful celebration
That's on its way
We're counting the days
'Til it's time for Christmas day
Oh and God bless us everyone
The good and the bad
The happy; the sad
Oh and God bless us everyone
Here's to family and friends
It's good to be here again
Today was another rest in the morning and then in the afternoon I took off to see Mum and Dad, travel into town with Mum for a short while then head over to Grans' later with them both to look around the house, then I was off to see Christine S.. It was nice I've not seen her for quite some time so it was nice to catch up and we ended up chatting for over 3 hours, time passed so quickly and then by the time I was leaving the frost had settled in and it was getting foggy, while I got home safely, and enjoyed my rice and vegetable dinner with a cup of tea... and watched the Muppet Christmas Carol... so cute and funny... still in Charles Dickens mood and listening to Christmas carols on the radio is like getting ready for Christmas... thankfully I've done all my shopping and wrapping...
Today, Manchester United arrive in Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup tournament, below is Wayne Rooney, Michael Carick, Rio Ferdinand and Nim Vidic.. with some very excited United supports from Japan!! hehe
SUNDAY 14th December 2008 - It is nice sometimes just to have a day at home, just relaxing and making the most of the time off, today it was a chance to do a little housework, but in the main a rather lazy day!! Tomorrow I shall be out for a fair amount of the day so a chance to rest a while was nice... and also do a little exercise on the Wii...22.28 BMI, I'd lost 2Ib in the last 4 days hehe.. Well it wasn't all too bad yesterday after finding out United earned a point against Spurs and while consolation that Chelsea draw and Liverpool draw too...
Today I was quite inspired, readying has never been an enthusiastic pastime for me, I do like to read, generally I like autobiography's and not really fiction books, however if its a story I enjoy then I maybe tempted, today I looked up 'A Christmas Carol' being seasonal of course, and I found the original by Charles Dickens... wow, I was really interested, I read a little, it certainly wasn't your modern transcript of a book that is for sure... in fact I liked it so much I sourced out a copy as I considered getting a copy, well maybe I will, perhaps its a book to take on my holidays, I do have a book I'm thinking of taking with me, I also have a few travel books which I shall take anyway... I shall copy a transcript from 'A Christmas Carol'... the book published in 1843 would you believe!
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.
Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
THURSDAY 11th - SATURDAY 13th December 2008 - Not all planned events have gone according to schedule.. On Wednesday fitness training succumbed to an ice rink, on Thursday my visit to see Christine was postponed because she's gone down with a bout of the flu and so a little juggling around has actually allowed me now to finish all my Christmas shopping, and on Friday I managed to wrap all the presents, ok it did take me a few hours whilst drinking tea, and watching a little TV, but I'm pleased its all done and bagged up ready for distribution for Christmas. On Thursday night I did still pop down to see Mum and Dad for dinner and a nice chat, cup of coffee before Dad was going out to play skittles, we talked about Christmas and generally its going to be a little sad this year not being at home for the first time in my life, but on the flip side I'm incredibly excited about being Hong Kong and to spend time there over Christmas with Vhic, its a massive change but an experience I'm very enthusiasticly looking forward to... Getting into the party mood on Friday night at our works Christmas party was nice... having my photo taken with James Bond, Bond girl and the Aston Martin was pretty cool start to the night, a go on the Roulette wheel in the Casino, and enjoying a nice meal and then a few dance moves on the floor before heading home ...
On Saturday morning it was an early start heading down to Heathrow, a journey I shall be taking soon myself, and a really miserable morning, with much rain overnight the main road to the motorway was flooded on the way, so a little detour got me around that and made it with a little time to spare as Wei will enjoy his Birthday on a Cruise in Mexico... When I got back it was a chance to get some washing done, that was after the same detour on the way back, with a 4x4 stuck in a ditch this time, and still horrible weather conditions, thankfully my car was back safely, perhaps a little dirtier.. so maybe It'll need another wash Sunday!! hehe while I made a nice cottage pie, listened to the radio whilst I fell asleep for a few hours and caught up with a few other jobs. It was then time to catch up with Vhic, he thinks its chilly at 26 degrees... I told him to be here, then he'd know what chilly is hehe... in fact in Beijing I am expecting temperatures of minus 5 or so, now that will be chilly!! haha.. Oh well it's what he is used to.. thankfully he's got a scarf and hat to keep a little warmer...
Tonight I opened up my last packet of dried Mango from my trip to Philippines in May this year, in fact its the first time since June that I'd had some dried mango, anyways I decided to place it in good use and bake a fruit mango loaf... the first I've baked.. its come out well hehehe... so be nice for breakfast on Sunday!!
The rain has put paid to many local and national football fixtures this weekend, whilst games in the top leagues in the country go ahead with far superior ground conditioning, for the first time in a long time I'm going to watch Match of the Day on TV tonight without know the results... I often know the results later in the day before watching the highlights, so I fancy a little excitement perhaps whilst watching the reviews... come on United...hehehehe... have they won, ... have they drawn or have they lost... and how have the other teams got on? Hmmm... not long know... hows it affected my fantasy football team...?
While before I go for another day, its Sunday tomorrow and I have three more holiday days before I return to work for three days and enjoy another weekend ahead before Christmas week, this week sees me visit Gran's home, Mum and Dad, its' Daryll's birthday, its our Referees Candidates exam night on Friday, and my final game of 2008 on Saturday down at Bath, then its Ten Pin Bowling Sunday evening... Phew!
Have a great week everyone... be safe!
WEDNESDAY 10th December 2008 - It took me a good while this monring to get the frost off my car before driving to work, the only thing was because its a coupe the window drops down as the door opens, and then when you shut the door the window rises to close properly and seal - huhu not when the windows are frosted over.. its just about ok to open the door, by try and close it... hmmm, not so lucky, so I have to wait until the frost has cleared - now I'm talking about a frost where the water has droplets on the window so its frozen more solid than usual - so I think next time I will have to pour over some tap water to try and defrost it a little quicker!! Sadly also tonight the frost hit hard again so not fancying a skiing trip around the athletics ice rink fitness training was postponed on safety grounds! So I did some exercises back home to try and keep myself a little healthier! 22.24 BMI so still ideal for now... hehehe Tonight after cooking some chicken and rice I watched a little TV whilst getting other little jobs done... then watching Terminator 2: Judgement Day - a film I'd not watched for a long time... brings back memories thats for sure..
MONDAY 8th - TUESDAY 9th December 2008 - Whilst ordering Christmas presents online I am often tempted to get something for myself also... so this was no different and I got myself a few DVD's, the first for a while. One of those movies is called C.R.A.Z.Y and I touched on that in my last diary entry...
I think its worth a look! Another movie I pre-ordered was Batman - The Dark Knight the second with Christian Bale as the caped crusader... I'm looking forward to watching the movie, with many great reviews particularly of Heath Ledger playing the Joker... and a possible talk of him being awarded an Oscar, sadly he is no longer alive but we'll see!
They are talking about African nations taking military action against the regime in Zimbabwe... its a sad situation there right now... I hope the situation is resolved sooner rather than later.. to avoid more deaths and hardship... fingers crossed there!
I'm getting very excited for the Christmas Holidays... but I have lots to do before then.. this week I am out every night except Tuesday, so I will have an early night to prepare myself...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mum... I know she'll enjoy the pink box of chocolates I gave her... hehehe! maybe I will go and see her Thursday night to check them out!! I have to becareful this time of year... minimise biscuits and chocolates...too bad for me... hehehe
Anyhow... thats it for now...
Laters!
SUNDAY 7th December 2008 - The frost in the morning put paid to many football matches, the game I was due to assess was postponed so whilst I still made the journey to Malvern I did catch another game and chatted the whole while with my friend Nick.... thankfully it wasn't too cold, but I was well prepared with my thick socks, hat, gloves and scarf hehe.. A nice chicken roast with Mum, Dad and Daryll and I admit a little sleep in the afternoon before getting back to vacuum the house, dust, get some washing done, and general other jobs around the house, that took care of a few hours, whilst in between watching Star Wars Episode One on the TV, having more chicken for evening meal, and after speaking with my coach, a few more cups of tea, and reading for a little while, I watched a new DVD to my collection, the first in quite some time actually... the title C.R.A.Z.Y. a french film with subtitles, about family life in the 1960, 70 and 80's - very funny on occasions and seeing the relationships of a family with 5 boys, all different characters - I always find french films most fascinating, take Amelie for example one of the most enlightinging and magical movies of all time in my opinion... one 'crazy' thing from the movie I watched tonight... ironed toast!! hehehehe... now that is CRAZY!
THURSDAY 4th - SATURDAY 6th December 2008 - Time is ticking along rather quickly... on Thursday I enjoyed the day off work, I was out in the morning down to Malvern to visit the hygeniest, and it was nice to be told that my teeth were in good order - the best for some time, a clean and polish later and I was on my way into town to use up my Woolworths Voucher... I found some good products to spend the voucher including a rather cute penguin mug and some Christmas presents! I then took a little drive to the outskirts of town, once I found a parking space I visited the new M&S in town, and fortunate to step in during their 20% discount day.. there I got some more Christmas presents and then headed back home, where after a bit of lunch I was off to see Geoff & Paul and had a nice afternoon/evening in their company, enjoyed a nice dinner then had a nice adventure home, driving down a narrow country lane, and what is heading towards me around a bend? Yep!! A lorry... and who's gonna budge on a single narrow lane? Hmmm.. do I play chicken with a large lorry? Hmmm, I think not, so at 9.30pm, pitch black and wet back window to look out of I was reversing back around 300 yards to the nearest layby to pull in and allow the lorry to pass - I found it hard to see to be honest but thankfully managed to get back without any dramas, thats more mud on the car though!!
Friday was spent at the office, and in the evening an FA workshop talking about Respect... a campaign to try and defeat the problems, abuse and negative action towards players, referees and in some cases spectators... an opportunity to ultimately improve the image of football.... campaigns like this can only be a positive step forward...
On Saturday my journey took me South East and an enjoyable afternoon! In the evening after stopping off for a take away, having dinner and then I watched a documentary on Titanic.. some revealing incidents leading to the sinking of the largest passenger ship in 1912.. very fascinating...
MONDAY 1st - WEDNESDAY 3rd December 2008 - Its started to get colder of late... On Monday morning before I set off for work I was spending a few minutes waiting for the frost to clear off my car...thankfully like what happened a month a go it didn't rain the night before otherwise it would have taken much longer to defrost the windows... anyhow It was dejavous Tuesday morning also and Wednesday!! In fact it was horrible on Tuesday as I headed off to Oldbury for a business meeting, whilst the frost wasn't so bad at home, as I travelled north the weather was harsher with some snow and as it was raining also that turned into slush = dirty car = very dirty car.... argh!! So it means I have to wash my car again hehehe... oh well what a kerfufal... I don't fancy the hand wash cause my hands will be frozen, so its the garage spray and brush I think on Thursday!! Its really just to get the salt, grit and dirt of the car - not a good idea to leave that on the paintwork for too long!
The days recently have been pretty productive and I've been quite pleased with some progress, I;ve also done a little more Christmas shopping and will do some more on Thursday with some big department stores having sales and to use up my Woolworths voucher, as it appears they may not be trading next year - shame I guess, but then I'm not surprised, they haven't really changed in over 30 years, same old store and they are just not competing against other competitors. Anyway sign of the times for many businesses in the current economic climate. Well I was quite pleased with myself this evening (Wednesday), just as well I postponed fitness training - the weather was pretty cruel with the cold and frost already leading to minus 2 temperature by 5pm, so imagine what an ice rink it would have been on the athletics track later in the evening! Anyhow... as I was saying about being pleased with myself... I cooked for the first time some gammon steak.. on the grill - so nice and healthy, with some lovely and fluffy mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables...lovely and to finish it off a couple of pineapple rings served with the gammon - very apetising and made a nice change... plus plus plus... I baked an apple pie and well.. it was most delightful... ok, it wasn't perfect.. but I must say it was one of the best I've cooked... so I was very pleased after a had a little slice after dinner, well that will keep me going for a good few days thats for sure...
Some more good news on Monday was when I received my position on the National list of Panel Assistant Referees... and the fact I have moved up almost 190 places out of a total of 210 kind of gives you an indication of my present position... I was rather pleased shall we say! hehe ... Me and Christine today had a nice lunch to celebrate mine and her recent birthday's respectively... it was nice, cafe latte and ciabittini... and the best thing about it for both of us... it was free.. I won a lunch voucher at our recent work charity Cancer day.. how cool was that! happy days hu!