Bits and Pieces.

I really haven't got much to blog about at the moment, but there are a few snippets to write about.

I've just dropped my holiday request form into work, which I'm hoping may have been approved when I next see my section manager on Wednesday. I've asked for a week at the end of March, the week that includes Bonfire Night, and two weeks in September, which is the one I'm most anxious about, as that's when I'm hoping to go to Florida. Fingers crossed!

While I was in work, Carol called me over and told me that a) she's booked the tickets for Westlife in March, which is great. It's the O2 next year, which isn't as convenient as Brighton, because we won't be home until about 1:30am, and I'll have a 7am start at work, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. She also told me that something's come up on Dec 2nd, the day we're meant to be going to Bruges with work, and she can't go now. It's not a huge problem, it just means I can't go either, because the trip was organised by the Eastbourne branch, and we were the only two people from Lewes going, which means that without Carol, I can't get to Eastbourne by 6am for the coach. I'm not too disappointed, as I was a bit worried about my travel sickness and the amount of time we'd be spending on a coach, but it would have been nice. Oh well.

Mum and I are just back from Tesco, where I bought my third lot of Johnson & Johnson baby products. Why, I hear you ask. Well, they have a promotion on at the moment, where when you buy any two J&J products which are in the offer (the ones with a red and yellow shelf edge ticket) you get 100 Clubcard points. 1 point is worth a penny, so that's £1 worth of points for every two items you buy. *But* when you use your points for Clubcard Deals, such as days out, holidays etc, 100 points is worth £4. So far I have a £4 voucher from last quarter's normal shopping, and although I've just missed the deadline for the November mailing, on the February one, I already have over 1300 points, which will equate to £56 worth of deals. That means that I have a guaranteed £72 worth of Deals vouchers at the moment, and as Tesco Clubcard vouchers are valid for up to 2 years, I can save them all up, then in just under 2 years, book a Virgin holiday, and get a very nice amount off! I do actually use J&J products as well, which is good, because I currently have 7 baby powders, 2 baby lotions, 9 baby moisturising creams, and 6 4 bar packs of soap!

Nevill Bonfire on Saturday was really disappointing. I walked up to Nevill estate, and watched the first procession, which was almost in silence, and without any torched lit - the band played intermittently, but it really wasn't good. I decided to miss the 'Grand Procession' and walk home, then go out with Mum to a spot five minutes up the road where you can see across the town to Nevill's firesite, which sits up on the hills and where I knew I could set up my tripod and get a good view of the fireworks. The display was due to start at 9:15, so at around 9, we told Nan we'd back within an hour, probably less, and made our way up there. *Big* mistake. We'd forgotten that it's a popular haunt for the teenagers in Lewes, and there were about 8-10 of them yelling, singing, mucking around, and generally being annoying, all at the top of their voices. Oh well, at least we were in a good spot to see the fireworks. I set my tripod up, and aimed the camera at the spot where the fireworks would be ... then realised I have the wrong lens on. I had the 18-55mm lens, when I really needed the 55-200mm one, so I could zoom in. This is why I need a camera bag that can hold both lenses, and then I will always have the one I need!

The fireworks eventually started at 10:30pm, and were uninspiring, to say the least. I don't think I'll be keeping many, if any, of the shots I took :( So all in all, my evening was wasted, we were gone almost 2 hours on Nan's last evening here, when it should have been more like half an hour, and I'm probably not going to bother with Nevill Bonfire again, which is a shame, as I'm a fan of *all* things Bonfire-y. I might play with the photos later and see if any are worth keeping, but I don't think I'll be very lucky, as I was just too far away, and even though I sued a tripod, they're a bit blurred as well.

While I was writing this, BSW, the company doing our new kitchen have rung, and said that they'll be starting work between 10 and 11am next Tuesday. I'll be shattered from Bonfire Night, but it means that by the end of next Wednesday we'll have our new kitchen! On Tuesday they come in and rip out everything except the cooker and sink, then Wednesday they start at 8am and fit the new units, disconnect the cooker if it needs moving, plumb in the sink (and new plumbing means we'll be getting the fittings for a washing machine, which we haven't currently got, so we'll probably get one at some point now), and then within a few days, the tiler comes to do all the new ceramic tiles. I was hoping they would be another few weeks, as I could have bought black tiles, which I think would go better with a black worktop, but as they're coming before next payday, I shall have to put up with the boring white ones they supply! Oh well, there's always black tile paint .....

I meant to write about my trip into Brighton last Thursday, but I can sum it up in a few sentences. I waited half an hour for the bus, which took over an hour to do the 8 mile journey. When I got there, the city centre was so packed (police doing crowd control outside M&S, and McDonalds and KFC both had queues out the door) that I went in Bon Marché where I found nothing I liked, Poundland where I spent £5, and EAT, where I bought a salad to bring home for lunch. The bus journey home was equally slow, and I had no option but to sit right at the back, on the seat that faces backwards, opposite the very back seat, so right by the engine, as it was a double decker. The two kids opposite thought it was fun to stand on the back seat and wave at people out of the window, or to pull their bubble gum out frequently for inspection, and by the time I got home, it was 3:30, I'd been gone for 5 hours, *completely* lost my train of thought in Brighton and forgotten to go near any shoe shops - guess what I went for?! - and hadn't eaten all day, so was hungry, nauseous from low blood sugar, and distinctly grumpy!

I think that's about it for now. Later, people!

----------------
Now playing: Various Artists - Morning from "Peer Gynt" Suite No. 1