Playing Catch up.......................................

Can it really be three months since my last posting? I guess the trauma of the kitchen was just too much to take and I have had to lie down in a darkened room with a sponge cake eversince! The kitchen was finished not long after the last post - and with not too much left to report - apart from the fact that since we have had a functioning kitchen we seem to have lost all electricity to the garage! We'll deal with that one in the summer I guess.

Halloween saw the biggest family gathering since Devon 1996!(thereby hangs another tale). We organised a weekend away at Brackenborough Hall near Louth - the only place that was brave enough to let us take 5 dogs (plus 12 adults and 4 kids). What a fantastic place - a farm where we were allowed to take the dogs anywhere in the 50 acres of land. We had a wonderful weekend, walking the dogs, eating, carving pumpkins (I was impressed with mine - above - until my brother pointed out that it looked like a character from the pink panther movies - what was supposed to be a chin does look a bit like a cigarette I guess) , eating and drinking, fancy dress, eating and game playing for prizes - oh and did I mention eating and drinking?? We had such a good time that we are talking about getting together again ( now there's a first!). It would be great to try to get some time in before two of my nieces go travelling for 18 months around Oz and NZ etc.

November went in a flash and seems to have been spent at work -or working even on days off! Two projects that were mooted in the summer both gained momentum during this time and I have been working hard on these. In a nutshell one is a research project for a local pilot site for Foundation Community Trust using narratives to gain patient experiences of their care (with colleague Dr Jackie Taylor) and the other is a smaller project for the VC's iconic media- city larger project and we are looking at the use of Second Life for a number of educational and potential clinical areas (with colleague Sarah Bodell). I'll not post about these here but may use our team blog for anyone interested in keeping up to date with these. During this time I was invited up to Scotland to run a joint workshop with colleague Sarah for the Scottish Student conference. A very impressive attendance at conference and a warm welcome from all the students - together with booking into a hotel overlooking the castle, having afternoon tea and champagne and room service dinner ("I am not rich...... I am not rich......") made this a very enjoyable experience. Driving there we had ipod competitions - who had the cheesiest song (think I won with a little Chas and Dave number), best song to be dumped to (winner takes it all - Abba) , best driving song etc. Coming home was practically in silence - both due to tiredness but extremely bad weather making concentration paramount - thanks Sarah for driving!

Managed to get home to Grantham for a weekend in the midst of all this too - had to be ready with the Xmas parcels for the family - so had to be super organised with xmas shopping. Spent a lovely day with my godmother and then driving back I ended up bringing up the rear of the Grantham Xmas parade (just kind of happened). Felt very important as all spectators wondered who on earth was the mad woman hanging out of the car window taking photos (I wasn't driving!).

December seemed to be one whirlwind of social engagements - and I'm not such a social animal - it would seem that it is obligatory to spend time with every friend just before xmas. Now, having stated I am not a social animal, therefore I don't have that many friends - but it can still be hard fitting everyone in - especially once the dreaded Xmas lurgy kicked in - was floored for at least 3 days where even thought I may have contracted man-flu!

Xmas came and went in a blur - had a lovely break, ate too much, watched too much tv, spent too much in the sales. Oh, and we had snow!!!
I have found time to relax, however, and have rediscovered my trainset and have been adding a few scenic touches to the tracks - until husband decided that it needed some fundamental tweaking and took everything off whilst he started wiring and sticking things!!! He now has subbuteo so am hoping he will leave my toy alone now!

Well, there's a brief catchup here's wishing all of you a Happy and healthy 2010. My resolutions? Eat more sensibly, exercise more thoroughly, gain occupational balance and prioritise those things that are important.
Happy Blogging.............................