Life is a bit pants at the moment

Life has been a bit pants lately –

Oh, but there have been some really good bits, like my friend’s husband’s 50th Birthday, which ‘The Boyfriend’ and I were both invited to.

This was a very swanky affair in a beautiful restaurant called ‘Singapura’ in Limburner Street, which is almost next to St. Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London.

Young and beautiful, Malay and Thai, waiters & waitresses walked around re-filling glasses with, Singapore Slings, Champagne, Beer and any other tipple you fancied – our glasses were never empty. Unfortunately for me, I had made friends with Ibuprofen that evening (still unwell) and could not take advantage of our hosts’ beneficence. Tasty starters were passed around on large platters, Chicken Satay, Sesame Prawn Toast, Thai fishcakes and Vegetable Spring Rolls- thank goodness the Ibuprofen didn’t interfere with my eating – that would have been a catastrophe!! My friends had rented the Restaurant for the evening and all the tables were beautifully laid out for our meal of: Chicken with Soy sauce, Prawns in a Thai Green Curry sauce, Lean and Tender Beef in another spicy and aromatic sauce (don’t remember which), Rice and Steamed mixed vegetables – all wonderfully delicious!! The dessert was a Fresh Tropical Fruit Cocktail with a homemade Lychee Sorbet – scrumptious!!

Throughout the meal there was a slide show with photographs of my friends and their family throughout the years, some very cute pictures of the birthday boy as a handsome little blond boy and some other more embarrassing photos with the obligatory fashion faux pas, which only goes to prove that there is a fashion victim in all of us.

My head started pounding around midnight (Cinderella Time) so I asked my ever-suffering boyfriend to take me home. I heard afterwards that some of the guests embarrassed themselves by overindulging, but I can only say that I had a great time.

My sis Angie, arrived from Mallorca on Wednesday, I went to pick her up from Luton Airport. I have to say that the parking charges there are scandalous – I haven’t been for a while and was horrified when after some delay to the flight and trying to pay my ticket, the machine flashed up that I owed £10 for one and half hours of parking - this is even more expensive than Heathrow Airport!! It’s lovely having Angie over though – she is only staying for a few days, but that’s better than nothing.

Another family event occurred on Thursday, this was my niece’s 21st Birthday, the whole family went to ‘Dragon King’ in Park Royal, for an eat as much as you like Buffet and then afterwards to Mum and Dad’s to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with one of my sister’s (Palmers Green) cakes – too much food to list - I have mentioned ‘Dragon King’ in previous blogs, so you can always fantasise with one of those.


Bad things are happening at work:

People not listening to what I am telling them to do
People telling me I have to do things that are not in my job description and I am not qualified to deal with.
Still no replacement staff
People going over my head to the Headmaster, to get their own way.
I’m not happy with this situation and am actively seeking alternative employment – I’m feeling demoralised, undermined and underpaid.

Ok – well there is more good than bad in my life – so maybe it isn’t really that pants??

Jo xx

The Fog is Clearing!!

I know I am a Librarian, but just lately I haven’t felt much like being one – the main reason has been because I have been feeling a bit under pressure at work, lack of staff to be precise. The pressure caused by sinusitis has been another factor – I have been feeling distinctly under the weather and my best friend has been several packets of Ibuprofen, which have intermittently relieved some of the pressure (no I am not become addicted to painkillers!)

Tonight I am feeling slightly better, or it could be that I am reaching the Zenith of the effect of my painkillers – joking!! Anyhow, somewhere amongst all my grogginess I have managed to read a book – no really. The book in question is P.D.James’ ‘The Children of Men’ – this book has been out since 1992 and last year a film adaptation came out, which I still haven’t seen. My first surprise is that P.D.James is a woman and my second surprise is that I quite enjoyed the book, although it did paint quite a bleak picture of ‘a future Great Britain’. As is usual with ‘Dystopian’ worlds the acquisition of power plays a big part in this novel – what is it about power – why can’t people just be happy with the good things in life? Anyway, it’s quite a short book and has started me thinking about what I should try reading next, perhaps another P.D.James book, now that I know she is a woman (joking again).

Off to bed with Ibuprofen now.... I'm so sleepy.

Jo xx

We are Family

I woke up this morning: head pounding, blood on my pillow (nosebleed) and such a sore throat, that I thought someone had spent half the night rubbing it with a file – in short, not a happy bunny. Two hours later and one coffee, two (plain) chocolate digestive biscuits and a couple of Feminax tablets – I feel semi-human – not full of the joys of spring – but ready to face my day. Thank heavens today is my day off, so I have time to contemplate my navel, plus anything else, which takes my fancy.

I have just started reading my brother Joe’s blog, which is always interesting – quite often when we all get together we invariably get on the subject of philosophy and religion. Religion has always been a big part of our lives in this family - our Father particularly was quite a devout Roman Catholic – in recent years and due to ill health he does not seem to have the same fervour, which he demonstrated with force when we were children, his sometimes blind devotion is probably what has made us more aware of religions and their impact on human behaviour. We all have our own views on religion and life and discussions can sometimes become quite heated, but as we have matured we have realised that religion – in the organised sense – is not necessarily the be all and end all. It is ‘The Family’ and the respect of each other as human beings, which in the long run are the most important things.

My sister Angie is coming over from Mallorca next week, to visit for a few days, this is always a joyful time for us, as Angie is a very upbeat person and always injects a sense of fun into everything she does – it’s also a good excuse to have yet another family get together, with, yes you guessed it – more food!!

Until the next time, love and respect to you all.

Jo xx

A KNIFE IN THE BACK

Oh, God what a great start to the New Year – not!!

Yesterday, The first day I get back into work, which incidentally should have been my day off, I am told that I am losing yet another member of staff – the most galling thing about this is that this is a friend of mine and she didn’t mention anything to me, which is OK- but she did put me down for a reference for her new job. She has already handed in her notice to quit and to put a cap on it all, has told nearly every other one of my colleagues that she is leaving. Apparently she didn’t want to upset me, because we are such good friends and she didn’t want to let me down. Well I am upset and she has kind of left me in the lurch and I do feel just a little bit miffed – finding out in this way, was not really the way to go, but it’s done now and I just have to get on with things. C’est la vie – I suppose??

I know I have said this before, but the manager thing is not really my thing – I am one of life’s little workers and although I don’t like to be told what to do (because I know), I really don’t like having the responsibility of worrying about whether or not someone is taking me for a ride and not pulling their weight at work (they should know). When I first started in this job, I had my own area of responsibility and I was happy and enthusiastic – well obviously not everyone has the same outlook on life as me and most people don’t give 100% to their jobs, but I always do and I get a kick out of doing a job, well done – I thought everyone was like me – I am so disappointed.

On a personal note, my finances could be on the up and up – my eldest son has offered to take over a couple of the household bills, which will save me around £100 per month: The first is the bill for Sky TV, which I hardly ever get to watch as the football and wrestling are constantly on; the second is the BT Internet bill, which is quite a large chunk for something I don’t use that much either. It is a bit of weight off my shoulders and I appreciate the gesture.

I have to say that at the moment I am brimming over with love for my two boys, who are growing up to be remarkably mature and kind young men and are taking care of their increasingly erratic old Mum (me). My youngest son is as I write this, preparing a homemade Lasagne for our supper – he loves his belly as much as his old Mum.

I am looking forward to my evening meal, in the good company of my children.

Good night and God bless you all.

Jo xx