Our birthdays and Derby Day

It was our birthdays at the end of May (as usual) and this year we decided to give Perth volleyball a miss and hide under a bush instead. We did however go out for dinner and a few shandies on the Saturday night with a bunch of good friends and had a great old night. Thanks to those who attended ;o)

I had a job interview to prepare for so we didn't really feel 100% in the birthday spirit. The job interview preparation went well - unfortunately I didn't get the job though. Well, I say unfortunately but actually, if I am being honest, the only disappointing thing about not getting that job is that I am unemployed at the end of term and have to start job hunting again - I was kind of looking forward to some predictability and drudgery. ;o)

But hey ho, it's back on for high octane excitement again. If Katie didn't have such a great job we would seriously be thinking about moving again - there are a million tax free teaching jobs in seriously hot countries which would be very tempting for a couple of years. Besides, it would make for a much more exciting blog....

Anyway, after the highs and lows of interviewing we had Derby Day to look forward to. Our great friends Noan and David who live down in Romsey (picture the movie Hot Fuzz and you'll know what Romsey looks like) had won at a charity auction a table for 10 in a posh marquee at the Epsom Derby. They invited us down for a cracking weekend which we both thoroughly enjoyed after all the recent pressures.

We flew down to Southampton on the Friday afternoon and we had a lovely afternoon out on the lawn playing quoits and drinking champagne - it really is a different world. Noan and David's neighbours Chris and Lyndsey joined us and we all had a good laugh before venturing out for a Thai meal.

On the Saturday it was an early rise to get the chauffeur driven Mercedes mini bus to Epsom. On the way we picked up the Saturday racing papers in an effort to be well informed about the possible winners. I would have been better not bothering, we won pretty much b*gger all!

By the time we got to the races it was Pimm's O'Clock - well, they were serving lots of it along with champagne if that makes more sense.

 Inside the marquee

Liz, Chris, Andrew, Noan, Lyndsey, some big old guy we didn't know.

It was a lovely day and we had a great track side view from our tent at Tattenham corner. We were well served with food and drink all day - needless to say this was made full use of.

 Some horses running round the corner.

Noan and David

 Katie and David

 The girls

Noan and Katie

A great day was had by all and after the races we still managed to get the chauffeur to stop by a pub for a quick pint on the way home, we then stopped off in Romsey for one and picked up an Indian meal for a midnight snack.

The next day we sat around an watched the final of the French Open on the telly before flying back to Glasgow. 

Good company and many drinks - thanks to Noan and David for exactly the kind of weekend we were in need of.

Latest update......

Wahey, life continues to hurtle along at quite a pace back here in Bonnie Scotland, and it's funny because when you are at home you don't always carry a camera to catch those magic moments to put on the blog.

I have been trying to get better at this though and hope that some of the shots here will help fill in some blanks from the previous months.

My Mum's 60th

My Mum turned 60 in March - even though she still looks in her thirties. We had a great meal out on the Friday at Ubiquitous Chip and then we were out again with the rest of the family at Arisaig in Merchant Square. A good time was had by all and my Mum's birthday haul included a cold frame for the garden, a whopping big flatscreen TV, champagne and flowers, more helium balloons than you would need to get to space (especially if you are as small as my mum), jewellery, a purse and a trip to Paris to be had in the Autumn.

Old Trafford with the School

I recently went on a school trip down to the village of Manchester to watch one of their up and coming young teams call "Manchester Untied" or something like that. It was very exciting on the way down on the bus when the kids were stuffing their faces and generally quiet. However on the way back when they were sick, tired and out of sweets,  it was less fun.

For the record, Old Trafford was pretty fantastic - we were in the Bolton away support which made it quite fun. The fans were singing stuff like "you're just a shit Michael jackson" (to Nani) and "Rooney Sh8gged a Wanderer" (to Wayne Rooney)

Bolton lost 1-0 with a Berbatov goal in the last minute - as predicted by me to a 13 year old boy with about 20 minutes to go.

Work update........

Probably worth giving you an update on the work situation - well, after quite a long run in my current school they kind of gave me assurances that they should be able to keep me on until June. However recent crippling financial problems for everyone apart from the bankers and the politicians means that they are now no longer able to keep me on full time and have reduced my hours to 60%. Although they are yet to tell me which days/hours I will be working, what classes I will be teaching and really anything beyond just turn up after the holidays.

That's ok however, and there are a couple of jobs coming up in that school and also a job at one i used to work at where the kids liked to swear and hit each other with hockey sticks.

I will keep you posted on the job situation,,,,,,,,,,watch this space.....