I'm back thanks to Sat. Nav!

Yes folks I am back! and it's all thanks to one of these creations from God aka Satellite Navigation. For a women with so little directional knowledge as me, these things are a must and now I feel confident to travel home in the knowledge that I will actually get there :)

Anyway, my trip home was fab, only hindered by the fact that I still have this horrid viral infection which is still causing me sleep deprivation and constant wheezing - but hey ho it could be worse I could have some sort of terminal illness - see I'm starting to be more optimistic in my old age.

I did actually type a longish summary of my trip home on Thursday, but as ever it crashed, so here's a precis.

Friday - Managed to get a seat to myself on the train home, can't think why? constant coughing may have been a factor? My Nieces and Nephew were unaware of my arrival so seeing 3 pairs of very large eyes staring out of the back of the car was cute. Even more spookily they were in total shock and were momentarily silent all the way home - this did not last! The worst thing was, poor Kaci who is 4 thought I was moving in for good - ah bless!

Saturday - Travelled over to my parents armed with a bouquet of flowers for my Mum and a £5K repayment of loan cheque for my Dad. Both were surprised and shocked to see me and we all managed to have a civilised conversation. I realised that after being 5 weeks away from home this was the longest length of time that they hadn't seen me in all of my 37 years on the planet - can't work out whether that makes me a good daughter or a sad individual? In the evening I was supposed to be hitting the town with my sister and her friend Jo, but due to illness we got a Chinese and watched the X-Factor instead - joy!

Sunday - Went to Cyfartha Park in Merthyr Tydfil with the kids and Sis. Had a great time in the park on the swings and the slide - think the kids liked it too ;) It was nice to have some fresh air and run around for a bit after being stuck in the flat on sick leave for over a week. In the evening was invited to dinner at Math and Les' house where chief chef Math surpassed himself yet again with a gorgeous lamb dinner - I have missed my Sunday dinner gatecrashing! It was good to see the kids as well Mali made me a welcome "briefly" back card - bless!.

Monday - Mad day. Went to Cardiff and saw my last supervisor Angie, was good to see her and have a chat, she made me feel a bit happier about how I am handling the work at Hudds. Then met Anne-Marie and Katharine for lunch which turned into a coffee and muffin, due to bad menu/ no chef problems. Georgia joined us briefly due to an inefficient receptionist at her work - but it was great to see her and her new hairstyle. I am still in amazement of Amerie's knitting abilities and only wish I was in Norwich for tuition. In the evening I met up with the "Girls" at the Maenllwyd. Unfortunately due to a communication breakdown I didn't pick Sharon up which made her bad day worse - whoops! However, a good time was had by all, my only grievance with the meal was the small portions, so when I got home I had to get out the Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - I am Little Miss Greedy!

Tuesday - Last full day. Had to sort out my car in the morning new tyre, tracking etc then did a bit of shopping. My parents came over in the afternoon and I cooked tea. After reading bedtime story to the girls (Sleeping Beauty - with voices and actions!) I settled down to watch some TV with Jane, but I was thinking about the long drive home the next day :(

Wednesday - Got up early to say goodbye to the kids before school - had a bit of a moment but recovered as I know I will be back home in just over 4 weeks :) As I hadn't given the Sat. Nav. a test run I was a bit concerned using it for the first time, but my fears were unfounded it was fab. Even when I decided to ignore the voice and went the wrong way - it got me back on track. I managed to get home in 4.40 hours and that's with 2 stops - amazing!

I think my trip home did me a lot of good as even though it was great seeing everyone again, nothing has actually changed since I left. I don't know what I was expecting to change but I felt I was missing out on something - but actually everything I need is here in Hudds and going home is only 4.40 hours away, with 2 stops! As Amerie pointed out when we met up for "lunch" , both her and Katharine live on another Continent, they do not have the luxury of popping home to see their friends and families- so what have I got to worry about? (she's a wise old bird!). So there you have it.

Since I've been back things are back to normal - loads of reading and meetings with my supervisor. I have found out that I am going to a data session in London on Dec. 18th at UCL but after that I can come home :) so I should be in Wales on the 19th until Jan. 8th :) I am really looking forward to it already, just a few assignmentsto get done before I leave.

So that's my catch up entry. No quote today as I couldn't find one concerning Sat. Nav. but I am sure my next edition will contain something quote-worthy!