The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
One thing I learned from Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint adventure was that, at some point in the past, a marketing executive decided that clocks set to a “happy” time (i.e. the hands were in a semblance of a smile) were more likely to sell so now every time I see a clock display like this, I giggle.
It’s also why all of HTC’s phone adverts have 10:08 as a time display on the digital clocks :)
I’m making a Christmas cake and Bean’s my official taster/helper. Personally, I can’t stand xmas cake but I like making it so it works out ok.
Plus, it’s always fun to ask a 3-year old questions like “does this need more booze” and getting an emphatic “yeah!” as an answer :)
In the past few weeks, I have been working on the planning of:
– the PST group xmas party
– the main EBI xmas party
– mince pies & mulled wine for 100 people at work
– booking 50 tickets for Stomp
– booking 150 tickets for a cinema screening
– getting 500 mugs printed for work
and a boatload of smaller tasks, none of which are actually my actual day job.
It’s been stressful, to say the least but the good news is that everything is now done and over. The office paella potluck went down a treat. It was held at the Great Chesterford community center and the comments about the food and the venue were uniformly positive (many thanks to the paella chefs!). The day had a rocky start with a trip to Addenbrookes A&E after Bean dropped a chair on his big toe but bounced back once the food started being served. We already had all of the food prepped and packed in the car, but there was a ton of last-minute stuff we needed to deal with. Still, with a few phone calls, everything got sorted out and in the end, we were in and out of Addenbrooked in about an hour and a half. I have to give mad props to the guys who helped clean the place up afterwards, it was a big help!
The EBI xmas party was last night, at La Raza in Cambridge. The comments I got on the night were also very positive, with people saying that it was a better party than in the past couple of years. I can personally vouch that the food was not only feckin’ plentiful, but very very good as well. Given all of my allergies, the fact that I was stuffed at the end of the night was a very positive fact IMO. The jalapeno poppers were great, but those beef and horseradish yorkie puds were pure crack! Plus, you know, 5 drinks for a fiver is a deal you can’t beat :) The only critiques I would give for the night was that the music the DJ put on wasn’t what I would have preferred for a xmas party. Other than that, and the totally unfounded rumours of a rigging of the raffle draw (hehe!), the night was a success in my books.
Becky had a bit of karmic retribution when Bean woke up at 11 and, realizing that we weren’t there, cried for an hour before getting himself back to bed. Becky was a bit frazzled when she called, I think…
So now, I only have one more week of work before I get some leave time to chill out and cook stuff for the holidays. I’ve already started tonight, with a braised beef topside and some chicken stock that I’m going to use to make a hamhock terrine in the near future. Katy and I are trying to finalize the list of all the recipes we want to try out for new years :)
The prezzies are mostly all bought and just need wrapping, so that’s a load off as well.
Go us, for being productive!
Current Mood:
Happy
Bean’s cough tends to be worse at night, when he kicks off all his blankets and gets cold. I went in to cover him up and put a bigger blanket on him to keep him warm and, as I was leaving his room, I heard a small sleepy voice saying “daddy, want big kiss”.
As much as I want to throttle him, those little moments make up for it.
Squeee!
In the past few weeks, I’ve been able to get my grubby little hands on copies of:
Manhattan in Reverse (which rocked!)
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (which did not disappoint)
REAMDE (which I am currently reading and really getting into)
and now I’ve found:
Children of the Sky
Pirate King
Both of which I’ve been waiting to read for ever and can’t wait to start.
See this? This is my happy face :)
Current Mood: Happy
Amused