What a nice surprise

Hey C, I've booked the Cricket club tomorrow night for my mums suprise 60th birthday party. If you and GO aren't busy you're more than welcome to come. Got a band booked, pie & peas so plenty of dancing. I didn't invite you both earlier because you don't really know my mum and M didn't think you'd want to come but then I thought we're all family and my mum is lovely so if your free and fancy a dance your more than welcome to come xxx 

We had nothing planned, and as GO said, you can only turn people down so often before they stop asking.   We arrived at the club and we're greeted by GO's brother, shortly after Finlaw and Minlaw arrived.  It was a great evening and a real surprise for the birthday girl.  The band, which I thought were called Pie and Peas, were brilliant. They had me up dancing from the start, but as I said to GO if I don't dance then I have to talk to people.  

Who knows how to parteee?

R'Wood knows how to party!

At the end of year party last year I felt like a spare wheel. GO hadn't been there long and didn't really know many people.  This year he knew a few more, he's still quite an unknown character there.  There is such a big staff that it's hard to get to know everyone.  That vein said this year he greeted and chatted to many people.  I wasn't expecting to go, in fact I was looking forward to an evening on my own, but I am so glad we did.  We were some of the first to arrive and the last to leave.  They had a Tikki Bar, Surf simulators, limbo and a silent disco. Unlike last year I wanted to get involved, I had a little Dutch courage in the form of Swedish cider and had an absolute blast.  

We arranged to go on from the party to the local club to carry on until the wee hours, but due to torrential rain we had to order a taxi and by the time ours arrived I just wanted my bed.  I love a good party but even I can accept defeat.

London Baby

It was so nice to visit my old stomping ground.  Yes we always visit London every year at Christmas and during the summer holidays, but we never venture further than zone one. We had left booking our hotel until the last minute, surprise surprise, and were planning on giving AirBNB a try, hipster wannabes that we are.  I had mentioned it at school and the few people who had heard of it weren't overly enthusiastic about it, so I decided to give it a miss this time.  That left us with nowhere to stay, Tall Girl 1, had offered us some space on her floor, just as I was about to take her up on her offer GO had booked a hotel. It was a travelodge (nothing wrong with cheap and cheerful, especially in London) and it was in the Docklands.  Right around the corner from Custom House where I lived when I first moved to London, all those many moons ago.  See, before I was a North Londoner, I was an Eastender.  

We arrived and almost immediately I took charge (what's new there) I got us onto the tube towards Tower Hill (Hello Babs and Rog) we then changed onto the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) towards Bank and settled in for a relatively pain free journey.  Until we arrived at Custom House which was closed, I was convinced that we had gone a stop too far and made GO get off the train and walk around the EXCEL building towards the hotel.  It was after we had gone down the lift that I decided to just check on the phone.  I have tapped the screen a few times and as if by magic the hotel popped up along with our location. We/I were/was going the wrong way, and we hadn't missed our stop we had gotten off the DLR three stops early.  Anyhow we added a nice big total to our Fitbits that day, a theme for the week that had begun on our Saturday walk.  

As we settled into the hotel we decided that while we both knew London really well, especially the North and West sides,  we'd explore more of the East and South East.  We decided to spend our time in the Docklands, Greenwich, and Canary Wharf.  What fun we had,  more on the later.

And So Our Adventure Moves On

It is time for us to pack our bags and take the Murray house and it's life to pastures newer and hopefully greener.  

Moving on is always difficult.  So however, are more experienced (30 moves in my lifetime so far) at it than others; and are able to partition our lives quite easily, others find moving more traumatic.  

I love moving!  I love the planning, packing and the sights and sounds of moving days.  I can remember most of my moving days and look back at each one with fond memories. 

With this in mind I am slowly but surely getting excited about our impending move. I have bought boxes, found a storage unit (just in case) and have downloaded a "moving plan" from Pinterest.

I am working in a new school for the first month or so, just to build up a little nest egg before we head on up and start all over again.  

For how long?  Who knows there has been talk of heading abroad at some point.