Exam time again!

April was study time for me! I had exams coming up in May/June, 5 exams in 5 weeks, so that was what I was doing!
I went to London to write my exams, and stayed with Roz in Essex. What an awesome time that was! I really enjoyed spending time with them and the kids! Three kids is hard work!!!

I had studied hard, and it paid off, as I got four distinctions! I'm very pleased with that result.

Roz really helped me with my knee as well. She gave me great exercises to do, and by the time I left there, I was walking nearly normally!

 Love those kids!!!

When I went into London to write my exams, I met up with Eloise when I could. That was a really good time! After my first exam, it was such a beautiful day that we went to Hyde park, drank about 3 bottles of bubbly and ate strawberries! Good times!

After that, we went to the bar where Shana works, to say hello, and drank more bubbly, because that's just how we roll! Duncan joined us, as he was in the UK at the time, so it was a little cousin reunion! Really fun day.

The day of my last exam, Sean was arriving in London for work! I was very excited, as I hadn't seen him for four and a half weeks! I was supposed to leave the next day, but extended by trip to stay the weekend!
I met up with Michelline, and we had some cocktails! Actually, lots & lots of cocktails! Sean joined us a bit later!

It was a great night! I don't remember what time we left, but it was such fun!
I stayed with Sean at his hotel that night.
The next day while Sean was working, I met up with Eloise again.

We went to her old hood, and had the most delicious lunch, followed by macaroons by Pierre Herme! It didn't end there, we then had delicious Gelato's at a place in Soho! This was followed, of course, by some bubbles...

Excellent day!
I stayed with Sean again that night, and we went for dinner at the George & Dragon, where we had some typical English fish & chips!!

The next day was Friday, so I went back to Essex, where Sean joined us when he had finished work. We spent the weekend with Roz, Sam and the kids, and had a great time. Pauline and Toby joined us for one night, and it was great to see them too!
The weather was so beautiful that weekend!

Because I had extended my trip, I was able to make Michelline's 30th birthday party! Really excited about that! So Sean and I made our way into London for a bit of fun with Michelline!

The Sunday was so lovely, so we all went for a walk in the park.

What a wonderful time I had living with the Penneys! I really enjoyed spending time getting to know the kids better!

An update... FINALLY

So, it's been over a year since the last post! Terrible, I know, but we've finally got round to it!
After x-rays and an MRI, it turned out that I had torn my ACL. Completely! At least I didn't do half a job of it! So, surgery it was then! 5 weeks after the fall, I was in hospital for the operation. All went well (they even operated on the correct leg)! Sean came to visit me evey morning and evey night of the three nights that I had to stay there!

After bringing me home, he did EVERYTHING!! I wasn't able to put pressure on my leg for three weeks, I had crutches so at least I could make my own way to the bathroom! But what an angel he was, did all the cooking, cleaning, shopping! He looked after me like a star!

Recovery was slow, and, as they say in Spain, poco a poco! One thing I did do, was learn to study in bed!

At the end of March we had a visit from Terry & Pauline! A quick visit, but awesome nonetheless! They flew in on their way home from a cruise, and spent a night with us! It was so great having them stay here, and show them around our little town! Unfortunately, I did a bit too much walking on the night they got here, that I wasn't ablt to join them the next day in the village, as my knee was really sore, but it sounded like they really loved the town!

Camprodon January 2011

After New Year, Sean had another week of holiday before heading back to work. We spent the time pottering around the house, reading and relaxing. Went for a mountain bike ride once, which was really worth it! We did decide to go away for our anniversary weekend though. We wanted to go skiing, so off to the shop with us, and 2 sets of skis later, we were fully kitted out for a weekend of skiing. We booked the same place that we stayed in December, the self-catering in Camprodon. Drove up on the 14th when Sean got home from work. I had pre cooked us some meals, so we didn't have to do any cooking while we were there! We drank a bottle of bubbly in celebration, and had an early night, ready for an early start of skiing!!!

We arrived at Vallter 2000, bought our ski passes, and hit the slopes! We started on the baby slope, just to get back into it, but it wasn't long before we were on the longer slopes. And the slope that we thought was so steep the previous time, seemed to much easier to us now!

We skiied until 5pm, when they closed, then headed back to the place we were staying, for an early supper and an early night. We had decided to get the ski pass for the whole area for the Sunday, so we wanted to make an early start! 

We were at Vallter 2000 by 9am on Sunday morning. One of the first people on the lifts! After a few times down the bigger green slopes, we decided to tackle a blue slope. Unfortunately, there had not been enough snow, so the blue slope was closed, but the red slope was open!

So, after lunch, we took our chances, and went down! Slowly!

It was awesome! We went down twice, and can only imagine how it must feel if you can actually ski properly! Needless to say, while we were on the slope, there were many kids, looked to be about 5 or 6, who came screaming past us! We were so happy that we had done it though. It was getting quite late, so we ended up on the green slope again. By this time we had been skiing 8 hours on Saturday, and now nearly 8 hours on the Sunday, and this is how I was taken down the mountain!

Not entirely fun, but that's just what happens sometimes I suppose! I ended up crossing my skis to such an extent that I tore the ligament in the side of my knee. It's now in a cast, and I'm going to the doctor on the 28th so that he can take off the cast and see what's going on. I think there'll be no skiing for me for at least the rest of this season! I'll just have to sit back and watch while Sean skis! Sean has been waiting on me hand and foot - I couldn't have gotten a better husband!

New Year 2010

Samantha, a friend of mine from school days, was coming to Barcelona for New Year. It was great to see her again. The three of us went to a few bars in Barcelona, and then were walking around Rambla, drinking bad bubbly, the only thing for sale! Silly us, we really should have bought some before. Spent 12.00 on Placa Catalunya with some american basketball players that were picking Sam up. 

After they left, we went off in search of food! At about 2am, after getting Sam safetly on a night bus back to her hotel, we took a train back home to Sant Cugat! We woke up late and rested most of the day. 

Next day we met up with sam again, went to an ice bar! Very fing cold! But fun, especially the blue cocktails!

Needless to say, we didn't spend too much time inside the freezing cold bar, but rather went back out to the warmth of the bar! The best part, since the 2nd of January, no more smoking in any of the bars, so we didn't end up smelling like smoke after that night!

We went out again on Monday with Sam, and a friend of hers, Terri. Went for a few drinks and then dinner. was really nice to spend some time with Sam, and Sean and I are already looking at flight to Geneva!

UK Christmas 2010

Once we got back from Camprodon, it was 4 days of work for Sean, and then off the the UK to stay with a very pregnant Roz, and the family for Christmas. We flew on the 23rd, after watching the weather and airports all week to make sure that we would be able to fly, and landed in Stansted with Kevin picking us up. On the way back to Sam & Roz's, we were informed that Roz was in hospital, booked to have here baby in the morning, Sam was with her, and Karin was looking after the other kids! Amy Penny decided she didn't want to wait till 8 am, and arrived at 2am on the 24th of December, healthy and happy and 5 days earlier than planned. Roz was home that afternoon, getting everything ready for Christmas lunch the next day!

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas lunch. Kevin's mother, Barbara joined us, which was fantastic, and the rest of us weren't driving anywhere, so the wine did not stop flowing! Lisa was having such fun opening her presents! And Amy's presents! And Lukes! And anyone else's if they would let her! What a gorgeous kid.

Sunday morning, Lisa comes into our room and lies down on the bed with me playing one of her new games from Christmas. And then come the board games. She loves the board games. It was really special spending the mornings with her!

Karin, Kevin, Sam, Sean, Lisa, Luke and myself  went for a walk in the forest around the corner late morning. Really beautiful there, and also nice to get out in the fresh air. Get rid of some of the kids energy too!

Later on Sunday, Sean, Roz and Karin's cousin Louise came to visit. More wine was opened, and did not stop flowing. Another big lunch was eaten, and Louise and Andrew stayed over. Lisa was having such fun playing with their kid, whose the same age. Beautiful little girls.

Monday Sean and I got up and went into London. First we stopped off and had a few drinks with Eloise, making her late for her lunch. But it was worth it! Our next stop, we met up with Michelline, Ian and Smiley. Haven't seen them in so long.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing, reading and not doing much. It was great spending time with the family over Christmas. We left on Thursday, just in time for New Year in Barcelona!

Camprodon December 2010

On the weekend of the 17 - 19 December, we joined Sean's colleague, Steve, and his family on a skiing trip to Vallter 2000. We stayed in the village of Camprodon, about a half hour drive from the ski resort. Really nice sef-catering place. There were 8 of us in total that went up, and only Steve's brother-in-law had really skiied before. The rest of us were beginners. Had a lesson first thing, which was great, because they showed us how to put on our ski's!

As you can see, by this stage we had invested in ski clothes, so at least we were warm. we'd even splashed out and bought ski boots for each other for Christmas! The pics above are from the first day on the baby slope. On Sunday afternoon, we ventured to a steeper slope!!

Quite nervewrecking when you can barely see over the edge, but we managed to do it! We left on Sunday at about 3, so that we could have a shower and pack up before we drove home. After skiing for 5 hours on Saturday, and another 5 on Sunday, we were ready to go home! We loved our first ski weekend, and were very much looking forward to the next one!

Andorra

I got back from SA, and we pack a bag again! Off to Andorra for the weekend. Got up early on the Saturday and drove through. Got there just before lunch on Saturday, and walked around the town of La Vella. Had lunch at a busy little restaurant, stopped in at the duty free to buy some Glenlivet whisky for Sean as the price was awesome, and then headed to the smaller town of Arinsal for the night. Well, that's where we ended up after stopping at a few small bars along the way looking for the best place to stay, and of course sampling the wine and beer!

It doesn't take long to drive around Andorra, what we thought would take a half hour, took us 5 minutes, so we were in Arinsal before we knew it. Booked into the first hotel we saw, and at 35 Euros for the night, including cold buffet breakfast, we couldn't really go wrong! Put our things in the room, and headed off to yet another pub for some more wine and beer, and ended up joining a Saffa and a Pommie for dinner at a restaurant! Fun night.