Weekly Update 15 - Its December at last!

I can’t believe we are halfway through December already. Here is Weekly Update 15 – which will be a quick blog about what I’ve been up to.

I don’t know why but this last few years, rather than enjoying the festive spirit and build up to Christmas like I used to, December just turns into a big stressy headache. This year is no different which is why I haven’t had time to post on here for a bit

Coffee date

I met Katherine for a lunch catch up. We decided to try a coffee shop I had not been to before called Kava. It has some good reviews on Trip Advisor so it was worth a look.

I thought it was beautiful inside, although maybe a little cramped. The food took a long time to come out. I think this is to be expected with a little coffee shop as they do not have the staff. But don’t pop in thinking it will be a quick lunch. I think they complicate things for themselves by allowing bookings with wine etc during the day – I would have thought they would be better doing that in the evening only to keep the tables moving on.

On the whole, it was very nice. I had the Pea Soup -my only comment is that it could have done with having more bread/toast with it!

Leeds Part two

Ewan had an inset day and we decided to head back to Leeds, partly because it was nearby and so it would be a quick and easy journey. But also because I wanted to visit the Christmas Market.

It’s very different going with a teenager to when I went with Katherine – still good but in a different way.

The Hotel

I made a few mistakes though – I booked the Easy Hotel, thinking it would be cheap and as good as the Youth Hostel we stayed at in Liverpool. I mean it was clean and in a good location. The size of the rooms didn’t bother me – we were only there one night. It was all of the add-ones. £5 for Wifi, there was a TV but it was £5 to watch it. It was also £5 to leave luggage and there was a late check-in time of 3 pm (and there is no way they would let you in even 5 mins early unless you paid the £10 early check-in fee) and early check out of 10 am!!

I paid for a room with a window in the hope it would have a nice view!! Urmmmm maybe not!

The beds were comfy but my advice would be not to pay for a window as it’s not worth it. Better still spend an extra £10-20 and get a proper hotel!

The Parking

The parking was a nightmare too – I should have just booked the train. I booked parking through an app but then parked in the wrong car park – I know I am an idiot! To make matters worse, when I looked at hotel reviews it turned out that they discounted a nearby car park. It was discounted to £6 for 24 hours. I paid over £40 in total!!

I wouldn’t rush back for the Christmas Market – it was mainly food and I didn’t think it was as good as Nottingham.

Whilst we were there we went to the cinema and watched Last Christmas. I enjoyed this film. Ewan wanted to see Zombieland 2, but they only had one showing and as it was 9.30 pm (so they made it an 18 even though it wasn’t normally!) it was slow going to start with but still made me cry and I would watch it again.

Awards Dinner – 5 December 2019

Eddie and I both work for a company called Medilink East Midlands. It was their Annual Awards Dinner on 5 December. It was a black-tie event and this made it really stressful as all of the ladies were really dressing up. I am not happy with my weight at the moment and tried on a variety of dresses and styles. I liked the dresses but not me in them. Luckily for me, a lady I work with had a friend who had a few dresses she was happy to lend. I picked a couple out and tried them on. The dress was the best I had tried on all be it long on my short 5ft 3 frame!

The weekend before when I went to Leeds I ended up with an infected wisdom tooth – just my luck!! so I was on antibiotics that meant I couldn’t drink any alcohol, which was a shame. I am not a big drinker but it would have been nice, especially as we stayed in the hotel for the night too!

Weekly Update 15 December - julie and jo at the medilink awards

The photo on the right is me with Jo who sorted out the dress and she organised the whole successful event.

The rest of the time I have been working and then shooting to Meadowhall, the East Midlands Outlet and the Trafford Centre Christmas shopping.

Its Toms 18th birthday this week, so another big day for our family!! The first of several December birthdays too!

Almost forgot to mention the day it is today! It’s Lunas 3rd birthday – we got her a new Christmas jumper in Leeds and some different WildBoar and Rosehip treat’s.