Mr and Mrs J Broadley….and family!

Whilst we were on holiday in America, I got a telephone call from Jed telling me that Rose had given birth to their first child - a beautiful daughter. I later learned that they had named her Anna Catherine Broadley.

She was a whopper and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Congratulations and well done to both Jed and Rose. But, it’s only just begun! There are many years of joy yet to come I’m sure!

Here’s a pic of Rose and Anna enjoying what looks like quite a few congratulatory bunches of flowers!

Etape Training Diary

My friend from work, Rob, is planning to do the Etape on his bike (well obviously) next year. He’s started a blog tracking his preparations so I thought I’d give it a plug for anyone interested in similar things.

Rob’s Etape Training Diary

This is the only pic I could find of him on his bike. He’s the luminous one on the right.

North Carolina

Between 8th October and 16th October 2007, James and I travelled to North Carolina, USA to attend the wedding of Kourtney and Eric, now Mr and Mrs Katanich.

We set off on Sunday 7th October and stayed the night at Dudley’s flat in Ealing. It’s conveniently close to the Heathrow Connect trainline which got us to Heathrow nice and early on Monday morning, having set the alarm for 5:30am! We met up with Rosie and Norm at the airport and flew to Chicago and then on to Atlanta, Georgia. There, we rented a car and drove for about three and a half hours to Hendersonville, North Carolina (passing through South Carolina on the way). We didn’t arrive at The Apple Inn until really quite late - 11pm local time, making it about 4am UK time…almost 24 hours after setting off!

The cottage was small and quite quirky. It felt as if both the bathrooms had been added as an after-thought. Perhaps they were! I’m not sure how old the cottage was. It took us a while to find the switch for the water heater - it turned out that all the circuit breakers for the electricity were in the master-bedroom’s en-suite bathroom!! This added to the impression that it hadn’t always been a bathroom!

On the Tuesday we met up with the lovely Kourtney who took us for the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted at The Wrinkled Chicken Egg and then on to look around Hendersonville.

Kourtney took us up to see the Katanich family home which had a really beautiful view.

In the evening we went for some lovely food at the Irish style pub in the centre of Hendersonville.

On the Wednesday we went to The Grove Park Inn Spa. This was a super surprise that James and Norm had plotted with Kourtney for Rosie and me. It was such a lovely site and we had the greatest time. Rosie and I had full-body massages. Heavenly!

On the Thursday, James, Duds and I went for an explore around the countryside. We went to a museum about forestry which I think was the Cradle Of Forestry (lost the leaflet) and then drove along the amazing Blue Ridge Parkway - such an amazing route. Check out the Sat Nav pic below! We ended up at a place called Chimney Rock but we were quite knackered by the time we got there and we had to head back to get ready for the party in the evening.

In the evening we had a lovely time at the engagement party BBQ and then the Hen/Stag Party on the Party Bus! Below is a pic of the BBQ and poor Kourtney being led astray by her two sisters, being plied with tequila slammers! I stayed well away. Poor Kourtney. hehe.

The next day was wedding rehearsal day! Also the wedding rehearsal dinner afterward. Pinebrook Manor was beautiful! Rosie and I stayed over there with Kourtney and her sisters the night before the wedding!

The Saturday was the wedding day and it was totally splendid. The weather was glorious and the party very fun. Sometimes weddings can be a drag, but not this one. It was just right. They had a cake in the shape of a car! Everything was really special.

On the Sunday we got together for breakfast at Dixie’s Diner with all the family and headed home on the Monday. A wonderful time was had by all!

More pics of the holiday here.

Blackpool

Last weekend we went up to the North to visit Mum and Matt. It was Matt’s birthday on the 7th so we decided to take a day out to Blackpool on Saturday 8th. It was lots of fun and the illuminations were really pretty. We went on the ferris wheel on the central pier, and Matt and I went on the Waltzers! More pics here.

By the seaside

Yesterday we had a wonderful day-trip to Minehead with Reagan and Dave. Dave drove us all up there in his car along a lovely scenic route. We had a lovely lunch, walked along the front, played arcades and crazy golf, ate ice-cream and later had afternoon tea. It was really nice to get out somewhere different for a change AND for it to be nice weather. Glad we did it. Here’s a pic of me by the seaside yey!

Back to work

Dad’s funeral went really well yesterday. Tomorrow I’m back to work. Wonder how things went whilst I was away! Obviously didn’t make any preparations for a long break!

Michael S. Johnson, Dad, 1947-2007, I will always love you

As many of you already know, my father passed away on Sunday 12th August 2007.

He died peacefully, at home, with his family beside him.

I will never forget you Dad. You will always be in my heart.

Get well soon

My Dad isn’t feeling too well at the moment.

Hope you are feeling better soon Dad. Many of my friends send their best wishes too.

x

London

This weekend James and I travelled to London primarily to attend the Angioma Alliance UK first annual forum conference. Hopefully they won’t mind me quoting their leaflet because I know quite a few people reach my website when searching for information on cavernous angiomas / cavernomas / cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM) / cavernous haemangiomas (all names for the same condition).

Angioma Alliance UK is an organisation established by and for those affected with cavernous angiomas and their families. Their website www.angiomaalliance.org.uk provides information about cavernous angiomas, our current members and information on acquiring membership. Along with our parent organisation, Angioma Alliance based in Virginia, USA, we also provide updates on research.

If you would like more information about cavernomas I urge you to contact angioma alliance as they specialise in providing clear information about the illness and offer support to anyone affected by the illness.

It was a very informative day for James and me. We discovered lots of information that we didn’t have previously. A lot of the information on the web is contradictory and it was really good to hear from actual specialists who research the condition and treat it every day. There were talks on prognosis, standard surgery, genetics, gamma knife surgery and how a family should approach the issues related to a diagnosis.

It was all arranged by the Angioma Alliance UK Co-ordinator Ian Stuart and he has already announced the next annual Angioma Alliance UK forum in 2008. Here is a little pic of Ian doing his stuff.

In the evening after the forum we met up with Greg, Phoebe and Dudley for some dinner at Pizza Express. Afterward we went to Ed’s for some milkshakes. I had a peanut butter malt milkshake. It was nice but possibly a little bit too peanut buttery. The one James had was lovely - banana coffee.

We also saw some wonderful weather on the way to London. Here are a few pics of the weather and meeting people:

Birthday and House Warming at the Harvey/Gardner Household

This weekend we travelled up to Bristol for a joint celebration of Becky’s birthday and the new house that her and Dave have purchased. Much fun was had by all. Check out the photographs here. Here is a photo of Becky showing off her vegetable patch!

Wheeze-a-thon

On Friday we had the pleasure of being one of the few chosen stop-offs for Norm Driskell on his sponsered Wheeze-a-thon. He’s doing really well and was quite tired and also quite hungry!

Keep going Norm!! Best of luck. :)

Dad’s 60th Birthday

Last weekend was Dad’s 60th Birthday. I flew up to Manchester on Thursday afternoon to help Mum with her mission to make a grand piano birthday cake!! The party was on Saturday and Dad’s actual birthday was on Sunday. It was a lovely time.

Brighton

This weekend James and I had a lovely time in Brighton staying with Dave (James’s brother) and his girlfriend, Carys. It was the first time we saw their flat and it was very nice. They have really made it their own.

Despite the weather being possibly the worst i have seen all year, we did a few things like shopping and going down to the pier. Carys even gave James a new haircut.

Check out the pics here.  

Sadly, immediately after getting the pics off my camera I knocked it off the desk and it’s now broken. This makes me extremely sad :(

John O’Groats to Land’s End - ridiculous cycle ride of death amazingness

Norm is hoping to raise tons of cash with a stupendous cycle ride.

Sponser him NOW. It’s the law. 

Tunisia

Well, this week Dan is actually in Tunisia, on the holiday that I won on a scratch-card and donated to him.

I hope you are enjoying yourself Dan! I want to hear all about it when you get back :)

Easter

Just got back from a lovely weekend in the North. Helped with sorting out stuff ready for moving but still got lots to do.

Have brought home lots of old photos from uni and school that I think I will scan…so watch out…embarrassing photos may be making their way online!

End of financial year

Yep, the end of another financial year is here again. This is the busiest time for most of us. Not only are we trying to get all the bills in before we close the accounts, but we are trying to set up the programme for a new year.

As at close today, we are still about £4.5million under!! Not just one big wodge either, but loads of various stuff across the whole programme. We are trying to feel confident it’ll all come through tomorrow morning but it’ll be one of the tighest years ever.

The main problem is getting invoices off the contractors. Anyone would think they didn’t want paying for the work they have done! That’d be ok if they told us they were going to do it for free from the outset - then we could have spent the money on something else, like developing laser guided busses or hover cars. Ok, so the hover cars aren’t real but the laser guided busses are a definite possibility and have been mentioned. I have no real idea how it works but I assume drivers won’t be out of a job. I think it’d be a long time before people were confident to go on busses with no drivers! Could be good for the drivers to be equiped with lasers considering all the reports of bastard violent passengers. They could shoot lasers at them - “You expect me to pay for this crappy bus?” “No Mr Chav, I expect you to DIE!” *laser*

Anyway, tomorrow isn’t just the end of the financial year, it’s also the end of the week. Yey! I think tomorrow I will head off to the pub after work with my trio of hunks - James, Dave and Reags. Tis unlikely that it’ll be a quadrangle of hunks - Damo has not graced us with his presence in several weeks now, preferring instead to stay at home. He must have found some really good porn or something.

Congratulations part 2!

Congrats must also be extended to Oliver and Emma who now have a beautiful baby girl.

Well done you guys! Yey \o/

Congratulations

Congratulations must be extended to the engagements for the following people:

• Caz
• Kev
• Chris
• Cath

Of the list, Caz has selected Chris and Cath has selected Kev. I think this is the best match all round for everyone involved. Other combinations may not work so well.

YEY well done you guys!

I have a strange feeling that happy news is all about at the moment. Eeeee!

Pancake Day

Today is, of course, Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day.

We actually had pancake day on Saturday with a few people. Tuesdays are not good days for having events with drinks so we thought Saturday was a better day to hold it. Much fun was had by all.

One pancake did indeed hit the floor and another was dropped into the gas and burst into flames. Altogether, very successful.