The originally dreaded weekend has come and gone and I’m still here to tell the tale. Not much has changed believe it or not, bar the increased thoughts of cutting down alcohol, shit food and smoking, and no doubt even more grey hairs adorning my bonce.
I was fortunate to have the day off on Friday 25th for my birthday but decided to pop in to work to have lunch with the team and to polish off the Slovenia blog you can see below. I was greeted with a lovely card from everyone in the office and even a pint glass gift to remind me every time I use it that perhaps I should slow down!
I returned home just as Mikayla got in from school (don’t worry, she’s 28 and works there!) to receive my gifts. I’m notorious for being really difficult to buy things for yet she done wonders even after the initial gift of a huge bar of Dairy Milk chocolate! What followed was some ‘adult LEGO’ of the New York skyline that I thought was great even though probably too expensive. A reminder that although I’ve passed another decade perhaps I don’t *have* to properly grow up in every aspect! The final gift in my card was another pearler. In August we are going to Brussels for the day. Not only will this be another city off the list, Kay did marvelous organising everything from the coach to London, Eurostar train, exactly how long we’ll have to look around and an accompanying guide book! The girl done good. For us all as it means another blog post to look forward to!
We had planned on going to the cinema but the excitement of the gifts made me look forward to my ‘party’ tomorrow even more than I already was since sending the Facebook RSVP’s out in February! Noticing this excitement, Mikayla was quick to march me down the pub for a few birthday beers culminating with a few more in the new El Sieco’s pub, ran by family members of John Sicolo who used to own the famous TJ’s bar in the ‘Port. A few more beverages than planned but a very good night!
Saturday morning allowed enough time to chill on the PS4 for a few hours (finally completing Assassins Creed Origins after 96 hours gameplay!) as excitement built for not only a congregation of 25+ friends down the pub, but also two big football games, the last before the world cup which is still a million weeks away (three and a bit but it feels like).
Whilst Mikayla headed to the Hay Festival to see Akala (an author/rapper I believe) she dropped me off in to town to meet Rich and Tom who had travelled from the Southampton area to be with me, it was nice to have a quiet catch up before getting to local The Dodger to a foray of cards and offers of a pint from fellow County fans already settled in watching the Championship playoff final. The pub was already busy with the odd numpty singing Liverpool songs but our tables were set up in prime position to watch the game and welcome people who joined throughout the evening.
It would be rude not to mention that Champions League final of 2018. I made no secret of wanting Liverpool to lose but expected a tight game. For Welshman Gareth Bale to score undoubtedly the best goal in a European final, against Liverpool, whilst I was down the pub with my closest mates on such an occasion… you just couldn’t make it up.
Once the game had come to a close we headed into town via the Riverside bar and sadly but not unexpectedly people filtered off to home or different pubs as a small group of us danced merrily to some absolute classics in Le Pub.
I personally thought the Sunday midday wake up was quite an achievement, and as Kay went to get takeaway (what else) I started on me LEGO watching another playoff on the TV. The LEGO in fact was so fun, the first thing I did after completing it was to buy a LEGO Architect model of the US Capitol building! Not my best use of £65 but I was aware of the resale value should I change my mind. Yet another takeaway for tea as Mikayla packed her bags… not permanently as I’m too old for her!.. because she was going to Disneyland Paris on Monday with her family. How exciting!
I delivered Kay to her parents’ house 6am Monday morning and returned to bed hoping I wouldn’t miss my delivery of 1000+ blocks of moulded plastic. Once the package arrived, I had to give myself a pep-talk to leave the model unfinished! I promised Peter I would visit for the third and final playoff game of the weekend. It was great to see my friend Lewis also attend, grasping the opportunity to interrogate him about visiting Jordan which was a huge help ahead of our New Year’s trip.
Back home and Capitol construction completed anticipating the Wales football friendly with a 2am kick-off time. The game itself was not quite a boring 0-0 but once finished at 4am was glad I had the next day off too.
The final day before work (thus the end of my weekend) included nothing worthy of note, apart from the accomplishment that I cleaned most of the house, and even more so I did NOT have another bloody takeaway!
As good as the weekend was as a whole, a big shout out to everyone who joined me on Saturday especially those from afar and Mikayla for supplying the entertainment either side (… expects more LEGO from Disneyland…)
Until next year!
How Not 2 Life 