Phew, no babblings for over a week... mainly because I've been non-stop mad busy. As usual, only more so.

So, where were we...? Cake-baking on Friday, quite a late night, but it was fun. Then Saturday was the day of Mum's 50th birthday party, and I was a bag of nerves - I don't know what I was worrying about, just general nervousness in case everyone spontaneously decided they hated me and the party was pants. Saw Jayne first, met her at the station, hopped on the bus to drop her stuff off at my house, back to town (I had a few things to buy, and for Jayne it was a fascinating excursion around Wrexham. Honest.) Spotted a nice big mirror in Goldilocks' Cottage, perfect for the living room above the fireplace, and it was reduced to a bargain price, and they deliver! How much better can a Saturday get? Back to the house to get ready for the party and eat pizza... Karl managed to find the house - here's the confusing bit, it's Karl from the Midlands, not Karl my ex-fiancé.
So the three of us hopped in a taxi and headed for Dodleston Village Hall - *the* place to be on the 23rd April.
The party was good - much dancing and frivolity. Surreal to be talking to my cousin as my manager strolls past, to buy a drink from my friends who are behind the bar. Rob, Dan, Tom and Paul were already there, and our job for the evening mostly seemed to be serving drinks, as Dad and Catherine had set up the bar and gone off for a meal. John couldn't come, as he'd got back from Blackpool late. Simon turned up 2 hours late, already drunk, got himself more drunk, fell over, and bled all over the place. Cue an ambulance, a trip to the Countess of Chester hospital, and lots of laughter. He wasn't concussed and he hadn't broken his nose, so when they had stopped the bleeding I took him home in a taxi then headed back to my house to catch up with the others. I was only 20 minutes late, and Steve came round soon after - he hadn't been able to come to the party itself, but joined in with the after-party!
Drinking and fun continued until Sunday morning: Jayne fell asleep and got beanbagged, so did Dan, so it seems to be turning into a theme.

See photos of in September, then and last week.

Dan, Rob, Tom and Paul left around 4am, Jayne headed off to bed soon afterwards, which left Karl (brummie not ex), Steve and I talking until it got light outside - I think we called it a night at 7am.
Euan was dropped off four hours later, then we all headed to the Trevor Arms for . Very nice it was too. Didn't want to say goodbye to everyone on Sunday, it had been such a fantastic weekend. Photos in photos bit. Where else?
Work on Monday, Rhyl on Tuesday, work on Wednesday, Rhyl on Thursday (last day of the Community Project, we had our picture taken for the papers), then work on Friday.
Rose was off on training this week, so the three days I was in work were extra-busy. Hannah came back to Wrexham with me on Thursday night and we went to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before meeting Karl (ex this time) for a drink and heading into town. Ended up in Chicago until 2am, and a strange man called Jamie shared the taxi with us and came in for a couple of drinks before leaving at 4am. Work on Friday was as dull as ever, but at least it was Pizza Day on our group (2 for 1 at Deep Pan) so after dashing into town I came back to find my yummy Fully Loaded Thin Crust sitting on top of the C495s.
After work I headed into Wrexham for a bite to eat and to get some cash out to go to Chester Fair. Problem was, the accounts with money in are the ones I don't know the PIN for. I went to several shops trying to find one that accepted signatures for cashback, and eventually (ex) Karl's cousin got it to work for me in Tesco. I wasn't sure if he recognised me, but I suppose "Miss G Ketteringham" on the card was a clue, and he called me Gem as I thanked him and left.
This made me late for the bus, and I had a really painful earache (complete with throbbing head and aching jaw/neck), so I was considering giving up, but at the bus stop were two people also not keen on waiting half an hour, so we agreed to split a taxi fare three ways. It turned out to be four ways, as the lad knew someone in Marford who wanted picking up on the way. Someone called me "resourceful" a couple of weeks ago. I'm beginning to think they might have had a point.
Finally met Dan, Paul and John, and had a fantastic time - no, I'm not too old for the fair! Why should kids have all the fun?

Video .

Paul kindly gave us a lift home, before heading back to uni last night. Mad crazy person!
Which brings us to today - Woke up after a good night's sleep, my earache is now definitely an ear infection so I'm half deaf. Don't know if I can be bothered going to the doctor's on Tuesday. Shall I just wait for it to sort itself out (again)?
Euan was dropped off at lunchtime, then we pootled up to my house with my new computery stuff (bargains hunted out by Rob - many thankyous!) and got everything plugged in. Headphone thingies work, microphone probably works, too tired to find out. Webcam is being awkward, will have to get Dan to come round and fix it. New monitor is good though, huuuuuge compared to the old one! Hooray!
I'm looking forward to a Bank Holiday with very little to do now. Possibly seeing Andrea, Aidan & Ethan tomorrow, possibly a day out with Mum and Grandma on Monday, but definitely lots of sleep.

I was too poorly to go to Rhyl yesterday; just felt exhausted and shaky and faint. I probably could have coped with a day in work, but didn't fancy an hour's journey feeling yucky! Had a productive day rearranging furniture and tidying the house though, as I'd said Geraint and Will could still come round as planned. They turned up, we had a nice quiet evening in and dozed off watching DVDs... Turned out to be quite an early night luckily, although I had already warned them I would be ill and boring. When we got to Rhyl this morning, half the team hadn't turned up again, but an ultimatum from Andy helped get a few more attendees.
Got back home quite early, and spent a while pampering myself ready for the party tomorrow... wow, I got to lie in the bath until the water went chilly - that never happens!
Then Dan and Rob turned up and it was cake-baking time again, this time because Dan had promised Mum a cake for tomorrow and forgotten... Yet another emergency chocolate cake, but I think it will be too sickly sweet. Put it this way: I won't try any until I've seen someone else's reaction! Had fun making it though, they didn't leave until after 3am, and I've got a busy day tomorrow. Quite worried now... what if people don't enjoy themselves? What if it all goes wrong? It'll be fine. It'll be the event of the year. Probably.

This feels like a very long week for some reason.
Back to Rhyl again yesterday - feeling a bit poorly all day, think I'm just a bit tired. Only three of us turned up anyway (Me, Geraint and Will), but at least we got loads of painting done, until the rain stopped us. Apparently, the day before, some of the team had decided graffiti would be a fun way to pass the time. Andy (team leader) had disagreed, and told them off. So half the team were missing because they were sulking, and half were missing because they thought Andy had been too lenient, so they were on an unofficial protest strike... All good fun.
Today was back to work, and some hectic catching-up until it was time for a group meal to celebrate Al's 50th (he's off to Italy for his actual birthday, jammy sod). Then some speed-shopping with Nicola and back in time to sort out the 1st class post, then the cheques... by the time the deadlines had passed I was feeling really ill. Got a lift home with Ian, who decided it would be fun to take the piss a bit more about Friday (he's Aidan & Colin's manager), which really cheered me up, obviously.
Carole sent me an email to tell me Nick's been taken to hospital for an urgent operation, but that they have to wait for the anti-coagulant drugs to wear off a bit first. She's asked me to translate his emails into French for her so that nothing business-related gets overlooked. Fingers crossed everything will go well and Nick will be back home soon.

Had quite a bad day today.
I went out on Friday night, and predictably got rather drunk. The unpredictable bit was that Aidan (Andrea's fiancé) and Colin (Steve's step-dad) would turn out to be my drinking buddies, and end up coming back to the house for more drinks.
Aidan crashed out on the sofa, and ended up walking the three miles home at some silly hour of the morning, to spend the whole weekend in the doghouse. Colin wandered up the road at 5am-ish, and woke Steve's mum up because he had no key with him...
So bearing in mind that Andrea, Aidan, Steve, Colin and I all work in the same office, today was always going to be slightly humiliating. Leading grown men astray etc.
Andrea's just about talking to me, but apparently wouldn't have been so restrained if I'd phoned on Saturday.
I went into town for some retail therapy, bought a new top for Mum's 50th party on Saturday, got contact lenses ordered (finally), but still felt miserable and picked-on. I mean, it's not my fault, I can't make people's minds up for them! I merely offered alcohol. They didn't have to accept.
Dan's cheered me up with Photoshopped images of a few of us in Dr Who-stylee. Just wish he hadn't made me "Ace", aka Sophie Aldred. The cheesiest sidekick in the history of 80s stereotypes.

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Mostly normal week in work. Went for lunch on Monday with Karl - wasn't exactly sure why... he just said he wanted a "catch-up", since I'd been away for ages. Went to the Acton (just round the corner from where he lives with his parents, but if he wants home territory that's fine), and had a nice meal where he told me how many people he'd slept with since we split up in September. So I asked if it was OK for me to sleep with someone else yet, and he replied that he assumed I already had. Very odd conversation.
Had lunch with Andrea again on Tuesday, mainly to dissect what had been said in the previous day's conversation with Karl.
Rhyl on Thursday - Prince's Trust community project. I'd spent Wednesday night in Chester with Simon, so naturally I had a painful hangover all day. Didn't fancy digging stinking sludge out of a pond, but happily painted window frames on a café. Got recognised at lunchtime, presumably by someone who works in Rhyl Tax Office and has visited Wrexham when I was training someone on something, or organising last year's Fun Day. I waved, then hid. Very happy bunny by this evening, no idea why (despite enduring a couple of hours each way in the world's most uncomfortable minibus).

Had lunch with Andrea on Friday, for a much-needed catch up. Went to Yales, because at least then we don't have to stagger far to get the bus when we're stuffed full of food. I had the Full English Breakfast. Yummy. John met us there to collect my spare house key. I went back to work (for a fiasco with my annual leave, all calculated electronically and foolproof. So I shouldn't argue with the 38 days' leave it's credited me with? When I've only really got about 19 left?) and Dan & John headed up to my house to wait for me to get home. Steve gave me a lift back then came in for a cuppa, and all three of them decided to laugh at me. Cruel people.
Eventually we thought we should get on with the purpose of the evening - John's Food Tech GCSE Coursework. Also known as an Easter-themed cake. Steve headed home and the rest of us started on the cooking, with Euan's help. Chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream icing, and chocolate crispies in the shape of a nest with mini eggs in it. A , if you like chocolate.
John & Dan both stayed the night, but Dan left early and John mooched around until I headed towards Chester with Euan. We met Dan on the bus, Tom at the station, and Paul in Chester, and went for a quick bite at Pizza Hut. Well, that was the idea. Shame they brought our starters and forgot about our main courses. Some time later, with one naggy toddler, one irritable Gem, and 20% off the bill, we emerged to make the most of the shops that were still open. John went home with his cake, and the rest of us went back to Mum's.
Had a lazy Sunday morning (well, Mum didn't - she went swimming and brought croissants back! ) Then did garden centres with Euan, Mum and Grandma. Always a relaxing way to spend a Sunday. I now know what I want to do with my scrubby concrete yard: there's a gorgeous big patio design - blue and yellow slabs in the shape of a sun. I might have to save up for it, but it would be worth it. And an area of playbark for Euan with a slide in it. Plants, you say? Maybe some honeysuckle up the wall, and a couple of potted plants. If they look easy to manage, that is. Perhaps a water feature. OK, now I really would have to save up.
Maybe I should sort the bathroom out first.

Just been trying to catch up this week - catch up with work, catch up with washing every item of clothing I own, catch up with friends I effectively haven't seen all month etc etc... And I've been missing my Brecon friends!
So I was really looking forward to today, my next Rhyl instalment. This is the Project Planning week, but there isn't much planning to do, as we know what needs doing, and we don't even have to blag any materials or equipment as for this project it will mostly be provided. So we worked on our folders, argued over which CD to have on, did more teamworking stuff... then had chips for lunch. Only me, Kev, Geraint, Will and Paul (Kev's brother who was ill and didn't come to Brecon) turned up. In the afternoon Andy said we'd be cleaning the van. We laughed. He said, "No, seriously, the Bangor team need it for their week in Brecon and it's a bit mucky so we'll clean it out." It wasn't hard work though - a hoovery thing at a petrol station, which was also used on people for comedic effect, then a jet wash (I'd done the hoovering so I stood a long way back and let the lads do all the work). There were a few soggy people getting back into the minibus, but at least it was cleaner.

Wow. What a week.
Brecon was fantastic. In the end there were nine of us and Andy & Gareth, the team leaders. Four lads: Kev, Geraint, Will and Ray. Five girls: Me, Hannah, Kirsty, Jess and Cat. Most of them are in their late teens, and I thought I'd be the oldest there, but Kev is 24, so at least I don't feel like an old fogey. Well, not much. Usually the team is a mixture of employed/unemployed volunteers, but I'm the only employed one on this team - just the luck of the draw. Technically I'm a "Development Coach", but I think that's just to make me feel special.
Easter Monday was spent travelling down there, shopping and settling in. Then when it got dark they split us into two groups (I was with Hannah, Jess, Kev and Kirsty) and dumped us on either side of a big hill, gave us torches and a compass, and told us to find the other vehicle. Several streams, walls and arguments later we made it.
Tuesday started with caving - I couldn't do it. I got about twelve feet into it and felt a panic attack coming on. And I'd been determined to give it a proper go! Felt like my head was being squashed. Couldn't breathe. I thought I'd better get out before I got further in and caused a proper scene. Nobody minded - like they said, you're not forced to do anything, and no-one even took the piss. The afternoon was gorge walking, which was fantastic. Once you've got used to the fact that you're basically sitting in a river in the freezing rain, and you don't mind the fact that all your extremities are numb, it's actually good fun sliding down waterfalls and plunging into murky pools. It was even better to get back for a hot shower though.
Wednesday was kayaks and canoes. Good fun. Along the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal. I tried not to sound like a smartarse when people asked canal-related questions. ("Is it a barge or a longboat?" "Neither. It's a narrowboat because it's 7' wide. Barges are 14' wide, and longboats are what the Vikings had." etc) Then we did "bomb disposal". Again we were split into two teams, walked into a disused railway tunnel (it was curved, so after a while it became pitch black, no torches this time) then both teams had to cooperate to "defuse" the bomb. Which we did. I'm sure I stepped on something squidgy that might have been a dead rat. I didn't mention it until we were back outside because I didn't want to freak everyone out, but I also didn't want to give the organisers the satisfaction of telling me it was a sock filled with sponges or something.
Thursday was rock climbing. As a reward for spending the whole week being cold and soggy, they took us to a big indoor climbing centre - instead of the real cliffs they had planned. Hurrah! Civilisation! The man-made caving system I could handle. In fact it was brilliant fun. Rock climbing... I don't like the smooth walls with silly little hand-holds (possibly because I've got clumsy big hands & feet) but they also had a huge pit lined with proper rocks, which I found much easier to climb. I got the highest up the climbing rope out of the girls, but didn't make it all the 80 feet to the top! I could happily have stayed there longer, but people were getting bored.
Friday we travelled back - except that I asked to be dropped off at Dad's instead since we were so close. Dad was suffering from a killer of a hangover (these wild Thursday night dominoes tournaments are lethal. No really, I've seen them), so I mooched and made new friends - ironically called Nick & Carol. Saturday I went to the Food Festival (opened by a camp weatherman from BBC Wales apparently), bought goodies, then in the afternoon I went horse riding, because I'd never done it (well, not since I was 7) and Ffos Farm is only five minutes' walk form Dad's. Nick said he'd come with me, because he loves horses and Carol is less than thrilled at the prospect! I eventually got the hang of stop and go, and even started to work out how to steer the strange beast (called Ginny, or Jinny. Or Djinnie? Possibly Jeanie). Brilliant fun. The worst bit is going through the town on the way back, and passing right in front of the Neuadd... where everyone's sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, and they all take the piss until you're out of sight.
Sunday I was supposed to be coming home... but the 5.22 still wasn't there at 5.50, and the nice lady on the enquiry line said it was running 80 minutes late and had just gone through Llanelli. Great, so that's my connection at Shrewsbury (incidentally the last train of the day) totally and utterly screwed. After consulting train and bus timetables, and enquiring as to whether anyone was heading North in the morning, I decided to catch the 6.27am train on Monday morning instead. Sigh... stuck in mid-Wales on a Sunday night... naturally, I got drunk, and we ended up having a truly bizarre sing-along with the French jazz band that were there for the festival until some silly time in the morning. Only in Llanwrtyd.
So I was up ridiculously early this morning, but only got into work at about 11am. Lots of catching up to do - haven't actually been in work for three weeks, what with France, Easter and Brecon - Kirsty and Nicola started on their new teams today (all that training 5 months ago was for what?) and Rose is eager to learn... if only I could remember what my job entails...!