Sat, Oct 31st

Last day of the month and we spent it behind closed doors (except for a trip to the PO for some newspapers for Dawn).

Dawn got the Sunday chores out of the way today while I watched Spurs get thrashed at the Emirates by Arsenal on Sky. Thankfully we only conceded three goals, Liverpool lost to Fulham, and the rest of the teams on our tails failed to win, too.

I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen measuring the fruit for the Christmas cake and adding a few tablespoons of cherry brandy, before dishing up some home baked honey glazed ham with potatoes and peas for dinner.

The rest of the day was spent in front of the television watching Two and a Half Men and Strictly Come Dancing where the result was a complete farce. Once again the public votes were based on personalities and not dancing skills.

Fri, Oct 30th

A nice lie in today. Even for Tiny too. We didn't surface until 7:30am. Wow!!

We dropped by the local sorting office to pick up a parcel we'd missed, dropped a prescription request at my doctor's, and parked the car in town. Not much to do today. Got my glasses fixed at Specsavers and a couple of lattes between us at Starbucks before dropping into Waitrose to pick up the ingredients for me to make a home made Christmas cake and Christmas pudding this year. Best of all is that vouchers from our credit card company paid for them.

This afternoon we had our gas fire and gas boiler serviced before chilling out for the rest of the day. That is apart from dishing up a delicious plate of shrimp creole and Dawn clearing up my mess.

Thur, Oct 29th

No work and we still woke up at 4:30am. Although it did give us a head start to the day.

We had a ride up to Welwyn Garden City to do some shopping there for a change. I got some bits and pieces for the kitchen and Dawn picked up some organic cotton sheets for the bed. Lunch was a couple of shared dishes at Ask before dropping into Morrisons on the way home.

Back at the house, Dawn gave her sister Kelly a call. It was the first time she had been able to catch her in a few months. I called Dad and then dished out some pan fried talapia with veggies for dinner.

We chilled out this evening watching the movie Taken which we had taped on Sky.

Wed, Oct 28th

Nothing to report on the work front other than we worked our last day of the month today. We both have the next two days off to prepare for our anniversary on Sunday.

Dawn did however have a meeting to attend this afternoon resulting in her getting out late. I, as you will already have guessed, stopped in Costa for a skinny latte. This time no studying, though. I played Suduko on a Nintendo DS.

Sun, Oct 25th

Today was a red letter day for me. After several weeks of concerted studying, note taking and essay drafting, I finally completed my second IEMA assignment and submitted it online. Now I have to wait three weeks to see how I did.

Dawn, on the other hand, had to relive her Green City Week as she needed to review how it went and write to her senior management because she had not been at all happy about the lack of support and contributions from her own department.

Strangely, despite the clocks going back an hour for the end of British Summer Time, we both felt like the day was racing away from us. Dawn didn't start the chores until mid afternoon. Thankfully she had X Factor to look forward to later. I had already had my entertainment earlier in the day watching this week's episode of Stargate Universe.

Sat, Oct 24th

We dragged ourselves out of bed around 5:30 am this morning and spent the rest of the day chasing shadows. I did some studying this morning before and after we did the grocery shopping at Tesco, edited my provisional essay on the train to and from Finsbury Park, and then worked on my final draft once we got home.

Somewhere in between we dropped into Cats on Stroud Green Road for some lunch and popped in to see Dad and also found time to prepare a nice pan fried salmon for dinner.

We both could have done with some matchsticks on our eyes watching Strictly Come Dancing before bed.

Fri, Oct 23rd

Yesterday and today were relatively quiet for the two of us compared to the rest of the week. Although in Dawn's case she was running on fumes by the end of today. She was still overseeing events and running back and forwards from the stall and her office. She was able to get out a little early yesterday, but today was still there half an hour after her normal end of day. This of course meant that I was at Costa again.

Needless to say, we celebrated the end of what had been an eventful and stressful week with some food and drink. We stopped on the way home at Carleys to grab some fish and chips, and picked up some cold bottles of Kronenburg at the post office at the bottom of our road.

Wed, Oct 21st

Today it felt like I was working in a morgue. Hardly anyone spoke at all. However, it did give me a chance to focus on my work. No complaints from me there.

Dawn expected today to be her most stressful day and that was before events took a turn for the worse. It all started with an email from one of today's Fair Trade Debate speakers cancelling his appearance. Several emails and a phone call later, he agreed to appear, but the damage to Dawn's day had been done.

Yes, again Dawn was late getting out and I was found at Costa waiting for a text.

Tues, Oct 20th

Today proved to be a very stressful day for me at the office with an incident this morning reinforcing how I feel about my job.

Dawn too had yet another stressful day and once again didn't get away on time. As with yesterday, I found myself at Costa with a skinny latte and my coursework on the table waiting for Dawn to text me that she was on her way.

Mon, Oct 19th

Today was the start of a big week for Dawn. Following several weeks' planning, Green City Week was finally here and Dawn had five days of supervising and manning the school's environmental stall, laying on and setting up several events and more, and all virtually on her own apart from the help of a handful of environmental champions.

All this meant that she was late getting out from work. This gave me the chance to drop into Costa in Enfield and catch up on some IEMA studying with a nice skinny latte.

Sun, Oct 18th

Another busy day, even though we were at home. Dawn had her chores to preoccupy her. In my case, it was my IEMA studying. I have ten days left to complete my second assignment and still haven't completely formulated my essay in my mind. It didn't stop me beavering away at it for most of the day though.

A nice distraction was the Formula 1 grand prix from Brazil where Jensen Button emulated his compatriot Lewis Hamilton to become the 10th British World Champion. Best of all was that his drive was worthy of a champion despite finishing only 5th. He had moved up 9 places from 14th on the grid with some incredible driving and overtaking moves.

Dawn relaxed with a double dose of X Factor.

Sat, Oct 17th

After a little lie in, I watched the first episode of Stargate Universe. Having become an addict of SG1 and Atlantis, this was a must. Then we both went to Tesco to do the grocery run before heading back into town to pick up some odds and ends. Waitrose, Oxfam, Edinburgh Wool Mill, Hertford Natural Therapy Centre, Albany Radio, Halfords and Hertford Pet Supplies all took cash from our coffers. As did Cafe Nero (because Starbucks was too crowded, full of babies) and the White Hart, where we grabbed a quick lunch.

Back at the house, I topped up the screen wash in the car and changed a light in the kitchen before updating our blog and editing some photos while following Spurs' win at Portsmouth on the laptop. Dawn was sitting opposite me working on her laptop, too.

For dinner I made some toad-in-the-hole before we settled down to watch Strictly Come Dancing.

Fri, Oct 16th

Today was Kelly's (Dawn's kid sister) birthday. I won't say how old. So we both posted birthday wishes on her Facebook page before leaving for work. Dawn was planning on calling her when we got home from work later, but Kelly said she would be out.

After four days where either my train left too late, or bus too early (ruining my schedule), I was pleased that both the train and buses this morning were dead on time. Sadly, it did not mean that my work day was any easier. By the time I left work this afternoon I was again scratching my head in disbelief.

Dawn on the other had met a work colleague for lunch and enjoyed one of her favourite meals (Thai Red Curry) at one of her favourite restaurants, Pride of Siam. I suppose with all the pressure she is under, it's God's way of shining a little on her.

Check out the picture of Tiny. This is now her favourite position. She lays here every night as I try and relax after a day at the office.

Wed, Oct 14th

Wouldn't you know it? With our train now scheduled to leave at 6:23am, it arrived later than its normal departure time and left 6 minutes late, giving me no chance to get either of the two buses I can catch. Not good. Worse still is that it makes Dawn late too.

As for work. All I can say is "Roll on Saturday." I can't wait to escape. Come to think of it, "Roll on Christmas." I am not wishing my life away. But I can certainly do with a nice long break from this place at the moment. Dawn on the other hand has been working her butt off on the Green City Week starting at CU next week. Again, she feels like she is fighting a losing battle. Not because of any real problems from others. Just that she has a mountain of projects to organise and get sorted.

Mon, Oct 12th

This morning we had two reminders that it's fall here in Hertfordshire. The first was that I had to pour some hot water over the windscreen of the car to melt a thin layer of ice. Then when we arrived at Hertford North we were welcomed with the news that for the next couple of months our 6:25am train will be leaving two minutes earlier as part of the winter timetable.

This certainly helps me, as I shouldn't have to race down to the bus-stop now to catch the 6:41am bus to work. And on a Monday I won't feel so rushed doing my recycle collection first thing at the office.

Sun, Oct 11th

A day at home being busy and taking it easy. Watched recordings of the final two episodes of the current series of Ghost Whisperer. In the kitchen I made breakfast as usual and lunch. Also made a large pot of chili, broccoli, leek and chicken casserole for Monday and Tuesday, and a chicken vegetable casserole for dinner this evening. I also spent some time on the laptop updating the blog and editing photos.

Dawn on the other hand did her weekend chores and called Brady on the phone. However, she did get some relaxation time watching X-Factor from last night and then the live results show after dinner.

Sat, Oct 10th

Another hectic Saturday. I did the run to Tesco on my own again because we overdid it a little this morning. We got up at 7am!!!

We then caught the train to Finsbury Park and grabbed some lunch at Nandos. Best of all was that all our visits there had earned us a whole free chicken. All we had to pay for was the chips and a couple of beers.

Then it was off to see Dad. He is looking tired and admits as much. He has been out every day this week (hospital appointments, shops, etc).

Tonight again we relaxed with another home made dinner (pan-fried sea bass with potatoes) followed by the evening's Strictly Come Dancing.

Fri, Oct 9th

A quiet week for me. Well nothing out of the ordinary. Same old, same old. Again I am just relieved to see the weekend.

Dawn on the other hand has had her hands full trying to juggle a thousand tasks again. The latest being that she needs to complete a guide that needs to be at the printers today, and have another presentation ready for 11am, too. As usual, and fitting as it is to her late Dad's birthday today, she woke this morning having done nothing for the presentation and still not finished the guide. So it was off to work and finalise the presentation (which went well), and the guide. This went down to the wire, too. Thankfully she has until first thing Monday to get it to the printers.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy. I know you're keeping an eye on your little girl.

Mon, Oct 5th

Today I was able to go to work in a pair of jeans and sweater because I was working in the warehouse. Well, for a couple of hours anyway. At least it got me away from my desk and the phones. Not as bad as last Monday. But the same type of problems were getting to me to say the least.

Dawn on the other hand has recovered from last week's Fresher Week, but now has other targets on her horizon. Unfortunately, she has so many targets and horizons that her head is spinning.

Sun, Oct 4th

A momentous day for me. Dawn and I drove over to Walthamstow to watch my daughter Hayley play for Leyton Ladies against MSA at Douglas Eyre. The result wasn't important to me; I was just so happy to be able to watch Hayley playing football again. The last time I had seen her play was when she was playing with Arsenal back in 1998. Dawn had only seen her once before in her last game for Leyton Orient when they beat County Park in the cup final the weekend we got married.

The three of us then had ride over to my old haunting ground for some lunch at Shanghai in Dalston.

Sat, Oct 3rd

Thank God for the weekend. This morning I did the grocery shopping on my own before dropping by the sorting office to collect a parcel for Dawn (some grits over the Internet).

We then had a ride into town to get our haircut before calling in at Waitrose, Oxfam, Boots, WH Smith, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Natural Health Store and the vet to get some food for Tiny. In between we dropped into the White Hart for a light lunch.

Tonight we relaxed with a nice home cooked dinner and then Strictly Come Dancing.

Fri, Oct 2nd

I haven't mentioned it so far this week because if I did I wouldn't be able to finish. But, Dawn has been working her socks off at CU covering the stall every day for Fresher's Week. Not only covering the stall, but also trying to perform her job as usual and dealing with the Champions, too. Well done, Dawn. You're great!!!