Wed, Mar 31st

I am sure readers of our blog will appreciate that I can not go into details regarding my work and all what is causing me stress. All I can say is that I feel like the little Dutch boy trying to put his finger in the dyke to prevent the sea from overrunning the town. However, in my case, it's not a tide hitting the sea walls, but a cat 5 hurricane!!!

Dawn, on the other hand, is now well into the post ex-boss period. She would just prefer that all her colleagues didn't ask her how she is coping without him not being around.

Mon, Mar 29th

I knew this would be another stressful week. Despite getting some good news from our largest client, everything else is making life a little unbearable. I hate to say that I am wishing my life away, but I can't wait for the long weekend.

Dawn, on the other hand, had some mixed news. Although to speak to her you'd think it was all bad. She received her IEMA second assignment result and it was not as good as she had hoped. In a nutshell, she was disgusted and was ready to contact the University of Bath and give them a piece of her mind. Thankfully I was able to delay that until she had calmed down. Especially as her overall mark had meant that she had passed the course and, like me, was now an Associate Member of the IEMA. Dawn has such high standards and always wants to see justice done. This time she needed to see the bigger picture.

Sun, Mar 28th

Today was pure laziness. I did walk to the Post Office to get the Sunday newspapers for Dawn. But after that I spent most of the day on my butt. Most of which was spent editing several weeks of photos. This was in between two occasions when I just laid on the bed with Tiny.

Sat, Mar 27th

I don't think anyone can appreciate how much we look forward to the weekends at the moment. However, it doesn't stop me checking the bank balances at work and getting a head start for Monday working out how I am going to manage the cash situation.

This morning we headed into town for a haircut and then drove to Highgate for lunch at Dim T. We didn't have to do the grocery shopping because I went to Tesco after work on my own yesterday as Dawn was getting back late.

We then popped up to Dad's and chatted with him and George for a while before driving back to Hertford. We really hate this drive. But with my knee and leg still playing up, we didn't fancy the walk to and from the station, and to and from the station to Dad's.

Tonight we watched Dawn's new favourite reality show, Over The Rainbow, where Graham Norton hosts a show trying to find someone from the public to play Dorothy in a West End show.

Fri, Mar 26th

If this week hadn't been long enough already for Dawn, today pushed the boundaries even further. Thankfully she was able to get away from the office for a while at lunch time to enjoy lunch with my daughter Hayley at a Mexican style joint in Upper Street.

No, Dawn's day was extended because she attended the Student Union President's dinner as she had been nominated for yet another award. Sadly she was not successful this time. Even if she had, I don't think it would have helped her state of mind. I collected her from Hertford North gone 11:30pm and then took her home to where she crashed on the bed a little before midnight.

My highlight was that I got paid. After spending February on a three day week all month, it was nice to know that a full paycheck was paid into my bank account. Quite an accomplishment!

Wed, Mar 24th

Another stressful day at work. Somehow I am able to keep focused on the tasks in hand. However, I have to admit I have never found it so hard to motivate myself.

Thankfully, though, Dawn arrived home safely this evening. However, it was not without incident. After attending the morning seminars and grabbing lunch, she decided (with a few others) to take a walk to the local pier before heading back to the station to catch the train back to London. What she didn't realise was that the walk was longer than locals had said it would be, and that the walk to the station would be uphill all the way. She made it there with minutes to spare and with blisters on her feet into the bargain. She was not a happy bunny. I collected her at the station and took her home to a nice bowl of home made chili and some pita chips and salsa for dinner. She chilled out the rest of the evening with some newspapers while I watched Spurs beat Fulham 3-1 to make it to the FA Cup Semi-Final.

Tues, Mar 23rd

Did not get a good night's sleep as there was a space in the bed where someone should have been. Got up early as usually and then decided to drive to work. Dawn woke up around 6am and texted me so I could call her back. I was already at work by the time we first spoke.

Work for me is getting more and more stressful. In fact, tempers are beginning to flare, too. One of my colleagues had to go out and get some fresh air due to the stress. But it is still nothing compared to what Dawn is having to endure. Between networking, the various classes she was attending, and yet another late dinner to keep her up, I still feel like I had the easier day.

Thankfully Dawn's absence hasn't had too much of an effect on Tiny. She has been looking for Dawn. But I have spent a lot of the time with her to make up for her not being here. Tonight Tiny even slept between my legs all night as she normally does.

Mon, Mar 22nd

This morning we drove to the station knowing that when I got off the train at Enfield Chase that we would not see each other for a couple of days. This was because Dawn was heading to Bangor in northwest Wales to attend a EAUC conference at the university there.

My day was a typical mixture of stress and anxiety. However, compared to Dawn's, it was a walk in the park. Once she arrived in Wales, she had to contend with dragging her luggage around town getting lost on her way to the university, spending time networking (we did this when we had Just Sentimental and didn't really enjoy), and staying up past her bedtime for dinner with the other delegates. And, if that wasn't enough, she couldn't get a signal on her BlackBerry in her dorm room. Thankfully she had her work cell phone too, so we were able to chat before we both called it a day.

Sat, Mar 20th

Today we definitely chilled out the best we could. Didn't walk into town this weekend and drove to Tesco instead for our weekly shopping. I made some home made ginger biscuits and Dawn spent a couple of hours on the telephone to her sister Kelly. I can't remember the last time the two talked, but it has certainly been a few months.

In the meantime, I followed Spurs game against Stoke City on the Internet (watching live streaming) and biting my nails as we held on to a much needed win. Moments after the final whistle went, Dawn's cell phone rang and it was my brother David in Dublin who was calling me to share the news that Spurs had somehow won away from home in a game that in the past we would have lost. He had the pleasure of watching the game live on television in his local pub.

Fri, Mar 19th

Dawn said goodbye to her boss, Stephen McKinnell, today. After spending the last few months winding down his responsibilities, he finally moved on. However, this meant that Dawn had another long day at the office as she attended his leaving party (more of a do than party) at a local pub. I collected her from the station at 6:30pm with some fish and chips already collected from Carley's at Sele Farm and headed home for a much needed glass of red wine. For Dawn that is!!

Thur, Mar 18th

My wife Dawn just doesn't know when or how to take things easy. Today was the first day in a run of six out of seven work days where she would be up past her bedtime.

Tonight it was because CU had a visit from the Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Dawn's presence was requested as she was Environmental Officer. However, by the end of the evening, her presence was hardly noticed, let alone needed. Her outgoing boss found himself rubbing shoulders with the honourable MP and making a brief two minute speech. Dawn, who has difficultly hearing at functions like these, was stuck at the back of the room and heard very little from either her boss or Mr Miliband.

Oh yea, Dawn made it back to Hertford around 10pm. She had woke up a little after 4am as usual this morning and caught the 6:10am train, too.

Wed, Mar 17th

This morning we drove to the station to catch the train to work. Over the last week or so I had been having problems with one of my knees and it had been painful walking to the station and back. In fact, I have already started to get a bus to Enfield Chase after work, too. It's nothing too serious. I think it's one of my own footballing injuries that surfaces now and again. The pain will disappear in a couple of days and we will go back to walking to the station again. Worse is that not walking will probably result in both Dawn and me adding a few unwanted pounds to our weight.

Sun, Mar 14th

It was Mothering Sunday in England today, so we headed to North London to pick Dad and George up and take them with us to Islington Cemetery to lay some flowers on both Mum's grave, and Dad's mother's. Despite Dad not leaving the flat for nearly two weeks, there was no way he was going to miss paying his respects today.

We then stopped at The Gatehouse for a nice lunch. I think it was the first time that neither one of us had Sunday roast. The food was okay. But, it was really the company that we were interested in.

When we made it home, I then baked a couple of wholemeal loaves of breads and prepared a chicken vegetable casserole for the next few nights.

Sat, Mar 13th

We chilled out after another stressful week by walking into town and relaxing with a nice cafe latte in Cafe Yum before doing our weekly grocery shopping at Waitrose. When we got home, I then had the pleasure of watching Spurs beat Blackburn Rovers in their chase for 4th spot in the Premier League. Dawn had her weekly video call with Brady because we had plans for Sunday. We also watched The Young Victoria to make sure we ended the day as relaxing as we started it.

Fri, Mar 12th

A stressful weekend came to a nice close with a visit from my daughter Hayley. I picked her up from Hertford East after work and, after picking up a cooked chicken at Tesco, headed back to the house to enjoy a chicken salad and her company.

It goes without saying that we enjoyed spending time with Hayley and catching up with her. Although we email and text each other regularly, it was the first time that we had seen her this year.

Wed, Mar 10th

Facebook has become a feature of many lives over the last few years, and Dawn and I have been no exception. However, in our case, Dawn's has been due to an influx of old classmates from her days at Eastside High School. She has nearly double the friends I have, and most of mine are people I currently work with.

Anyway, this week I caught up with three old friends. One was George Heatherington who played football in the same school team when we won a 7-a-side competition for Grafton beating Christ the King 2-0 in the final. He also sent a copy of a team photo reminding me how I looked back in '71 (I'm in the front row, far right). We also caught up with Lou Gramlich and Robin Haspiel. I used to work with both at SIU in Dunedin and will always remember Christmas 2001 when we enjoyed the festive ride around Ozona in golf carts.

Sun, Mar 7th

Woke up to ice on the car roofs and a request from Dawn to switch the heat over. When will this winter ever end?

Anyway, I was back in the kitchen again today. Made a batch of digestive biscuits, two loaves of bread, a dish of lasagna for tomorrow night's dinner, and some mushroom and chorizo risotto for tonight's dinner. Dawn did the weekend chores of cleaning, vacuuming, ironing and somewhere in between our 2009 annual tax return for the IRS. Uncle Sam keeps tabs on us just in case we earn enough for him to demand some income tax from us (NO CHANCE OF THAT HAPPENING).

Sat, Mar 6th

After the stress of worrying about Tiny, Dawn's IEMA assignment, and my EMS audit, we decided to start the weekend with a little lay in. Then, after some breakfast and a shower, we walked into town to do the weekly grocery shopping and chill out for a bit. We even found time to check out the new coffee house, Caffe Yum, in what used to be the old Wiggintons furniture store by the Old Cross. The coffee was pretty good, and the atmosphere a darn sight better than Starbucks.

After picking up a few things, we grabbed a quick bite at the White Hart for lunch and then picked up our groceries at Waitrose before walking home.

Back at the house, I made a batch of gingernut biscuits before dishing up dinner and watching Spurs draw 0-0 with Fulham live on ITV1.

Fri, Mar 5th

Tonight we got home from work and I have to admit I was totally exhausted (Dawn too). This week had been the first week since the end of January that I had worked five days, had walked to and from the station every day, and on top of that had to endure the stress of our ISO 14001 certification review. All of course were successful. But it didn't stop it from being tiring.

Dawn too feels like her workload is increasing by the day. Even worse is that she seems to be accumulating meetings like I collect First Day Covers, books, or anything for that matter.

Needless to say, Dawn enjoyed a glass of red wine with our fish sandwich for dinner tonight, and I enjoyed a chilled bottle of Stella.

Wed, Mar 3rd

The inspector from BSI arrived earlier than scheduled and for the next five hours I pretended to be his shadow as we discussed our EMS in the boardroom, carried out a site survey and shared a sandwich lunch (also in the boardroom). However, it must have been worth it. When he left I was informed that we had received no new non-conformities. We did have one carried forward from before. But I wasn't too upset. At the last review it was because we couldn't provide our AC service reports. This time it was because the said reports had not shown that a leak test was done. Best of all is that the inspector agreed to reschedule the next review for January 2011 instead of July 2010.

By the way, Tiny is virtually back to normal. She is even playing with her string at the end of the day with Dawn in front of the fire.

Mon, Mar 1st

Normal service resumed. This morning, having driven to and from the station most days last week, we were back walking to the station and, in my case, back to Enfield Chase station at the end of the day.

At work we were both under the cosh as usual, too. Dawn trying to deal with a mountain load of projects and meetings. In my case, preparing for the BSI inspector's visit on Wednesday to review our environmental management system. I can tell you I am not looking forward to that one little bit.