Catching up...again...and Portrush...again!

My lovely friend Emma wrote recently of blogging and creativity gremlins and I definitely think I've been suffering them of late. Dan and I have both been quite stressed and whereas I would normally be blogging about things to relive the stress...this has been almost too much to blog about. Lots of it is work related. No let me be honest...ALL of it is work related. I know some of our colleagues read our blogs, and some of our colleagues on the customer side too, and so it'd not be a good think to 'give out' about them (as they say in Ireland) if they're likely to be reading it!

So, apologies for the radio silence. It's been very necessary. So, but after a day or 2 away, the stress levels have reduced enough to start writing about some of the recent fun things we've been up to (oh yeah, just because we've been stressed doesn't mean the fun stuff has stopped, it just means that we do it more manically, and then don't write it up afterwards!)

So I'm sitting here in Belfast International Airport after having had a lovely relaxed weekend in Portrush with Scotty and Michele. It's Monday night – well 5pm, and we've been here in NI since Thursday. A lovely loooooong weekend. And it has felt like AGES that we've been here.

We got here Thursday night and were in the Harbour Bar by 9pm. Sat down by 9:10. The food was as good as ever! The rest of the evenings drinking continued back home. Champagne (well it was Michele's birthday) wine, and beer. Te pics are us trying on Michele's new specs. I think we look good!

I think there was a 4 in the time when we finally turned in! Weeeeeeell, we'd not seen each other for months! There was a lot to catch up on.

The lateness of Thursday night meant that Friday was nice and quiet; subdued, if you will. A new tea room was explorerd – Leona's – very very good – and we pootled over to Coleraine to look for a new Freeview box; the night before had seen some sort of power surge which had blasted the existing Freeview box and killed the internet router. There was, at one point, the suggestion that I might have to survive a weekend without t'interwebz.

Argggggggghhhhhhhhh. That was not part of the arrangement!!!

Fortunately with a bit of gratuitous setting of, erm, settings, on the router, and the ringing up for password type things, Scotty heroically reconnected us to the outside world. Not that it made me do any blogging, mind. I was just, then, able to update my facebook & twitter status and read and comment on those of others. This is the stuff of which relaxed weekends are made!!!

Friday being a bit of a washout, Saturday dawned bright and early with the promise of sunshine, general chilling out at home, and no hangovers!

To be honest, sitting here looking back, I'm not sure I can exactly recall the exact order of the day...I know there was general ooohing and ahhhhing over the track at Abu Dhabi whilst watching the GP Qualifiers. I know the boys went off to town to find a pub which showed the footy. Michele went off for a facial and massage - a birthday prezzie from her sisters. I fell asleep on the couch watching Miss Marple. It was all go!

When Michelle came back from the facial experience, we went off in search of the chaps – they were not at the Harbour Bar (a concept I can hardly get my head round, in Portrush) but we managed to find them anyway. They were scoffing chicken burgers and the BIGGEST chunky chips you've ever seen! Oh, and drinking Guinness. Apparently they been going steady and drinking shandies before we got there. It's another concept I can hardly get my head round whilst in Portrush.

We put things right by heading on to the Harbour Bar for the 2^nd footie match of the day and after a further couple of pints each, we decided to eat in the Wine Bar (sort of still part of the HB but upstairs in a different building!)

The food was (is) sooooooo good – very reasonably priced and excellent. The tobacco onions are to die for. We were done reasonably early – before 9, and wandered home along the seafront, getting the full benefit of the negative ions being blasted off the Atlantic.

As we all had seen fit to bring champers & cava with us, both pink and white, we seemed to have a lot of it left...oh what a pity, we had to drink some of it!!! So a few bottles were consumed in front of some rather uninspirational Jonathan Ross and Saturday night TV in general.

Sunday dawned early (for me) and I did have some initial thoughts about going and getting the car which we'd left down at the Harbour Bar the previous night. However it was completely chucking it down. So I thought sod that...I'll wait until the rain eases off before going. Unfortunately it was an horrendous day – and the weather only got worse. Dan nearly drowned going across the road to the garage/supermarket to get nibblies and something fr tea, and when Scotty and Michele walked down to the HB for the car in late afternoon, they got completely drenched and had to stay for a hot port!

Another cozy night (with chille con carne a la LizaDan) in was spent...recouping on our lost sleep and building up our 'chill points' by general chatting away (Dan, Scotty), surfing t'webz (Me), and snoozing in front of the fire (Mich).

Monday was mostly taken up with the house 'putting to bed' activities which are necessary when you know the house may not be occupied for some time. Cleaning, washing, tidying, a trip to the dump for the rubbish and a random old telly belonging to Michele's bro-in-law, and so we soon found we found ourselves travelling back down the M2 after a quick stop in Leona's tea room for a farewell slice of victoria sponge!

A quick pitstop over at the Kanes, in order to pick up Mervin so he could drop us off at the Airport (and get his car back, thanks Mr & Mrs K for the car loan!) and it was 4pm, and we were at the airport, which is where you find me now, blogging (yay!) at Gate 16, at 7:24 waiting for our flight to board. Scotty & Michele have already landed at LHR and picked up their luggage. They are probably half way down the A3 as we speak.