....routine and reflection

...this has been a week that has established routine again - back to work, luke back to school, back to rehearsing with karl.... and routine is good - it helps us know where we are dontcha think!?

it's also given a chance for reflection on the christmas break which for me was the longest break i've ever had since leaving school and was nice in a busy doing things kind of way.

we found ourselves between christmas and new year in the fine city of liverpool staying in a premier in so that we could visit sarah for her birthday. we got to see all of the hills who were visiting as well. met mike (sarah's fella) for the first time and he is indeed a complete doppelgänger for non other than ray liotta! (a young version - not the older raggly version) We had a lovely meal all together and had a vist to the tate liverpool. i found the art more accessible than the stuff we get at the baltic in gateshead. i particularly liked Sky Arts Ignition: Doug Aitken – The Sourceexploring the source of creative idea and DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture

the tate was on the albert dock the place where the fella used to jump around on the weather map. the weather map is sadly no longer there.

this week has been luke's birthday so on wednesday we headed off to see skyfall! epic! we loved it. more story than usual was our general consensus and a great finale! my favourite bit was early on where bond fought the guy who had just shot the fella in the tower block opposite who was brought in the look at the piece of art. all of the neon glow and the fight in silhouette was very effective - loved it. and then we spent last night in harrogate in the yorkshire hotel. luke does love a stay in a hotel and a meal in the restaurant! he has expensive tastes! we had a lovely relaxing night, and a lovely meal. a leisurely breakfast and a wander around harrogate. it was nice reminiscing about mine and christine's stay in the swallow harrogate when we worked for vaux and how she'd forgotten her swimming costume so had to buy an expensive one in debenhams so we could use the leisure facilities. she promptly then left said costume somewhere either in the changing room or hotel room! and it was a nice costume! i was taken back to the youth group trips with the church where we stayed on the outskirts of harrogate and went into the town during the stay. me with my huge ghetto blaster - for it was the eighties - carrying this massive machine around that took about 3 million batteries that lasted about 4 minutes! of what fun!!