what actually happened! in crawling into 2014.

We had a good weekend. Hmmm, but where to start? Let's go with chronological?

Friday. I finished work at five, and had packed up the car by then. I made up food for the girls to eat in the car and we were on our way by 5:30. My sister wasn't due home from work until 7 so that was perfect timing.

We organised the girls' airbeds in the spare room while my sister cooked dinner (fish pan fried with fajita seasoning, rice and peas and a generous dollop of guacamole. nom!).

Unfortunately I hadn't blown our airbed up sufficiently and we ended up wallooming (2 points for anyone who gets the reference!) about all night, waking up wedged together in the infamous airbed valley!

We were on our way at just after 8a.m. on Saturday morning. Both exhausted.

We've stayed in the same hotel before and the best way to describe it is to use an old cliché - faded glory. The outside has a very concretey, blocky sixties feel to it while the inside was designed to conjure up a feeling of times before with ornate cornices, chandeliers and red carpets. But it's all a bit frayed at the edges, the cracks have been showing for a long time. Adverts for strip shows, builders rates and the bar name; Bar Rogue. Is it a misspelling of Rouge? Or does it really have that name ?!

We were able to check in early because it was going to be so busy. It was totally booked up because of the ice hockey playoff finals and they could see a huge rush was going to occur at check in time. And our room was amazing! We had a hoooooge four poster bed, a red sofa in the shape of a pair of lips, a balcony (very few rooms have balconies). But the cracks were there, the toilet flush was hanging off, the taps required several gyrations before any water splurted out and if you wanted cold you had to turn the hot tap...

Well, it's several days since I wrote all of that! I've been a little busy but now I shall try to conclude...

Well, the Wildcats were knocked out in the semi final which was a relief as it meant the rest of the weekend could be less stressful! I must admit that I was a little stressed already as we had left it until the last minute to buy tickets and they'd all sold out. Rich stalked the hockey forum looking for someone selling. Within a few hours of the Wildcats winning the quarter final, a fan of the team we knocked out appeared and was selling his tickets. We contacted him straight away and bought his tickets... But that meant we were sitting with all the fans of the team we had knocked out... luckily for us they were there to have fun and included us in their jollities :-)

The second semi final was late afternoon and I had no intention of going. My afternoon included a long soak in a hot, be-Lushed bath followed by a very comfortable afternoon nap while Shrek 2 played in the background on telly. Aaaaaahhhhhh, it was bliss.

When Rich texted to say that the game had finished I was very reluctant to get dressed again but, when the belly wants food what can you do? ;-)

We had Nandos which is sooooo good and has a lot of history with us. We've been going to various Nandos outlets since the beginning of our relationship so it was good to enjoy it again. I had chicken breast in pitta bread with hot marinade. Mmmmmmmm, sooooooooooo good! And I considered the facts:

A. The girls would be waking my sister up in the morning, two hours drive away from me.

B. I wouldn't be getting up to run in the morning.

C. I didn't have to drive anywhere.

Yay, beer please! I had two bottles of Brahma although I was lucky not to get a composer when I ordered Brahms!

I got very giggly and we spent a loooong time in there chatting over our meal as we ate slowly, enjoying the atmosphere. sigh. We didn't have to rush, no one needed to be escorted to the toilet, no one announced "That's disgusting!"when the food arrived and I swore just because I could...

And when we got home we sat on the balcony until we were too cold.

In the morning I was thankful for the comfy bed as my body reminded me that I rarely drink and I'm over forty... Bleurgh. But that damned need for food was there so showering happened, clothes made it on and an hour later we left wetherspoons. I was a bowl of porridge, a sausage sandwich, a superfruit smoothy and a cup of coffee nearer to life.

The finals are held in Coventry which was Rich's university town. We haven't been since his professor/mentor/father figure died and it was good to wander around the old buildings, the big concrete blocks that he studied in, but many new buildings had appeared since our last visit three years ago. The university has expanded enormously but we still saw (from the outside) the rooms he used to spend time in, peering at biological microorganisms. We saw the pub they used to go to at lunchtime, all his old reminiscences. It was a good walk and left us with enough time to chill in the hotel before check out.

The hotel was right in the centre of Coventry, the cathedral was directly in front of our balcony (aside, it's a very modern cathedral and behind it are the remains of the old cathedral which was bombed during the war. Coventry suffered very badly from WW2 bombing raids), the university buildings were all around the cathedral and the bus station was at the front of the hotel. A two minute walk away is Coventry's transport museum. It was a lot larger and better than we had imagined, going through each decade showing the vehicles which were built in the town's many car manufacturers.

Rich had to leg-it to the next hockey game - an under 18's game that is part of the ticket price. I, on the other hand, had other plans.

IKEA.

I had fun. I managed to get the replacement drawer runners for Tally's chest of drawers and they didn't charge me for them! I explained that it was over 8 years old but she said that spare parts are free! I got 12 plastic plates for breastmates and a few other bits and bobs. I did miss the girls though as we always try all the sofas and beds together! I felt that piling onto a bed alone would probably have me removed by security...

I was pretty preoccupied by the return journey which was going to start at 7pm with a two hour drive to my sister's flat, packing up the car and then one and a half hours to our house. It would be a very late night and I had to work a long day the next day as well as the girls having a swimming lesson. Asking Rich not to go to the final wasn't going to happen but a friend of his (there were a lot of local folk, obviously, because of it being a local sport) offered to drive Rich back if I wanted to leave early. I discussed it with Rich who wasn't keen on me leaving early but could see the sense in it. The Wildcats weren't in the final so I didn't have to be there.

I left at 5pm (after giving a homeless man a cheeses sandwich that had been earmarked for Rich. He looked a bit perturbed when I gave him it!) and reached my sister just after 7. The girls were eating and I packed up the car.

Rich was already home by the time we got back. And I crashed out in bed. Exhausted!