30th June - First day of 25 plus Cloverley Hall weekend

I met up with Alan at Dane Rd station as usual and went back to his place where we had planned to meet up with Mike before setting off. As usual, Alan had left it to the last minute to pack and Mike and I decided to watch the Germany v Argentina Match whilst we were waiting for him.
As a result of this we didn't set off till about 6pm. The journey down wasn't too bad once we got off the motorway. It's a good job Mike was paying attention, as we nearly missed an important junction.
We arrived just in time for the evening meal. This was supposed to have been a buffet, but the Cloverley Hall staff evidently changed their mind at the last minute and we ended up with baked potatoes and a fairly bland version of Coronation chicken.
After dinner, I unpacked. I'm sharing a room with Kay. I'm glad there's only two of us in the room - much better than our last weekend away when there were 6. Even better, there's a bath nearby so I don't have to put up with showers!
Unfortunately for some people, Cloverley Hall don't allow us to drink alcohol on the premises. This meant that after dinner, quite a few people went off to the pub. I decided not to bother and spent the evening chatting with some of the other girls.

26th June - Modern Jive Class

I had a free Monday night for a change so I went to the Jive class at Prestwich.
The moves we learnt in the beginner's class were armjive pushspin, step across, octopus and the comb. All of them were fairly easy. I had quite a few dances during the break between classes which was good as it increased my confidence. The intermediate class was more difficult as it included a lot of double-handed moves. There were lots of people there tonight. I enjoyed watching the dancing after the second lesson as there's some really good dancers in the class.

24th June - Mike's birthday meal at Valentino's

I drove to Heaton Moor tonight for Mike's bithday meal. The restaurant was fairly easy to find. The only problem I found was that you can't turn right onto Heaton Moor Rd from the A6, but I managed to find an alternative route quite easily. We had a good turnout - 22 of us. That meant that we nearly had the whole restaurant to ourselves as it's not a very big place. The food was good - I had seafood pasta in a tomato and garlic sauce for a change. (Most other places I've been to serve seafood in a creamy sauce) Everyone seemed happy with their food - the portions were quite generous. We couldn't escape the World Cup tonight as they showed the match on a small T.V. in the restaurant.
I left early as this was the first evening event that I've driven to and I'm not keen on driving late at night. Kay was quite impressed that I drove and I was quite pleased with myself for having made the effort. It's nice to know that I don't have to depend on others all of the time.

20th June - Salsa Class

They're weren't many men at tonight's first class because of the footie. Learnt quite a nice little routine though featuring a lasso move and a block.
Numbers were more even in second class. The routine was more complex too - it featured lots of double handed spins.
Got home to find that footie score was a draw -2 all. I obviously didn't miss much. We didn't perform to our best and I'm now going to have to remove Michael Owen from my fantasy footie team because he's injured.

19th June - Planning Social Events -

We had a short , but productive Social Group planning meeting tonight. We decided Bob would be the best MC for our minister, Angie's farewell dinner. We're not having any formal entertainment so that people have more time to talk to each other! Emily questioned whether my choice of gift for Angie was right. I will just have to hope that Brenda and I were right about this one as the gift has already been made and is ready to be wrapped up.
The Harvest Social will be a Hot Pot Supper with games organised by Scouters and Guiders. I might actually go to that this year.
Must add all these new events to the church calendar on the website soon.

14th June - Presentation skills course

We had a presentation skills course today at work. it was led by Nick from the London office.
There were just 4 of us on the course - me, Kalpesh, John and Sarah, our Aussie editor. I learnt a lot about the others. Kalpesh told us about his Hindu faith. John talked about his DJing. Sarah talked about his travelling experiences. I talked about salsa. We all found our confidence increased as a result of the course.

11th June - Puppets on Parade

Today we had a very special and unique service at church. David Hollows brought his team of puppeteers with him from Rochdale and they performed a play about the story of Esther. He also had an illusionist with him who performed some tricks to explain his faith. The children loved the service. We will definately have to invite them again.

10th June - World Cup

I'm quite proud of myself because I drove all the way to Burnage to watch the England v Paraguay match at Jonathan's house. It was much more fun watching it with friends. About 15 of us turned up. England were lucky to win. Hope they play better in subsequent matches. Charlie reckoned the referee looked like Dracula!
Afterwards we went to the Cheshire Line Tavern for a drink and something to eat. The portions there are quite generous and the food is very good. I got slightly lost on the way home. Good job I had my A to Z with me.

6th June - Salsa class

Went to salsa class for the first time since I returned from my holiday.
Improvers routine included what can only be described as an embrace spin. Intermediate routine included two sombreros. Afterwards I had a dance with Victor which I enjoyed.

4th June - Have a Nice Day - Bon Jovi Concert

This evening I went to see Bon Jovi at Manchester City's football ground at Eastlands.
The stadium was packed out. Support band was Nickleback.
Highlights included Richie Sambora singing "I'll be there for you", "Livin on a Prayer" - the crowd sang the chorus unaccompanied and my two favourite songs - "Someday I'll be Saturday night" and "Dry County".