25th February - Coffee at Slug and Lettuce - Didsbury

I arrived at the S & L today to find Sue F already there. Haven't seen her for ages - she says she was ill in January so she didn't go out much. Other people started arriving not long after me. Susanna and Vanessa said they both had a good time last night. Tim said the reason he didn't go was because he went to a Network day in Shrewsbury - sounds like he had a good day. Then Kay came in and gave him an application form for the next weekend away. We were all much amused when he mistook the word canoeing for canoodling(!), particularly Jenny who reckoned she needed cheering up after a stressful morning.
We had a couple of new people joining us today. One brought along a non-Christian friend for moral support. Some others reckoned this was one of the few groups where you didn't need moral support, but I reckon I was glad of the support I got when I first joined the group.
There cetanly seems to be quite a few interested in the next weekend away. Must write out my cheque when I get home.

24th February - Big Jive Night at Stockport Town Hall

The journey to Stockport tonight took a little longer than usual as the roads were quite busy. However I still managed to arrive at Stockport Town Hall before 8pm. I was pleased to see Kay turn up in time for the lesson. The lesson was fairly easy - I managed to master the moves by the time it had finished. We returned to our table to find that Susannah, Vanessa and Sandeep had arrived. I had a dance with Sandeep - he is quite a good dancer. I was then asked to dance by a guy who wanted to dance at a pace that was far too fast for me. I was quite dizzy and exhausted by the end of it! The place was quite busy tonight. There certainly seemed to be more people there than last month. The DJ seemed to play quite a bit of swing music tonight which was good. The instructor showed us how good a dancer he is by doing an impressive 'Double Trouble' dance with two girls - they all seemed to dance well as a trio. It looked as if they were used to dancing as a threesome as some of the moves were quite complicated. Just before I left the crazy guy I danced with earlier asked me for another dance. I asked him to go slower this time and was surprised to see that he could dance quite well.
In all this was an enjoyable evening - it was good that quite of few of my friends turned up.

22nd February - Good things come in threes

Today was a good one for three reasons:-
Firstly, my new dance shoes arrived today. I bought them on ebay and they fit quite well surprisingly enough. They are silver and have a fairly low heel which is just what I wanted.
Secondly, I got a call from Specsavers to say my new glasses are ready to collect. That's great as they originally said I could have to wait 2 weeks for them and it has only taken 4 days!
Thirdly, I got a message from Kay to say she is going dancing at Stockport on Saturday. It will be good having someone to go with. She has also invited others so there may be a good number of us there.

17th February - Pancake Party at Kay's

I was quite surprised at how easy it was to drive to Kay's tonight. I used a route similar to the one I used to get to the First Aid course I went to at De La Salle college 4 years ago and it only took about 25 mins. It was much more straightforward than the route that Elaine uses. This meant that I was first to arrive which was good as I managed to find a good parking spot almost opposite K's house. Vanessa arrived not long after me and we chatted about the Centre Parcs weekend which a few members of the group went on today. Apparently there's only 10 of them on the weekend - I was a little surprised to hear Elaine was one of them. That means it's a good job I drove tonight otherwise I would have had to spend £10 on a taxi home.
When Phil arrived we discovered that tonight's pancake party was going to be a little different from usual. He and Tim had decided to organise a little competition to see who had the best idea for a sweet or savoury filling.
After a few others arrived we started making pancakes and choosing our fillings. It looked like I was the only one who had bought a savoury filling (cheese) until Sandeep turned up with two small boxes containing vegetable and beef curries. There was a good number of people there tonight. Debbie drove all the way from Chester on her own because Vicky and Sarah weren't well. Charlie brought his usual filling of jelly babies with him (!) and took over the cooking for a while whilst Kay, Tim and Phil decided who deserved the prizes for the best filling ideas. At the end of the evening the winners were announced. Julie and Jenny won the prize for the best sweet filling suggestion - ice cream, chocolate sauce and apple. Mark won the prize for the best savoury filling suggestion - carrots and sugar (didn't sound very savoury or appetising to me!) Before leaving, I asked some of the others if they were planning to go dancing at Stockport next Saturday. Tim said he had other plans and Kay said she wasn't sure yet, but would let me know later in the week, if she was going.
The journey home was even easier than the journey there - I have never seen Liverpool Street so quiet! It only took 20 mins to get home and would have taken less had I not taken a wrong turning at the end of Liverpool Street. Tonight's journey certainly boosted my confidence in my driving ability so all in all it was a good evening.

13th February - Friends on the move

At tonight's church council meeting I discovered that some of my friends will be moving later this year. Rosa and Jack have finally been offered a one bedroomed flat in sheltered accomodation. They're not moving far, but it will be a big upheaval for them because they currently live in a three-bedroomed house and won't be able to take all their furniture and belongings with them.
I was quite surprised to discover that Mary and John are moving too. They are going to live in Tunbridge Wells near their daughter and son-in-law. We all agreed that they would be much missed. They both organise our annual Christian Aid collection.
Mary also puts a lot of effort into raising our awareness of Social responsibility issues and John creates eye-catching posters to advertise our social events. I know they don't like us to make a great fuss, but I'm sure we will find a way to show our appreciation when they go.

9th February - A relatively successful day

As soon as it turned 8am this morning I started ringing round in an effort to find someone to fix my car. The mobile service I found yesterday said they only dealt with paintwork jobs, but they were helpful enough to recommend two places which could help me - one near Strangeways and one near the Arches opposite the Cathedral.
I rang the Strangeways one first and they said they could definately repair it today for less than £50 provided it didn't need a new door. Re-assured by the fact that the policeman I spoke to last night said that was very unlikely, I headed off towards Strangeways. Traffic was a bit of a nightmare so it took me over half-an-hour to get there. Anyway I found the place very easily and was greeted by a friendly guy who assured me he could fix it in an hour and it would definately cost less than £30.
I decided to go into work for half a day. My boss was kind enough to say I didn't need to treat it as a half day holiday and could regard it as a domestic emergency.
When I finally went to pick up the car later on I was pleased to see it was fixed and there was no sign of the damage.
Later on I rang the company who installed my alarm and told them what had happened.
They advised me on how to test that everything was working. After following their advice I was relieved to find out that the alarm was in good working order.
It was good to see that everything went so smoothly today.

8th February - It could have been worse

I had a bit of a fright tonight. I heard the doorbell ring at about 8.30 and looked out to see a policeman. He told me that someone had tried to break into my car. I went downstairs with him to see that someone had tried to wedge something between the driver's door and the door frame. He said that a man from one of the houses opposite had seen the culprits and chased after them. They retaliated by throwing a bottle through his windscreen! The policeman said it doesn't look like I will need a new door which is good. The only worrying thing is that my alarm didn't go off. I spent the rest of the evening looking through Yellow pages to find a car body repair place near me. I found a mobile service and one a couple of miles away next to Kwik Fit so I will ring them tomorrow.

3rd February - Blue Planet Aquarium and Mexican meal

As we travelled to the aquarium today the weather got foggier. We all went round the aquarium at our own pace. I went through the shark tunnel twice - once on the moving walkway and once on the other side. Apart from the sharks, I also enjoyed seeing the brightly coloured frogs especially the blue ones. When we had finished going round the aquarium we went over to the shops for a while and looked round Borders. At about a quarter to 6 we went over to find Chiquitos - it wasn't difficult despite the fog. There were about 20 of us all together at the meal. Claire,Emma and Sarah arrived late because of the fog. When it came to choosing the food we were spoilt for choice. I ended up having chicken and roasted red pepper wrap which was lovely. I also treated myself to a sea breeze cocktail. A few others had fajitas on a sizzling platter. Sarah's barbequed ribs looked great - the portion size was very generous. For dessert I had ice cream with summer berries - it was lovely esp the chocolate flavour. After the meal we went back to Tina's house. Despite the fog I managed to navigate well. At Tina's we had coffee and millionaire's shortbread. Claire showed us all the lovely tops she bought on her shopping spree. We spent a fair bit of time in the kitchen chatting about dancing . Kay says she plans to go to Warrington again sometime. I hope I will be able to go with her.
We set off home about 11pm. I must have been tired as I slept for quite a bit of the journey. We arrived home just after midnight. In all it was a really good day. I'm glad I went.