Here's a pic

Many thanks to Fiona Harper and Allison Littlehales for the pictures.

Life and Lemon Meringue

I met Allison Littlehales and Phillipa Ashley for lunch today at the tea rooms. It's always a pleasure to meet up and we really should try and do it more often. As usual we talked non stop about writing, books, and our current projects. I have a lovely good luck card from Phillipa with a picture of Jane Austen's house on it and she and Allison have managed to calm my nerves a little about Friday.
I still don't know if Dave will be able to come with me to the Savoy. He's just started a new job (today) and his manager won't be in till Monday. They've had all the dates for our holidays and things but until he sees them he doesn't know if he can get the time off. This is not helping so the lemon meringue assisted beautifully today in calming my angst. I'm trying not to think how many points it is on the weightwatcher thing. I lost three pounds on Thursday and I'd love to lose another two by the Savoy date as this would mean I'd lost a stone.

It's getting closer...

The Savoy date is looming closer. Today I'm guestblogging with Jessica Hart at http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com If you visit here regularly you'll know that when I grow up I want to be Jessica Hart or Jenny Crusie so you can guess how excited I am.We're talking about contemporary heroes and we'd love some thoughts over there.
Yesterday I had another post over at the eharlequin, look who's blogging RNA thread about the preparations for the big day.
Tonight is weightwatchers - I'm hoping for a weightloss, preferably more than the pound I acquired during my holidays, then later I'm practising walking in my Savoy shoes. This is harder than it sounds. I haven't worn heels since I had my eldest daughter so I've lost the knack from my pre-baby catwalk days. I don't have much luck with shoes, in fact, if I could have plastic surgery anywhere on my body it would be my feet. Unlike the rest of me they are long and skinny. They are also pointy-shaped. Now you can get long shoes, you can get wide shoes, you can get long wide shoes. You can't get long skinny shoes with pointy toes.
My Savoy shoes need an insole to take up some width but they are very cute turquoise suede with a button over strap and skinny heels. Very lovely - but I look like an elephant on eggshells at the moment - more practise is dafinitely called for.

Spring fever

Or in my case, tree pollen. I'm dosed to the eyeballs with antihisitimines and have lost my voice. The girls think this is hilarious as it means I can't nag at them. Michelle emailed methis morning to say my blog post was up at eharlequin, look whose blogging RNA thread. It served to remind me that the Savoy is less than two weeks away now - eek!
I'd put a pound on when I went to weight watchers this week after the holiday but I swear it's all the crap in my nostrils from the trees.
I spent yesterday at work cleaning out cupboards. It was a bit like cleaning out the attic of an eccentric great aunt. Dusty, spidery and full of mysterious objects that no-one knew who they belonged to, how they'd got there or what they were for.
The officeswap is virtually complete, and to be honest, I really don't see that it was worth it for anyone. The other team are still cramped. We have to keep going to another room to get our equipment all the time, the nurses are disgruntled because we booted out their stuff to make room for ours and the cleaners seem to have cornered the market in yellow bags. The main hall is full now of rubbish that needs to be tipped and the gents loo is full of stuff to be sent to store or redistributed.
I have no nails as I broke them cleaning so combined with my red eyes, stuffy nose, croaky voice and general fluffiness I'm going to be the pictre of glamour at the Savoy.

The Savoy and being 'fluffy'

Fluffy is a batcave term for carrying a few extra pounds. Or in my case, quite a few extra pounds. As the Savoy tickets arrived yesterday and I just booked our train I decided I needed to tackle my added fluffiness a little more severely. I don't over eat so a diet is tricky. I've cut down where I can and the fluffiness remains. (This is where Polycystic ovaries don't help in the fluffiness battle.)
I know that my problem is lack of exercise. Eldest dd and I went to a local health club today to try out the facilities and to see if I could justify the expense of joining. She, of course, loved it. My eldest is very keen on sport of any kind so it was her idea of heaven. I liked the pool, it was warm, had swim lanes and the hairdyers worked in the changing rooms. I can't see myself becoming a gym bunny however, to be honest, the gym scared me. It was so noisy with music playing and televisions everywhere, the machines all had to be set with numbers to program them - my idea of hell.
My GP has forbidden any kind of aerobic activity as my hip is not good so my other choices were limited. I'm too old, unco-ordinated and fluffy to trampoline so apart from the pool I'm thinking I probably wouldn't use the other facilities much.
Sigh - Eldest child and I discussed it at length and we decided to get the local leisure centre programme instead. If we can make at least two sessions a week there for six weeks I'll look at the posh club again.
In the meantime it's back to my trusty pedometer.