Pretty much since Thursday, when after another late day at work I found myself on an impromptu evening out, things have been running smoothly (well expect work on Friday – another late finish but I’m getting used to those). On Thursday I was meant to be heading home but due to the time I ended up meeting Norn Girl, her sister and her friends in Starbucks. I really don’t like coffee, even the smell makes my face screw itself into a ball to avoid the odour. However on this occasion it wasn’t so bad, I wasn’t getting anything though I did help myself to a sachet of brown sugar to help me stay awake. The rest of them being cafe culture enthusiasts were stuck into their overpriced beverages and it was just light chatter which was nice.
After a wee while our stomachs got the better of us all. On the spur of the moment it was a plan to head to an eatery. We ended up in the all you can eat Chinese buffet place on the top floor of Victoria square. It was a nice meal as always.. how can a meal that involves a triple helping of pudding go wrong! There was a normal pudding course, a fruity pudding course followed by a super sloppy pudding course. However delicious most of the food, I would add that its probably worth avoiding the Egg Custard that disguises itself as cheese cake, it tasted of neither... very odd indeed! My later attempt at making a cinema pamphlet paper aeroplane was just as bad, it went further as a ball than a finely tuned masterpiece but that came after the meal and ended up in a bin down by BHS.
We had planned during the meal to also head to the cinema but on re-analysis of the cinema times it was evident that the showing was going to go on too late for one of our crowd to be able to readily get home. As is the problem with anyone living far outside of Belfast, its hard to make it home after a certain time of day. So that was called off and instead we made our way home via a quick stop off at the Apartment. Norn Girls sister and I got a little trigger happy with our cameras. Having a compact camera that although not brilliant is fully manually adjustable, I got busy playing with some of the manual settings.
Before long and one glass of muti-strawed water later, we were home and I was flopping under the duvet like a fish freshly darted having being given a sedative. It’s that time of year again and we’ve replaced the thin summer sheet with the high tog warm-yer-cockles super duvet, and it’s so snug it’s unbelievable. Ahhh duvet... the stuff dreams are made of.
I woke up on Friday and the less said about the ridiculous pile of work we’re all being hit with the better. The good thing about fire fighting through a tricky time of work is that the time flies by and it was soon a belated home time. I put in my earphones, turned on radio1 and listened to the radio. As usual, after work any music that has a beat and is played relatively loud is the best to bring me out of work mode, so even Scott Mills’s floor fillers sound good, I was soon brought back to loopy old me. Although following the Leeds game and it was a 0-0 draw, it wasn’t a loss and it sent Leeds, albeit for only several hours, to the top of League One.
After a relaxing night in and some much needed sleep, it was soon this morning. I love Saturday mornings, when you don’t have to work on one or go anywhere, they’re the best day there is to sleep in. Just the knowledge that it’s only Saturday, there is still the entire rest of the weekend ahead and for the football fan... that later that day there is all the frills and spills of the highly anticipated game ahead.
That game was Crusaders vs. Glenavon. We made it for a couple of Guinness’s and then went out into the lovely warm sun. In the first half it was a case of the Crues being awarded a penalty but other than that being the second best team in terms of the football on display. Come the second half though and the tide turned. From 1-0 after that first half Chris Morrow penalty, a fair few chances went by for the Crues before Rainey slipped in the 2nd from a neat cross along the ground from the right and that was followed by a well worked goal where the quick build up was fed back to McCann for the calm finish. A great 2nd half, its odd because we’ve hardly got out of 2nd gear for the last few games but we’ve been winning regardless. Its an odd position as a Crues supporter to be in but a nice one. Top of the league and with a game in hand, the squad we have are living up to their potential, Stephen Baxter is a legend at this club and is performing one of the greatest achievements in football I’ve known in terms of taking a club forward with so few resources. With 2 Northern Ireland internationals in the squad who achieved that status by impressing for our club and with a few who look like they might push for that prestige in the future (*cough* Ross Arthurs *cough*), that future is looking bright and that’s even before brining into focus those improvements off the pitch again too! Long may it continue and with those dedicated to bringing at least one club into the 21st century here in N.I, it’s looking good so far. Linfield don’t count, the fact Windsor might be being upgraded is a farce. A last resort to try to make up for a failure by the IFA to get themselves out of a contract with the aforementioned club that makes no business sense. A deal that they should have never have signed and a failure to get new national stadium in order. Who knows how that one will end but it that is a post for another time. Hopefully it won't effect the other clubs in the league like it has the potential to!
Also football related, but on a more fun note for me, my team didn’t suck so badly today in the world of Fantasy Football. Room for improvement this season but over the last couple of years I’ve thrown myself into it quite a bit. Last year for instance I came well in the top 1000 overall (out of just shy of 2million players) which surprised me quite a bit and I do tend to end up following the results and assists and clean sheets and who played where and for how long quite a wee bit more than is probably healthy. I enjoy it and there is no money involved so it’s all good!
So yes, this weekend, it’s Saturday night now and with my fix of football quenched and the invitations for the wedding almost ready to be posted its looking like the rest of the weekend has chance to be quite good too. Even the plan for a Stag do is gaining speed. It seems as though a trip to Yorkshire is in order, although not set in stone, a trip to Elland Road to see Leeds United take on Yeovil followed by a night out in Leeds on Halloween of all days. Spooky!
Tomorrow is a time to book flights for both yours truly heading to Yorkshire and also for some family coming to the wedding, also to relax a little more, the dowtime is much needed... and maybe even blog! I know right... who in this part of the world, who has time to do something mad like blog and still try to have a life that isn’t just work? I dunno, but I’ll give it a try. If only all weekends started so well! Enough with the dear diary, I’ll hopefully have chance to uncross some wires and delve into what’s left of my imagination tomorrow.
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