Happy Birthday Bruce

Or: My belly-dancing debut


Once again it's been a long spell between posts. Since Mum's New Year wishes we've been keeping busy.

We've had a holiday in Germany (Frankfurt and Darmstadt to be precise) including setting off some fireworks for Silvester (New Year). Ooh eer (it's not illegal in Germany but I was scared by some of the antics we saw in the street!). Technically, we were on holiday before Mum's post but I didn't think anyone would be too picky. :)


I've travelled the country for a multitude of job interviews. I am extremely happy that one of them came through for me - even if finishing and moving is kinda stressful right now.

And then last weekend we celebrated Bruce's birthday (3rd February - just for the record). He'd booked a table at Zorbas Dance - a local restaurant that sounded a bit strange. Every Friday and Saturday  they have Party Night with a 3-course meal, belly-dancing, plate smashing and more.

Bruce and his dad picked me up from the train station. Happily this meant that I didn't have to take my backpack to the restaurant and I  didn't have to walk far in my party shoes. ;) Our waiter for the evening was fab - he started the night with "The soup is minestrone, the cheesecake is strawberry and the service is appalling." (It wasn't - although the MC was a big scary man!)

Food was tasty; I had halloumi, vege moussaka and cheesecake while Bruce had pork and mushrooms, lamb and mushrooms, and cheesecake and mushrooms (without the mushrooms).  After food the crazy began - or as the MC put it: "Action time!"

Although it was Bruce's birthday, I'm sure I spent more time doing silly things! Highlights - dancing on the table, dancing out one door and in the other, the in-house belly-dancer making Bruce join her for a wiggle (I have video!) and, of course, being a Zorba Girl.


As far as I can tell, the only requirements for being a Zorba Girl is that you're a girl and you're at the restaurant. :)  After a few 'moves' on the dance floor we were shepherded into a side room and allocated costumes. It was up to us whether we put it over our clothes or not, so Georgie and I decided to follow Bruce's philosophy: if you're going to do it, do it properly! We shimmied, we wobbled, we had a good laugh. It made me think it could be fun to find a class. And maybe next time there'll be less belly to wobble. :-)


T'was a good evening and definitely strange. I spent more time on my feet than I expected but the party shoes were surpisingly comfortable - at least until midnight. ;)

Bruce enjoyed himself, that was the main thing.


What's everyone else been up to?

*hugz* from us

Autumn in the UK

I keep promising a Bandwagon update.. and here it is. It's been a busy few months - apart from work bring non-ideal we've had a few trips away - York for the August bank holiday weekend, Paris in early September, Manchester at the end of October for the Science Festival. I've got photos from each trip but haven't uploaded them yet - I'm not as quick as Glenn and Dee were.. but they didn't have the distraction of work either. :)


As you're all enjoying longer and warmer days, my days are becoming decidedly colder and darker. Daylight savings ended a couple of weeks ago so it's often dark before I get home. Many of the leaves don't  like the cold and have been getting their own back by jumping off the trees and making footpaths slippery. I didn't manage to catch a falling Autumn leaf so I'll just have to hope I don't get the flu. Mum, did your Easter catch work?



I carved my first pumpkin this year - a tiny little thing no bigger than my fist. Bruce made a regular-sized one and we watched Nightmare Before Christmas while we carved. It was good fun.




To continue the Autumnal celebrations, last week was Guy Fawkes day so I headed up to Wednesbury for the weekend. We thought about looking for fireworks displays on Friday (Guy Fawkes Day) but it was fairly dismal weather - lots of drizzly rain. It didn't stop us burning a sparkler or two outside.  Bruce's folks also found some indoor fireworks in the loft. They were pretty funny - little pellets stuck on cardboard that fizzed, sparked or produced weird fluffy ash. Saturday was a completely different story - it was cold but clear and perfect fireworks weather. We joined several thousand others at Himley Hall for a giant bonfire (the stack of pallets looked as tall as a house and probably the width of the carport!) and firework display. The fireworks were set to music and made it easy to forget the chill. The hot chocolate with flake also helped us keep warm. :) It was definitely a good evening and well worth the entry fee and the wait to get out (we arrived early enough to miss the wait on the way in).



It's a bit worrying to think that the next public holiday will be Christmas - where did the year go?! Between now an then I've got quite a few projects to finish at work and some more jobs to apply for - it's certainly a busy time of year. Ooh and make sure you update kaboodle or send me wish-lists - I need to do my Christmas shopping soon!

*lovenhugz*