Carry on Camping

I can't believe it's Sunday night again already, these 2 day weekends need a review!!

We have had a bit of a nightmare weekend this week with cars but I can't be bothered to go into all the detail and tell you about it. Suffice to say, it's going to cost money :o(

I still haven't been paid yet as I actually started my job on pay day, so the only money I have had since we returned from our jollies is £200, courtesy of the tax payer. Roll on the 20th March!! We have managed to get saving, well I say saving, my parents have very kindly and generously donated 1k of their hard earned cash (and believe me it is hard earned as my mum is a nurse!!) to our mortgage fund, so we officially have 'savings' People keep asking us about the wedding, but the wedding is not as important at the moment as us buying our own house is. I could hardly expect Matt to carry me over the threshold of somebody elses house when we tie the knot could I? So once we have a house we will set a date for the big day, we hope to achieve both within the next 18 months, so Jo and Di you wont have to wait too long to buy your hats!

I'm loving my new job, I spend most days putting processes in place for our new call centre and trying to recruit some staff. I have managed to secure 2 up to now and have another to interview on Tuesday. The settling in period is well and truly over too and last week I was dealing with customer complaints. I'd forgotten just how much I love Customer Service and sorting problems out, my phone never stopped ringing last week and I've only been there 3 weeks! It's also great talking to people who want help and advice on their motor homes and caravans and finding out where people are going on their travels, it's not like a job. I'll tell you what I can give Judith Chalmers a run for her money! I did get a bit of unexpected news last week though, that I wasn't really expecting, and that is a trip to Barcelona!! Not sure if I mentioned this on my last blog... anyway we have a supplier of awnings (google it for all you non campers!!) in Barcelona and we are going out to their factory sometime soon. We also have a supplier who is based in Bradford, I think I'll opt out of that one, for obvious reasons!!

Matt has finally stopped spending money and buying gadgets, I think he's getting it out of his system. He did buy me a iPod Nano for getting a job which came as a complete surprise. I hadn't even worked out how to use my new phone or boot my laptop up before I had another gadget to contend with. I've taken all his bank cards away from him now, it's for his own good!

Some of our friends are coming up to Hull for Good Friday, it really will be GOOD Friday for them as they're from Droitwich and nothing ever really happens there. I think somebody from Droitwich once applied for a passport, and then somebody from Droitwich passed their driving test and even contemplated buying a car, they have also just got an Aldi supermarket there so it is an up and coming town, I think most of the houses there have electricity now too, although there are still a few locals who are struggling to adapt.
We will be showing our mates the cultural delights of The Avenues, and the many bars and restaurants that we frequent. I think it's safe to say we are going to have a 'cracking' Easter weekend!!

Trailer Park Trash

"Editors Note - I've been going through some of our old posts and adding relevant (in most cases) pictures. Now we all know Britney is trailer park trash but to be fair to the girl I thought I'd at least put a fairly decent picture of her on this post"

Talk about feeling the earth move! We was in bed last night and you know what it's like when you're half asleep? Well I was aware of movement in the bed and in my semi conscious state decided to blame Matt, as he is prone to a bit of fidgeting. Well this was like no fidgeting I've ever experienced before and the bed was literally shaking and juddering. I said to Matt 'what are you doing?' to which he replied 'it's not me it's you!' As I started to wake up I knew that it was some kind of earth quake we were experiencing, as just after the big judders I started to feel some slight tremors too. Anyway not one to be kept from my slumber I just fell back to sleep and didn't think any more about it, until this morning. I put the BBC news on and there was a scene in Lincoln, that was being broadcast live and there was rubble in the street. Then they started talking about the quake, so I woke Matt up and told him that neither of us was guilty of fidgeting. Fancy that though! Anyway it has been the main topic of conversation all day at work and on the radio and I can honestly say I'm sick of hearing about it now.

We're starting to get back into a kind of routine now, especially now we're both back at work. I'm finding the constraints of a 9-5 life really imposing at the moment. After 10 months of doing our own thing I guess it was always going to be difficult. We are already starting to talk about holidays, we're not going far though probably a week in The Lakes to start with, and maybe a long weekend in Bonnie Scotland too. We both want to see more of England now we have travelled the world as there is so much beauty and heritage on our own doorstep.

We are also going on a stint 'darn sarf' in April to meet up with some of Matt's old Uni mates, one of whom I've already met at Reading a couple of years ago, he probably wont recognise me without the muck and big tide mark around my neck. The other mate I've not met, although I've been reliably informed I will get on with him 'cos he's 'from the North!' So that should be a good weekend.

My new job is going really well, I'm starting to piece things together. There is so much gear involved in camping, it's mesmerising. I have poached an old colleague to come and work with me, Keelie. She came in for an interview on Monday and is starting in a couple of weeks, I'm really looking forward to working with her again as she is an absolute star. When we were in the interview I mentioned to my boss about some supplier training, Keelie's eyes lit up when he said that he would fly us out to Spain to some of the factories and we could tag a long weekend onto the end of it. There's bound to be some perks working in the leisure industry?! Oh I remember the days when I was working for Eurocamp cleaning the seals of the windows with a cotton bud and scrubbing the shower tray with a tooth brush, God knows whose tooth brush it was. I don't know if anybody else shares my enthusiasm for camping/caravanning, but I think there's something really exciting about buying a packet of bacon that you are going to cook on a camp stove and then wash the pans in cold water, and I don't even eat the stuff. For anybody that is stuck for some inspiration as to where to holiday this year, try it, you will love it. You don't have to go on the trailer park at Withernsea either, you can go to most places in Europe, or why not go long haul and spend a couple of weeks caravanning with the Ozzies, cozzies and mozzies.