It's beginning....

... to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm back after another break from blogging. (Unenforced, just busy!)
The tree is up, and Carla is busy making the place look and smell so Christmasy! She has been baking her bits off, creating some works of art in the kitchen. this is her very first gingerbread house built from scratch. I'm SO impressed.

If it tastes as good as it looks it'll be a knock out! Ad to this a whole family of gingerbread men too! I'm not quite sure what happened to the hard nosed banker I married. I'm sure she's in there nestled up with the baker!

Knowledge update: There is no update. I'm a bit disappointed with myself, but work has taken over for the time being. I finish here on December 23rd, then work from home for a month, then possibly I'm back reinstated as C/S manager once again... As a result, I havent done any runs or call overs for nearly two weeks. To be honest, it's bloody freezing here and currently sleeting so I'm not sure I would have been out anyway!

Frankie update: She has had her check up and unfortunately hasn't gained any weight for 3 weeks. It appears she has a dairy intolerance so we are monitoring her as she needs to plump up! she's happy in herself (Bar the teething!) so it's not a massive worry yet. Heres a picture of her in her Tottenham outfit. (Carla isn't too impressed I bought it...!)

*Proud Dad alert* I'm sure you'll agree she looks amazing! : )

The worst kept blog of the year!

Well here I am finally updating my blog. It's been a while, purely as I haven't had a second to myself...
Knowledge/job first.
The Knowledge is going well. Fifty runs left until I start pointing. Unfortunately, I haven't been calling over as much as I should due to me being so busy with other stuff. It'll be a slow and arduous task, but I'll get there I'm sure.
Job next. I have been approached by my board to take on my previous role as C/S manager as the incumbent just isn't cutting the mustard. This is all well and good, but as blogged previously, I had advised them I would be leaving on December 23rd as Carla is going back to work. So in the season of miracles, it has been agreed that I can work from home for a month until something is arranged. SUPERB! One whole month PAID whilst I look after Frankie. Of course, it means the Knowledge wil slow down, but beggars can't be choosers!

Frankie next. We took her to her physio last week and were told she IS making good progress but she may well need a splint to sleep in until the tendons stretch in her thumb. Next update is December 23rd. She's doing well though. She cut her first tooth yesterday (Dec 6th) on St Nicholas' day!
Here's a little pic to whet your appetite. As you can see, her cheeks are red due to the amount of teething going on!

and finally, I'm off to The Savoy tonight on a client do. I'll be sure to let you know what the new hotel is like!

Catch up

Firstly apolgies for my tardiness in writing on the blog. "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" wrote John Lennon. And never a truer word was penned! It's been a difficult week or two (Carla claims I'm on my cycle. I tend to agree.) The Knowledge still holds it's attraction, I just seem to have hit a writers block on the call overs. Imagine forgetting a road name you lived on for 20 years. That's what I have been doing lately. I guess my mind is absent for one reason or another. I'm sure it'll come good and I just have to go with the flow.

Frankie update: We went to hospital for her physio yesterday and the doctor isn't very happy with her thumb position. She likes to hold it inside her fist so she wants a second opinion on why this is happening and what can be done to sort it out. Of course this then leads to a mega session of Googling which leads me to think the worst etc etc. I have to be patient and let it follow it's own course.

Of course, this means I HAVE to show you a picture of my angel!

"Ah, Mr Brennan. about your pay rise...!"

One more thing. whilst on my way for a haircut on Saturday, I literally snapped this on the iPhone through the car window. The most amazing sunset was just falling back over the horizon. It wasn't until I looked closely I saw the aeroplane trail too. In my opinion it sums up how small and insignifcant we are in relation to Mother Nature.

A tiny update

On what's been happening.

Firstly the knowledge. Things are cracking on at a pace now. I hope to complete all 320 runs by end of December. This may well mean popping out during the Christmas period. Dedicated or mad? you decide!

Carla and Frankie update. Both are looking amazing:

Frankie is in her guise as ballerina extraordinaire!

Frankie is definitely starting to get bigger. She is loving her new pureed fruit and veggie mixes. So much so that she gets ratty if you're a minute late feeding her!

Work-wise, I'm all set to finish here on December 23rd. To be frank, it can't come quickly enough. It seems that some people/organisations want to have they're cake AND eat it when it comes to me.

I'll update with some pictures of my travels around London soon

Another small but significant landmark

Yesterday I completed book 3 of my runs. This means I have now completed 240 runs and have 80 left before I start pointing. Another way of looking at it is I have memorised around 2,500 roads. Written down like that it makes me realise what I have achieved so far! Tomorrow will see the start of the final set of runs. I'm getting excited by the prospect of finally getting to grips with the knowledge. As it is looking increasingly likely that I will be a Daddy-Mum next year, it will give me more time to knuckle down and try and push through it as quickly as I can. I'm also starting to notice a definite improvement in my memory banks. I seem to remember runs for longer now.

Whilst out yesterday I came across this statue (Which is actually a drinking fountain) at one of the entrancies to Regents Park. I thought it was lovely and took this picture:

This is all I could really discover about it on the net:


The Milkmaid

By sculptor Joseph Durham (1814-1877), this lovely lass was ‘presented to the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association to honour Matilda, wife of Richard Kent Esq, Junior Churchwarden 1878’. It is therefore often called the ‘Matilda’ fountain
Another one of London's interesting facts!

Frankie is coming along nicely. As I said previously, we are weaning her slowly and she is taking to solids (Well mushy stuff) like a fish to water. Here's a picture Carla talk mid feed:

She certainly looks like she's enjoying herself!!

One omission I always seem to make is Carla's update. She's doing really well and has lost 3.5 stones since having Frankie. She looks amazing! I'll try and get her to pose for a picture later today!

Slippery when wet

Yesterday was a confusing day for me. I had a coffee meeting with my largest client and my friend who also happens to be my director came with me. The meeting passed off uneventfully and I also managed to possibly sell some more services to the client. This will generate an estimated 200k of additional revenue per annum. It was after the meeting on the way back to the office that my director started waxing lyrically about how important I was to the company and how 2012 was looking good for us both..blah bla blah etc. He knows I'll be leaving this December! I didn't bother asking him the why's and wherefores. I just smiled and agreed. I'm getting a little tired of the toing and froing. I'm just going to keep my head down and concentrate on the knowledge and TWC can sort itself out! Speaking of which, the weather here is atrocious. I took this picture at 5.45 this morning:

As you can see, its torrential rain. As I type its still pouring down. And the forecast is for lots more over the next few days so no runs for me until it slows down. To be honest, it's a blessing in disguise as it gives me a chance to catch up on some call overs! Finally a Frankie update. She now weighs 13LBS! Wonders will never cease! She is also 26 1/2 inches long which makes her officially tall too!

End of an era.

Again! Today I was told that my services won't be needed at TWC after all. Not a great shock to be honest, but a small slap around the back of the knees nonetheless. It looks like I'll be seeing the year out here then I become "Daddy-Mum" in January. A task I am relishing. I do think this will be my last stint here though so that's kind of sad. But hey ho onward and upwards as they say! Tomorrow should see me completing the 3rd book of runs. Only 80 to go now. I'm finding it slightly difficult retaining the routes as there are quite a few already in there and it can get a bit confusing when calling them over. Carla has been an angel in helping me though. Just need a bit more concistency with the times i.e more runs called within a specific time frame. but all in all it's coming along nicely. I start pointing soon too which is finding the points of interest and memorising where they are. No mean feat I can tell you! Frankie is coming along nicely. We have started the process of weaning her from milk to solids. Something I'm told will take a while, up to a year in fact. She loves mango and banana though! Here she is doing her impression of a hoody:

Hopefully this blog will last a bit longer than the other two!