That's More Like It

Southampton to Manchester in 3 hours 45 minutes (not counting a 1-hour stop in Birmingham on the way) - that's much better than the 6 hours it took us to do the same 240-mile journey last Christmas.

We got here around lunchtime on Sunday and in the early afternoon we went to see Grandad, who's been in hospital for the past couple of weeks. They're hoping that he'll be discharged in time for Christmas. Rob bought him The Lord of the Rings trilogy on CD, which he loved, and which will help pass the time while he's in hospital.

After we left the hospital we went back to Rob's parents' and his sister and her kids came round in the early evening. I asked Rob's niece, Leah, if she would like to be my bridesmaid, and after careful consideration she said she would.

Yesterday we spent all day in Manchester, shopping - it was busy but not crazy. Rob decided that seeing as he didn't have his suit (again, very embarrassed and sorry) and seeing as he was intending to buy a tuxedo in the next couple of months anyway, he would buy one now then he could wear it tonight at the hotel's casino night in the Lakes. He bought the tuxedo from Selfridges and whilst the jacket fitted perfectly, the corresponding trousers were a bit big - they needed an inch off the leg and 2 inches off the waist. The guy in Selfridges pointed us in the direction of the tailor/alterations shop they use which is just down the road and they did all the alterations in 90 minutes, which we were amazed at, particularly as the place was packed with people wanting last-minute alterations to Christmas outfits. We could only imagine the kind of sweat shop they were running out the back to get all the clothes altered on time...

This morning Rob's Dad had to take their cat to be put down, which was really sad. She was a stray when Sharen took her in and the vet reckoned she was about 6 at the time, which would make her 14 now. She had a series of seizures in the space of about 20 minutes this morning, which was very sad to watch as there was nothing we could do to help her, so they took her to the vet and he put her to sleep.

We're going for lunch with the guys from Cake in a little while, then we're heading straight off to Ambleside after that.

Merry Christmas!