Over the sea to Skye

It's been a busy week for me sitting tests at work, attending opera meetings and learning songs for Oklahoma! I went to circuits for the first time in ages last week and my thighs were killing me for about 4 days! The instructor called it 'explosive training' - I just called it agony. On Thursday I tried a new hairdresser (Toni and Guy) - this is a big deal for me you know because I dread the hairdresser more than the dentist - and was really pleased with the results. On Friday Ross, Neil and I headed up to Skye to meet Donna and my folks in Portree for my cousin Billy's wedding (almost running over several suicidal sheep). The weather was glorious and the wedding was brilliant! I also sat in the pub where I was conceived! It's called The Isles - hence why I was originally going to be called Isla, thankfully that didn't happen as now I would be Isla White! I've uploaded lots of photos from the weekend on to my bebo site - www.bebo.com/lornashanks1979. One of the highlights of the wedding was trying to cram as many people as possible in to the red phone box - much hilarity! On Saturday we drove over to Dingwall and picked up Ross's dad from the train station. At night we went to the National Hotel for dinner followed by karaoke in the Ross-Shire Club which was good craic. Of course I managed to drag myself up to the microphone for a bit of Mustang Sally! On Sunday it was my uncle's memorial golf tournament at Tain and Culbokie. Every year this is a great event, it was just a shame we had to leave to drive back to Glasgow. However, all in all it was a fantastic weekend of family and fun!

16 days condensed!

Where does time go when you are having fun (or are just so busy you don't have time to update your blog!). Even my friend Isla has managed more regular blogs and she is in the wilderness of Ashram passing salt through her nose as a cleansing technique! (Sounds interesting!).
OK where do I start. The first highlight was my trip to the RSNO to their movie classics night. It was great! They played songs from Mission Impossible, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and the Simpsons! Afterwards Ross and I had a lovely meal at Amarone as his pre-birthday treat. Ross went away for a few days golfing in Dumfries and Galloway so I went for after work drinks with the girls. Have I previously mentioned the joy that is Addlestones? Well, it's a cider that is so powerful you only need 2 pints before you feel it in your ankles. I had 3 and a half pints....
We viewed another couple of houses (one of which we had viewed previously) and still really liked the one in Dumbreck. It is detached, has a huge garden and lots of potential. It is empty at the moment so needs a bit of work done on it. So, we put in an offer for 20% over the asking price (which in my opinion is pretty decent in the current housing climate) and our offer was refused. Mind you, it still hasn't sold yet so I have my fingers crossed that the seller will realise he is being greedy in his asking price. I spent that Sunday doing some studying for tests I had to sit at work - verbal and numeric reasoning - what fun!
I had my usual hospital treatment last week and for the first time in ages, it was a bad one. I suppose I was due a bad one. I spent the evening in the bath nursing my body and feeling very sorry for myself. Added to that, work has been very busy, a wee bit stressful and very boring all at the same time so I wasn't my usual self!
Ross is doing so well with his training for the 10k and half marathon, so I have been trying to keep up with his fitness and weight loss by going to the gym or walking as much as possible. Mind you Ross nearly got run over whilst out running last week and returned with gashed knees so I think I'll stick to the treadmill - it's safer! My brother, brother-in-law and Ross have all applied to do the London marathon next year so I really hope they all get in - I quite fancy a weekend in London! In fact my wee sis went there last weekend to see Wicked the musical and she said it was amazing. My rehearsals have started up for Oklahoma! so I will need to decide whether or not to do the show with all my other commitments.
On the 12 April it was Ross's birthday so we had a birthday weekend full of treats. On Friday night we went to the Thai Fountain with his folks which was delicious. On Saturday we had a bottle of champagne in the house then decided to go out about 11pm to One Up (a bar/club in Royal Exchange Square). There were some interesting characters there so we had a hoot people watching! On Sunday we were meant to be going to see Calvin Harris but it was cancelled as they lost their luggage at Terminal 5!
Anyway happy birthday to my lovely husband and also happy 30th to my friend Louise! x