Fridays really are the best days of the week ever. You have all the expectation of the weekend to come and none of the sadness when you wake up on a Sunday with that sinking feeling of having to go into work the next day and all the housework that has yet to be done!

However Fridays for us at the moment have a slightly different effect i.e. what have we got coming up in the weekend to do? This weekend we have hired a car to drive up to Manchester to see Amanda and Ian and new baby  Ella. Then we are off to Nottingham on Saturday night to see Rupert and Su and then it's back down to Brighton on Sunday for more packing and chucking out.

A week today the packers will be coming. We've decided to go the easy route and have them packing the stuff for us which for a few extra quid is real peace of mind. D has also turned into Ebayer/Gumtree extraordinnaire and has been selling all our stuff off bit by bit - I think secretly he is quite enjoying it. So far the dog cage, big mirror, large telly and stand and dvd player and all bookshelves have gone and we've even made a few quid! Enough to keep me in shoes for the next month  he wasn't very amused by that comment though - I was joking!

I'm still astonished at the stuff that people will buy! I think it is complete junk but it seems someone somewhere will want it! But whatever we can't sell will go to the good people at Shabitat for supporting former homeless people set up in their own homes. Blimey I really need to book that collection date in

The dog's flight has all been booked and paid for (ow when I did the transfer but worth every penny to have her with us ) and tonight I am meeting up with some friends to a) have a belated wedding celebration with cocktails at the Goring and b) to plan in what needs to happen with all her testing. Golden Arrow have been amazingly good and they say all we have to do is take her to the vets and have the blood testing and have the no 2 samples collected by our good selves. Poor friend who is looking after doggie has to do the second no 2 sample but she swears she doesn't mind. That is indeed friendship! 

So, dog has been registered with our friend's vets in London who are doing all the samples and the only last area of concern is figuring out what to do with her booster. She's due for it but because of Leptospirosis blood tests she can't actually have it but she needs a booster for everything else! oh dear so complicated I just hope she doesn't get sick from something as it seems we can't have the booster done until we get to NZ and she will be 2 months overdue then. We shall make a plan however!

In the meantime, I'm struggling to find time to get to yoga as things are soooooo busy at work.It's been a tough week managing performance issues and fighting battles with various departments  (well in the nicest possible way but they are still battles no matter which way you put it!). I am determined to leave things in tip top order for my team, also being shrouded in guilt that I've only done a year there  but this is too good an opportunity to pass up! And much though I might like to think otherwise I am hardly irreplacable haha!

Also my new boss in NZ has sent me through some paperwork to read through which is really exciting. I'm impressed at the amount of effort the charity has gone to in putting the campaign into place and it's an area of work that I am so keen to get involved in as well professionally. I really feel as if the last year I've done diddly squat fundraising and all my efforts have been focussed on very tricky HR issues! On the one  hand it's great to be head of a team and learning about that, but I really miss the fundraising and working with donors. So fingers crossed the NZ opportunity will give me that. I'm sure it will be same cr@p different office but workwise I will be learning something new  at least

And finally I have taken up running again! as it has been so hard to get to yoga - and I forgot how much I loved doing it! (I say 'run' in the loosest sense, I always get overtaken.) I'm patiently waiting for entries to open for the KeriKeri Half Marathon which is Saturday 20 November and have already booked D and I into the local youth hostel for 2 nights nice cheap $20 a night each for a double room sharing bathroom facilities. But who cares so long as you have somewhere to rest your head in your own room!

I can't wait to just escape and explore the region a bit, just the 2 of us getting away for a bit. There's a street party in the evening which looks lovely, just need to find a dog sitter now!

 http://www.kerikerihalfmarathon.co.nz/ - says entry open late July but it is late July and they aren't open yet  BUT that does not stop me doing the training does it! Slowly but gently, I've been doing 3x a week at 25 mins - testament to the power of Bikram Yoga that I can just up and run for that amount of time with no aches and pains after an 8 month break! Going to start building up more from next week and it's so nice popping out in my lunch hour for a run along the Thames. Trying to make the most of that! I don't want to turn into some flat blob again either so it's important to keep up the exercise.

Anyway best go and get ready for work - I had to write a job description today and get that sent off so have been on the go since six - and didn't get home until 10pm last night so a bit of 'me' time on the blog was called for!

Byeeeee