Life is Healthy

Today is Christmas day. Early start, preparing all the food and veg; which we never managed to eat it all in the end. Roast potatoes went a little off, fortunately I had prepared enough so it wasn't a total loss. Turkey was good and gravy was OK; I had to make it from scratch as Spain doesn't have the luxury of Bisto Gravy, ahhhh Bisto!

No Christmas crackers to pull at lunch time - they dont know what they're missing :(
Luckily this year I had some stuffing, as last year that was nightmare. All in all the food was good, company was good too. Of course I managed to burn myself, which made taking things constantly in and out of the oven a challenge. If that wasn't bad enough the dam electrics started playing up and only allowed me on hob ring and oven in at any one time - with 6 pans of veg and potatoes to cook, this of course was not a good thing.

Yesterday we spent the evening at Sandra's parents; I hadn't eaten much but knew they would cook a lot as the whole family were going there.
Sadly for me most everything they cooked was seafood!! REALLY!?!?
But hey, I did managed to eat a block of cheese and pate all to myself.
I think the thing I miss most is the bullshit conversations and jokes you have at family meals, whether at Sandra's parents or at home, I feel like a stranger looking in - yes, I know it's my fault I should have learnt Spanish, but it is very apparent at meals.

Some of the differences in the UK at Christmas are; Xmas music in shopping centres, selection boxes (boxes of chocolate bars), Christmas crackers, cult movies on TV - Indiana Jones, Superman, James Bond, Star Wars etc, and of course crap TV - Eastenders (someone dying/being killed) & the Queen's Speech - it would be nice if she was in touch with the real world like Princess Diana was.
And of course Christmas isn't Christmas without a Christmas pudding.

Pitu managed to open her own presents this year, which consisted mainly of bi-lingual toys and a couple of DVD's - one Snow White and the seven dwarves.
Interesting fact, or not: this was actually the first film I ever saw at the cinema when I was a child. These were the days when cinema's had only one screen and ushers who served ice cream in the interval and you could sing along to the film, without being told Sssshhhhh or mobiles going off! After Snow White had finished we got to see Star Trek 2: the wrath of Khan (may give you an idea I'm over 28), we were there with our next door neighbours kids, who were older than us, so we got to watch Star Trek 2, too (although we were too young).

Sandra got a lady shave and a Nespresso Coffee maker, which she seemed happy with ;)
I received a new shirt and some Wii tennis raquets - not 10 grand for my new studio :'(
Of course here in Spain we also have the 'Three Kings Day' so pitu will have some more stuff then, mainly clothes - she's growing a lot.
Sandra still has her Secret Santa (invisible friend gift to come too).
China had her laptop of course, but I got no contact from her... ...perhaps she's having such a good time, she forgot.

Monies kind of tight as I haven't been informed about work for next year, so I can't afford to splash out too much and having only done 1 week that doesn't go far; especially at this time of year. So next year should be interesting, lets see what happens.

It's strange all the effort and fuss and its all over so quick - story of my life, lol.

As I had a little time off between programs Sandra, Pitu and I went to Madrid for a few days and to the zoo; courtesy of tickets that Covadonga sent to me (many thanks for that).

Now that pitu is walking about everything is an adventure to her.
She is growing so quickly now, not only is she talking, walking, dancing but also her teeth have come through. It seems every time I come back she has taken yet another step in her growth.

Anyway we went to the zoo and she got to see the various animals and she shouted at the dolphins. In Madrid she walked around the palace; everyone though she was so cute, I could have made a fortune just sitting her there and people give her money (maybe an idea for the future, lol).

She also has a moody aggressive side where she will growl at people she doesn't like!
Not sure were she gets that from :S

Later that night we went for a Indian meal and she actually wanted to eat my Madras after having a little taste!! (not as hot as in England, but still packs a punch for a pitu)

The photos of her big day out can be found below

China's mom recently gotten in touch and has finally agreed for me to see China!

This is great news and something I hope will not be a one off event. I haven't spent time with her for ages and the last time I saw her was 2 Christmas' ago. She will have grown a lot since we parted as children these days seem to grow up faster every year.

I will show her the sights of Madrid and I will of course post the photos of our time together. Whilst she is here she will also get to see her sister for the first time Ariadna; quite exciting times!

Part of me is suspicious as to her mom's motives and why now? But I guess who cares, as long as I get to see her and spend some quality time with her.
Tickets have been booked and paid for, just a matter of time now - 1st June!!

The entertainment section was well recieved and enjoyed by all, (in fact I was thanked for rekindling Tomkin's interest in drama) so a success there!
We had an old friend on the program, Manuel (a previous manager of Gredos, and old as in relation not age), it was nice for him to see what we actually do, even though this time he was a Spaniard improving his English, he did a marvellous job; just as long as he didn't have a pen in his hand ;)
Manuel is also looking into starting his own business which can be found HERE.

The karaoke night was again a success, however, sadly for the party my computer decided to play up and stopped working around 1am so the party ended earlier than expected, luckily (perhaps) the town was in festival spirit, so the folks carried on there instead.
Dam 'Murphy' or perhaps not, as spookily it had just turned Friday the 13th!!!!

The economic crunch is certainly taking hold globally - which makes for a lot of unrest in all fields, the future may not be so bright and it's certainly not Orange.

As it was Valentines weekend, I was joined by my beautiful girlfriend Sandra and Ariadna at the venue as the group was leaving. We stayed in Salamanca for a day then travelled to Avila ready for my next weeks work. It was wonderful to spend the weekend together with them, and gave me some much needed energy.

Vaughan Town - Salamanca - Program 139

Well its been an interesting year, so where do I go from here.... ....good question keep 'em peeled to see!

So, this year my blog has had over 3,000 new visitors and nearly 5,000 returning visitors which is nice; someone is obviously enjoying following my life or stumbling across some random posts.
The one thing that seems to get the most hits is about losing weight; why are we SO crazy to loose weight fast!!?!?

Folks seemed to have come far and wide, lots from Spain, America and the UK, but also from South Africa, Bahrain, Kazakhstan are just some of the remoter areas that have logged on to my site.

As 20% of the readers/viewers were people searching for 'Vaughan Town' and came across my site, should I get commission??

Dear readers will be aware Christmas isn't my favourite time of year, but I decided to really make an effect and bring a typical English style Christmas to Spain.
You know what they say about best laid plans... ...well their right! My package from England didn't arrive, so NO Xmas pudding, NO mince pies, NO Xmas crackers, NO stuffing for the turkey and worse of all NO SNOW!
But determined I plodded on (little donkey) and made my own stuffing from scratch! Yeah, you heard me! And mulled wine and all the trimmings - although I must say it simply isn't the same in Spain. The simple things you take for granted and would expect simply couldn't be found (sage for example) even a potato masher!?
As per normal we had enough food to feed the street, makes you wonder why we feel the need to do some much?

Onto the presents, I got a Wii and the crazy Rabbids game - what does that say about me?? Not sure but it is fun. As for Sandra, I got here a digital camera and the Singstar games, and a little something put away for the 3 kings (Spains Xmas - 6th Jan), for Ariadna she got clothes of course and China I sent her an electric guitar and amp, hope she likes it!

HAPPY FAMILY

Well as this was the moment Ariadna came into our lives officially, I thought it apt that we would take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to all our friends in the world and even to those we've yet to meet.

This will be Ariadna's first Christmas and she is the best gift we could have for Christmas; although the iTouch is a close second ;)
We have had a busy few weeks as you can guess, and poor mom is feeling more and more as the days go by - hopefully Christmas will give her some rest; I'm cooking!

Sadly I have to work next week, so when I return I hope to find Ariadna walking, talking and ready to work! (well perhaps not just yet, she's SO cute!!!)

Below is some photos of Ariadna's first 2 weeks; enjoy

Ariadna's Album

With the new year approaching and a new addition in the family, I thought it time to give my website a facelift; so it too has a new look.

It's now a nice, fresh, warm inviting blog page easy to navigate and hopefully better to read.

I hope the upcoming year is as exciting as this year has been - obviously the highlight being Ariadna!

I look forward to writing more soon and who knows maybe I'll get MY Christmas wish ;)

^ ^ ^ That is a beautiful quote from The Crow, this pregnancy was not like the movies though - "ok now one big push"; cut to scene mother and baby clean and happy together.
After what seems like a lifetime, I am pleased to say that Sandra has given birth to Ariadna, a guapa little girl!! (she has blue eyes too)

Both Ariadna and Sandra are fine. The baby was tiny 2.71kg and it took 6 additional days over her due date, 18 hours of labour and a cesarean to get her to arrive. I have just returned from spending 24 hours at the hospital and around 10 of those hours actually with Sandra.

I am glad that both are well and doing better. I do have a strong issue with the treatment at the hospital however. A little information goes a long way and being kept for hours at a time with nothing to go on only causes anxiety and problems.

I don't understand the approach that nothing is communicated. OK, so my Spanish isn't up to the level of understanding complex issues, but nothing was said even to Sandra's mother; I simply don't get it, it wasn't like the problems were that big. Things were indeed slow and baby was smaller than expected, but open dialogue would have helped us ALL to understand what the issues were.

I recall when China was born the midwife told us what was happening and when and what to expect and I was even with her ALL the way, from conception to delivery; I cut the cord that freed China, but here no such luck!

So China you now have a baby sister and I would like you to see her rather than just in pictures, so I will see what I can organize with your mom, in the meantime be a good girl kisses.

Anyway I need a shower, food, drink and SLEEP!!! Enjoy the pictures ;)