The Saturday before Christmas saw me and Al setting out on a fouly foggy night with tendrils of fog rising up like a living creature to ensnear the unweary traverler - mid winter suddenly seemed a very stupid time to be out and about. We where heading to Somerset to visit some fellow geologists laddened with engagement gifts, birthday gifts and Christmas parafanalia not too mention a little something for the house warming :) The fog seemed to be exhuding a foul greasy dirt that was ssticking to the windscreen - we thought that our wind screen wippers had suddenly perished - but no they where fine - was it the road grit/salt as one astrophysicist suggested (namely olly) or some dark influence from beyound - like oil wells being burnt or volcanic eruptions ect...
Still it was a fun party though for some reason I appear to have only taken about two pictures :/
On New Years Eve clair came round to where we are staying in Highgate and painted my nails for me including putting on nial gems which took a while and for me has resulted in self control in trying not to pick at them!
We then headed out to Burgess Hill for a geology party (well a party hosted by geologists). Sarah and Simon where in disgrace as they went and got marraide with out telling me! In fact scarily I realised I hadn't seen any of them since Flos wedding just before the birth :(
It was great catching up and their tree looked fab :)
Midnight came with a pop by which time me and clair where horse from having sung along to about three cds worth of power ballards 
As you have probably noticed Neil sprouted some facial hair during the night! He then proceeded to dance badly :)
Sarah and Simon had made mulled wine with chillies in! I'd not come across this concept before - the verticts ranged from wow! To arg my mouth and throat are blistering - I was a chicken and avoided it.
Here are some general picks of party randomness :)
Alaric decided to a) design chocolate bars and draw pianos becuase Jules Holland was excited on TV with a piano and to general amusement he decided to do impressions of Wallace and Gromite for which he has the perfect teeth!
Some time around 3 am we decided that it was time for cups of tea having all stuffed our faces with warm minni jam filled doughnuts, chocolate brownies (made by one of the Clairs), out cookies (made by one of the Sarahs) and other sundry yummyness! Did I mention that most people at this party where called Clair (sorry probably different spellings I know!) or Sarah! this can only mean one thing! - Clearly they are the best two names in the whole universe ;)
Coming soon to a blog near you - What else we did over Christmas - as some of you may have noticed the blog was actually broken there for a while hence I am only writing the posts now. It felt disheartening to write the posts when I knew people couldnt get at them to read :/
Again Happy New Year :)
Jeany-bow was at a family party creating havoc with two contemperies the three of whom where dressed in identical little fairy outfits! I'm hoping someone took pictures for me :)
It is the shiny new beginning of 2008 and we are hoping (desperatly) that it is going to be a bit better than 2007 and that we will soon be back in our own home with a shiny new kitchen and nice effective flood defenses etc...
For 2008 i am hoping to loose the last 2 stone of the pregnancy weight (I doubled in weight actually doubled during the pregnancy which wasnt good), we have budgeted in gym membership for me as I need to up my aerobic excersise. your probably all wondering why I dont just do some gardening or somehting but my joints etc... are unstable and I have to be very careful - loading the joints is bad so gentle swims are good digging wholes bad. I will also be starting physio therapy again so that I have some direction inwhat excersises are good for me and which ones will cripple me.
I also hope to actually star a hobby I've been dreaming off and trying half heartedly to do for a few years - I've been interested in it every since my dad carried me into my nans garden when I was a toddler to show me a lunar eclipse. During my GSCE's there was Hale Bop which had me late in to physics as I'd gone round my uncles to look through his telescope the night before.
I've also been reading Astronomy Now off and on since I was working at the museum on meteorites - I cant right now get back to those pieces of sky rock so I will be attempting to consol myself with star gazing. Our binoculars where distroyed in the flood unfortunatly and I dont have the money to buy any equipement at the moment but my bro has lent me his ickle telescope which I am looking forward to actually using. 2008 is going to be a year of astronomy for me :)
I shall also be consolidating my webstuff into a proper business of its own. I will have servers and we have nominet registration and as purple cloud is no longer James I can quite happily become a comercial ISP without competing with my friend. We will be doing hosting and domain registration I will also be building websites and setting up blogs, mailing lists and forums for people. I've had a few customers so far so am confident that if I actually advertise and stuff there should be a nice organic growth.
You may have noticed that since the flood the other blogs - Salaric and wigglypets have been a bit neglected - I hope to remedy this asap. So 2008 is also going to be the year of the pooter for Sarah.
Who knows I might even get that noval typed up and published :)
Here's hoping every body had a great night last night and an even better year to come!
HAPPY NEW YEAR from the family Snell-Pym :)
You are n9ot going to believe me :/
I fell in a whole - I got stuck in said whole and had to be puled out, I cut my hands on a digger bucket and felt very very stupid.
We are having flood defenses put in and the trench had grown abit since I last looked at it so at the weekend I managed to (in the dark) walk straight into it and slide down down, over the frozen earth and became wedged between the side of the whole and the digger bucket with my legs uselessley waggling and no way to bend my kness to get a perchase to climb out.
I'm afraid I screamed as I fell in and then finiding I was actually stuck begain to yell at which point Dad and Alaric came running closely followed by a little Jeany bow who got most upset seeing me stuck in the whole.
I for some stupid once out became so shaky you'd have thought that I had been doused in ice cold water (well in fact I was just above the ice cold water as my breasts wouldnt let me fall all the way through).
Ontop of that we missed the Grift Service with the scouts so I have no idea what happened to my scouts who went - weather they found their seats ok and stuff :/
I am quiet bruised and have an infected cut on my hand from it all, my pelvis also desided that the knock was enough to make it start clicking again - sigh.
I'm afriad I have not blogged for a while now this was mainly due to the fact that I just couldnt face typing yet more depressing news. The builders who I had been waiting for didnt turn up and after the normal five different people and no one knowing who I am game I finially got through to the actual builders. 'Ah yes we've been trying to contact you, the insurance company says its got to go back to the assessors and that we cant start work yet. Sorry luv' Mew! Mew! Mew!
So we are back to the old waiting game and getting back into the house stretches further away than ever before.
The to our insurence payout for the contence, they say we have to fill in some magical form they sent us the week of the flood and that without it we can not get our money - I can not find the form - sigh.
Hydrogen cost me another £20 in antibiotics becuase the poor little things wound was still oozing sticky gunk which wasn't good, I have to pick the stuff off of her everyday and wash her and make sure that the scabs over where her drain came out is scratched off and the wound kept open to drain. (Hope that made scense to someone).
Mum still has a gaping wound and so radiotherapy starts after christmas when hopefully it will have at least started to heal. Once on radiotherapy it has been advised that we dont go and see her as Jean will give her colds and stuff.
Sigh. Sorry I know this is all abit moany and stuff and I hope to have some cheerful stuff for you soon. But for now GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Alaric, Sarah | sarah | 
Tue 8th Jan 2008 10:44 pm | 
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