One thing I learned today: if you have run out of valve oil, don't be tempted to use WD40 on your trumpet, it really does not work...

M&D were staying with us this weekend and we had a lovely time, although it seemed to go very quickly. On Sat we took the Luas to both Dundrum shopping centre and into Dublin. Seemed to walk for miles. Looked at various things for the baby. I was staggered to discover the same "pramette" (the fact that prams aren't just prams was impressive enough to learn!) in Mamas and Papas cost 700+ euro for it and car seat, but in Smyths all together was under 400! It was a Mamas and Papas brand too, so how the hell they actually sell anything is beyond me.

Today we attempted to walk round Killiney hill - we were going to try walk 2 - but as we got close to the car park it suddenly got really foggy/cloudy. The whole hill was stuck in a cloud and we could barely see enough to drive let alone walk. So we gave up and drove to Powerscourt to eat cake instead.

While out for a chinese meal with my family on Sat, my boss attempted to ring me twice. While I knew a colleague was trying to install some stuff he was having difficulty with, I had been talking to him throughout the day - despite it not being my project and me having guests to don't visit all that often. So when I told him I was going out in the evening so wouldn't be able to help for a few hours, he rightly stopped calling me. I did get a text, that I replied to - mid meal, but obviously in the back ground there was pressure for assistance that got my boss involved. Frankly I think it outrageous that he call me when people knew I was out with family. So I didn't answer. He was going on about an urgent problem. Frankly a badly run project which I had not been scheduled to work on does not constitute urgent to me. It can wait until business hours. I did log into work (best part of a bottle of wine later) and call my colleague to help out when I got home. But I still resent the calls from my boss.

It's 1:40am and I'm at work very very bored. Work has gone a little weird recently. Firstly they've tightened up the rules for over night changes which means I have to be around for the time our vendors are doing the work, not just the time it takes me to test it. So I'm here with sod all to do for 2.5 hours. Secondly they have come up with this cunning plan of outsourcing bits of the large department I work for. What does that actually mean? Who knows! Will I lose my job? Maybe. Will I simply be moved to an alternative employer? Maybe! Will nothing happen to my area at all and the worry and stress will have been for nothing? Maybe!! Its all very well to keep us informed early, but when they cant answer the questions we actually care about (like what will happen to my job) it's rather annoying that they've said anything at all. They claim it'll take 6 months to work out what's what, but I seriously doubt they'll manage that. They don't exactly have a good track record with this sort of thing....

Today we went on what was advertised as a "10 mile sponsored walk" for the Uganda trip. We've paid and raised enough to get us there, so this was for work projects to be spent out there for the kids. So I turn up at Glendalough with walking boots ready for a nice 10 mile walk. But no! Up mountains, through bogs, (up really boggy mountains), through hail storms, up more never ending hills as it was misty/cloudy. My left foot decided to rub about a quarter of the way in but luckily we had a nurse with us who had some brilliant patches which put a stop to that. At points I actually wanted to give up but couldn't as there wasn't exactly anywhere else to go. But when we got to the top and walked along the ridge it was amazing. Shame about the hail though as that really hurt! I thought that was the worst of it over, but actually "down" presents all sorts of problems. Down a boggy mountain was really hard not to fall over (which some managed to fall over very well). All in all the walk lasted 5 and a half hours and now I am nackered and my legs want to fall off. Got home, emptied half the bog on to the bedroom floor then had a bath. Not sure how I'll manage to walk around tomorrow!

I've been so rubbish at this recently I'll be amazed if anyone who used to read it bothers looking again... After being in a rather strange position for a while recently where I was unable to post at times I thought about it, now I am in the position to do so again I've decided I will try hard to keep it up regularly!

Firstly baby news: we've had our 20 week scan and all was fine. We asked our youth group whether we should find out the sex or not and they've said no, so we didn't ask! The nurse didn't offer any info though or ask if we wanted to know. Some of the images were bizarre and I had no idea what they were meant to be of although the nurse seemed to know and was pointing bits out that looked nothing like whatever it was meant to be. Some were amazingly clear. You could see it move its arms clearly.

I have almost certainly felt it kick now which was very exciting! It was very light, but still not likely to be much else!