Mike & Liz In Andalucia

The countdown continues. Baby is due anytime between the 7th and the 9th Dec. Not much else to report except to say that the mother-to-be is in excellent shape and health (Praise God). She looks and feel great and has the most beautiful tummy!

Other good news, we heard this week that Andi & Cheryl will be coming over to see us also. Dates booked in the Cartwright hotel are 29th Nov – 7th Dec (lets just hope the baby is not early) :-DDDDDD

Gotta keep this one short due to work load, sorry guys will be in touch soon enough.

Mike

So, the count down begins! Well nearly anyway as today I entered my 35th week of pregnancy and also started my first day off from work. I must say things are getting a little uncomfortable with all the baby movement being that touch stronger than before. It’s weird to be able to look at my tummy and actually see the baby move…..

It also feels like we’re being prepared for the long sleepless nights ahead as due to all the activity I woke up at 4am and found it impossible to sleep again and Mike being the night sensor that he is, also woke up! So after a couple of games of backgammon and an episode of “scrubs” we made it back to sleep.

Last saturday we went to Gibralter with the aim of going to mothercare and doing a blitz on baby basics only to find it was shut for the afternoon – it’s meant to be english opening times. Anyway to salvage the potential waste of a journey marks & sparks was open as was safeways so we went there instead. Undetermined we went back on wednesday and bought all the things I was having a hard time finding in Spain, so I feel we’re slightly more prepared and have started putting the hospital bag together. Just need some valium for Mike……

Another week has gone by and I’m trying to get into a habit of writing more often on the old blog. Good news is that with the new camera it helps talk about something with a picture to accompany it. On Saturday Liz was working in the morning and my task for the morning was to go downstairs and get a key from our estate agents to allow us access into our storage area. Good news – the task was achieved! After Liz came back from work we decided to head down to the feria in San Pedro. It was a good laugh and I managed to get quite a few pics of my lovely wife dancing 🙂

We got back home about 9pm and then just relaxed.

On Sunday afternoon we got back from church we treated ourselves to watching a movie – Nacho Libre. I can’t say there’s much of a plot, but it is silly enough in places to make me laugh – I know for a fact Andi (my bro) would probably love it. Then we managed to get all the stuff into the storage area, and we finished off the weekend by watching another movie – V for Vendetta. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it was an interesting movie about on an alternate near future, where a totally right wing faction has taken control of the UK.

After that it was time for bed and today another week starts at the office. Photos will be coming soon.

Mike

It´s sunday late afternoon and we´ve arrived back from a fantastic weekend away in a spanish country house situated between Seville and Jerez. It was a converted house and stables with 3 swimming pools, 10 rooms and a fair bit of land.

We arrived friday afternoon to be greeted by a barking dog who didn´t take kindly to Mike but needless to say turned into a baby when it saw me. I can hear Mike now “we used to have 3 alsations in Brazil, i don´t understand it….”

After settling in, we went for the evening meal which was extremely well done. After food we went for a little exploration around the grounds before turning in for the night.

Saturday was much busier as we hadn´t really explored that side of town before. We started off visiting Arcos de la Frontera, one of the larger white villages with an impressive view. Then we headed off west for San Lucar de Barrameda, a town situated near the sea and so well known for its seafood. Unfortunately in good spanish style everything had pretty much shut by the time we got there (there may have been some dodgy map reading earlier on my part). But nevertheless it was an attractive place to walk around.

We continued west to Chipiona which had a nice seafront but not much else going for it. After moving on we arrived in Rota which turned out to be a very nice surprise. It was a pretty, well maintained town with some historical sites and a lively modern atmosphere.

Least to say we slept in this morning and made our way back home after a lazy breakfast. So for anyone who´s thinking of coming, we have a few more ideas of where to go!

Well, words can hardly describe the surprises I had yesterday. After my spanish teacher encarni making me a cake for my lesson in the morning it just got better.

The day continued as normal with me going to work in the afternoon except I had a call to collect something from the office where my nursing documents were being processed. I went along and the lady sat me down and after chatting aimlessly for about 10 minutes I asked her what I needed to collect. She went to get something and came back with an enormous bouquet of flowers!

After feeling like I was running late because we had music practice to go to and also I was feeling in a rush to see Mike, I rushed home and forgot to pick him up from work! ( he doesn´t know that bit because I rushed back out again to collect him..).

Only I was then to discover I needn´t be in rush for music practice but for a meal reservation instead. Mike had set up a very nice meal in a very swish restaurant which again I wasn´t expecting at all. The food was very modern and I chose the taster menu which was abit of everything consisting of about 12 plates of food. He did well. It evolved into a very special day.

This weekend Liz & I headed out to the shops to buy her Birthday present – a digital camera. Our old camera died on us and Liz said that she wanted a new one. So we went for the smart looking and compact Canon Digital IXUS 60 . Now we have no excuse for not putting any pics up 🙂 I am also pleased to inform you that I have a 3 day week this week (thurs is bank holiday and I took friday off). I’m taking my lovelly wife away for a long weekend to a secret location (not so secret now) and also treating her to different treats throughout the week. Watch this space for response. It’s lunchtime at work and I’m just catching up with bits and bobs before I’m back onto the real work.

See you soon. Mike

Well today David & Sally leaves us after a fun packed week with sun, sand, sangria & Settlers of Catan. I still feel I’m recovering from Revive even though this week I took Monday off to just do “nothing”. Tonight we’re having a night off and just chilling together before we throw ourselves into this wedding tomorrow – watch this space for the post-wedding report. Sunday it’s church once again followed hopefully by some go-karting with the guys (& girls if they want) from church.

Liz is doing & looking really well – each day more and more clothes don’t seem to fit her lovelly round belly. December the 7th seems to be the predicted date. I’ve already booked that week off to make sure that I will be available to take her to the hospital. I’ll keep you post.

Back to work for me guys – coffee break is over. 🙂

Mike

“UNACCEPTABLE”, I hear you say – and quite right too. I’ve not managed to keep our loyal readers up to date with the news in the blog. Sorry guys. Anyway quick catch up!

Well a couple of weeks ago (August 5th-12th) we were at REVIVE 2006 : Excellent time had by all, Liz & I drove to the UK (we love it!) and one of the highlights was the mexican night at cafe ash. Good laugh all around and excellent spiritual content all week. Lots to chew on. On the Sunday we were back at our old church in London http://nwcf.org.uk/ (New Wine Christian Fellowship) – leading worship. We left the UK on the monday morning and arrived in sunny Estepona on tuesday evening – straight back to work on Wednesday morning. Pretty uneventful except for the fact that I seemed to have pulled a muscle in my back with all the packing and very unconfortable driving position (signs of wanting a new car). On the wednesday I got back to work I could not walk but a few painkillers afterwards and some TLC from the local nurse helped things along.

This week we have Sally & David staying with us (friends from London) and just making most of the sun, pool and sagria. 🙂

This weekend we have a Spanish wedding to attend (one of the girls I work with) – that should be interesting at least. Tradition has it that there is no wedding list for presents and those invited are expected to give cash as a present (€50 per person = €100 total).

Other than that it’s my nan’s 95th Birthday on the 3rd Sept and I’m trying to see if I can find a cheap / affordable flight to go back for the weekend.

Finally it was good to see a number of people while we were back in the uk, all the gang at New Wine, Ichthus friends, Andi & Cheryl and Gerard & Helen. Hopefully next time our stay will be a slightly longer one.

Until next time (a little more frequent than last time I hope!),

Mike C.