More Birthday Fun

I had a fab birthday weekend again!
Lisa and Danielle came over, Lisa drove which was really exciting as it was only her second time on the motorway. Anyway, with Danielle navigating they got here and it was the start of a fab night.









Hannah, who is pregnant with baby boy number 2, (CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH!) drove over from Wolverhampton and we all had a catch up and a chat while running around putting on make-up (apart from Alex, obviously!). Nathan and Laura dropped off my present which was a great cd by Jose Gonzalez called Veneer - if you've heard the vodafone advert (I think it's that one) then you'll recognise his music, it's lovely. And Hannah got me a bottle of Baileys, which together with the mini pink champagne and champagne truffles I got with my Bright birthday vouchers means I'm a very spoilt girly! A little of what you like does you good..!








Hannah drove us all to La Plancha in Moseley where we met with Peter and Steve. Since Steve moved to Birmingham I've really missed him, he's so funny and such a nice man! He's got himself a nice new man so that's good as he really deserves all the happiness there is; especially as his work is directing planes safely down to land - it's probably best he's not miserable and distracted! It was great to see Pete too, and when Kate and then Leon arrived it was a real Griffin reunion! So much fun!










Becky, who I did Spanish with, had moved house that day but still managed to come to La Plancha and even brought me a bunch of the most gorgeous flowers!












Nathan and Laura were there, baby Emma was able to spend an evening with granny and grandad, and Hez and Becky came which is miraculous in itself - Hez tends to go awol sometimes! He even phoned me in advance!

Annette, who was my manager at the NEC, came along and brought her significant other, Paul, who I'd not had the pleasure of meeting before. It was so funny because she was surprised at how loud Alex could be when he's with friends! She'd only ever seen him when he was shy and being well behaved before! Annette brought me a beautiful bouquet of pink and cream roses, see? - I love getting flowers!









Then Ben and Cat were there also, which is lovely, and I managed to get around and have a chat with everyone. I think that's it, I hope I'm not missing anyone out. It was a brilliant night. We all had tapas and munched away, and I managed to get them to serve us desert even though the kitchen had just closed! Then bartender Rory made me an on the house special cocktail just for me - yum it was delicious!

I managed to organise taxis and bundle people in, with the help of the manager John, and we went off back home for more fun.

At this point Hannah left us to it, it was midnight and she had to get back to Wolverhampton, it's so lovely how many people made such an effort - I felt very special! Becky quite rightly went back to her new flat to bond with it and Annette and Paul went off too.

Pads had had the house to herself and suddely it was overtaken by about 13 mad and excitable strangers - she wasn't too impressed and rather huffily made herself scarse after a few pats and strokes!

Gradually people flaked and went off home or to bed. Lisa and Danielle sloped off upstairs and got changed into their pj's very slyly, the Nathan was found upstairs on the sofa, asleep, with the playstation controls in his hands!!! Aah, bless. He was promptly taken home by Laura! Ha ha! Next off were Hez and Becky, who decided that taxi's were taking too long and they were last seen heading off on foot. I think I'd better check they got home safely as I got the impression that their idea of the geography was sketchy at best! They have a new home in Bourneville so they should have made it ok! At this point me and Kate were danicing around the kitchen but then the taxi arrived for her Pete and Steve, and that just left me Alex and Leon and Pads. Pads had long ago done the sensible thing and was asleep on our bed, Lisa and Danielle were snoring, so after having a dance with Alex (!) I sorted out the futon and frogmarched Leon to bed. I wasn't so successful with Alex. I managed to wake him up but then he started wittering about having the munchies and I left him to it! As I fought the cat for the duvet the last sound I heard was the gentle humming of the microwave!!!

In the morning Alex woke me up and we had a chat and a cup of tea. Leon Alex, me Danielle and Lisa sat about for a couple of hours talking then I finally got up and made breakfast. MMmmmmm! Lisa and Danielle headed off before breakfast so I suppose that's the official end of the tale. Just picture me Al and Leon munching away on a good old British breakkie before Leon braved the bus journey home!

And there's still the bank holiday monday to look forward to!!!







Bueno, tuve una noche genial celebrando mi cumple con todos mis amigos. Solo faltaron algunos para hacerlo perfecto, pero no puedo quejar ya que ha sido fantastico! Eramos casi 20 amigos, que viajaron de Wolverhampton, todo Birmingham, Coventry y hasta Londres. Eramos gente de la universidad, del trabajo NEC, amigos de la escuela y de siempre. Lo pasamos en el bar La Plancha, un bar de tapas que es muy autentico. Comimos muy bien, paella, langostinos, musclos, ensaladas, champinones, tortilla espanola (claro!), y tantas otras cosas, picando y picando... Tambien comimos postres; tarta de queso, y me dieron un coctail buenisimo porque era mi cumpleanos! Arriba hay fotos de mucha gente, pero tambien regresamos a la casa a bailar y cotillear, y finalmente la gente habia desaparecido por las 3 de la manana! Aunque esto no suens mal para ingleses, es relativamente controlado para nosotros, pero supongo que estamos envejeciendo!