Donald Duck and Friends

Rebecca's mum is staying with us just til tomorrow morning. She did a solo trip out to town centre armed with all our knowledge of local buses and came back relatively unscathed. While she was out I could play video games without feeling self conscious - the one I'm playing right now has Donald Duck fighting alongside anime tweens and I could have lost years of my life trying to explain to her why the internet and a few friends tell me it's better than Citizen Kane. Rebecca's mum thankfully has an appetite for medical dramas and was happy to rewatch a few episodes of The Pitt as Rebecca and I make our way through it. Nothing like finding common ground between families while watching patients get breathing tubes shoved down their throats.

Running in the Drizzles

Now the weather has cooled off significantly I thought now was a good day to get back I to running. I inadvertently ended up jogging during a rainstorm in the sunshine, I spent most of it wiping the water off my sunglasses.

Part two on my unexpected things was finishing up Final Fantasy. I knew I was on the final boss and my characters were all very well leveled and ready to rumble. Shouldn't take more than an hour... Then my whole morning went in the blink of an eye. I'm relieved it's all done and dusted now, this one started to get a bit too long in the tooth.

Client Dinner

I went alongside a PM friend to get wined and dined by a vendor for a camera equipment hire company. I've never really been to a client dinner of sorts I suppose, I was just delighted to find I was sat across from some actually very normal people who didn't push anything on us. It was just friendly networking, plus moussaka and vine-wrapped halloumi. 

I left the lunch to go meet a Canadian Cousin who was spending the day with Mum in Bristol. They mostly went thrifting in the nearby vintage shops and to see some nearby sights the city has to offer. I very much joined during the tail end of their day out but it was fun to show off the spots I hold dear to new eyes. 

Old Town, New Routes

With the temperatures down a smidge and an idle hour or two at my disposal I decided to hit the town. I've been sitting on a cheque to cash in for a little while now, it's just annoying my nearest bank branch is such a schlep away. But I turned it into a fun walk, going along avenues and shortcuts I didn't know existed til today. I have some family coming to visit Bristol tomorrow too so I considered today a little recce of sorts. 

Jamie came to stay with us again this evening and lavished us with compliments on the new shelves. Those things might as well be my life's work, I don't know if I'll contribute much more to humanity after them. 

Finally, Final Fantasy

Felt oddly woozy for most of the day and considering the rest of my week is looking busier by the minute I thought I'd rest instead. This time six years ago I was deep into a Final Fantasy game before heading back into work, felt only right that I'm repeating the trick now. The monsters, the music, the spells - even when the game is new to me it always feels like a homecoming. The temperature finally feels like it's broken too, fingers crossed that's the last heat wave of the year. I've never been more ready for a 19 degree day in my entire life.

The Day After the Feast

Been a while since we did the North Street shuffle, lots of new shops and pop ups to explore. The best one was a new Vietnamese sandwich place that packs their buns to the brim - just what I needed after a groggy morning following yesterday's feasting and drinking. But we had another dinner party tonight - much more civil mind. Some friends turned up to ours for a very sweet little board game night. They brought round a tiramisu that, no word or a lie, rivaled my own. We got some leftovers as well so I'll enjoy it all over again tomorrow.

Nostalgia Dinner

The common thread for all my time in the kitchen making mayonnaise, ketchup and now chicken nuggets from scratch is that it's literally not worth the extra effort. Guess that's why they call it convenience food.

I did this all in aid of the Nostalgia Dinner party - a friendly competition between some TV friends in a cook off of sorts. The best part of the day was seeing everyone's interpretation of the brief. We had two people make potato smilies, an Angel Delight and a mug cake. But there could only be one winner according to the jury and I ended up winning the night with my nuggets! 

Guess it was worth all the time and effort.