2011: In Pictures
31 December 2011: Quiet Night
After a few nights out in a row I'm quite happy to spend New Years Eve quietly at home with a takeaway and a selection of DVDs to
work through. Hopefully this is a suitably dull photo to round off 2 years of my life. See you in 2012!
30 December 2011: Casino
So on the way home from the quiz, we bumped into Steve (on the left) on his way into Aspers and it would've been rude not to join
him and his friend. I'm pleased to report the number 32 was lucky for Steve tonight - of course I played some part in that choice...
29 December 2011: Quiz
The winning quiz team! Ali, Dad, Claire (too ashamed to be seen with us) Michael and me. We finished in 1st place, winning £35
between us. Not a bad effort!
28 December 2011: Biography
My first "Christmas money" purchase - a book on the history of Newcastle upon Tyne. I love local history and maps so I'm really
looking forward to reading it.
27 December 2011: Presents
Some of my Christmas presents: a scarf from Mam and a dressing gown from Auntie Sue. They should keep me nice and warm
which means I can turn the heating down!
26 December 2011: Winnings
A Boxing Day trip to The Station and a win on the quiz machine. It was almost £10 but we weren't quite clever enough.
25 December 2011: Christmas Day
Ali and Stu hosted this year so we all shoehorned ourselves into their living room. From bottom left: Michael, Auntie Sue (with
ring shaped tin around her arm for some unknown reason), Gran, Nasser, Stu, Ali, Mam and Chris.
24 December 2011: Christmas Eve
This year we have our traditional Christmas Eve drinks in town. Unfortunately most places close early so Michael, myself, James
and Nicole end up in the Rose & Crown watching some amazing karaoke.
23 December 2011: Finished
Last day at work before Christmas and all of my work is finished. Great, right? WRONG! Check the time stamp. We were in until
5pm. It was an extremely long day!
22 December 2011: Decoration
The decoration I brought back from Vegas for our work Christmas tree.
21 December 2011: The Lounge
An Englishman, a Canadian, a German and a Scotsman walked into a bar..
Drinks in The Lounge after watching Newcastle lose to West Brom.
20 December 2011: Tower of Treats
Remember the amazing truffles from 23 December last year? (Go
on, have a look!) Here is this year's gift from the same company - a 'Tower of Treats' including biscuits, sweets and praline.
The wine was another Christmas gift received through work.
19 December 2011: Colonel Mustard
I find Cluedo highly amusing so this Colonel Mustard mug caught my eye in John Lewis as I finished off my Christmas shopping.
18 December 2011: Broken Down
After the bus taking AGES to get us to our work Christmas party at Lumley Castle, Jen and I were pleased when the return journey
went very smoothly. Unfortunately the bus then broke down in the middle of the Central Motorway and we had to wait half an hour for a
replacement with the police refusing to let us off the bus due to traffic. Just what you want when you're tired, cold and about 2 minutes
from your destination. This was the view out of the bus window during the wait.
17 December 2011: Newcastle 0-0 Swansea
Having been picked as Member of the Match I get to sit in the Directors Box and get my name on the LED screens at half time.
16 December 2011: Church
St Andrew's Church in Roker, where we attended a lovely service for Helen's funeral.
15 December 2011: Masterchef Final
The final of Masterchef: The Professionals, featuring the lovely Michel Roux Jr. I watched with a mug of hot chocolate as Ash beat
Claire and Steve in a brilliant final where any one of them would have been a worthy winner.
14 December 2011: Wrapping
Three simple things: sticky tape, scissors and wrapping paper. Yet somehow they're guaranteed to increase my blood pressure
and rage to dangerous levels. Good thing I haven't got much left to wrap.
13 December 2011: Hot Chocolate
Some sachets that I've had at work for a while and decided to bring home in case I fancied one over the festive period. If only the
kettle wasn't broken.
12 December 2011: Keyboard
Another exciting day at work typing away on a fairly dirty keyboard.
11 December 2011: Waterline
Michael in the Waterline Bar. This is part of our everlasting quest to visit different pubs and bars in Newcastle.
10 December 2011: Shots
A visit to Ali & Stu's and a round of Apple Sourz.
9 December 2011: Client Account
Boring Friday: this is the pad used for client account cheque/TT requests.
8 December 2011: Angel Hair
In previous years Heather and Marie have sat at the top of our Christmas tree at work. This year Nicola gets to show off an
incredible Kevin Keegan-esque hairstyle from her younger days. All that's missing is the shellsuit.
7 December 2011: Blood Test
I had to go for some blood tests and managed to snap a sneaky photo of the empty bottles when the nurse slipped out the room for
a minute. I was a little concerned about how it would come across if I asked to take a photo of vials of my own blood.
6 December 2011: Presents
Some brightly coloured present-shaped decorations in the gym.
5 December 2011: Christmas Card
Our first Christmas card, from Rachel.
4 December 2011: Toast
A toast to Chris' daughter Helen, who has tragically passed away.
3 December 2011: Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea
Dejected fans leave the Gallowgate End after a defeat.
2 December 2011: I Can Day
For once not something I'm going to eat, but rather a charitable donation. We had 'I Can Day' at work where everyone brought in
tins of food to donate to homeless people.
1 December 2011: David
David Patterson, who died a year ago today. Graham and Stu arranged a pub crawl around his favourite places to celebrate his
life.
