What a Month.

Claire chilling at the beach restaurant.

Had a mad May, we were told that our factory will close with the loss of 74 jobs just before I went off on holiday to Tenerife with the family. I applied for another job straight away with Mortgage payments etc in mind. I got an interview that lasted 35 minutes, leaving me with the impression that they were not impressed by me. Then my phone rang the following day inviting me back for another interview the day before we left for Tenerife.

This time I was given a Plant tour as well as another interview with the HR Manager and a Technical Manager. I felt better after this interview but I was under no illusions as they had told me there were 5 other candidates, some with Degrees. As my skills have been gained from experience of Managing people in different Manufacturing environments and not going to University for 4 years I feared the worst.

We were sitting at a bar in Tenerife in the afternoon at 5pm on the Thursday, 3 days after my interview and my mobile phone rang. I was offered the job with a fantastic package, I could not believe it. After all the worry about paying the bills I had been offered a job 2 weeks after the announcement. I felt very lucky. Needless to say we celebrated with a nice meal and wine that night.

Think I am going to miss my redundancy by days but I feel fortunate to have a fantastic job to look forward to.

The view from the restaurant.














I'm not one for football tops on little girls but I made an exception on this holiday. Rangers were going for the League and Scottish Cup, both games were televised when we were in Tenerife. I bought this Rangers top for 15 Euros and put it on Mia. I then sent a picture message to her uncle Patrick who is a Celtic supporter. Unfortunately he had the last laugh when they pipped us for the League.

A random pic taken on my way to the Quayside in Newcastle for a few beers on a nice Summer evening.

Mia and her Godmother, my Sister Louise, at the Christening party.

The last few Months.

Me outside Glenskirlie Castle, I did not bring my own drink, the bride left it in the car. It was in fact a free bar which we made good use of.

Mia playing Peek a boo at Wickes.

Mia 20 Months.

At Lorna and John`s wedding at Glenskirlie Castle, Scotland April 08.

Family reunion Seaford Jan 08.

This is a bit of a random entry with various photos from the last few Months. Since my last entry a lot has happened, I had a Birthday, we arranged Mia`s Christening for the 11th May, Claire and I had a trip to London and I came out of 11 a side football retirement for 3 games.

Off to Tenerife again in two weeks and hopefully I`ll get down to Manchester to see Rangers in the UEFA cup final. Nearly bought a ticket for £720 but then saw sense. Still plan to go down to savour the party atmosphere ticket or no ticket.

Tenerife January 2008.

Claire keeping Mia amused while we wait on our Dinner at Little Italy.

Mia went missing when I was making lunch. I found her sitting in the bidet.

Looking down to the pool from our balcony. There is a bar overlooking the pool and several under the pool. The Wigan Arms was our favourite.

The beach at Los Christianos on our last day.

The view from our balcony on one of the two cloudy days.

On the way to Masca high in the Mountains of Tenerife. This village has only been accessable to tourists for 5 or 6 years.

Had a fantastic week in Tenerife in early January with Claire, Kath and Mia. My mate Neil was there too with his wife Sandra and two kids. We had really nice weather and the apartment was brilliant. We had 3 balconies and lots of facilities on site.

Met Neil on the Saturday to watch the football and the bar had 5 screens showing 5 different games, it was heaven.

We also met up for a few meals together but did not want to live in each others pocket, Neil and his family were staying at a different complex.

Now booking up again for May and next January.

Majorca

Stopped the car on the way up to Port Soller and captured this scene on my Nokia N95. The road was spectacular with high drops but had amazing scenery. It took us 2.5 hours to get there but 30 minutes to come back on the toll road through the tunnels. I couldn`t handle the stress of all those hairpins on the way back, so I took the easy option.

Mia at Tynemouth Longsands.

Port Soller, they have an old wooden train that runs regularly. We spent a day here and would like to go back for a weeks holiday next year, it`s a beautiful place.

The view from above our apartment in Andratx in Majorca. We were at the mouth of the harbour.

Dayshift.

I am on days at work for up to a year and I don`t know how people get things done such as getting a haircut or getting the car fixed.

We are booked up for Tenerife on the 8th of January to help us get over the after Xmas blues. I am off to Oulu in Finland this Month and it`s minus 12 there at the moment.

The extension is almost completely finished, the balcony railings go up today. I`ve managed to find a glass balcony fitting at B&Q and it cost a fortune. I wanted it desperately so I picked up the glass, (acrylic), panels, the posts, the post covers, the clamps, wooden railings etc etc. As I was heading to the till I decided to count it up on my phone calculator, it came to over £900, I had budgeted for £300. I then remembered that pensioners get 10% discount on a Wednesday. The one pensioner I know with a card for B&Q is Claire`s Dad, I felt really bad wheeling him in on his wheelchair to get discount. It must be the Scotsman in me.

Las Vegas

Walking back to the Strip from the fight. This Picture captures most of the hotels on the Strip and a jet coming in to land. A Pyramid in a modern city.....only in Vegas!

At the fight, the atmosphere was brilliant. You can see Ricky looking focussed in the right hand corner of the ring. Wayne Rooney and Coleen are ringside to the right of Ricky.

Claire at the pool. The Cabanas in the background were 300 dollars a day to hire and had fully stocked fridges.

The view we woke up to every morning. The Mirage and Treasure Island were directly opposite.

A very surreal moment. Watching our wedding on the internet from the comfort of our bed.

We had our wedding meal in SW restaurant. It`s very difficult to get a reservation and one of the reasons is the fantastic show in the lake that appears every 30 minutes.

Just after we were married we had to go to the room to get Claires ID to allow us to buy champagne. She is 33 but got asked for ID everywhere.

My beautiful wife.

After the wedding we got photos taken in the courtyard in 40C heat.

The Wynn Hotel.

Getting the marriage License in downtown Vegas. Britney Spears got her license here for her sham marriage. It used to be open 24 hours but since Britney they have cut the hours to prevent drunk people marrying on a whim.

We sat at the Blackjack machine for two hours and left even. The bonus was the free drink we acquired while gambling.

Claire and I in our big room.

Just back from Las Vegas where Claire and I got married. We were married in the Wynn Hotel and we stayed there too. It was the most beautiful hotel I have ever been in and was a real hot spot for famous people. Joe Cole and Vinnie Jones were often at our pool and I heard that Wayne Rooney and Coleen were staying there too.

The wedding was beamed live over the internet at 11pm UK time and it made us feel as if the families were with us. My oldest daughter Sarah asked me to gve her a thumbs up to the camera and I duly obliged.

When the door of the wedding salon opened my jaw nearly hit the deck when I saw Claire, she was absolutely stunning.

To see the wedding go to webcasting.cashmanpro.com/wynn/ it will be on the site for 30 days.
One other highlight was attending the Ricky Hatton/Castillo fight, the atmosphere was electric and Ricky was superb. We had a pub crawl from the Wynn to the Thomas Mac centre taking in the Venetian, Flamingo and MGM along the way, it was no ordinary pub crawl.

After the fight we did what Ricky did, demolished a Mexican, Fajhitas to be exact.

Got a real wake up call yesterday too when the arrivals gate that we stood at two days earlier at Glasgow Airport was attacked by 2 guys with a car bomb.

I`m Back.

The cove where I went snorkelling.

Claire and Mia in "our" little cove.

The view from our apartment above Albufeira Old Town.

Had problems accessing my blogs recently so I have a lot to tell.

I have been to Albufeira Old Town with Claire and Mia for 4 nights. Booked into the Cerro Mar again and asked for the complex with the indoor pool so I could take Mia swimming. I got to the reception after driving from Faro Airport to be told I was in another part of the complex. I was initially a little disappointed but when we saw our room we were over the moon.
The furniture and fittings were all new and the apartment was very spacious. We were on the 5th floor and the balcony ran the whole length of the place and had an amazing view of the Atlantic. I`ll post photos at a later date.
Mia was in her element as there was plenty of space to crawl around. We were even more paternally protective this holiday as the little girl Maddie McCann had just been snatched a few miles along the coast. My heart goes out to her parents and I pray they find her safe and well.
After a couple of days in the apartment I looked up and saw a hatch. Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the hatch down to reveal ladders on top of the hatch. I climbed the ladders and felt my way around in the dark in what I thought was an attic.
It was in fact another apartment with an ensuite and a roof terrace. We could have brought the whole family, and all for £120.
We went to a little cove we discovered a few years ago and I went snorkelling. We were the only people there all day.
We ate out in the Old town square and the food was delicious. I`ll never get sick of Portugal.
2 weeks after we returned I went to Puerto Banus near Marbella with 3 mates, Neil, Rich and John. I was driving the hire car when we arrived at Malaga so I drunk coffee on the plane while the lads had wine. They were well oiled by the time we picked the car up and were giving me some stick when we got lost in Puerto Banus. I stopped the car at a nice little bar and had a couple of drinks while asking directions. The apartment was just around the corner.
I pulled into the underground car park and it was very tight for turning. I had to do 3 point turns on the most basic corners. As I pulled in to park I scraped the car along the concrete pillar. The car had only 50 miles on the clock.
Got to the apartment and I claimed my room underneath the main living area. I had my own Bathroom and balcony leading to a garden.
We got very drunk on the first night and I went home early thinking Neil was already back at the digs. It was 4am.
I ended up locked out and tried phoning the lads but no one was answering. I jumped in a cab and went back to the town centre. As I got there I realised I had lost my phone. It`s a Nokia N95 and is worth a few bob. First the car and now this....DOH!
Went back to the digs again and slept on a sunbed until I met Neil coming in. I reached into his chest pocket and pulled out the key. He was oblivious and didn`t even remember asking for the key.
I decided to put all my troubles behind me and I was expecting another friend to arrive that day. The only thing is he would not be able to contact me as I had no phone. Luckily I had sent him the address of the apartment the day before.
We spent the day at Plaza beach and saw models and footballers. It`s a really cool beach with good food and nice music. Our bar bill came to 180 Euros that day.
My friend Brian had arrived that day but we were not aware that he had been sitting outside our digs in a restaurant all day waiting for us. He had 3 meals.
He eventually booked into a hotel and we didn`t bump into him until 5am. There`s lots more to tell but I`ll save it for another time. I`ll also post some phots in the next few days.