32 years and 1 day old...

So I'm getting back into the swing of things here in New York. Feeling much more like my old self after two weeks of family inspired rehabilitation! I still wish I was in France where my main concerns were whether there would be any pain-au-chocolat left by the time I dragged myself out of bed, how much after-sun lotion was left, and how much red wine was left... Now that is heaven for me - I now know what I would do if I win the lottery!!

So I quickly returned to the old routine... we lost badly at football on Tuesday night and to rub salt in the wound I managed to get a nasty carpet burn on my knee from the astroturf - some carpet burns are worth the pain... This one most definitely wasn't!

Yesterday, being my birthday, I had my cleaner come over in the morning to make the apartment all nice. Whilst she is here I move my laptop outside onto the terrace and work outside for a few hours - which is great. As it was my birthday I decided that instead of work I would watch episodes of Entourage (HBO show - very funny) until Arsenal's game started. After the game I went out for dinner with Gil, Rosa (Gil's girlfriend), and Maria & Tania (lesbian couple who are hilarious). We had dinner at Delicatessen on Prince Street in SoHo and then drinks at a nearby bar. Not sure what exactly was happening at the bar but it looked like there was a private event going on there - lots of people with name badges and a special DJ... In hindsight we may have crashed... Anyway, every 20 minutes they had the DJ run a competition for prizes in what must have been an effort to get people talking to each other - the first competition was for the first male and female who had birthdays in August. Tania and I both did so we immediately went up and got our prize (free drinks tokens), even though everyone seemed a bit put out that we obviously weren't a part of the private event! 20 minutes later the DJ did the next competition - first male and female whose first names began with the same letter... Tim and Tania again won! Even more unhappiness from the official party-goers... By this point the free drinks tokens and the hilariousness of the whole situation was causing us all too giggle a lot. Another 20 minutes goes by before the DJ shouts out - first male and female with the same first letter of their surname... Tania Branez and I were told to sod off when we arrived to collect our next prize and the DJ announced over the PA system that the competition was a huge failure and they were stopping it with immediate effect!

Today, I took it very easy and caught up with work and played my guitar - I can now play an awesome Eye of the Tiger and a decent 7 Nation Army! The weather is beginning to get stormy as hurricane irene heads straight for us... Tomorrow I may be meeting up with Gil again for dinner, and this Sunday I am going to the New York Arsenal supporters pub (the Blind Pig - sounds like some of my dates from university...) with a couple of English friends to see the Arsenal vs Man Utd game.

I will blog what happens next.

Love you all and miss you so much. Especially after seeing that video of Harper - best thing I have ever seen!