On a happier note....
After the traumatic events mentioned below, one slightly important bit of news got overshadowed. Yes, the old ginger spinster is finally getting married. September 1 is the date, although this will be confirmed on Friday when we give our notice of marriage to the Registrar. There wasn't any dramatic proposals of marriage or anything - we just decided to do it. We'd just booked our holiday in Ireland for September and decided we could use that as our honeymoon How romantic, not. It's going to be a really small do - just family. The wedding itself will only take about 15-20 minutes. Then we'll go for a lunch with the relatives and a few friends. Then probably back to our house for more beers and whiskey. Cheap as chips. My mum rang me yesterday to say they'll pay for the reception, so that's a huge weight off our minds. As they're paying we've decided to cancel the cheese and pineapple on sticks and go for both sausage rolls and pizza wedges. ;D It hasn't really sunk in that I'm going to be Mrs Bateman in 8 months' time. I guess I'd better start practising that signature!