Well much has happened in a short time.....

The first and biggest bit of news I have is that I have finished my job at Hampshire County Council in Winchester - my last day was Friday.  I start a new job at TSOL (Treasury Solicitors - kind of like the Crown over here.....) tomorrow (Tuesday).  Things have been all over the show for me at the moment so I must apologise for not being able to tell each of you individually (it certainly would have been my preference to do that).  In fact, I have only had a chance to tell immedaite family and one or two other people.  Anyway, I will be part of the employment law team at TSOL which will no doubt bring a whole lot of challenges but I look forward to that (at the moment anyway, will let you know if I feel the same on that point in a week or two!).

It was very sad leaving Hamshire County Council.  In the short time I was there I built some strong bonds with the HR and employment law teams.  That was abundantly clear when it came to my last few days.  One by one the staff came to me and tried to persuade me to stay, my boss began putting offers on the table (which I declined having already accepted another role) and many of the staff told me I had been like a breath of fresh air in the place.  Of course, I kept telling them to 'stop, stop' with the compliments (yeah right!!).  Then the employment law team had a curry night as a bit of a farewell do on my second to last day there.  On my last day there was a bit of a function with the employment law team and the HR team for me and another girl who was also leaving that day.  For me it was a two hour lunch(!!) at a local pub/bar which was great.  The people I work with had also done a collection and bought me a gift, which was unexpected especially as I had only been there for 3 months.  The gift was amazing.  So much thought had gone into it....They gave me:

- a book called 'the bluffers guide to law' - they assured me this was no reflection on the legal advice I had been giving

- a key ring from Winchester Castle (a local attraction)

- a glass the size of a bucket!!  It looks as though i may get a whole bottle of wine in there (I am yet to test that theory but I will let you know)

- a bottle of wine....they had clearly been paying attention cos it was Pino Grigio which is my drink of choice at the moment....not sure how I keep managing to get a reputation for being someone who drinks??

 - box of chocolates

AND (as if that wasn't already enough!)

- lonely planet for Edinburgh.  This is my absolute favourite.  Once again they have been listening very closely to know this is where I am going for my 30th and that I don't know much about the place yet.

- and a card filled with all sorts of great messages.

They also told me to ring them if I decide I want to go back to work there!  So I have to say although I am looking forward to starting at TSOL and no longer having to get up at 5:30am (or close to then....it did get a little later as time went on), it is with mixed emotion that I leave the team at Hampshire County Council.

The other bit of news is that Jules and I went to Cardiff, Wales, on the weekend of 11-13 August.  That was fantastic.  I loved Cardiff! Thought the people were great (very friendly and helpful), the air was fresh (unlike London), our accommodation was cheap and very central (few minute walk from bars/clubs/shops and straight across the river from Millenium Stadium) and the town was just buzzing as we were there for the Liverpool/Chelsea football game which opened the football season here.  The game was played at milennium stadium, but the build up started long before the day of the game with the streets being lined with singing fans wearing their teams colours.  At the game, we were sitting only a few rows behind the chelsea players although we were in the liverpool supporters area.  Yup, for those of you who don't know, they have to split the fans up so all supporters for Chelsea were sitting together and all supporters for Liverpool were together AND there were empty rows of seats and security guards/police in between.  The reasoning behind this became clear when a Liverpool supporter (who was drunk) thought it would be a good idea to try and start a fist fight with a Chelsea player who had just been subbed off the field.  That was in spite of the fact that by the time he got down to where the Chelsea player was there were three big burly security guards between him and the player with police on the way.  Nonetheless, he charged on and he was eventually wrestled to the ground before being 'escorted' out.  each time the Livepool side scored, they fans would turn to the Chelsea fans and chant things like 'who are ya, who are ya' or 'you're not singing now'.  It really was quite an experience, but a fabulous one in any event.  I didn't really rate soccer (sorry, football) games until then.  Would definitely go back to a live game!!  Would also go back to Cardiff!

Anyway, thats the main stuff for now. 

Take Care,

A

xx