We are sure we did more than just see Abouna at the Edinburgh Filmhouse but as Jan lost her diary we cannot be altogether sure.
Still couldn’t find the original diary. We had a fleeting visit to East London to pack Nigel’s 97 boxes in readiness for the great move northwards.
Also saw Daredevil at the now sadly closed Edinburgh Odeon.
We started a new diary…
We said goodbye to Shelley would shuffled off this mortal coil after 17 years.
Nigel’s parents hired a van to move all his rubbish (sorry, valuable possessions). We become landlords.
Ever keen to "improve ourselves" we attended the annual joint lecture between The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. "I, Cyborg" was delivered by Professor Kevin Warwick, Cybernetics Department at the University of Reading. We liked this a lot. And the RSE has the best Afternoon Tea in Edinburgh.
Emily had her first haircut by Sharon at Judi’s Hair Salon.
Went to see Sweet Sixteen at the Brunton Theatre. Recovered in the Hayweights pub.
Jan met up with her old schoolfriends Kay and Linda having been in touch via FriendsReunited. Had a pleasant lunch in Grand Cruz.
Nigel attended a screenwriting course run by Scottish Screen in Glasgow
Jan stopped smoking.
Went for lots of walks, sucked lots of chupa chup lollies and avoided smokers.
We joined the Friends of Brunton Theatre.
We went to the Open Day at the Nursery and Emily seemed to enjoy it. Rachel came to stay for a weekend and the Barkers and Laura and Julie mucked in making favours at Laura’s flat for her forthcoming wedding to Peter. Emily was kept amused by Laura’s "My Little Pony" collection. The grown-ups were kept amused by Andrew’s CD collection.
The following day we took advantage of the rare opportunity of having a car and driver at our disposal and had a pleasant day exploring the East Lothian countryside. We enjoyed looking around the grounds of Winton House, Pencaitland.
Bill and Brenda came to visit with Penny.
We went to the RSE’s public lecture "Genetics and Insurance: Can They Live Together?" given by Professor Angus MacDonald, Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics, Heriot-Watt University.
Went with the Friends of Brunton Theatre to Biggar Puppet Theatre.
Overjoyed to discover we are expecting a baby in February 2004.
June
Jan’s mum Edith and Alan came to visit
Julie hired a care to take us all to York for the final fitting of the bridesmaid’s dresses for Rachel and Peter’s wedding. Made sure a pouch was left in Jan’s!
Emily went with Fay and Allan to Prestonpans Gala Day.
Morning/afternoon/evening sickness seriously curtailed our social programme for the rest of the month.
July
To celebrate Emily’s 3rd birthday we took a train to South Queensferry and caught the Maid of the Forth ferry to Incholm Island.
Went to see Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle at Glasgow Odeon.
Rachel and Peter got married!
The latest mural was unveiled and a sneak preview was given of the Gothenberg Pub.
We saw a scan of our baby! We spent a pleasant 3 minutes listening to "Jazz on a Summers Day" in the open air Ross Theatre in Princes Street Gardens – Emily wasn’t so keen.
August
The long awaited "Cans in the ‘Pans" finally took place.
Rail disruption meant an overnight stay in Glasgow at the Travelinn and the following day we took an open top bus tour of the city.
We spent a pleasant Fringe Sunday with Julie.
After delicious food at Brazilian Sensation, we saw the Ladyboys of Bangkok perform at the Meadows. It was fun.
Nigel celebrated yet another birthday.
We went to North Berwick Arts Festival where Emily painted a tile and went on an enormous inflatable slide.
We spent a lovely long weekend in Inverness and went on a very amusing open top bus tour.
September
We were back at the RSE, this time to hear Professor Neil Hood, CBE, FRSE, Professor of Business Policy, University of Strathclyde, give his lecture "Goals, Greed and Governance". Security was tighter than usual as Secretary General of NATO, George Robertson, was signing the Roll having been elected an Honorary Fellow.
Emily started nursery but before she really got a chance to settle in, the Nursery Nurse’s strike over low pay meant the nursery was closed for a couple of days.
We went with Julie to the Seabird Centre at North Berwick.
We viewed the exhibition hosted by Prestonpans Heritage Association as part of Doors Open Day.
Emily was very brave when she got her booster jags.
Hooray! It was a holi-holi-day. We flew from Edinburgh to Gatwick then Gatwick to Nice to meet up with Brenda and Bill who had rented an apartment there in Avenue des Pins. The apartment itself was handily located in a residential area and very close to the superb Casino supermarket.
We have to sing the praises of British Airways who couldn’t have been more helpful in ensuring we made our flights. Our return flight from Nice to Gatwick was behind schedule and it really looked like we would miss our connecting flight to Edinburgh. However, we were met by a BA rep who held Emily’s hand and skipped with her all the way, through the red channel, security and finally to our gate where they had held the flight.
Rachel & Peter visited and we all went to the Dynamic Earth. The exhibition is well laid out and very hands on for the kids but the café is lamentable.
We had a very happy day at the Brunton Theatre watching the antics of the Happy Gang. We now know lots of new songs, all of which involve much hand-clapping and bottom wiggling. Emily particularly liked the "rude bits" (The Golden Potty of Pooey Botty for example).
At the end of the month we went to see "The Play What I Wrote" at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
We had a bonfire and watched the fireworks on the 5th.
We were back at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre - this time to hear Michael Moore.
Nigel attended the install days run by EDLUG
Had a busy Saturday which included meeting Santa at the Christmas Bazaar held at Prestonpans Infant School; going to Junglee Fun where they had a new bouncy castle, having lunch at the Brunton Theatre and feeding the ducks in Musselburgh.
On Sunday we had a lovely lunch with Sadie, David & Alex before going to a puppet show at the Marine Hotel.
Emily enjoyed seeing Jack & the Beanstalk at the local community centre and we really enjoyed American Cousins at the UGC Glasgow.
The start of the month saw us back at the RSE - this time to hear a debate on whether jurys should be used for complicated trials - interesting stuff.
Spent a pleasant day at Prestoungrange Industrial Museum where mulled wine was flowing in abundance while the kids were entertained by carols, craft sessions and story telling.
As Emily really enjoyed the story telling, she went to another storytelling event at the local library the very next day.