Thursday 27th November

Amanda's birthday. Woke up before the alarm and got up at 7 and had shower. Breakfast done and dusted by 8.30. Updated blog before washing up and taking suki for a walk. Feeling better and more energetic.  Did ironing while watching Inspector Lynley episode. Emma picked Suki up at 2 and we went out at 2.45 to King's College Hospital for Spinal Research event.  Very interesting as usual - especially the spanish guy we talked to last time.  All the scientists seem so young!  But they are all very enthusiastic.  The lab tour was very similar to last time, with the usual footage of rats walking over ladders - although this time a petri dish was circulated containing rat brain with spinal cord attached (ugh!). Then had a presentation by top bods Mark Bacon and Lawrence Moon. I had an interesting chat with Robert Sheldon, another wheelchair user, who had an accident 12 years ago.  He was intrigued by the fact that Mike could descend a flight of stairs.  He seemed just as zany though and had been on Back Up holidays and insisted on skiing and going up an escalator (he was hanging on for dear life out of the chair and threw himself on to the floor at the top!).  Left just after 6 - Mike went off to choir practice by train and I went to Green Park and walked to Hyde Park to meet the family at Winter Wonderland.  It was chock full of people and my idea of hell, but after several texts and phone calls with Lorraine I finally managed to meet up with them.  By then they were getting a bit weary, and Santa had gone home!, so we finished off Ollie's tokens on a couple of rides and went off to Oxford Street where we dived into Pizza Hut to eat.  We managed to get a table for 7 straight away, and notwithstanding the mix up over the starter, and the fact that the main course came before we had finished the starters (and at the same time as Amanda's starter arrived) we still enjoyed it and had plenty of pizza to take home (and we did want a speedy meal because children were tired so from that point of view it worked well).  I think the staff had been to the Butlin's school of restaurant service.  As we came out of the building a 94 bus pulled up at the bus stop so I was bundled on to it and then found everyone watching me as 6 people on the pavement were waving and calling "goodbye"!  Bus was very efficient and I got off at Abinger Road intending to wait the 5 mins for the 272, but there were two iffy looking youths at the bus stop so I walked home and beat the bus anyway.  Suki was nicely tired when I got in - and had not eaten her dinner as Emma had cooked her some mince.  I went straight to bed with a hot drink and a Grand Marnier and was soon asleep.  I didn't hear Mike come in at all.

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