Monday 29 August 2011

A trip to Oxford

When I was in London I had arranged to meet up with some friends.

One of them, Melissa, lived in Oxford which was an hour and a half away on the bus. That didn't sound too long but by the time I dropped Holly off at the Guildhall, took a tube across London, walked the ten minutes to the bus station and stood in the queue to buy my ticket for 20 minutes, it was nearly 11am.

I enjoyed the bus journey as it was quiet until the bus driver made a stop, opened the door and in flew a wasp. Now for everyone who knows me, I HATE wasps and am totally terrified of them. As my seat was right behind the driver, I got a birds eye view of him driving and trying to swot the damn thing with his newspaper which was just getting the wasp more pissed off!

Cartoon by Dave Simmer of Blogography and is used in accordance with  his Creative Commons Licence

After dive bombing him numerous times, it took off across to the other side of the window and buzzed in a very pissed off way by the door. The next thing, the guy in the seat opposite me, hangs over the railing and just grabs the wasps in his fingers, crushes it and flings it away! MY HERO!

My face is a picture and I must have been looking at him admiringly cos the next thing, he caught my eye and smiled. I smiled back, wondering how he'd acquired that skill. The spell was broken when his phone rang and he started yabbering in Spanish at the top of his voice to the caller who must have been deaf!

I finally arrived in Oxford at 12.30. I'd to find the Starbucks there where Jo and Lawrence were meeting me to take me up to Melissa's house.

Jo and Lawrence in 2009
Now I met Melissa at a Unique support group conference held near Birmingham. We had to fly there whereas for Melissa it was an hour's journey in the car. How jealous was I? We hit it off straight away and we spent the first evening sharing a red wine or two in the hotel bar. The next night we set the dance floor alight (Melissa, Holly and I) til the early hours and having consumed more red wine we staggered up to bed.

Melissa and Joseph in 2009
This was the start of a beautiful friendship. She has been up to Scotland to visit, we've gone on holiday with the kids together and that's how I met her friend Jo and son Lawrence.

Arriving at Melissa's house there were lots of hugs and she had lunch all ready and waiting for us. Her little boy Joseph has grown so so much since I last saw him and he is walking better and speaking better and has made great improvements. Joseph showed me some pics and videos on the laptop and then Melissa showed me pics of her new house, which she moves into in September.

I was only there for two hours as I had to leave by 3pm to have any chance of getting back into London on time for collecting Holly from the Guildhall. It was the quickest 2 hours ever and I had a lovely time catching up with them all.  It was Jo's birthday the next day and I was reminded of our holiday 2 years ago when she celebrated it while on holiday with us and we chatted about the house we'd stayed in and the fun we had.

Before I knew it, it was time to go and I was sad to leave but for all the time it took to get there, it was totally worth it.

There is another conference coming up in April so I hope to see her then, if all goes to plan.

As I got on the bus to go back, it was the same driver and he said "that was a short visit" and I laughed and said "yeah, short but sweet".

11 comments:

  1. oooohhhhh - can't wait for the conference!!!! It'll be good to meet up again!
    Mind you, Sue Edwards often asks me just how far i'll travel for a cuppa and a chat!!

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  2. So good that guy killed the wasp- sounds like a great visit!

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  3. Glad the wasp was killed in the end! They can be very dangerous, especially at this time of the year. Your visit sounds great. Friendships like that are the best, aren't they?! Hope Jack is feeling a bit better again now :(

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  4. Even though it was short and there was a wasp involved, I know it was worth it in the end! And you even got to have a hero...if even for just a moment!

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  5. Sounds like a great trip - too short, but fun all the same. Having friends is the best. :)

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  6. What a shame it was such a short visit. Roll on the next conference :).

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  7. I'm glad you had such a wonderful visit. It is surely worth it to have those precious moments with a friend.

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  8. I am also afraid of wasps and if one gets into the car with me I will stop and won't go another inch until he is dead or out of the car. I haven't been stung in a very long time and want to keep it that way. Enjoyed your post today very much Lynne.
    Odie

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  9. Oh Lynne...I had to smile at your description of the'Hero'...isn't it awful yet funny how sometimes once a 'hero' opens his mouth he quickly has feet of clay. I'm so glad you got a fun visit in with a good friend...nothing like old times and old friends and new memories!

    Hugs~
    Susie
    PS Thanks for your sweet comment today!

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  10. WASP... scary!!!
    I am also glad that it was a fun visit in London. Hoping for your son doing better.
    Hugs from Japan, xoxo Orchid.

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  11. Julie - yeah me too, although it lands on Holly's 18th Birthday!
    Shelly - yes definitely otherwise the journey would have been spent in terror of the wasp
    Thisisme - me too! Friendships are what make my life worthwhile and Jack is behaving for the moment
    EmptyNester - I know, who'd have thought!
    SkippyMom - it was way too short
    Twilightgazing - I know, can't wait
    Belle - yes definitely
    Odie - me either, thankfully.
    Sush - I know, he totally popped my bubble
    Orchid - yes very scary! Jack is holding his own at the moment

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Laughter is the best medicine and it's free. Thanks for visiting my blog and I look forward to hearing from you.

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