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Hello to you all. As always, I hope you are all well. I just wrote a lot of stuff when my computer decided to switch itself off at random, and I lost everything I wrote. Not sure if that's a good thing (because I was waffling) or a bad thing (because I could end up waffling even more). On my last update here, I'd visited my eldest son (Midi). That was the first weekend in April. We'd been worrying about him. He was much better when we saw him. He'd been overworking himself and not really taking care of himself, mostly with his mental health (which could be seen as ironic given that he's currently doing a Master's degree in adolescent mental health). He's still not calling anyone but he's been responding when we've messaged him. We've given him some advice about looking after himself to avoid burnout while still prioritising his work. He's got about 4 months left of his course, I think. What have I done since then? The second weekend of April - Well, my dad recently turned 76. I took him to play crazier golf. There's a place in the city that does various games. Mum wouldn't let me take Dad axe throwing so golf it was. They call it 'crazier' golf. I'd call it blinkin' insane golf. There was me, Dad, my husband (D), and youngest son (Mini). We had fun but some of the holes were impossible. It's an indoor 18-hole course. I don't know what the par would be for the holes but we got into double figures on a few. The venue has a bar so we all had a drink afterwards. I'd told Dad that I would take him for lunch. He wanted fish and chips but, apart from that being boring, we were right next to lots of other restaurants while the one chippy was further away. I asked Dad to choose a restaurant. Mini had decided he wasn't hungry so he left us before we went for lunch. Dad looked at the options and asked me what food they had in Wagamama (if you're unfamiliar with that, it is based on Japanese cuisine). I gave my dad an idea of what they did. He decided to go there. Dad was asking me what things were and what he might like. He likes most things. He chose a noodle-based dish, which he picked by way of pointing at a picture on the menu that looked nice. I can't remember what the dish was (I don't even remember what I had) but Dad enjoyed it. He was particularly pleased with himself because he decided to use chopsticks. He'd never used them before but he managed straight away (the waitress did show him a trick and tied the sticks together for him with a napkin). I was quite impressed with him as he didn't even make a mess! Taking my dad out is basically like taking an overgrown toddler out. He gets very excited about everything, and was telling all and sundry about his success with chopsticks. I'm going to have to find another adventure for him. I'm considering taking him abroad (he's never done that so I'd have to see if we could get him a passport first) but that probably wouldn't be for a couple of years so I'm not going to mention anything to him until I know for sure that we can do it! He still talks about our holiday to Eastbourne that we went on a year ago - we went for various reasons, including that it was near to some family, but took my dad as a treat for his 75th birthday last year. He keeps asking if he can get there by himself on the train! After the meal at Wagamama, my husband went home while Dad and I decided to hang around for a bit in our town. The weather was lovely so I wanted to be outside. There's a new little cafe in town so we had ice-cream from there and sat outside with it. Not the greatest of views as it's all roads and concrete, but it was nice sitting in the sun! The third weekend in April, my husband and I met up with my sister-in-law and her family. They had offered for us to go to theirs but it's a bit out of the way without a car, so I suggested meeting at a board game cafe. It's in the next town (which is where sister-in-law lives) but easy enough for us to get there. Husband and I hadn't been to this board game cafe before. It's quite small and somewhat noisy but otherwise good. We played a couple of games. There were seven of us so finding suitable games was a bit tricky! We played a 'Stranger Things' game, then we played Ticket to Ride (where some of us teamed up). It was nice seeing them (sis-in-law, bro-in-law, niece, nephew, and niece's other half). After games, I took my husband for something to eat at a Turkish restaurant. We'd been there before but only for a drink or snack, and they still seemed to be deciding what sort of cafe/restaurant they were going to be! They seem to have settled on Turkish. We tried some things we'd not tried before, and that was very enjoyable. The fourth weekend in April, I don't think we did anything! The fifth weekend in April (that's this one. I'm writing this on Sunday 30th April) - that's been fun. I might have mentioned before that I have a new job. My last day at my old job was Friday. I came into the office to find a desk full of balloons and other decorations. My colleagues gave me a card, a cup of tea bags, and some money (because, apparently, I'm difficult to buy for so they couldn't decide what to get me and just gave me the money! I have a plan for that money). I only worked half a day then had the afternoon off. I didn't do a lot in the afternoon. On Friday evening, I went out with my big sister. She'd got me a ticket to a concert at a live music venue in the next town. They do have some good stuff on there. I don't know if any of you will know/remember an 80s band called China Crisis. Well, that's the one we went to see, although we ended up preferring the supporting act (they were called Headsticks). I had a few drinks and did some dancing. We were out quite late. I think it was some time between 12:30 and 1am when I got home. I was very tired! The next day (which was yesterday, which was Saturday), I woke up at 6:30am and couldn't get back to sleep! I was then really sleepy later on and for much of the day. I had my hair cut in the afternoon. I had a restyle (my hair grows very quickly and I hardly ever get it cut). It's much shorter now, and much more manageable! Later on Saturday, I was out again. This time for my leaving do with some colleagues from the job I've just left. We had a lovely meal at a Chinese restaurant then went to a pub for some karaoke. I sang three songs. Well, I say 'sang', I was even worse than my usual bad karaoke! Nobody ran away, though, so that was good! I sang Alone by Heart, Rivers of Babylon by Boney M, and Lily the Pink by The Scaffold. We decided to leave after that because I would have only got more ridiculous! We moved on to a place I'm not sure I'd been before. We had a cocktail in there. I didn't like the music (the music they played at karaoke in between the karaoke-ing was more to my taste). I did like the cocktail I had in the last place, though. It was a blue cocktail. Considering I'd been falling asleep on the bus on the way out, I did well. I was actually starting to wake up! I needed to get the last bus home so the guys walked me to the bus stop. Some of them went on to another place (where I'd had a drink with a couple of them before the meal). It was a good night, and I will miss those colleagues. I'm sure I'll keep in touch with them. Anyway, that was my month. Coming up in May, I start my new job on Tuesday. As I told my now former colleagues, I will miss them but I won't miss having to get up so early. I'll still mainly be working from home but my work day starts 30 minutes later. If I do need to go into the office, it's within walking distance (I had to pass it to get to the bus stop to get to my old office). I'm also going to Wales Comic Con in Telford (which isn't in Wales. The Con is called Telford Takeover - it was because the event got too big for any venue in Wales so they moved it over the border. We're planning on getting there by train so fingers crossed we can get there and won't be affected by train strikes! This is where I plan to spend the cash gift I was given, possibly on a selfie with Brian Blessed (I'm not sure how well-known he is elsewhere but I'd be surprised to find a British person who doesn't know this national treasure). We haven't booked any photos or anything, just going to turn up and see if we can get a pay on the day selfie (we did this last year with Nicola Bryant - she's had bit parts in a couple of things but mainly known as a Doctor Who companion). I'm going with my husband and youngest son (Mini). Mini is quite excited to see Brian Blessed, and would like to see David Bradley (he's done a lot of things but probably most famous for Harry Potter and Doctor Who). Other guests include Chris Barrie, Michael Rosenbaum, Bonnie Wright, James and Olive Phelps, Jared Padalecki, Freema Agyeman, Sean Astin, a few people from the original 'Charmed', and some more people I've forgotten. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I am quite excited about Comic Con! Later in May, I'm taking my husband away for his birthday. We're just going to Weston-super-Mare for two nights. We'll travel down the day before his birthday, spend his birthday there, and travel back the day after. I've not made any particular plans other than booking our stay (which is a bed and breakfast. The place we usually stay wasn't available, but this b&b looks good and is in the same area). I might book us in for dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant but I'll decide that nearer the time. That's all the plans for May. I've also just booked a spa day for my big sister's birthday, which is the beginning of June. It's also Mini's 18th birthday in June, and I'm looking forward to seeing his favourite comedian with him (that'd be Russell Howard). My favourite comedian is Mini . I'm sure I'll come back to tell you about everything. I do like doing things and having plans! How have you all been? Have you been to a Comic Con? Met any famous people? Have you done anything exciting or got any plans coming up?