6^th November 2002

I guess the big news is that I am now an engaged man.  Erin has done me the honour of saying officially that one day she wants to be my wife.  It is kind of scary in one way but it just feels right.

What doesn’t feel right is being back at work.  It really feels alien.  I’ve come back from a break from work in the past and it hasn’t been easy, but this just seems completely wrong.  I guess this is because the holiday was my focus for so long.  For ages I had planned little trips to take Erin on whilst she was here.  Most of them didn’t happen due to the weather or lack of energy.

Then whilst Erin was here she was my life.  On the second day she was in the country we were apart for about an hour, otherwise we were together all the time.  To see her go, to feel her leave me at the end of the holiday was akin to losing part of me.  For ages I was checking my pockets as I had the same feeling you have when you are sure you have forgotten to pick up something.

It has taken me three days to get to the point where I am on the verge of resigning from work.  The plan at the moment is to wait until the end of the year, collect a little more money and then jump the ship.  Whether I will be able to weather the storm that long is debatable.  I only have 35 and a half working days left this year, those not including Christmas and two holiday dates owed.  It doesn’t sound very much until I remember how much of a struggle a single day seems at the moment.

Anyway aside from work troubles I have happy memories and a heap of photographs to remind me of the blissful time I spent with Erin.  In a nutshell until I get the photos online, here are some of the things we did:

• Saw the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, Docklands, St Katherines Dock, Tower Bridge the Monument and St Pauls
• Went to Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street and Hamleys
• Fed the ducks in the park and saw Mama Mia (I am still singing the songs!)
• Went to Colchester, met with friends
• Went to the Science Museum, Westminster and past the Royal Albert Hall
• Went to Foon and Tickles party.
• Went to the bodyworlds exhibition
• Erin had her first curry
• Shopped for a ring
• Went on the London Eye and walked round a wet London
• Shopped for Chocolate
• Went to Colonel Jaspers

And a whole bunch of other things I’m sure.

I’ve officially been engaged since 31^st October 2002, Halloween night.  A day that now really has meaning for me.  This is good as fireworks night was pretty dull for me last night.  I saw lots of fireworks from the hill at Elm Park, thought that’s nice, but I’m cold and I just want to go home and sit down.

Three and a half hours until I can go home now, well nearer three, it has taken me that long to get back to this entry.  I think I am going to upload this and then head down to Sainsburys and get wet and find something to do.