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Well, I’ve actually been back from my holiday in Ibiza since last Saturday, it’s just that I really haven’t felt like updating my site until today.

So, I had a great time on holiday. The weather was boiling hot, sometimes too hot, especially at mid-day, so I actually preferred the evenings, as they were cooler. The Sunday night (the second night of the holiday) was my sister Suzanne’s 30th birthday, so we decided to go to a couple of nightclubs – the first one was a beach bar called Bora Bora, and people actually dance on the beach, which was a novelty for me, as there’s nothing like that where I live. Then we moved on to Space, which is one of the main nightclubs in our resort of Playa D’en Bossa. We had a really good time.

Towards the beginning of the week, we spent quite a bit of time at the beach, or sitting on sunbeds round the pool. During the hottest hours, we would sit in the shade under a tree or canopy.

Towards the end of the week, we went on several daytrips throughout the island. One of the best days was when we went to Aguamar, a big waterpark. I’ve never been very good at swimming, but I think I did improve whilst I was there. I went on several of the big slides, and I liked them, but one was really scary for me. I decided that I liked the look of it, so I went on it with my sister Suzanne and niece Anya. It started off fine, but by the time I was about two-thirds of the way down the slide, the force of the water spun my body round. I was really scared, but I knew that I was approaching the bottom of the slide very quickly, and that I probably wouldn’t be able to turn myself round in time, so I just had to grin and bear it. By the time I reached the bottom, I landed in the pool head-first, and went right under the water. That particular part of the pool was much deeper than I had expected (although I now realise it has to be like that, because otherwise people might bang their heads against the bottom), and it took me a few seconds before I could find my feet and re-emerge from the water. I never went on that particular slide again. I then watched other people go down the slide, and the same thing happened to most of them – it’s probably supposed to happen. Only a small minority of people managed to land in the water feet-first. If I had known, I doubt I would have gone on it. I know it’s perfectly safe, but I still hated the experience. But apart from that one incident, the day was good fun.

On our last full day, we went on an organised trip to another island called Formentera. It is much smaller and quieter than Ibiza, and it has crystal clear sea. In the afternoon, the coach dropped us off at a local restaurant/cafe, which was on one of the highest (and narrowest) points of the island, and you could actually see the coastline on both sides of Formentera at the same time, which was very fascinating. The coach drove us to several of the local towns, and then later on in the afternoon, we were given some free time to spend on the beach.

One of my favourite memories of the holiday is sitting in a beach bar/restaurant called Pago Pago, eating my evening meal of chicken and chips, drinking a chocolate milkshake, listening to the music, watching the sun set on the sea, and looking out at the palm trees (all at the same time!) It is one of those bars with no walls, so that’s how we could see such spectacular scenery. We went there twice during the holiday – once on our first night, then again on our penultimate night.

Overall the week passed very quickly, but I had a really good time. However, it seems that I have taken the hot weather home with me – for the last week or so, it has been boiling hot here in England too! But at least I am more used to it now.

It’s only 3 days until my holiday in Ibiza, with my sisters and nieces! I’m so excited. We fly out on Saturday evening, and we’re staying in the resort of Playa D’en Bossa.

In the middle of last week I had food poisoning! On Tuesday evening the family went to a party to celebrate Terry’s grand-daughter Darcy’s first birthday. It was held round their house, and there were about 20 to 25 people altogether. There was a buffet and birthday cake. By the following evening, almost everyone (except for 3 people) had fallen ill. I was sitting at my computer at about 9.30pm, when I suddenly started feeling nauseous, so I logged off straight away and decided to have a drink and get ready for bed. A few minutes later, Terry was severely sick. I’d never heard anything like it in my life. I felt really scared then, because I just knew it would probably happen to me as well. I layed in bed for about half an hour, when I was sick too (although luckily it wasn’t as severe as Terry’s). I was sick all through the night, and had to take the following day off work.

I originally assumed it was caused by the Chinese curry we had on Wednesday evening – both Terry and I had a chicken foo yung (it’s like an omelette with chicken in it). But then when we heard that most of the guests from Tuesday’s party were ill, we knew it must have been caused by the party. Funnily enough, my Mum was one of the 3 people who escaped the illness! We never managed to work out what I had eaten which she hadn’t. The other 2 healthy guests were ones who didn’t each much of the food. I think the poisoning could have been caused by the buffet food being left uncovered on the table for a long time, at room temperature (the weather has been very hot recently). To make it worse, the doors and windows were open, so insects could have easily entered. Anyway, it must have been really embarrassing for the organisers of the party (Terry’s son and daughter-in-law).

Fortunately, the illness soon passed, and by Friday morning, I was feeling perfectly well, and felt fit enough to go back to work. I did think it was a shame though, as I already had to take a couple of days off work at the beginning of the month due to a severe cold, so it was embarrassing to fall ill again just 3 weeks later.

I spent most of Sunday round my friend Naomi’s house. The main reason I went round was to give her her birthday present. We had a meal, and then watched Dr Dolittle 3 on DVD.

Today I had my 6-monthly appraisal at work. It went really well. I was told that it is almost certain that I will be promoted (probably in a couple of weeks). The reason they can’t promote me immediately is departmental restructuring, although that should be complete in 2 weeks’ time. The main thing I have to work on now is making sure I always keep people up-to-date with what work I am doing (ie giving them progress/status reports). I am gradually getting better at that though.