CST! CST! CST!

My Dear Princess and Dear Friends,

I didn't INTEND to arrange my own birthday party. It just worked out that way. 

Tonight was actually Jason's leaving party. He moved to Napier in April but we could never pin him down and agree a date. So it just got pushed back and pushed back. And then he actually was gone so it was for Corrie's birthday but then Caro's sister was in town and so June 3rd it was.

And now it is my birthday. 

Also theoretically this was my last week on Project Gromit (also known as "CST" for Collaboration Spaces Technology). I say theoretically because they don't really have anything else for me right now. So actually I've got a couple of additional unplanned weeks with them. 

So we convened at "Big Thumb" Chinese restaurant where you see us pictured above. Ellie was very excited because she had a FREE PASS for the evening. AJ even said he would take care of the kids tomorrow morning so she could be as hungover as she liked.

We all agreed that he's a keeper.

So Ellie turned up dressed as Baby Spice for reasons I still don't fully understand. And then she wanted to order EVERYTHING on the menu. 

"I want to order an ENTIRE FISH Symon," she told me. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY."

Meanwhile, Shenée gave me a rock with googly eyes as a gift. It raised perplexed eyebrows around the table but I just LOVED it. She knows me. 

After dinner we headed to K-Zone karaoke bar which honestly had the worst effing song list. We could hardly find ANYTHING we were looking for. But this did not stop me from singing, "Keep On Loving You" which I dedicated to Fazzy. And THEN...

It was the Shenée and Ellie show! They were clearly having the time of their lives on the karaoke machine, giving us "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Wrecking Ball", "Bad Romance" and "Intergalactic". Amongst other things.

(The funny thing is that BOTH of them claimed to not have done this before and to be very shy. But then the music started. Divas, the pair of them.)

Sadly, very few of the others could be tempted up. I basically forced Jefe to do "A View to a Kill" and we all sang to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Eye of the Tiger". Manda did a very impressive "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies. And Corrie was forced to do her party-piece "Ice Ice Baby" again.

But other than that it was me, Ellie and Shenée all night. We are like the three Mariahs. 

Afterward, Shenée, Craig and Mo left -  the rest of us went to the "Rogues and Vagabonds" bar for live music and additional drinks. There was a ska band playing in there and I had a good time. 

"It feels like Edinburgh," I remember telling Caro. "I feel like this is home."

It's the people, not the place, that I was referring to. You know what I mean. 

Some of the group were looking a little the worse for wear by this time. Ellie, for example, had to be physically picked up and CARRIED at one point because she kept getting distracted and wandering off.

Caro and I were thinking about catching the train home, but we were talked into one last bar. Shots were arranged and the next thing I knew we were chanting "CST! CST! CST!" in the middle of the dance floor. 

Losi told me how sad he was that it was nearly at an end. But this is the project that will never really end. A bit like RX. 

In the end, Caro and Jefe and Manda and I made it onto the last train home at 12:17. The other two had to be woken up at their stop, which was just adorable. "Wake up, wake up darlings," said Caro softly.

"As if I were talking to the cats," said Caro later. 

Now it is Saturday afternoon and miraculously, the hangover has failed to materialise. That's just ME, mind you. 

For the others, maybe we should chant quietly... cst, cst, cst...

S.

UPDATE FROM ELLIE:
I started the day with a Big Mac combo. I ended up dry heaving. Now I’m having a hot and sour wonton soup. Quite frankly it’s just turned into boot camp for my stomach… how much can it handle?? Who knows!!

Oh I haven’t been proper hungover in a loooong time but I regret nothing!! Thankfully AJ took Aubrey out this morning and I’ve been in bed aaaaall day while she naps. I’ll have to get up when she wakes up though as AJ is doing tip runs today. I’m just going to hope for the best when I do actually get up