NORMAL LIFE: Weekend in England

I arrived back in Helsinki at 1am this morning after a long weekend in London. I arrived there last Friday and went straight to a friends house in South London to drop off my luggage and shower before heading out to Soho for a wild night out. My friend had organised a farewell party - he will be moving to Australia for four years this Friday. The evening began at 6pm and ended at 4am. I was pissed out of my head at one point and had to go back to water. We spent most of the evening in one bar, followed by a dancing frenzy down Tottenham Court Road. Only three of us actually lasted until 4am!!

The next morning, I headed to the family home, just north of London. Waiting for me was my parents, both of my sisters, my brother-in-law and my gorgeous two year old niece. We had a great catching-up session, before I spent the night at my sister's place. We just relaxed, making ourselves a nice dinner while catching up with the celebs on TV. Later, I crammed even more of my possessions into the two suitcases I had bought from Finland. We watched this horror film called 'Dog Soldiers', a low-budget werewolf movie set in Scotland - it's a movie with a twist which kind of makes up for its low budget look.

Sunday was spent shopping with my sister, briefly visiting my parents (for yet more tea!) and then the cinema. We watched 'Cheaper By The Dozen 2' with Steve Martin. That guy cracks me up every time and his return to the role as a dedicated, but crazed father of twelve is perfect for him. Go and see it!

On Monday, I started to get myself organised, collecting everything I wanted to take back to Finland with me. Ironically, the lump in my throat that had been bothering me for two weeks had finally emerged as a full blown throat and ear infection of some kind. I started dosing myself up beechams powders and Gee's linctus, determined to get myself back home. As the pile of stuff I wanted to take back to Finland started to pile up, I started to get anxious so I asked my Dad if he would give me a lift to the airport. Fortunatetly, he said yes! I was saved!

To cut a long story short, I headed to the airport after lunchtime yesterday. My Dad and I were listening to CDs on the way to the airport and had a bit of a singalong. One thing I've notice about my Dad as he gets older is that, while he is mellowing in some ways, he's increasingly agitated and stressed about things that really aren't important. He's become almost paranoid about safety, but more about that later. When we got to the airport, it was more than four hours before my flight would depart. I checked in, but the girl said I wouldn't be able to check the bags in just yet. Apparently, I was 41 kilos overweight and I was to pay a 10 kilo excess baggage charge of £90! I pulled a fast one when, just after 4pm, I checked my bags in without paying the charge at the local Travelex office. They didn't pick up on it and I can't tell you how relieved I was when my luggage came through in Helsinki! Ha ha!

When I woke up this morning, the 18th January, it was -12 degrees, dark as usual with strong gusts of wind. While I was standing at the tram stop, I felt content. I was home once again!