My skive off work

I blagged a disabled discount on my ticket to North Wales by charming the bloke on the counter and explaining it was all the fault of the postal service and saved myself 4 quid. One-nil to me. :)

I arrived at my destination to get showered with early birthday presents. My darling sister had baked me my favourite cake (which I'm not allowed to cut until Monday) and the parental insisted I open her gift there and then (the main pressie is a cheque, but I'll open that on Monday). I guessed it was bling - inside the bag was a show-stopping necklace. I never knew she had such amazing taste and that she could actually pick something I'd love. Usually, I end up giving her presents to Oxfam...

Lunch went ok, better than expected. Especially when the sun came out halfway through, after a hideously rainy morning. I caught the train home in a mellow mood, flicking through a magazine and taking occasional breaks to get the necklace out and admire it.

I got home to the reality of nearly 100 emails - a hazard when you belong to several professional listservs. I was able to delete almost all of it, fortunately. And my lovely graphic designer rang in my absence to let me know he'd made me a banner to put on a couple of websites. I just need to call him back and thank him, then wait for the bill to arrive.

I quite enjoyed my skive, and don't feel the slightest bit guilty, despite just having had a fantastic holiday. I've got masses of work lined up for tomorrow, and the whole of next week will be taken up with the editing job I've just bagged. So my bank manager will be happy anyway.