Preparation

well it's been quite a week.

on monday lynn and i went to a lawyers to make a will - just in case anything goes wrong while we are away.

on tuesday we had a lovely dinner at our friend maureen's and enjoyed her fabulous company along with the legendary mark o'sullivan and the very cool miss jillian steele.

on wednesday i enjoyed the sunshine in the botanical gardens with my friend richard before playing my last game of fives for a while. i then went to the crown with my friend scott for a few beers.

on thursday it was another stunning day and i climbed ben lomond with my friend elliott. the views were stunning and will rival anything that we see on our travels. we go for a wee paddle in the loch to cool down - lovely. at night i play pool with kenny and have a few more beers in the crown with scott. we have a great laugh and i am sorry that i will miss his best man speech at wig's wedding. it will be hilarious. wig's - be warned!

on friday lynn comes over to my mums and we go for dinner at la piazza with martyn and his icelandic 'friend' hannah. we then meet upin the crown with elliott, gillian, kenny and scott for more beers. we are having a very sociable time!

on saturday we spend the day in scorching sunshine out in my mums garden, which now has the martyn mcsporran seal of approval! we then head to tuts to sit outside in the sun, watch the futuristic retro champions soundcheck, meet up wih loads of friends and enjoy a simply stunning gig.

i was incredibly proud to see my sister play a venue i have been going to for over 13 years and where i have seen amazing gigs by beck, teenage fanclub, arthur lee and love and the white stripes - to name just a few! the champions were on championship winning form and everyone had a cracking night. thanks to everyone that came along.

so the week ahead - more socialising! i think we will need to dry out when we get to thailand.

sunday - bbq at ken and gwen's
monday - a night out in ashton lane with scott and hopefully wigs
tuesday - calvin harris at king tuts
wednesday - lynn has a girls night out, i may have a night of doing sweet fa - sounds good
thursday - i have an invitation to the edinburgh school of art degree show preview night. my sister graduates this year - well done carla and i will be thinking of you when i am on a beach in thailand.
friday - wee alan (who now is over 6ft tall) is 21
saturday - my mum's 60th
sunday - our last night in the uk
monday - the travels commence!

phew - maybe we will have time to relax when we get to thailand. seriously, it has been great to catch up with so many friends lately. i have had an amazing time.

well lynn and i have now finished work. i had a fantastic leaving night from maggie's that culminated in dancing the night away at glasgow's premiere mod night - friday street.

since then we have......
- moved out of the flat and handed the keys over to deborah and lynn, the flat is remarkably clean
- lynn finished work on thursday
- i went out with my mate reddy on thursday night to the variety bar and to see my friend james band juno. we also met up with friends lorna and kenny
- i dj'd at our friend agnes' 30th on friday night and played a storming 5.5 hour set. highlights were 'you'll never walk alone', a live version of 'sit down', 'going back to my roots' and 'don't leave me this way'
- i attended the glasgow manchester united supporters club agm yesterday and it was good to hear the club is in good health although ticket prices are up dramatically, not that i have to worry about that for the next year
- we went to a bbq last night at lynn's mum's golf club but left early as 3 nights out in a row was not a good idea

tonight we head to ryan's for dinner and the week ahead will consist of finally getting our thai visas, playing fives, going to friends for dinner on tuesday, climbing ben lomond on thursday with my mate elliott and the futuristic retro champions on saturday

all systemsgo

Well as I am off work on holiday today I officially only have 5 days of work left. What a feeling!

Deborah and Lynn are now moving into the flat on May 29th so we have a busy 10 days ahead - making sure everything is packed up and moved out to our very accomodating parents!

I have started compiling the playlist to end all playlists to take with me on my travels - a Nano only holds so many songs you know. I look forward to hearing Teenage Fanclub while driving around Australia, Stone Roses while lying on a deserted beach, Stevie Wonder while trekking through the Amazon and the laid back sounds of Air while floating down a river in a dugout canoe!

Footie news - United lost the 2nd leg of the CL semi. Milan were awesome and surely can't lose to the scousers in the final. United did win the league though. An inspired 4-2 victory away to Everton after being two down clinched it - although technically it was the victory away to City and Chelsea drawing at the Arse.

The first league title in 3 years is sweet and it's all set up nicely for the FA Cup Final against Chelsea at the new Wembley this weekend.

I need to sign off as I am headng out to get some innoculations - OUCH!

MURRAY

it's 24th april. a little under 2 months before we go.

tonight united are at home to milan in the first leg of the european champions league semi final. it's a huge game. winning doesn't only mean we will be in the final, it will mean we will face either liverpool or chelsea in it!

milan stand in the way. united have neville, ferdinand and vidic missing. not to mention saha, silvestre, park and possibly evra. still with ronaldo, rooney, giggs, scholes, carrick and solskjaer, we have the players to beat any team.

it is going to be an incredible month for football. united could win the treble - again! i was lucky enough to be there in 1999. could we really do it again?

one thing is for sure. united cannot throw the league away. there are only 4 games left - everton (a), city (a), chelsea (a) and west ham (h). if we win 3 of these games we have won the league? can our depleted squad cope with 2 games a week? they looked shattered against 'boro on saturday. the atmosphere tonight should carry them a long way. old trafford on big european nights is a magical place -a theatre of dreams.

come on united!

other news - i have an exam on thursday and i've had the day off to study. i should pass as i also have tomorrow off to study and sit a past paper.

i'm going out with scott and marty to watch the game tonight in a pub called the universal. i would recommend it to anyone visiting glasgow.

i only have 20 days left of work!

i really can't wait for lynn and i to get away and leave reality behind. a year out! a year of living! a year of experiencing new sights, sounds, smells. a year of meeting new friends, visiting new towns, cities and countries. it is almost time - june 18th.....the countdown continues

well it's all systems go.

since booking our flights two weeks ago we've been getting down to the nitty gritty of getting innoculations, sorting out who will be renting our flat and today i informed my manager that i will be leaving at the end of may.

it went really well and it is a weight off my mind.

it is looking likely that one of my sisters best friends will be renting our flat along with one of her friends. that would be ideal as i have known deborah for years and completely trust her.

we need to paint our back room, get a new washing machine and declutter the flat. mainly my junk as lynn is really tidy. apart from owning shoes that she never wears and collecting bags that you get free from magazines.

i have hampden park seats, manchester united signed shirts, programs, magazines, thousands of records and cd's, trainers....you name it

my mumwill have fit when i drop them all off at her house for storage! well some of it will be going to a car boot sale and some of it will go to charity shops and recycling.

well it is march 5th and just over 3 months to go. i'll be in touch.