I have been so busy that I have not updated my blog for more than 10 days now. And a lot has happened since we came back from Gredos.
The first thing that springs to mind was the visit of Martina and her Mother, Graciela for tea on Sunday 9th to see Anne and me. Martina is only 3 but knows exactly how to behave in society. Just look at her enjoying herself with us during their visit. “Adorable” was the word used by Anne and I completely agree. She was fascinated both with the cats and, of course, the piano.
I had a very heavy week last week with 3 big events I had been preparing for for months and I was very unlucky to start the week off with a bad back again. To make matters worse on Wednesday I crashed into a glass door which only made it more painful. However, I was determined my events would be successful so I just had to grit my teeth and get on with it.
Wednesday morning brought a press conference organised by me for the 4 mobile phone operators in Spain. We were presenting a new code of conduct for the safe use of mobile content for minors. As you will see in the picture, I was the only woman of 8 presenting. Amazingly the news which got a lot of attention from the press, came out on Spanish TVE’s prime time news programme and there was I in that same photo smiling for all and sundry to see. A lot of people have told me they saw me but I only actually got to see the clipping yesterday.
Wednesday evening was our Christmas party for Bloggers, quite a different audience from the morning. However it went really well and a lot of the thanks go to Jyri and Peter from Ramblas Digital in Helsinki who did a great photo activity were people posed against a Christmas scene for which they got a post card they could either keep or send by post there and then.
But the parties didn’t end there. On Friday we had the employee Christmas party for staff, partners and their kids and we held it at the Madrid horse racing course, El Hipódromo. That took some organising too, as it wasn’t just a regular dinner but a real Christmas Fair with Santa Claus, fortune tellers, a real casino, a magician show and a host of other fun stuff. I must say on Saturday I was nearly K.O.
However Saturday was to bring another party at home, a little smaller this time. Aunty Masha, my Mother’s sister was coming to stay and her son, my cousin, Sasha was bringing her. I hadn’t seen Sasha for about 7 years so it was quite something meeting him again. Sasha is highly gifted and I often wonder what his IQ. He is completely multilingual in English, Russian, German and French. His Spanish is near perfect too. His general knowledge is enormous and when he was younger I used to call him a “walking encyclopaedia” which is what he is really. He works in the tourist industry and now comes to Madrid quite frequently so I hope I will be seeing more of him. Apart from being very intelligent he also has a spark of fun and warmth about him too; he is altogether a very special person.
Eladio and Sasha
Aunty Masha talking to my Father
Unfortunately Aunty Masha didn’t stay in the end so her visit ended on Sunday.
Sunday afternoon was spent decorating the house for Christmas. This year we added more indoor lights from Ikea which are very Scandinavian and make the whole place really cosy.
This week, starting on Monday 17th looked like it was going to be less busy but, of course, that is not how it is working out. Also, in between work, I have had to get some Christmas shopping in which, actually, I have now done about a half of.
The week had a great start though as I had a lunch date with Mamen and Bill, my contacts at the Outplacement agency when I left Nokia. Neither of them are there any more but we are still in contact. They are very special to me because of how much they helped me then, psychologically, of course.
And yesterday I had a surprise lunch with dear Viivi, who is fast becoming a a new friend. She is Finnish of course and lots of fun. Amazingly she is a General Manager at the good old age of 31!!!
And today I am very happy because I have been invited to an event. You will wonder why but the answer is really very easy. I am the one who usually organises events and invites people. There is a lot of stress in that and you never enjoy the events themselves. I don’t often get invited myself, so when I do, I thoroughly enjoy myself and can enjoy every aspect of the event without worrying about it being perfect. And today I have been invited by our network provider and manufacturer, Ericsson to a lunch and afternoon of activities. It will be so nice to be on the invited side rather than the inviting side this time.
I’ll let you know how it went in my next post.
Meanwhile, good luck with all your Christmas preparations
Cheers/Masha
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