Been training.

Peterborough again, but instead of three weeks of induction courses, this was the County Court course.

I was determined not to spend all my expenses, so I decided to be antisocial. There were only three other people on the course, and quite against all expectations, they were all lovely. Andrew, who I thought might be annoying because he knew it all already, was in fact very nice. Asa sat there grinning a lot and occasionally laughing. Think he was quite bright, in a laid-back observant way. Toby was great fun, and had a nicely irreverent sense of humour. With a name like Tobias, you can't go wrong. He also had a fantastic surname, but it's probably a bad idea to put people's full names on t'internet without their knowledge, so I won't.

To ensure that I didn't accidentally end up going for drinks with my fellow trainees, I stocked up on supplies for my hotel room. The steak slices I bought for tea were yummy, all gravy and nice pastry. The Greek salad I bought as a nod towards healthy eating was disgusting. I threw half of it away. Then ate an iced bun. And opened a nice bottle of wine, and munched through two giant chocolate chip cookies.

Dozed off. Woke up, read book.

Steve phoned for a chat about half an hour before Prison Break, as otherwise I would have forgotten to watch it. I can't explain why I'm so hooked on it, because if you actually ask me to describe the events in any given episode, I'd say, "Erm... some people threatened some other people, and there was a setback in the escape plan. Again." But it's compulsive viewing somehow.

I was very good and managed to stay in my room, not spending any money.

Tuesday was OK, the training was fairly straightforward, and had lots of nice case studies. I much prefer practical examples to pages of text.

But then there was the dilemma of how stay in - I couldn't eat all evening again. Not a sustainable tactic. And free time is something I'm not used to being in possession of: at home, even when all the housework is done, there are always little jobs I could get on with. But here I was, with hours of freedom, guilt-free.

So I went for pampering. Bought nail file thingy and French manicure set from Boots. The file has four different surfaces: shape, smooth, buff & polish. I regarded it with a certain degree of incredulity, but followed the instructions, and it worked. Quite a revelation. I'm aware that most girls discover this kind of thing during their teens, but I'm only a decade late. Very shiny nails.

Then I painted them. It took ages, waiting for each coat (white bit, clear bit, clear bit, butterfly stickers, top coat) to dry, so I read my book in between. Think it's the first time this year I've applied nail varnish without getting impatient and smudging it.

Plucked my eyebrows. Haven't bothered for a while.

Also practised pulling lots of funny faces to use on Euan when I'm home. They work so well, and I don't want him getting bored of the repertoire. I just hope it wasn't a two-way mirror, with cameras the other side. Big Brother has given my paranoid imagination plenty of food for thought.

Wednesday was the last full day of training. Drank Red Bull to stay alert, as I hadn't really slept well all week. Was missing Steve lots, and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to transmit hugs via mobile phones yet, so I had to make do with texts and phone calls.

Wednesday night I dyed my hair. "Honey brown" apparently.

I was quite pleased with the result. Was aiming for anything that wasn't ginger or green. Ended up with my own hair colour, only darker, so it looks quite good. I was getting sick of my blonde hair becoming gradually more nondescript and dull. I chickened out and went for semi-permanent, but when it washes out in a few weeks, I might go for something more lasting. I like being brunette.

Luckily, Thursday was the last day of training, because given the prospect of another night to fill, I might have progressed on to DIY liposuction, or possibly redecorated the hotel room for them.

Couldn't wait to get home, so typically my train was delayed by a "fatality" in Cambridge. Then another one somewhere else. Ever get the feeling the world's conspiring against you? Or is that a highly selfish way to view two very unfortunate incidents?

Steve met me at the station, after a double-take to make sure it was me. Apparently the hair colour isn't as subtle as I thought.

Had chicken fajitas for tea. Very yummy. Good to be home, and finally get a decent night's sleep.

Took today off. Well, it was sunny, and Steve wasn't going into work. Foregone conclusion really.

Hooray, I've been camping!

OK, so it might not seem like a big deal to some people. But I'd never been before - that's right, I was a camping virgin. My family had a caravan, then a narrowboat, but never a tent.

Steve's brother Keith has a caravan on Anglesey, so we went to join him and Angela and their kids for a couple of nights.

I was scared. Firstly because I didn't know what to pack, or whether I'd be able to do my contact lenses, or get a shower, or sleep properly. Secondly because Euan was coming too, and there's nothing like a bit of ultimate responsibility for another person's wellbeing for putting the pressure on. Oh, and thirdly because the last (and only) time I'd met Keith and Angela was at Colin's meal to celebrate his 50th, and I got drunk. Not the best way to make a good first impression.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The toilets and showers were clean, and very close. The airbed was comfy. Euan loved the whole weekend, and attached himself to Angela's sons Ashley and Gary like a grinning limpet. Keith and Angela were lovely, and made sure I felt welcome.

Even the weather was good - breezy but sunny and warm. The only time we felt the cold was first thing in the morning, before the sun warmed the tent, and in the evening when we had a barbecue.

Euan got to see plenty of animals, and go swimming in the open-air pool, and run around a lot on the Easter egg hunt on Sunday. He thought sleeping in a tent was great fun. OK, so did I. It was an adventure.

The rain started just as we had finished packing the tent away yesterday, which was lucky. Drove to see South Stack (a lighthouse, or "Tower!!!" according to Euan), and decided that it would be nice to go and see it properly on a sunnier day. Then we managed a walk along the beach for hot dogs and ice creams in between rain showers.

Was a really nice weekend. Didn't want to go into work today though!

Dragged Mum & Dan up to the house for tea so they could see Euan, because he's going back to Cardiff this weekend whilst I'm on a training course in Peterborough. Made chicken-bacon-mushroom rice stuff for me and Mum, and have been burping garlic all evening. Yummy.

It's mid-April already? How did that happen???

Life's ticking along quite nicely, apart from work being utterly shit. I'd like to go back to my old job please, I don't like this one. But, as I keep telling myself, it pays the bills, I've got flexi-time, at least it's indoors - and if I really don't enjoy it, then I should stop complaining, get off my arse, and look for something else.

Apart from that, newsies:

Kirsty has left the Revenue and is now working in a care home, with a view to studying nursing in September.

Few photos of the goodbye night out:

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› , who insist it wasn't porn they were exchanging...

A pipe burst in my airing cupboard, which induced one of those "oh shit oh shit oh shit I'm a homeowner what the hell am I supposed to do" moments. What I did was catch the water with towels and phone my Dad. I'm sure the advice he gave me was sound, but I was still glad to hear (when I hung up) that Steve had just phoned Colin, who was on his way round with far more leak-stopping items than I could have found in my shed.

So Colin stopped the pipe leaking for the night, and a nice chappy came and replaced it the next morning. Hooray. And I am absolutely not worrying about all the other things that could go wrong with my house. Honest.

Then from Thursday to Sunday, I was in Nottingham with Steve and Nicola for the Winter Sports Weekend with work. Last time I went was five years ago, playing netball, and my team-mates were unwelcoming and hostile. So this time we were entering the General Knowledge Quiz, on the basis that we couldn't do worse than last year's team, who came last.

Thursday night we joined the rest of RCSL Wales (Revenue & Customs Sports & Leisure) in a pub, and got drunk.

Friday morning we recovered incrementally from our hangovers, just making it to the quiz at 2pm. The fourth member of our quiz team was called Chris - we think. We were inebriated when being introduced the night before, but "Chris" rang a bell. The questions were horrific. You could tell all the other regions had actually held heats, and took it seriously, possibly swotting up on their royal lineages and American states the night before whilst we were harrassing a DJ.

After struggling through 300 questions, all written, with occasional excursions to the bar for rehydration, we were glad to escape.

Friday night was the trip into Nottingham, which none of us could face. We tried the bars in all three halls of residence, deciding that the last one, with karaoke and atmosphere, was the best. Got quite drunk again.

Luckily our hangovers weren't so bad on Saturday morning, and I even managed to get everyone up for breakfast! Then back to bed before the unpleasantly early continuation of the quiz at 12 noon. Another 325 questions this time, but we plodded on, just in case another team were ever-so-slightly more ignorant than us.

We came last.

Ah well.

Then Saturday night was the big disco thingy. Wales traditionally go in fancy dress, and this year the theme was Robin Hood & his Merry Men. I went as Robin Hood. Steve, of course, went as Maid Marian. And very pretty he was too.

(Photos in photos section, first album added for ages because I either haven't done anything photogenic, or haven't had my camera with me at appropriate times.)

Disco was fun. Got a drink spilt all over me. Walked back because we missed the bus. Crawled out of the room just in time for our lift home on Sunday, badly hungover. Our driver, Irfon from Porthmadog, had a helpful satnav thingy that seemed to have its own agenda, not including taking us home. It kept saying, in that firm and persuasive voice, "perform a U-turn where possible" or telling us to "take a left" down dodgy-looking country roads... so we ignored it.

That's about it for news. Euan's with Karl in Cardiff all week - the only way I could get two nights' babysit for Nottingham - so the place seems a bit quiet and strange. Gave blood today, and they actually allowed me to because my iron count was high enough for a change, yay! Felt virtuous.