A long week

 Last week was a VERY long week.

On Sunday night I had a horrible night's sleep - lots of very vivid dreams that were full of tension. I woke feeling as if I'd been up for a month.

Monday was full of meetings to try to sort out the impossible - the amount of work my team have had thrown at them. Then on Monday night just as I was falling asleep I got indigestion that had me up drinking ginger and eating apples (it works). Indigestion is something I get on occasion in patches - part of the problems I get with my thyroid. It tends to hang around for a week and then go away again, but is definitely related to stress.

On Wednesday I was getting through my day and checked my meetings for the next day - only to discover I had a 10:00 meeting a 3 hour drive away. The meeting was important though, so at least I knew the journey would have value. So I set my alarm for 05:00 the next day. I had to get my brain into that mindset you have when you have a baby. 'Sleep is something that you used to do, put one foot forward and keep going on'.

By the time I got to Friday I was shattered. But at least I knew the weekend was coming and a quiet one at that. 

You'll remember that before Christmas I'd purchased a restaurant voucher for my brother and his wife as their Christmas present. After which they promptly split up! So I kept the voucher with a view to my family making the most of it.

The restaurant was Burnt Orange in Brighton, it came highly recommended. So on Saturday off we went to enjoy our meal there. They have a Burnt Orange 'experience' for 2 which is basically a taster menu. As son came too we went for the experience and then ordered some additional small plates.

Now when I bought the voucher I was aware that brother and sister-in-law both liked small plates restaurants. I'm a bit on the fence about the whole idea. It's basically tapas, but not necessarily Spanish food. The thing is - it's nice to have a selection of things to try, but it really does push the price up. 

The small plates themselves are basically the same price as a 'normal' big plate, so by the time you've purchased enough food for the table (and probably a little bit too much because you're not sure), the price is astronomical.

In my opinion it also means that you don't feel the need to go back again, by the time you have finished you've tried all the dishes that you fancy there. They did this amazing muscles on Toast which was nearly really lovely (unfortunately the toast was burnt, so when it finished the only taste I had in my mouth was burnt toast). I'd have the muscles again (skipping the toast), but because it's only small plate, I probably wouldn't go back just for that. 

So you see what I'm saying, I would go back, but I'd want to go to other places first. Though I really liked the ethos with the people that worked there - it was high energy and very friendly. They welcomed us like old friends, even though it was the first time we went.

I handed over our voucher when we asked for the bill, it was £75 - so not a small voucher. Then when the actual bill turned up it was for £166. Now given that husband had one glass of wine and son and I were on a single lemonade I was somewhat startled. I was just examining the bill when the waitress came over. I asked whether the voucher had been included. To my relief the waitress said she'd forgotten and took the bill back to sort it out.

I say thank goodness for me, because I know if husband was there he'd have paid the full bill without wanting to cause a stir by asking.

Though all in all I thought it was a very expensive meal for 3 given we were not drinking and I'm not sure it was special enough to go to for a special occasion.

I keep trying other restaurants, but still nothing beats Gingerman for me. If I'm going to pay big prices (which let's face it only happens about once a year) I expect to walk out feeling it was really special.

That said, it was a great evening, husband and son were great company, the weather was lovely and for once there was no wind. I wonder if son realises how lucky he is that whenever we do go out (which isn't much) we tend to go to either Michelin star or Michelin recommended restaurants - and we take him with us. When I was his age if we went to the local carvery it was a massive treat and we felt lucky (but that was a long time ago - when I was his age Italian restaurants were exotic).

When we got home husband and I sat and chilled in the sitting room until the late hours. Something we don't do enough.

So I did get the opportunity to recharge my batteries this weekend. Let's hope I feel energised throughout the week. The sun is out, there's no wind and it's feeling quite springish, so the signs are good!