Made it!

My fiftieth birthday was yesterday. We had, for us, a really active and varied week planned. The Queen kindly decided to have her diamond jubilee holiday at the same time so we had a couple of bank holidays as well. And I did it all on a strict budget (just as well, as Fahed lost his job right in the middle of it).

The wedding - cost was just my outfit - Handmade for me by a lady who sells on eBay. It will be good for years to come and can be worn in many ways. Plus money for the bride & groom. They didn't want presents so included a humorous rhyme in the invitation suggesting they were happy to receive cash.

Warner brothers studio tour - We bought the basic tickets and i didn't manage to get a deal anywhere but we saved on the extras (digital guide, food at events & green screen broomstick ride) after a co-worker said he wasted money on those same things.

Trip to Regents park zoo. We had early bird tickets for the Zoo Lates events. £8 each. I drove us up and stuck to 60 mph so total fuel cost £20. Took a picnic as that's what the boys wanted. Didn't bother with birthday cake as no-one likes it anyway! Parked for free as street parking was not charged after 6pm. We thoroughly enjoyed the event. We all love animal anyway but there was also music, stalls, comedy and stuff going on. Next year we will try to go again but with a bigger group. Great fun.

Today we have a groupon deal for the circus. Bonnie has never been to the circus so hopefully she will love it.

I told the family not to waste money on a present but they did anyway, and it is lovely. The bought me a new camera. My old one died about six months back after eight years of good service. It costs too much to repair sadly but my new one is actually even better! At the zoo they also bought me a little gorilla, now known as El 'orilla (Arabic for the gorilla, you can guess)who looks just like Fahed, our very own Silverback.

Back to work on Monday :(