Back to School

Not even January 31, and I've fallen down on my New Year's Resolution of more photos. I can't figure out how to use my new camera and my technical advisor is away on business. Will try to edit the blog to add a photo at later time.

Well, luckily school started back this week. It was very relaxing to be off for several weeks with nothing to do. The most challenging thing we did was to see if we could cover the entire surface area of the pool with all our new rafts. We got pretty close I have to say. However, all this having nothing to do left us waaaayyyy too much time to play on the computer. I'm afraid I have given myself ADHD or early onset Alzheimer's. I think it really must make you stupid all that gaming. In order to stimulate my poor brain, I have taken up doing an on-line Jigsaw Puzzle at JigZone.com. Great fun! I'll try to learn how to embed a puzzle in my blog for you all to try. We are also working on a proper jigsaw puzzle of some termite mounds that has been a challenge.

Elliott started back to school on Tuesday. He was dreading it, of course, but I think even he was ready to see some more of his friends. I had my first Tuck Shop duty of the year yesterday. I am now prepared for a career change if we move back to the US. I could be the milkshake maker at Steak and Shake. This is a new product sold at school and it is wildly popular along with toasted sandwiches. I was lucky to have the claimed the milkshake job. The toasted cheese sandwich maker job was awful. It was already 30 degrees and incredibly humid - but to stand over the 220 degree hot grill machine didn't look fun. I was a bit nervous I would explode the milkshake machine all over me in front of Elliott's friends, but everything went off without a hitch.

It's nice to be back at the gym again and my activities will start up over the next few weeks. I signed up for Tennis on Tuesday and Thursdays this term. It has still been raining a fair bit, so I hope the rain showers confine themselves to afternoon so as not to interfere with my plans.

A Vacation from our Vacation

After seeing all the snow, we were ready for a vacation from our vacation. Luckily, we had been invited to the Bahamas with Linda, Michael and Amanda. We had been before and we excited to go back. After having been to the Great Barrier Reef, we realized just how spectacular the snorkelling is in Cat Cay. Because this time we were going in December, we bought some 3mm wet suits. I will spare you photos of me in the shop trying on the wet suit - I spent about 15 minutes squeezing into one and then the clerk told me that the suit was way too big. Elliott had the least luck with a wet suit because he has grown so tall. He's too long for the kid suits, but too skinny for an adult suit. We settled for a top and shorts set for him, but it wasn't nearly so warm for him.

To get the Cat Cay, we took a little 7 seater plane from Fort Lauderdale. Everyone has to say how much they weigh and then the pilot tells you were to sit. As we were waiting at the terminal, I repeated my mantra..."anywhere but the front seat, anywhere but the front seat..." so of course, I got the front seat. It was fabulous after all, beautiful clear sky and a smooth run.

The whole week was fantastic. It was so fun to spend time with a big group as both Linda and Michael had extended family staying on the island at the same time. There was snorkelling, tubing, golf, and tennis. Adults vs. the kids in keep away at the pool. Puzzles, Dvds, and many board games. And we can't forget the Cat Cay Olympics - with the cocunut toss and champaign relay. I only played a few holes of golf with Linda, but I did enjoy it enough to sign up for a few lessons starting in February. (I'm sure it be cause for much hilarity if not the cause of a slipped disc.)

The last few days turned cooler and windy. It made for a white knuckle trip back in the plane. As it was a different pilot, we had new seat assignments. Tim got the front seat this time. He was loving it! He was talking and laughing with the pilot as the wind gusted to 25 mph. Meanwhile, I was in the second seat gripping on for dear life. I was wearing my travel sickness bands, sucking on ginger tablets and clutching on to the open sick bag. But of course, as I am writing this blog, we lived to tell the tale.

We have now been back in Brisbane for almost 2 weeks. It has been raining every day since we returned. The dams are filling up a bit - I think we are about up to 25%. Still no relief in terms of the water restrictions, but things are slightly better. Elliott and I have been playing on the computer way too much. The Australian Open Tennis is going on - so that's been fun to watch. It's the only Grand Slam Event that we can see without getting up at 3 am to watch. Few more weeks till school starts. It will be nice to have my little routine again - I am missing my tennis.

One last note - with our new camera Tim was able to take underwater pictures and video. He had a great time trying out all the new features. The upshot of this is...we have about 3 days worth of video of a jewel fish, but sadly no good ones of our friends. Must do better! Also of interest, Tim took a picture of a shark. We had seen nurse sharks previously, but this shark was a bit bigger and swimming around. At first glance in the picture, we couldn't see a thing. But with the digital technology, we could keep zooming in the image. I guess that doesn't sound very technical - zooming in. But, anyway, the point is - you can see it quite clearly at closer inspection. There may be hope for a Loch Ness Monster sighting yet.

Soooo Lazy!

I don't know how it happened so much time went by since the last post. I had about given up on the whole idea and felt life was just too routine to find new material. However, we had a lot of nice cards and e-mails this Christmas with encouragement so I'll try and rally! Also, we'll take on board the comments - "More Photos" - we did get a new little camera. As I review our vacation photos, though, I realize we were really remiss in getting pictures of family and friends. We seem to have a lot of underwater fish photos and video, but not one of anyone in my family. Doh!

We have gone from nothing to write about to everything to write about, so now I don't know where to start. Our trip to the US for the holidays was full of adventure and lots and lots of snow. First stop was Denver to see Laura, Dave and of course the dog Murphy. However, we landed in a blizzard and had to adjust our plans. Laura was able to pick us up at the airport, but we couldn't make it out to their place in the mountains where Dave and Murphy were snowed in. We spend two nights in the Holiday Inn Express. It wasn't as bad as all that really as the place had high speed internet, a gym, a pool and free breakfast. We hung around in Denver for a day and went to the zoo. I'm pretty sure we were the only people out besides the polar bear.

Luckily for us, it did stop snowing and we were able to head out to Buena Vista for one night. It was great to see Laura and Dave and of course Murphy. The house was absolutely FANTASTIC! The view in the snow was spectacular. If we ever get around to building in Tuscon, we must have Dave design it because the house they have built is perfect in every way!

Laura and Dave have adjusted to life in the mountains and like to keep the windows open for "fresh air" even though it was 8 degrees out. Having now been in the sub-tropics for 2 years, we were wearing long underwear, 2 pairs of socks and had our hot water bottles at the ready!

When we went up to Indianapolis to see the rest of my family, we found ourselves in another snow storm. It was a shame not to see Wick, Alisa and Joseph as they got snowed in up northern Indiana. We did get to see Tom and Ann and the kids. Another trip to the zoo in Indy, but this time we stayed more indoors. We got to pet little sharks and see the new dolphin tank. Ann was a gracious hostess to have dinner for us all a few nights - even having the energy after Mary Jane's birthday party. I'm pretty sure I'd be having to lie down in a dark room with a cold cloth on my forehead if I had 4 kids, but Tom and Ann do a great job!

While we were in St. Louis, shopping seemed to be the main past time. I think we went to every bike store in a 25 mile radius. Clothes, shoes, luggage, tires, DVDs, wet suits...I can't even think what else. Sophie and Becky would look on in shock as we kept lugging in more packages. You can see why we had to get new luggage to haul all the stuff back. We played countless hours of Clue and Sorry. We had lots of lovely meals, and a million trips to Whole Foods. How I miss that store!

Well, I'm running out of gas on this post. I'll close for now and I'll post our trip to the Bahamas as a separate blog.