zjbm1

I can't believe that I've been back home in the UK for a year now, in fact, been in my job a year yesterday.  Then I realise how the time is flying and I'm not really doing the things that I meant to as so many other things are getting in the way - life getting in the way of living and me not being able to get out of my own way I guess.

Quick round up... work is manic, working too many hours and what really sucks is that it is expected of me (and my team) to get the job done and we are too professional to let it fail.  Could be worse I suppose but sometimes, when I've done a 50, 60 or 70 hour week, it doesn't feel like it.  R started a job at the beginning of this month and so far it's going okay.  I do hope that he likes it as there is nothing worse than doing a job you don't like and you spend so much of your life at work (some of us more than others!).

My dad came over for a visit, was nice to see him as it had been almost a year but sometimes I find it all a bit surreal and I wonder where the last few years went.  I have realised that if I keep on looking backwards then I will not appreciate what I have now and I'm likely to end up losing more than just those few years!  However, that's easier said than done sometimes and the only person who can put me in the right frame of mind is myself.  At the moment, I hardly have time to turn around let alone get my head straight!

So, I've decided to get things sorted and put aside things in the past that are dragging me down.  That includes associations with things and people.  I realised a long time ago that certain events in your life shape you, if you let them - that's bad as well as good.  I decided that I wasn't going to let certain negative things define me as a person and I need to stick to that.  I need to stop giving people ammunition or maybe just the time of day!

Just as clearing out the negatives, I also have to work on some of the positives that are just lurking or being ignored.  One of those is the journal from the USA trip last year which I really want to get on here and post some pics but I just don't seem to make the time.  So, I'm going to start doing that and dating it in the real time for anyone who still remembers that we went and wants to see what we thought.  Maybe it will also bring it home to me a bit more - along with having the photos printed - as so much happened, so quickly after the trip that sometimes I find it hard to believe that we actually went!  As we are hoping to do another big trip next year, it would be good to have this one clear in my head before that!

Stitching: makes me realise how long it's been since I was on here - my SIL had her baby (a girl) and both my friend and my cousin had theirs last Friday - a boy for the friend and a girl for the cousin.  So, that's another couple of birth samplers to stitch.  I have almost finished the last birth sampler which I've changed slightly to be for both of my cousin's sons (a different cousin) as it is so long since the birth of the second one, that it seemed silly.

Books: not been doing much reading, been working too long and too tired so mainly just stuff online and the odd magazine here and there.

Movies: should be going more often really as we have monthly passes to the cinema now and so we're wasting the money!  Once again, work has been the problem so the movies, the gym and outside life in general has been suffering.  Been watching this and that on TV but not that many films as we have sorted out Freesat and I'm afraid that I've been having a bit of a CSI overdose (all of them) as I finally have access to Channel 5 LOL.

Music: bought some singles every now and then and keep meaning to get around to buying some albums I want but I need to have the time to think about stuff.  Anyway, I generally seem to be playing singles mixes on my iPod these days...

Well, that's about it... I'm sure I'll remember other stuff but so much is in the past now as I don't do this often enough.  I am going to sort out the USA trip journal though - trust me...

so I guess we are home as our cats are finally with us.  Actually, they've been here about a month but I've just been so lax in writing anything - not just this, can't seem to get out of my own way (again).  I guess I need to look at the idea of 'little and often' rather than having long posts (not that I think this one will be short by any means), then maybe I'll be able to sustain it... maybe.

The cats, having moved from a small room, with a bit of outside space albeit still caged, to a large(ish) house with a big garden and fields to explore, are loving it.  I've not taken any pictures of them as yet but you can check the webshots link in my profile and find pictures of them (in the family album) if you are wondering what they look like.  Of course, now we have to deal with the hunter instincts as it looks like Kanga is single-handedly decimating the local shrew population.  Can't really blame her for doing what comes naturally I guess.  It is lovely to have them around and they have settled in well but have taken to calling for us whenever they come in as they probably want to check that we are still around.

First winter back in the UK was the worst there had been for 18 years - we remember that one well - but hoping that the bad January means we will have a good summer, which would be nice.  I don't seem to have acclimatised as yet so I hope that changes for the summer! 

Getting back into some sort of routine is what is needed - outside work rather than within work as that got back to normal with me working silly hours leading up/around/during/after the festive season, but having been somewhere for three years with not enough to do (by my standards), that was quite a welcome feeling and the fact that my boss appreciated it with words and actions has been good.  There are things that I miss of my old life, and by that, I mean the previous one in the UK because we were pretty happy really and then we decided to move half way around the world... seemed like a good idea at the time.  Hopefully, as things come together here more and more, that feeling will change and I may even start to feel less annoyed/frustrated/disappointed or whatever about the three years spent in South Africa... we'll see.

Other major change since the last entry is that we have moved house again - just five minutes away but somewhere bigger that will accommodate our boxes and allow us to unpack as many of the as we feel comfortable.  Hoping this will be a long term thing as I really don't fancy moving again - especially not with all the unpacking we've done.

Quick round up...
Books - just not read much apart from online stuff, some magazines and the like though I did re-read Watchmen in time for the movie as I wanted to see how much was missing and how much changed. 

Film: various bits and pieces, classic and otherwise but most recently been to the cinema to see Watchmen.  Had to be done as I'd been waiting several years for that movie to be made.  Really enjoyed it, R really enjoyed it too which was great.  Of course, there was stuff changed and left out (so the extended DVD beckons) but overall, thought it was great.

TV: ok, not put this in before but I do watch a lot I guess (years ago I was on the viewers panel for the Independent Television Commission and I don't seem to have lost the habit) and two of my favourite programmes have been on lately: Dexter and Pushing Daisies - couldn't choose more opposite things if I tried probably!  Very sad that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled in the US but heard rumours that there may be a movie to tie up the loose ends which would be great.  Also been using my LoveFilm account to catch up with some series of things that I missed in the transition between South Africa and the UK plus the fact that you can't get Channel 5 in my area of Kent so that means I miss out on some programmes I like.

Stitching: nothing, lost my stitching bug so if anyone sees it off enjoying itself, send it back home as I have stuff to do - mostly birth samplers as I have two friends and two family expecting this year (actually, one little chap has already arrived).  Once those are done then perhaps I can attempt something for myself.

Music: not really bought anything new for a while, downloaded various things on iTunes and been getting reacquainted with things on my iPod since R had a stereo fitted for my birthday that runs my iPod.  Keep meaning to put most of my vinyl onto CD and the iPod, especially now that it's all unpacked but there's rather a lot there...

Well, this is longer than I wanted it to be, so going to stop now but first I have to apologise (yet again) for not having posted stuff about the US trip last year.  It's coming up to a year ago that we went and when life changed immensely and sometimes, we find it hard to believe we were really there.  Maybe posting the journal and getting the pictures sorted will make it all a bit more real... and encourage us to go again sometime.

As our stuff has finally arrived from SA.  Things were very much delayed due to really bad weather over there - yet another case of water complicating our lives from over there LOL.  Now of course, we realise that we were right and this place is much too small so we will be looking at somewhere bigger to rent in January, somewhere that is also nice for the cats.  They are in quarantine and we see them at least once a week.  Every time we are there, Kanga seems to have her bags packed and is ready to come home, Roo, well, I'm not sure how she feels about the whole thing but she will probably be much happier to be back with us eventually.

So lots of unpacking to do, things to find homes for albeit temporarily.  Yesterday was my birthday (and so is tomorrow - those who know the story behind that always say that only I could have that quirk! LOL) but it didn't really feel like it due to how much we had to do and it probably isn't what I would have chosen to do, especially as it was such a nice day.  Anyway, it's good to have stuff of our own again though finding a lot of things will prove difficult - the garage looks like a storage unit!

Maybe I'm making excuses as to why I'm probably not going to be doing as much as I'd like to over the next few weeks...after all, so many boxes so little time!

Been working really long hours for a while, deadlines to meet but finally managed to go to see Hellboy II which I enjoyed but didn't think it was a good as the first one.  But, I wanted to be entertained, switch off a bit and it was fine for that and yet again, Luke Goss playing a mythical figure and almost unrecognisable.  Anyway, I really like del Toro's work and I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes of The Hobbit though it's a bit of long wait to see it (2011).  Been trying to catch up with a few things on dvd as well after joining Love Film but just haven't been making the time, so need to rectify that, need to make time for loads of things, especially those things I missed when I was in SA.

Well, sort of true, I am alone at the moment as R has returned to South Africa to sort the final things for the move but where I'm staying isn't really home, it's just somewhere to stay.  Once our stuff arrives it's going to be like living in a storage unit because the place is going to be too small and full of boxes!  It was actually easier and cheaper to rent a slightly bigger place and store everything there as storage is so expensive!  It's lonely without him as I go back to an empty house but it's not for long.  I really do find it hard to sleep without him but it's always been like that, I was the same when he used to work night shifts.

So, things are settling down.  New job is ok, nice people, good team, lots to get to grips with and all that.  Same as what I have done in the past but different, if you know what I mean.  Sorted out somewhere to live and a car, somewhere for the cats to stay in quarantine when they come over, somewhere for the in-laws and then all the other bits and pieces necessary to life such as insurance, TV licence, where the supermarkets are etc.  The only thing I haven't been able to sort is broadband internet access as I can't sort the phone out because the landlord has not sorted out the phone and we can't do anything until he does.  I have a mobile internet thing but it doesn't get fast speed where I am because where we are living seems to be a technological black hole.  I mean, we can't even get Channel 5 and even Freeview doesn't work there!  Good job it's only for six months but I may actually go crazy fairly soon with the internet crawling along.

Been slowly getting in touch with people telling them what is going on, been to see some of our friends and family.  Even though people understood why we were going to SA and felt that we needed to do it because otherwise you would always be thinking, "what if?", they are pleased we are back and really so are we.  Sometimes you don't realise what you wanted or liked until it is gone so we joke that we moved from London to Kent via Cape Town!  At least moving back we understand how everything works and we are not strangers in a strange land, though of course, sometimes you do wonder!

Not really had much time to do things that I usually put on here.  Been spending far too much time playing silly games on the laptop, not done much reading or stitching, not really been listening to music as such in the car because I'm reacquainting myself with Virgin Radio which I had missed plus I've joined the gym (back to body pump, hooray!) and I'm trying to find a routine.  R and I did go to a preview of The Dark Knight just before it came out and we each got a great lenticular poster  that shows Batman, the Joker and Harvey Dent.  Loved the movie by the way, great cast, good story, fantastic performance by Heath Ledger - the only thing I found annoying was Christian Bale's 'Batman voice', wish he wouldn't growl like that, makes it hard to understand and gave me the giggles.  Also, haven't posted the holiday journal as I said I would.  Sorry about that, I'll slap myself on the wrist and get around to it...

Well, I've not been around for a while and to say that life has got in the way of living is an understatement!  So much has happened since the last entry back in March that it's been quite a rollercoaster.

We did the holiday, it was great in some places, good in others and amazing in a few others.  Some things will definitely need to be done again.  I will get around to posting the journal on here at some point and I'll use the 'date out of order' option to put things in the right places.  So, anyone who wants to read it can go back to April/May and find things in the right order.

So, what has stopped me from being on here and keeping this writing promise?  Good question.  We got back from the holiday around 7 May and things were hectic with post-holiday things.  Sometimes it seems unbelievable that we've actually done the trip as it's been overshadowed somewhat since then - I don't mean to sound so mysterious!  We've been trying to work out what to do about life, the universe and everything and that was discussed on and off, a lot, on holiday - quite often at meals when we were waiting for food to arrive or when driving from place to place.  It's just something that's been hanging over us and although we weren't going to make any decisions until we came back, it kept coming up for discussion.  Then when we got back to South Africa, a few things happened to make us feel that maybe it's time to move on from here and the major of these was me securing a job in the UK, back in the same environment I left but in a different part of the country, though not far from where we used to be so friends and family are pleased at that.

So, it's all change and if you've ever moved house, let alone country/continent, you'll understand how stressful and hassled things must be right now.  Having to sort shippers, source accommodation, finishing bits and pieces on our house here and finding someone to rent it, set things up to leave here and arrive there, put things together for a new job, finish the ones here... all taking a heck of a lot of time, effort and organisation which help to put the stress level through the roof at times.  It's not been an easy decision, telling people here has been hard but they do understand - especially if you believe that everything's for a reason and can see the signs - but it's still upsetting for them and us.  Telling people we're coming back has been easier of course, they are pleased about it and having that 'network' will be nice and probably very necessary!  At least we are going somewhere where we understand how everything works as things haven't changed that much since we've been gone!

I start work on 14 July, R will be over in the UK with me for a while to help sort accommodation, transport etc, before heading back here to finalise things, supervise the shipping, sort out his parents and bits and pieces.  Hopefully he'll be back with me in the UK by the end of August.  So, I'm going to have a lonely six weeks or so without him and with no access to all our stuff until, probably, the middle of September!  I hope to sort out a laptop and get internet access while I'm there or I'll go bonkers!  If I do, then maybe I'll sort out the travel journal as I'll probably have time on my hands (for once).

Just a quick round-up of recent things in other departments:

Film:  Been to see the latest blockbuster things: Iron Man - really enjoyed it though a bit of the storyline reminded me of Batman Begins.  Thought Robert Downey Jr was excellent in the part, believable as Tony Stark (been there, done that with all the privileges) and funny as well; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls - was ok as an Indiana Jones romp, liked the references to the previous films but the whole thing really spoke of resolution and closure.  Liked Shia LaBeouf, he seems to be quite the sought after actor of his generation for things like this but I felt Cate Blanchet was wasted.  The storyline though reminded me a lot of the first one (mysterious artefact wanted by evil people who do not understand its power) and the ending/destruction reminded me of The Mummy Returns when something similar happens to the temple...; Prince Caspian - second of the Narnia chronicles to be filmed, even though it's the fourth book.  It was a good adaptation and really, what's not to like in the gentle classic stories that are still so popular today fifty years after they were published.  I did see some films while travelling but I'll put those into the travel journal (eventually).

Books: Still The Time Traveller's Wife - I just don't seem to have a lot of time for reading at the moment, always feel that there's something else to do.  So, I end up thinking I'm bored of the book but then I pick it up, read a bit and I'm hooked again which I take to be a good sign.

Stitching: Finished the birth sampler for my friend in the UK, gave it to her when I was there and it was well received, which is great.  He's a lovely little boy and took quite a shine to R, who always seems to be popular with children!  So, now working on the sampler for my cousin, which won't be finished before I leave but it gives me something to do when I'm in the UK alone!  I'm sorting out something to take with me in case I finish it before my stuff arrives.

Music: Been putting additional discs on my iTunes to upload onto the iPod which will come with me of course.  So been listening to a few things that I'd not quite forgotten about, but haven't been on my 'a-list' so to speak.  Current favourites at the moment, for some reason, are The Waterboys and The Eurythmics - you can see which one is winning today at the top of the page.  One day, when I really have time, I must get around to putting our vinyl on CD and uploading that... one day... when I have time...

Ok, long entry again.  Apologies for not doing what I'd promised, I will get around to it...

Monday

Good breakfast then bought tickets to the zoo - the plan for today.  Been wanting to visit this particular zoo for many years now, ever since the birth of a baby panda back in 1999.  I remember reading about it and then finding that the website had some 'panda-cams', so some colleagues and I would check on the progress most days, it was lovely to see.  Anyway, there is free parking at the zoo and that would help with other plans.

Bought deluxe tickets as these also gave access to the skyrail stations which take you from the bottom to the top of zoo and back again.  We took the rail to the top end of the zoo to see the polar bear exhibit - another fantastic animal to see and this was a great environment for them with a deep pool and glass all round so you can see them under the water.  We were most interested in seeing the animals we hadn't seen in the wild, so the polar bears really count. We were treated to two polar bears, with the biggest paws I've ever seen, playing and fighting in the water.  They were right up against the glass and put on a real show.

We walked down to the giant panda exhibit, the main reason for coming here.  We saw the second youngest munching away on bamboo and a new baby fast asleep in a tree hammock.  The mother was also asleep as it seems these days that she only really wakes up to eat.  These are magnificent creatures and you really are very close to them which meant that R could get some great shots.

Took a walk down to the main entrance via the bear canyon as these are other animals we'd not really seen.  After taking a safari as part of our 10-year anniversary trip, 5 years ago, we've had the opportunity to see the big 5 and several others up close and in the wild on that trip and because of where we are living.  After that, it's hard to see some animals in captivity, even if they have been born there and don't really know any different.

We then took the zoo bus tour, which was included in the ticket price, which was very interesting as you get a real insight into the animals and the history of the place from the driver and guide.  Of course, one thing about being at the zoo is that there are a lot of school parties and that is probably the case during term-time all year around.  The kids are all suitably impressed by things though, lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs' all the way around.

We left the zoo and went into Balboa Park as r wanted to see the Model Railroad Museum but unfortunately we discovered it is closed on a Monday!  So we made plans to come back tomorrow after taking the trolley bus tour around the city.  We walked around the beautiful park, went to visit the Automotive Museum which was cool with a special motorbike exhibition plus, I bought a rather nice Coca-Cola handbag.

Off to Fashion Valley mall for a bit of retail therapy and decided to go to the movies, Forbidden Kingdom, which was worth seeing - a westernised oriental story with a good cast and interesting nods to legends and stories that you may already know about.  It was escapism for a while which is always nice when you're on holiday.  Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, with 10% off due to a promotion from our last visit, another look around the shops but didn't buy much.  Spending money isn't always necessary, window shopping can be fun and anyway, sometimes, you just can't find anything to buy.

Sunday

Driving down to San Diego was going to be a leisurely affair as there is no rush to get anywhere - holiday mode!

We decided to stop in a mall in Orange County - we do like a bit of retail therapy and we've been 'so' deprived for the past few years - but it didn't open until 11am so we had to wait around until it opened.  We had to go to the Apple Store to sort out a small problem that we were having the the iTouch, it didn't want to connect to any wi-fi spots.  This caused some confusion in store, puzzled looks and it took a while but it was sorted.  Good job too, I can't imagine someone back in SA being able to figure it out (some of the technology is very behind and having checked, the 32MB version of the iTouch isn't even available over there) and even if they could fathom what was wrong with it, chances are I'd lose the will to live before it was sorted out... okay, I'm a bitch and I admit it.

Carried on down to San Diego, via a branch of Michaels where I had to get some necessary threads and also managed to do a bit of stitching in the car.  I've managed to get a bit done what with long distance drives (well, passenger rides) and plane journeys but I really want to get this sampler finished as I'm seeing S when we are in the UK so I want to give it to her then.

We got to the hotel/motel, which very much reminded us of one of the places we stayed in Orlando when we were on honeymoon - all those years ago!  The Garmin had a few problems getting there, it was confused by the parallel roads, roads above each other and things like that, but all in all, it's been extremely useful and I can see why some people swear by them.  I can also see why some people swear at them, because if you don't pay attention, notice the map on the machine and work it out according to the roade layout you can see, you can end up taking multiple wrong turns or worse!

A bit of housekeeping to be done here - washing and drying to re-extend the wardrobe and took some time to write some postcards.  Also took some time to do some more stitching, a very pleasant environment all around - good facilities with a pool and a spa but rather a lot of kids we thought for the time of year!  Worked out what we would do for the next couple of days, sorted out dinner and chilled out.

Distance: 118 miles

Saturday

It seems that everyone goes out for breakfast on Saturday as everywhere was manic and crazy!  We didn't really have any choice though so had to find something, which we did eventually...

We asked at the hotel about pricing a cab to take us into the city and it was ridiculously expensive!  We asked if there was parking around the Chinese Theatre and were told no but I know I'd read something about parking close by as the tour we wanted to go on left from that area so we decided to risk it.  Drove into the city, up to Hollywood to get the tour and parking was no problem at all plus you got two hours for free with validated purchases from the mall or even with a ticket for the tour that we were going on.  Even after two hours, it would only be $10 maximum for the whole day - much cheaper than cab fares.

Looked around the Chinese Theatre, read all the inscriptions and some of the stars along the street.  This is one of those really iconic places that has been seen in so many films, on tv, on the news, so being there is quite surreal.  However, it's not as glamourous as one might think it would be but even so, there are people who have been there, the messages that have been left are almost legendary.

Took a hop-on-hop-off tour which covered all the major things that we wanted to see within LA.  These are so handy - took the whole tour with all the commentary, decided where we wanted to return to later.  Surprise, surprise, we went back to the shopping - The Grove - which was very nice, with lots of bits and bobs, including an Apple Store.  So, we took another look at the iPod Touch and decided to buy it.  The price for the 32MB was excellent compared to even the UK plus it has internet accessibility so that would be useful on our travels.  That meant that R would have my original iPod when we got home and I get the upgrade!  Went on to have a nice lunch, headed to Barnes and Noble and bought yet more books as there were things I'd not seen before and of course, things are much cheaper.  Have to be careful now due to luggage restrictions.  The weight allowance from the US to the UK is great, each person can have up to two cases, each of which can weigh up to 32kg but the allowance from the UK to South Africa is only 22kg!  So, that's the weight we have to work with.  Still couldn't find anything I wanted in Victoria's Secret - oh well.

Then I had to take R to a place that I had told him about after my trip to Chicago some years ago... the (rather scary) American Girl Place, where they seem to practise socialisation at it worst.  It seems to encourage conformity, leading to cloning of the American girl into the American woman/housewife or something?  It felt like Stepford Wives for young girls!  Maybe we just don't get it but, personally, I'm not into all that socialisation thing, maybe it's because I was a tomboy or maybe just because I am different and happy to be so!

Back on the bus, took the rest of the circuit and then looked around at the drop off point again.  Headed back to the hotel to crash for a bit then headed out for a quick dinner before packing things ready to leave for San Diego in the morning.  Tried out the iPod and found that it needed to be initialised before it could be used, and that meant to plug it into a mac - bit tough at the moment!  So, we headed back to the Grove that night to have them do it in the store or we wouldn't be able to use it!  Caused a bit of confusion at the store from a couple of people but finally someone understood exactly what we meant, that leaving it until we got home was not really possible because if anything was wrong with it...  They simply plugged it in, initialised it and we were ready to go so we could use it to check emails and stuff when in a wi-fi hotspot.  I love it, I love my Apple stuff and it's very swish so I'm a happy girl!

Friday

Left very early for us when on holiday and had breakfast at Denny's again to set us up for the day.  This is one disadvantage of a long trip, moving from place to place - you are eating out and in hotels all the time and although that doesn't sound too bad, after a while, the novelty really wears off.  That's why we've said that we prefer the idea of two centre holidays - having a base for a week at a time or something like that, especially if you decide to go self-catering so you can please yourself and cook what you want when you want it.  Maybe next time...

We drove up to Hearst Castle, which was a very pretty drive.  The mist was coming in over the coast as we drove and this gave a very odd impression of the land just falling away from you, like the edge of the world.  We stopped to take some pictures and at some point I'll either put a couple on here for the trip or at least link to our webshots albums.

Arrived at Hearst Castle quite early, way ahead of the time that we had booked the tour so went to find out whether we could change our time and go a bit earlier.  Great, we could get on the tour about to go, which was an hour earlier so we'd have more day to do what we wanted to.

What to say about Hearst Castle - it's completely over the top and that's an understatement!  The amount of money spent, the ostentatious decorations, the amount of time it took to build and complete, the stories of the history and all that, does not detract from what it is and the fact that it is worth seeing.  It reminded us a lot of the placed we saw in Rhode Island when we were there years ago and the stories about Americans having a lot of money but no class - according to the Europeans - as it's something you can't buy.  That and real history! LOL  It certainly was an amazing building with a colourful history and a breath-taking view.

Started the drive down to LA and stopped for lunch at Red Lobster, nice little seafood chain and the lunch menu has the size portion that we are more used to!  However, the bits and pieces you get for free make it more than you can handle really!   At the moment, we feel that we prefer the East Coast of the country to the West Coast.  This is for various reasons but perhaps for the feel of the place and the history - there's more of it on the East Coast really.  Perhaps also the fact that it's closer to home!

Headed into LA and even though we spent a great deal of our lives driving in London, busy, manic city that it can be, driving in LA is mad!  Even the Garmin got really confused at times!  Don't know who designed the road layouts or what they were thinking (or perhaps what they were on) but there is much confusion and very little logic!  Anyway, we found the hotel okay, very nice, especially after the last place.  Settled in and relaxed before heading out to get some bits to eat - not that we wanted much.  Tomorrow we will sort out a tour of the city.

Distance: 279 miles

Thursday

We knew that today was going to be a long drive but until you get to Sequoia, you don't realise how tiring the drive can be on the road filled with twists and turns but more about that later.

We left for Sequoia very early (for us) to see the giant trees.  We stopped to have breakfast in Denny's as the so called 'continental breakfast' at the hotel was laughable.  Not knowing when we were going to stop for lunch, having a decent breakfast was a good idea but once again, we had not thought about the size of the portions.  Now, I don't mean to be rude, but with the amount of food served to you, the amount of food you are expected to eat and noticing that most of the population seem to do this without a problem, it's no wonder that so many Americans are either obese or obsessed fitness freaks!  You either have to grow in size or work it off!

The weather was lovely, warm and sunny, pretty much like the weather we'd left in SA.  We made sure we had enough water (I do drink a lot of water every day), the iPod set on shuffle and we took our time travelling up to the park.

You have to drive quite a way into the park before you see the biggest living thing in the world - the General Sherman - though we stopped on the way to take pics and movie footage of the first really HUGE trees we saw.  WOW! One of the really amazing things in the park was the amount of snow that was still around - masses of it but it was warm and sunny with us in short sleeves, very strange!  We took lots of footage of the snow piled up around the sides of the road as we had people back in SA who just wouldn't believe it until they saw it.

Heading further in and finally reaching the General Sherman, you really understand the enormity of these trees, how long they have been there but, in a way, how little has changed around them and that is a credit to the US parks.  The General Sherman is thought to be the largest living thing on the planet and believed to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old - that's a long time to be standing up!  LOL

R took pics and I used the movie camera which really gives an idea of how large the tree is when you pan from someone standing at the base, slowly all the way to the top - it took about 30 seconds to do.  It really was amazing to see and we know that there are other amazing sights to behold on this holiday.

Unfortunately, because it is only mid-April and because of the snow, some of the roads were still closed.  That included the one that lead to Auto Log, where the road has been cut through a fallen sequoia to really give you an idea of the size of these magnificent trees.  R was very disappointed at that, bad timing and weather worked against us - a bit like the bad timing we had many years ago when we spent part of our honeymoon at Disneyworld in Florida.  There were no fireworks displays in the evenings as it was the wrong time of year!  Anyway, that gives us a reason to come back here again and next time, we won't do a whole flydrive trip, we'll pick a couple of places to stay and work out from there so we can spend more time in the places we've liked.

Driving back out of the park was probably worse than driving in even though we stopped to take more pictures of the forests and the mountains in the distance.  The twisting and turning of the road ended up making me feel rather sick and gave me a headache and I don't normally get travel sick. Once we headed out, we found somewhere to stop and have something to eat, after driving it was good to sit still for a while.  I was rather worried for a while that I was getting another attack of Labyrinthitis (horrid inner ear infection a bit like vertigo) as that really would have put a damper on things, especially so early in the trip but in the end it passed.

We got back to the hotel in the late evening and were rather disappointed to find that our room had not been made up properly.  It was partly done - towels taken but not replaced, bed not made, bin not emptied, no coffee... seems whoever had been doing it got distracted with something else and then forgot to go back.  We complained but as we were leaving in the morning, there wasn't much point in it all.  We would never stay there again and would never recommend it.  A shame really because it looks quite nice from the outside but appearances can be deceptive!

Distance: 317 miles

Wednesday

Today was the start of our drive down to San Diego.  We collected the car, checked out of the hotel and set off.  We hired a Garmin with the car as it saved the whole map thing so we started off towards route 1 working out the quirks on the system along the way.  The plan was to drive down route 1, past Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur, San Simeon and Hearst Castle where we were going in a couple of days, then turn off just after Cambria towards Paso Robles.  All in all, without stopping for pictures etc it was going to take over five and a half hours but hey, we were on holiday and that's what this was all about.  We had the iPod on shuffle, bottles of water, sunglasses and basically a happy air around us.

We stopped quite often to take in the view and take pictures as it was really lovely.  I kept thinking about the Red Hot Chili Peppers track, Road Trippin.  It reminds me a lot of the road from where we live in Strand, up to Kleinmond, but the surroundings on route 1 are more green.  That said, I think the SA road is more breathtaking, especially as you have mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.  It's certainly a trip I take all of our visitors on and one that we do quite a lot at all times of year, especially in the right season if you carry on to Hermanus and go whale watching.

All was going well, we were about 5 miles from San Simeon when we spotted smoke further up the road.  We soon found the source of the smoke - there was a fire along the road and it was closed!  We had a choice, stay there and wait and hope the fire would be dealt with quite quickly (though we were told it was likely to be several hours) or we could go back the way we came - all the way back down the road we had been on for most of the day!  This was a massive detour, to head all the way back towards Monterey, take the road to Salinas, then take the 101 down to Paso Robles.  It was going to take us a couple of hours to get back to Monterey and then almost the same again to get down to Paso Robles - it's a long time to be in the car!  Plus, we were starving by this time as we'd planned to eat when we got off route 1 which would have been another 45 minutes at the most.

So there was nothing to do but head back to Monterey as we had no idea how long we would be stuck on route 1 otherwise.  Stopped in Monterery for a very late lunch or slightly early dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, nice place, nice atmosphere, great food - the crab cakes were fantastic!  Then we headed down the 101 to Paso Robles and crashed at the hotel.  Very basic but hey, we're only sleeping here as we have quite a long day tomorrow, so leaving fairly early and getting back quite late.  R did all the driving today and will probably do most of it tomorrow, not because I don't like to drive (I love it) but, well, he's a guy and can be a bit of a car hog LOL!

Distance: 256 miles but actually 426 miles with the detours - no wonder R was tired!

Tuesday

We decided to do a bus tour of SF which takes us to all the sights and the chance to hop on and off as much as you want all day.  We've done these in so many places we've been (starting in Paris when we got engaged) and found them really useful to get from place to place without too much hassle.

So we got to see some of the places that we went to yesterday with D but got a bit more background information as the tours have commentary.  Went to all the touristy places such as China Town, Nob Hill, Coit Tower, Marina District, The Presidio, Golden Gate Park, the Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf.

We got off at Fisherman's Wharf to wander around for a while as it's one of those places you know about from movies and tv so it's sort of iconic in your mind.  It was very touristy (but that's what we were doing) but really nice and we were glad we went.  Strangely enough, there were a lot of English people around.  Main purchase down there was a fleece jacket for me as I was really feeling the cold.  Although we worked on the idea that it wasn't going to be that warm as it's only April, we didn't expect it to be that cold and the wind off the ocean didn't help!  Anyway, it was going to be a good investment as when we looked at the weather on tv this morning, it showed that there was still snow in Seattle!  Really hope that's not the case when we are up there later in the month - I don't do cold well.  Amazingly, I've never been as cold as I have been living in Cape Town.  The problem is that houses are built to stay cool, not warm, no one has proper heating and although the days are still lovely in winter with temperatures in the late teens or early 20s C, the temp can drop down to 5C or less once the sun sets.  I have to say I miss my central heating!

Thought about spending some time at the movies but there wasn't really anything we wanted to see.  Typical, I have a chance to see something ahead of time for SA and there's nothing I want to see!  It was the same when we checked out whether any bands that we wanted to see were playing while we were in certain places but no such luck!

Our last evening in SF so we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory again as it is at the top of a building and the view from the balcony, watching the sun set over the city was wonderful.  Still didn't manage to eat dessert though... we may have to sort out a 'coffee and cake' time to experience the cheesecake while we have the chance!

Monday

The recuperative powers of a good night's sleep, hot shower and good breakfast set us up for the day.  Taking everything very easy, not rushing to get up as we don't have to, relaxing into the whole trip.

First needed to get the admin things out of the way, check the email at the hotel (Macs yay!), send some emails, use Skype to call R's folks to make sure that everything was fine back at home.

Went out to check out the first world shopping!  I've really missed world-class retail therapy which I know makes me sound really shallow but it's a favourite pastime of ours, even if we don't actually buy anything the range of shops and choice of goods is sorely missed in SA.  Shame we never realised just how much we would miss that.  So we browsed the Virgin Megastore and the Apple Store (where we found that the new iPod touch works out so cheap compared to the UK let alone SA but especially good as there is currently $2 to £1).  Sorted out buying some cheap phones to get the sim cards so we can get in touch with people in the US and send details to people back home.

R called our friend D to make plans for the evening.  We've not actually seen each other for several years since D moved to the US.  We used to be in bands together for years and it was going to be strange to see him since he settled here and has even got married.  Made arrangements for him to pick us up this evening and to go to dinner.

Hit a few more shops - Victoria's Secret but very disappointed there, just bought some basic things as nothing really grabbed me.  It has to be the first time I've been to the US and not bought some things from there, but, there's a lot of trip to go so I may find something worth purchasing later.  Visited the Disney Store (as they don't have those in SA and I have nieces and nephews - and cousins - who love the stuff) but again, nothing really grabbed me as worth buying.

Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory as we really like this place since we discovered it with some friends in Boston several years ago.  However, we simply couldn't manage to have cheesecake after the lunch - we'd forgotten how huge the portions could be compared to SA and those aren't exactly small!  We sent a text to my cousin G to tease him about it as he's passionate about cheesecake, we'd shown him the website for the restaurant and he was drooling.  Maybe we'll get him a t-shirt from here or something, though I'm not sure whether that would make him feel better or worse.

Headed back to the hotel to wash and brush up and wait for D.  He's not changed a bit and within minutes it was like we'd never been apart.  He took us to do the touristy stuff in SF - Lombard Street (the most twisty street ever - what is that about?); Coit Tower with the most amazing view (we love going to high places in the cities we visit) giving the chance to take pics of the bay, the city and Alcatraz; to the Presidio; down to the Golden Gate Bridge (amazing feat of engineering and I love bridges) - which was very cold and windy but maybe we found it more as we'd left the end of summer in SA; then crossed the bridge into Sausalito for dinner at an Indian restaurant (though nothing beats the ones in the UK).

A serious amount of catching up over dinner and we found that life isn't all fun for D.  Things are expensive for him just as they are for us in SA, life is complicated but on the whole good.  We all promised to keep in touch, email more and try to arrange to visit soon - though not sure whether that's us coming to him or him coming to us!

One more day in SF tomorrow before starting the drive down to San Diego.  To be honest, we're happy to do almost nothing at all, take in some sights, do a bit of shopping and just relax.  Put the thoughts and worries of back home on hold for a while...

Saturday/Sunday

Even though this is dated April 13 (happy birthday T), we actually started travelling on Saturday 12 April but it takes a while to travel 10,000 miles - especially this time!  We left Cape Town without any problems, heading to Johannesburg first and managed to book our luggage through to London, Heathrow and I was finally excited about the whole trip.  But something was nagging a bit.  I'd been on the BA website on and off all day to try to book the seats on our flight to San Francisco which was leaving the next morning - we'd land at Heathrow, have a few hours in the terminal before boarding the next flight to SF - but couldn't get onto it at all.  Now, anyone who's read some previous posts knows that the 'broadband' internet connection in SA is not always the best, but I didn't really think it was that, there seemed to be a problem with BA's site.  Added to that was the current big problem - Terminal 5 and all the horror stories about lost luggage, cancelled flights... but hopefully, as it had been open a few weeks now, that wasn't going to be a problem?  We were flying into Terminal 4 and out of Terminal 5 now - last minute change so a good job we had time to travel between the terminals.

When we arrived at Johannesburg we tried to book the seats for SF again but the BA desk couldn't access the flight... this was getting ominous.  We paid to get some internet access on the off chance that we would now be able to book those seats and put our minds at rest.  No such luck, not only could we not book the seats but our flight had been cancelled!  There was a number to call if you had problems but hey, it was Saturday night and of course BA in SA only worked office hours which was Mon-Fri 9-5 - really helpful for those people flying at other times!  We headed back out into the main terminal so we could get to BA customer services.  She contacted sales, sales said the flight wasn't cancelled, well, they didn't have any notification of that.  We told them we'd been emailed with the cancellation, then while sales were on the phone, the flight came up as cancelled on their system!  Luckily there was a second flight a bit later in the day so she managed to book us onto that one and we'd have to speak to BA when we got to Heathrow and hopefully it would all be okay as it would be a very sorry start to the trip to find ourselves stranded in London!

So flight to London was pretty uneventful.  I like flying BA for various reasons and they are my airline of choice, if I have the choice.  Watched some bits and pieces on the in flight entertainment, most notably I am Legend.  It was okay as a stand alone movie but I've read the Richard Matheson book and this movie was not it!  This is the third time it's been filmed and none of them have ever done the novel justice.  R managed to sleep quite a lot but I only managed three hours - going to be tired waiting around in London.

We landed in Terminal 5, not 4 as we were told - it's a lovely terminal but that may be because it is new!  I still think that Singapore is one of the best airports I've ever been in.  Our luggage arrived so we collected it and headed to BA customer services to find out about our cancelled flight.  Customer services representative was excellent, really pleasant, very helpful and understanding.  The SA branch had managed to book us onto the next flight but of course it was now really full so booking seats we wanted was impossible but hey, we were lucky to get on the flight, there would be some people finding out about the cancellation so late that they wouldn't be flying until tomorrow.  BA gave us £10 each in food vouchers to cover the time we would be stuck in the airport.

So, we waited... did some things that we'd missed such as shopping at Smiths and Boots and had a Starbucks.  Thought about going to Wagamama's for lunch... bought some cheap books - compared to SA almost everywhere is cheap - and this was only the start, heading to the US always means I come back with books... and shoes... and lingerie usually (love Victoria's Secret) LOL.

The flight to SF was very full and I was very tired so tried to get some more sleep.  I had tried to get some sleep in the terminal but not much luck.  We were delayed an hour in leaving (I was asleep though LOL) but R was awake most of the time. Did manage to watch Juno, which we both enjoyed, the performances were really good and the story didn't have the usual 'cop out' Hollywood ending.  Spent more time listening to the iPod really.

Arrived a bit tired, went through the whole security thing with fingerprints and pics - wonder what they do with that huge amount of data... better not to ask I guess.  Picked up the luggage, got transport into town.  Serrano Hotel very nice, boutique with lovely little touches in the decor, games in the lobby, and an iPod speaker clock so that took care of charging it!  Went to the restaurant to eat something before falling asleep.  The way I was feeling, I could have fallen asleep in my dinner!

Went to bed around 9.30pm local time but that was really 6.30am Monday morning for us!  Started travelling at 3.30pm on Saturday and finally stopped 39 hours later!  Good night's sleep needed before starting the trip for real tomorrow.

Well, that's being a bit of a tall order at the moment.  We had a terrible year last year and were determined to have a better one now but as soon as we start thinking that things have to get better, fate seems to take great pleasure in proving us wrong.  But, I'm not going to dwell on that too much it's too depressing and it doesn't make good reading.  I've decided to find something to write about despite the situation as if I wait for something really nice to say, well, it could be a while before there's anything new to read on here!

So, onto nicer things... holiday!  Yay!  All booked now, just making some final plans to meet up with people in the States and the UK.  Most people in the world will be aware by now of the problems at Heathrow's new Terminal 5, the new home of British Airways and guess who we are flying with?  Yep, BA, so we really hope that they get things sorted before we fly into there on 13 April as it could put a real damper on the holiday if they a) lose the luggage, b) tell us we can't take any luggage (bit tough to do a three week trip without any clothes) or c) simply don't put the luggage on the plane!  We have to fly from here to London, then London to San Francisco so we're hoping to book our luggage right through so we don't have to check it all in again but let's hope they can do that!

So, from San Francisco we drive down to San Diego mostly down the coast road, though we're taking a slight detour to go to the Sequoia National Park to see the trees.  We spend a couple of days in LA to see what we want to see but really we're spending more time in San Francisco and San Diego.  From there we fly to Las Vegas for a couple of days and we have a trip to the Grand Canyon booked and after that we fly to Seattle for a couple of days, then to London for a few days to catch up with friends.  Lots of flying around so lots of time to stitch, read or watch any good movies!  I'll be keeping some sort of diary about the trip so I can post things on here though it may not be until I get back as we may not have time come on here while we're away.

So, what else?  Weather is still good over here though I think the season will really change when we're away and we'll probably come back to true autumn.  At the moment we still have lovely days, some very hot (should be 30C today) but it does get colder when the sun goes down, overnight and can be cooler in the mornings which tells us that autumn is on its way. 

We started an ex-pats group over here to meet up with people in similar positions to our own and we've had a few get togethers.  We have one next week (the weekend before we leave) and there should be some new people at that which will be great.  We're going to have 'afternoon tea' at a fabulous patissiere in Cape Town so no one will be on a diet that day!

Film: Not been to the cinema for ages - things just seem to get in the way so I am looking forward to catching a couple that I've missed during the flights for the holiday, though knowing my luck, I'll have seen everything.  Have watched a couple of things on tv - Junebug, which I really enjoyed, loved Amy Adams performance; Cry Wolf because it just happened to be on and a few classic repeats that I'd not seen for ages: The Odessa File; North by Northwest (which I always seem to watch when it's on, despite owning it on DVD); Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (ditto); Jagged Edge (great film up until the point she finds the typewriter).   There are lots of things I'm looking forward to seeing but I have no idea when they come out over here so... may have to spend a couple of evenings or something at the movies when we are in the States.

Books: Still reading The Time Traveller's Wife and I am enjoying it.  It's quirky, interesting and the timeline thing keeps things fresh, it's a different take on a people story.  One thing I have thought about is how it's been filmed as I think some people will find it confusing, others annoying because it jumps about and it's not a straight timeline story.  I mean, I know people who found Memento difficult to watch, follow or understand because it was done in little backwards snapshots!  Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Stitching: Finished the RR piece, sent it to its owner and it's arrived safely!  Now working on finishing the birth sampler for a friend in the UK so I can give it to her when I'm over.  After that, I'll work on the other birth sampler I have for a cousin here and then something for me - yay!  Think I'll have to do some sort of lucky dip to decide what to stitch for myself first though as I have quite a stash.

Music: Stress level has been through the roof in recent weeks and I've had a lot of work to do finishing a web content project for a university over here.  So music has alternated between loud and raucous and very mellow.  At the moment I'm in the mellow mood and music of choice is Ella Fitzgerald singing all those wonderful standards that I love.  People who have worked with me will remember well the times like that as, for some of them, it was an introduction to this wonderful singer and fabulous songs.  For some, my wide music taste was rather surprising and it was just another aspect of me that didn't seem to fit 'in the box provided/created'.

Well, that's all for now...

Well truly, the title and feeling are not quite right for now but it's the main reason for this post.  Thanks to Telkom (bunch of w@%$ers) I've pretty much been offline since the afternoon of 27 Feb - today was my first day back with access because it's a new month and everything 'resets'.  Starting from the beginning, ADSL here is expensive mainly because Telkom have a monopoly on the telephone things and they charge what they want.  Several people don't even bother with landlines because of that and rely solely on mobile phones.  It is also slow (though they don't think so) and very unreliable at times.  Facts to back this up are... it costs us per month here what we were paying per quarter in the UK for a 10th of the access (3GB as opposed to 30GB) plus they charge you for your phone line and the ADSL line, even though it's only one line!; they can barely manage 1MB here when were were on 4MB in the UK and heading to 8MB speed; even though you are supposed to be connected all the time with ADSL, there are times you just cannot get on.

Anyway, we reached our monthly limit on the afternoon of 27 Feb.  As there were a couple more days to go in the month, I decided we needed to buy a top up gig which you can do online... well, you could if it was working - which it wasn't.  So, had to buy it on the phone which meant I was given a new user name and password temporarily to access this extra space but the person on the phone couldn't tell me how to do this, I had to speak to someone in the technical department.  Hmm, I wondered, are those the same technical experts who run the site and can't make sure that you can top up online towards the end of a month?

To cut a long story short... a very long time on hold, several phone calls, cut off a couple of times, technical not being able to make this user name and password work, sales being unhelpful again, someone else in technical giving us instructions that screwed with our machine... in total FIVE HOURS on the phone and the upshot was we couldn't get the new user name and password to work - and now the old one wasn't working either.  R had some very interesting things to say to the technical 'expert' on the phone!  I finally got our proper user name and password to be accepted and we've been holding our breath until this morning, hoping that everything would reset, which thankfully it has.  To add insult to injury, we had to remember to call them yesterday to tell them to cancel the extra gig for next month or we'd automatically be allocated it and charged! Grrr.

So, I've not been a happy bunny.  One of the things we checked before moving here was broadband/ADSL access - R actually asked my dad about it and said, "if you don't, she won't move!"  There were other things that we should have really checked out before moving here but that's another post for another time.  Not having access to the real internet (ie sites outside of South Africa) has just been horrible.  Not only could I not go to my favourite places, I couldn't talk to my friends on messenger, couldn't call them on Skype, couldn't access my email on Gmail and couldn't do anything for our hobby business or other bits of work as they need to be accessed online!  Add to that the fact that we wanted to book bits for the holiday but couldn't and the things just pile up on you.  All of this may seem very melodramatic but it brought so many frustrations and disappointments to the fore that I have to say that it was some of the worst time we've had here.  Decisions are going to have to be made and I'm sure they will appear in here as and when.  I said in the last entry that things would wear me down soon enough though I'd rather have been proved wrong about that...

Film:  haven't really watched anything recently.  Have to admit though, two of my favourite tv programmes are back on this weekend - Supernatural and Dexter.  I'm going to try not to miss those so I don't end up with loads of them on tape and having to catch up... or trying to catch up and just not succeeding!  So much to do, so little time!

Books:  Finished Velocity.  Hmm.  Not much to say really, disappointed, all a bit pat for my liking, tried for the twist ending but I'd seen that coming and the 'ordinary hero', well, he despatched the baddies far too easily for me.  Sorry, Mr Koontz, not your best but that's just my opinion.  Now I have a confession... I have read a lot, R built me a library in the attic of our old house to take the books that I had read - some of which didn't look read because I'm so careful with them (the main reason why I won't lend out my books) - and downstairs I had a bookshelf filled with those I had yet to read.  I'm an avid book buyer as well as reader, so there are a lot of things on that shelf but the stack is going down because books are so damned expensive over here that I just don't buy that many anymore and that's another frustration over here!  Things that we like - books, games, films/dvds are really expensive.  Books, well, it works out cheaper to buy from Amazon UK, pay for the shipping and duty into the country than to buy books over here!  There are exceptions as there are some good cut price bookshops but they don't always have what I want or need.  So, the confession is that I have stacks to read and what I read isn't necessarily that new but rather what grabs me at the time I choose my new tome.  So, my current pick is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  I bought it ages ago, when it first appeared in paperback, from Amazon actually and it's sat on the shelf waiting to be chosen.  Okay, I admit, one reason I'm reading it now is before the film comes out because sometimes I like to see what they get right, what they get wrong and what they just change (eg Neil Gaiman's Stardust).  I'll leave commenting about it until I'm a bit further in...

Stitching: finishing the RR piece and then moving on to finish the two birth samplers. I'm also sorting out patterns and materials for my really good friend L who visited me recently and who I taught to stitch when she was here.  I actually stitched her a piece as a gift a few years back before we left the UK as a little something to remember me by before we moved.  I can't believe that she's stitching now and actually enjoying it, which is great.  I've actually taught half a dozen people to stitch since I moved here which is nice and eventually I'd like to have a stitching group here as I did back in the UK.  People are always surprised when they find out I stitch.  They tell me that I don't look like 'the type', though when questioned, they can't actually tell me what 'the type' is.

Music:  been sorting out my iTunes categories and looking at putting some of my vinyl onto CD, then onto iTunes and ultimately my iPod - especially for the California road trip... next month, oh my, it will be next month!  Wow!  The only vinyl album I've put onto iTunes at the moment is Colourbox by Colourbox and I transferred this ages ago but I've listened to it a few times over the past few days while I've been working and I still love it, still believe it was ahead of its time - a true classic of the 80s.

Holiday: so far we've booked flights there and back with our stop in London on the way back to catch up with people; booked the flight from San Diego to Las Vegas; the hotel in Vegas; and the Grand Canyon trip.  Now that the internet is back at our fingertips, we can book the rest soon!

Well, time to end another long entry...

Yesterday, Thursday 21 February, 2008 at 4.30am ish there was a total lunar eclipse that could be seen quite clearly here.  In fact, we set the alarm so we could get up and see this amazing phenomenon.  It was so worth the effort and the being tired later in the day!

One thing that has struck me since I moved here is how many stars can be seen with the naked eye.  I don't just mean the larger ones, I mean, hundreds, thousands, probably millions of the smaller ones that simply don't show up in most places due to the ambient light that is always around.  That's especially the case in the UK as there are so many people, so many cities and towns lit up 24 hours a day, that the stars are just not visible.  Here, there are large, bright stars visible every night and then there are all the pinpricks of light that are smaller stars filling the gaps in between.  If looks as though someone has sprinkled glitter in the sky.

Well, the lunar eclipse was amazing.  We watched as the moon slowly fell into shadow and I was surprised that you could still see the shading on the moon so clearly.  It was like the moon had simply pulled a veil over her face before slowly taking it off to reveal her brightness again.

So, that's all I'm going to write about for this entry as I'm still so amazed by what I saw, so pleased that I made the effort to see this that I'm not going to let anything else encroach for a while - there will be plenty of time for things to wear me down!  After all, it's something to be recorded and remembered and it's not something you see every day!

For some reason today I've had flashes of pictures from back home storm into my mind, mostly when I've been trying to concentrate on some particularly boring piece of work (always the way).  Thing is, they're not even images of my favourite things (ok, Bluewater was in there somewhere) but mainly they've been silly things - Waitrose (I miss decent supermarkets of all things!), my road (but not the end that I lived in), my high street, workplace and strangely enough, images of Chicago where I went on a business trip with a colleague and friend.  So, go figure!

So, I think that it's been one of those days when I've been bored and bits of my mind have been wandering off unsupervised - very dangerous according to R who says I think too much and too deeply anyway.  I never really think I'm homesick as I do realise that all the things that pushed me from the UK are still there and I would probably get frustrated being back there... but sometimes... it just seems like "there's no place like home", and what I wouldn't do for a pair of ruby slippers or a time machine!  Strangely enough, the only time I am really homesick is if I listen to Virgin Radio online and then it's not the programmes or the music, it's the adverts that get to me!  Maybe it's the mundane, maybe it's the accents, I don't know.

Maybe I need this trip back to the UK more than I realise, maybe I need a fix or to just get it out of my system for a while.  As I'm feeling a bit blue about it, the things that get to me here get to me even more.  The one that's frustrating me at the moment is how long it takes for films to be released over here and how some things never make it into the cinema at all!  Some of the stuff out here at the moment or due out soon are already on DVD elsewhere in the world.  At least going to the movies is cheaper than in the UK but I'll still be adding to the DVD collection with films that I've never seen on the big screen and I'll be buying them online because the versions over here are quite often lame, just the film with no extras or whatever.  I'm going to make a list of the films that I'm looking forward to seeing this year and I'll put it on here sometime.  Such a shame that Premiere is no longer in publication - I'd subscribed to that magazine for years and read it for even longer.  I know it's online but it's just not the same, I mean, you can't read online in the bath!

Film: last film seen - about half of The Black Dahlia this evening but just couldn't get into it, despite Aaron Eckhart being in it (I think he's great and I loved him in Thank You For Smoking).  I kept thinking LA Confidential was much better, even though it was fiction - and it had Kevin Spacey in it!

Books:  same as before, though I have to admit to getting a bit bored with Velocity.  I've read so many of the Koontz books but in the end stopped as I found them a bit formulaic.  Don't get me wrong, I think he's written some amazing stories - Watchers, Lightning (can't understand why this has never been filmed), Mr Murder, Sole Survivor, Cold Fire, Tick Tock - with some strong female characters and I would have loved to have written any one of them.   Maybe that's what this book is lacking for me, strong female presence but I'm just not really into it.  I'll finish it because I may as well and I've only ever really given up on one book in my reading lifetime.

Stitching: same but not really done any since the last entry.  Was going to do some tonight when watching Grey's Anatomy (one of my current TV addictions) but ended up snuggled on the sofa with R instead, which is always time well spent.

Well, I've finally decided to start a journal after talking about it for so long.  Now I'll just need to keep it up as so many of these things have been started and then cease to be updated. 

So, why now?  Why not?  It's sort of still quite close to the start of the year and I'm determined to have a better one than the last.  Perhaps keeping this will make me find the positives and try not to dwell on the negatives too much - though I can't promise that there won't be some of that!

There have been a couple of positive starts to the year: I've started writing again - out of the blue a new lyric came bounding into my head and i had to get it down on paper (ok, on screen) and that made me realise how much I've missed my music since moving here. 

Oh yeah, better explain that - moved here to Cape Town, South Africa back in Sept 2005.  Came with husband and in-laws, all my family actually live here already.  Bit of a wrench after being born and bred in London, England and pretty much living in the same house for most of my life (was the family home then inherited).  Seemed like a good idea at the time, at other times I wonder what the hell we've done but as I always say, "this is real life, not a dress rehearsal", we will work at making the best of it (for the moment).  Sometimes it's wonderful, sometimes it's just not - a bit like life really.

Another positive was finding my 'stitchy bug' (seemed to have been on a long holiday and was reluctant to return) and getting the first piece finished for the year - for someone else of course - and so I need to get other things done so I can do something for me.  I'm a SABLE stitcher - Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy - and I know that's not going to change in the near future!

Fun event - is planning our trip to the Grand Canyon/Las Vegas/California due to take place in April with a few days stop over in London to see friends.  All to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, our being together for 20 years and best friends for 21 years.

What else?  Work isn't too bad - still doing some freelance editing for a university over here and just taken on some transcription work for a UK company over here to fill in the gaps.  Plus, the hobby business R and I have started is moving to the next level and will require more attention and work.  Then there's the house to still renovate, the cats to look after and of course the in-laws who live in a 'granny flat' attached to the house.  I'm in the habit of saying that I don't need children, I have parents - his two and my father - they are enough to handle!

Couple more bits of general information, areas that I'll probably expand on as entries progress.

Film: last film seen - 13 Ghosts on TV last night, seen it before but stayed up to watch it again for the house and the unusual cast.  Actually a bit hooked on some TV programmes at the moment!  Need to organise a day at the movies soon to catch up with stuff on release.  Love horror films but have no one to go with.

Music:  see above.  Current Foo Fighters album is playing, really getting into this quite easily.  Never really got into In Your Honour that much, maybe it was the feel of two totally separate albums.  This fits more with me, like One By One and Nothing Left To Lose (my fave I think).

Books: Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue and Velocity by Dean Koontz.

Stitching: Last bit of a Honeypot Bears round robin, birth sampler for a friend, birth sampler for a cousin.

Well, I think that will do for the first bit of insight into the world of Z.