zjbm1

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...