New Years Eve

Spent most of the day searching for the all important sticker but with no luck.
J is doing a great job keeping in touch, we have had a call every day, sometimes twice, letting us know where she is and what they've been doing.
We usually wish each other Happy New Year at 4:00pm pacific time as that is midnight in England and we toasted the year with a nice cup of tea. Although I think S had a G&T later!!
J called at 10:00 to wish us HNY as she knew I wouldn't wait up till midnight. I tried but at 11:30 and throughly bored with the so called entertainment on the TV, I decided to call it a night and snug down!. At midnight A came in to wish us HNY and the neighbours let off a few fireworks and bangers and I fell asleep shortly after

missing sticker

Went geocaching which was fun, found 2 of the 3 we looked for. the best one was a multcache that led us to a secret garden above a beach in DM. Lots of people about and we got taken for tourists as we pretended to be taking photos while logging in the cache. A muggle came over and asked if we'd like her to take a photo of us both!!
Sadly our day was ruined by an overzealous parking warden or whatever they are called over here! He ticketed us for non display of our car tax sticker! We have paid but somehow the sticker has been mislaid and we can't find it anywhere!! so we have now spent best part of the day searching everywhere and tiding up all the piles of paper, books and magazines in the vain hope that after more than 6 months missing this important sticker is found.
I don't hold out much hope though.

boring stuff

Didn't do anything today, well I'll take that back I dd do ironing all morning but that's pretty boring stuff to talk about.

wedding conga

S and I went to a wedding today. This is the first wedding that I have been to in America, so it was very interesting to see the difference and simularities. The bride A and her family came from the Phillapines and the groom A comes from Indiana. S knows him from work and we were invited, A, told us later because S was kind and supportive towards him when he first joined S after moving to SD.

The church service was very nice and everyone was very friendly. The Bridesmaids were all wearing lovely dresses, no two the same but all varying shades of pink, the music was provided by a formidable woman at the organ who urged everyone to join in the hymns, unfortunatly we were not at all familiar with any of them so felt a bit uncomfortable, but she sung with gusto and more than made up for our slacking!
The vows were exchanged and photos taken and we made our way to the reception at a hotel on the bay. We had cocktails at one and then a sit down lunch at two. I couldn't wait for dessert, the cakes were all arranged on a table quite close to where I was sitting and looked and tasted delicious.
S's boss and his wife and others from his work were also at the wedding so we sat with them as places were not allocated and we had a very nice time chatting. When the dancing started S's boss was one of the first to get up and persuded everyone to join in. I haven't danced since, Oh I don't know when! So it was fun, we even did a little conga around the floor! a first for me!!
It was a wonderful day and I hope the bride and groom enjoyed it as much as we did!!

uneventful

Well I had to go to work today, but it was very uneventful. I asked if I could have the rest of the week off and was given the OK.
J has gone on her road trip to Cape Fair Missouri with her boyfriend. It is 25hours away according to Mapquest and they hope to make it with two over night stops. I'm not really happy about this long trip but what to do? No point in getting in a state and saying unforgivable and unforgettable things in temper which if we got in a row about it would be sure to happen, all I can do is hope that she has a safe journey and keeps in touch.

time has flown

S and I seemed to have spent the whole day on our peecees!! S has just installed XP on mine so I keep finding stuff 'missing' but the system is working fast and my cursor is not sticking any more!
We had IM'd our friends in England and arranged to have a go at video-conferencing or seeing each other and talking over the internet. S set up our old broken video camera to view me and had the new V cam viewing him and it worked fine, we could hear and see each other on our peecees. Made all the more amusing as we were in the same room!! Talk about abuse of technology!! But as usual, and this seems to be an annual event with Charles, although we could see him waving at us we could not hear anything and he could neither hear nor see us!! We resorted to that old technology, the telephone!!
We have arranged the dates for our canal boating holiday!! We will be going on the LLangollan Canal on a 10 berth narrowboat, looking forward to this so much, the last time we went on the canals with L&C was 20 long years and 5 children ago!!
Can't believe it is such a long time and how time has flown by!!

pudding and crackers

We had a quiet Christmas. J had to work so we opened some of our presents before she went and saved some for when she got back. I think everyone was happy with their stuff.
S was v. dissappointed, as when he opened the box of his pc game, he found that his computer game had been stolen as the first cd was missing! We hope that he can get it replaced by EB.
I love my years supply of scrapbooking, a monthly kit and a Josh Groban DVD, but I was not so keen on the (un)sexy naked farmers calender that I recieved from my SIL, yuck.
J loved all her clothes, but then she chose them!! But she also liked the foot spa and smellies from B & B to use in it, although she will have to get rid of her veruka first.
I think A was the happiest, he loved all his gifts and sat down at his pc to play his game for the rest of the day. We had a full English breakfast, a very tasty lunch with homemade pate and a
great roast lamb with all the trimmings Christmas Dinner with pudding and crackers.

day's adventure

Today we are going to find our 300th cache. It's probably really more as there have been some I have not logged and at least one that the entire page was deleted, unfortunately our first, but luckily we did two that day and the other one is still active.
We had a note to say that my TB Squirt had been placed in a close by cache so that pretty much decided where our days cacheing would be centred. I chose our 4 caches with care as I did not want to be disappointed and unable to get to 300. I could not count the cache that the TB was in as I had already found it, Simon had not found this one as it was one of two that I did alone after work as it is very close to my office. I chose a multicache as our 300th which with hindsight was probably a mistake, as waypoints can be and in this case was, lost, and we did not find the cache. Luckily I had another cache in reserve also with a Christmas theme and we were successful in finding it. We have never been number driven so our total of 300 caches since August 11, 2001 is puny compared to many, but unlike some, I can remember a good many of the caches we have found and recall the details of the day's adventure.

home to roost

Recieved one of my TB back in the post today!! It had been through the wars and had undergone some TLC in the hands of Firemedic and family but they contacted me to see if I wanted her back and I thought that would be a good idea she has travelled many miles and it would be fun to have her back. Coincedentally I also got a email saying that another of my bugs had been placed near by so that really decided our Friday's geocaching destination too.

passed

Yea! (I think) A passed his driving test! I drove him to the DMV and while he was being tested I walked around Petco looking at the budgies and fish. I was pleased to see they do not have any large pets for sale as they have a policy of having a few shelter animals in at weekends only and not keeping them in the store.
So when I came out of the store A was walking towards me with the all important piece of paper and a grin from ear to ear!! I offered to take him out to lunch but he said he just wanted to go home for a cup of tea.

one more step

A has his third official driving lesson today. and tomorrow he has his test. A two edged sword as it means he will be able to and from school and karate and his friends which will be a good thing and be free to drive when and where he likes which will be a bad thing!! My baby has grown up and is taking one more step towards leaving the nest............

chocolate orange

One of the presents we've bought A is the dvd boxed set of Van Helsing with a couple of oldie B&W monster movies, Frankenstein and The Mummy, I think they are called. I thought that was more interesting than just buying the movie by it'self. When I got home from work A told me that he had rented Van Helsing using the On Demand feature on the TV. He has done this before, but I only found out when I got the bill and told him to tell me before hand next time, so he must have been influenced by his Russian friend (who is a nice boy on the surface but is a troublemaker really!) I don't mind that he ordered the movie without asking again but it's a shame it was one that he's getting for Christmas. So S and I decided that we would watch it too, so I had a very nice evening watching a movie and eating a chocolate orange with my sweetie!
Didn't feel like a Monday at all!!

fun to meet

The local cache numbers and FTF maven found my cache at midnight last night. He logged the TB's but left them for the next finders. Today we had two more groups of cachers find the cache, they had met at the first waypoint and decided to continue on together. Then after they had logged one of them knocked on the door!! This is so much fun to meet cachers this way!!

unarchived

At last I've been able to reset my Christmas cache. We missed our chance last year as I was in England for the early part of December and the year before, I lost my FIL, and we wer'nt in the mood for frivolities. So I was keen to try again as soon as it was unarchived. S and I went round and sorted the waypoints adding a new one for this year. I've made it really easy as I don't want cachers going on private property (except ours). I was very excited when I hit the button to make the cache live and could hardly sit down all evening as I kept popping over to look outside in the hope of catching a cacher in the act!! Which I eventually did!! Yea!! He was just finishing logging in and we had a nice chat and I took his photo with the cache camera. I don't know if I'm going to have many cachers find it as only being unarchived and not 'new' it might not get much attention. None of the people who found it in 2001 are still caching so I put a couple of TB's in the tin to draw some attention and the FTFinder put in some more!! We shall see!

tempting....

I have a scrapbooking kit sent every month from an online store that I go to alot. I love to chat on the forums and join in the swaps and cybercrops too. I have given up swaps as I found that they took a lot of my time and I was not using the ones I recieved as much as I thought I would. They are hard to match unless the swappers agree to use a certain make such as Bazzill and even themes are not perhaps an idea I could use. But it was fun and can be used as an inspiration or a direct copy but in coordinating paper that I am using. Anyway back to the kit... As a member and monthly kit reciever, Jackie provides a forum just for us to discuss the kit and share ideas for it. She normally spreads out the mailing of the kit as it is sent to all the corners of amerika and it is fun if everyone gets it at about the same time so as not to spoil the surprise for others. This month as she is moving all the kits went out at the same time and I got mine the next day!! I'm good at keeping secrets and I want a surprise too so I put it under the Christmas tree to open on the day. But it's so tempting......

serendipity

I was listening to the local public broadcasting service on the radio on my way to do a little last minute Christmas shopping and they were doing an article on the way people talk on their cell phones.

People tend to talk louder when on a cell phone than when on a normal phone. This is because when phone were originally invented people had to sometime shout to be heard so when the service improved the phone companies had to find a way to stop the shouting, they did this by causing an echo type sound so one knew how loud one was talking but they didn't bother to do this for the cell phone user.

This is similar to the way people shout when the are listening to music on headphones, some how the brain thinks 'I am listening to loud music so must tell voice to shout so I can be heard' even thought we 'know' that the person we are talking to can hear our normal voice! Anyway the point of this is when I got to the bookshop where most people talk in hushed voices as if in a library, a woman in front of me was talking VERY LOUDLY on her cell phone, I wonder if she knew just HOW LOUD she was!! I like it when this sort of serendipity happens.

careful what you wish for

When we lived in England we used to have to stay with my MIL for a couple of days over the holidays and some times we would end up with two Christmas Day dinners, one at my parents at 2:00 and one with MIL at 6:00!! When the kids came along it was such a big deal to have to take all the preses and all the kit we needed for the time away, I used to wish we didn't have to do it although we only lived 180 miles away, that is a long way on English roads!! Now we've 6000 miles away and I got what I wished for, only now I wish we could spend more time with everyone. So my motto now is 'to be careful what you wish for'!

Back to reality!

After last nights stargazing we were in no hurry to get up early but still managed to be up and about at nine! We didn't have any breakfast except a very welcome cup of tea. Said farewell to R & S and drove home. Cooked a huge fryup for us all but burned the bacon as I was trying to put away the shopping and lost control of the frying pan!!
S finished putting up the lights and Christmas Card outside and then worked on the brakes of the van and I spent the rest of the day doing ironing and usual things. A has a bad cough and is not feeling well. Back to reality!

stargazing

We went up to the Laguna mountains to do some stargazing this w/e. We also found 4 caches along the sunrise highway, all easy drivebys! At one there was someone already searching, I could tell by the GPS in his hand and the fact he was walking under the viewing platform. As I approached I called out "nice day for geocaching" He looked a little startled and I thought I recognised him but was not sure but as soon as he introduced himself I realised that the last time we had met we had been looking for a tricky cache on the sea to sea trail during the desert geocache campout and had spent half a day out on the trail together!! What fun to bump into him again so unexpectedly!! He found the cache and we signed in and he went on his way.

S and I went back to the lodge and S fell asleep for an hour!! Then we went to the stargazing site and met Rob & Sarah. It was a beautiful evening and the sun had just set, there was not a breath of wind and the sky was clear. S set up his telescope and rob help syncronise it and got it to do the night sky tour which was fun. There were a lot of 'shooting stars' and a comet to see tonight. we also saw Saturn (again) and Rob took a great photo of Orion's Nebular just below Orion's Belt. I made sure I was warm by wearing 2 pairs of trousers. 2 t shirts a sweater and my coat! I also wrapped myself up in a sleeping bag to sit and stargaze, well prepared, for once!!

The online scrapbooking store that I go too has a bricks and morter store near me and I have got to know the owner when I go to crops that she has organised. This weekend she is closing the store and moving to Illinois, I am quite sad at this for although I shall still be buying stuff from her it won't be the same. I would like to have been able to help her pack as several other LMers are doing but S had arranged a weekend outing for us and so I can not even join in saying goodbye in person.
I've been buying a lot of scrapbooking supplies lately so this evening I managed to do a layout using some of the Scenic Route paper I won at the crop and the cardstock that I bought to match, I'm very slow and at this rate it will be 3 years before I get our holiday pics on a page!

odd shoes

I cancelled lunch with J today, as at work they wanted me to sit in the front office and look like the receptionist to impress some offsite customers. D wasn't exactly sure they would be on time so I did'nt want to risk not being there when they arrived. So J called her dad to arrange lunch with him instead! Even though I had said I would go to lunch on Thursday and shopping this evening!! S phoned to tell me he was going to lunch with J and that he had just noticed that he was wearing odd shoes, both brown, luckily but different styles!! That made me laugh!!

Bah Humbug

OK So he should'nt have opened his Christmas gift before the big day but at least it means that I will be able to get him something to exchange it for. The large brown puffy envelope was rather tempting on the kitchen table and he couldn't resist, it had come all the way from his Grandma in England.. His was the only one that was not wrapped in Christmassy paper and was in a plain white envelope. I went down to make a cup of tea and the envelope was opened and the presents strewn across the kitchen table and dissappointment all over his face!!
What's the matter I said. A replied 'I knew GMa hates me but why did she send me, a17 year old boy, a calendar?' I thought it must be a car or bike calender but no its calender of soft ,pastel, watercolours of cottages in Sussex, perfect for me but useless for him!! I thought that perhaps she'd put the wrong labels on and told him to open mine to see but no that was not the case. I try to tell myself it's the thought that counts, I hate to be uncharitable but what thought goes into a gift like that? I have bought her some very expensive smellies and they will also cost an arm and a leg to send in the mail, I've just made up my mind to send it ground by the way!. And I have just sent her a calender (smirk) but it's of photo's of her and the family!! Which cost $20 + $8 to mail Bah Humbug

No phone call

I was woken up by the phome ringing at 7:30 this morning, It was my daughter calling from the garage!! Our home's garage. She had forgotten her keys and had let herself into the garage but we had locked the door to the house too. Am I a bad mother as I did not even realise that she had not come home until I got the call??
She had gone out to a Christmas tree party and then gone back to a girlfriends house for supper and a movie and the friend who was going to drive her home decided it was too late to drive and they all stayed at Katie's. No phone call or excuses!!

not our fault

We were going to take the kids sailing today but it is raining and a dead flat calm so we thought that it would be a good idea to put it off for a better day. J thought that this was not a good idea and blamed me that we were not going, as to be honest I didn't really want to go. So I said OK, go without me if your dad still wants to go, so they went Christmas shopping instead! Pah!
I hate it when J tries to make us all feel guilty. she will just have to learn that we do our best to work around everyones work time but if the weather is not cooperating it's not our fault!!

going along nicely

We bought our Christmas tree today. We did not take long to choose it as it was quite cold (for SD). S put on the lights while J and I put up the decorations. We played Chistmas music downloaded from napster, (how traditional!!) and had hot chocolate when we had finished, exhausted but happy!!!
We have had a few things happen at this time of the year and sometimes I just get too tense to enjoy the moment or have higher expectations of the holiday, but touch wood things seem to be going along nicely at this time.

good behaviour

I had a phone call from A's school deputy principle at lunchtime today.

A had tried to sneak off campus with his friends and had been noticed by one of the security guards or whatever pc name they have. She said he had 'ran away' from this official, but when I asked him he said that he had just turned around and walked back into the halls! I'm inclined to believe him!

Anyway the punishment for trying to leave at lunchtime without a permit is to help clear up the canteen area after lunch. The deputy seemed to think it was all highly amusing and told me that I just need to come to the office to sign a waiver if I'm OK for him to go out for lunch. She even suggested that a trip to Subway would be a nice reward for good behaviour!

I know he has sneaked off before with his friends and not been caught and I don't mind signing the permit so I will get this done for next term or whatever they call it over here.

all in one

The power of advertising. On a message board I go to they play a lot of word games, one is called connect a word.

Quote:

Here's a game where i say a word and you have to connect it. Like if i said Elevator, you can put Shaft,Door..etc (Elevator shaft.Elevator door Say you put "Door" The next person has to find a word to connect to door: Knob,bell,..etc.

So, recent words have been:

oyster sause

sause thickens.

I immediatly thought Bisto!!

Thickens all In One (English gravy called Bisto, which stands for Browns, Seasons and Thickens all In One)

I don't think they have used that slogan for years and I certainly have'nt seen it here in the US!!

I never knew that Bisto actually stood for something and that it has been around since 1908. I can just about remember the Bisto Kids and I vaguely remember the adverts showing a happy family, with the mum stiring the gravy and all sitting down to a homecooked meal!!