Radio silence

Bloody hell! That was almost four months. I have some reasonable excuses if any of you would like to hear them.

The last four months have held

...a bit of travel. I spent a few days in Rome, which was absolutely wonderful for all the usual reasons - beautiful city, lots of fun and fabulous food. The highlight for me was hiring golf buggies and driving around on a self-guided tour of Rome. It was so much fun! A close second was dinner at an old palace above the Spanish Steps where there were amazing views across Rome. Three days definitely wasn't enough and I'd love to go back there with Vaughn.

...a lot of throwing up, a couple of scans and more expansion than seems reasonable. Pregnancy is an interesting experience! I've started going to aquanatal classes and every couple of weeks the lovely man at the gym sets a new routine for me (and seems to have decided he's now my personal trainer, following me around every time I go the the gym). Our antenatal classes start in February, so brace yourself for some very boring posts as I inundate you with all kinds of uninteresting things about pregnancy and child birth! And to start the ball rolling, Vaughn and I have been watching with fascination as my belly button has gone from being an innie to a flatty and is now threatening to go over to the Other Side and become an outie. I'm worried every time I sneeze that it will be the final straw and I'll start walking around navel first.

...and of course a bit of planning for Christmas. We're heading to Interlaken on Christmas Eve for a week or so of fun and snow. I'm hoping to go sledding and hiking if not skiing. It'll be my first white Christmas. I'm so excited! Just think of all that gluehwein and chocolate and laeckerle and....

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Belated Christmas greetings

A belated merry Christmas and happy new year to all (from one who relies on work for internet access)!

This morning when I logged in to my work PC an alarmingly large number of blog posts floated on to my screen. My various inboxes were neck deep in letters, emails, magazines (work related!) and other less interesting things. It's mid-afternoon now, and I'm finally on top of it all enough to read friends' Christmas and New Years wishes, and to feel mildly guilty for my lapse in blogging duties.

We had a lovely break, with various Christmas and New Years festivities. Christmas day saw us lunching with friends for our first 'orphans Christmas', then partying with our neighbours until the wee hours of the morning, playing twister and limbo, group drumming and singing. These same neighbours also cooked us breakfast the next morning, the lovely people. All in all, a wonderful couple of days.

Other things that kept us entertained and or busy were, in no particular order: our bed broke (because we were cheap and bought a crappy bed - minds out of the gutter, please), an impromptu 4-day visit from one of my very favourite people, the fireworks on New Years Eve, a tummy bug, the post-Christmas sales.

O Tannenbaum

This morning before work Vaughn and I braved the cold and the market stallers' vans trying to squeeze through ridiculously small spaces with little regard for any mere humans in the way, and came home with a Christmas tree. Luckily for Vaughn, who plans to hit the gym tonight, I have grocery shopping to do and a friend to visit on the way home, or I'm not sure I'd have the control not to start decorating without him.