Images by John 'K'

Haven’t done one of these for a bit – been very busy with work – but I thought it was about time I said something here before I get moaned at for my silence… 🙂

 

Since January it’s been pretty much business as usual for us – no major news to speak of, and no major problems either. We’ve hit the rainy season which has put a bit of a hold on some of our weekend trips out, but we managed to head over to the coast for the long Presidents’ Day weekend and spent a fun afternoon mooching around Half Moon Bay on a pleasant but slightly chilly Sunday. We also had a pretty spectacular view of the recent lunar eclipse, and we spotted what we think is a female golden eagle in a nearby tree while out in our back yard and managed to get a couple of pics before it flew off. (if you know what type of bird it is that we captured, do let me know)

 

The basketball season is now over for our youngest daughter, and she had the pleasure of scoring the final basket of the final game against their local high school rival team in an away game, so she was really happy about that!

 

Not really got much else to say right now – we’re getting more excited about our trip to China that is now just under a month away – we have our visitor’s visas, have received the final itinerary, and there is the possibility of some interesting changes at work for me in the next month, but more on that as I know the details.

 

For now that’s it – probably the shortest update I’ve done here in a while…. 🙂

We’re a couple of weeks into 2008, and in an attempt to try and keep things sort of up-to-date here, I thought it was time to put a little update together…

 

So things have settled back into a normal routine again at work after the holidays, and as the company I work for continues to grow we are being moved into a new building on our ever expanding campus. We actually move at the start of next week, but we took an informal tour around the new building yesterday and it’s cool 🙂 No doubt there’ll be more on this from me after we’ve moved in.

 

Things also seem to be settling into a normal routine at home. My wife is back to work too, back to those "lovely" early morning starts, but for her things are a little uncertain for the future as in an attempt to address some interesting state-wide budget issues there have been a lot of education cuts announced, and if they are executed the program that she tutors on for the district is likely to be cut. Sarah is seeing a reduction in her hours after the holidays – she’s still working "part time" so her time is more flexible than her full-time colleagues. It looks like she’s making a bit of an effort to socialise there too, and some of her colleagues have invited her on a trip down to LA (and Universal Studios) in March. Paula continues to have "fun" trying to challenge her school activities, with time requirements for Drama class performances clashing with the JV basketball schedule. Add to that she has picked up yet another injury during practice; after breaking her nose towards the end of last year, she’s now injured her knee (however it seems to be mending well so she’ll hopefully be playing again before the end of this week).

 

As members of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we make occasional trips down to Monterey as a family, and this past weekend saw us making our first trip of 2008 to the aquarium. After a slight detour at the outlet mall at Gilroy to do a bit of shopping we made our way down to Monterey and the aquarium. Last year on my birthday they had a new freshwater otter pup born; Shani (which means "curiosity"), the third African spotted-necked otter born at the aquarium, was recently put into the public exhibition and so we spent a lot of time in the "Wild About Otters" wing admiring these cute and playful creatures. Turned out we had timed our visit to that section perfectly, as shortly after we got there they were fed, which led to a lot of really fun play activity while they ate. I can’t recommend the aquarium enough – if you’re ever lucky enough to visit the San Francisco Bay Area in California, be sure to spend some time in and around Monterey and be sure to visit the aquarium. I’ve popped a few photos up… see here.

 

I’ve also popped some photos from a recent trip up Mt Hamilton (another of the East Bay peaks) here.

 

That’s about it for now – I’ll try and keep things updated a little more frequently than I did last year.

OK, so I admit it – I’ve been absolutely useless at keeping this site up-to-date. A very busy work schedule combined with an unexpected bout of ill-health has kept me occupied during the last couple of months. Now we have the holidays out of the way, and as we start out into 2008 I thought I’d recap on the last year.

 

2007 has been an interesting year – we started it on a bit of a low, feeling separation from the rest of our family back in the UK. We’d had my eldest daughter and her family visiting for the Christmas holidays and they’d just headed back for home as we started 2007. At the same time I’d been doing my best to try and convince a friend to work out some problems that she was going through in her marriage, while at the same time consoling another friend that the divorce she’d just been through was in fact for the best. Sarah was in a relationship with a guy who lived over the other side of the country (she’d met him on-line) and he came to visit for a few days in mid January. He seemed like a nice guy, and got on well with my wife and I, and at the time Sarah seemed to like him too.

 

In February the Queen Mary 2 made her first visit to San Francisco, overcoming a number of logistical challenges to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the San Francisco Bay. We were there to experience this once in a lifetime event. Later in the month my wife and I made a trip up Highway 1 north from San Francisco for a post-Valentines Day getaway. At the same time, the friend who I’d been helping through a rough time in her marriage flew across the country with her husband to visit San Francisco and the coast. We took a day before our trip north to take them to Monterey, show them the aquarium, and watch the sun set from Pacific Grove. It seems that trip was what they needed to get things back on track in their own life – they’ve been closer than ever since then – moved to a new house in the middle of the year, and they are still going strong now.

 

In March my wife and I started to explore some of the regional parks – going out for weekend hikes and taking in the wonderful scenery that is around us here in California. I also had my first business trip since moving to California – I travelled to North Carolina to spend a couple of days in our support centre there. The weather there reminded me very much of England, and the scenery reminded me a lot of Belgium – was an odd experience. We also welcomed some of the cutest new visitors to the Monterey Bay Aquarium as we experienced their new otter exhibit before it opened to the general public.

 

April saw the arrival of Gemma (our 2nd eldest daughter) and her then boyfriend (Steve, aka Ste) for the Easter break. While visiting, Ste took the opportunity to get in some coaching time with a local soccer team (he’s studying sport at University), and Gemma volunteered at one of the local cat hospitals (she wants to work with/care for animals). During their “busman’s holiday” we managed to get in a few sightseeing trips. At the same time, we also had a return visit from the guy that Sarah had been “seeing” on-line. San Francisco once again gave us a nice place to visit – we spent time at the Golden Gate, Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39, and Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately though, Sarah decided that this guy was not for her and ended the relationship as he was to fly back home.

 

May found me winding down after a very busy end-of-year time at work. We made arrangements to visit the UK for summer, and managed some more trips out to local parks, including my first trip up Mount Diablo, and a return to Capitola for Memorial Day. Jan’s tutoring was keeping her busy, and she found herself having to get up in the morning (a shock for her after a year or more of not having to do so). Sarah got herself a part time job at the local mall. Paula seemed to be having a hard time focussing on school. She’d been lured into a somewhat worrying on-line relationship by an older guy through a game she played. Things came to a head in April and we did what we could to show her why this was wrong, how the other guy was using her, and we did what we could to put a stop to things. Paula’s grades, which had suffered during this relationship, were picking up, but things were not back to normal.

 

On the surface, June was a pretty quiet month. School finished. Paula had to do Summer School for not doing well in a couple of classes, and Sarah decided that schooling wasn’t for her. Sarah flirted around between a number of on-line acquaintances, and Paula was starting to get drawn to a guy in one of her summer school classes.

 

In July, to celebrate my wife’s birthday and as an early anniversary present for us, Jan and I headed back up the coast to the Howard Creek Ranch, where we spent a couple of wonderful days away from everything. Back home we were preparing for our trip back to the UK, Paula’s summer school was going well, and Sarah was starting to get involved with yet another guy on-line, but unlike others she had “met”, this guy was very secretive about any personal details – hid behind a false name, didn’t give a phone number or address, and acted in a very controlling manner with her, but of course she was blind to all of this. As concerned parents, Jan and I did what we could to try and make Sarah see what was happening, but all we did was make ourselves look like we were her enemies.

 

August came, we continued to deal with the issues being caused by Sarah’s “relationship”, and we headed back to the UK for our vacation. The vacation was an interesting one – we met friends and family that we hadn’t seen since we moved to the US, and we also found ourselves dealing with a number of unexpected property issues at our old house. All in all though it was a good vacation, and amongst other things it served to reinforce our decision to move to California.

 

September saw the relationship between Paula and the guy she met at Summer School come out in the open, and the situation with Sarah and her distant “boyfriend” finally came to a head too, and she finally saw that we weren’t bad people after all. Paula, who had been driving throughout the past few months on a permit, took her driving test and passed, so we got her a car to use. If Sarah ever finishes learning to drive, we’ll do the same for her too. For my birthday, Jan took me back to Monterey for a weekend, during which we went whale-watching (an experience I’ll not forget in a long time). The whole weekend was wonderful. I love my wife…

 

October saw me get an early Christmas present and we used it as an excuse to get in a few more weekend hikes as I took photos of the wonderful scenery with my new Nikon D40x. Sarah found herself working more and more and moved on from yet another on-line relationship, and Paula settled into the basketball season as a member of the girl’s JV team.

 

November was relatively quiet at home and very busy at work, but we managed to find time to celebrate Thanksgiving in our own way, and Jan Sarah and I popped into San Francisco for the annual International Car Show (which has become a bit of a Thanksgiving ritual for us).

 

As the month drew to a close my own life took an unexpected turn as I picked up a nasty infection that had me off work and "confined to bed" for a couple of weeks, although I did manage work from home a lot so the impact to my job was less than it might otherwise have been. As things settled down medically for me, I eased myself back into work just in time to hit the December holiday season. Paula continued doing well at school; the basketball season continued, and she turned 17. Sarah continued to work heavy hours at work in the run up to the holidays, and she also got hooked up with another guy over the other side of the country. Only time will tell how this one goes….. Christmas was quiet but good – after the chaos of the previous year’s Christmas, it was quite nice to have a simple stress-free Christmas at home with just the 4 of us. Then on the Thursday after Christmas Jan Paula and I went to San Jose to see Jesus Christ Superstar with Paula’s drama class – it was interesting to see it performed as a touring show as many years ago I’d seen it performed in London’s West End while I was at achool – it brought back many memories. December also brought Jan and I something to look forward to for 2008 – we’ll be visiting China during spring break.

 

So all in all it wasn’t too bad a year. It had its stressful moments for sure, but on balance it could have been a lot worse. So here’s to 2008. Oh and before we hit the end of 2008, I have set myself a challenge to cycle up Mount Diablo, so wish me luck with that…

 

There’s a selection of pictures from 2007 in my albums…

It’s nearly 3 months since I last did an update here, so I thought it’s about time I corrected that.

 

Since the last time I wrote, we’ve been back to England, seen my youngest daughter pass her driving test, got her a car (nothing flashy or expensive, but it goes), and have started a new school year.

 

So… England. It was great to catch up with the family members we had left behind. First few days were spent in the town Jan and I both grew up in, seeing my mum, Jan’s mum, and having a look around the old town. I also met up with my old boy-scout leader, who is living in the same place as my mum. She hadn’t changed a bit and is still as devoted to the movement as ever. We had a fun couple of days there then headed up to where we used to live before moving to America (and where our two eldest daughters still live).

 

We arrived in the Midlands to find our old house looking like a bomb had hit it (literally). The front drive had been dug up a couple of months back to repair a burst water main, and because of the then almost constant rain the holes had not been filled, and the front and back gardens had been left to grow pretty much untouched in the 2 years we had been away. We had 7 days to spend there and had planned a whole load of trips out with Gemma, and Maria and her family, but found we had to spend a lot of time dealing with the mess in the gardens, chasing the repair-men to come and fill in the holes in the drive, and fixing things around the house that had been left. That aside though, we still managed to find some time to go and do stuff with our daughters and grandsons. The week went by way too quickly and before we knew it we were driving to Wales to see Jan’s ‘baby’ brother and his family.

 

I’d last seen their youngest son shortly after he was born, and to see him now really made the passing of time sink home. The tiny baby I had seen was now a very energetic and fun little boy, aka the ‘ginger ninja’ 🙂 Their other kids had grown up too – you really don’t realise how quickly children do that until you find yourself with big gaps between each time you see them. What seems such a slow gradual process with your own kids is nothing of the sort (tip to any parents reading this – make the most of the time you have with your children – it’ll fly past quicker than you think!)….

 

From Wales we went back to our home town for a few more days… Met both mums again, headed down south for a day to see my brother and his family (and had a visit from my Sister too). That was rather fun – made a little too entertaining through the antics of my sister-in-law who had been tucking away the odd glass of wine while eating nothing… (at least we know her heart is most definitely in the right place) 🙂

 

The last few days were made of a number of happy reunions and sad goodbyes, and as if to say "it’s time to head home now", the weather, which had been beautiful for the two weeks we had been there, turned back to the more typical rainy summer day that we remembered… We left the country with the rain echoing how we were feeling – we wanted to come home, but were sad to be leaving everyone behind….. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see some of them again.

 

Some pics from the trip are in the albums….

 

 

Back home again, Paula took her driving test and passed with flying colors (so it seems I’m a good enough driver to teach her well after all 🙂 ), and after seeing how much it would cost to have her added properly to the insurance for our existing cars we decided it would be cheaper to get her one of her own, so we went on a hunt for a cheap but good 2nd-hand car. A couple of days after starting, she was the proud driver of a 1999 Saturn SL2 saloon, which was in very good condition for its age. She had it just in time for the start of school, so I’m not having to drop her at school every day any more, and she can now get herself around to the various events she has to attend without Jan or I having to play taxi-driver for her.  She passed before her elder sister (Gemma), even though she started driving long after!!! Hopefully Gemma won’t be too far behind (takes her test early October)… and then all we need to do is convince Sarah that a car with a manual gearbox isn’t that bad to learn in!

 

We have had another trip down to Monterey with Paula and her boyfriend – was a lovely day out (a few pics in the usual place).

 

Other than that, life is pretty much back to normal for us. Paula is back at school, Sarah is still working, Jan has started up her tutoring with the new school year (although both Jan and Paula now hate getting up early every day!!!), and work for me is going well. Sarah has even started socalising with folks here (not before time!!!) 🙂  Funny thing about Paula’s school is her new American History teacher is the daughter of the VP of the division I work in (and who authorised my relocation from the UK) – talk about weird coincidences.

 

OK – I need to stop before this becomes a novel; this update has been long enough, but I’ll try not to leave it too long before the next one, especially as I’m hoping to have some interesting pictures to share from something that’s happening next week – more on that after it happens. 🙂

It’s been a little while since I did one of these, so thought I’d better post something before folks start moaning at me… 🙂

 

The past month and a bit has been a very busy one – work has been extremely hectic – lots of stuff going on, folks on holiday, all the stuff around wrapping up the fiscal year and so on. I’ve also been moved off one of the teams I’d been working with for the past couple of years (where things are now running pretty smoothly) and have been put onto another team (where things aren’t so rosy right now). I’ve also been asked to spearhead an effort to foster better communications between a couple of key groups in the organisation I work in. Things are a bit quiet at the moment as I transition roles, so I’m taking the time to step back and catch my breath a bit (and also come up with what I want to say about myself in my annual focal review, which is always a fun exercise)…..

 

At home, we’ve finally confirmed our trip back to the UK in the summer so we’re all looking forward to getting back there and meeting up with family and friends we haven’t seen for a couple of years, and reminding ourselves of what we’ve left behind to move to California – not sure if that’s a positive thing or not, but we’ll see. Individually, my wife has a small private tutoring gig to the part time school district tutoring she does, and so she’s finding herself a bit busier. She’s not a morning person at the best of times, and after a year of not having to get up first thing, she’s finding it hard to get going every day, but she seems to be enjoying the job itself, so I’m sure she’ll find a way to cope… plus of course the summer break is coming up soon. 🙂

 

My elder daughter has managed to get herself a part time job at one of the big department stores at the local mall, so she’s got some money coming in without us having to pay her an allowance. She’s given up a lot of her free time to this, and will no doubt be putting in more hours while she’s in the summer break from college. It’s meant she’s spending less time on her computer (which for those of you who have been following my occasional postings you’ll know this can only be a good thing), and we’ve already noticed a general change in her attitude (for the better). Of course she’s happy to be getting the money, she seems to be enjoying the job and the responsibility that goes with it, and yesterday we got her to open a bank account so she has somewhere to pay her paycheck into… Another step closer to adulthood. 🙂

 

For our youngest daughter, things seem to be going OK for her at school, but there’s a sense of things not being quite right with her that we haven’t fully explored yet. I’m hoping it’s nothing bad and it’s just end of school year burn-out, but with everything that we’ve been through since we moved here, I can’t help thinking there’s something else going on. I’m more than happy to be proven wrong though.

 

We’re still finding time for the occasional trip out… a couple of weeks ago we took a trip up to Mount Diablo. It was a lovely warm day, but a little hazy, so the views weren’t quite as good as they could have been, but we could still see a sizable chunk of the greater bay area from the peak. I know Mount Diablo isn’t the tallest mountain around, but even so, standing on the peak did feel a bit like standing at the top of the world. I can fully appreciate what drives people to climb higher peaks – the feeling of there being nothing higher than you, that there is nothing between you and the sky, is unique and one that over time I hope to experience in other places. Needless to say I took a few pictures 🙂

 

Today is ‘cycle to work day’. There is no way I was going to cycle the 30 miles from where I live to where I work, but I may well pop out for an evening ride. It was however fun to watch the folks who live nearer to where they work and who obviously haven’t been out on their bikes for a while try and wobble their way down the road this morning… I’ll make sure I leave a bit of extra space for them as I go home later!

 

I’ve also been watching with interest the experiences of a couple of friends who over the past couple of months have decided to join the ever growing ranks of folks buying a home here in the US. I’m glad I’m not likely to have to think about this for at least another year, as the more I see of how things work here, the more complicated it looks as compared to becoming a home owner in the UK. We have a number of things that need to happen before we embark on that journey here, but I am thankful to my friends for opening my eyes to some of the things to watch out for. I am sure that at some stage we will end up owning a home here, but for now I am happy to put that off for as long as possible given the continuing uncertainty about the economy and the housing market in the bay area.

 

So in general things are good for me at the moment – lets just hope things continue that way.