END November - 2000

Wednesday November 29.......

USA.... HERE WE COME!!!

16 days to go and I'm freaking out.... still so much to do and a lot less time to do it all before we go. Lord, I'll be so glad to get away from the worst part of our Summer... the humidity is dreadful and each day it gets worse. We have 31C forecast for tomorrow UGH!!!

The people at the travel agency I booked everything through are worth their weight in gold. They worked back to 11PM on Tuesday night just on our trip. I received a fax with the entire Itinerary at 11:05pm... I couldn't believe it!

Our Itinerary changed because we couldn't get any flights into and out of Canada over the Christmas period.... couldn't get any flights out of New York just before Christmas either! So now we're going to Omaha from LA ( via Dallas TX...) then to Orlando from Omaha (Via Chicago... can you believe this ?) We're lucky enough to get a direct flight to New York from Orlando on Christmas Eve, so we'll be spending Christmas in New York and for a couple of days after. Then back to Florida (via Chicago OF COURSE) for 8 days visiting with friends I've had for over 30 years.... boy doesn't that make me feel old :-)

From there we fly to Columbia,NC (.... via Charlotte..) for a couple of nights then to New Orleans [via Charlotte :-) ] After a few days there we're off to Houston [via Dallas :-( ] and after a couple of nights off to San Francisco.... you guessed it... VIA DALLAS!!!!

The only direct travel we do during the whole trip is by coach.. on a tour from S.F. to L.A. through Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Laughlin on the Colorado River and on to LA.

Hey... the US isn't the only place with weird flights... we have an International airport here in Brisbane (in Queensland, where we live) BUT we have to fly from Hervey Bay to Brisbane... have a 3 hour stopover (domestic) then catch a plane (domestic) to Sydney to connect with the International flight! So instead of us having 15 hours travelling from home to LA we have 19 including hanging around terminals!! Grrrrr !!! That's fine when you're not travelling with an 8 year old who's going to be bored rigid in Brisbane for 3 hours saying... "When are we going????" 75 times in 3 hours! I can just picture it! Aaaargh!!

No doubt we'll survive... we've been through a lot worse in the last 4 years. At least we'll be travelling during our night and the "little darling" might get some sleep... we live in hope :-)

We're going to have to hunt around LA to find him some warm clothes... he's grown out of most of his stuff he had for Winter.. arms mostly... too short. At least the stores are open late in LA, not like this place and we arrive 1:30 in the afternoon.

Nanny of course has managed to find some warm clothes in her wardrobe which now fit her :-) Lucky lady... I've lost over 34 pounds!! AND I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE WEEKS OF WORK WHILE I'M AWAY. I want to come back and be able to fit comfortably into those clothes that "just fit" at the moment. I can lose heaps more without any problem and without looking skinny... I'm horrified when I look back and think how it all piled on just because of stress. My eating habits haven't changed that much.. I even had 3 ice creams this week (not on the diet!) and still lost 2.5kg (That's around 5 pounds..)

The dog's even lost weight because Jared and I have been going for a 5km walk with him each afternoon when Jared gets back from school. Of course we stop half way to fish for tadpoles... and Jared rides his bike or takes his scooter :-)

Thursday November 30.......

I could have had this page finished last night AND uploaded except for a little pest on my computer... still... the pest was more fun :-) Right Faith??!!

I'm in the middle of defrosting the freezer at the moment.. yes I do other things as well as being glued to this seat at every opportunity! . Smudge is guarding the melting of the ice :-) She's only seen this event twice before and is utterly engrossed. Fridge is next, then the kitchen cupboards... Ugh!

Just went through for a coffee... with this humidity the freezer will be melted in no time so I better type a little faster (Don't laugh.. Faith). Smudge is telling me all about it in her cat language with her head cocked to one side. Lord, I'm looking forward to the cold weather!!

This lovely lady I mention (Faith) is one of my Cyber friends who has an incredibly fast typing speed and I just can't keep up with her on ICQ. DAMMIT!! :-) While I'm typing a response I hear 6 or 7 annoying "Oh Oh's" . So I play dead for a while... but she's wised up to that!

Yes, we're having a day at home today... otherwise nothing will get done before we leave. My clothes are all laid out so I can make the last minute decisions... will I take it.... won't I bother? Why is life so difficult :-) Mum's spring cleaning the study... but she's one of these darling people who has to tell you every move she makes and how much effort it is (NOT) :-) I'm a quiet "keep it to myself bitcher" when I'm working *S* What's the point in moaning about it... just DO IT! Gets done twice as fast.

Heaven's I can hear the ice crashing from the shelves... this is such tough work! You know... cleaning the freezer is on of my favourite chores, why? Cause it's the easiest :-) Sit back and watch the ice self destruct... or in this case... listen to it self destruct! Just think.... no making meals, no washing dishes, no housework for TWO MONTHS... what a dream come true!

Just had the guy from the pool shop come to drain our pool (after all the rain - remember .. I had the liner ripped out and it won't be replaced until we get back from holiday.) He found an animal in it!!!! I'LL KILL JARED! I keep telling him to make sure the gate's closed when he's finished in the garden in the evening! Poor blind Pippa ( our little old Shi-Tzu) must have fallen in... she was swimming around when Brian arrived, who knows for how long.... he thought this was normal! Not saying much for his impression of us is it :-) Then.... anything's possible in this place!

Jason's off fishing for the day (getting paid for it too) some people have all the luck!! That's where I'd like to be right now, knowing that someone else was doing all the stuff we have to do here. Then again I don't know if I could cope with someone else cleaning my house... poking around my goods and chattles... I suppose ONE could get used to it if ONE HAD TO :-) Don't think this ONE will ever have that problem :-(

OK freezer's nearly done.... boy that was hard work! Why is it that with upright freezers the bit at the very top is always the last to melt.... the bit you can't get to? I thought the theory was that HOT AIR RISES... you'd think that'd be the first bit to melt. I usually get the hair dryer to it, to speed it up... but today I'll let it work it out for itself :-) Aaaaah well, once this is done it won't need doing again for another 3 or 4 months, Lord, life is so tough *S*

30 Minutes later.....

OK freezer done... and to quote Jared as he runs to the bathroom at night..."To the potty and beeeeeeeyond......" I'm off to the fridge and beeeeeeyond... that's the trouble with housework, you get one job done but it ALWAYS leads to another!

I can't believe I'm writing this drivel!!!! Not exactly Pulitzer Prize winning stuff! Can't remember.. is it the Pulitzer Prize for writing... or the Nobel Prize... nah.. must be the Pulitzer.

Good Lord.... 12:45!! Jared will be finished school in 2 hours!! Yikes!! Only half way through the fridge... why did we save all this stuff when we know we won't eat it???? C'ya!!

Catch you later,

Jamie

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