Doesn't time fly...

It's taken a while but I've finally finished a personal project...the trouble with blogging is that it's a permanent record of when you start something. Back here in Sept 2008 I wrote about my new bike well I've finally finished it this week. The seat, handle bars and rear wheel and phat tyres came from an old beach cruiser. If you want to know why I didn't just refurb the parts bike it's because it was a ladies cruiser and too small for me.

Had an exciting day yesterday and Mrs P now has a new toy. Her old Subaru just wasn't cutting it any more, with the big kids arguing and fighting on the short 3 mile trip to school. We drove up to a Toyota dealer in Jacksonville and 4 hours later we came home in this shiney new vehicle. It's a 2008 Toyota Highlander and thankfully its not part of the recall. It's got 3rd row seating and the middle seat in the 2nd row comes (and hides away) so it's easy for the kids to get right to the back. It was a fair chunk of change but if Mrs P is happy then that suits me just fine.

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It's been a super busy start to the year with what seems like two birthday parties every week. Not sure what they add to the water in April and May each year but there sure are a lot of babies born in January and February!

It was Charlotte's birthday too on 10th Feb and as you can see below she's got the taste for buttercream icing already. In other exciting news she's now walking! It took her 2 weeks to go from taking a single step to being able to walk around the house carrying stuff. Amazing to watch!

Not much has been done on the house, I've managed to decorate the guest room and put up 2 sets of blinds. We've done a bit of yard work as Mrs P got a "bee in her bonnet" about the front yard and ended up with me digging out a bush that has become a tree.

The cash resulting from the sale of my house in England has finally arrived here and we're now working out how to spend it. Mrs P wants a new car and is thinking of either a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander. I'm looking for either a Ford Expedition or the slightly larger Chevy Suburban, both of these cars run to 18 ft long.

Anyone got James Cameron's address? I need to write to him and ask for my money back. Mrs P and I went to see Avatar 3D yesterday and that's my first and last 3D movie I'll be watching. My eyes were hurting after 3o minutes or so and even if you take the special glasses off there's no relief as the film's all blurry. As for the movie itself I don't see what the hype was all about. It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination.

AWESOME

Question of the Day

QOTD: "Mommy, why do the presents that Santa brought us have Made in China on them?"

Answer: "Ummm, ummm, ummm"

Illuminating

It won't win any awards but here is the result of my weekend's labouring. Classic white icicle style lighting says 'elegant and stylish' not like some of the neighbours with their coloured light displays, inflatables, flashing light shows and music. It may be Florida but it's not Disney and I won't stoop to their level.

Turkey soup for the soul

Thanksgiving has come and gone which is more than can be said of the turkey. It's still hanging around and it's been non stop turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey pot pie ever since. It was a 20lb bird so it's going to take some eating. Here it is in it's uncooked state just before it went in the oven.

Here we all are ready to tuck into the assembled feast, and yes we are dining al fresco at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Even baby enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. In just seconds the Magic Bullet turns a home cooked meal in to a 'delicious' slurry fit for a baby


With Thanksgiving over it's now on to the next holiday which is just around the corner. Yes it's Christmas so now it is time to light up the house. Here's a tip for you, buy NEW lights and don't borrow someone else's lights as the time taken to track down the blown or loose lamps can never be got back! Took me most of the day to put up 8 strings of lights and I've still got to get more for the second floor roof line. Mrs P wants the dormer windows done too but I've many, many excuses lined up to ensure I win that argument.


As promised here's a photo of Mrs P from Halloween. I have now discovered Wonder Woman's Achille's Heel...alcohol. It reduces her to a stumbling mess and takes her a whole day in bed to recover!

Randomness

AC/DC ROCKED and even Mrs P enjoyed it. One thing that I've never understood though is the need to wear other band's T-shirts to a gig. There were people wearing T-shirts with Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Panterra and even Foreigner ! I mean who wears a Foreigner T-shirt? and to an AC/DC concert???

Halloween was a lot of fun and costumes worked out well (pics to follow). Charlotte didn't have such a great time as she was scared of both me and Mrs P when in our costumes and burst out crying uncontrollably. The big kids got tons of candy and Mrs P has been doing her best to limit the amount they eat by scoffing it after they've gone to bed.

I've accepted an offer on my house and I'm hoping to close by the end of the year. As Robert Redford says at the end of my favorite film "You're right Henry. It's not enough. But....it's close!"

We also watched the pilot for the remake of V. I was never a fan of the original but Mrs P was. Not sure I'll watch the series but I'm sure Mrs P will give it a chance.