Well........ 2009 is rapidly drawing to a close

and I can't really say that I will be sorry to see the end of it! Does anyone have any interesting New Year's Resolutions to inspire me before 2010 kicks off?

Christmas Day was relaxing and I could really get comfortable

with the idea of not doing very much at all  :-)  Today is a beautiful day- the sun is shining and although it is still cool, things are very nice. I went for a swim this morning and took advantage of an almost-empty pool. Very much worth getting up for!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

It is already Christmas Morning (albeit still very early) in Sydney and I can think of a few kids who will be ready to get up and cause havoc in a few hours' time  :-)  We are heading out to dinner with some good friends shortly and will turn skype on when we return to see what is happening on the other side of the world.
Merry Christmas everybody!

I am sitting here wearing my new hoodie and enjoying my day off

although I would enjoy it a lot more if I didn't have such a bad cold. It is still only early and breakfast was good and in a little while I will head into town to get a few things done. Lunch in Lugano yesterday was great and the train ride was cool too. Lots of snow north of the alps on the way down in the morning and then it was snowing like crazy on the south side on my way home.
Only a couple more days until Christmas- hope that everyone is getting relaxed  :-)

Look out Angus!

It won't be too long and my hoodie collection will be as big as yours :-) I went to Patagonia today and bought myself another to celebrate our cold, snowy weather. I will be in town again tomorrow morning- it is a shopping Sunday, but I will have an early swim and grab a couple of essentials before heading home. We have guests coming for dinner tomorrow evening and then I have Monday and Tuesday off to do some bits and pieces.

Winter is here- well this week at least

and we are not going to get above freezing until after the weekend. Fingers crossed for some snowfall to keep the skiers happy and I am off to Lugano for lunch on Monday  :-) Depending on timing, I might get to the gym beforehand or maybe even fit in a swim...... one way or another, lunch with Stefano will be great.
Mrs and the Mini-Mooses are flying out for sunny Oz on Saturday. Have a great trip gang- we hope to catch up with you at Christmas time.

Now you've made me jealous......

and thanks for the invitation to Northbridge for a swim and Christmas lunch  :-) Great that the gang will all get together on the 25th and I hope to be able to skype with you all and have a catch-up. Not long to wait now!

The end of a long week

and I really enjoyed a beer when I arrived home this evening. It is going to be cool over the weekend and this coming week- winter might be here at last!

I didn't make it to the pool this evening, sadly enough

but I did manage to take a few photos for my week-long challenge and have edited and posted the best of the day since arriving home. I really do need to do some exercise tomorrow evening...... many thanks to Tiffany, Lula and Noel for the fantastic package of biscuits..... I really do need to do some exercise tomorrow evening  
:-)

I managed to stretch my swim out to 1.2km this morning

and although this is not particularly long, it was a good step for me. The idea of swimming for a longer time at a slightly slower pace on Saturday makes sense and I will try for a slightly faster swim tomorrow even if I don't manage to swim quite so far. Three trips to the pool each week should see me continue to make good progress and I will also try to keep up with my other training.
The new pull buoy is good- it allowed me to swim more slowly and still maintain the correct body position, which means that I can get comfortable and swim for a longer time.

Curry and beer tonight to celebrate!

A small step for one man

A great leap forward for mankind! I have processed my first couple of RAW images and although it is slow going at the moment, I can see that the idea has promise. Just this evening I have joined in a one week photo challenge for next week to give myself a little push along in the photography and processing departments.