Happy Birthday Noodle!

Hey Gorgeous,

it was great to speak with you on the phone earlier in the week but I'm sorry that I was busy and I had to run. Glad that your parcel arrived and we wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Enjoy the weekend and please give our love and kisses to the rest of the family as well    xxxxx
P.S.  nice shirt!   :-)

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to my right

Off to work in the morning and I certainly hope that the markets are more user-friendly than they have been for the last couple of weeks! It would be nice to get stuck in and do some real business- come on guys!

After a week of shaving with the new mousetrap

I can say that it is better. Sure, it might take a little longer, but it is better. A little like writing a letter with a fountain pen, I guess............. it might take just a little longer but the process is something to be enjoyed.
I had a good swim this morning and I am looking forward to getting into the pool again tomorrow and then hopefully to the gym as well.
Geneva was a lot of fun last week- the watch show was terrific and it was nice to catch up with old friends as well as having the chance to make some new ones.

I will probably live to regret this (and maybe not too long), however

I went out today and bought myself a safety razor. I was a little sick of the constant price-hiking by Gillette and Co (not to mention the shenanigans of their highly-paid ad-men) and thought that I might try to shave like a "real man" for a while. If you see me in the street and it appears that I have had an accident with a hedge-trimmer please smile and walk on......

I'm going to the gym and for a swim today

and I am not sure if I am kidding myself, but I do seem to be still getting stronger in the water. The challenge now is to not get bored and try to keep up the training amidst the January crowds- it can be a right royal PITA when the pool is über-full  :-(

A belated Happy New Year to you all

and best wishes for health and happiness in 2010. I will leave the debate as to whether this is the start of a new decade or not to another forum.....   :-)
I spent a little time yesterday reading through an interesting music blog "Rafter Lights" which is written by Simpsnut14 and is a wonderful resource compiled by a real music lover. I can't recommend it highly enough!
The sun is shining here today and after a sleep-in and relaxed breakfast, I should get my sorry butt out of the door, take some photos and head to the pool.

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.