Back!

OK, the problem has been that after such a long hiatus since my last posting, I wanted to make the next post about something really important. But frankly, nothing has come to mind due to the fact that pretty much since January I have been working. And then working some more. Overworked it is true, but not really underpaid to be fair!

But then of course I realised that it was coming dangerously close to a year since Emma was born and I still did not have a photo of the family as one displayed on the front page. So the need to rectify that has led me to type this explanation. And so begins (hopefully) renewed blogging vigour.

So, in short, a few key things that have been happening since last I was here:

1. The kids are growing fast. Phrase of the moment is "To Amphetamines, and Beyond" (a variation on the phrase uttered by Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story - Jack's film of choice at the moment, having replaced Polar Express given that that DVD has almost burned itself into the pixels of our TV due to extreme overwatching - but demonstrative of Jack's inability to correctly say the word "Infinity".

2. We bought a house in Dubai, then saw the show homes, were a bit disappointed with the size, thought of selling it, which proved too complicated, and so have kept it for the time being. Two things about Dubai property: (i) it is increasing in price at a ridiculous rate - literally (and I really mean this) daily, and (ii) building standards are not necessarily as good as one would hope. We put up a stairgate in our current house to stop the now crawling Emma climbing the stairs, only to have the outward pressure exerted by the frame of the stairgate on the walls cause the plaster to crumble and thereby create an additional 2-3mm in the width of our stairs. We are now thinking that if we buy enough stairgates we might be able to rectify our concerns about the room sizes in the house we have recently bought!

3. My two non-family interests of music and films have been greatly enhanced by the discovery of http://www.mininova.org/ where I now download albums and films without any money changing hands. And so it is that I am listening to the new Coldplay album as I write this, 2 days before its public release. And for free!

4. I have become an avid follower of the American election (see previous posts). Am not convinced of Obama's ability to maintain momentum through to November.

5. We are going on holiday to Cyprus at the end of this month for a week - across Michele's and Emma's (1st) birthday, both of which are on 1 July. Then Michele and the kids will fly back to the UK to escape the summer heat for a few weeks and I will become, as is common in this part of the world at this time of year, a W.A.N.K.E.R. Meaning Wife Away, No Kids, Eating Rubbish. As you will have realised.

More to follow (inshallah, as they say here.... if Allah is willing). I suggest, in reality, you check back in around December. I might have thought of something interesting to write by then, and have found the time to write it!