December/January 2007

Newsletter

We watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from Coit Tower

At Jackson Square, New Orleans

The 300 steps down to Point Reyes Lighthouse (as seen in John Carpenter's The Fog)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Another Windows computer problem delayed me updating my web site. I think I want a dual boot Apple Mac for Christmas! I never have problems with my Mac.  Currently in love with my new Ipod iTouch - like an iphone but with no phone (and other stuff but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for phone service!). This was my request for passing my last Open University exam and getting a 2.1 result. Trying to decide whether to come to the UK/Europe for the graduation ceremony and receive the BA (Hons) in Humanities with Art History. The ceremonies are only once a year in April in boring places such as the London Barbican or Glasgow Concert Hall. However there is the opportunity to go to Versailles in September but you can't book it until July so I may postpone to 2009.

Other good news is our green card (permanent residency) is moving slowly along. We have an appointment for biometrics, which I presume is fingerprinting etc.  Fingers crossed we'll have the GC's by late summer.

We went to New Orleans for a pre-Christmas holiday in early December.  We stayed in the French Quarter but also visited a plantation B&B along the Mississippi. It was unusually hot and humid but which did mean we saw a few alligators on our swamp tour. They normally hibernate in the winter. 

We booked into a nice hotel in downtown San Francisco for New Year's Eve and after an Italian meal, we hiked up to Coit Tower to watch the fireworks at the Embarcadero waterfront. New Year's Day we went whale watching from Point Reyes. We did see some whales, but they were very faraway!