HOW long?

Oh jeez...I knew it had been quite some time sinced I'd done any blogging on here but didn't realise it had been just over three years!! Yikes - tempus fugit and all that. I had a notion to review my blogs today as I thought it's been awhile and then when I saw the date of the last one was rather surprised to see just how long it had been.

I've not done 'nothing' since then, in fact lots has gone on in my life but I guess I simply fell out of the habit. I enjoy writing and had a long trip down memory lane re-reading lots of my older posts and again thinking 'was it really that long ago I did that'?

So maybe a little recap of the past three years, in point form, is in order....

- I have another neice - Sophia Elisabeth, who was born October 8, 2008. Scooter and I went home to Canada for Christmas that year so I was able to meet her. The christening was cancelled because of a very heavy snowstorm. We spent New Year's in Las Vegas and had the trip from hell courtesy of Delta Airlines - our luggage didn't arrive back in London for a few days after we got back. I'll never use them again...ever. I love Vegas though and want to go back. I'll never forget New Year's eve at a huge gay club there stuffing money in gogo boys shorts...I have the photos to prove it too much to my mother's embarassment.

- We went to Dublin for a big gay rugby tournament with a group of our friends and then a few days in Cork for a mate's 30th birthday - it was a 'tart and vicar theme'. We dressed as priests. It rained in Cork - alot. I got drenched by a speeding truck in a huge downpour.

- I got myself back into a gym routine in 2009 and had a personal trainer for about a year and a half. Not cheap but worth the effort as I shed about 40 pounds. (I've since put on about 15 of that but trying hard to get rid of it). I did my first 10k run in the summer of 2009 as well. Did it in just over an hour - my high school gym teacher would be so proud!

- Our last proper vacation was in the summer of 2009. We spent a week in Rennes, France with two of our best mates at their parents converted farmhouse. It was a lovely time full of laughs, wine, pastries and swimming. I'm so glad I paid attention in french class - it reall paid off that week.

- After Rennes, Scooter and I went to Sitges, Spain for a week for a beach holiday. It had been over 15 years since I'd been swimming in the Mediterranean Sea so it was a very welcome return. We did a day trip to Barcelona as well and vowed we would return to that city for a longer stay next time.

- Last summer instead of taking a holiday we decided to do some work on the house. We had leak from the bathroom that went through the kitchen ceiling. As it had happened once before we though we need to bite the bullet and put it right once and for all....so from April until July our house was a building site. We hired contractors (who were mostly ok) and had the entire kitchen ceiling replaced. It meant having most of the kitchen units taken out and under a tent in the garden and everything else in the lounge. A huge job but worth it in the end.

- Once that was done, we had our lounge stripped back to the barebones, replastered, had a nasty curved arch replaced (from the previous owners) and had it squared off. Scooter and I did all the painting and had new carpets laid. It was a total transformation and everyone loves the new look. So all that was our vacation time and money...but we're glad we did it.

- Scooter and I had a "2010" party last summer to celebrate my 20 years of living in the UK and our 10 years together. It was a blast - the weather was mostly ok except for a few summer downpours (lucky we put up our marquee). We hired a 'butler in the buff' to serve drinks, food and clean up - a very fit young man wearing an apron around his waist and nothing else. He was very popular. It was our best party ever. ;-)

The BIGGEST news however is about Scooter. He took voluntary redundancy in November last year. He wasn't happy at that job and was considering looking elsewhere so the time was right. He enjoyed a few months off and registered with some recruitment agents.

He was presented with an oppoprtunity for an interview with KPMG in their Guernsey office (that's in the Channel Islands by the way). He nailed the interview and was offered the job. We both thought long and hard about what this would mean for us. In the end we decided it was too good to pass up for his career. We also realised I was too long in my job to give it up either. So for the next three years he's living there and I'm living here. It's still early days and we are finding the distance difficult but talk every day and hopefully he'll get online at his flat very soon (nothing happens quickly over there). We did a reccy there in March and we went over again April for him to start work. We found him a nice one bed flat with a view of the harbour and he's very happy with life there for the most part. I do envy the fact that he can walk to work in five minutes. I'm looking forward to a week there next month. He's made some friends over there which is good and I have our friends here who I know will look after me if I need it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that I suppose.

So there you go....that's three years in a nutshell. Of course lots of other stuff has gone on too but those are the more memorable things.

I'll try not to leave it so long next time....