The "I'm still alive" update

I just want to say a quick few things to bump my blog back to life and explain my absense from talking about my exciting and action packed existence.

Firstly, I'm still alive, I'm still kicking and I'm still having a grand time in London and abroad. After my last updates about Rome, I took on the very time consuming creative project of backing up all of my travel photos into picasa. I didn't realise just how many photos Kristen and I had taken over the last year. Not only am I uploading them all, I'm writing notes and thoughts on each one and sharing them with my Google Plus friends. Of course, the rewards of doing this are certainly worth the cost in time to me, as this is another very solid backup in case something were to happen to my laptop or removable HDD (ie fire of thievery).

So what have I been up to apart from staring at all my photos and organising them into neat little boxes? Well, my good friend from high school (via University and the UC Davis) is doing his post-doctorate in Oxford, which means I get to see him for the first time in forever on the other side of the world from our native New Zealand.  It's so great to reconnect with a friend like that and suddenly find that you've both matured and appreciate travel and music and food and all those great things in life.

Aside from that, my personal invasion of Europe has been extended to a trip to Prague which was freezing cold, exhausting and undeniably brilliant. That was last week and I'm still trying to get my life back into order and catch up with with the work I left behind in London. Soon you will be able to look forward to my thoughts and feelings about Prague (and I certainly expanded my mind quite a bit there).

Additionally - Christmas is looming, with the stress and the rush to get presents and the travel up to be with Kristen's family and the freezing cold and everything else that this season entails. It's this time of year that I will really miss my family back in NZ as it's going to be the second Christmas away. I really do miss sitting outside in the sun on an Xmas day and having a champagne breakfast then BBQ and a few cold beers.

Perhaps soon it will snow here in England and I'll get over my winter blues and frolic in the snow.

Anyway, goodbye for now and I shall resume the scheduled programming anon. (assuming I am not too busy frolicking in the snow).