A belated Happy 2009

Yes, it's already February - but here is a Happy New Year to Everyone.

As usual, quite a bit has happened since our last entry. Deb & Tim had a wonderful Xmas day with Jane, Jerad, Amy, Caitlyn & Traynor in San Antonio. It was so special to spend Xmas with the part of our family we don't see all that often & to watch Amy & Caitlyn's first Xmas together. Jane prepared us a lovely Xmas dinner & Deb even cooked candied yams for the first time. Apparently, Grandpa Traynor had to go back for seconds just to make sure they turned out OK. After a lovely Xmas day & relaxing Boxing Day, it was time for the obligatory trip to Bobby Js for dinner. As usual, the burgers were great & Bonita was happy to see everyone.

The 27th was not a particularly happy day for Miss Amy Jane. Still not feeling the best after her acrobatic tumble down the stairs on Xmas afternoon she was particularly unimpressed that Uncle Tim & Aunty Deb were again headed to the airport, but this time they were going home to Australia. Don't worry Amy - we'll be back. After delays in San Antonio & Dallas we finally made it to LAX just in time to get on our Air Pacific flight to Nadi. Unfortunately Tim's back was not so lucky & it enjoyed a few days rest & relaxation at the American Airlines terminal at LAX.

After arriving in Nadi to find out all of Tim's clothes were still in LA we headed out to Sonaisali Island with our helpful old taxi driver Joe, who appeared to know all the locals. After settling in & catching up with Julia, Michael, Kate & Adam we headed into Nadi to do some shopping. First we found some clothes for Tim & then ventured into Nadi town's supermarket to pick up some nibbles, drinks & beer. It's very important to keep up your fluid intake in such warm weather. Most of the next few days were spent relaxing around the pool, enjoying some water sports & catching up with the Upton Clan. Some mild amusement was provided to the group with Heather teaching herself to wind-surf, along with Dave, Tim & Neil attempting to go sailing in the middle of an afternoon storm. I think we're ready for that Sydney to Hobart entry next year boys.

Apart from the tropical downpour half an hour beforehand, Julia & Michael's wedding was absolutely lovely. Deb & I passed on the same message to Julia & Michael as we had been given in Rarotonga - rain on your wedding day is a blessing from the gods. After a beautiful ceremony & drinks around the pool bar, we enjoyed an island feast which I'm sure would have fed half of Fiji. Then it was time for more drinks in the pool. What a wonderful way to spend New Year's Eve. Many fond memories that we will have forever. New Year's Day saw the gang head out on a 5 hour Jet Ski safari to one of the reefs around Plantation Island for some snorkelling. Despite everyone bathing in sunscreen, most of ended up somewhere between medium to well done & all looking decidedly bright pink. This was especially painful for Tim & Adam who were still recovering from injuries incurred during a "porpoising incident" in the pool on New Year's Eve. Apart from the sunburn it was an absolutely magic way to spend New Years Day.

But all good things must come to an end & after a wonderful Xmas in Texas & New York, Tim & Deb left Nadi & headed home, with all luggage accounted for this time. Tim's clothes having finally arrived in Nadi the day before. After arriving home & having a few days to relax & unpack, Tim & Deb had their second Xmas, with Deb's mum & dad visiting from Melbourne. More unwrapping of presents, more Xmas dinner & most importantly Deb's dad's chicken curry. And, with Deb & her mum in the same house, much watching of the Australian Open. Deb seemed most impressed with the scenery provided by the Roddick vs. Federer match. Tim was extremely disappointed by the scenery provided in the ladies final.

For the rest of January Tim has been busy at work & Deb has been busy submitting papers for publication & preparing for the annual surface chemistry conference, this year in Adelaide. Although they're called conferences, Tim still suspects that junket might be a more appropriate description. Because Deb will be away for her birthday, Tim & Deb ventured up to the Fire Station for a nice dinner on Friday night to celebrate Deb's birthday a few days early. Unfortunately it was a 4:00am start yesterday to get Deb to the airport by 5:00am. But Deb got to spend a few hours with her mum in Melbourne on her way down to Adelaide. Considering it's supposed to be over 40 degrees all week in Adelaide, Tim is glad he's still in Newcastle. Although, staying at the Stamford Glenelg Beach can't be all that difficult to cope with. Poor Deb, such a dedicated little scientist.

After catching up with dad for a nice curry last night, Tim is off to visit Dave & Jen tonight. And since today is Deb's birthday - Happy Birthday Deb. Tim's boss told him he still has too much annual leave accrued, so Tim is taking the day off for the Superbowl tomorrow. Go Deb's Cardinals & go Larry Fitzgerald - you freak of nature.

The pictures at the top is Uncle Tim & Caitlyn on Xmas Day.

New York, New York

Well, plenty has happened since our last update.

Last Wednesday & Thursday were cold, overcast & drizzly days. Quite unusual for San Antonio this time of year. So apart from a little bit of shopping & Tim picking up his new baseball gear, it was time to relax at home with Amy & Caitlin.

On Friday morning it was time for Tim & Deb to head to the airport for their flight up to New York (via Atlanta). Amy was quite upset until she found out that Uncle Tim & Aunty Deb were only going for the weekend & would be back on Monday night. The flight out of San Antonio was delayed by 2.5 hours due to the bad snow storms in the northeast, but we finally got underway.

After a brief stop in Atlanta (I think that's obligatory for all Delta flights) we arrived into NY's LaGuardia airport about 8:00pm Friday evening. It was an amazing sight making our approach into LaGuardia seeing all the houses, yards & apartments in Queens covered in snow. From the airport, we got a genuine NY yellow taxi into the hotel just one block from Times Square. After meeting Bonnie & Rob at the hotel, we then went to Maxie's Deli for a late dinner. I think Bonnie was just as excited to see us as Deb was to be in NY. I thought the saying went "everything's bigger in Texas". Apparently everything except the meal portions at Maxie's Deli. They were huge. So huge in fact that Bonnie & Deb shared a meal & still couldn't finish it. Amazingly though, the girls still had room for genuine NY cheesecake for dessert. Rocky Road & Banana Caramel Frost I believe.

New York truly is the city that never sleeps. After finishing dinner we walked up to Rockelfeller Centre to see the giant Xmas tree. On the way up there it started snowing. So Deb got her wish, snow in NY for Xmas. After seeing the giant Xmas tree in the snow, we walked back to Times Square & watched the nightlife go by. I still can't believe that the US Armed Forces has a recruiting station right in the middle of Times Square. Considering it was well after midnight & everything was still well & truly open, we had to take a look in Toys R Us. The place is so big it even has it's own indoor Ferris Wheel & the biggest Barbie House ever. We finally got back to the hotel about 2:00am with Times Square still very much alive about one block away.

The snow continued overnight & by Saturday morning there was about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground all over NY City. We walked down to Times Square, across Broadway, over to 5th Avenue & up to Central Park. Along the way we stopped at the Cartier store for Deb & Bonnie. We even stopped in at Trump Towers to visit The Donald, but he wasn't home. We spent the rest of the morning walking through Central Park & taking plenty of pictures in the snow (as can be seen at the top of this post). After a Nanna nap back at the hotel, we headed to the top of the Empire State Building on Saturday night. It was snowing quite hard & Deb was catching snowflakes with her tongue. At one point the wind gusts were actually blowing the snow upwards. We then headed down to Heartland Brewery for dinner. The walk back to the hotel took us through Herald Square & up to Bryant Park where we all tried to convince Deb to go ice skating with us. Being somewhat balance challenged, Deb decided snowball fights would be much more fun. It was then time for coffee in Times Square & back to the hotel.

On Sunday morning we walked up to Times Square subway station & caught the red line down to South Ferry stop & walked through Battery Park seeing the 9/11 memorial & the Statue of Liberty out in the harbour. We then walked up through Wall Street to Trinity Church & then up to Ground Zero. We found lunch at a genuine little NY pizza place. We then had a look through the complete bedlam of Century 21 with all the last minute Xmas shoppers. On Sunday evening we headed up to ESPNzone in Times Square to watch the Giants game on the massive big screen while having dinner in the restaurant. After dinner we did some some shopping in Times Square & headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel there was quite a crowd gathered round the TV in the hotel lounge watching the last quarter & overtime of the Ginats game. So we pulled up a comfy lounge & watched the end of the game. For a Giants fan who had watched them lose in Dallas last week, it was great to sit in the middle of NY & watch them clinch the division title & home field for the playoffs.

After a sleep-in & a hearty breakfast at the hotel on Monday morning, Tim & Deb bid Bonnie & Rob farewell & headed off to the airport for the flight home. Despite our cab driver looking like Ahmed the dead terrorist he was a nice guy & very helpful. Luckily our flight was not affected by any of the delays at LaGuardia that morning & we even arrived in Atlanta early. After some dinner at the airport we left Atlanta on time & got back home to San Antonio about 9:30pm Monday evening.

Back home in San Antonio, Jerad's dad has been able to pay a visit for a few days over Xmas on his way to North Carolina with a delivery. We've spent the last few days doing last minute Xmas shopping & wrapping presents. It's now time for dinner on Xmas Eve. Only one more sleep till Santa comes.

Tim & Deb's Trip to San Antonio

On Saturday morning Uncle Tim & Auntie Deb went to Little Gym with Amy so she could show us what a clever girl she was on the balance beam, the parallel bars & doing her forward rolls. We may have a future cheerleader or gymnast on our hands.

We had an early start on Sunday morning, making the five hour drive up I-35 to Dallas for the big game, driving through San Marcos, Austin & Waco. We made pretty good time & also managed to navigate our way through Dallas successfully. We drove past Texas Stadium on the way to our hotel & fans were already arriving 5 hours before kick-off.

We found our hotel in Irving & checked in just after 2pm & discovered that our room had one of the comfiest beds ever. To get out to the game our hotel had a shuttle which dropped us off at the local Hooters which ran a bus out to the game & back. It wasn't hard to spot our bus - bright orange with Hooters girl decals right down both sides. Much to the disappointment of some fans, the driver was not one of the Hooters waitresses.

We arrived at the stadium & found our seats in the top deck right behind the goal post & luckily surrounded by several other Giants fans. After being a Giants fan for over 20 years, Tim was happy he finally got to see the G-Men play. An NFL game is such a big event & fans had travelled from Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, all over Texas & even Canada, just to go to the game. Unfortunately the Cowboys won the game. But Tony Romo is still a nancy boy, TO is still a big girl, Dallas fans are still obnoxious, Eli Manning is still a complete champion & the Giants have still clinched the NFC East division title for 2008.

The weather had been lovely all day Sunday, but by full time the temperature was below Zero as we all stood in the car park waiting for our bus. I've never been so happy to see a big bright orange bus before. My god it was cold. After arriving back at the hotel well after midnight we got a good night's sleep in that previously mentioned very comfy bed.

On Monday morning we checked out of our hotel & ventured next door to Denny's for some good old fashioned Texas diner breakfast. Then we headed out to Fort Worth to catch up with Tim's old friend Mark & his family. Tim hasn't seen Mark in about six years, so it was great to catch up. Luckily for Tim & Deb, Mark lived very close to I-35, so it was easy to get back on the correct interstate to head home to San Antonio. With Deb's expert navigating skills, Tim managed to negotiate the car through Monday afternoon peak hour Dallas-Fort Worth traffic & then get them back home to San Antonio. Unfortunately the temperature did not go above Zero all day & it wasn't much warmer home in San Antonio.

With Amy & Caitlin still recovering from a cold we all decided to have a relaxing Tuesday at home. Although we did make a trip down to the post office to post some Xmas gifts & postcards. Amy was very helpful posting the parcels & cards. Once Jerad got back from doing some deliveries down to Laredo, we all went to Bobby Js for dinner. You just can't visit SA & not go to Bobby Js for a burger.

(The photo at the top is of Tim & Deb outside Texas Stadium before the game).