Holiday Greetings...

(click on the image to enlarge)

Capital city...

So our trip to London was a great success. The journey there was uneventful with the twins sleeping the entire way. We then had a little bit of trouble finding the hotel, which was entirely due to getting directions on Multimap.com to the wrong address. The hotel itself was great. Very close to Paddington Station it is very conveniently situated and well run by helpful and pleasant staff. It was also quite inexpensive - relatively that is. The night in the hotel was OK, the twins were a bit fussy. We were then up early in the morning on Friday and started the two mile walk to the American Embassy. Once again the kids were well behaved and it was actually a nice walk with a stop off at McDonalds for breakfast. Once at the Embassy our paperwork was processed pretty quickly and we were out of there within two hours. So with a little time to kill we took a short wander down Oxford Street, did a bit of Christmas shopping. Friday was also the very last day of normal service for the famous Routemaster red double-decker buses in London and it was a surprisingly thrilling moment when we saw one drive by. I managed to get a few photos of it (I wasn't alone - there were many people taking photos). Anyway, after returning to the hotel and loading up the car we were on our way home by noon on Friday.


Marla and the twins in front of Marble Arch.


One of the last ever Routemaster buses in normal service in London.

Gosh, what a long time it's been...

Time flies when you have twins, I can tell you. We are all reasonably well. Both Morgan and Maddie have their moments when they are very unhappy and cry a lot. We think it is mostly due to gas pains, although things have started to improve ever-so slightly over the last few days. They both sleep longer at night time now, which is very nice for us. They do wake every so often and wimper and cry a bit but we just wrap them up and pop their dummy (pacifier) back in their mouth and they generally drop off to sleep again.

They both also have moments when they are very happy. Smiles seem to completely overcome Morgan sometimes and his entire body moves. Maddie gets so excited sometimes that she lets out little screams! They both have their own personalities already. It's great.

We are all going to London tomorrow. We are staying overnight at a hotel and then going to the US Embassy in the morning to get the kids' births registered and apply for their passports. It will be an adventure, that's for sure.

I have quite a few photographs of them, follow this link to go to my Flickr set dedicated to them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunface13/sets/1118406/

There more on the digital camera, which I will have to upload tonight if I have time. There are also some on the SLR but I will have to finish the film before I can get them online.

Smiling babies...

News of the children...

Maddie & Morgan were two months old yesterday. It appears they have entered a difficult phase. Morgan especially cries a lot. He obviously has colic-type symptoms and is quite uncomfortable on a regular basis. Some days are better than others though and he has his moments of placitude, which are welcome indeed, and when he does he is so cute. Maddie is, on the whole, a little more calm than her brother but still has her moments - and when she is hungry, there is nothing you can do to calm her down other than give her a feeding.

They are both growing nicely and are now fairly regularly giving us big smiles and "ggrrs" of happiness - often followed quickly by crying.

That's all for now... hopefully there'll be a photo or two in the next post.

Seven weeks and counting...

The twins are seven weeks old today and both seem to be very healthy and generally happy. They are both starting to smile at us fairly regularly, which is a great feeling, as I'm sure other parents will testify to.

You can probably gather, from the relatively long time since my last post, that life with infant twins is quite busy. There is always something to do; whether it be feeding, changing or hugging the kids or baby-related tasks like sterilising and preparing bottles or even just the mundane household stuff like laundry or making dinner, we are rarely idle. As a consequence, there is very little non-baby news to relay, but here is what I've got:

• The weather in the UK is now very autumnal. Well, it is autumn
• Liverpool FC continues to perform well in Europe with a fine 3-0 win over Anderlecht last night but is mediocre domestically, struggling in the Premiership and getting knocked out of the Carling Cup last week
• Hallowe'en has come and gone without much fuss and November 5th is just around the corner - with lots of fireworks planned at a get-together at Jason & Marie's house

To sign off, here is another pic of the twins:

One of each...

I just had to post these two images. Priceless of them both. A close-up of Morgan and Maddie dreaming of being a traffic cop.

Sunday outing...

We took the twins to Royal Victoria Park yesterday. We just had a short stroll around the botanical gardens where we met Andy, Fi and Harrison. It was a nice little afternoon excursion. Ironically, afternoon trips like that are supposed to help the babies sleep better at night but I think they just add to our weariness instead!

The kids...

I took this photo this morning after finishing feeding Morgan. We put them both on their playmat. Maddie was wide awake and looking around at the dangling animals while Morgan fell straight to sleep despite the hand-to-ear interference from Maddie.

I'm syndicated...

It might seem slightly strange given how recently they were born but this post will have no mention of the twins (apart from that one just then).

This post is to announce that my blog (you might notice that I am finally calling this thing a blog now) is syndicated. This is actually not really all that newsworthy except that it is something I have just learned a little bit more about. Anyway, apparently RSS (or Really Simple Syndication) is all the rage on the Internet at the moment so I thought I had better get in on the act. For more information on what RSS is start by looking at this guide by FeedBurner, which incidentally is the service I am using to assist my syndication. Basically RSS is all about receiving numerous streams of information and content (feeds) to one centralised location - whether it be an RSS Reader installed on your computer or a web-based RSS Reader service. For example, you might already be a regular visitor to my blog as well as Andy's blog and you might also go to the BBC website on a daily basis to get your news and sport. Well an RSS Reader would enable you to go to just one place for all the latest from all three websites (and, of course, many more).

Anyway, if you already use an RSS Reader you might already know how to "tune in" to my blog remotely, as it were. If not, maybe check out Bloglines, which is a web-based RSS Reader or click on this icon (which, incidentally, now appears at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar) to help get you started.

A milestone (sort of)...

Yesterday was three weeks since the twins were born and tomorrow would have been their due date had Marla gone full term. I'm not sure if any of this is relevant to their development but I can't help thinking that between the date they were born and their due date we have been making up lost ground, sort of. The health visitor is coming today to, among other things, weigh the twins. It will show us if their growth is steady and healthy, which I am almost certain is the case. Morgan is in fact becoming a bit of a fatty. Maddie is still quite lightweight but is definitely more robust than she was at the hospital.

Here are links to three seperate Kodak Galleries of the digital photos I have taken since the twins were born:

The Twins... the first four days
The Twins... days five & six
The Twins, days 7 - 18...

We are still finding things quite difficult at home but perhaps it is gradually getting a little more familiar to us, and hence not so scary. Marla's parents are still being a huge help. Once they go home things will be harder, but we will be recruiting my parents much more heavily then!

We're home and just about coping...

Well we have had three nights at home with the twins now and it is fair to say that I had not anticipated anything as difficult as this. It is certainly nice to be home and out of the hospital and to have two healthy babies but at the moment it is 100% a full-time job. Thankfully we have the help of my Mum in the afternoons and now also Marla's parents - who arrived from the USA this morning and will be staying with us for a couple of weeks.

Maddie and Morgan are seemingly well. Although Morgan does appear to suffer from wind problems after nearly every feed, which makes putting him down a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. Maddie, by comparison is quite well behaved - although feeding them both takes a long time.

Marla has recovered very well from the Ceasarean and is almost entirely back to her full strength. Considering she has not been sleeping well (for obvious reasons) and eating regularly is also a challenge, I think she has done remarkably well.

I have taken more photos and will post them sometime soon - haven't had a lot of time up until now.

We proudly present to you...

Madeleine Lee (left) and Morgan Wynn (right) Loughborough were born on the 14th of September at 5:02 and 5:04 respectively. This photo is from today, which was the first time we have been able to have them together like this - Maddie is in the special baby unit because she is quite small. Both are healthy and seem to be doing very well.

Final word?...

One final change... Marla's Caesarean has been moved forward to Wednesday (Sept 14). This is only because Wednesday was slightly less busy for the hospital than Thursday. So, assuming that things don't become more urgent for us when we have the scan tomorrow morning "B" Day will be Wednesday.

Tick tock tick tock...

OK, so here is the latest: We met with the doctor this afternoon and she told us that, although everything seemed fine on the scan we had on Tuesday, because Marla's blood-pressure is slightly higher than it should be she will be having a Caesarean next week. It is scheduled for Thursday but could be either Tuesday or Wednesday if there is an opening or if our situation becomes more urgent. We have another scan on Tuesday morning and we will know by then what is actually going to happen.

This is actually the sort of news we were hoping for. We have made a lot of trips to the hospital over the last few weeks and it has all been surrounded by considerable uncertainty. At least now we know what is coming - even though we don't know quite what to expect!

It is also good because the extra week (we were thinking that delivery might even be this week) means that Marla will be almost 37 weeks along by the time they are delivered, which is about average for twins. Also, Marla has become increasingly physically uncomfortable with the fact that she has two little people growing inside of her - there is less and less room for them and all of her inside bits and she occasionally finds that she has problems doing simple things like digest food or breathing without feeling the babies - so at least she knows there is a definite end to her discomfort in sight.

So anyway, if all goes well by this time next week we will be parents. Pretty crazy!

Incidentally, Fi and Andy will be having their baby about the same time (assuming it arrives approximately on time) - what an interesting time it will be for us all.

Another update...

We had an ultrasound scan on Thursday and it seems that the growth of the smaller twin is still a little concerning to the doctor, so they are continuing to keep a close eye on things. One thing they do is a "doppler" check on the cord to that twin to make sure there is adequate blood passage through it. For a couple of reasons they were not able to get more than one decent doppler reading (the one they did get was OK, but one is not enough apparently). One reason for the difficutly is that the twin keeps hiding the cord with its leg, the other reason is that there is only a small amount of fluid surrounding that
twin (which is also a concern it seems).

Anyway, we will be going back to the hospital on Saturday to have the heartbeats monitored, again. Then we have another scan on Tuesday. If, on Tuesday, things have not changed (i.e. they still can't get satisfactory doppler readings) they will try to deliver the babies next week!

Obviously, at just over 35 weeks, it would be a little early so they would have to be looked after in the special baby unit. Marla has already had a shot of steroids to help the babies' lungs grow if they are delivered early. The doctor seems quite confident that all will be fine, hence so are we. Most likely mode of delivery would be C-section - also not a problem for us.

Things are still uncertain at the moment, but all the heartbeat monitorings we have had have been good and the babies are quite active, so they seem healthy apart from the size issue.

One more, non-baby-related thing. Given the terrible situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the completely hopeless response from the authorities (not to be confused with the tremendous work that I'm sure is being done by the aid workers on the ground) I would like to point you in the direction of this open letter by Michael Moore to George W. Bush and this less scathing but no less insightful article on the BBC website.

B Day approaches...

Things are getting close now. At our scheduled visit to the hospital last week the doctor told us that she didn't expect Marla's pregnancy to last much longer than 37 weeks. She is just under 35 weeks along now and so we should expect the twins' arrival within the next two or three weeks!

We are making preparations at home and hopefully will be all ready for when they arrive. We have the cotbeds and bedding, plus pushchair (stroller), car seats and lots of clothing - much of these things were gifts from many many people, so thank you to all who have helped us in this manner. The last few furniture purchases/movements/discards will be this week, so by next week we'll be somewhat settled at home with just lots of little things to take care of.

We have been into the hospital twice since last Thursday to have the heartbeats monitored and both times things have been fine. We have another ultrasound scan tomorrow. It is nice to know that things are being so closely followed by the medical staff.

Andy & Fi's preparations are also progressing nicely and everything seems to be on track for them. We might even be in the hospital at the same time, which will perhaps provide some interesting moments.

Busy last few days...

Well, it certainly is a busy time for us at the moment. At our meeting with the midwife on Tuesday Marla's blood pressure was quite high so we went to the hospital so that they could check to see if she had any other symptoms of Pre-eclampsia. She did not, but the doctors decided that the high blood pressure was of enough concern to put her on some medication to help bring it down. They needed to keep an eye on her and monitor the success (or otherwise) of the medication, which unfortunately meant that she had to stay at the hospital overnight.

The following morning (Wednesday) they decided to increase the dosage of the medication, which again meant another night in the hospital. Although it is an annoyance, I must stress that Marla is actually feeling fine - aside from the boredom of being in hospital - and there appears to be very little to worry about. The hospital staff have done a number of checks on the twins and they also appear to be healthy and now that the blood pressure issue has been taken care of (the medication is doing the trick) everything is looking rosy again. She'll be able to leave the hospital this lunchtime, which is good.

I went down to the hospital a number of times and I have to say that it has made me feel quite a lot better about the entire situation. Many of the staff I had contact with were very good. And now I also have an idea of the layout of the wards and things, which will make the hospital environment not so new and scary when the twins arrive. Marla appears to be taking the whole thing quite comfortably in her stride.

Latest update...

Marla had another ultrasound scan on yesterday and things appear to be fine. One of the twins is quite a lot smaller than the other but is growing at a steady rate so there is no concern. It does mean that there might be quite a large difference in their birth weights - but that is not a problem apparently.

She is about 31 weeks along now so it isn't long now. Especially if they come early, which is likely with twins. We have had one of our pre-natal classes at the hospital and we'll be having the other on Saturday morning.

Another baby thing worth mentioning is that Rachael threw a surprise baby shower for Marla last Thursday. It was a genuine surprise for her and, apparently, they had a nice time. More importantly, we got lots of prezzies! So, let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who sent something.

This coming weekend I will be playing softball in the Bristol Recreational tournament. I'll miss the first two games on Saturday (due to the pre-natal class) but there will be at least another five games that I'll be able to play in. Anyway, I am very much looking forward to it.

In other news, Griff, Rachael and I will be going to Anfield for Liverpool's first home game of the Premiership season versus Sunderland on August 20th. Our tickets are "severely restricted" viewing, which is a bit of a shame but at least we'll be there.

Marla (plus two)...

Here's a photo I took of Marla just this evening. It gives a good idea of how big her tummy is getting. With two of the little devils in there, what do you expect?

Softball last weekend...

Last weekend I played in the Windsor softball tournament for a hybrid team made up of players from three different teams in the Bristol League. It is easily one of my favourite weekends of the year (having really enjoyed it last year too). Marla did not come and camp with me this time, but she and Griff did come to watch us play on Sunday. Our team, the Grandslammers - unofficially called the Friendly Slamming Raccoons - had five games on Saturday and three on Sunday, and while we did not do as well as we would have hoped or even expected, we all had a great time. I was able to play in four games on Sat and one-and-a-half on Sun before my knee brace broke. It was incredibly annoying but at least I got to play most of the weekend.

This photo was taken during the fifth game on Saturday (my fourth of the day) and is a shot of me just after I hit the ball. I hit two home-runs in this game, but I don't think this is one of them.

Incidentally, I am currently in the process of trying to get the broken knee brace replaced by the NHS, which looks like it might be a struggle. In the meantime I will be wearing my old one.

Concert in the Park...

On Sunday evening we went to see the Gipsy Kings in concert at Dyrham Park just a few miles north of Bath. It was a great evening with good weather and a fun atmosphere. We took a picnic and were able to take folding chairs and blankets. Some people even took folding picnic tables. Anyway, it was a good concert and a great evening.

Today has not been so kind to London...

While there is nothing I can say that has not already been, or will be, said about the bombings in London today, I should at least mention it here. It is a remarkable contrast, from the high of yesterday to the low of today.

London wins 2012 Olympics...

What a good day it has been. Despite being second favourites to Paris, the London bid to host the 2012 games was successful. Apparently the final presentation by the London team was by far the best and some are saying it is what tipped the scales in their favour. People are also saying that having Tony Blair in Singapore lobbying on behalf of London just a day before he was to host the G8 meeting in Scotland was a key factor as well.

On a personal level, I am really happy about it. If we are still living in the UK in 2012 I'm sure I will try to attend some of the events and maybe even volunteer to work at the games. Of course, that is a long way off. I'll be 38 by then and will have two six-year-old children, so who knows what state I'll be in.

For those that are interested and weren't able to find it, here is the breakdown of the voting:

First round

London 22
Paris 21
Madrid 20
New York 19
Moscow 15 (eliminated)

Second round

Madrid 32
London 27
Paris 25
New York 16 (eliminated)

Third round

London 39
Paris 33
Madrid 31 (eliminated)

Fourth round

London 54
Paris 50 (eliminated)

Nerves...

Today, for some reason, I am feeling terribly nervous about the prospect of being a father of twins. I don't know the reason why it has suddenly hit me. Maybe I will stay like this forever now. I hope not. It might just be a phase. Things are getting closer and more real (yesterday we started clearing out the room where they will have their nursery), which might be contributing to my anxiety, and we have started talking about things in real terms, such as details of feeding, etc. I'm sure that when the time comes we will cope with things just fine. But for now the scale of the task ahead of us appears large indeed.

So I will think of other things for the moment. We went to see Batman Begins on Saturday. I loved it. It is well balanced and excellently paced throughout. There are good performances and I think there is a very nice character-driven story. I think that the people involved in the making should be very proud of what they have produced.

There is a cluster of birthdays at this time of year. Andy's on June 30th, my Dad's on July 3rd, Pauls on the 6th and Rachael's on the 13th. Andy's celebratory dinner at La Tasca was excellent - followed by great Italian ice cream from a vendor near the Abbey - and then on Sunday we had a lovely dinner (prepared by Joe and Ruth) at my parents' house to celebrate Dad's birthday.

By the way, happy 4th of July to those Americans tuning in.

A bit more info...

It is Andy's 31st birthday today. We will be celebrating with him (and the rest of the "gang") tomorrow night at La Tasca, which is a Spanish restaurant here in Bath.

Marla is still doing OK. She is having trouble sleeping at nights. I think it is due to the general discomfort of having an unusually large tummy and maybe also a few allergy problems, probably associated with the time of year.

We are slowly making a shortlist of names for our future offspring. On the table so far are Morgan, Marshall and Marcus for the boy and Cora and Madeleine (and its many spelling possibilities) for the girl.

I played softball on Tuesday and we lost once again. There is still promise within the team, we just have to find it. You might be interested to know that the team now has a blog at http://friendlyfiresoftball.blogspot.com/. We only just started it so there is not much there at the moment.

They're keeping us on our toes...

This morning we had the first of what was to be a regular bi-weekly ultrasound scan. Everything went well - both babies seem healthy and there was nothing out of the ordinary. One thing they were able to tell us is that we will more-than-likely be having one boy and one girl.

While this is not a huge shock, nor does it require a major upheaval of our plans, it is another surprise in an already surprising period of our lives. In real terms, one thing it means is that they are not identical so there is no chance of twin-to-twin transfusion and therefore we will not be required to have a scan every two weeks, it'll be every four weeks from now on.

In other medical news, Marla's dad underwent bypass surgery last week and is now well on his way to recovery. Apparently everything went very well. We are, of course, very happy about this.

That's all for now.

Twin update...

Marla has been feeling the twins kicking quite a lot in the last few days. Now that she knows there are two of them in there it makes a lot more sense when she can feel movement in two places at once. As much as I might try, it is impossible to imagine what it must feel like to have your future children growing inside you. No wonder mothers have such a strong attachment to their babies. I'm not jealous, but it is definitely something that fathers don't get to experience. Still, I am quite glad I don't have to go through the actually birth bit.

Revenge of the Sith...

We went to see Revenge of the Sith - for the second time - last night. Some random thoughts about it now follow:

• It is a better movie than either Episode 1 or Episode 2. As The Empire Strikes Back stood out amongst Episodes 4, 5 & 6, so Revenge of the Sith does amongst Episodes 1, 2 & 3.
• There were genuine moments of tension. For example, when Padme realises that Anakin has moved to the dark side.
• As everyone has been saying, it links the movies together very well. It fills in most of the gaps and answers a lot of questions. It does, however, leave a few things unanswered. For example, who is Anakin's father? I remember reading a few years ago that there was a rumour going around that it might be Palpatine, which is especially cool because it would mean that at the end of Return of the Jedi, when Vader is looking back and forth between Luke and the Emporer before throwing the Emporer down the shaft, he is actually choosing between his father and his son.
• Another small inconsistency is that in Star Wars (Episode 4) Ben Kenobi does not recognise R2-D2 when they first meet on Tatooine, even saying that he doesn't remember ever owning a droid. While I know that R2 was never actually Kenobi's droid, you'd think he'd remember all the interaction they had during the Clone Wars.
• Speaking of Ben Kenobi, Ewan McGregor virtually carries the film I think. His performance (as well as Natalie Portman's) is very strong, given the limited scope of the dialogue - which unfortunately is a recurring theme of all three of the new movies. And I also think that McGregor and the make-up artists do a good job of easing the potentially troublesome transition to Alec Guiness.

Aftermath...

Now that we are sort of pulling ourselves together after the news of the twins I thought it might be nice to give some other news - of a far less life-changing nature. Last Saturday Paul, Andy and myself went on a mountain bike ride in the hills of Dorset (about an hour from Bath). The route was one recommended by MBR magazine (Mountain Bike Rider) and was designated "Easy". Perfect for us. Anyway, Paul was able to program the route into his GPS device and we also had the map provided by MBR - so getting lost was not a worry. The route was 17 miles in total and it took me a little by surprise how quickly we covered that distance, even over less than ideal tracks. Nevertheless, about 3/4 of the way around, I was almost completely exhausted and when presented with anything like a semi-steep hill I got off and pushed the bike. That said, I think we all had a very good time. The weather was great and the exercise did us all good. I found that having no suspension on my bike (actually, my brother's bike) was a disadvantage and after having tried Paul's bike (that has suspension on the front forks) I think that, if I was to take this up more seriously, suspension would be necessary.

One huge thing I have not mentioned was the Champions League final on the 25th of May and Liverpool's fine win. Has there ever been a more unlikely and thrilling come-back in the history of competition - or even all of football? I was in a sports bar in Schaumburg, Illinois for the match. There was no sound, but I got to see every second of the game. It would have been nice to have joined in with the celebrations back in the UK, I understand that the entire country (apart from Chelsea) was celebrating. I even got a celebratory text message from my brother! Now that the celebrations have passed, Liverpool can start looking toward next season. There is already talk of Gerrard signing a new contract soon, and now that UEFA have announced that Liverpool will be able to defend the title things are looking very promising for the Mighty Reds.

Other news: Andy and Fi are off to Spain for the weekend; Fi is doing well their future son appears to be healthy. We're still playing softball; had a game last night and were comprehensively beaten. I was however happy with the way I played. And that's about all for now. Going to see Revenge of the Sith again tonight... I'll maybe post some thoughts about it later in the week.

Baby scan images...

Here are the images from our momentous scan last Wednesday. Click on the image for a larger picture.



The three images on the left are of one twin. Head is sort of top-left, facing away from us, hence a lack of visible features. The three images on the right are of the other twin. Head is top-right and features are visible .

I'm not sure if we will be getting images from any subsequent scans. We will be having a scan every two weeks from now on so I'm sure there will be some more pictures in the future.

Incidentally, we are slowly getting to grips with the idea of two babies. We will never fully be ready (who ever is fully ready for even one baby?) but we are starting to realise that everything will be OK. We will just have to increase our planning and preparation. I am getting excited about the prospect of twins. There are some great things that twins bring that we would not have experienced if we had one baby... I'm just not sure what they are yet.

Back from the USA. And strangely diverted via Minnesota...

You might think, with us just returned from America, that this post would be full of comments about the trip. Well, before yesterday it would have been. Except that something happened yesterday that takes precedence.

Marla had her first baby scan yesterday morning and... well... we are having twins! Obviously it is a huge surprise to us and will take a while to really sink in but to sum up my initial feelings, I am very happy and absolutely terrified. There is now much more urgency surrounding the preparations for their arrival and considerable financial planning required. While we initially are telling ourselves that things will be fine, we will now have to actually work hard to ensure that is the case. There are also added risks associated with giving birth to twins, so Marla will now be monitored much more closely by the pre-natal people at the hospital in Bath - in fact, we had our first meeting with a "twin specialist" today.

With it being so soon since we found out there is not a great deal more to say on the matter - but I'm sure there soon will be once we get to grips with it all. There are pictures from the scan that I will post within the next few days. And also, apologies if you are finding out via the weblog as opposed to hearing from us in person. I felt that it was the sort of news that most people might like to know as soon as possible and I suspect that if you are one of the people who feels we should have called you to give you the news, we will probably do so in the not so distant future.

Just a few brief words about the trip to the USA. We had a great time both in Chicago and in Michigan for nephew Jared's high school graduation. We spent a lot of time with Marla's parents and siblings (and their children) as well as were able to see some of our closest friends, including Pam & Greg, Susanne & Mark and Chris & Lisa (and their children). The photo below is of me, Marla and Susanne in front of one of the new features in Millennium park in downtown Chicago (a giant vertical fountain - one of a pair, ironically). More photos (a lot more) can be seen in this online album - there are no captions so you will have to muddle your way through all 134 of them. Our return journey was delayed by a day due to bad weather between Chicago and Detroit and our tickets the following day were re-routed via Minnesota... home of the Twins!

Liverpool FC...

Last weekend three of us (Griff, Rachael and me) went to Anfield to see Liverpool's final game of the Premiership season versus Aston Villa. Liverpool won the game 2-1 and afterwards did a lap of the field (see the photo) to thank the fans for all the support during the season. It was a very good day. And whilst it is still a bit of an adventure I think we are starting to take the trips to Liverpool in our stride now.

This is Rachael standing in front of the Bill Shankly statue at the Kop end of Anfield. Behind the statue is the Museum and a little further over is the shop. As you can see from Rachael's red carrier bag, we had already visited the shop!

The "gang"...

Here are 7/8 of the group that went camping this last weekend (the one missing is me). From the left we have Griff, Rachael, Paul, Andy, Becky, Marla and Fi. This photo is in Swanage itself with the pier in the background.

See more of the photos in this Ofoto album.

Liverpool FC, conquerors of Europe? Again...

We returned from our camping trip on Monday evening after a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. We arrived at the campsite on Friday evening - Andy, Griff & Paul had travelled down that morning and had put all the tents up before we got there. Unfortunately, Marla had to go back to Bristol on Saturday to do some work but because Rachael also had to come back to the area it wasn't such an ordeal and they were both back with us in camp by Saturday evening. On Sunday we travelled a short distance on a steam railway to the nearby seaside town of Swanage where we had cream teas, went on a boat trip to see some nearby rock formations and amused ourselves in the amusement arcade. On Monday we had a leisurely morning packing the camp up before heading home via a stately home and gardens called Kingston Lacy, which was great. The weather for most of the weekend was good and it was generally an all round good time.

On Tuesday night we were supposed to be playing softball, but once again the bad weather prevented us from doing so. Not that I was all that upset because it allowed me to watch the second leg of the Liverpool-Chelsea Champions League semi-final. And I am darn glad I did because it was a glorious victory for the Mighty Reds. It ended 1-0 after a fine display of dogged and determined football. The goal was a scrappy one and not without controversy - I'm sure you can find weblogs by Chelsea fans that say the ball did not cross the goal line - but, for what it is worth, I think the goal was a legitimate one and at the end of the two legs of the semi-final I think Liverpool deserved to go through to the final. In over 180 minutes of football Chelsea really only troubled the Liverpool goalkeeper, Jerzy Dudek, a couple of times.

So, Liverpool are off to Istanbul for the final on May 25. They'll be playing AC Milan, who came through against PSV last night. Milan are generally considered to be the best team in Europe (alongside Chelsea, ironically) and so it will certainly be tough but on the strength of the last three performances against Leverkeusen, Juventus and Chelsea it seems that anything is possible.

It is election day in the UK today. I'll be voting after work. I'll be glad when this is all over so the news media can calm down a bit.

Footy & camping...

The first leg of the Liverpool-Chelsea UEFA Champions League semi-final was last night. It was at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's home ground) and ended 0-0. I think that it was a fair result based on the performances of both teams. And actually a good result for both teams. The second leg is at Anfield on Tuesday and will be interesting. If Liverpool win they will go through to the final BUT if Chelsea win or if there is a score-draw (i.e. 1-1 or 2-2, etc.) then Chelsea will go on to the final. If it ends 0-0 then there will be extra time and perhaps a penalty shoot-out. I think both teams will be happy. Liverpool know that they have to get a win at home to qualify and Chelsea know that a score-draw is enough for them.

We're off camping this weekend. A group of us (the usual gang) are going to a campsite near Corfe Castle in Dorset. It is close to a place we camped a couple of years ago so we know the area a bit. It might be one of the last times that Marla will be able to camp -without being too uncomfortable - before the baby is born so we have to make the most of it. The weather forecast is good for the weekend, so fingers crossed.

Exciting news...

This news is perhaps long overdue and seeing as Griff has posted it on his weblog there is now no point in not posting it here. Marla and I are expecting our first child in October. We are, of course, very excited. And inevitably nervous too. The exact due date is October 7th - although I think it is less than 5% of babies are born on their due date.

We had our first visit from the midwife just last week and were able to hear the babies heartbeat, which was brilliant. Marla is more or less over the morning-sickness phase of things and once this hectic time at her work passes she should be able to enjoy being pregnant more than during the first tri-mester (is that hyphenated?).

Other news, that rather pales into insignificance now, is that Liverpool are into the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League after beating Juventus over the two legs of the Quarter Final. They will play Chelsea in the SF, which means that there will be an English club in the final of the competition. I just hope it's Liverpool!

Spring is in the air...

Softball season starts in a few weeks time and preparations are being made. Friendly Fire is planning training sessions and pre-season games and there is talk of ordering team shirts and hats. It's almost as if we are starting to think we have a chance of winning more than a handful of games this season. We'll see!

Birthday season is well and truly upon us now. Griff, Sheila, Dave Molander, Fi and Susanne all have birthdays within a couple of weeks of each other. Happy Birthday to you all. There. That's saved on sending them all cards.

There are plans for another trip to Anfield to see Liverpool. This time it is the final game of the season vs Aston Villa. Tickets go on sale later this month. Aston Villa was the first team I ever supported before I saw the light and became a Red for life, so it will be a nice game to go to I think. Things are looking better for Liverpool at the moment. The team is now only one point behind Everton for fourth in the Premiership and just had a good performance in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League vs Juventus - they are 2-1 ahead after the home leg and just need a draw in Turin on Wednesday to progress to the semi-final. I say "just need a draw" but it is a tall order. However, after the fine performance on Tuesday they look capable of pulling it off.

Happy birthday...

Today is the first birthday of my weblog. I think it has been a successful year of 'blogging'. Here's to the next 365 days!

Also celebrating his birthday this week was Griff. He turned 31 on the 29th of March. Marla and I took him to lunch to celebrate.

Underrated Movie No. 2...

It seems amazing to me that my "Underrated Movie No. 1..." post was all the way back in October! How time flies. Makes it all the more important for me to keep writing in my weblog before everything we do in life becomes a blurred memory.

I watched Thirteen Days on Tuesday. What a great movie. For those who have not seen it, I highly recommend it. It stars Kevin Costner, but don't let that put you off, he is actually very good in it. In fact his performance is the pillar around which this strong movie is built. It tells the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis from the point of view of the Kennedy brothers and JFK's chief advisor, Ken O'Donnell (played by Costner). As I understand it, the movie is largely historically accurate, and it shows how close the world came to nuclear war. It's hard to categorise the movie; it is part political thriller, part historic recreation, even part documentary. However, regardless of your taste in movies, given the real-life story and superb film-making it is hard to see how anyone could dislike this film.

Reds beat blues...

Once again a week passes between posts on my weblog. For me the most important thing that has happened since last post is that Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 in the second Merseyside derby of the season. It was a great game with much incident... Liverpool suffered four injuries and a sending off but still managed to hold on for the win. The local rivalry took on extra importance this time because the two teams are fighting for 4th place in the Premiership and the coveted 4th Champions League place for next season. Now Liverpool are only 4 points behind Everton with eight games remaining in the season. Could be a close finish.

Other goings on... we helped Rachael move a sofa into her flat on Monday night. We probably made quite a sight, me, Andy & Paul walking along London Road carrying a sofa. The Bath Half-Marathon was held on Sunday so I went down to Green Park Station to watch the runners go by and listen to Samba Sulis (the samba band that my parents are a part of) bang out their rhythms. The runners really love the drumming and many of them give thumbs up or clap as they run past.

On Friday I/we will be taking Andy and Fi to Heathrow for their flight to New York. I am extremely jealous of the trip they are taking. We've been to New York once (on our way home from our honeymoon in Cape Cod) but were only able to spend about an hour there before having to catch the Staten Island ferry back to our car.

Tuesday night and all's well...

You may or may not be pleased to learn that there were no casualties from the recent charity events (other than Griff's chest hair that is!). In front of an audience of up to 20 of Griff's work colleagues he managed to endure the waxing without crying (or so he tells us). And Paul's abseil went very well indeed, in fact he looked decidedly accomplished at it for someone who has never done it before... and I think he raised £200 or so. For anyone that is interested there are photos of the event at Paul's website.

Marla and I booked tickets for our May-June trip to Chicago last night. After scouring the Internet looking at flights costing a minimum of £810 we managed to find flights on the KLM website for only £500! Amazing really. We found them at www.travelsupermarket.com - and are thankful indeed. We will be in Chicago from the 23^rd of May to the 5^th of June and are hoping to see as many of our friends as possible as well as Marla's family.

Incidentally, I say in my post title that all's well. That's not entirely true. We just got back from the pub where we watched a 0-0 draw between Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. Quite a flat game that may have put 4th place out of reach for Liverpool.

Masters degrees and chest waxing...

This is a late night post (late night is relative of course, some people stay up until 3:00am whereas 11:00pm is late for me) just to keep the weblog ticking over. Since my last post Liverpool FC lost the Carling Cup final to Chelsea in what was actually a great game of football - final score was 3-2, with the game having gone into extra time. Liverpool did however qualify for the quater-final of the European Cup (or is the called the UEFA Champions League these days?) with a 3-1 win over Leverkeusen last night - making the aggregate score 6-2.

Other things going on... well, Marla has a big presentation tomorrow for her Masters degree. We've just spent the last 45 minutes going over it. She's pretty confident and even though I didn't understand 75% of the presentation, she certainly appears to know her stuff.

Amongst our friends there are a couple of fund-raising activities worth mentioning. Tomorrow Griff is having his chest hair waxed for Comic Relief (a BBC charity event). I'm planning to open the window at work at about 11:00am just in case the sound of his screams carry the 20 or so miles to Bath. Then on Saturday Paul is doing an abseil down the cliffs of the Avon Gorge for charity - we'll be there, four of us holding a blanket at each corner just in case he falls!

More Liverpool news...

Liverpool play Chelsea in the Carling Cup final on Sunday. For the uninitiated, the Carling Cup is the first major trophy in the English football calendar and even though it is not as prestigious as the Premiership and the FA Cup, it's still a big deal. Chelsea are easily the best team in the Premiership and Liverpool will have their hands full on Sunday. But after the game against Leverkeusen on Tuesday night hopes are high and coupled with Chelsea having a couple of key injuries there might be a chance of an upset. Anyway, I'll be at the pub on Sunday watching it on the big screen!

The weather...

We're experiencing a bit of a cold-snap in the UK at the moment. The last few days have seen NE winds bringing a lot of cold air and snow. Forecasters are saying that the snow will really get heavy tonight. Keep in mind, of course, what we call heavy snow in the UK, they call a light dusting in other parts of the world.

We've been trying to watch a few movies lately. I've just recently signed up for an Internet DVD rental service. It's actually very good. In the last month we've been able to see six movies without any late-fee worries etc. And, because they come in the post there is virtually no hassle either. There are a number of companies that do this sort of thing - we use LOVEFiLM and would highly recommend the service.

One last thing. Liverpool beat Bayer Leverkeusen 3-1 at Anfield last night in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. It was a great performance and a good win - marred only by a late goal from Leverkeusen that could have been prevented. The second leg of the tie is in two weeks time in Germany. Come on the Mighty Reds!

Quick update...

First off, Marla's birthday weekend was a success. We did indeed go bowling on Saturday, followed by watching the second half of the Wales-England rugby match. Then in the evening we went to F.east, which is a pan-asian restaurant. There is only one option there now (it used to have a conventional menu), which involves a comprehensive buffet for £14.50. All you can eat buffets are generally wasted on me because I tend not to have a very big appetite at any given meal-time but I was determined to get my money's worth this time and I think I pulled it off. Then after the meal we played quite a few hands of poker (Texas Hold-Em) at Andy & Fi's - a good evening indeed.

On Tuesday (Marla's actual birthday) we had some cake at my parent's and then, after dinner, went to Rachael's flat for some pancakes. That was a good evening too!

Marla's presents included two necklaces, a book about cats (and what they think of humans) and gift vouchers for a health spa place. I gave Marla the complete third series of "24" on DVD. The first and second series were on BBC but since then it has moved to Sky, which means we are unable to see it. So, anyway, we have started watching the DVDs and are quite hooked. We watched three episodes last night and I suspect we will watch at least one more tonight.

Preview of coming attractions...

Marla's birthday is on Tuesday, so this weekend we will be doing something to celebrate. Tentative plans at the moment involve bowling, eating and board-gaming. But all that is yet to be confirmed. Regardless of what we end up doing, I'm sure it'll be a good time.

The Superbowl is this Sunday and it looks like it will be on terrestrial TV in the UK for the first time in a few years... so I'll actually be able to watch it live. I'm not sure who I am rooting for this year. I am not a big fan of either team but I have historically disliked the Patriots more than the Eagles, so "Go Philly!" I guess.

Back in Blighty...

Well, we're back!

Here is one of the better photos from skiing in Prato Nevoso. There are many more at this Ofoto gallery.

Pre-flight...

This is just a quick post with a photo of us on Christmas Day at my parents' house with a blanket given to us by Marla's Aunt Janet.

We're off to Italy on Sunday. If there is an Internet connection in the hotel (or a Internet-cafe type place) I will try to write a post sometime during the week. But chances are it'll have to wait until when we get back. So until then...

Layer Cake in the USA...

I've just read that Layer Cake is getting its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month. So, for all my America-based friends (those I have been telling to go see it) keep your eyes open because it should be coming to your area soon, I hope.

Milestone...

I've just noticed that my weblog has had over 1000 visitors. Woohoo! I should have had a special promotion and offered the 1000th visitor £1,000,000. Oh well.

We're off skiing next week. The group will be me, Marla, Andy, Fi, Paul and Rachael. The same bunch that went two years ago. We're also going to the same resort, Prato Nevoso in Italy. Here is a link to the webcam at the base of the piste:

Post-Christmas Post...

Gosh. Time flies when you are busy. What with all the Christmas celebrations and the hectic work schedule of late I have not posted since the 16th of Dec! Well, to get back on track:

• Christmas Day was excellent with a feast second to none in Loughborough Christmas history
  
• Some fab gifts were exchanged, including a baseball history DVD for me (my new prize possession)
  
• Uncle Bob and Aunt Kay came for the annual Boxing Day get-together and dispite a heated philosophical debate at dinner time, much fun was had by all
  
• Work has been incredibly busy and the time between Christmas and New Year was not as relaxing as I would have liked
  
• New Years celebrations went well
  
• On New Year's Day we went along to the traditional softball gathering. There were seven other there and we played a bit - and got very wet!
  
• There was also a trip to Coventry (on Jan 2nd) to visit my grandmother - who was in a better condition than we have seen for a very long time - and Uncle Bob and Aunt Kay again
  

Here endeth the Christmas run-down.

Oh, and one more very important thing, following the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean last week may I point you all in the direction of a place to make donations: http://www.dec.org.uk/.