Happy New Year!

Hi Gang!

After a very very long flight I arrived in Oz on Dec 30. The time leading up to my big adventure was as crazy/buzy as you can all imagine. My exchange partner Edie arrived on Dec.14th to be greeted by a cold snap. Welcome to Ottawa Edie! So I told her about the furnace, how to check the kids and herself for frostbite and suited her up in my down filled coat, snowpants and Sorells. I can tell by her adventurous streak that we are kindred spirits. I know all my very good friends in Ottawa will help her and look out for her. Gord the snow angel initiation was a good idea. You might want to show her how to start the snowblower too.

My darling offspring saw me off at the airport bright and early on Monday Dec 28th. The security was a bit intense but my flight was delayed by an hour because of crew change. The "hurry up and wait" thing was the order of the day. I sat beside a delightful lady from Ottawa on the way to Vancouver to meet her first grandchild. We were excited to hear about each others adventures and the flight "flew" by in short order. The journey from Vancouver to Hong Kong was the longest part of the journey. I flew Cathay Pacific and the service was wonderful. I managed to watch Finding Nemo.(yes it was the first time I saw it) I was thinking of my friend Pam Sorenson and tried to watch Bad Santa. Sorry Pam but Billy Bob just didn't do it for me and I slept. I then watched something called 500 days of Summer. Slow but OK. So Maddison I have now had my movie fix for 2009. We will have to see what 2010 brings.