What am I up to...?

Received a few emails recently asking me what I'm up to...and what I'll be doing next... Well, doing a great deal but nothing to announce on the professional side of things ;) I must be honest, this time off has been extremely liberating and probably something I should have done some time ago. Here's a list of top 10 of what's happened and happening on the fun/personal end - there are some bucket list items here...figured I'd get them done whilst I have the time;

1. Get out there - Diving - do a great deal of diving at present. Just returned from Mauritius and was absolutely wow'd by the marine life. You don't even have to dive...snorkeling is enough!

2. Travel - quite a large crowd heading back to Mauritius this week - diving around more of the islands and the east coast with the kids this time.

3. Concerts - couple of longtime friends (school buddies) have bought tickets and flights to see Simply Red in Italy in May - was supposed to be a birthday gift surprise but Chivon just couldn't keep it silent...3 glasses of wine later %¬)

4. Musical instrument - Mike Stopforth is organizing a new guitar teacher for me - started this a few months ago but the wheels came off. Mike's getting someone that'll show up at home, flexible on time and does not arrive intoxicated ;-) Thanks to Mike's tweating I discovered that he plays in a band...

5. Fly more - doing a week long Microlite excursion in the Kalahari in May - flew again this week and the magic is still there Roberto... (I won't even mention your predictions here)

6. Literature - finished biography of Martin Luther King Jr and The History of Coal...finally! (I HIGHLY recommend The History of Coal - I really do... !!) Bought the autobiography of Winston Churchhill and Barak Obama (both editions) and started reading over the weekend

7. Health - back into swimming again and back into the 4 day, one hour per session, 80-100 laps routine...feels great at the moment and hoping I can just keep it up...5am in winter in the pool, even though heated, is going to be tough!

8. Pets - kids and I doing the Obama canine search thing ;) We've scouted pet shops today and did some online searching...we're just not sure yet...(Can't believe the price of some of these puppies! The price of two equals what a brand new car cost when my dad bought one in the 80's)

9. Crazy - Tracy and Craig are part of a local Red Bull base jumping crew - I'm heading out there next week Friday for lesson 1... ;-(

10. Mundane - I shouldn't categorise this just yet but after an interesting dinner a couple days ago a group of us have decided to attend professional chef directed cooking classes... We start next week and I'll report back with pics asap ;-) We're doing the Japanese, Thai and Indian themes over the next couple months... More nervous about this versus base jumping!!

P.S. On the side - Figuring out how I can get my hands on the Amazon.com Kindle...Argh, I want one of these so badly!