A new life; same as the old life?

Yep, this weekend, AJ tried her first solid food, well "thicker than milk" food. I am not sure it really qualifies as solid if you could suck it through a straw! As you can see from the picture on the right, it was the messy affair you would expect, although the video shows that she did actually open her mouth voluntarily a few times This has been a funny month, not much going on one minute, then all hell breaking loose the next. Easter coming so early threw a lot of folks, and work seemed to be really quiet compared to previous Easters. We have secured the house, as i said earlier and will actually get the keys this Friday 28th. We don't move for another month, but this will give us time to clean, paint, etc before we actually have to move in, which is really excellent. And of course many other pictures , taken this month, of our impossibly cute girl!

After a final blast of cold and snow last week, another foot or so on Good Friday, it seems that the winter is finally over. We are getting ready to move house and also take a trip back home with AJ for her first time. The ice on the lake has mostly melted and I got some good pictures this past weekend, when we went to the new house for some measuring up. The winter in Chicagoland has been amongst the most severe in recent memory. In our little town of Libertyville, we had 37" of snow in February alone and a season total of 78", that's right 7.5 FEET! Of course as it all melts now and the spring storms come, there will be considerable flooding, but hopefully, some of the golf courses will open soon. For those of you reading this in the UK, the trip is planned for 7th-22nd May for me, and 7th May-4th June for Lorraine. I emailed everyone I had in my address book pretty much, but if I missed you then let me know and I will send you the trip itinerary Click here for the fin...

what to yell when a plane is coming in to land on the fairway. Last weekend, I was driving from an appointment along route 22 near our office and one of the local golf courses, I frequent in the summer. There were a number of police cars and some crime scene tape on the road bordering the course, and I could see some officers actually standing around on the course. It turns out that someone had chosen to land their small plane on the course, complete with skis and all, to ensure his son made it to his tennis lesson at the club across the street. The full incredible story is here and some more details here .

My calorie controlled diet continues to go well, and in fact I have now lost over 18lbs. My eventual target is still 50lbs, but I can already fit back into my 40 waist jeans, trousers and shorts. Hopefully when we move, I can get back to more regular exercise, beyond walking the dog occasionally.

Winter is still with us, and some more snow and cold coming this week. Last weekend, we went over to our new place to try out the walk down to town and the lake. It was a gorgeous day, and we made the lake in 40 minutes, which is about as long as it takes to walk to Libertyville town (for those who have been here). We signed the lease on the new place, and paid an initial deposit this weekend, with the move date set for 1st May at the latest. We took some excellent pictures, including the one above and this one, down by the lake. The current background shot was from there too. Click here for lots more.