Holidays booked and photoshop (ped)

 Well, after 16 years... I will be going back to Pakistan on holiday to see DH Nafees' family. Veeery excited and happy. I will be going with Nafees, Imran and Ruby. Dan is going to stay here in the UK, mainly for our pets. He is going on his on holiday with his mates in the summer to Greece, so its not a big deal. What was holding us back to go was mainly the money - flights are not cheap especially when going with all the family. but hey.. if we don't do it now we'll probably never do it. So there it goes, we've finally booked it and will be going in April.

here is a picture from my walk yesterday, taken in Beacon Wood Country Park: Ruby said this tree looks like a toilet seat lol

I've also played around with simple photo editing software - still can't get to grips with Photoshop. One of those days I will have enough time to get into it.

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And I've got myself a new toy - eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new 'baby' - a Canon Powershot SX210 camera. I wanted to get a compact camera for the holidays. Can't really take the big Canon EOS DSLR with me. Firstly, it is heavy to carry around, and I don't really want to walk around in Pakistan with a big fat camera hanging around my neck. So it will be much easier to have a little compact camera in my pocket. I went for Canon again, as I basically know the brand, and have all their software already on the computer etc. First I thought about buying just the cheapest camera, but than I thought I might as well spend a tiny bit more and get especially better zoom. So, the SX210 has 14x zoom, so perfect. I ordered it off Amazon, and should be with me in the next few days. Oh, the excitement!

Wedding Picture

I have been working quite a bit on the wedding picture last week, but because of the massive Confetti stitches, there isn't much to see. I like the way DH's face emerges though. One thing... I'm not too happy with the coverage, especially on the black parts its showing,  through quite badly, well, I notice it anyway, but I can't fact to start again.

New Years Resolutions

Ok, here we go, the inevatable New Year's resolutions.

1. Save money / don't spend money on credit card.
Yep, it's the year of austerity or so the government says, and I've got no opion but to join in. Credit Card needs to be paid off before I consider putting any more money on it. So. that means, I will not buy anything for which I don't have the money in my current account in the first place. Hopefully, by the end of 2011, I will have my credit card paid off.

2. Continue my Weight Watcher's Journey
So far, I have lost 1.5 Stone (app. 10kg) on Weight Watchers and going to the gym. I have lost it a bit of the Christmas Holidays but this was expected and is not a problem. So, back to points counting and gym, already feel better today ;-))

3. OK, for the benefit of this blog... I try to write regularly.

Stephen King 'The Bachman Books'

In the late 1970'/early 1980's, Stephen King wrote a few novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, according to him mainly as an experiement to see if his books are liked only because they are from 'the Stephen King' or whether even if published under a completely unknown name, still would have commercial success. Well, his cover was blown and Bachman 'outed' as King. Nonethe less, the 4 Bachman stories in this compilation are a must for every King fan.

RAGE - a high school teenager becomes a gang-of-one in a terrifying display of rebellion.

THE LONG WALK - A chilling look at the ultra-conservative America of the future, where a gruelling 450 mile marathon is the ultimate sports competition - my favourite of this story compilation.

ROADWORK - An immovable man refuses to surrender to the irresisteble forces of progress.

THE RUNNING MAN - a macabre tale of the future's favourite TV gam show, where contestants risk death at the hands of hunters to win a billion dollar jackpot. This was made into a movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but as so often, the book differs slighlty in the story, and well worth reading even if you know the movie.