So I figured that its been a while since I updated you on the night delights of my darling Benjamin Holmes. The reason for this being that, believe it or not, he went through a bit of a quiet period...either that, or after 3 years of marriage, I actually sleep through the majority of his antics. Never-the-less, all is not quiet in the Holmes bedroom...(do try to avoid those thoughts).
So recently my challenge has been to engage him in as much 'sleep-talk' conversation as possible. I have noticed that if I am up in the mornings before His Lordship, he is very likely to have an unconscious, (not sure if that's the right word to use?), conversation with me. I have been lucky enough during these times to have him point out to me an array of strange things around the room...which only his eyes seem to be viewing. He has kindly informed me of the fact that he is definitely not going to let me battle today...especially since, half-way through this conversation, he realised that I was not yet dressed, and there is no way he was letting his wife battle naked. His sitting up in bed, cheesy grin on his face as he waved me off in the morning, was also a real treat, especially due to the fact it was not a small insecure flicker of the fingers, but rather a large, you-are-at-the-other-end-of-a-mall wave. So now, each time I hear a mutter or a stir, I come running back into the room trying to engage with him in some way, in the great hope that he will have some delightful insight to share with me.
Not long after we returned from our Europe holiday, I woke to him frantically trying to climb over the top of me. My first thought was that he was giving me an incredibly awkward snuggle, sprawled out on top of me...or trying for some other late night excitement. I very quickly realise this was not the case, as he mumbled away about 'gotta get there quickly'. Now don't get me wrong, we do not have one side of the bed against the wall, so he is very able to exit the bed on his own side. This did not deter him from scrabbling over me...apparently, (so I found out in the morning), to get to the ladder at my side of the bed, which climbed to the top of a water-slide which went down the side of our building. He could not for the life of him understand why I was lying there in his way, not the least bit anxious to have a go on this new adventure ride which had appeared in our room. Well...when you put it like that, what an idiot I was!
But I have to say, despite all the joy I get from his active imagination, I have recently begun to worry...don't tell me, I am getting old...about his climbing out of our bedroom window. Now for those of you who are Kiwi's and hardly live in more than a one-storied home, this is not a completely ridiculous thing to worry about due to the fact that we live on the 11th floor of an apartment building, which looks out over a large, flat, grey, concrete slab. I know that description makes it sound much worse than it is...we do have water on the other side...but for the sake of dramatic effect, it is just a concrete slab. Another reason this is a justifiable concern is due to the fact that our bedroom window completely opens up and can easily be climbed out of. It lacks any form of balcony and is therefore simply a hole in the side of the building. Despite the fact that Ben assures me this will never happen, due to the fact this window is chest high, I can't help but fear I might wake to seeing him fall out, as he imagines the water-slide has now been moved to the window. I feel I can also justify this small worry due to its actually having happened before, not on my watch, and not involving any falling, but an 'exiting the house' adventure never-the-less. And were this to happen again, there would be no awkward waking at 3am, locked outside, in winter, in his boxers, with his pillow under one arm. In fact there would be no waking from this dream. But as Ben puts it, I do tend to worry about pretty much anything that runs through my head and so it is not likely to be a possible scenario.
Despite my worries, I am still most grateful for his night antics as a part of our daily lives. I mean, what else is a husband for, if not to cause his wife a small amount of worry every now and then!
Thursday 3 February 2011
Saturday 29 January 2011
Hong Kong
Well what can I say!! How much do I love Hong Kong, current home town of Ben's lovely Mum! Despite the eventful start we made it for our 3 week holiday!
We had tied everything up in London and were ready to go! After a weekend of snow and flight cancellations, (in which a couple of our friends flights had been cancelled), due to leave on the Monday, we assumed that Heathrow, being one of the biggest airports in the world, will have sorted itself out in time for our flight! We were wrong. Our flight was due to leave at 4:10pm. Till round 10 that Monday morning, all was set to go. The internet was not telling us our flight had been cancelled and so hopes were high. After 10 the message changed...we were suddenly told to call our airline, (Turkish Air). The flight was not showing cancelled, but it wasn't showing that it was flying out either.
With sinking hearts we made the call...busy tone. We called again, and again and again...I could repeat this line no less than 200 times and still not be able to give you any more information. Finally at 12:30, with no more information available to us, we decided we would make our way to the airport on the off chance we might make it out. Whenever our train was not underground and out of signal, we would again call Turkish Air, with no luck. Every now and then the phone would go through to a ringing tone...the anticipation would build, and we would hope for some information, only to have it ring for about 10 minutes before just hanging up on us!
Arriving at Heathrow we were rudely awakened to the reality of our situation, and given explanation as to why we had had no luck getting through to our airline...it was chaos. No one was allowed into the terminal, meaning that the crowds had amassed outside in the snow staring at the one information board...with all their luggage in tow. Ben and I squeezed our way through the crowds to get a view of the board, only to discover our flight was not even up there yet...only those flights before 4pm were showing...so close yet so far. 20 minutes we stood in the cold waiting for the board to change. Flights leaving at 4:05 began to show...
I cannot describe the feeling of absolute relief and joy I felt when our flight finally showed...minus the dreaded flashing red 'CANCELLED', but instead displaying a lovely white 'Terminal C'. I restrained myself from shouting out in joy due to the fact we were surrounded by at least a hundred people crying or stressing that they would not make it out that day...or at all...before Christmas.
Next several staff went around calling out our flight number...to which we were originally told that we were actually not on...due to the fact they had been looking for our names on the not checked-in passengers list, rather than the online check-in list. It was all secrecy as they quietly told us, as they checked off our names, that we needed to wait by the side exit door and that someone would come to open it for us in some time.
Ben and I spent the next 3 hours hiding out in one of Heathrow's airport lounges, courtesy of my bank, watching news reports on Heathrow going from bad to worse. We had promised ourselves we wouldn't celebrate till the plane was in the air...so cheers went up the minute we took off.
Now every cloud actually does have a silver lining...which for us was the 24 hour, all expenses paid stop-over in Istanbul. We had time to do some sightseeing, while eating and sleeping for free in a 4 star hotel! My kind of holiday!
Despite the rocky start, Hong Kong became one of our favourite holidays so far! Our days in Hong Kong were spent, ferrying from Island to Island, sightseeing, exploring...and much to my delight...SHOPPING! Ben had assured me before we left England, that Hong Kong had the best shopping in the world, and this being the case he released the credit card to me. Once we arrived, Mum quickly assured me 'shopping capital' was not the case at all. Despite the fact that I am not a small asian girl and sizes there aren't designed for me, I managed to make the most of my purchasing freedom, and bought pretty much anything that took my fancy and actually did fit! Not to mention the handbags and shoes!!!
We relaxed, ate yummy asian foods, I read, Mum played scrabble, Ben researched our next holiday. It was the perfect combo of chill-out time and adventure. Mum spoilt us with the perfect New Years, a trip to Macau, a stay in the Venetian, Cirque Du Soleil...which we all sat in complete amazement at the things people are able to do with their bodies...and cocktails and dancing to finish! Ben spent the whole time trying to convince me that a couple of years there earning some money would be the perfect end to our 3 years travelling...to which I finally convinced him that my biological clock would not continue ticking forever.
3 weeks went far to quickly, and before we knew it, we were back on a plane, teary-eyed, home bound.
We had tied everything up in London and were ready to go! After a weekend of snow and flight cancellations, (in which a couple of our friends flights had been cancelled), due to leave on the Monday, we assumed that Heathrow, being one of the biggest airports in the world, will have sorted itself out in time for our flight! We were wrong. Our flight was due to leave at 4:10pm. Till round 10 that Monday morning, all was set to go. The internet was not telling us our flight had been cancelled and so hopes were high. After 10 the message changed...we were suddenly told to call our airline, (Turkish Air). The flight was not showing cancelled, but it wasn't showing that it was flying out either.
With sinking hearts we made the call...busy tone. We called again, and again and again...I could repeat this line no less than 200 times and still not be able to give you any more information. Finally at 12:30, with no more information available to us, we decided we would make our way to the airport on the off chance we might make it out. Whenever our train was not underground and out of signal, we would again call Turkish Air, with no luck. Every now and then the phone would go through to a ringing tone...the anticipation would build, and we would hope for some information, only to have it ring for about 10 minutes before just hanging up on us!
Arriving at Heathrow we were rudely awakened to the reality of our situation, and given explanation as to why we had had no luck getting through to our airline...it was chaos. No one was allowed into the terminal, meaning that the crowds had amassed outside in the snow staring at the one information board...with all their luggage in tow. Ben and I squeezed our way through the crowds to get a view of the board, only to discover our flight was not even up there yet...only those flights before 4pm were showing...so close yet so far. 20 minutes we stood in the cold waiting for the board to change. Flights leaving at 4:05 began to show...
I cannot describe the feeling of absolute relief and joy I felt when our flight finally showed...minus the dreaded flashing red 'CANCELLED', but instead displaying a lovely white 'Terminal C'. I restrained myself from shouting out in joy due to the fact we were surrounded by at least a hundred people crying or stressing that they would not make it out that day...or at all...before Christmas.
Next several staff went around calling out our flight number...to which we were originally told that we were actually not on...due to the fact they had been looking for our names on the not checked-in passengers list, rather than the online check-in list. It was all secrecy as they quietly told us, as they checked off our names, that we needed to wait by the side exit door and that someone would come to open it for us in some time.
Ben and I spent the next 3 hours hiding out in one of Heathrow's airport lounges, courtesy of my bank, watching news reports on Heathrow going from bad to worse. We had promised ourselves we wouldn't celebrate till the plane was in the air...so cheers went up the minute we took off.
Now every cloud actually does have a silver lining...which for us was the 24 hour, all expenses paid stop-over in Istanbul. We had time to do some sightseeing, while eating and sleeping for free in a 4 star hotel! My kind of holiday!
Despite the rocky start, Hong Kong became one of our favourite holidays so far! Our days in Hong Kong were spent, ferrying from Island to Island, sightseeing, exploring...and much to my delight...SHOPPING! Ben had assured me before we left England, that Hong Kong had the best shopping in the world, and this being the case he released the credit card to me. Once we arrived, Mum quickly assured me 'shopping capital' was not the case at all. Despite the fact that I am not a small asian girl and sizes there aren't designed for me, I managed to make the most of my purchasing freedom, and bought pretty much anything that took my fancy and actually did fit! Not to mention the handbags and shoes!!!
We relaxed, ate yummy asian foods, I read, Mum played scrabble, Ben researched our next holiday. It was the perfect combo of chill-out time and adventure. Mum spoilt us with the perfect New Years, a trip to Macau, a stay in the Venetian, Cirque Du Soleil...which we all sat in complete amazement at the things people are able to do with their bodies...and cocktails and dancing to finish! Ben spent the whole time trying to convince me that a couple of years there earning some money would be the perfect end to our 3 years travelling...to which I finally convinced him that my biological clock would not continue ticking forever.
3 weeks went far to quickly, and before we knew it, we were back on a plane, teary-eyed, home bound.
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