Hey.....
Right, So now I can finally come out of the career based closet and get it off my chest. For those of you that don't yet know, The Guthrie's are upping sticks again, packing the wagon and moving back up to Seattle. "But you just came from there", I hear you cry. Absolutely right...we did but after four years in sunny Santa Monica we've come to realise that it's not a good long term solution for us. There are a bunch of reasons why and as came closer to this realisation an opportunity with Microsoft came around that we couldn't pass up....

So I'm going to be a Full time Microsoftie, living in Redmond, which is perfect. The downside to this is leaving my current Job at <a href=http://www.business.com> Business.com. I've been there for over three years now, been fortunate to work with a talented set of people and made alot of amazing friends. I keep telling my 10 year old son that you never loose your friends, you just make new ones and I'm going to have to practice what I preach. It's a great company and if any of the emplyees happen to be reading this...GET BACK TO WORK AND DRIVE THAT STOCK PRICE UP! :-)

One of the benefit of choosing Microsoft is the relocation package. Basically, we do nothing aside from get our arses (with Elvis the rabbit) on a plane and live, free of charge, in corporate housing for two weeks. We've already got our new house we're renting right next door to our good friends Phil and Susan. Probably live there for a year then either move on or buy it?!?! There are many other benefits which I'll go into once I actually start but needless to say this will be the easiest move we've ever done!

So the big moving date is Nov 15ish and I start the new gig on Nov 17....right in time for Thanksgiving! Hurrah.......no doubt I'll be joining the plethora of other Microsofties that blog about the company and how great it is to work there. Or I may be too busy!? Who knows?

Is "Blogage" even a word???...

Anyway, how long has it been since I've written anything? I know, I'm lame! Extemely lame. It's been one of those things where nothing much has been happening in life, well, nothing that I can blog about at the moment. That statement will make more sense in a few days when I blog again. Since I last blogged, Mum and Dad visited....we went to Vegas AGAIN and now my lovely Mother-in-Law is visiting. And no, i'm not saying that in a sarcastic, tongue in cheek way. She is lovely and the best mum-in-law anyone could wish for!

So hopefully I'm going to get back into the blogging thing. There's going to be lots to tell in the next few weeks and my plan is keep a running diary of the family's exploits. One thing I can say is that Fi gave in her months notice and shortly will no longer be the building manager of our apartments. Talk about a crappy job that paid hardly anything! 

Right....onwards and upwards....

Stoaf!

Saturday mornings (infact, life in gernal) used to be pretty relaxing for us. Lewis is getting older now and doesn't need that much attention so it must be....oh yeah, our little three year old Aimee. Trying to find a good outlet for today's toddler is actually harder than you think. When we were at Roosevelts' (Lewis's school) carnival, we bumped into the owner of Santa Monica's "The Tot Club", and after looking at what they do decided to sign up for a FREE (Yes, I said FREE) session. That turned into signing up for a 10 session class and if our 3 year old has her way...probably many more.

So whats the deal with this place? Well, Aimee hasn't been to kindergarten (because all the private ones are so damn expensive) so she's only really been around Adults and kids Lewis's age. A large part of the club is getting children used to communicating and playing with others and during the first class Aimee was pretty reserved. I'm just back from her third class and aside from being completely "buggered", I'm seeing such a difference in Aimee. For those without kids things like sharing, kicking a ball to other kids and dancing amoungst other kids seem like pretty normal things to do but it can be difficult to get kids out of their shell. In our class today, we had 8 people (including Adults) and Aimee decided, on her own accord, to get up and dance and sing with Shelly (the organiser). I'll be honest and say I completely underestimated the idea after initially signing up for our first class but it's such an amazing thing to see.

And the best part is, the adults get involved too. So if you were ever thinking of an excuse to act like a child and get away with it......Here you are! I think this is the first time I have ever seen a black belt in Karate dance around to the Wiggles with scrafs on his head.

Anyway, Go check out their website - http://www.thetotclub.com . Shelly, who ownes the club is completely fantastic and Aimee will second that..Infact, Today Aimee ran up to Ms Shelly and said "Ms Shelly, I love you". High praise indeed!!!!!!

Out!

For those of you not living in California, the state is finally seeing sense and passing a "no cell phone" ban whilst driving. The rule basically forces drivers to use a headset/hands free kit whilst talking and driving. It is hoped this will reduce the number of related accidents and make the roads safer.

Why blog about this? Well, on my way into work I have to negociate many 4 way stop signs, which can be particulary dangerous for us bikers. Picture this: I come to a complete stop and intend to go straight through the intersection. I place my foot down on the road and the driver directly opposite me approaches her stop line. I wait until she stops and then take off. As I approach the center of the road, she decides to turn left (no turn signal..of course) and pulls out directly infront of me.

I slam on my breaks to avoid going over the front of her car and look in disbelief directly at her. Surprise...she's on the cellphone, looks at me, waves to say "Thanks" for stopping and carries on.

It's impossible to say wether or not the cellphone was the reason for this crazy stunt because alot of drivers dont need a distraction to be completely clueless but here's my issue with the law. Whether you are using a hands free kit or not, you are still concentrating on a conversation and not on driving. Sure, the hands free kit enables you to have both hands on the wheel but how many people drive with their hands at the "10" and "2" position? Or even drive with both hands on the wheel period.  In fact, I would call it "half a law".

And look at the punishment if you're caught: $20 fine for the first offense then $50 every time thereafter. Is that enough?

Come the start of July, it will be very interesting to see the stats on how many offenses are logged. It'll also be interesting to see if it has an affect on the number of driver related accidents.  I'll reserve my judgement. It is a sweet little earner for the mobile companies though in the form of related accessory sales.

So we have a new addition to the family.

No, before you ask there are no babies on the way but there is the "pitter-patter" of tiny feet...and the soft munching of carrots. It all started last Saturday with the carnival at Roosevelt Elementry. There happened to be a petting zoo there, There happened to be lots of bunnies to play with and the next day we found ourselves off to our local pet store.

Introducing "Elvis".......

He's a lop eared..emm..Rabbit. There's probably some kind of techinical name for him but I dunno. He's cool though and since getting him he's been running around the apartment. Rumour is that you can house train the wee buggers so we also have a litter box for him.

In terms of hutches, he is living up to the neighborhood standards. I mean, talk about "primo" townhouse living:

So there you have....No doubt there will be more bunny related stories as things progress but in the meantime, Thats all I have to report. The one interesting thing will be finding out if he likes Cheesburgers as much as his name sake.