Mother’s Got A Dot Com

All right, his birthday isn’t until October, and it may not even be for this year, but he’d so love a trip to the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show…

What’s great about the Houston Rodeo is that every day’s rodeo events are followed by a concert by some of the biggest names in various music genres. After the rodeo events, a rotating stage is moved to the center of the ring and provides a clear view of the artists for everyone.
Now, this would mean a little something for me too… Although I love horses, and enjoy a good display of expert horsemanship, hubby is the horse-person of the outfit. We’d both be enjoying the concert part equally though…

Houston Rodeo concert tickets for this year’s event in March are still available – I could even get so-called “Action Seats” in the first row for the Faith Hill concert – including a complimentary buffet…

I’ve never in my life attended a rodeo, neither has he – and even without the “Action Seats” (that I’d definitely try to get hold of!), I know we’d enjoy it immensely. It’s a huge event, ranked as the world’s largest rodeo with over 1 million spectators each year, so it would be a great first experience of the rodeo for both of us. A totally exotic one too!

Maybe it won’t be this year’s present, but this is certainly one worth saving up for. With his birthday in October and the event taking place in March every year, it also gives us plenty of time to plan ahead for such trivia as the care our own menagerie of livestock and brats while we’re gone. Perfect!
Now, all I need to do is make sure he doesn’t read this post…

When I was a very young adult, my father lived in Johannesburg, South Africa for 6 months, and my 3 younger siblings went there to visit him during the summer. I couldn’t, since I was working, and that’s something I’ve regretted ever since…
They went to the Kruger Wildlife Park, they went swimming at Umschlanga Rocks, they went to Cape Town and Lesotho… (Please note, I can remember these names, I’m not looking anything up… that’s how much I’ve regretted it.
In those days, flights to Johannesburg were an arm and a leg – that’s no longer true. The world has grown smaller in that sense.

Remember when you could telephone your travel agents’ and talk to a person? If you were really lucky, that person had been where you were going, or nearby, and knew what they were talking about.

At Dialaflight, that’s the type of service they’re offering. If I were taking my family of 8 half way around the world, I would like to talk to a person, thank you very much!
Imagine having booked at a hotel, only to find that it burned down 6 months ago… Or was closed by health inspectors last week… Not your ideal situation after an X hour flight, with cranky brats all over the place!

Dialaflight offers cheap flights to a wide variety of locations in South Africa. I wouldn’t mind having them tailor a holiday for me and my family to all those places I’ve heard about and seen pictures of!

Are you looking for something different? Getting away from it all, but in style? The wild outdoors, with the comforts of home – and then some?

Blueberry Lake Resort is tucked away in one of Canada’s most beautiful landscapes, near the ski resort of Mont Tremblant Quebec, and it will provide all that, and more.

There, you’ll find Beautiful Quebec style log cabins, that will sleep 6-10 people. They are also perfect for that romantic getaway for 2, in a pure white, emerald green or fiery yellow and red setting, depending on the season.
Whether you’re looking for somewhere to take your family or a group of business guests on an activities break, or you need to relax in the vicinity of the great outdoors, Blueberry Lake is perfect.

They’ve got everything! You don’t even need to cook for yourself if you don’t want to – their concierge service can take care of everything from cooking meals, booking activities and massages (oh, yes, there’s a spa…) to ordering in your groceries.
There are activities galore, in all seasons. Cross-country skiing, ice skating, snowmobiles or downhill skiing in winter, swimming in the lake or pool, biking, hiking, waterskiing in the summer. Plus the spa, of course…

Go and have a look at their site (which is beautiful, by the way), and see for yourself. The Laurentian Mountains are on my “must visit” list from now on…

My sister is coming today, to deliver our Christmas presents – she’s done all her shopping! Dear me, it summons up all those ghosts of Christmas past, when I’ve been insanely busy with everything, up until the very last minute.

Instead of getting on with it, what do I do??? I blog!!!

While blogging, I also think about all those places I’d like to go to – I ponder about hotels in Las Vegas, that nice trip to Paris, a lovely B&B in Britain somewhere, and yes, travelling somewhere warm with palm trees has crossed my mind, too.
2 weeks today. Must get my finger out, and at least get those presents done. Thing is, hubby wants in on the action, and he’s hardly got time to breathe these days, let alone to go shopping. Oh, well, if we’re not done by the 24th, there’s no stopping Christmas…

It looks like it’s Weird Unusual Sports Week here at Mum’s.

Every year, in June, Sonkajärvi, Finland hosts the Wife-Carrying World Championships…

4 traditional styles of Wife-Carrying

Read up on How to become a Master Wifecarrier, and sign up for next year’s Championship in June!
You don’t need a wife of your own, any old wife will do, and in the Sprint, you can even carry a single woman, according to the official rules.

The most important rule: All the participants must have fun.

See y’all in Finland next June, folks! Must go and enroll hubby in some sort of exercise class, and myself in Weightwatchers…

Musée D’Orsay           Notre Dame              Panthéon 

A tough one, but since I decided not to use my Paris Pics for this one on my other blog, I can use them here!

The quality isn’t the best – I left my camera at home, so the pics I’ve got are taken with my cell. Still – I captured some classic buildings!
More on the PhotoHunt!

Here’s # 5 Brat, on a mountain picnic. When one’s boots are full of water, one makes the best of it – even in Norway in October.

The joy of playing in water knows no calendar…

I’m taking half the family off for a break in the mountains today. Our little cabin needs some heating put on before the frost, and the kids have a week off school, so I’m free to get away, as it were.

Hubby’s working, can’t be helped, but the 4 of us all look forward to a little time away.

Back on Saturday, and that’ll be the time to do some serious blogging over here…