It seems that I have lapsed already and my well-meant intention of updating my blog dutifully every week has failed miserably! Still perhaps every two weeks will be more doable... These last couple of weeks I have been particularly sociable, something that is most unusual in this mid-western life I am living. I even managed to get to a movie with my neighbour across the road, Emily. She suffers from the same surburbanhousewifeitis that I do. She has two very energetic boys and turned up late last Wednesday night to see if I wanted to go the cinema. We went and saw Memoirs of a Geisha. It was quite good, some lovely artsy filming. The storyline was a bit lacking. I expected it to be a bit more political and meaty, more of a Wild Swans, when in realty it was just an over-dramatised Mills and Boon. Plus Emily's husband is a Chinese major so we had a good giggle about the fact that none of the lead actresses were actually Japanese. Sort of an expected when doing a film about Geishas. Saturday evening was Keith's work's holiday party so we donned the posh kit - actually got to wear high heels - and went and enjoyed a wonderful supper and entertainment courtesy of Sweetwater. We also managed a martini at Club Soda afterwards. Club Soda is a very hip and happening, (bit of an oxymoron here in Fort Wayne) jazz bar/restaurant. The last time Keith and I went it must have been middle age-divorcée night as there were lots of definitely middle age women, and slightly older men, out on the pull. Keith and I felt positively jeunesse! This time, with lots of Sweetwater colleagues, it was much better and with that horrible 30 looming, made me just feel like an old married woman instead. There's no bloody middle ground! Jay was thrust to our next door neighbour's Deb and had a wild time of his own playing with her son and daughter, Drake and Ally, until 10:15, (he's usually in bed at 7!), when he finally collapsed into his travel cot. This last week I put in my application to become a tutor for the Literacy Alliance here in Fort Wayne. They offer two free workshops over the next two Saturdays and providing you show some aptitude and pass the criminal background check they then set you up with either a small group or an individual requiring tutoring in reading. The programme is for adults either who have never learnt to read or ESL students who need further assistance, so my Prudential experience of teaching adults won't have been wasted. As books and reading are my passion, (bit like that BA advert that showed a couple in bed and the teasmade (sp.) on the bedside table and the voice over went something like "And when it comes to sex, we all know what they, the English, prefer."), I figured it would be a good area to volunteer in. I have to start doing something for my brain and unfortunately novel writing isn't exactly a sociable occupation. I keep thinking about going back to work full-time but quite frankly there is not a whole lot of opportunity for my skills and experience here in Fort Wayne and besides I don't really want to sacrifice all my free time and go back to having no holidays and working ten hour days, etc. I'm not sure there are many employers who'll let me take off a month and a half when I fancy going back to London. Keith's being super productive and putting new shocks on the Golf so I should probably go and do something equally as beneficial, like inviting our neighbour, Pat, round for Sunday lunch tomorrow. He's a doll, particularly as he has a plethora of tools that we routinely borrow and only a saint of a neighbour would tolerate it! I repay Pat by plying him with a home-cooked meal, but we haven't seen him for ages as he's been working nights at the hospital. If we're not careful it'll be summer before we see him again as it's too bloody cold to have friendly chats over the garden fence right now. Ciao for now...