MERRY CHRISTMAS from Banff, Alberta in good old Canada. Jen is still suffering from a pretty bad cold so we went ice skating instead of heading for the slopes - back out on them tomorrow! Still no snow - 6,000 miles and no bloody snow!

Snowboarding....don't do it kids.....it messes with your head (strapping yourself to a tray (sideways) and throwing yourself down a steep hill), your body (all those twists and turns) and your knees - I can barely stand up let alone walk...Jen is fine of course on her skis and has done a blue/black run, which, ironically, is the colour of most of my body.

On a serious note Banff and Canada is fantastic - the people are so friendly and sincere (unlike some from another North American country...) We have successfully completed 3 days board/ski school and I have done a couple of green runs so I am doing OK - Jen is obviously putting me to shame. Off to see the Ice Hockey on 27th at Calgary - it's sold out - 20,000+ so should be fun. We are also having a day in the spa (My idea obviously) before New Year - I think we are spending Xmas day on the slopes.....

Hope everyone that reads this is well and that you have a great Xmas/New Year...!

Dan & Jen

That's it then - bedtime...the flight is 10.25 tomorrow so we will arrive at about 7pm UK time - which I think is about midday in Banff! Will update this once or twice while we are sking - it looks great out there at the moment - really looking forward to it.

Off tomorrow......

Well we're off to Canada tomorrow - things are finally starting to take shape - Jen spent most of last night (whilst I was playing football) sorting through the house and tidying, and thus I am spending most of today finishing it all off. We're having a new carpet fitted downstairs as the dog has ruined the other one and I have got a main dealership guy looking at my car today. The weather in Banff is the hottest (only minus 3!) that it has been for many years and we are hoping there won't be an end to the 'warm snap'.

I have sent emails but just a reminder that from tomorrow our email address will be dandjcornwell@yahoo.co.uk

To everyone we know have a great Xmas - we'll be thinking of you ;)

Daniel & Jennifer

Party is sorted and the following people are coming:

Andy & Sarah (Dan's uni mate and g/f)
Angie & Colin (Jen's chief bridesmaid/best mate and bloke)
James & Emily (Dan's school mate & fiancee - travelling the furthest - from Southampton!)
Lou G & Andy (Dan's ex 'Sainsbury's trainee friend' and her fiance (must point out she works in marketing now so she wears rectangular glasses and 'does lunch' alot))
Lou & Dave (Snowy and some mad Scottish bloke)
Marek & Catherine (Polish bloke and floozy - although travelling from the Midlands not Poland)
Pat (Dan's brother)
Paul & Ali (Husband and wife, mad on horses, mad as hatters (renovating a house at the mo and living in a caravan), but good friends)
Neil & Sarah (hopefully - Dan's ex work colleague and his g/f)
Dan & Jen (The hosts with the mosts...er...hopefully!)

Still waiting on a couple of others but should be great fun.....

We are seeing Jen's family the following day hence why Rachel is not coming although I am not sure whether Jen is going to invite her when we go over there this weekend. Dropping the dog off at the kennels tomorrow (sob!) and also going to Helen and Rob (Jen's cousin and fiance)'s wedding. At 3pm. In December. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

As you will know by now we are off skiing on Wednesday - the snow report for the area looks OK but it is -7 degrees at the mo - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Arranged to meet with an old work colleague in Sydney and what's more we can mail him our LP guides so as not to carry them thousands of miles (cheers Guy!). We also did a bit of a dummy run and packed stuff in our rucksacks, checked the weight, and tried our pac-safe's which seemed (after a bit of cajoling) to work pretty well. Also, bought a mossie net, a money belt, and a couple of pairs of lightweight trousers so we are just about kitted up now I think!

The party invites have all gone out and we have got 17 confirmed already - waiting on another 5 - should be a good bash! The day after we are spending some time with Jen's family so I won't get too drunk!

Tomorrow and Friday are going to be dog walking/championship manager frenzies as I have to enjoy them both while I still can.........

By the way if anyone is interested that footy match I went to was a draw and the replay is next Tuesday (17th) but I am not allowed to go. Whaddya mean? It's not like we fly out at 6 the next morning or anything.....?!??!

More jabs...
Just had my second Hep B and Typhoid, don't usually get affected by these but I feel rough as hell! One in each arm nonetheless, so both arms throb and I have got a splitting headache - the things you do for your cause eh? ;)

Got someone to look at the car later today so fingers crossed - also had a main Audi dealer on the line yesterday offering me roughly what I wanted so things are looking up.

Just 8 days until we fly to Banff for our 2-week skiing holiday - we are staying at this hotel which we booked ages ago. The amusing thing is that in most of the restaurants there are no jeans/trainers allowed and in some you have to wear a jacket. Hope i'll get away with shorts/sandals and a bomber jacket then as everything else is packed!!

What I'm looking forward to:
Skiing in 10 days!
Taj Mahal/India experience
Diving in Cambodia/South Thailand etc...
Thailand and trekking through Cambodia/Vietnam/Loas, and experiencing a truly different way of life
Partying doing adventure sports in Oz/N.Z.The Great Barrier Reef
Visiting Machu Pichu, Iguazu Falls and the Galapagos
The Amazon
The whole big adventure of it!!

What I'm going to miss: (in no particular order)
Oscar, Itchy and Scratchy
Cambridge United
Football and sport in general
Championship Manager
The news
Our friends & Family

What I am nervous about:
Running out of money
Getting stuff nicked
Contracting some nasty disease
Learning Spanish for S.America!

Psychiatrist anyone? What does that say about me?

Must stop talking to myself......

Well Indian Visas - what can I say? Bloody excellent service I thought! We arrived at around 8.15 am - it opened at 9.15 (d'oh!) and we were pretty much first in the queue. We paid our £30, and came back at 10.45 and it was done - no hassle. We then went for lunch with Alison - a friend of ours that I used to work with at MP - in fact we started on the same day. I also arranged to have a coffee with my ex-MD next week. Tuesday afternoon was spent at the Trafford Centre (arghhhhhhhh......) where people were still queuing to get in when we left at 7pm. Ordered Jen a digital camera which should arrive today. Now she is happy she can print them like normal photos she's a happy bunny! We also bought a tri-band phone (which has got a broken key so it needs to go back) some lightweight trousers (yay) and various other bits and bobs. Only 13 days until skiing now so we are getting super excited - even went to the depths of finding out what plane we are flying on as I am super-scared of flying....(it's an 8-year old 767 if you're interested).

Took the cats to the vets to make sure they were OK for sedatives for the long trip down to Cornwall - they were so they've got some sort of knockout pills for January.

We have also decided to have a 'close friends' party in January, but to see our families off at another time as we believe it's probably best to keep the two separate as I am sure they will be very different affairs...

A productive weekend - packed up most of the house - only leaving essentials (food, clothes, championship manager...) and now we are pretty much there. Good job really as Jen is still working her notice and the next 2 weekends are fully booked. This weekend (6/7/8) is Dan's work Xmas party followed by the big footy match mentioned below. Not sure what Jen's got planned - probably sleep.... The weekend after is Helen & Rob's wedding - Helen is Jen's cousin. This week should be a laugh in that we are off down to Birmingham on Tuesday to get our Indian Visas - no idea what it will involve but we have heard the process can be incredibly quick or tediously slow. Watch this space.