Where's Basil and his new love?

I've been replaced as first, no second, no third - oh whatever - Basil's newest love of his life is a big, shiny airplane known as a 747. Yep, that's right - that 747 is at the top of the list. He loves flying it and is having a great time with his new adventure with Singapore International Airlines Cargo. He's in the last stages of his training and is travelling all over. He's like Where's Waldo?. So far he's been spotted in Tokyo; Melbourne, Australia; London; Copenhagen; Dubai; Hong Kong; and as I write this he's headed to Anchorage, Alaska and Los Angeles, California. And this is in less than 2 months' time! His first training flight was as a Captain on a passenger 747. The night before he printed up the welcome announcement they make in big letters, so he'd have it to just read off. The reason for this? His biggest fear at that point was making sure he didn't say, "Welcome aboard Delta Air Lines, Flight such and such". Rumor has it one guy actually did this and had to correct himself, but we don't know for sure. Even if it was only a rumor, it struck home enough with him that he was doing all he could do to make sure those words did not cross his lips! Almost 25 years habit of saying something is hard to break. Thankfully it went well, he said the right things and all his other flights have been on the cargo side, so no announcements to make! The thing that has been his most vivid trip experience so far was how shockingly bad the traffic was in Dubai. He said it was simply horrendous and he cannot for even one moment imagine actually driving in it himself! Evidently the taxi trip from the airport to the hotel was experience enough for a lifetime. Unfortunately for him, he'll be experiencing that quite a bit as Dubai is a place they go often. Maybe it will grow on him in time. His friend Wayne, who spent some months living and flying in India, says just wait until he gets there! Ah! The good, the bad and the ugly of travelng the world!

For those of you who have asked - here's the link to Abby's website : http://smith.photosite.com/
There are lots of photos of her, but for those wanting to see her at this age, check out the Talkative 3 year old section - really darling pictures of her taken recently.

Hey - this blog thing is pretty easy and fun! Thanks for all your emails saying you are enjoying our adventures and my blog.

I haven't heard from Roxanne, so I need a favor from anyone out there who might know. I have a casserole recipe I got from Roxanne which Basil just dearly loves. It calls for 1 box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. I can't get that here, but I can improvise. There's an unbelievable amount of rice to chose from! What I need to know is how many cups of rice are there in a box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice?

Nancy - I hope you're digging out of all the "spring" weather!!! Unbelieveable! What's the latest snow you've ever had or was this it?

Patsy - I sure miss Mexican with you on Wednesday evenings! That the first thing we're doing when I get back! Abby says she's coming,too!

Patti- Basil wants to do a quick trip to Dallas our first trip home, so we'll make a date for dinner!

Nate - good to talk to you - thanks for all your help!

Shari - I love you and thanks so much for all you do!