Hold this for me would you...

With all the talk of Jonathan, lest you (dear readers) are led to believe he is my only nephew, here's a picture of another one, from my Christmas visit to Atlanta. This little fella, like Jonathan, also looks more like me than his Mum.

I had dumped my bag in his lap as a joke, "Here Jacob, hold this for me!" Lucy (my sister) told me off, so I tried to take it back but Jacob was having none of it. He clung to it all the way home, and I thought I may have to relinquish possession on a permanent basis.

Home Sweet London Home

This is my lovely little house in south London, Lowden Road, Herne Hill to be precise. My home until the end of the month.

It's been life-transforming being in London proper. No restrictions on travel times, no rush to catch the last not horrendously slow every station stopping train back from the city in the evening. Without peak time travel restrictions, I can be at an archive when the doors open or leave and head home whenever I feel like it. After years of Saudi Arabia, boarding schools and small town universities, being able to come and go when I please is one of the most important things for me and I find restrictions on my movements almost unbearable. Oh how wonderful it is to be free!

So then I'm moving again at the end of the month to another house not far from here. They're splendid digs which will suit me very well until the end of June when Jonathan arrives. We'll have a couple days at my house in London and then we'll retire to the family estate at Luton until he heads home in August. Now that will mean a return to restricted travel but....... anything is worth it to have Jonathan here for the summer!

Update of my genealogy goals

Well folks, I have made absolutely zero progress on my 2012 genealogy goals. HOWEVER, last month I did some work for a genealogy show of which I have long been a massive fan which is an ambition fullfilled.

Also last month I was an exhibitor at Who Do You Think You Are Live, the three-day genealogy fair that kicked off my career two years ago. Last year it was very exciting to come back as an exhibitor for the show (rather than a paying customer and aspiring researcher as the year before). Then I worked quite hard, signing up new subscribers to our magazine and selling back issues and genealogy guides for Pen & Sword books. This year I seemed to spend a bit more time exhibiting myself...I struck up a flirtation with a gorgeous chap repesenting a servicemen's charity at the show. I thought he was in his mid-twenties (he told me he owns a house!) but it turns out (I discovered later) he was only 20! I didn't do so badly. Anyway, he has returned home to Preston, Lancashire, well out of harms way.

So, back to the goals. Jonathan has volunteered to be my young apprentice (eat your heart out Donald Trump!) this summer while he's here. Perhaps I'll put him on the case. Our Olympic tickets are all arranged. Now I just have to get plane/train tickets for Gdansk and Prague (his requests!) and figure out exactly how to keep him entertained. Though really, when Jonathan is around, Auntie Genevieve is the one who is entertained. He is the cleverest, funniest, brightest kid out there. We'll have six glorious weeks together. I can't wait!