Perhaps I spoke too soon

While my athletic stamina has definitely improved, yesterday's yoga class caused me to wake up this morning in a world of hurt! Because you're exercising in a heated room, your muscles are warmer and you can stretch more--which seems like a good idea at the time. But I am moving a little stiffly today.

Good news! The dealership is going to buy our car for a fairly decent price. Skip is pleased with the deal and we'll turn it in to them on June 15. I tried to make the argument that since I'm the one who has driven the car (making it essentially my car), perhaps I should be the one who gets the check and decides how we should spend it. Skip said that was fine...as long as I decided to spend the money toward a new car---for him! Oh, well.

Even more good news. We've found Georgia the fish a good home. One of the girls in Maddie's Brownie troupe and her family are ready to adopt a fish.

Friend Pam has loaned us a paper shredded and we've already filled up one big recycling bag. Am starting to get a little overwhelmed. This morning, I had Maddie continue to work on her thank you notes from her birthday. I got out the list people and presents that we put together right after her party and three different sets up note cards to choose from and put it all out on our table. She waited until I got upstairs to call "what am I supposed to write with?" I came very close to yelling down, "With a #@%& pen! What else would you write with?" Instead, I took a deep breath and told her that I she was perfectly capable of finding a pen. Actually my response was probably a little more curt, but there were no curse words. Perhaps I need more yoga.

Couldn't Resist

My friend Kate, a pastor who also interned at Fourth Church in Boston, is very pregnant with her second child. I think she's due in early August. This Sunday, she's choosing to preach from the Epistle passage in the Revised Common Lectionary.

Romans 8:22-27

8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now;

8:23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

8:24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?

8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

8:27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Could be one of the best sermons ever!

In Pretty Good Shape

Just took an hour-and-a-half class of Bikram (aka sweatbox) yoga and made it through the whole class without having to take a break or passing out. AND I didn't feel like I was going to throw up at the end. I must be in much better shape than the last time I took the class! There was a time when we were doing the Camel Pose that I though I might pass out, so I came out of the pose. It's a deep stretch toward the end of the class and it stimulates the nervous system, so it can make your heart race. Apparently I wasn't the only person who came out of the pose early because while we were recovering and about to go into the pose for a second time, the teacher said, "Try to stay with the pose this time. You may feel light headed or even slightly nauseous, but just breathe through it. It's okay to be uncomfortable. Just stay with it and breathe." I thought--that'll preach.

As I write, my egg cooker is cooking away so that I can make two dozen deviled eggs for the American booth at tomorrow's Family Fun Day at ACS.

We're going to break down and take the car into the Peugeot dealership to see what they'll give us for it. It's gotta be better than being cited for abandoning it on the side of the road. Am getting ready to post our table and chairs on Freecycle to see if someone will pick it up and haul it away. If it works well, I may post other things before the movers come. My wonderful friend Pam has offered for Maddie to come to their house and spend the night on the day the packers are coming. What a great gift!

I'm carrying around four Oyster cards (bus and tube passes) right now. We have extras for guests and some of them were hooked up to our bank account to automatically top up when the credit ran low. I've cancelled all the top ups on all the cards except the one Skip is using to get to work and back. I'm just going to use the rest until I use up all the credit on each.

Been going through the kitchen cabinets and am imagining some interesting meals in the days to come as I try to use up what we have.

Had to record

Maddie is finally writing thank you notes for her birthday gifts. Here's one to her friend Kara.

Dear Kara,

Thank you SO much for the Game of Life. I kept waiting to play it. I waited 3 days! Finally, we played it. Dad won. I did not care.
Sincerely, Maddie


I think she has a gift for correspondence.

Gearing Up to Go Home

Our guests had a good time on their whirlwind bus tour. Susan, who was sure that Stonehenge had not changed in 10 years, was proven wrong. It has changed. Now you have to stand even further back from the rock formations! So she way if from a whole new perspective. On Tuesday, they hit Westminster Abbey and Tower of London. When Ken came back to meet Skip for a cricket game, Susan and Hayley ventured out on their own, armed only with a tube pass and a credit card. They even found their way back. Next time, they can bring friends and become the tour guides.

Tuesday was a great day for me as the kitchen sink that has been dripping for two weeks finally got repaired. Ahhhhhhhh.

Got the Allen's off on Wednesday and have been churning out laundry ever since. Not that their visit generated a lot of laundry, I just didn't do much while they were here, so it had really piled up!

Our packers come four weeks from today. And the week before they come, we are going to Majorca (or Mallorca, depending on which country you're in), so I have three weeks to get ready. Yikes. So much to get rid of and have had no bites from the school web site on selling stuff. We also still have our car. It's a good car, but dealers have so much stock that people can get a used car from one of them that comes with a full vehicle inspection and a warranty. So there's not a lot of incentive to buy from an individual. Skip is going to take it in to the dealer to see what we can get for it. Not sure about the legalities of abandoning it on the side of the road.

Britain's Got Talent is continuing to dominate our home life. Even the Allen's got hooked on it. The semi-finals run every night this week (except for last night when the ManU/Barcelona champions league final was on). The finals will be on Saturday. For all the Americans who have been following the Cinderella story of Susan Boyle, she's not a shoe-in. She's got some serious competition. Maddie doesn't know it yet, but we've booked tickets to go see all the finalists live in June. It has been really funny how excited she has gotten about this.

Speaking of the champions league, it will be a sad day in England today as Barcelona beat them 2-0.

More London Touring

Saturday we did the museum drive-by. Took the Tube to South Kennsington Station, which is the gateway to several London museums. Since entrance to the museums is free, we could duck in and duck out. We stopped by the Victoria and Albert museum, so that Haley could get her picture taken by the Rodin sculptures. It seemed a shame to pose and dash, but we had a schedule to keep. From there we went down the Natural History Museum where we saw the big dinosaur a la Night at the Museum and Maddie showed Haley, Susan and Ken the examination center where kids learn more about how to identify plans and animals. That particular museum building is just fantastic all by itself, so I wanted them to be sure and see it. Then it was off for a lunch at Le Pain Quotidian and another first for our guests--a completely organic restaurant. We have fed them lots of new and odd things, and they have been willing to try it all. Susan and Haley, however, did draw the line at sushi.


All through our museum/lunch dash, we're getting text messages from Skip, letting us know where he was on his journey back from the states. He managed to get home, shower and meet us at the theater with time to spare. Even time to grab a quick bite to eat at the train station. Wicked was, once again, fabulous. I'm not sure I would ever get tired of it. Our guests enjoyed it, too, and were particularly captivated by the elaborate costumes and the complicated set.

From there, we made our way back to Chiswick. We have learned that trying to get a table on Saturday night in Central London with a group larger than 2 is just a nightmare, so I had made reservations at an Indian restaurant near our house. It's Skip's favorite place and Susan, Ken and Haley had never had Indian. We stopped after the play at the train station and got Maddie chicken nuggets and french fries at Burger King! She's never bought in to the Indian style of eating.

Great meal. Nice walk home. Just in time for Maddie's latest obsession--Britiain's Got Talent. After that was over, we all expected Skip to be snoring on the couch, but he starts fiddling with the remote to pull up a cricket match he had recorded so that he could explain the game to Ken before they see a game on Tuesday night. I was asleep before he ever made it to bed that night.

Then on Sunday, Skip and Ken went to Skip's final Fulham game (football). And Haley, Susan, Maddie and I went to Harrod's. That place is just something else. I didn't realize that Roberto Cavalli and Dior and Betsy Johnson made designs to fit children as young as 10. Because every fifth grader needs a 300 pound skirt! Insane. Speaking of insane, Maddie and I bought the bunnies a toy at the Harrod's pet land. Okay, that's not too crazy. If we had bought one of the puppies selling for 1,500 pounds, that would have been over the top.

Today, the guests have gotten up early to catch a tour bus that will take them to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. It will be a full day. Just as in America, today is a holiday in GB. We may go see or do something, but Skip is still asleep and I could do with a little time to putter about the house. I think after being here for a week, Susan feels like she should stay longer to help me organize my cabinets and closets. I told her I'd put her to work in the US when the shipment of all this stuff arrives.

If Haley didn't have to get home and take an algebra 2 test to finish up her sophomore year, we'd just keep her here with us til time to go back. But I'm guessing her mom and dad (and maybe even her little brother) are ready for her to be home.

Pictures

Haley ponders a 400 pound shoe purchase at Jimmy Choo's



Ken and Haley at High Tea



Maddie and Haley at high tea



Haley leaning on the world's most photographed lion in Trafalgar Square



Maddie and Haley at Trafalgar Square



Haley at the Eiffel Tower



at the Louvre



eating dim sum with chopsticks for the first time




in front of an iconic London phone booth



Me, Susan and Haley in front of Tower Bridge by the Tower of London

Busy Touring

Hit London hard on Wednesday. Started off Haley's 16th birthday the way every girl dreams--with a second grade music concert at Maddie's school. I have video of the concert which I will post when I can. It takes a long time load and edit.

Then we sprung Maddie out of school and we all headed into London via the tube. We got off at Piccadilly Circus and headed to China town where I took everyone for dim sum (which is kind of like Chinese tapas). Ken and Susan and Haley had never had dim sum, nor had the eaten with chopsticks, so we all had a lot of fun. We enjoyed walking through China town and made our way over to the National Gallery. Haley's mom is an art teacher in Taylor, Arkansas, so we had to make sure that Haley saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's bridge paintings. And we picked up a couple of things at the gift store.

From there we headed to Fortnum and Mason for tea. A department store that is older than Arkansas, Fortnum and Mason is terribly elegant and does a great tea in their fourth floor dining area. There we all dined on scones, finger sandwiches, pastries and, of course, tea. Ken told us to say that he was not there, but I believe we have pictures. Maddie did pretty well through all of this, but was beginning to fade. I just haul her little self around everywhere.

Then we walked down Bond Street where saw all the high end stores like Tiffany's, Hermes, Dolce and Gabbana, etc. Haley and I enjoyed a pop into Jimmy Choo's. Neither of us had an extra 400 pounds to pick up this seasons latest sling back. When we made it past all the high end stuff, we wound our way over to what has to be every 16-year-old girl's dream store. Top Shop. Haley was properly enamored and picked up a new pair of sunglasses. By the time the 94 bus brought us home, we were worn out and pleasantly surprised to find that the hot water had been fixed. Whew!

Thursday, I got Maddie off to school and then took the group to St. Pancras Station to catch their Eurostar train to France. I was supposed to go with them, but Skip's trip to the States made that impossible. I started to feel sorry for myself about missing Paris, and then realized that anyone who has the opportunity to be disappointed at not getting to see Paris for a FOURTH time in her life really ought to be just extremely grateful. The trip to the train station was our guests chance to experience the real London. The morning trains were packed with people. Then, a strike on the Victoria line caused us to have make a detour that put us behind schedule. Couple that with the ridiculous number of people at the Kings Cross/St. Pancras Station (we now know what salmon feel like trying to swim upstream), and we missed the train. Fortunately, the train line issued new tickets for no extra charge (because of the strike) for a train leaving about an hour later.

I've spent yesterday and today catching up and resting up from all our touring. Am hoping their time in Paris is going well. They should be arriving back in London at about 8 p.m. tonight. All Tube lines should be in working order, and I wrote down directions on how to get back. But I'm betting they'll just opt to take a cab!

Lost and Found

Just got a call from the maitre'd at Calamari restaurant on Chiswick High Street where Ken and Susan and Haley were because they turned the wrong way coming out the tube stop after their adventures in London today. I had to leave them about 4 p.m. so I could make it back to pick up Maddie at the late bus stop. I think they are headed in the right direction now. Wait until they get here and learn that we have no hot water! Fun times!

The weather was off and on today. We needed sunglasses and umbrellas. Scarfs and shirt sleeves. All at various times. They got a taste of what it's really like to live in London.




Ken and Susan and Haley in front of Big Ben/Parlaiment



Waiting for the changing of the guard a Buckingham palace





In front of Buckingham Palace

So Not Cut Out for This

Holy cow! There is nothing like five little girls spending the night to zap the energy right out of you. I would not make it through this motherhood thing if I had more than one. It will take me the next year to recuperate before I'm ready to do it again. And these are all really sweet girls. There was a jumping on the sofa incident and one of them likes to go through the cabinets (what's that about?), but all in all, they got along and played well together. And I'm still completely shattered.

The only creatures worse off than me this morning may be the bunnies. They were a big hit with the kids, but after an afternoon and then a morning of playtime, I think the bunnies may be completely traumatized.

I made a terribly tacky version of a cake shaped like an I-pod that Maddie saw on a web site. It tasted great, but I won't be showing any pictures. For dinner (per Maddie's request), we had hot dogs, mash and green peas along with cheese and onion potato chips. Then the girls busted out on Maddie's new karaoke machine. The only bump there was that one of the little girls isn't allowed to watch Hannah Montana, so she didn't know any of the songs on that disk and was feeling left out until we switched over to Lion King. For a movie, there were many good choices of things we had DVR'd, and they chose what may be the dumbest movie I have ever seen--Dudley Do Right. They laughed and laughed and laughed. Perhaps I'm just not the target audience.

Maddie's room was one big bed. with her trundle bed pulled out and two more mattresses on the floor, there was no "non-bed" space to walk on. They pulled out all these books and read to each other. Then when the lights went out, there was more talking and giggling and talking and giggling. This is a little house, so no quiet corner could be found. As Skip and I were lying in bed waiting for the silence so we could sleep, we were comforted by the fact that they just sounded like they were having so much fun. They finally went to sleep a little before midnight and were up at 6:30 this morning. Skip went off into London to pick up Krispy Kreme donuts per Maddie's request, and then I made scrambled eggs to try and slow the blood sugar spike induced by the donuts.

More karaoke, more bunny time and a trip to the park got us to parent pick-up time. Maddie is now in a coma in front of the television. Skip has gone out for a run and I am preparing for our guests to come on Monday. Skip is leaving tomorrow a.m.for the US. But first, there is Girl Scout Father/Daughter bowling out in one of the western burbs this afternoon. I imagine Maddie will fall asleep in the car on the way.

But she had a great time, and if she can recover for school on Monday, all should be right with the world.


Oh, and I just had to include this e-mail that we got from elementary school principal at Maddie's school. Bizarre!

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lentz

Dear Parents,

We had two wonderful Middle School field trips - Grade 6 just returned from Scotland and Grade 7 from France. All students returned safely, having had a stimulating and enjoyable trip. I would like to make you aware that when the Grade 7 bus arrived a parent noticed that there were two uninvited passengers under the bus. I am pleased to inform you that our Security Coordinator, Mr. Malcolm Richards, immediately responded and escorted the two young men to our transport office. The police were telephoned and they responded quickly to question and escort the two young men off campus. Apparently they were refugees who had been hanging on the undercarriage of the bus from when the bus left France.

I want to reassure you that the students were not involved and most were not even aware that there was a problem.

Ginger G. Apple
Head of School
ACS Hillingdon

She's 8

Who can believe that 8 years have gone by since I was so huge I could barely waddle to the hospital, and they gave me and Skip this adorable little chubby baby to take home and raise?

I have to say that, while we have had no idea what we're doing, Maddie has turned out even better than we could have hoped. She is sweet and thoughtful. She is an encourager instead of a complainer or a critic. She is comfortable with herself and doesn't care if her socks match. She is bringing the most disastrous looking cupcakes (she helped decorate) to school today and says "who cares what they look like? they taste great!" She's got her own groove going, and not only does she like it, other people seem to as well. How could we ask for more?

She is a total slob, but that must be genetic as Mom has pictures of my room at that age that can rival Maddie's. Heck, Andrea Choate has pictures of our dorm room that could TOP Maddie's. She's a picky eater, but she's super healthy, so she must be getting the right stuff. And she often spends too much time thinking about what she wants instead of appreciating what she has, but I suppose that's a lesson we all struggle with.

We are very blessed indeed. I can't even begin to imagine what the next eight years will bring. I know they will not be boring!

On Sunday, I went to one of the most poorly executed worship services I've ever attended. While I am always a champion of using new ways of expressing prayer, music and the Word in worship, I am also a fan of preparation and practice. Things can always go wrong in a worship service and you just have to roll with it, but this service had clearly not been properly thought out. Something as simply as a pre-worship sound check would have made a huge difference. I don't like being critical about worship because I think everyone has a different idea about what worship should and could be, but I think that a poorly planned service communicates to the congregation that this hour on Sunday morning is just not all that important. Okay, I'm done now.

So Cousin Olie stayed an extra night, since a problem on the Tube caused him to miss his flight. He and Skip also had a problem with a boat ride earlier in the day. London on the weekends is never without its glitches. Thanks to my mom, I know how to make dinner with whatever is on hand, so by the time they made it back to the house after a long day of site seeing, a frantic run to the airport and a frustrating re-booking experience, I was able to put out pesto pasta and shrimp. It might not have actually been that good, but as tired and hungry as they were, it was perfect.






Skip and Olie in our back garden

In the a.m., Skip worked from home so he could put Maddie on the bus and I could drive Olie to the airport. No taking any more tube chances. Skip left for Amsterdam yesterday afternoon and will be back late Wednesday. He told his office that he had to be back in London for his daughter's birthday and I made sure his daughter knew that.

Now all the focus can shift to Maddie and her birthday party. It may not be until Friday, but there are treat bags to make, food to buy, cupcakes (for the class) to bake and an I-pod cake (for the party) to assemble. Maddie has got birthday blinders on. I took her after school yesterday to get her hair trimmed. When I told her that I had an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday, her response was, "I hope it doesn't take too long because you have a lot of cupcakes to bake." Ahhh, the rewards of motherhood!



So these are the "treat bags" for Maddie's party. She picked out the fabrics for each girl based on each friend's likes and interests. Then I sewed them. This is a good picture since you can't see the actual "craftsmanship".

Happy Mother's Day

Am up way too early and have already outlined a tour plan for Olie and Skip today--including alternative bus routes as one of the Tube lines they need to take is closed for maintenance this weekend. Not sure if they can get it all in before Olie has to catch his plane tonight, but my husband is a master at cramming the maximum amount of activity in any given time period. Then again, he also loves to sit around and do nothing. A man of extremes.

Was very impressed by how well Maddie and two of her friends (who are brother and sister) behaved at yesterday's first communion service for their friend. I was fearful at one point we would have to have a big discussion about theology and the difference between Catholics and Protestants and why we weren't taking communion there, but an assurance that Catholics, too, are Christians who just worship a bit differently than we do was all that was needed.

There was a great prayer at the end of the service that the parents of the children who were receiving communion stood and said together. It is really beautiful. Don't know if this is a standard part of this particular mass or if someone in the congregation found or wrote it. But here it is. I think it's a wonderful prayer to say every day.

Gracious God, here are our children
Reach out and touch them with your love
Help them be aware of your presence with them in their daily lives
Guide them and inspire them
Call them and strengthen them to respond to adventures you have planned for them
Help us to raise and encourage them as they undertake new ventures
Keep them from sin, but if (I change this to "when") they sin, draw them back to you
Open their hearts and minds to be loving and generous
Help them to get to know themselves and to enjoy the person you created them to be
Help them to recognize that they are gifted.
Bless them with a willingness of spirit to use their gifts for the good of others
Hold them close to your heart and deepen their love for you

As for us, help us to love them without possessiveness
Help us to be patient as they strive to find themselves
May we always respect them for what you made them to be
Be with us to guide them with our wisdom
Help us to be gracious in love and be willing to let them go

And when the work is done and they are formed and raised and gone
help us to turn back to you without children and continue the journey, wiser with more understanding of your love for us, be cause we have had children of our own.

Cousin Olie and First Communion

Cousin Olie has come to visit from Germany--not to be confused with Baby cousin Oliver in Virginia. He and Skip are headed to a Fulham football game this afternoon. What started out as a grey day has turned into a sunny one, so it should be a great day to be in a football stadium.

Maddie and I are going to a first communion mass for a friend of hers. I think Maddie is old enough to start learning that sometimes you attend events because the events are important to people you care about. Never to early to learn that simply showing up means a lot to people. I'll also be doing a little star stalking since actor Colin Firth lives here in Chiswick and his son is receiving first communion as well.

Tonight we'll have dinner in and sit down and watch Maddie's favorite--Britain's Got Talent.

I'm writing out my standard London tour (Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Thames Boat Ride, Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the 94 double decker bus ride home) and Olie and Skip will take that tomorrow while I take Maddie to church and on to a birthday party at the Science Museum.

A different View

So the news on the BBC morning show was all about the plight of Pakistani's now that the Pakistan government has declared war on the Taliban since the Taliban hasn't honored the agreement they made with the government. Now there are even more people leaving certain provinces, creating a refugee crisis. So I tried to read more about it by going to abcnews.com and couldn't find anything about it. I had to search around on CNN and finally found an article. It's interesting to see what news makes the headlines here and how that differs from what makes the news in the US.

Lot of errands today. Was actually quite productive. Ran errands in the car and then went back and ran some more on foot. Am having a little knee pain. Thinking I went too heavy on the weights for the lunges in the last body pump class.

Got eight weeks until we're back in Arkansas. Eight weeks 'til Arkansas. Sounds like a country song in the making.

Spiders...Ick!

Woke up this morning to spiders in both the downstairs and upstairs. Ick! It must be that there is some kind of nest that hatched somewhere because yesterday there was no sign of spiders anywhere and today there were tons of the little critters. I sucked all that I could see up with the vacuum cleaner this morning and then went back again this evening. I think I've gotten most of them. Will do one more sweep before bedtime.

I went to help my German friend Sonja with her baby today and she made a very German comment about the spiders. She said at least we know that there is nothing unhealthy like asbestos or other toxins in our walls or else the spiders couldn't survive. Spiders, according to her, indicate a healthy house. Small comfort.

Had an amazing moment today. Only had to wait five minutes at the post office. Shortest wait time I've ever had there. I wanted to commemorate the day.

When I went to get food for the bunnies, there was this horrible couple bickering at each other in the pet store. This is a really small store, so everyone in it could hear them. They were picking out a collar and leash for a dog and in the process of disagreeing about what leash to get, they were insulting each other. It was so incredibly tacky...and sad.

Cousin Ollie is coming to visit this weekend. Skip has a weekend of football and pubs planned. I need to go and wash the sheets in the guest bedroom.

Stuff Happening

Monday, we had a lazy holiday. We did make our way into Kennsington Park to get to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground that we had to miss a couple of weekends back because of the long line. Monday wasn't that nice of a day. It kept threatening to rain and did sprinkle on and off, so that kept the crowds down.

The design of the playground was inspired by the Peter Pan stories and it is also designed to accommodate children with different physical abilities. There is a great message to parents as you enter the park. It basically says that studies have shown that it is good for children to learn to take risks, so this playground was designed to encourage a certain amount of risk and parents should keep this in mind as they supervise and encourage their children on this playground. It is a neat playground, but I'm glad we went back when there wasn't a line, because it isn't a wait for an hour in line kind of playground. Living in Germany pretty much ruins you for other playgrounds. They do great ones there.

I do have to say I like our house here so much more than the one in Germany, and I didn't even realize how much until we started showing it for prospective renters. It is easier for me to keep this house picked up and "showable" because I like being in this house. It's so much more cozy. I tried to be gone most days from our house in Germany because it just didn't feel very good to be in. It was all angles and tile and the kitchen was shut off from everything else. This house has worn out carpet and baseboards that are coming loose and questionable plumbing. Clearly the other house was the better house, but this one just feels better. Nothing, however, beats our house in LR. Am looking forward to enjoying it.

Last night in our tiny bathroom here, I was getting Maddie the toothpaste down from the medicine cabinet and when I did a can of hairspray toppled off the top of the cabinet. I reached out to catch it with reflexes that surprised both Maddie and me. I'm always tossing things to Maddie for her to catch and it annoys her, so I used this as a teaching opportunity. "See," I said. "That's why I throw things to you. So if something falls, you can catch it before it knocks you in the head." Didn't work with Maddie. "Or," she said, without missing a beat. "You could just move out of the way."

I had a lovely lunch with Jeannie Alley (who is a friend of my mom's from college) and her sister and Fortnum and Mason yesterday. We had a lot of fun. Jeannie has traveled all over the world. As London is known for it's great Indian food, I asked the ladies if they were going to have Indian while they were here. Jeannie said, "Well, I've been to India twice and when you have Indian food three times a day for a couple of weeks at a time, you kind of get your fill." I think the list of countries she hasn't been to is shorter than the list of ones she has.

Today my house cleaner comes. I am so happy. Not only do I not enjoy cleaning, I'm not very good at it. So it will be nice for someone to make the mirrors and windows streak-free and actually remove all those hard water spots. I'm going to take the extra time to clean out some closets and work on treat bags for Maddie's birthday party. I'm making fabric bags for each of the girls (only four) with fabric that Maddie picked out for each individual. She was really thoughtful about the colors and patterns she chose for each friend.

Great Birthday Weekend

Can't remember when I've had a better birthday weekend. Yesterday, Maddie and I got up and made two birthday cakes (one recipe separated into smaller cakes). Then she and Skip decorated them while I was out so it would be a surprise.

I was out because some girlfriends took me out to lunch and a then for a movie, plus gave me some really thoughtful gifts. Way above and beyond. Then I came home and Skip and Maddie and I watched our Saturday night program--Britain's Got Talent--and enjoyed the first birthday cake.

Today, Skip and Maddie brought me breakfast in bed (toast and scrambled eggs with a diet coke) and gave me my gifts. A new bag, exactly like the one that was stolen in Ireland and a really cool umbrella (the kind that fits in the bag). Then because next weekend will be so busy, I even got my mother's day gift early. A funky little train case with all sorts of nail care stuff inside. They did a lot of very thoughtful planning.

It was such a beautiful day, we headed to Bath--an old Roman city with the only natural hot spring in England. Beautiful city. Enjoyed touring the old bath house, the Bath Abbey and taking a little river cruise. It was a perfect day until we hit backed up traffic due to an accident trying to get back in to town. It seems we cannot take an excursion without travel troubles.

We finally made it home, had the second birthday cake, and I am ready for bed after a fantastic weekend. Tomorrow is a bank holiday, so we can all just putter around or go where the spirit moves us. Will try to upload some pics then.

International Day

I had a very international day in London yesterday. Started off with the Brits at the gym, listening to one woman tell another how she was having trouble finding a venue for a charity event. "It's so difficult to find somewhere nice, but also a little different." I thought, "lady, you're in LONDON. If you can't find something here, you're probably just out of luck!"

Then it was off to the post office where a lovely Indian woman helped me send packages to Skip's friend from college who's been called back into service and sent off to Afghanistan--leaving a wife and two kids back in Milwaukee (potential friends for Rob and Brooke!). So I learned that sending two packages that way under 2 kilos is a lot cheaper than sending one 3 kilo package. Just like in Germany, they don't price by exact weight, so going over by just a little can put you in a whole different price range. I had to wait in line twice. Once to find this information out and then again after purchasing two smaller boxes and repackaging the items. But it was a savings of over more than 25 pounds--even with the cost of the new boxes! My second time in line, there was a woman beside me who kept sighing loudly every 2 minutes. I so badly wanted to tell her that standing in line at the post office beats living in a tent in Afghanistan any day. But I figured that would not be helpful.

While I was at the post office, I parked my car in Sainsburys and had it cleaned by the #8 car wash guy, Tom, who is Nigerian and whose name probably is something more elegant and difficult to say than "tom". It's a great service. While you're grocery shopping or running errands, these guys with cleaning carts clean your car inside and out. Each cart has a number on a flag at the top, so if you like the job someone did, you can find him again the next time you're there. I've been having it cleaned about every week since we've been trying to sell it so that it will look nice if anyone comes to see it--kind of like the house.

And on that note, I'm about to hire a Polish house cleaner to come in once a week until we leave. Our schedule is getting so full and there are so many little details that will need to be attended to, that having someone come in to clean (especially with the potential renters coming in and out), will really make life easier. I realize that I am spoiled beyond belief. I'm using the excuse that people can really use the money right now and I'm helping to stimulate the economy.

Some friends are taking me to lunch for my birthday today and tomorrow we're thinking of driving to Bath for the day. Monday is a holiday here and even though Skip is working for both the UK and the US offices, he's taking the day. His work schedule is just stupid crazy right now. Am hoping a three-day weekend will give him a chance to recharge.