Back to Feel Good stuff

My friend from elementary school posted this video on Facebook and I thought it was really cute. I love validation anyway - so I naturally loved the video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

You are great!

Normally so positive...

I know this will be a bit different for me as I usually only embrace positive news. But we all know things are tough right now in the economy - and sometimes there is no face given to the layoffs and statistics. I ran across this blog today and I thought I would share it. Please take a moment to watch the video. This puts a real face on what is happening to our friends and neighbors. It is a short documentary on what has happened to The Rocky Mountain News...they ran their last edition yesterday.

http://thussin.blogspot.com/

Invisible on the train?

You know how people think they are invisible when they are driving on the freeway in their cars? I cannot remember the number of times I would see someone in their own world while driving down the freeway. I have to admit I did it myself from time to time - singing my heart out to a song on the radio, not caring who else saw me.

The weird thing is, I saw someone on the train this morning who apparently thought he was invisible to everyone else on the train. Unfortunately, he was right in my line of sight. He was not singing however. No, he was casually and deeply picking his nose.

Now this was not an ordinary pick. He had obviously worked on this technique quite awhile as it was fairly sophisticated - but still pretty obvious. He was reading a book and would place one of his fists against the side of his face - like on his knuckles - close to his nose and mouth. Then he would uncurl his pinky finger and reach it into his nostril and dig around. This was pretty deep too - I mean up to his second knuckle. Then he would slide it back out and rub the tip of his pinky along his lips. He was ambidextrous with this technique too as he would trade off hands. It was amazing to me the length of time he took as well. Only once did I see him glance up and look around. I thought, "Oh, I've been busted watching him." But no, he went right back at it.

Finally the guy next to me held up his magazine so I could no longer see the guy. Thank you!

Finding new ways to connect

As much as I love Skype, it is no comparison to the real thing. I do get to see and talk to my kids, but I have felt more and more that we are not connecting. It is probably not the best sign when the majority of the conversation is in emoticons on the chat section of Skype when we can see and hear each other.

So I am working on some new ideas. The other day, Alexa read to me out of her Junie B. Jones book and it was great to hear her get into the story. It made us both smile. I am going to get a few books here that I can read to them as well. I am also working on making up a few stories. I made up one today and the girls and I laughed together as I shared it. When it is better defined, maybe I will share it with everyone else. The importance really though is that we connected.

If anyone else has any ideas - please leave a comment and share with me.

Happy Birthday Amber!

14 years ago today, my life changed forever in a most beautiful and wonderful way. God gave Richard and I a miraculous gift of a precious baby named Amber. We looked into her dark blue eyes as we held her and she was so unbelievably awake and alert and seemed as if she knew all the secrets of the world.

How things have changed between now and then. Amber has grown into a beautiful young woman with a warm and generous heart. She is loyal and kind, funny and smart. She is such a joy to all of her family - even Alexa. And she loves with all her heart. I could not be prouder of her and my love for her grows everyday.

This is the first birthday of Amber's that I will not be able to give her a hug in person. However, my thoughts have been with her all day and I cannot wait to see her open her presents tonight on the webcam.

I love you Amber and hope you have a fantastic birthday!

A day by the Thames

Richard and I have had such a wonderful weekend! Today we spent time exploring a little closer to home, walking along the Thames in Kingston. These are a few photos of the river and some of the things we saw there.

A Day with Richard

Today was a wonderful day with Richard!

We woke up late, had a quick breakfast and took off for the city of London. We navigated our way around Holburn, had coffee at Starbucks (of course) and visited The British Museum. We spent a very long time in the Clocks and Watches exhibit. It really was quite amazing - especially to see an automatic watch from the late 1700's that looked every bit as nice as one from today.

Then we walked to Oxford Circus and then made our way back to Surbiton on the train. We finished the day with dinner at a Chinese restaurant by the name of Kum Hong (no kidding.)


All in all - maybe not a very remarkable day to most - but a spectacular day to me!

Sunday Roast Dinner

Sunday afternoon I was invited to the home of a friend of a friend for Sunday Roast. Not knowing much about the culture here, I did a little research and discovered Sunday Roast is a big meal with one or two roasts (like lamb, beef or chicken) along with all of the Fixin's as we say in Texas. Being that it seems a little more formal here than in the US, I decided to wear a corduroy skirt and sweater with tights and boots. You know, to dress up a little. Little did I know I had nothing to worry about. Apparently Sundays are just as much a jeans occasion as anything in Texas.

So they picked me up and drove me to their home in Hook where there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and ice on the road. How nice is that? It is a little ways from where I live.

This family has three children at 15, 12 and 10. I was so excited to be around some kids again. It was really fun watching them interact with each other and their grandfather. They were so friendly and open - the whole family.

We sat down to dinner and it was just wonderful. We had roasted chicken and a beef roast. Then there was a bread pudding of some sort (not dessert). This was used sort of like a gravy with the chicken and was really good. We also had corn, carrots, peas and brussel sprouts (which are not as bitter as I have had before). We had roasted potatoes and parsnips - which I love! There was also cauliflower with cheese sauce and of course brown gravy for the meats and apparently vegetables. It was all wonderful! Then we had what they call pudding (dessert). It was Apple Crumble with fresh cream poured over it. Absolutely delicious! This is something I could definitely get into on a regular basis.

So there has been a debate and questions around what "pudding" is in England. There are several dishes that are called pudding - like white pudding and black pudding that are some sort of sausage thing made with blood and who knows what else. I haven't tried them yet. Then there is Yorkshire Pudding that is a type of bread that has a hollow in it and gravy is poured in it. This is usually served with roast beef. And there is the bread pudding I mentioned above that is almost like a gravy. Here is the information that I gleaned from my friends here though - because I was having trouble connecting these things above with how they were using the term pudding. Apparently, the word "pudding" is synonymous with the word "dessert." So they asked if I had pudding and I said "no." But really I did have "pudding" because I had "dessert." Think of it like how Texans use the word "Coke" - it means soda or pop and is generic and does not specify the type of soda.

I hope that clears up the pudding issue. Anyway, anyone who comes to visit will have to have Sunday Roast with pudding (dessert)!

My Dad

Yesterday would have been Dad's birthday. 18 years have gone by since his death and I still miss him terribly. My sister, Joan, asked me to write my favorite memory of him, but I cannot choose just one. So here are the things and events I remember best:

• When I was very small, walking with him on the farm, only able to hold his pinky in my fat little fist, and listening to him tell me about different things we passed. I felt so secure and happy.
• Snuggling with him and my brother Tom on Saturday mornings as we watched cartoons.
• Popcorn on Saturday nights - He held the big bowl and we all went to him for refills.
• Him staying home from work just one day that I can recall. He built snow tunnels with the big kids - Cathy, Joan & Mike.
• When he built a small ice rink for us little kids (me and Tom) because we were too small to walk to the pond.
• Snowmobiling through the woods as a family - Tom and I were in a sled of some sort being towed.
• Giving me a shot of whiskey after snowmobiling.
• Going fishing.
• How much he loved playing with Theresa on the floor when she was so little.
• How much he loved dogs - especially Chip.
• How he named all of our pets with nicknames that stuck (after we had already named them.)
• Taking family pictures at home (look right, look left, look straight ahead.)
• All of us wading in the ocean with him and ending up completely wet.
• Dinner - every night at the table.
• Going hunting with him - even though I think he knew I would never shoot anything.
• How he introduced competitive high-power rifle (target) shooting to me and how much I loved sharing that sport with him.
• His laugh and his smile.
• His rough calloused hands and holding them in church as we prayed "Our Father."
• How he looked at Mom when she wasn't watching - with so much love.
• When he helped his parents out and how torn up he was when we left their house the last time he saw them. He told me he was afraid that he would never see them again.
• When he taught me how to drive an old 1962 Ford Fairlane - 3 on the tree standard.
• Him driving on ice in Texas after a few drinks to get 10 for a $1 hamburgers at Burger King.
• His telephone calls before he left work every night: "Who is this? When's your mom getting home?"
• Him getting home from work every night: "What's for dinner? Where's your mom?"
• Him playing with his pet duck in Houston.
• How he took naps on the couch with a John Wayne movie on TV and a book resting on his chest.
• Him always working in the garage on some project with cuss words like "Jiminy Cricket, Sam Hill, and Son if a Gun."
• Him helping me with a college art assignment. We used PVC pipe to make a chair that didn't look like a chair. Believe it or not - that was the point of the project.
• How much he loved dancing.
• How much he loved Texas - he wasn't born there, but he got there as fast as he could.

I miss him so much and this little exercise was harder than I thought. As Richard recently said, it hurts so much because we loved so much.

I love Skype

Skype is so awesome. Not only can I talk to my family in Texas for free - I get to see them too. It feels sort of like The Jetsons.

Today while I was talking with Mom and Alexa, I realized that you can also take pictures of each other and send them to each other as well. They are not the best quality, but so cool!

Here are the pictures I took of Alexa and Mom while I was talking with them:

Pudding

In the UK, pudding is the same as dessert in the US. Pudding in the US is not the same as pudding in the UK.

Trying new things

Today I interviewed a candidate at a Turkish restaurant in Shepherd's Market in Mayfair. The restaurant is called Sofra and the chef is from Turkey - of course. The place does not have more than 20 very small tables and they are all very close together. Since I have not had Turkish food before, I chose to have the Healthy Meal. This consisted of 11 different dishes. I know it does not sound very healthy - but it actually was. I could not tell you everything I ate. I know I had hummus and some bread, what looked like an egg roll and some sort of fried pastry puff with meat inside, a mini lamb burger, chicken and beef skewers, a yogurt thing with what looked like soy beans in it, a tiny green salady dish, some fried meat patties and some grilled meat as well. It was all really good - I will definitely eat there again! Would I recommend food from Turkey? I certainly would!

On my way back to the office, I saw another restaurant that serves Polish and Mexican food. Interesting combination - I will have to try it sometime...

Trains

This morning the trains were wonderful. I even got a seat on a direct train to London - no stops. I think I made it to work in record time - 45 minutes. I loved it!

This evening, I left work a little later than normal and did a little bit of shopping. I made it to the train station just after 8 PM. This was also good because I was able to catch another direct train- no stops. I was also able to get a seat again. I chose one next to one person and facing two others. As I sat down, the man directly in front of me said something - which I thought was directed to me. Since I had my iPod on, I took out my earbud and asked him if he had said something to me. He said no, but the man next to him began asking me questions instead. He quickly discovered I am American and the rambling began. It was soon evident that both men had been heavily drinking - and as they later told me, it took them the good part of the day to reach their current level of silliness. They also spent a great deal of time reviewing the Psychology book belonging to the guy next to me. They saw some pretty strange things in the book in their current state of mind. All in all, I think they kept everyone in the coach very entertained.

So my commutes today were swift and entertaining - a good day.

February 3rd

It was fun trying to get to work today. All of the snow on the sidewalks turned to thick ice and the trains were only running twice per hour. So it took me almost 2 1/2 hours to get to work. I made it though. It was better on the way home - just crowded. There is no more snow or ice in London proper - but there is plenty still in Surbiton. I still think it is pretty in the parks and gardens.

Today would have been my grandfather's birthday. I have thought of him a lot today. He was so full of mischief and humor. I see him in my kids sometimes and it makes me smile. I see him in my mom sometimes and that makes me smile too.

Now that I am here, I find myself wondering more about his time in Europe during WWII. I have been thinking of doing a little research into it and maybe going to some of those places. I am a little afraid that it might depress me though. I will let you know if I follow through on it.

Snow messages

Throughout the day, the occupants of the flats around me spent time in the back garden building snowmen and having snowball fights. This was about all I could do in the clean snow that was left:

Still Snowing!

Winter Wonderland

Here is what I woke up to this morning: