Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Stairs

I came home from work today and as always, we shared the interesting parts of our day. My turn came and I said, "Guess what I did today? I fell down the stairs at work." Amber asked, "Again?"

I know, it really is crazy how often I fall down the stairs. At least it is different every time. Today, the heel of my shoe snagged in the bow on the toe of my other shoe and down I went. What are the odds? It really is almost comical now.

A few years ago, Richard and the girls dressed up and took me the the Glass Menagerie for a fancy dinner. As we walked down the main staircase to the dining room, I was reminding the girls that they need to use their manners in such a nice place. "No farting, no burping..." Yep, it was at that point that I fell down the stairs in my cocktail dress - right in front of the entire dining room. Classic.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Interesting week across the pond

Wow - what a week! Who knew a volcano in Iceland could cause such chaos!

My week was already a busy one as a few of my colleagues from Houston were in town and we would be in meetings Monday through Wednesday for a major project. This included late hours, dinners and happy hours Monday through Wednesday. I spent Wednesday night with my family before an all day trip to Paris on Thursday for client meetings.

On Thursday morning, I left the house at 6 AM to make it to the airport for an 8:30 AM flight to Paris. I heard that a volcanic eruption in Iceland from Wednesday had already caused the Aberdeen airport to close and thought that was kind of weird. The cab driver said that the ash could spread as far as London, but it would just depend on the wind. I just laughed it off. Our flight took off on time and we made it into Paris by 10:30 AM.

Once we were on our way in a taxi, I checked my blackberry and had several missed calls and an e-mail from our London office that my flight back that evening had already been cancelled and the airport was closed. I do not think I could ever be imaginative enough to think up an excuse like this one for staying in Paris.

I stayed the night in Paris while our executive administrator and lifesaver, Rochelle, worked her magic in finding a way home for me. Obviously all flights were now cancelled and/or fully booked for days. All trains to London from Paris were completely full. Being the resourceful genius that she is, Rochelle booked me a ticket to Brussels on Friday afternoon, a hotel in Brussels for the night and a train from Brussels to London for Saturday morning.

My colleagues from Houston, on the other hand, are still in Paris with no real solution in sight. They did have return tickets for Friday. When that flight was cancelled, they were able to book new tickets for Monday. Those were just cancelled today - so there is no telling when they might leave. We also have a colleague from South Africa in London who is also stranded here.

Of course, there are definitely worse places to be stuck than Paris or Brussels. Our hotel in Paris was in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower - which is just cool! Paris was really pretty too with the new leaves on the trees and flowers everywhere.

Brussels was really nice as well. Lots of beer and chocolate and excellent food. Friday night I checked out the main square and saw street performers and lots of cool shops. The streets are all cobbled and there were tons of places to eat and drink. You could smell the wonderful aromas from restaurants and waffle stands and of course beer. Everyone was happy and smiling and so friendly!

Saturday morning, I was up early and took a stroll around the square again. At 8 AM, the sun was just coming over the buildings. It was very quiet, except for the bottles being picked up by the trash men. There were a few little restaurants open for breakfast with really just locals inside. The flower stands were just setting up. The smells were a little different from the night before. Now it smelled of coffee, waffles and a faint odor of urine coming from the cobbles.

Anyway, it was interesting and I wish I had someone to share it with. Here are a few pics from my iPhone.
This is where I ate dinner. I had Flemish Beef Stew and it was really good, but the Creme Brulee was absolutely divine! (Also, this guy thought he looked like Sarcosi.)

This is a beautiful old square near my hotel.



In the square above there was this small little metal framed board with a few post-it notes stuck inside. There is no glass on it - so anyone can put something there. In it were four post-it notes simply signed - World Leader. I thought it was quirky and unexpected, so I leave you with the messages below:




Sunday, April 11, 2010

Fun in Hyde Park

Had a great day today!

Woke up around 9 AM and had some coffee and coffee cake with Amber and eventually Richard and Alexa. Richard and Amber played the guitar for us some.

Then we grabbed a train into London and had a picnic lunch in Hyde Park. Richard shot some photos of us all while we were there. The weather was so nice in the upper 50's and lower 60's with blue skies and sunshine.

We had pizza for dinner and are just settling in for a little bit of dessert and review of the photos today.

Oh yeah - then we have to do our taxes. :(

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter sayings

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We had a nice day although we all really missed being with our larger family. I thought I would share some of the things that were said in the McIntyre house on Easter Sunday in chronological order:

Are we Canadian? - Alexa

If you stop talking, you can hear me fart on Mom. - Alexa

Ha! He doesn't know the answer. (pause) I don't know the answer either. - Mary

Ach! Men! - Alexa

Easter wouldn't be complete without a chocolate bunny. - Mary
And a guilt trip. - Amber

Put the chocolate carrot down. Step away from the carrot. - Richard

I am gonna eat this bunny's butt. - Alexa
You can't just gnaw on his butt. - Richard

Does anyone know what just happened? No? I farted. - Alexa

Wasn't my fault. - Alexa

There's my Easter Egg! - Alexa

I'll give you ten bucks if you stand in the middle of that water. - Richard

I didn't cut the cheese, by the way. - Alexa

I'm not licking yogurt off of my foot! - Amber
I would. - Alexa

What did you do with the milk?! - Mary

Men! Can't talk to them. Can't marry them. Can't live with them. - Alexa

Here is what happened before Easter. Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to pay something like taxes because the government said to. They could not find a hotel, but a guy said they could stay in his stable. Then Jesus was born. Then when he was 28 it was Easter. - Alexa


I am not sure that last one reflects very well on us as religious educators. In any case, I did set the record straight and we discussed a few other things that happened in between Christmas and Easter.

Here is a picture Richard took of me and the girls yesterday too.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Religion section in the bookstore

While I am aware that the religion section in any Barnes and Noble is much smaller than the Fiction section, I remember it being at least a couple good size aisles. I went to the main bookstore in the UK today - Waterstones - to look for some Easter gifts for the girls. I like to get them something religious and associated with Easter.

First, I went to the Kids section thinking they might have something there for Alexa. I could not find anything! Then I began searching for Religion in general. I found it, but just two small sections on an aisle dedicated mostly to Philosophy. Not only that, but this was all religions - so only about a fourth of it was dedicated to Christianity and about one fifth of that was more about whether Jesus is God or not.

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against other religions and I am happy to see equal opportunity for all religions. It was just a little weird for me. Usually there are even extra Christian books around Easter in the the US bookstores and I felt caught out a little unaware.

The good news is that I did find something for both girls after much searching.

I hope everyone has a beautiful Easter!

New advertising campaign in the London tube stations

I have recently seen some new advertising posters in tube stations all around London and thought I would share a sample. I think it is a very clever campaign and probably gets quite a lot of attention from both men and women.



In case you are curious - the website is here.