Sidebar: I just was distracted by watching Chena bury some item of great value (at least to her) in the folds of a towel on the floor. But it’s cool, she’s a dog. It’s what she does. Still, kinda funny.

Anyway, despite my little online explosion the other day, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m really doing pretty well – this especially for those of you who don’t see me all that often and might not know what to think when I don’t post for weeks and then suddenly come out with a message like I did on Monday.

But I’m good. I’m busy, I’m happy, I love my dog, I’m healthy, I have hardwood floors, I have a new patio door, I’m getting a new patio to go with it next week, and I’m employed. I’ve been thinking it over the past couple of days and decided that, despite any guy thing (or lack thereof) I’m not about to be bullied by happiness.

I should probably explain that last statement.

Dave Ramsey says in one of our FPU lessons (and he may have been quoting someone else, I don’t know) that if you’re not careful, happiness can become a “bully in a schoolyard”. Always drawing a line in the sand, but as soon as you step over that line – as soon as you obtain what you’re after – it moves. But happiness is not really the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Happiness is where you are right now, regardless of incidentals.

I think I started to learn this lesson somewhat when I was in England. I was frustrated with being in the UK – especially being so far out in the middle of nowhere. But I also knew that it was a good time in my life…something I would look back on and appreciate – although there were many times when I couldn’t wait to be “looking back” on it instead of living it! Still, I knew that this was the case, so I made a concerted effort to find things that I loved and appreciated about Leamington, Warwickshire, and the UK in general. Even now, I think back on that time and remember fondly my fabulous flat on Clarendon Square, the amazing Irish butter, Muellers Crumble Corners, riding my bike to work, walking everywhere, taking weekend trips into Europe, being so close to Stratford that I had a membership with the Royal Shakespeare Company at a “locals” rate… I could go on and on. So despite the fact that it was rough year (and I know I complained a lot), I still could appreciate it and still do. So much so that I’d go back for the right opportunity.

That whole concept of completing the phrase, “Happiness is [fill in the blank]” is really kinda difficult to do. Happiness is…uh…what? How can you define happiness if it’s a moving target? And there’s the rub.

Happiness isn’t that thing just out of reach. It’s not the marriage and kids you don’t have. It’s not the job you wished you’d gotten. It’s not the car you drive (or wish you drove). Neither is happiness a particular thing that happens once or many times over. Happiness is now. Happiness just IS.

If we don’t stop tying our happiness to the having or attaining of specific things, we’ll always be bullied by it and we’ll never find true contentment.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that sure, I’m missing some stuff from my life that I’d like to have, but ultimately, those missing items don’t necessarily detract from my ability to still see and enjoy and love and find happiness in where I am right now.

Paul said it like this in Philippians 4:11 – “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Rock on Paul. That’s what I’m talking about.

So, in a fit of boredom and driven by my desire to be in keeping with blogging standards, I hereby present my list of 25 Things About Me.   Ahem.

1. Coffee is my favorite comfort food. I couldn’t imagine a world without it…nor would I want to.
2. I adore roller coasters – I laugh hysterically when riding them and I love to be in the front car.
3. I am completely addicted to travel – I have been to 15 countries on 4 continents.
4. They say you can’t buy love, but my dog has taught me otherwise.
5. My biggest pre-teen crush was a tie between Bill Bixby (from “The Incredible Hulk”) and Shaun Cassidy (from “The Hardy Boys”).
6. I once worked in a chocolate factory.
7. I love Jesus and believe in the power of prayer and the importance of community.
8. My favorite beer is Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA.
9. I rang in the New Millenium in NYC.
10. I have lived in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alaska, New York City, and England.
11. My favorite TV shows through my life so far have been “Sesame Street”, “The A-Team”, “The Wonder Years”, “Seinfeld”, “Friends, “Frasier”, “Ally McBeal”, “90210″, “Gilmore Girls”, and “LOST”.
12. I have painted every wall in every room of my current home including closets & ceilings.
13. I volunteered with the Red Cross at Ground Zero (The World Trade Center) after the terrorist attack of 9/11 which was one of the most sobering and rewarding experiences of my life.
14. I was 20 years old the first time I visited the Pacific Northwest and have been in love with it ever since.
15. I will not eat raw tomatoes.
16. I have never seen any of “The Godfather” movies.
17. I wrote my first book (called “The Oddness of Andrew”) in 3rd grade. There was a boy in my class named Andrew who was not amused.
18. The first time I saw real mountains in person, I cried.
19. I have had roommates for the majority of my adult life – 14 in all.
20. I love Oreos.
21. I once wanted to be a marine biologist.
22. I collect Starbucks mugs…I have one from every city I’ve visited (assuming I could find a Starbucks).
23. Snow is my favorite form of precipitation – I am thrilled when there’s a blizzard.
24. The biggest earthquake I’ve ever been in was a 6.4
25. I have not had a landline phone since October 2001.

Forgive me for not writing sooner… For one thing, I was in Atlanta this past week and have only tonight returned. Aside from that, I had planned to write a full-scale update as soon as I had all the little wrinkles ironed out with what exactly I’m doing and where exactly I’m living, etc. etc. etc. But then Tuesday happened which has changed almost everything. I’m not sure if all of you knew, but Manhattan was my last permanent home prior to moving overseas. This hit way too close to home for me and I have been utterly devastated…as most of you know, New York was not only my home, but also my favorite city.

I’m not going to get into details about what I’m doing… I’m really way too upset to get into what I consider to be the relatively trivial details of my life right now…we all have enough to cope with. So to make a long story short, I arrived back in the States on Aug 5th and interviewed for two jobs. One was with Merrill Lynch in Northern New Jersey (which I have accepted). The other was with a company called Temenos which is located on the 52nd floor of the World Trade Center Tower 1…the first tower that was hit. I can’t even begin to tell you how badly it shook me up to think that I had been in the North Tower only a couple of weeks before this unspeakable horror occurred. Over the last few days this has really weighed on me and made me thank the Lord over and over again for His protection.

I’ve found myself regretting things. I regret having taken my time in New York too much for granted.

I used to come up from the subway every morning just down the street from where those huge, beautiful towers stood. I’d cross over Church Street, and walk to my office building which was just a block down on the left. On Fridays I would stop in at the Krispy Kreme shop on the corner of WTC 5 for my end-of-the-week doughnut. Most days I ate lunch from one of the vendors or deli’s or restaurants in the WTC mall under the Towers. On some nice days I’d sit in the courtyard in front of the Towers on the stone benches surrounding the fountain. I took it completely for granted that they would continue to be there…I mean, why wouldn’t they? I regret not looking up at them more.

Just before I left for Atlanta, I was going to go up to the city to meet some friends and see some colleagues from Merrill in the World Financial Center that I hadn’t gotten a chance to hook up with since arriving back. The morning I was supposed to go, I changed my mind…decided I was too tired… If I had known that would be the last time I’d have been able to be in those Towers and walk around that part of the city which had become so familiar to me, I would have gone. I regret not having gone.

These regrets may seem trite to you all, but they’re not to me.

Aside from the personal shock and sadness, I am heartsick for the thousands of Americans that were in the Towers last Tuesday and their families. I know we all are. I ache for the rescue workers as well…and, like so many of us, only wish I could help! I have also been so touched by how much Americans have all banded together over this! On the drive back from Atlanta today, I can’t tell you how many flags and homemade signs I saw… There were even several electric road-work signs which were programmed to read: “PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN”. Apparently stores all over the US have been selling out of flags and patriotic emblems. I do, of course, have a flag attached to my car antenna and a magnetic one on the trunk.

I wanted to pass along to you all the website of Hope for New York which is a ministry of my church in New York. They are working endlessly with other organizations in the city to cover the needs (both physical and emotional) of the people of New York and all the others that are there as a part of the rescue effort. They already get my money, but I thought I’d pass on their website to you all in case you’re interested… They even allow for online donations to be made in case you want to help (they are a non-profit organization and are listed with the United Way so they are legit): http://www.hfny.org

Well, as for me, I’m going up to New York tomorrow. In some ways I feel like I need to… I don’t think I totally believe that this has happened and I know that seeing it first hand will cure me of that. I have such strong memories of downtown NY in my mind, that I dread having them replaced by the reality of the situation, but I know that it is necessary. I also feel the need to spend some time with my friends who are there…not to mention this is one of my homes which is in a great state of grief and shock.

It has been an unbelievable last few days. I fear we have a long and difficult road ahead. The evil cowards who did this will get what they deserve… Of that I have no doubt.

My prayers are with our hurting country and our leaders as they have a lot of major decisions to make. What a weight they bear!! Please keep them in your prayers as well…and write soon!

God Bless America!

I was going to hold off writing until I had something definitive to tell you all, and I will still write a full-out update to all my distribution list as soon as I know more. Tonight, however, I was thinking that I should at least send out a note to you select to tell you what there is to tell and ask for your prayers.

I’m down to my last week here in the UK. For those of you who might not have heard, I had a conversation with my managers about 2 months ago and asked about what opportunities would be available to me going forward. As far as I was concerned, Leamington was not where I wanted to remain. It’s a nice little town and I can see how living in such a place might be attractive if I were married with kids (like the other Americans that I’m here with). But seeing as I’m no where near either that status, Leamington holds less for me…it’s small and remote, not to mention that it has been exceedingly difficult to really make friends here (let alone date!) My minimum contract term here was 1 year which is up at the end of July. So what I put to my managers was that if I were to remain in the UK, I wished to be moved to London and/or placed on the Global Training Team (as opposed to the UK Team). The outcome of this discussion was that there were no positions available and so I was left only with the options of staying in Leamington or going home. So I opted for home.

That was late-May.

Mid-June I went home for a friend’s wedding. When I returned, my sister Kristin was here visiting for about a week. After she left, I went on holiday to Greece for 10 days. During this time everything was being sorted out as far as my leaving…the when and how and where to and all that. There were a lot of issues raised that we were trying to get answers to…things like they were supposed to provide a job in the States for me to return to when I left. However with the market being as tight as it is, my company has really not been hiring for nearly a year. So if they couldn’t find a job for me, what then? Would I just end up with a severance package? And then there was the question of what department would cover my costs of relocation/repatriation…if I had no department or job to return to, where would all this be billed?

When I got back from Greece (just a week and a half ago) I expected that most of these things would be sorted. They weren’t. In fact it didn’t seem that they were any closer to being resolved than they were when I left.

So right now I’m down to my last week of being here. I work Monday through Wednesday. The movers are coming to pack and load on Thursday and Friday. My plane ticket is for next Sunday. And I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I don’t know if I have a job or not…if so, what would I be doing and where? And if not, what severance (if any) will I get? Should I really be focusing my efforts on finding another position, or should I wait and see what happens with this situation? There are just so many unknowns right now which prevent me from making any sort of plans for when I get home. I’m doing my best to not become too stressed about it, but it’s been really really hard… Especially considering that my main supports here are either on vacation or they’ve left the company. I feel extremely helpless…like my hands are tied and there’s nothing to do but sit and wait… And when you’re waiting to find out such major things, it’s a little unnerving to say the least!

Ultimately I know that everything will work out… God has His plan and He has my best interest in mind. Of this I’m sure. But I’ve gotta be honest and say that as much as I want to relax and rest in these facts, it’s a lot easier said than done. Sometimes it seems that it’s easier to believe something than to feel it…I guess it’s the difference between head and heart.

Which brings me to the reason for this letter: To ask you all to take 5 minutes and really pray about this whole situation for me. Pray that all these questions will be answered early next week so I’ll maybe have at least a few days to figure out my plan for when I return. Pray also that I will really feel God’s hand in all this and be able to rely on Him and not doubt or worry (regardless of when these issues are resolved).

I would really really really appreciate your support… I’m feeling pretty alone here right now so knowing that you all are praying will mean the world to me.

Thanks everyone!

I’m a little sad today…I don’t know if it’s because my leaving is starting to really sink in a little.  Julie & Fred took off today for Sweden.  When we said goodbye yesterday, I didn’t really feel like it was goodbye.  However, today when I got home, I felt it a little more…like when I remembered Julie wasn’t home and so I couldn’t call her.  Robert and I were talking about it today as well…just feeling like I’m not really going anywhere.  I think in part it’s due to the fact that I’m so preoccupied with trying to get my plans sorted out.  I want to cry, but I can’t even seem to do that!

I get so tired of being alone.  I want to have someone to spend my life with…someone to go through this kind of stuff with…someone to share all my thoughts and feelings with…someone to hug.  Julie said yesterday, “I wish I had hugged you more.”  I wish she had too.

I’m excited to get back to America though!  I can’t wait to be around all the things I know and love and have missed this past year.  It’s true that I’ve come to love and appreciate things here in the UK, but it still isn’t really “home” in the same way the US is…and I want to go home.

Right now I need to go to bed though.  The HR chick is apparently not going to be calling tonight.

It’s just all a little overwhelming right now.

The funny thing is that I’m not actually scared…should I be?  I was scared when I got here.  I’ve been lonely and discouraged at times, but I’m still thankful for having had this opportunity and what a growing time this has been!  My eyes have been opened and I definitely see things in a different light than I did when my world was only really the size of about 50 states.

The only question I have now is, what’s next?

I was coming from the train station and walking down that little road that leads to the bridge when I heard music. It was very loud music and not really recognizable, but what I was mainly wondering was where exactly it was coming from.

As soon as I rounded the corner to come over the bridge, I saw it. Laid out across the grass of the park where the gazebo is were a multitude of tents and food-stands and tons of people milling about. I could smell the food grilling and on the far left side of the field was a large stage-like tent with a band playing.

It looked exactly…and I mean EXACTLY…like the Anchorage Food Festival (and also somewhat like the Girdwood Forest Fair). I swear that for a brief instant, if you had asked me where I was, I would’ve said “Alaska, of course!” Honestly…it was so similar, it actually scared me. Some of the things for sale REALLY reminded me of Girdwood…lots of tye-dye and those knitted caps with the long ends. People in dreadlocks looking like the Girdwood hippes reallly added to the effect as well. And me? Well I found myself suddenly extremely AK-homesick and would have given my right arm just then to be transported back there wandering around downtown Anchorage with Janelle, stopping on 4th Ave to get a reindeer dog and then maybe settling in over at Simon’s for a bottle of cider and some of that really good sourdough we liked so much.

My eyes welled up and I nearly was in tears the whole walk back to my flat. How pathetic am I??? As I was walking through the maze of tents, this solicitor started talking to me about some kind of environmental thing I think. Since I was rather emotional and heartsick at that moment, I just looked at him and said, “Ya know, I’m not really interested” and kept walking. I just don’t think I could’ve dealt with someone wanting me to sign a petition right then. Was that rude??

Anyway, I got home and would’ve called Janelle, only I know she was still sleeping and didn’t want to wake her so I thought I’d type it all out instead.

My friend Janelle came from Seattle to visit me over Easter which was fabulous!!! It was so much fun to have someone visit! (In fact if any of you all want to follow her lead, you’re more than welcome!!) Then just a few weeks ago I journeyed up to Scotland for the weekend and spent time in both Glasgow and Edinburgh which was great! The trip also enabled me to spend some time with my friends Joyce and Paul which was also quite a treat. I’m hoping to make it up there again if I can!

As for work…well that’s an interesting situation! I’ve had my time pretty evenly divided between London, Birmingham, and Leamington Spa which has been good b/c it’s kept me traveling around a bit. Things were also really crazy up until we launched our full business product to the public (on May 8th) so now that Merrill Lynch HSBC (http://www.mlhsbc.co.uk) is a full-fledged functioning company, our work as trainers has slowed considerably and talk began to focus around what we’re going to do next. My main concern has been where they plan to put me. The only request I made was to NOT be left up here in Leamington. While it’s a nice small town, I am not a small town girl and requested to either be moved and based in London or put onto the global roll-out team. What came back from my manager was that there were no places on the global team and that any job for me would be in Leamington. This left me with the choice to leave at the end of my minimum 1-year contract term rather than stay for the max of 3. So I told them that I would prefer to return to the States at the end of my year (July 31st). Last week I was in London working for a few days and had a meeting with our ex-pat guru. I was given some tasks to complete and we’re at the point where everyone’s trying to help me find a position back in the States to go to. There are a couple of catches however:

Catch #1: I have to have a job in Merrill Lynch to go back. They won’t send me back without one. The problem with this is that Merrill currently has a hiring freeze on (thanks to the current fabulous condition of the economy!) so I’m having trouble finding a spot to go back to. If I can’t find one, I’ll have to basically sit around in limbo until one comes up. They have one guy here who’s been waiting for several months with still no light at the end of his tunnel.

Catch #2: Whatever department I end up going back to will have to pay my re-pat costs. This is no small bill since it includes me and all my worldly possessions and shipping and packing and customs charges and taxes and who knows what else… Apparently ex-pats often have a difficult time finding employment back in the States b/c they come with a rather large price on their heads. This was not good news.

On a positive note, there are a couple of people in areas of the business that would be very pleased to have me join their team (one in London, one in Beverly Hills) but b/c of the hiring freeze, they aren’t allowed to fill the vacancies they have. And there is no indication at this time when the freeze might be lifted. It could be weeks, it could be months. Of course I’ve got almost 2 months left on my current contract so I guess prayers could really be focused on the freeze being lifted before long.

The other option I have right now is to stay on the current project, only in a different role with a different part of the organization. I’d be happy to do that…especially if they would place me on the global team. I had a meeting with the head of HR last week in London and told him that I was not adverse to staying here on the project for a longer period of time, I only wish to get out of Leamington.

I have no idea what will happen or what things will look like over the next few months…I’ll keep you all posted of course and if you could all keep me in your prayers, I’d appreciate it! In part, it’s somewhat exciting to have so many possibilities and options open, but it sometimes also nice to have the resolution in sight.

On a more personal note, the weather has been FANTASTIC recently! (Fantastic for England that is!) Allow me to translate…”fantastic” means it hasn’t been raining nearly as much, I’ve actually been seeing the sun on a regular basis, and while it’s still mostly chilly, we’ve had some nice spring-like warm days. I’ve been really enjoying it…riding my bike to work everyday which, I have to say, has been one of the great perks here that I’ve been loving.

Let’s see…what else?

The next month or so will be extremely busy for me!! Let’s see… I’ve got my friend Tracy’s wedding in New Jersey for which I’m traveling home (if you know my parents, DON’T SAY ANYTHING! They don’t know I’m coming and I want to surprise them!!) So I’ll leave a week from this coming Wednesday and will be home for only a few days. Not a real relaxing trip unfortunately! Then the week I return, my sister Kristin is coming to stay. She’ll be here the 28th through July 7th. On the 7th she and I both fly out from London…Kristin to the States, and me to Greece!!! This is of course my big important fabulous holiday that I’ve had booked for nearly a year! I’ll be 2 days in Athens before taking an island hopper out to Leros. From there I meet up with a small yacht and about 8 other people I don’t know who I will be sailing around the islands with for a week. We end up finally on Samos where I catch another island hopper back to Athens and then back to London the following day. All in all it should be 10 very full and fun days in…dare I say it?…SUNSHINE and WARM WEATHER!!!! Nothing sounds better to me after all these months of cold damp and rain.

So! Enough about me, how are all of you?

Now of course this is completely different.  It’s 2001.  May.  I’m on a Virgin train, not Amtrak.  And I’m traveling north through England, not west through America.

We’re just passing through Crewe headed towards Manchester – ultimately stopping at Glasgow Central.  It’s about a 6 hour trip from Leamington.

Why am I writing now?  Well, I fell I should document this day so that I don’t forget how fabulous it is!  This is a day where I love England.  Everything is green, even the trees.  Everything is flowering (we passed by a field of yellow blossoms so bright it was as if the sun had taken up residence there).  The sun is shining brightly.  The sky is clear and blue.  And I am not cold!

What I have just described to you is NOT the England I have grown used to this past year.  And it is definitely NOT the England I have been living in.  This England is the day to the black night of the England I know.  I’ve been living in an England of grey clouds and dark skies.  Dismal, dreary, drizzly, dank, and dark.  A far cry from this world of sun and warmth we have the pleasure of today.

And my prayer is that this will perhaps last…at least through tomorrow as I spend my couple of days in Scotland.  I would like to think of Scotland with blue skies since I don’t know that I will much remember England that way.
I also need to remind myself not to forget that England CAN have days of beauty like this.  I don’t want to look back when I leave and forget that the sun sometimes DID shine and the sky sometimes WAS blue.  I don’t want to ever let the clouds and grayness rule my memories or England will forever seem a sad place which it wasn’t always.

——————————–

Now I’m in the hotel…  I’ve spent my time after arriving wandering around central Glasgow.  Very charming!  Of course now I’m settled in bed and just finished watching REM live in Koln (I have no clue where that is – I think maybe Norway or Sweden…I’ll have to look it up.)

But anyway, seeing them live on stage only brought back vivid memories of seeing them live with Jel in Seattle.  What a great time that was!  I don’t know if I could ever top that – I suppose only in that I could actually meet them.  Otherwise Seattle was about as good as it gets.

You know, with each passing day as I sort of stand still and look back on my life this far, I really could cry for joy.  It has been even better than I ever could have hoped for – I have so many wonderful memories and I’m only 27 years old!  There’s so much more to come!!  I think it’s only recently that I’ve really been able to look at my life and say “Thank you, Lord!”  God has really given me so much and has fulfilled so many of my silent dreams & desires.  It’s so much easier to focus on what I DON’T have that I sometimes forget to look at what I DO have.

Thank you Lord for blessing me in more ways that I never would have even dreamed.

K…so just a brief review…I was in London when last I wrote having first transferred to Princeton from New York and then over here to Jolly Ol’ England! To say the least these last few months have been an adventure…but I guess not unlike the others I’ve been on in many ways… Anyway, let’s take this one thing at a time, ok?

August: I was in London.

September: Towards the end of the month I was finally moved out to Leamington Spa. Leamington is actually pronounced “Lemington”…don’t ask me why…it seems that hardly anything over here is actually pronounced the way it’s spelled…crazy Brits!

October: I spent most of last month working myself to the bone (long long days…too long) and trying to figure out clever ways to get myself checked out of the Hilton Hotel in Warwick (another weird pronunciation…is actually said without that second “w”…again, don’t ask me why). Anyway, 3 weeks in the Hilton was really just WAY TOO MUCH! I knew I had been there too long when I realized that all the staff knew me by name. So one relatively un-wet Saturday I went out and decided that I’d had it with the hotel and really wanted to find a place to live. Asking for the moon, I know, but it had to be done. I spent hours looking at a ton of different places all over Leamington and turned out that I fell in love with the second place I saw. It was absolutely fabulous and so have named it fondly The Fab Pad. I have some pre-furniture pictures (there’s a link at the end of the letter) so you can have a look for yourself. Also have included some pics of Leamington as well. So this place I finally found took a couple of weeks to get into, but now my furniture is all here and it’s feeling very homey. I actually don’t mind coming home which is quite a switch from how I felt about the Hilton!! It’s a converted old Georgian-style home and it’s really a beautiful building! White with pillars…wait, what am I telling you for? You can go see the pictures! My little claim to fame here is that at the end of my block is the home Napoleon III lived in from 1838-1839. Who knew!

Leamington itself is very charming…yeah, I think that’s a good word for it. It’s also very small. Very small. I mean very very small. Did I mention that it’s small? How small is it? So small that I rarely leave the house without seeing someone I know. That’s very unusual for me… Was never much of a danger of running into anyone I knew in New York. Or even Anchorage really…at least not compared to here. So this is really very much a culture shock situation for me… Especially being alone in a different country I think makes it more difficult. I would really appreciate prayers on this! This is not to say that I think being here will not be good…I think it will be hard but everything that has been hard in my life has been good.

Right…so where was I?

Oh, Charming Leamington! Of course! It really is charming… Mainly, I think, b/c the people here do a very good job of keeping up the town itself. Very posh little stores and things. Cafes, etc. are pretty nice too. I actually found a place where I can buy Hershey bars! Of course they’re some insane amount like $1.75, but if I ever have a craving, I have a safety net.

Am I driving? NO! Not that I won’t ever while I’m here, but I think for now I’m pretty happy taking the bus to work, etc. Besides, I can walk to everything else I could possibly want to do including shops, the bus stop, the movie theatre, and even my health club is just a couple of blocks away. Makes for great morning work-outs! And the bus in the morning is good for giving me some time to read which I enjoy.

How’s the job? Oh just fine! In fact I really love what I’m doing and I really enjoy the people I’m doing it with. They’re a great group… I’m not the only American which is nice. Clay, Rob, and Julie are the others and really are my sanity at times! We don’t always feel like we understand the British…we won’t always get what they’re laughing at or they’ll make fun of us for using some strange term they’ve never heard before so it’s nice to have other Americans around to back each other up! Also, I was surprised to learn that most of the British have never seen Seinfeld. I tend to find Seinfeld fits into so many situations but now when I bring one up, I have to explain what I’m talking about…never thought I’d ever have to do that! Here they get Friends and Fraiser. They all love Fraiser.

Am still waiting on getting my bird out here. I’m starting to wonder if it’ll ever happen, but I hope so as I miss her dreadfully!!

Going forward…I have great and fabulous plans! I want to take advantage of being so close to so much that I never have before. I have a trip to Greece all booked now for this summer. I also want to hit as much of Europe as my vacation time will allow…Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, France…Colin! Prepare for a visit! It still sounds very strange to me to hear people say that they’re going to France for the weekend. If any of you have any great vacation thoughts or tips, I’d love to hear them!!

So that’s really just about all the news that’s fit to print.
I’ll be home for a couple of weeks over Christmas so I’ll hopefully get to see some of you then!

Finally, here is all my new address and phone stuff, etc. which really should be pretty stable for awhile (let’s see if I can go a year without moving!):

Flat 7
35 Clarendon Square
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire ENGLAND
CV32 5QY
(01926) 450372 or to call from the US: 011-44-1926-450372

Cheers!