Merry

Happy
Joy
Love
To all!

Mixed bag(s) are packed

My last post from the UK for awhile....and my mixed emotions are getting the best of me.  Bags are packed and in the hall, I've shed a few tears packing up things (I swear, packing just has this effect on me now, don't be worried).

What'll I miss?  New friends, the river, the French bakery around the corner, mulled wine, the view from Richmond hill, public transport, walking everywhere, and my partner.  

There's a funny story here about Tammer and the first time we spent more than a few days apart.  I was basically a mess...but the funny part is that I really didn't see it coming AT ALL.  I genuinely honestly didn't really think much of this two week vacation he was taking.....don't believe me? You can ask my family and friends, they were there. They saw, they witnessed, they made fun.  I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd notice he was gone after 1 week.  Two days later...I knew I was in trouble.  So, I will probably miss him a little bit. 

But what else? I can't wait to see my amazing and wonderful family and friends. I can't wait to recharge my soul just being near them...and the furry ones too.  It's going to be good stuff...the best stuff. And where this blog is headed, I have no idea :)  Texas will be on The Thames again...but for now....we're going to become one with the gypsies.....

Goodnight England <3

Coincidence?

I confess that I haven't bought one single Christmas present.  I should have the time, right?  Probably.  But I can think of a few rationalizations....I hate shopping....everything here is so! expensive....it doesn't feel like Christmas yet to me...

So I started on the Christmas list this morning, with my Mom (spoiler alert).  She wanted comfortable ear buds for listening to music on her iphone ('cause she's fancy like that and has an iphone).  Straightforward enough.  I get to Amazon, search for "comfortable ear buds", and this is what I get...

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Nonfiction) by Pema Chodron and Joanna Rotte (Mar 2010) 


4.5/5 stars isn't bad.  Should I add it to my basket?

Happy weekend!

From Post Secret....which I usually find somewhat sad and heavy....this one made me laugh out loud.  

Feeling ever so Jet-Set in the airport. 

I forgot to tell you - my dear old friend Emily and I crossed paths for an hour in Italy :)  

  She's changing the world I tell you, changing the world.  Someday I'll say I knew her way back when....

Ex-pats

Last get together of the year with new friends.   It's an International bunch representing the States, Cyprus, Russia, Australia, India, and Brazil.  Everyone looks forward to January get togethers, but for me it's all in flux.  The odd one out and Visa-less, I'm homeward bound in (less than) a few weeks and from there it is a winding road of uncertainty.....which I will aim to view as a winding road paved with continued unique opportunities:)  The part of me demanding Order, Control, and Predicability (hello crazy planner) will just have to get comfortable in the back seat.  Don't make me turn this car around!!!   

Roman Holiday

Warm & Colorful 

The Vatican

St. Peter's Basilica

It's the place to go if you want to feel small. 

Night  vision 

Gladiatorial 

Roman Forum 

 <3 Italy <3 

Pizza Pie

Italy bound and happy. 

Alarm set: 3am.

Who says I'm not a morning person?  All I need is some incentive (gelato).

hold please

I'm sorry I can't come to the blog right now, but I'm looking for my pictures to post...can't. find. memory card. or. usb. sigh.   I just feel so empty posting without pictures!!  And it's been busy enough that I need them to keep me organised (reminded) about what's been going on around here.

Late Happy Thanksgiving!  My Mom and Steve came to visit and we cooked 2 chickens.  It's all my easy bake oven can handle, folks. We saw lots of London sights that I'd been saving for visitors:  Churchill War Rooms, Shakespeare's Globe (Shakespeare in Love anybody?), Windsor Castle, Tower of London, St.Paul's, Harrod's, RunnyMede (place Magna Carta was signed)...and more.

What else happened?

It didn't start feeling like Christmas after Thanksgiving.  Why doesn't it feel like Christmas?  It's cold enough, and the decorations have been up since before Halloween.

My partner turned 31.  From now on, I'm calling him my partner because here, that's what everyone calls their boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, or even their spouse.  Does it sound weird to you too?

There was great turnout for the surprise birthday party I put on for my partner :)  it was fantastic.  People came!  Not only work people but our neighbours and some new friends too.  I had balloons delivered!  My mother has all the pictures, so you'll just have to believe how festive and wonderful it turned out.  But maybe she's reading this right now...and thinking...I should really send these pictures to my daughter for her blog....maybe we'll get lucky yet.

I ordered business cards, though I have no business, and they were delivered while I was typing this post.  Designing them online, I had the option for two sided cards, and there was a suggested template with a logo or tag line on the back.  Since I have neither, I thought of printing something on the back from a post card I recently saw, "What if there were no hypothetical questions?"  I kind of like that....no?

The arrival of cards is well timed for the networking event tonight, where I plan on looking and being overwhelmingly professional.  It's a new week and I'm not burned out from being on, and I think I'm more prepared.  In case there is any question...I know where my rail pass is, have already mapped out how to get there, outfit is selected, and now I have business cards that make me feel a little silly.  But even better, I hold in my mind the results of my assignment (http://texasonthethames.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-morning.html).   And am so glad I overcame my fear of asking for those three words.

Now if I could just find my keys.  You may think I'm kidding :) but I'm not.

Oh Happy Day

Long distance presents/presence.  He loves them all :) 

Wales & Owls

I've wanted and tried to work on posting these all week!  Can anyone tell me why they are hanging over the edge of the blog?  I sized the pictures XL - they just look so much better this way.   I'll try to fix that when I have more time, but for now I hope you enjoy these!  All photo credit to Tammer. 

Goodrich Castle

The River Wye, Welsh border.  Brother's Grimm material? 

Hiking

The Saracen's Head Pub and Lodging across the Wye

The hand operated ferry!!! 

OOooo

Aahhhhhhhhhhhh

Great snowy white owl at the International Center for Birds of Prey - AMAZING!!!

This looks important.  From the brow scrunching I'd guess this is hungry Janet.  What is wrong with my hand here?!  Don't mind if I size this one extra small, do you?  Me neither.

Much more exciting in Welsh.

Tintern Abbey

This Morning

This morning I managed to turn my alarm off in my sleep, and was awakened by the grocery delivery man ringing the doorbell.  I tried not to look like: I'd just woken up, he'd rung the doorbell twice, I was in my PJ's 10 seconds earlier and in deep sleep REM 5 seconds before that, I had creases on my face, my eyes were puffy and squinty, etc...I think I actually told him I'd been in the garden and hadn't heard the bell.  Why did I do this?  What compelled me to make excuses?  Anyway, pretty sure I gave myself up when I said, "Oh wow! The sun is out!" Nice one.  

This morning I locked myself out of the house.   

This morning I locked myself out of the house with the wrong (unprofessional looking, this is important later) shoes on.   

This morning I couldn't find my rail pass.  

This morning I ran to the tube station in business attire (minus the shoes) because I was running late.  

This morning I was running late for the "Professional" Women's Network lecture on the importance of networking and "building your personal brand" Oh yes, AND the importance of impression in the first 3 seconds of meeting somebody.  Ha. 

This morning I did not feel very professional, and I think it is safe to say that it may have been more than just my feeling.  This morning (and even now, hours later) I felt like laughing maniacally and then crying at the thought of my "personal brand."  I don't even understand WHAT that means.  What DOES it mean? Anybody?  One exercise suggested in the seminar: people I know or have just met describe me in 3 words.  To be honest, I find this more than a little terrifying. 

Days like today make me respect all of you MBA's in ways I cannot fully express.

But days like today also make me: 

Thankful for my kind neighbour, Susanna, who sweetly lent me her key with no questions asked, or any comments on my bizarre outfit.  Just trust me, that means a lot when dealing with someone who's business IS fashion.

Thankful for the very nice Aussie girl I've met and befriended (here's hoping anyway) who has motivated me to go to a number of these unbearable valuable networking events...and reminded me that while other people may have jobs, I have unlimited time to run my fingernails over a chalkboard build a professional network.   Of course, this silver lining is undoubtedly contingent on my being professional...

And to all of you rolling your eyes at my dramatic expression, all I can say is, it is cathartic.

Thanks for listening.    

Catching up

We spent this past weekend on the picturesque Welsh border.  I took lots of pictures, did lots of driving (well, I didn't do ANY driving), did some hiking, and just basked in the prettiness of it all.  More on that later.  Since we were driving back yesterday, I missed Andrew's birthday.  I mean, I missed posting about Andrew's birthday ON his actual birthday, and since posting about all these November birthdays is what I've set out to do, I feel a little guilty for being late.  In digging through photos I realized I have some pretty good quintessential ones of Andrew, my dear friend Marysia's husband....

This is Andrew with his daughter when she was just born.  It's a lot of fun watching him be a dad.  What I remember about Andrew on this day is, he seemed to really know what he was doing right away.  I don't know if that's normal, because I'm not a parent, but I was impressed.  There was a point very soon after this photo where he actually balanced her on his knee and ate a slice of pizza simultaneously.    

It's a lot of fun watching him in the kitchen too.  He's the master of all things culinary.  

And he's funny too.  

Happy birthday Andrew :) 

A few weeks ago I went on a hike with the American Women's League of London.  As all hikes should, this one landed us at a country pub for lunch. 

Ahhhh

Great to meet other Americans, and feel a little more connected. 

As an aside, I love this picture of my grandfather in his workshop. 

A few weeks ago I off-handedly said, "Boy do I really hate the 1990's themed light fixtures in our hallway.  It's a shame we can't use those pretty ones you got in Morocco." I said nothing more.

Five minutes later....

Maybe it's lame that I'm actually posting about this, but it is one of the things you have to love about Tammer.  He's a do-er and a problem solver, so any excuse to pull out the ladder, a screwdriver, etc.....and it's GO TIME. :) And the lights look great, don't you think? Problem solved.

It's Fall in Hyde Park.

And on our street.

And on the river, where they've covered most of the boats for winter.

I always want to sit here on the bridge with a coffee or tea and a book.

    

Remember, remember

the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. Guy Fawkes Night; a bit morbid in origin.  

Festival food.

The bonfire and glowing trees.

Mum

Happy Birthday Mom!!!  I love you!!!

The spell check here would like me to call you Mum, not Mom.  I guess Mum's the word :)

I don't have nearly enough pictures of just my Mom, or even just my Mom and me.  

I've never been, nor will I ever be, this cool.   

xoxo

showing some skin

lots of skin

 

Touch the irresistible wrinkles and contemplate adopting a pet while abroad...for the gazillionth time.  

 Evidence of the (very tasteful) lingerie fashion show I attended last week.  All proceeds to cancer research (yay!) and put on by our neighbour, who owns a fancy underwear store in Richmond (warning: there are pictures of women in sexy undies, slprivee.com).

Photographers :) Gotta love 'em. 

A familiar scene, always looking at their shots. 

"She's fashion road kill!!!" Anybody? 

Not sure what's going on with this girls head

Getting dressed up and going out was lots of fun.  Plus, how many lingerie fashion shows have you been to?  Yeah, me neither :)  Not your typical event (ie. networking at a wine bar, art gallery, etc.) and it's been awhile since I've participated, even as a bystander/guest, in the organized chaos that events are (and I love).  Also, I won a fancy shmancy watch in the raffle, which is apparently good up to a depth of 600 feet in water..... 

  Pictures from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes next time.