YAY! Mom and Grandma have arrived safely. Their flight went well and landed 30 minutes early. I had arranged a minicab to pick them up and it was there on time so everything was well. Unfortunately the cab broke down 3 times then finally gave up. The company sent another car and they finally arrived at my place around 6:30PM. We then went to dinner a block away and walked home in the rain. What a difference from LA! Grandma was even awake enough to go with me to the Halloween party. They were both in bed and asleep by 10 and slept pretty well through the night and woke up around 7 this morning. They should be pretty well adjusted to the time! I am leaving work at 12 and then we will go to the local Doughmasters for lunch and on to London!

Since we will eb out of town, I will not update the blog again until next Wednesday, so everyone have a Happy Halloween, get lots of candy and have a great weekend!

Talk soon, Diana

What a great day!!! I woke up to sunshine and it even seems a bit warmer out! My mom and grandma are on a flight right now. They are scheduled to arrive at 3:15 but right now it says they will be early at 2:24. I AM SO EXCITED!!! We will have a busy weekend, doing all the touristy stuff over the weekend, then Bath on Monday and Tuesday, then they will be on their own Weds and Thurs and then sadness when they leave on Friday :(

We here at the office (well those of us willing to venture out into the cold) are really starting to get some travel planned. I booked tickets to Strasbourg, France for the weekend of Nov 21-23. It is right on the border with Germany and looks like it will be beautiful. We are hoping to get plans all worked out for Berlin for Nov 28-30 by the end of the day. They will both be cold but should still be quite beautiful and hey, I am getting used to the cold! (Especially with my new warm blanket jacket!)

We are going to a Halloween party tonight (that is if mom and grandma are awake.) Someone here from work, Svarva, lives in my building and is throwing the party. Pretty handy that it is in my building so how could I not go? Alot of the UK people and from close parts of Europe go home on the weekends so it seems that whenever anyone plans something it is always on a Thursday. Halloween does not seem to be a big deal here. There are decorations but I am told that unless you live in a very high family area you won't really have kids come by. Actually that sounds alot like home!

I keep hearing fireworks, they are legal here and everyone is getting ready for the big holiday next week. My birthday! No, just kidding, November 5 is Guy Fawkes day and they celebrate it like the 4th of July with lots of fireworks and bonfires. They should be fun to go to as they burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes. We don't burn enough effigies of people back in LA do we?

After about 3 weeks of sun (cold and sun) the clouds have moved in. I awoke to a California type rain. Drizzly and grey, just in time for my mom and grandma! They leave in less than 24 hours and it looks like it will rain all weekend. I have pictures of the sun that I can show them.....

I went to the gym last night and ran 2 miles then walked home in the cold, it actually felt really good! The combination of hot and cold was really invigorating. Luke would be proud (well of yesterday that is...)

We are in the process of planning a trip to Prague, Berlin or Madrid in 3 weeks and whichever we don't go to, we will pick one for December. I'm voting for Madrid in December as the other two might just be unbearable by then. Any way it works out will be fantastic. It still amazes me that we can make plans for a 2 day weekend trip to any of those places. Fly out Friday night and come back Sunday evening, just like Vegas!

By the way, I would consider myself all better now, just a random sniffle every now and then but pretty much healthy!

I am so glad to not be inhaling all of the ashes and smoke you all are inhaling but I am so sorry to hear about all the devastation. I know some of you have family members and/or friends affected by the fires and my prayers are with you. I am reading about them on cnn.com.

I wore my new coat today, it feels like I am wrapped up in a big down comforter. I feel very puffy but at least I am warm! Now if only I could wrap a big comforter around my head......

Hampton Court
We went to Hampton Court this weekend! It was freezing as we walked around the extensive gardens and spent about 30 minutes trying to find our way through the maze but the rest of the time we were inside and it was quite good. It still amazes me how old things can be and that they can still be standing. This is especially interesting in that it was built hundreds of years ago and then added onto through the years. So as you walk through it you see the extremely different styles of architecture. Very cool. I had to go to check it out before I send my mom and grandma there next week!

On Friday, I saw "Secondhand Lions" which I highly recommend. It would be a great family movie but good for adults as well. Saturday night I went for Mexican food. The place is called Chiquito or something like that and looks like an Acapulco; however, after eating there I would almost say that in comparison, Acapulco is authentic Mexican food!!! I ordered a beef burrito and asked them to put rice in it, taco sauce and cheese on top (hoping for an enchilada) When I got it, it looked like and enchilade but when I ate it, I found that they use chili con carne complete with Kidney beans in their burritos. I laughed and then ate it, wishing for a local Taco Bell. The best part was that I asked if they had any hot sauce and they brought me cajun sauce from Louisiana!!! Well so much for Mexican food in England!

I spent Sunday shopping at the local mall and was able to get a very nice winter coat, hat, 2 sweaters and a cell phone. I then treated myself to a movie and saw "Calender Girls" which is absolutely hilarious. It is an English film about these over 50 yrs old ladies who do a nude calender to raise money for a local hospital. It is based on a true story. Well this is beginning to sound like a movie review site!

Anyway, enjoy the pics. I miss you all more than you could know. The shopping yesterday didn't help as much as I thought. If I keep shopping to help missing home, I will be bankrupt before I know it!! I hope all your homes and the homes of those you know and love are safe from the fires. By the way, jiggery pokery means to magically manipulate! Like if your computer isn't working, you jiggery pokery it until it does.

Love from me,
Diana

UK slang quiz: What does "Jiggery Pokery" mean?

Good news! I have been able to upload pics onto my computer, still working on having them show directly on this page but at least I can give you a link.

Leeds Castle
Paris
Croydon

Well we aren't going to Amsterdam this weekend. Instead we are probably going to Hever Castle tomorrow and then I can go shopping here in beautiful (hee hee) downtown Croydon.

Well enjoy your weekend!

So I did not make it to the gym last night, I just kept fading away as the afternoon went on. So I went to the market and bought some chicken noodle soup (it was Heinz because they don't have much Campbells here, it was pretty good though!) I got in my jammies, ate my soup, curled up under my Carolyn blanket and watched Little House on the Prairie (courtesy of Katherine and Sossi!) So all in all I started to feel much better!

Funny little side note on how words can mean different things.. I was reading the local Nestle news letter and it was saying thank you to everyone who helped on the latest charity drive. It said that the strip show was a big success! Strip show? So I asked around and found out that a strip is like a football jersey and so people got to wear them to work or something, but at least there isn't any actual stripping going on!

I am really starting (starting?) to get more and more excited about my mom and grandma coming!! I just hope it doesn't rain the whole time!

I am sure you are all dying to know how my cat is doing! She seems to be very happy at Casa Jamie. He has hardwood floors which I thought she would hate, but it turns out that she loves them! She likes running around on them and sliding. Jamie says she especially likes doing this at 3am. This proves to me that she is her same old self and very happy! :)

Getting sicker and sicker by the moment. I think the cold is getting to me. I woke up this morning and it was dark and the ground was wet. When I went to work it felt like it was 30! I could have frozen to death. I know you are not sympathetic out there in the heat but.... So I am sneezing and coughing and generally feeling like crap. I bought some over the counter stuff at lunch and it is not doing anything. I had a few people tell me they got sick when they first came, I guess it is the same bugs that killed off the indians a few hundred years ago (again, someone told me that.) When I went out at lunch, I experienced my first London rain. Same as home except a lot colder.

Good news though! I joined a gym last night My new gym It is very nice, much better than 24 hours. I was hoping to go again tonight but it looks like chicken soup and jammies for me....

Well since it is just Tuesday, not much has happened. I put away my shipment... oooh exciting!! It is still getting colder and colder... even the locals are starting to say it is cold! Thank you Carolyn for that blanket, it is amazing!

I have not figured out how to make a picture show on this page but I can give you links to Ofoto which will store pics. I still don't have the ability to load pics I have taken since getting here onto my computer (I should sometime this week) but for now here are some pics, courtesy of Linsey Watson from mine and Nancy's farewell. Farewell pics Click this hyperlink then click on view photos.

I added a new feature so now you can comment on my comments... ooohhh wow. This is called participation! Just click below on the comments hyperlink and you will get a popup box. You can enter your own comments and if anyone else has put some in you can read theirs. We will try this out and see if anyone uses it. We'll see how long it lasts!

There is talk of maybe driving to Amsterdam this weekend.....

Hey all, I hope you had a great weekend. Enjoy your warmth and sunshine! I now appreciate it and wish I had more of it!!!

Jamie and I had a very adventurous Saturday. We picked up the rental car in the morning and spent about 1 hour trying to get to the IKEA that is about 10 minutes away. It was very unnerving driving but we did not kill anyone. After successfully completing my first roundabout I started to get a little more confident but thank goodness I had Jamie!!!! I could not have driven and tried to figure out how to get somewhere at the same time! It took all my concentration to stay on they left side of the road! I can't count how many times Jamie said with a quivering, frightened voice "uhhh, honey... uh... you are in the other lane...." It's funny but you have a tendancy to stray over to the left side when you are driving and end up covering 2 lanes without realizing it. I eventually got used to it and we went to IKEA and the big grocery store, Sainsburys, and I bought salsa! It is in this tiny little jar from El Paso and was in this tiny little Mexican section....hmmmmm.... definately need to buy salsa when I get home at Christmas!

We then went to Leeds castle, which is in Kent, not Leeds (thank goodness I found that out or we would have driven 6 hours looking for a castle that didn't exist!) The castle was on a very beautiful area and it even had a hedge maze. That was excellant! We then came home and had dinner at a pub called "The Spreadeagle" :)

Sunday was less exciting. I followed Jamie to the airport and said goodbye. Very heartwrenching, I won't go into details. I decided to cheer myself up by going shopping! I went into London and got off at Covent Garden. The first thing I wanted to do was go to the Doc Martins shop there, well low and behold..... it is no longer there. My day already sucked and now it was worse. So I wandered around and actually found ways to spend my money. I know hard to believe, but I was able to do it.

So this morning my shipment came!! It is at this moment strewn all about the flat waiting for me to go home and put it all away...so off I go!!!!

YEAH! Just got the call that they will be delivering my shipment on Monday! So very excited! I miss crushed red pepper and my gym clothes and my scale to see how fat I am getting (since I don't have the gym clothes...) So when you come visit me I will be less fat and happy with my red pepper!

I also just picked up the keys for my rental car for the weekend. I sat in the drivers seat and well anyway, let's just say that I hope I am able to write you on Monday. The plan is that Jamie and I are going to go about a mile away to IKEA and the BIG supermarket, then back to my flat to drop the stuff off then off we go to Leeds Castle. It doesn't sound like much but...

So I hope you all have a good weekend and think of me when you are driving!

I went out for my first drink last night! Well not my first drink ever but my first drink in a pub after moving here. It was a going away for someone on our team. She was from Russia and on assignment to Switzerland but temporarily (7 months) assigned here. So she is going back to Switzerland and then will go back to Russia in about 2 years. Her boss was giving a speech for her and since I don't know her well I was zoning out thinking of other things. I looked around me at the people who were there and noticed a Russian (obviously), and people from the following: Switzerland, France, Iceland, Spain, Japan, Canada, America, Ireland, England and Australia. I'm sure there were others but I don't know everyone yet. I was very overwhelmed by this and thought what an amazing opportunity (of course I have thought this many times but more on the level of travelling.) How often do you get to look around and see so many nationalities. It is an awesome feeling. If only everyone could experience that there might be less war (already getting more philosophical.....I promise that won't happen very often.) Well anyways, it was fun and I got to have a Strongbow (English Cider) which I haven't had since the Contiki tour in 2000.

On a blogger note, I am shocked at how many people responded to my email and said this was a good idea and that they would read it!!! WOW! Katherine, you had a great idea! But yes Linsey, I will continue to email people as well.... I still haven't figured out the picture thing but I will. I couldn't do much even if I did as I haven't gotten the software for my camera installed on the computer yet...

Tonight is another drinks night hosted by IBM, there is going to be food too so it sounds like it should be a huge turnout. I really LOVE that I live 2 blocks away from everything. I have heard some people talk about how they don't go to these things because it takes them too long to get home after but not me!! YEAH!

Trips, people and things to look forward to:
*I have reserved a spot to go to Carnival in February with a bunch of Nestlé people including Nancy Deters. It should be really fantastic since some of the people going are from Brazil so they will really know their way around.
*Also looking forward to my mom and grandma coming in 2 weeks! Yeah! We have booked a trip to Bath and will be staying in a converted castle.
*Toni Lamasa will be stopping by in early December. She is going to Ireland on a teacher exchange program and will be able to stop by London for some sightseeing before heading home.
*Definately coming home for 2 weeks at Christmas!
*Linsey Watson is coming at the end of January and the travelling through Scotland.

Well that's it for today!

So Katherine has asked me to become a blogger. She seems to think that I may have some interesting experiences over here and might want to document them. I figure I will humor her and try it out, perhaps my mom and grandma will look every now and then too....

I will try to figure out how to get pictures on here so that might make it a little interesting... not sure how often I will update it but definately not when I have just sat around watching tv....

To bring you all up to speed (all 2 of you reading this), I have arrived in London safe and sound and although I am freezing my little petootie off, it has not rained on me. It did rain on Jamie though, he was out buying a dvd player and some bathroom trashcans... he was hiking back to my flat (English Word (EW) for apartment) and it downpoured on him. As soon as he got into the apartment the rain stopped. They are not predicting rain anytime in the near future so...

We went to Paris last weekend (insert beautiful picture here....) and had a fantastic time. Had lunch when we arrived and the only word I recognized on the menu was hamburger so I ordered it. What arried was a hamburger patty with a fried egg on top. I wish I had thought of taking a pic of that! It actually was "very, very gooood" (I quote Isabella here with an Italian accent) We did some touristy stuff then went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and almost got blown off, but it was a clear night so a beautiful view and I did get my kiss :) Next day was Sunday and I was so excited to go shopping at Champs-Elysees but alas everything in Paris is closed on Sundays except for McDonalds....

So here I am back in Croydon, safe and sound. Thus begins my international travels....