I had such a wonderful night! We weren't able to go to the movie because it isn't out yet! Silly us. Oh well, Farrah, Liz, Dawn and I went to dinner at ZiZi's instead (Mom and Renee, that is where we went with the group from work) We got a table that was inside but they had the front wall open and so it was kind of like we were outside. The temperature was lovely and it was almost like I was at home. We had a couple bottles of wine, good food and great, girlie conversation. It was a lovely evening!

No big plans for the weekend, just the race on Sunday! Wish me luck!

Oh wow! What a beautiful day!! (I can count on one hand the number of times I've said that here!!) The sun is out and the sky is blue!! I actually got a bit warm walking to work this morning, in my skirt and sandals!! Today is my last lunchtime run. I need to power through it and run the whole way. It is supposed to be hot on Sunday so today will give me a good indication of how I might do.

I'm looking forward to tonight, we are going to see 13 going on 30. It just came out here, I know some of you saw it a few months back and said it was really great. It will be nice to go out!

Woo- Hoo!! Just booked 3 flights! I am going to Venice in September, Budapest in October and Vienna in December!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!

Today is my 4 year anniversary with Nestle. I can't believe it has been 4 years since I worked at that hideaous dungeon otherwise known as El Camino. Look how much better my life got after leaving there!!! It has been a great 4 years, can't wait to see what the next 4 bring!

I had another major running accomplishment last night. Since the run on Sunday is about 6 miles, I decided to see how long that would take me. So I ran for about 4 miles and then ran and walked the last 2. The whole 6 miles took me 1 hour and 7 minutes. Not too bad! My goal on Sunday is to be done in 1.5 hours but 1 hour 15 minutes would be fantastic! By the time I got home, my body was very confused. It didn't know what side to limp on. My right foot regrew that damn blister from last week (it got lonely and needed a friend) and my left knee and calf were killing me. I sat on the couch and tried not to get up. I woke up at 2:30 with shooting pain in my leg and had to get up to take some advil. That would've been a sight watching me hobble 10 feet to get the advil!!! Such pain!!! So who wants to start running with me when I get home? Isn't all this talk enticing?

Hoping to book flights to Vienna and Venice today. Those are the 2 places that I want to go to most. Any trips on top of those before I go home will be gravy.

Today's blog is screaming "Look at me! Look at me!!!" I am a little self concious about that but oh well, I guess that is the point about doing a website on yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ASHLEY WEATHERFORD!!!!!

This is a really big deal as she is now 16 years old. WOW! How can that be!!!???? I can close my eyes and remember her when she was born. I can still picture how she looked when she found my lipstick and smeared it all over her face when she was somewhere around 2 years old. What an amazing girl, I look forward to seeing her in this next stage becoming an adult.

We tried a new place for lunch yesterday, it just opened last week. It is called "The Windy City" and is a Chicago style pizza place. It was really good and kind of nice to be in a restaraunt where they had American accents and crushed red pepper on the table and free soda refills! Just like home! I think we will be going back there alot.

This weekend was wonderful camping in the Lake District. We got in Friday night after an 8 hour drive (Thanks to Farrah doing most of the driving!) We met up with Charlotte and Paul (They were brilliant in thinking ahead and went up the day before to reserve a camping spot for us. Thank goodness as it was full by the time we got there.) Since it had been such a long drive, we were starving so we headed over to a pub which turned out to be excellent. I thought of my grandpa because there was a jazz quartet that was excellent and he would have loved it. The food was good too!

We got back to the site and settled in for the night. It was an interesting sleep as all of our tents were on a slope so in the morning we all talked about how we kept waking up to caterpiller ourselves back up the tent after sliding down to the bottom! Charlotte took care of us and made a lovely breakfast with eggs, sausage and bacon! We got all set and headed out for the main part of the day. We drove to the base of a mountain and walked up it. It sounds easy but the whole thing took about 5-6 hours. It was pretty cold and super windy! There were times where I had to stand still so as not to get blown over. It was a fantastic view most of the time though and when we got to the top it felt like such an accomplishment.

 


We then proceeded along the top of the ridge which was covered in cloud so we couldn't really see anything (we were pretty high up there!) Coming down was pretty good too though as we came up on a mini lake called a tarn. We just sat for a bit and watched the sheep wandering around.

By the time we got back to the town it was raining. The plan had been to BBQ that night so we decided to have a couple of drinks and see if the rain stopped. It never stopped but it did slow down at times so the boys jimmied up a cover over the BBQ (which they found in the trash!) and we had some hamburgers and sausages. Fantastic!!!

Have you ever heard rain on your tent? If so, did you panic? It was nice to hear it and know you were in a rain proof tent! I tried to enjoy it which was pretty easy to do. I'm used to the weather here so it wasn't a disappointment, just a new adventure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JIM KEENEY TOMORROW!!!! (Jamie's Dad)

I am running behind today!! We need to leave at 12 and it is 12 right now!!! Ahhhhh!!! Got busy with something here at work that I needed to finish before I left and I just finished it 3 minutes ago. Only this and then one more thing and we are off to the Lake District!!! The sun is out right now, let's hope it stays that way!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Well I am officially addicted to Big Brother here. I sat there watching it the other night with my finger on the power button on the reomte. I kept telling my finger to push the button but it just wouldn't do it!!! Stupid finger, now I am stuck on it. Stupid show. See what crappy weather does to you?!

I am not running today... I am actually sad about it. I want to but I am going camping and hiking this weekend and I don't want to aggravate my blister on my foot. One more week til the 10K....

SPIDER-MAN!!! Woo-hoo, it was swell. It was a lot of fun to watch and I enjoyed it. Maybe my standards are lower now or something but I was happy to watch it.

Another crappy weather day... shouldn't I be used to it by now?

OK I did the outside run at lunch and I only slowed to a walk 2 times for a total of about 2 minutes and finished the whole thing (5k) in about 33 minutes. Not too bad but I sure would like to do the whole thing without stopping. Liz said I am officially a runner now due to the very large blister in the arch of my right foot. OW!

NEW ACCOMPLISHMENT!!! I RAN 4 MILES IN 40 MINUTES YESTERDAY!!!! Woo-hoo!!! I know that it is much easier to run indoors than outdoors but the difference is night and day. I would really be pleased to run today at lunchtime without stopping... but there is just something about outdoors that screws around with my breathing. Oh well, whatever I do outside is better than nothing and 2 weeks from now, I won't ever have to run outside again!!!!

Oh it's such a beautiful day!!! The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you!! Dear Prudence.... oh look at me getting carried away and singing to myself. (I know half of you have no idea what I am talking about but Angie will.)
 
But it really is a beautiful day, I AM WEARING A SKIRT AND SANDALS!!! Woo-hoo! The weekend was so miserable and on Saturday there was this 4 hour long thunderstorm and it rained buckets... but who cares now as long as today is beautiful!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!!
I wish I were home to take you shopping, but I will make up for it when I am home in August!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHAD WEATHERFORD AND CHIARA MEDICINA ON SUNDAY!!!
 
So last night was our final goodbye to Mark.
 
 

 
It was very sad.... this is sooooo hard watching people leave!
 
We all had a good night though, here are more pics: Mark's Going Away
 
One of the more interesting parts of the evening was when a group of us got into a political discussion about Bush and the US in general. It's not too often in LA that you get a Canadian (Michael),  a Swiss (Yvo), an Englishman (Mark) and a Danish guy(Ulrich), around a table to talk about world politics. It really emphasizes how isolated we are in the US. Our news truly focuses on US issues. It is refreshing to hear other points of view. Even when they are putting down Bush to a hard-line republican (me!). I won't go into the details but it was an intelligent conversation and very interesting. I wish everyone had a similar opportunity.
 
Have a great weekend!!! I'll see you in 3 more weeks!

Just got back from lunchtime running and I did not do as well as Tuesday. My breathing was more difficult nad I had to stop half way as I was getting a bit dizzy. I rested for a couple minutes and then was able to finish up. We still made a pretty good time, just under 34 minutes to do a bit over 3 miles.

Today is overall a day of sadness. One of my favourite people, Mark Griffiths, is leaving and today is his last day. We are going out for drinks tonight so that should help dull the pain!!! Anyways, that is the hardest, worst part of this project. You get to know people and then they leave, it makes it very hard and sad...

Just got back from lunchtime running and I did not do as well as Tuesday. My breathing was more difficult nad I had to stop half way as I was getting a bit dizzy. I rested for a couple minutes and then was able to finish up. We still made a pretty good time, just under 34 minutes to do a bit over 3 miles.

Today is overall a day of sadness. One of my favourite people, Mark Griffiths, is leaving and today is his last day. We are going out for drinks tonight so that should help dull the pain!!! Anyways, that is the hardest, worst part of this project. You get to know people and then they leave, it makes it very hard and sad...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW REVELL!!!!!

I walked to work in the rain this morning with a coat on.... they say that it might get warm this afternoon but then be cold and rainy again tomorrow....

Good news though!! On Monday night when I got home there was someone in the Concierge Guy's office.... Yesterday morning and again this morning the Concierge Guy was not there!! Woo-hoo!! I think he may be gone!!! Yeah!!!

Well nothing exciting has happened today. I haven't flown to any foreign countries or anything like that in the last 24 hours... We did see the sun shine this morning... I got very excited and wore a nice pair of sandals with my slacks (still didn't have the guts to wear a skirt, it would have to look much more promising to brave that.) I'm looking out the window now and thinking that the sandals may not have been a good idea.... I actually considered turning on the heaters in my flat last night because I was so cold. I felt like it would be sacreligious or something though so I put on a robe and cuddled under a blanket instead. How's the weather in LA? Nevermind, the last thing I want is 20 emails telling me how beautiful it is and that people are actually wearing skirts there and not cowering under buildings to hide from the rain.

I went out running with Dawn at lunch today. I hadn't gone since my major breakthrough on Thursday and wow it is amazing how you can tell just after 4 days of not running! I wasn't able to run the whole 3 miles without slowing down but I did only slow down once for about 2 minutes. Still not bad. Tomorrow is an off day, running again at lunch on Thursday and again at the gym on Friday. At the gym I am going to strive for 4 miles. Wish me luck!

Well we sure got lucky!! The weather in Norway, Oslo was fantastic!! It was supposed to rain the entire time but it didn't. In fact we even got hot at one point! I know it's alot of pictures but Norway was sooooo beautiful I just couldn't narrow them down.

Here is one of me by this beautiful waterfall. We saw it as part of this Norway in a Nutshell Tour. The tour took us from Oslo to the fjord area, onto another train, a boat through some fjords and then a bus up a windy, scenic road. Fantastic!



On the way we even saw a glacier!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANGIE!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY TO MY UNCLE TOM!!!!

Woo-hoo, busy weekend with birthdays! I hope you both have a fabulous birthday and treat yourself to something nice.

Well this is short and sweet as I leave work early today. We are off to Olso, Norway!!! Hopefully we can get a picture or two through all of the rain that is supposed to happen.

I also have news that I am very proud of! I ran for a full 3 miles without stopping or even slowing down!!! This is a big accomplishment for me and gives me a little glimmer of hope that I might run the whole 10k!!! Not making any promises though.

Have a great weekend.

I have a picture hanging on my desk that is of my family and me and Jamie at my grandparent's house, it was taken the day I left so it has the date 10/04/03 on it. It is so odd to look at that date and then look at the calendar below it and think about having been here 9 months already. It is exciting to think of all the things I have done in that very short bit of time, sad to think that it will end very soon, happy to think that it will end very soon and awesome to think that wow, I did it. That picture will always mean so much to me. I am so glad Shirley took it. A picture is worth a thousand words... I won't bore you with writing all 1000 right now though!!!

Sue and Megann are on their way to the airport. Say a prayer for Megann though, she is leaving with a 101 fever, sore throat and sore ear. I am sure she will be fine but very miserable. (Sue too!!)

Starting to get excited about tomorrow!!!

Look at what I got!!!! How exciting! My shirt and number for the 10K, so now I have proof if any of you did not believe I would really do it. I guess I could still not go but then I wouldn't get the medal at the end! I am doing pretty good training for it. I have really kicked it into gear and gotten rid of the excuses. I ran about 11 miles last week, am on track to run about 12-13 this week and hope to get up to 15 or so next week. I am doing a run at the gym on Monday and Friday and run at lunch with people here at work on Tuesday and Thursday (that gives me the outside experience that I need too.) So my goal for the 10k is to run at least half of it. Yesterday I ran half (3 miles) and only stopped to walk once, so with 3.5 more weeks I hope I can do it! Wish me luck!

About the crazy concierge guy. I found out he has been fired but they gave him 4 weeks notice. Don't ask me why, they are crazy over here. I would think they would be very liable now if he really did something bad. Anyway he will be gone soon and I have new locks on my doors so...

This past weekend was great. Sue, Megann and I went to Brighton. Here we are out having an english tea.



And here are Sue and Megann on the beach.



The weekend was great except it was so windy that we didn't have to walk much. You could just stretch open your jacket and fly wherever you needed to go!!! Obviously just kidding but it sure seemed like it.
The main thing to see in Brighton is the Royal Pavilion. If you don't know what this is then just ask my grandpa as he can still describe it perfectly from his visit 30 years ago! (By the way grandpa, I picked up a tourist book about it for you so you can see if anythign has changed.) Another highlight was going on the pier and riding the bumper cars. I didn't want to originally but Sue and Megann talked me into it and we had sucha great time!!! I do worry about Megann's violent tendancies though and worry about her getting a drivers license some day. We stayed over Saturday night in a B&B which was a new experience for Sue and Megann. It was a nice place though and we were treated to a full english breakfast the next morning. But I must tell you about the dinner on Saturday night!! We went to this fantastci restaraunt that the guy at the B&B recommended. You all have heard me complain about the hideous english food here, well this definately was the exception. Megann went all out English and had Bangers and Mash and some Spotted Dick for dessert. Sue and I had grilled chicken but splurged on Banoffee pie and apple and raspberry crumble. Oh yummy!!!! All in all it was a great weekend. I think they both even liked riding on the wrong side of the road!!

Sue and Megann leave tomorrow. This is good because a major storm is rolling in right now as I type this. They are expecting 36 hours of rain and horrible winds. I am hoping they make it back from London all right as there are already trains out of service due to trees on tracks and stuff... Luckily there aren't many trees in Croydon!!!

Hope you all had a happy 4th and thought of us as we had to work here in England!!

Well what a weekend!!!! I came home on Friday night and Sue told me that "the man downstairs" had come to check the door. A little more detail and it turns out he let himself into the apartment without knocking and upon seeing Sue said "OH, I didn't expect anyone to be here." Yeah... So he then made up an excuse of someone told himt o check the balcony door so he went over and jiggled it and left. (The door was fine for those of you wondering...) I called the building management first thing Saturday morning as they were the only ones I could get ahold of, they confirmed that they did not ask himt o check anything and they were VERY upset but we agreed that I needed to check with my company that put me in the apartment to see if they told him anything. Well I couldnt get ahold of anyone til this morning but.. well long story short, NOONE told him to enter my apartment. I demanded he be fired and that I would not leave until they replaced my locks. So they sent out a locksmith and I finally got to work close to 2PM. I am still waiting for the phone call to confirm he has been fired.

I am trying VERY hard not to think about why he was in my place and how many times he had been there before....

OH WHAT FANTASTIC NEWS!!!! Mike (the guy that I travelled along with alot here) and his girlfriend Debora have gotten engaged!!!!



This is so exciting! A real international romance. They met here in the UK at Nestle, then she got transferred to Mexico. And to add more complications, she is from Brazil!! Well anyway, I am so very excited for them and can't wait to get more details.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It is a beautiful July morning!!! Too bad it won't stay that way. It is supposed to start raining this afternoon and rain for the next few days. Perfect for Sue and Megann's stay!! They got here ok, took a while but they are here.



We went to Il Ponte (where else?) for dinner then did the quick Croydon tour. This morning both of them said they had slept through the night so all is well.