I'm getting a little behind on my posts, but enjoying a relaxing morning in my own bed (back in VA) so thought I'd write a bit. I got home Wednesday night.
So... Last weekend, as I alluded in my last post, was planned for great relaxation. I spent most of Saturday morning writing, including completing another myspace blog/ devotional on rest. I'm expecting most of you that are reading this and would have an interest in that already have it but if you don't and you'd like it, let me know. I've been really convicted lately that my schedule is too tight and its having dramatic negative impacts on my health and my relationships. Time to make some changes. Oddly, its not even my travel to the UK that's the problem. Its me trying to do too much in DC and running ragged. I think its part of DC culture, a disease that we've all become inflicted with, yet we choose whether to get stuck in the rat wheel or jump off. Anyway... enough on that. Let me know if you want a copy.
Saturday afternoon we went to Westminster. Finally! got in. This was my third attempt in three years and each time until now it had been closed. We still arrived close to closing so didn't have but about an hour or so. It was still a brilliant time, as the building is just majestic. But I didn't remember how many people were buried there! It was cool and creepy all at the same time, ha, ha.
We did make our trip to Woolworths, which was more like a dollar store so not exactly what we were looking for. I've reconciled anything I want for a reasonable price I need to get in the US and carry over. Headed back to the flat, watched some Greys Anatomy on sling box and then napped and read some more. Saturday night we went out to this awesome bar on a boat on the Thames. Very fun! So beautiful, to be down on the Thames at night. Finished the evening at a swing dancing club in Piccidily Circus. We didn't dance, but it was a supper club atmosphere, so fun to just sit, listen to the music, and watch others.
Sunday was indeed marathon day. We watched for quite a while. Mile 24 was about three blocks from our flat. It was amazing to see the elites run through, especially the men. Unbelievable. And then we stayed to watch the "normal" people come through, including some fun folks in costumes as with any marathon. I give them all so much credit. I'd love to run more, but I just don't even see a marathon in my future.
I think I may have gotten a good pic of the elite men on my camera phone, but am having no luck getting it off! At mile 24, six guys were still neck and neck at an amazing clip. Two more were not far behind. We hear it went completely down to the wire, with some interesting mishaps at various points in the race making the conclusion unsure. They're calling it one of the best men's races in history. Martin Lel, a 28 year old Kenyan, would be the final winner. If you love marathons (which I'm starting to!) and want to read more, check out: http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/
Sunday night, back to Holy Trinity Brompton. Best service yet! AMAZING worship. I just can't get over this place. I'm actually bummed that I'll miss it this weekend and next b/c of Paris and then the next too b/c I'll be again back in the US. The sermon was on work life balance. Interesting given what I've been learning on rest. AND it turns out, I later went to listen to Lon's sermon from Sunday and it also happened to be on Sabbath. Trying to tell me something, God?
Monday it was hard to go back to work, but it was busy so went quickly. The highlight of my day though was a call from Evelyn, my neice. Kate and I got webcams a few weeks ago so Evelyn and I can talk (and see each other) over Skype. Its soooo cool. She's awesome and there's nothing more precious than a two year old telling you they love you and blowing you kisses through the webcam. : )
Tuesday - More work, lots of work, and packing.
Wednesday I flew home and excitedly met up with Mary, Jon, Matt, Nathan and Mike for dinner. A tremendous welcome home. They're such a blessing to me.
So the rest of the week I worked in Tyson's training my trainee, seeing some people and running errands at night, and today will be the same. Mom and Dad come this evening so we may have some DC adventures tomorrow. Back to the UK Tuesday night.
Have a great weekend all!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Week of April 16th, in Review
This week has been much more work intense. All the big bosses are back in the office. David is back too and Kevin is home. And lots going on.
We've identified someone to assume my position for my Tyson's-based Healthcare Bus Ops job, so training began with that. April (my trainee) is fantastic, but with any teaching, it begins taking much more time to teach them simply do. She's picking up things quickly though, so transition should be fairly fast.
Also received the next RFP from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which needed immediate attention. If we win this work, it could mean long term work for me in DC, with only periodic trips to Chicago. That would start in Sept/Oct and be sensational. The UK project has expressed interest in keeping me long term (up to a year or more), but I have declined. I will likely be here through the summer, but will absolutely make no commitments past Labor Day at this time. I think we'll be able to figgit a bit with my travel schedule, so staying through August may be manageable. David's keeping pretty flexible, and he's currently the holder of our team's travel calendar. So if I can do this until then and then begin with the BSCSA work, it would be perfect. Prayers for God's will and perfect timing!
I've realized in all this that I need to really take even more advantage of living in Europe. On many a weekend (like this weekend) I just want to stay home and veg. Maybe see a bit in London, but time in the flat or just sitting in a park sounds wonderful after a hectic week. I can now understand the feelings of those on other more intense workstreams, my coworkers who've done so little since arriving in Nov. But talking to others, there are so many places in Europe I long to see, that I must take advantage. Only issue is, I'm a bit over traveling alone. I pray for travel companions to fun places, either BearingPoint teammates, Steph and Jason (my Vienna bride and groom), or some of you from home. Thinking of seeing Jess in Brussels once she settles in. Norway is supposed to be wonderful. Madrid, Aix au Provence (near Nice) and some other French areas, areas down in Greece, the Mediterranean... so much. And Labor Day seems very, very close if I'm only staying that long. Clearly the difference in cost and time for a hop from the UK to anywhere here in Europe, or Africa, or anywhere for that matter, is much more reasonable than from the US. Darn ocean!
This week though was not without fun unto itself. Sally (my flatmate) and I made it a regular routine to walk each night. We start out at our flat, cross Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern, down to the Aquarium, across the bridge to Parliament and Big Ben, and home, coming right along the Thames through Embankment. Is a great route. About 4.5 miles. The view is amazing. Funny though, one night I had a late concall and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be late. Its common b/c of the time difference that we'll take a break around dinner and then come back to work at the flat until 10 or 11 our time, which is 5 or 6 your's. Anyway, I'd forgotten a watch and was worried of the time. All the while, we're walking towards Big Ben. DUH! Pretty funny moment when I realized that. By later in the week we were pretty humbled in our walks. The London Marathon is this weekend and the runners have begun to decend. We were finding ourselves getting lapped on a 4.5 mi trek! Oh my.
Friday I had a meeting in Leeds, about 2.5 hours north. Happens to be about 20 minutes from Jason, Steph's new husband (again, my Vienna wedding - he's not moving to Austria until June b/c of his UK job). Jason came to meet me and we had a very fun dinner, walked around a bit, and then stopped by the "Slug and Lettuce" for a drink before taking me back to the train. Slug and Lettuce is a big pub chain. I'd heard lots of it. Jason couldn't reconcile wanting to eat or drink in any place with 'slug' in the title, ha, ha. But it was awesome. Good atmosphere, music... I can see why so many like it. Must now visit the one in London. Oh! We walked by La Tasca. Jason said he'd always wanted to go there. I said I've been there many times. There's one in Arlington! Evidently, its an international chain. Never knew.
And then here I am at home, Saturday morning. They continue to work on the hotel next door, waking us up with jack hammers and nail hammers at 8AM. They suck! So much for sleeping in. Oh well, just laying here writing is nice too. Better though get to my other blogs. Its been a while. So today is some shopping in the market, maybe a trip to Woolworths (Target), then just time to relax. Park maybe? (If you're getting the impression I'm addicted to St. James Park... YOU'RE RIGHT! : ) ) Tomorrow is more relaxation, going out to cheer on the marathon and maybe a pub stop, and then church. Cheers all! Have a great one!
We've identified someone to assume my position for my Tyson's-based Healthcare Bus Ops job, so training began with that. April (my trainee) is fantastic, but with any teaching, it begins taking much more time to teach them simply do. She's picking up things quickly though, so transition should be fairly fast.
Also received the next RFP from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which needed immediate attention. If we win this work, it could mean long term work for me in DC, with only periodic trips to Chicago. That would start in Sept/Oct and be sensational. The UK project has expressed interest in keeping me long term (up to a year or more), but I have declined. I will likely be here through the summer, but will absolutely make no commitments past Labor Day at this time. I think we'll be able to figgit a bit with my travel schedule, so staying through August may be manageable. David's keeping pretty flexible, and he's currently the holder of our team's travel calendar. So if I can do this until then and then begin with the BSCSA work, it would be perfect. Prayers for God's will and perfect timing!
I've realized in all this that I need to really take even more advantage of living in Europe. On many a weekend (like this weekend) I just want to stay home and veg. Maybe see a bit in London, but time in the flat or just sitting in a park sounds wonderful after a hectic week. I can now understand the feelings of those on other more intense workstreams, my coworkers who've done so little since arriving in Nov. But talking to others, there are so many places in Europe I long to see, that I must take advantage. Only issue is, I'm a bit over traveling alone. I pray for travel companions to fun places, either BearingPoint teammates, Steph and Jason (my Vienna bride and groom), or some of you from home. Thinking of seeing Jess in Brussels once she settles in. Norway is supposed to be wonderful. Madrid, Aix au Provence (near Nice) and some other French areas, areas down in Greece, the Mediterranean... so much. And Labor Day seems very, very close if I'm only staying that long. Clearly the difference in cost and time for a hop from the UK to anywhere here in Europe, or Africa, or anywhere for that matter, is much more reasonable than from the US. Darn ocean!
This week though was not without fun unto itself. Sally (my flatmate) and I made it a regular routine to walk each night. We start out at our flat, cross Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern, down to the Aquarium, across the bridge to Parliament and Big Ben, and home, coming right along the Thames through Embankment. Is a great route. About 4.5 miles. The view is amazing. Funny though, one night I had a late concall and wanted to make sure I wouldn't be late. Its common b/c of the time difference that we'll take a break around dinner and then come back to work at the flat until 10 or 11 our time, which is 5 or 6 your's. Anyway, I'd forgotten a watch and was worried of the time. All the while, we're walking towards Big Ben. DUH! Pretty funny moment when I realized that. By later in the week we were pretty humbled in our walks. The London Marathon is this weekend and the runners have begun to decend. We were finding ourselves getting lapped on a 4.5 mi trek! Oh my.
Friday I had a meeting in Leeds, about 2.5 hours north. Happens to be about 20 minutes from Jason, Steph's new husband (again, my Vienna wedding - he's not moving to Austria until June b/c of his UK job). Jason came to meet me and we had a very fun dinner, walked around a bit, and then stopped by the "Slug and Lettuce" for a drink before taking me back to the train. Slug and Lettuce is a big pub chain. I'd heard lots of it. Jason couldn't reconcile wanting to eat or drink in any place with 'slug' in the title, ha, ha. But it was awesome. Good atmosphere, music... I can see why so many like it. Must now visit the one in London. Oh! We walked by La Tasca. Jason said he'd always wanted to go there. I said I've been there many times. There's one in Arlington! Evidently, its an international chain. Never knew.
And then here I am at home, Saturday morning. They continue to work on the hotel next door, waking us up with jack hammers and nail hammers at 8AM. They suck! So much for sleeping in. Oh well, just laying here writing is nice too. Better though get to my other blogs. Its been a while. So today is some shopping in the market, maybe a trip to Woolworths (Target), then just time to relax. Park maybe? (If you're getting the impression I'm addicted to St. James Park... YOU'RE RIGHT! : ) ) Tomorrow is more relaxation, going out to cheer on the marathon and maybe a pub stop, and then church. Cheers all! Have a great one!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Weekend in Kent
With the amazing weather we've been having here, it only seemed appropriate to head out to the country for weekend. Works out perfectly b/c my frien Fiona from DC is in town! She's on holiday visiting her parents here for the month. So I slept in Saturday morn and then headed out the Kent to meet up with her and her family.
We spent the afternoon at Dover Castle. Very nice. I feel like I've seen a lot of castles so they're losing their appeal, but they're still cool and this one is especially neat b/c of its location. It overlooks the British Channel and on a clear day you can see France. The history of the castle is immense. From Henry the XIII to Winston Churchill.
Under the castle and through the gorgeous white cliffs is a whole network of tunnels. These were used during WWII. We went on a tour and the tid bits we learned were pretty cool.
From there, it was some ice cream and then back to Fiona's parents to relax. That's the one nice thing about the country; you can really enjoy just taking it all in. We were productive though, ha, ha, "translating" some recipes Fiona wants to share with the rest of the crew in the US. You'd be amazing how different something as simple as a recipe and weights and measures can be from country to country.
Sunday morning we spent on a wonderful hike with the dogs. I love their dogs. Great animals and a lot of fun. Took some pictures of the English Bluebells (flowers) and some other neat vegatation and country themes.
For lunch, we went to a pub in the village that Fiona's parents will soon be moving to. It was a traditional English pub with at traditional English Sunday feast. I had roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. I never knew what that was before, but actually its just an interesting type of breadroll, made of a batter similar to pancake mix, in a cup shape, meant for capturing gravy. Its like a bready condiment.
From there, it was a brief driving tour of Dover University (where Fiona's dad works) before racing off to the train station to head home. The weekends always go by immensely too fast. Fiona's parents are simply delightful and I was so thankful to have had the time with them, albeit short. Fiona jokes and warns that's hardly the last time I'll see them. In fact, its been made clear that I now know I have surrogate parents here in the UK. That's actually kinda neat; never know in a far away land when you'll neat a place to get away and feel that parental care.
Sunday night of course was church. I was running extremely late getting back to the city so I had to bring my suitcase with me (no time to go home first). Though its small, it was a bit of a workout lugging it all through London! Holy Trinity Brompton is such a neat place. It just refreshes me. There's no doubt the spirit of God is in that place.
I arrived home around 9 or so, in time to grab some grub, catch up with my roomie, and then attempt to sleep. Unfortunately, in spite of my fatigue, still struggling with sleep.
It was simply delightful weekend. Seems like a good pattern. One weekend out of town, the next in town. Found out Sunday that Lori Smith will be venturing to the UK for a visit. I'm so excited! My first visitor! We're planning on here being ehre three days and then we're going to go to Paris for 2 or 3 days. Who's next?
We spent the afternoon at Dover Castle. Very nice. I feel like I've seen a lot of castles so they're losing their appeal, but they're still cool and this one is especially neat b/c of its location. It overlooks the British Channel and on a clear day you can see France. The history of the castle is immense. From Henry the XIII to Winston Churchill.
Under the castle and through the gorgeous white cliffs is a whole network of tunnels. These were used during WWII. We went on a tour and the tid bits we learned were pretty cool.
From there, it was some ice cream and then back to Fiona's parents to relax. That's the one nice thing about the country; you can really enjoy just taking it all in. We were productive though, ha, ha, "translating" some recipes Fiona wants to share with the rest of the crew in the US. You'd be amazing how different something as simple as a recipe and weights and measures can be from country to country.
Sunday morning we spent on a wonderful hike with the dogs. I love their dogs. Great animals and a lot of fun. Took some pictures of the English Bluebells (flowers) and some other neat vegatation and country themes.
For lunch, we went to a pub in the village that Fiona's parents will soon be moving to. It was a traditional English pub with at traditional English Sunday feast. I had roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. I never knew what that was before, but actually its just an interesting type of breadroll, made of a batter similar to pancake mix, in a cup shape, meant for capturing gravy. Its like a bready condiment.
From there, it was a brief driving tour of Dover University (where Fiona's dad works) before racing off to the train station to head home. The weekends always go by immensely too fast. Fiona's parents are simply delightful and I was so thankful to have had the time with them, albeit short. Fiona jokes and warns that's hardly the last time I'll see them. In fact, its been made clear that I now know I have surrogate parents here in the UK. That's actually kinda neat; never know in a far away land when you'll neat a place to get away and feel that parental care.
Sunday night of course was church. I was running extremely late getting back to the city so I had to bring my suitcase with me (no time to go home first). Though its small, it was a bit of a workout lugging it all through London! Holy Trinity Brompton is such a neat place. It just refreshes me. There's no doubt the spirit of God is in that place.
I arrived home around 9 or so, in time to grab some grub, catch up with my roomie, and then attempt to sleep. Unfortunately, in spite of my fatigue, still struggling with sleep.
It was simply delightful weekend. Seems like a good pattern. One weekend out of town, the next in town. Found out Sunday that Lori Smith will be venturing to the UK for a visit. I'm so excited! My first visitor! We're planning on here being ehre three days and then we're going to go to Paris for 2 or 3 days. Who's next?
Monday, April 16, 2007
Week of April 9th, in Review
This past week was surprisingly spectacular!
Monday, April 9th
Got in Monday night, dropped off my luggage, and went for a walk to just enjoy the weather. Its beautifully warm here, still hasn't rained (am I really in London?), and flowers are blooming everywhere. Yes, it was 11PM, but still gorgeous. Grabbed a bit of dinner at the local neighborhood mart and back to the flat. Got settled and off to bed.
Tuesday, April 10th
When in London, there are four of us on our little work team: me, Kevin, David and Sandip. There are two other simultaneous projects going on of US BearingPoint (BE) folks, including my flatmate, Sally, for a total of about 20 of us. Kevin's about my age and a lot of fun, so if you haven't heard of him already, you will, b/c he's become my partner in crime inside work and out. David is a great guy, but a few years older and more quiet. He's married to one of our "bosses" also here, so though we enjoy him in the office, we don't see him much outside. Sandip is also awesome. He's a local (well, now... he's an Indian transplant) and though historically hasn't played much with us, we saw a lot of him this week. All three are doctors, so I'm the lone non-doc. Our big boss, Tuck, jokes that I'm here to keep the docs on track so they don't spend all day holding "faculty meetings" ha, ha. They're all brilliant, so I'm a good addition as project mgr to keep us all focused and ensure all our great ideas actually make it to paper.
Since Kevin was traveling on Monday, David was home in the US and Sandip on holiday in India, I decided to "work from home" on Tuesday, which made for a nice transition. Took my time getting up, got groceries, nice leasurely day. Not to much to report. Just adjusting. I'd hoped to attend a "Pastorate" (like a small group) for church that night, but seems they're on a break. Maybe in a few weeks. So I just spent the night at home, lounging, adjusting, and watching Scrubs and the 70's Show. That appears to be the staple here when bored at night, b/c one or the other is ALWAYS on. Never watched them in the States, but funny.
Wednesday, April 11th
Kevin arrived Tuesday night, so we had to work more "traditionally" on Wed... and yet, we so totally didn't. We started out about 9 or 10AM and took our laptops to St. James Park. St. James Park is an absolutely delightful park, between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. Its one of my most favorite places in all of London (thus why we ended up there). We rented two little lawn chairs and set up shop, overlooking a beautiful garden with a pond behind it. We actually got quite a bit done. The fresh air allowed our creative juices to run and the ability to process aloud was quite helpful for what we were working on. The BearingPoint office is all "hotdesks" which means its a giant cube farm, first come, first serve. Unless you get there early, its hard to get two desks together and if you chat too much, you get dirty looks for being disruptive. Offices and conference rooms are extremely hard to come by. So... the park.
About mid-day we saw this odd commotion. I giant white pelican was trotting down the footpath and drawing lots of attention. We was a magnificient creature; I've never seen anything like him (he was HUGE!). He was also quite tame, allowing us to come over, pet him, take pictures and the like. We named him Oscar. I'll have to make pics and the video we took available as soon as we can get it off Kevin's camera.
We stayed in the park until about 3 and then returned to my flat to work some more and take a few conference calls. Went into the office about 5 for a bit and by 7 were out the door and out to dinner w/ Sandip, who'd also returned late Tuesday. Went to Cafe Rouge, a fun little French cafe about a block from my flat. It was delightful. Went home, got in my PJs... and about 10PM got a phone call. Kevin and some guys from the other BE projects had all gone out and wanted me to come out. I resisted... for all of two seconds... and then joined them at this fun wine bar right behind the cathedral. Of course I had to stop and stare at the St. Paul's on the way b/c the only thing more magnifient than it during the day is how it looks at night. We had a grand time, though I was on the only girl, so you can only imagine the razzing I took. I think I secretly enjoyed all the attention. :)
Thursday, we thought we'd go into the office, but decided.... nah.... and went to Regents Park instead. This park is up be where I used to live after college. We had an equally wonderful day. Kevin kept saying how London is growing on him. He HATES being here, but he's also done nothing to enjoy it and has had no one to play with. I told him to just stick with me. ; ) We tok some time to walk all around the park. This park is larger than St. James, kinda like Central Park. A lot of different areas with a variety of environments to see. At one point we actually thought we found a wireless internet signal (which would have allowed us to stay all day). It was coming up on our computers as "the cloud". We tried to follow "the cloud" for a time to pick up a strong signal but failed. It was pretty amusing though walking around the grand park on a gorgeous day, in business suits with a laptop open like a GPS. We gave up and had lunch at an outdoor cafe overlooking another brilliant garden. Did I mention the flowers are EVERYWHERE! Its so cool. In fact, I'm making it a habit of always having fresh flowers in our flat b/c they're so easy to come by. And after having to leave an amazing bouquet at home after Easter, I feel I just must make up for it... over and over again! : )
Later in the afternoon we went to the client's office for some meetings, which were painful (long story), but then back to BearingPoint's office and got a lot done before again hitting the town. Set out as just me and Kevin but ended up being about 9 of us for a wonderful Indian dinner and then out at a pub until midnight and then back to a coworkers flat until 2AM. Its not taboo here to talk about politics and religion. In fact, I'm sensing its required of any good night out at the pub. Turns out Jovan, one of the UK team members on one of our projects, is also a solid Christian, so that conversation got interesting. Ended up him and I completely defending our faith againt the others. Its was interesting and I think we did well. Pray for hearts to open. I was mostly out with the UK crew which may be tougher to reach, but pray both for the UK and US part of the team, that Jovan and I can be a witness and have more opportunities. The political conversation was pretty boring. As the only American (Kevin and Ted were had both fallen asleep) I think they were trying to push my buttons and show arrogance. I didn't fall prey. I know I'm ignorant, most American's are ignorant, when it comes to the truth about politics. The best we can do is be humble enough to admit it. Gave him NOTHING to work with, ha, ha.
Kevin left today, Sandip was in other meetings, and David is still at home, so I could plan my day for myself. I decided to sleep in and then go to the gym. Good thing! Because later in the day everything hit the fan with my "US job" and ended up working until late in the evening. It was fine though. I had enjoyed the week and tomorrow would be off to the country, so it was a good night to head back to the flat and just go to bed. Or I should say at least try. I guess those are some other prayer requests I have. It may be partially due to my late nights and late mornings, but I have yet to adjust this trip to the time difference. Even if I don't go out, I struggle to get to sleep, often up until 2 or 3 with no effort. I've been able to go to sleep naturally (without Ambien) all week. In fact, I tried to switch to Tylenol PM and its simply not strong enough. I'm also having some allergy issues, which is also giving me some tummy problems, so if I fall asleep, I have trouble staying asleep. Its tough b/c I'm tired a lot and living on coffee. Nice, huh? Coffee to wake up; Ambien to go to sleep. Not a trend I care to continue.
Well... that's all for this posting. I'll tell you about my grand weekend in Kent soon. Love and miss you all!
Monday, April 9th
Got in Monday night, dropped off my luggage, and went for a walk to just enjoy the weather. Its beautifully warm here, still hasn't rained (am I really in London?), and flowers are blooming everywhere. Yes, it was 11PM, but still gorgeous. Grabbed a bit of dinner at the local neighborhood mart and back to the flat. Got settled and off to bed.
Tuesday, April 10th
When in London, there are four of us on our little work team: me, Kevin, David and Sandip. There are two other simultaneous projects going on of US BearingPoint (BE) folks, including my flatmate, Sally, for a total of about 20 of us. Kevin's about my age and a lot of fun, so if you haven't heard of him already, you will, b/c he's become my partner in crime inside work and out. David is a great guy, but a few years older and more quiet. He's married to one of our "bosses" also here, so though we enjoy him in the office, we don't see him much outside. Sandip is also awesome. He's a local (well, now... he's an Indian transplant) and though historically hasn't played much with us, we saw a lot of him this week. All three are doctors, so I'm the lone non-doc. Our big boss, Tuck, jokes that I'm here to keep the docs on track so they don't spend all day holding "faculty meetings" ha, ha. They're all brilliant, so I'm a good addition as project mgr to keep us all focused and ensure all our great ideas actually make it to paper.
Since Kevin was traveling on Monday, David was home in the US and Sandip on holiday in India, I decided to "work from home" on Tuesday, which made for a nice transition. Took my time getting up, got groceries, nice leasurely day. Not to much to report. Just adjusting. I'd hoped to attend a "Pastorate" (like a small group) for church that night, but seems they're on a break. Maybe in a few weeks. So I just spent the night at home, lounging, adjusting, and watching Scrubs and the 70's Show. That appears to be the staple here when bored at night, b/c one or the other is ALWAYS on. Never watched them in the States, but funny.
Wednesday, April 11th
Kevin arrived Tuesday night, so we had to work more "traditionally" on Wed... and yet, we so totally didn't. We started out about 9 or 10AM and took our laptops to St. James Park. St. James Park is an absolutely delightful park, between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. Its one of my most favorite places in all of London (thus why we ended up there). We rented two little lawn chairs and set up shop, overlooking a beautiful garden with a pond behind it. We actually got quite a bit done. The fresh air allowed our creative juices to run and the ability to process aloud was quite helpful for what we were working on. The BearingPoint office is all "hotdesks" which means its a giant cube farm, first come, first serve. Unless you get there early, its hard to get two desks together and if you chat too much, you get dirty looks for being disruptive. Offices and conference rooms are extremely hard to come by. So... the park.
About mid-day we saw this odd commotion. I giant white pelican was trotting down the footpath and drawing lots of attention. We was a magnificient creature; I've never seen anything like him (he was HUGE!). He was also quite tame, allowing us to come over, pet him, take pictures and the like. We named him Oscar. I'll have to make pics and the video we took available as soon as we can get it off Kevin's camera.
We stayed in the park until about 3 and then returned to my flat to work some more and take a few conference calls. Went into the office about 5 for a bit and by 7 were out the door and out to dinner w/ Sandip, who'd also returned late Tuesday. Went to Cafe Rouge, a fun little French cafe about a block from my flat. It was delightful. Went home, got in my PJs... and about 10PM got a phone call. Kevin and some guys from the other BE projects had all gone out and wanted me to come out. I resisted... for all of two seconds... and then joined them at this fun wine bar right behind the cathedral. Of course I had to stop and stare at the St. Paul's on the way b/c the only thing more magnifient than it during the day is how it looks at night. We had a grand time, though I was on the only girl, so you can only imagine the razzing I took. I think I secretly enjoyed all the attention. :)
Thursday, we thought we'd go into the office, but decided.... nah.... and went to Regents Park instead. This park is up be where I used to live after college. We had an equally wonderful day. Kevin kept saying how London is growing on him. He HATES being here, but he's also done nothing to enjoy it and has had no one to play with. I told him to just stick with me. ; ) We tok some time to walk all around the park. This park is larger than St. James, kinda like Central Park. A lot of different areas with a variety of environments to see. At one point we actually thought we found a wireless internet signal (which would have allowed us to stay all day). It was coming up on our computers as "the cloud". We tried to follow "the cloud" for a time to pick up a strong signal but failed. It was pretty amusing though walking around the grand park on a gorgeous day, in business suits with a laptop open like a GPS. We gave up and had lunch at an outdoor cafe overlooking another brilliant garden. Did I mention the flowers are EVERYWHERE! Its so cool. In fact, I'm making it a habit of always having fresh flowers in our flat b/c they're so easy to come by. And after having to leave an amazing bouquet at home after Easter, I feel I just must make up for it... over and over again! : )
Later in the afternoon we went to the client's office for some meetings, which were painful (long story), but then back to BearingPoint's office and got a lot done before again hitting the town. Set out as just me and Kevin but ended up being about 9 of us for a wonderful Indian dinner and then out at a pub until midnight and then back to a coworkers flat until 2AM. Its not taboo here to talk about politics and religion. In fact, I'm sensing its required of any good night out at the pub. Turns out Jovan, one of the UK team members on one of our projects, is also a solid Christian, so that conversation got interesting. Ended up him and I completely defending our faith againt the others. Its was interesting and I think we did well. Pray for hearts to open. I was mostly out with the UK crew which may be tougher to reach, but pray both for the UK and US part of the team, that Jovan and I can be a witness and have more opportunities. The political conversation was pretty boring. As the only American (Kevin and Ted were had both fallen asleep) I think they were trying to push my buttons and show arrogance. I didn't fall prey. I know I'm ignorant, most American's are ignorant, when it comes to the truth about politics. The best we can do is be humble enough to admit it. Gave him NOTHING to work with, ha, ha.
Kevin left today, Sandip was in other meetings, and David is still at home, so I could plan my day for myself. I decided to sleep in and then go to the gym. Good thing! Because later in the day everything hit the fan with my "US job" and ended up working until late in the evening. It was fine though. I had enjoyed the week and tomorrow would be off to the country, so it was a good night to head back to the flat and just go to bed. Or I should say at least try. I guess those are some other prayer requests I have. It may be partially due to my late nights and late mornings, but I have yet to adjust this trip to the time difference. Even if I don't go out, I struggle to get to sleep, often up until 2 or 3 with no effort. I've been able to go to sleep naturally (without Ambien) all week. In fact, I tried to switch to Tylenol PM and its simply not strong enough. I'm also having some allergy issues, which is also giving me some tummy problems, so if I fall asleep, I have trouble staying asleep. Its tough b/c I'm tired a lot and living on coffee. Nice, huh? Coffee to wake up; Ambien to go to sleep. Not a trend I care to continue.
Well... that's all for this posting. I'll tell you about my grand weekend in Kent soon. Love and miss you all!
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