Quiet around here...

It's a little quiet around here since Melissa. The time really flew by but when I think of all the things we did in that one month I'm amazed. It seems like going to Wimbledon was forever ago instead of just one month! It was great having her here and I especially loved that she could meet my friends here and we could all hang out several times. Here are some picture highlights of her time here. I love you Meliss!

It's about time

This is what I like to see...

2 for 2

If you want to see famous people go to Shakespeare's Globe. I am 2 for 2 seeing famous people there. The first time I went, to see Othello, the main character was in the movie Notting Hill. You might expect to see someone famous in the play but Friday night we saw Love's Labour's Lost and were sitting 3 people over from Noah Emmerich.

Ok, so it's not the most recognizable name. I didn't notice him until Melissa pointed it out at intermission. At that point we couldn't figure out what he had been in. Then I heard a girl behind me whispering that he looked exactly like the actor from The Truman Show. Ta-da! I don't know if we would have figured it out otherwise but he's been in a few other things including Frequency.

You could also go to The Globe to see the shows, they're amazing too!

WANTED: A new obsession

When Alias went off air I didn't know how I would ever replace it. It's no secret I was obsessed and maybe sometimes "needed to get a grip on reality." Regardless, I didn't know how I would fill the void left by the Syd and Vaughn.

Thanks to Melissa and her DVDs of The Office I may have found my new obsession. I know I'm a little late getting on the train but I'm on it now. I watched the first season but never got hooked. Melissa brought Season 2 when she came to visit and we've been watching them non-stop. Season 2 is much funnier than the first and I think watching TV shows on DVD lends itself much more to addiction (that's how I originally got sucked into 24).

I don't know how I am going to wait for September when Season 3 comes out on DVD! We've been watching a few of them on iTunes but I don't want to buy the whole season because I want to be able to watch them on my TV. I'm thinking maybe I can re-watch Season 2 until Season 3 comes out, then I have to watch Season 3 really fast before the new season comes on.

I've added some Office blogs to my RSS feed...but you know it's bad when you start having dreams with the TV show characters in them.

Swiss Family Adventures

You can check out the pictures from our Switzerland trip here. It was quite a whirlwind visiting Lausanne, Gruyeres, Zermatt, Luzern and Zurich in one week - not to mention the side trips in some locations. There were lots of beautiful mountains and lakes....and lots of train rides.

I had 2 favorites from the trip (this is for you, Dad). First I really enjoyed Zermatt. The town itself is kind of like a Swiss version of Gatlinburg but not quite as tacky. However, unlike Gatlinburg, it is nestled in the Alps and has beautiful views of mountains, glaciers the Matterhorn. I also really liked Luzern. I like it when cities are on a river and it doesn't hurt when they have lots of watch shops and are surrounded by mountains!

when it all began

I'm still here...I haven't been washed away in the floods but I have been in Switzerland with my family! It was a great trip and pictures will be posted shortly.

While we were having dinner one night (or maybe it was on one of our many train rides) we were reminiscing about our trip to Disney World when I was a kid. I was fairly young so I don't remember a lot, but one of my memories is of dropping my sunglasses into the water of the "It's a small world" ride. My mom quickly pointed out that I've been trying to replace those sunglasses ever since.

As my family is well aware, every time we are on a trip, particularly at a beach, I am always on the lookout for a new pair of sunglasses. Now I have a legitimate, psychological explanation! Apparently my subconscious has been trying to replace the sunglasses I lost at Disney World. Now I feel validated and that it's somehow okay to keep looking.

My parents also reminded me that on the same trip I had wanted to buy a Mickey Mouse watch but didn't have quite enough money. That could also explain why I'm always looking at new watches. (So you can imagine my joy at browsing and buying a watch in the world's watch capital!)

So children, the moral of the story is we learn young and those [traumatic] experiences impact us for the rest of our lives!

Beckham then and now...

Another article on Beckham. This one is funny...I particularly like the section "Most likely to hear people say" which takes the mickey out of his lovely East London accent.

Today's big news

Today's biggest news story? The Beckhams arrive in LA. So far ticket sales look good and they even had the jerseys redesigned for his arrival. Looks like they're not going to leave the spotlight anytime soon. I can't even get away from them if I go home!But my biggest question is what kind of sponsor is Herbalife??

"Are you alright there?"

This is a phrase I've been noticing more and more here in the UK. It is usually used when I'm used to hearing, "Can I help you?" or, "How are you?" I find it somewhat annoying. What kind of a question is that? It just doesn't work for those situations. The other day I walked up to the fitting rooms in a shop and the guy said, "Are you alright there?" What if I said, "No, actually I've had a really bad day. I lost my job, my dog died and I got dumped?" All he really needed to ask was "How many items do you have?" Instead he used a phrase that didn't really fit the situation.

"Can I help you?" just sounds much nicer to the ears.

Venus wins it!

Watching tennis in person definitely got me into the game. I loved watching Venus play Maria Sharapova so I'm glad she won today! Plus she's cool because she carries a gold purse along with her gym bag ...

What women talk about

This is a funny article stating women use an average of 546 more words per day. It then goes on to speculate on what those additional words are. At the end you can make a suggestion about other words that women use that men generally don't. My suggestion was "Oh, I like your..." as in a compliment usually referring to another woman's hair, clothing or shoes.

French London

The Tour de France begins this weekend...in London. I don't quite get it. How does the Tour de France start in England? Oh well, what do I know? We might catch some of the action on Saturday.

The Championships

Melissa arrived last night (woo hoo!) so this morning we got up early to queue for tickets to Wimbledon. We arrived around 7 which is a little late compared to when people line up to get to get the good tickets. We were just expecting to get grounds passes which have access to the smaller courts but because it's been such bad weather we were close enough to the front of the line to score Centre Court tickets! We saw Andy Roddick beat Paul-Henri Mathieu and Venus Williams beat Maria Sharapova. They were great matches! We also saw the first part of Serena Williams vs. Justine Henin. We had pretty good luck with the weather compared to the rest of the tournament, with only one rain delay and periods of sun throughout. I've never followed tennis much before but it is definitely fun to watch in person. I will probably pay more attention from now on!

I took lots of pictures so you can check those out here. Plus Mom thinks she spotted us on TV!

a promise

This is probably the brightest rainbow I've ever seen ...I'm hoping this means it's finally going to stop raining but I don't think it's the case. It's been raining for at least 2 weeks and shows no signs of letting up on the 5 day forecast. Attendance at Wimbledon is pretty low due to the rain. I am planning to go tomorrow so pray for sun!!

if you can't beat 'em...

My friend's Melody and Eric all of the sudden became super-sporty after I left and have since both run marathons...I used to wonder what happened to them, but now I may be turning into them. My friend and I needed a new goal to help us get back into exercising and her trainer at the gym said we really should start running...so we did. Sunday we ran our first 5k, the British Women's London 5k. It was a cool location to be running along the Thames, by Big Ben and down Whitehall. I know it's not that long in terms of races but it was a start. I don't think I'll be running any marathons but I am starting to get into it. Tonight I even became one of those crazy people I make fun of running in the rain. Next we'll try a 10k.

Me, Patricia and Sue-Ellen, my running partners, before the race.Me approaching the finish line!