Suttons Go To London

That’s right, I FINALLY got Comet to fetch a tennis ball in the pool. That was a MAJOR accomplishment.

Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, and you all know my secret 4th of July shame, I figured I could use this board to advertise my side business! Let me know if you need to hire an Uncle Sam on stilts for your next event! I am available on weekends and major holidays! Now put yo hands up!

After finally finding a place to live this week, I settled in to….. find a place to live. Michael and I looked at the living space we are allotting ourselves with my chosen flat, and we think it might just be too small. Especially since we plan to have LOTS of guests (Right???). So set out to find something better. It is an arduous process because you never know what you’re going to find on the other end, and it involves a lot of walking, and frequently, you get a call a few minutes before you arrive saying the flat has been let to someone else. I found a few more good ones and I am going to try to visit them today

The good news is I found the Camden Markets yesterday, too, which were really fun. Tons of clothing stalls, food shops, toy stores and more. I also found Whole Foods, which is called Fresh and Wild here (my favorite grocery store). They has tons of veggie meats and soy products. I didn’t buy anything b/c I still had a good 3-4 hours of walking in front of me, but it is good to know it is there. I will probably head back today. The prices weren’t too bad, so that will keep Michael happy!!!! I had vegetarian Peruvian food for lunch, topped off by a cinnamon crepe. It was really hard to choose what to eat because everything looked so good. That is probably the #1 reason I want Michael to come out, so we can split everything and eat more food!

It was yet another perfect day in London - 75 degrees, sunny, light breeze…. I don’t know what all this rain is that everyone keeps talking about - I have only seen about 2-3 days in the month. I’m SURE it will be like this forever! I wandered back over to Regent Park, where I had spent a lovely afternoon 2 weeks ago. This time I found the boating lake - you can rent out a little rowboat and row around the lake (all for just 20GBP - $40 USD) for an hour. As I walked along the bank of the river, I saw swans, geese, terns, falcons, ducks, and herons. There were some people feeding the geese, and they (the geese) were freaking out… hissing and craning their necks around in the strangest way. I think maybe there were young geese nearby because you would think if they were getting food they would be happy…

On a happy note - Michael has his visa in hand, and will join me one week from yesterday. He is giving up his traditional 4th of July extravaganza, where, as you know, he dons his stilts and Uncle Sam outfit and parades around the neighborhood, all to to be with me. I can’t wait!

Friday, July 4th my flight departs from Phoenix, AZ. Jen has already been over in London for a month or so, but now it is starting to materialize for me. My Visa came on Friday, and now I am spending the weekend deciding what goes, what stays and what gets put in boxes for possible shipping at a future date. It is a moment where I reflect and wonder (albeit prematurely) how long it will be once I leave before I am back. What terms will I be back on, and how, when every little decision we make in life can have such an affect on the outcome, will a decision this large shape the near future? I’m being a little philosophical, but I feel like we have made a decision that both very few people get the opportunity to do so, and even those who could would shy away from. Jen has been extremely brave to venture into a land where she quite literally knows no one, and soon when I am there with her, we will continue to explore all the places we’ve never been. For me all of this has been prequel and back story. Now, as we finish setting the stage, all we can do is wait for the curtain to go up.

I was at work this morning and Hannah came by with a form and told me they’re doing drinks later…. and asked what I want.  The list included white wine, red wine, lager, coke or orange juice (the tick marks were, of course, almost exclusively in the top three categories). So I asked why we got drinks, and the answer is they give us alcohol now and again, usually around 3pm on Fridays to keep up morale!

So they came around at about 3pm and served our drinks (mine was more like orange syrup than orange juice, but you take what you get right?). Everyone was so excited - it definitely did its job.

So I got an email from the Visa office today. My Visa is ready and on the way. It should be here tomorrow. That’s it. That is the final piece. Then it is scheduling a flight and going to London, packing up and going. It is finally getting real to me, and when I have that passport back in hand tomorrow with a nice embossed foil work Visa, it will be go time. I know Jen will be happy to read this, but probably stunned that it only took a week for my Visa and two for hers.

And all of this is a good thing. Jen and I have talked and the time apart is starting to take its toll. It is fine to spend some time apart, but we got married for a reason. We like each others company, and well, I miss my best friend and can’t wait to see her again.

Part of the process of moving to London is that I won’t be able to bring my desktop and large monitor. That is over 60 pounds of machinery that is now down to about 6.2. It will take a little getting used to not having the screen real estate and power, but I liken it to our move. We’re shedding square footage, a majority of our closets, iphones, cars and a lot of other items. Either way the distinct advantage of its portability should come in handy as we traipse about with no car. I’m just trying to imagine moving without one. Do you just load a train car up?

Man am I clever! Anyway, as you may have guessed from my clever title, I sold the Honda Fit, and although Syed drove a hard bargin, at the end of the day, we had a great chat about religion, business, politics and why America is still the best country in the world. Money aside, this guy was so pro America he made me feel like I was taking the USA for granted. If that is the case, I’m sure I will be blogging all about it soon enough.

Jen and the Blue Belle during happier times…
Now we are out both cars, and I am driving around Mom’s old Maxima, which is, apropos, for sale. If I sell this one, I’m pretty sure I will hit my monthly incentive bonus…

My Grandma Dana died a few months ago. She had a good long life, and it was the right time for her to go, but still sad. Michael and I had recently returned from a trip to Spain, and we were both at death’s door ourselves. I was coughing up blood from tearing my lung (from excessive and uncontrollable coughing), and Michael had pneumonia. It was awful, and I have literally never been so sick in my life. Of course this is all leading up to the fact that I didn’t go to the funeral. I am glad, though, that in the last few years of her life, we were able to talk on the phone from time to time - it was hard for her to talk much because of restricted air capacity in her lungs, and by e-mail. I was able to tell her how much she meant to me over the years, and learn about her life.

But then today I got a CD of some very old photos of Grandma Dana. Most of them are from her wedding day. And they made me realize, as old photos often do, that I didn’t know my Grandma Dana at all. She had this whole life 60 years ago. She was, and remains in my mind, lovely.

I hope she is happy now. She is missed and loved.

Yesterday I went out with my fancy French friends to brunch around 3pm. Brunch, by the way, consists of a meat or veggie option of the same dish. My veggie version contained 2 eggs, sunny side up, 4 triangles of buttered toast, beans, crispy mushrooms, some kind of mashed potato thing, and about 10 slices of broiled cheese. It was good, but really greasy and filling. I could only eat about half. I would KILL for a pancake right now.

After brunch we went home for a little rest to get ready for a big party tonight. Audrey was nice enough to invite myself and Murielle to meet her at 10pm to head over to a White Party in Marylebone, which is a borough of London about 3 miles from where I am living. A White Party is where everyone has to dress in all white, and the purpose was to celebrate the summer solstice yesterday. At about 9pm, Murielle poked her head in my room and said she was too shy to go a party, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to go anyway. But we both said we should go for a little while and at least try to be social.

This group was 100% French (after I got there, it was 99% French). Everyone was French, spoke French, and danced in this newer style of French dancing called Tecktonik. There were a good 100 people there, and they would form little circles of people and one person would go into the middle and do their version of the dance, and so on. Here is what the dance looks like:

I think you’re supposed to have a mullet and wear super tight pants to do the dance properly, but I’m not 100% sure on that. Everyone was a good 10 years younger than me, so I have decided that my new age is 28. Actually Murielle and Tatiana (my other fancy French friend who is a Natalie Portman lookalike) decided that I look 26, but I feel it is important not to stretch the truth too much, and a 7 year difference is really the max I feel comfortable with. So everyone… I was born in 1980, okay???

Here are some observations from the party:

1. All French men have either the aforementioned mullet, or super curly hair (at least all the guys at this party did).

2. All French girls are unbelievably pretty. So are the London girls. They’re not pretty like LA girls, but very natural without a lot of makeup. Of course, the girls at this party were all 20-27 yrs old, and it is kind of hard to NOT be pretty when you are so young.

3. the French LOVE to kiss you in greeting and departure. Love it.. you have to kiss everyone. Murielle explained the rules to me, so if you have any questions, let me know.

4. The Tube closes around midnight.

5. Walking 3 miles with someone really gives you a chance to get to know someone.