Note to self.

Next time landlord wants to do extensive refurb on the house, make sure the temps will be above freezing!!! Tonight we are sitting in a house, freezing temperature outside and the entire roof to our conservatory is open to the world. Did I mention it is also raining!
Cold, cold, cold in our house.
I'm not complaining though. We needed this work done because the roof has been leaking for months (almost a year) every time it rains - and in case you haven't heard - it rains A LOT in England. So the landlord finally approved having the glass ceiling replaced. We are very happy that the new glass will be the latest and greatest stuff, but it's cold tonight. We will have to be careful in the morning to check for a sheet of ice across our kitchen floor.
The contractors worked really hard today so that the house is open to the elements for the fewest days possible. I kept the tea and coffee pouring for them as a thank you for them working hard in the cold. Had set up all the Christmas decorations, tree, etc, but nothing looks very neat and tidy with all the conservatory furnishings spread all over the house. Oh well, makes for another unique holiday in England.
If you see us with blue lips in Dallas, just know that it's not the newest lipstick craze in London, it's our frigidly cold house.
Get this, the contractor was here 5 min when he turned to me and said, "Are you from Texas, you sure sound like it" Yeah! havent lost my drawl yet. And craziest thing is that he's never even been to Texas. How'd he guess that?

Boo Hoo

Our favorite team - the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs lost to Prosper in the Semi-finals tonight on a 2 point conversion right at the very end of the game. major,major bummer. Yes, I am up at 3am following in the game.
Congratulations on a good season, Hugh.
Time for me to get to sleep.

The absolute most frustrating day.

Today was a beautiful sunny day in London. Having had many wonderful photo ops over the past year, you would think I had that Christmas card photo done. Well, since L has grown and changed so much, I thought we should take a more current photo and I REALLY wanted one in London with a landmark behind us. NOT SO> wont be happening. Today we rounded up the kids - they were already dragging their heels about having to go have a picture taken. Got on the train and into the city where we needed to be. Took about an hour shooting some pictures, trying to get just what we wanted with the background and lighting and all PLUS a decent smile on the kid's faces. you've all been there, you know what I mean.
DA and L went back home so L could get to a ice skating party at Hampton Court Palace. B and I went shopping at Harrod's (C-R-A-Z-Y!).
Then, get this, DA calls me later in the afternoon, funny tone in his voice and asks me very softly if I happened to change out the memory card in the camera. "Uh, no." He then informs me even more softly that the photos are not there. Not there. Just not there! I suggest other methods for him to check and come to find out - The photos are no where to be found!!!???!!!! I think our memory card was corrupted or something. It keeps saying, "card not formatted". Which it was working while we were there. We scrolled through them several times, zoomed in, etc. The memory card was in the camera.
After that little bit of information, B has informed me she WILL NOT be taking any more pictures in London. I'm not really one to put up with a comment like that, but as much as I wanted that photo, I don't really want to spend my 1 hour of daylight in the afternoon running back to the city for a picture. SO< when you get your Christmas card, just know it should have been our little family in front of Parliament/Big Ben, instead, we have a wonderful shot taken by our friend, Bryan Urban. (Thanks Bryan. I love it), but L has grown about 4" since then and gotten contacts, so he is looking like a boy in the photo instead of the young man he is growing into.
I always thought photos would get easier as my kids got older, what happened?

The Queen

I finally got to see the Queen today. Funny to be here for so long and only just now have the opportunity to see her. It was the State Opening of Parliament. They do a whole pomp and circumstance routine with all the carriages, horse guards, footmen, crown, Queen, etc. We watched on the parade route down Whitehall to the Parliament building that is attached to Big Ben's tower. We were standing right by Downing Street.

This is the carriage that carries the crown only. The Queen rides in a separate carriage. From what I have been told - a member of parliament is locked in the Tower while the crown is out for this duty. It is that valuable that it needs live collateral. It was stated, "the Queen can be replaced, but the crown can't." That sounds a little harsh to me, but hey, it's their country!

Whatever, I'm just happy I've finally seen the Queen. She goes by in a flash though. The horses are at a trot and if you blink, you miss her. I may have only seen her through the camera lens, but here is my proof.