BRITISH TORTURE

I'm dying here ! There is a plot by my family and the British government to put and end to me in the slowest most painful way possible. They are making me walk every where !
I thought I was ready for this trip by walking on the treadmill every day but that was like a drop in the bucket. I need to lose 50 pounds (not the money, the fat) and run a marathon or two to be in shape for English life. These people DO NOT drive anywhere. They go to work in suits and dresses on their bikes. They go shopping with 10 bags of food swinging from the handlebars and when they are not riding their bikes they are walking, walking. walking. Maybe it is because they are such insane drivers that the majority of people choose to walk rather than get killed out on the road. But that is no guarantee for the bikers because they are out on the road along with the cars.
So for this Palm Beach Gardens senior citizen this is torture. My feet are not used to all this agony nor are my legs. I have already gone through a bottle of Advil and am now working on the back up bottle of Aleve.
The worst part of this is that Ger and Ann Marie, who are both YEARS older than me are just marching along like they do this every day. Ann is older by 9 years but she is a lot lighter so I guess that is a key to this walking. I can't figure out why Ger is not having any problems but he is just chugging along while I am dragging my feet 20 paces behind them whining all the way. Remember that 3 year old who is always whining, "I DON'T WANT TO" ? That's me . . .  dragging my feet, kicking and screaming all the way to where ever we are going.
But I will now have my revenge. We are renting a car today and from this point on Grandma ain't walking! I don't care if I have to spend my entire retirement fund on petrol, I will be driving ! If I have to park this car on top of a lamp post I will do it, just so long as I don't have to walk.
Today was going to be a day of rest after Jean Marie left but so far I haven't seen much rest. Roman has the day off and Abby is in school. Bridget had a French class this morning so Roman came up to wake us at 8:30. Ger got up and I slowly and painfully pulled myself out of bed. When I came down stairs Roman and Ann Marie were in a heated 2 hour long game of Monopoly Jr.. Roman then left at 11 to meet his mom so they could go out to lunch together. That left the 3 of us adults to fend for ourselves for lunch. We decided to walk to the neighborhood park to see if the lunch wagon was there. NO luck with that so we walked across the park to find a short cut to the back way home where there is a pub where we could get lunch. NO luck there because the streets didn't connect so we just ended up walking in a huge circle. By the  time we returned to our street Ann and Ger had decided to continue on down the street to a different pub with hopes of getting lunch there. At that point my feet were in more pain than my empty stomach so I came home and let them walk on into the sunset. The apple and peanut better that I had for lunch were absolutely delicious! And the nap I am about to take is going to be even better.

TAKING A DAY OFF

I am done for the day . . .   and it is only 11 AM. My feet and legs are like bricks and I just can't walk any more so I have sent the travelers into Windsor by them selves and  I am staying behind to just put my feet up and read and nap for the day. Ever since the flight over my ankles are swollen and with all the walking we have been doing and the crazy eating and the lack of sleeping my body is screaming STOP!
Bridget took Ann Marie and  Jean Marie on a car tour of Ascot this morning before Ger and I even got up. Then they came back at 10 and picked up Ger for a drive into Windsor. We wanted Ann and Jean to see the changing of the guard at Windsor castle. The guard come marching down main street with a band and then on into the castle for the half hour ceremony of changing the  guard. It is actually better than Buckingham Palace because they are so close to you it is much easier to see everything. After the guard the 3 tourists will return to tour Windsor Castle once again. WE did this when we first got here but it was on the weekend and we had Roman and Abby with us. The castle was very  crowded so today should be perfect for Ann and Jean to see everything without the big  crowds.
Abby and Roman are in school today and Bridget is enjoying a quiet morning before she heads over to Abby's school to work on school computer programs. Bridget has volunteered to assist the school with some of their computer programs and I am sure they jumped at the opportunity. Kyle is still in Germany but should be back in time for dinner tonight.
Speaking of dinner . . . last night Bridget made the most delicious chicken ever. It was chicken cutlets "stuffed" with brie cheese and cranberry, wrapped in bacon. OMG was that delicious. You ca all plan on having that if you come to dinner at our house any time soon. It was a recipe that Bridget got from her grocery store . . . fantastic!
Along with great chicken we have been stuffing our selves with ENGLISH pastry and ice cream since our return from Paris. I don't know what has happened to the English over the past 40 years but they sure have learned how to bake. I guess that tunnel from
Paris to London has allowed some of the great French Pastry recipes to slip across the channel to England. I really had hoped to lose weight on this trip but it just isn't happening. The pastry in the states is cardboard compared to this.
Once again today is a fantastically beautiful day. Can you believe it is in the 80's and it is the end of September! I'm so glad I packed a pair of shorts and a tank top or two. Sitting here in Romans room on the second floor of the house the huge 10 foot high windows are open and the fresh air and sunshine are just pouring in. Poor Roman gets thrown out of his room when we visit. Abby has bunk beds so the 2 kids get to share Abby's room. It is fun for a few days but the novelty wears off fast. Last night Roman lost another tooth so the tooth fairy will have to find Roman in Abby's room. I checked under my pillow this morning but there was nothing there so I guess that tooth fairy found Roman after all.
Time for my late morning nap. Maybe I'll add more later.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

The house is quiet, my feet are up and I am in my comfy clothes. Ann and Jean are in Windsor looking around, Bridget and kids are at the dentist and Ger and I are alone in a quiet, cool house. It is about 80 degrees out today and bright bright sunshine. A glorious day if I hadn't packed wool slacks and sweaters. For some reason England and France are having beautiful summer weather and I packed for winter. But it is just too beautiful to complain about so I will wear my one pair of shorts that I DID pack every day until the weather changes.
Last night we all slept like we were dead. Our journey from Paris and the previous 7 days of touring London and Paris finally caught up to us and we all collapsed in our beds till 9 this morning. We didn't hear Kyle leave at 5:15 AM to catch his plane to Frankfort for 2 days, we didn't hear Roman go out at 8 or Abby go out at 9. Bridget left with Abby to go work out at the gym and the 4 visitors just stayed in bed till everyone left. When Bridget came back from the gym she drove us into town,(no walking today thank you!) and we puttered around for an hour till she met us for a yummy lunch on the terrace of one of the pubs across from the castle.   The fearsome four then walked across the bridge across the Thames where Ann and Jean went to explore some of the shops of Eaton. Ger and I sat on a bench under a tree and watched the world go by while fighting to stay awake. When the girls returned we took a boat ride on the Thames and then got an ice cream before Ger and I left Windsor for the day. We are POOPED !  A nice nap on the couch is on my agenda and Ger has already got a head start on that.
 We really did push ourselves in Paris and we walked the entire city. WE visited the Louvre to say "HI" to Mona and tromped in and out of gardens and shops. Our best surprise was finding a roof top garden, bar and restaurant on the roof of the top department store in Paris, PRINETEMPS. It is like Harrods in London but even classier. As we walked through the store we were brushing up against Lous Viton, Vera Wang and all sorts of famous designer clothes. It was breath taking and for these clothes I would lose 200 pounds. I actually touched a dress by Versache. (sp?) WE had been on our TOUR THE CITY bus and the commentary talked about this famous department store. As we passed it we noticed people up on the roof and decided we would check it out. On our last day in Paris we snuck on the tour bus with our expired bus passes (Ger's idea which worked great once but he got thrown off on his second attempt at another stop. We girls just pretended we didn't know him and casually backed off the bus before we got caught.) After having refreshments on the roof of the store we then had to attempt figuring out the Metro, (the French version of the subway). Thankfully there were English speaking folk to help us and we rode the subway without incident.
All through our travels so far we have met the nicest people and everyone has been so helpful. I think we will take it a bit slower the last 2 weeks here in England with visits around the countryside to see the sights. The plan is to rent a car and I will drive us in and out of the little towns between here and Scotland. For now we are staying in Windsor through the weekend. Abby and Roman have school and we can help with homework tonight while Kyle is away. On Friday JeanMarie has to leave to return to the states :-( (I will miss her help with the maps!) and on Saturday Kyle and Bridget are going on an overnight for their anniversary so we can baby sit for them. Come Monday of next week Ann Marie, Ger and I will venture out on the remainder of our journey to see what trouble we can get into next.

BACK IN TOWN

The gay Parisians are back in Windsor after a fantastic time in Paris. My feet have blisters the size of a French Pastry and my waist has expanded to the size of . . . well, you get the idea. We had a fantastic time and have seen everything that any self respecting tourist should see. We have now officially eaten our way through London and Paris and are ready for a day or two of rest.
Paris was WONDERFUL and we had the best weather ever. It was almost 80 degrees each day with wonderful sun shine. (Thank you Ann Marie and Jean Marie for packing umbrellas and rain coats!) Perfect weather for touring and seeing the sights.
Our first day in Paris we arrived in the afternoon after the 2 hour ride on the Eurostar high speed train. WE whizzed through the country side and the "chunnel" under the English Channel and arrived on time at Gare de Nord station. Thanks to Jean Marie she and I figured out where we were and how to find our hotel. It was about about a 10 minute walk to our little hotel where we dumped our suit cases and then took a walk to check out the neighborhood. We were just around the corner from the hotel Ger and I had stayed in last time we were in Paris so we were a little familiar with the area. The "HOTEL du PARIS" was a treasure. Old hotel with a tiny elevator and a winding stair case up to the 5th floor. Ger and I had a nice little room on the second floor with windows that opened out on to the rue de la Strausbourg. It was horribly noisy when the windows were open but when the windows were closed it was quiet and comfy. Since the people on this side of the ocean don't believe in screens on their windows you also get bugs along with the noise but since there really aren't bugs here that isn't a big problem. They also don't believe in AC so when there is a heat wave you have to open the windows and put up with the noise. Ann Marie was having a great deal of trouble with the noise so we had to spend the first evening looking for ear plugs. That and wash cloths. When you come to Europe bring your wash cloth . . . hotels here do not provide wash cloths. You are lucky to get a towel never mind a wash cloth. The showers are so small you have to step out to turn around so I guess they figure you don't need a cloth to take up more room in the shower. It's an adventure.
Saturday in Paris was amazing. We got tickets for the  "hop on hop off" tour bus and set off on our journey. We got off on the Champs d'elise and had lunch at a sidewalk bistro and then walked to the L'arc de Triumphe where we caught the bus again to the Eiffel Tower. Ann and Jean stood on the lines forever to go up in the tower while Ger and I sat and watched all the people pass by.  Back on the bus we rode to Sacre Cour with all the hundreds of other tourists. Sacre Cour is such a beautiful old church on top of as hill over looking Paris. When Ger and I were there 40 years ago the church was surrounded by Artists. Now it is surrounded by souvenir shops and little bistros. Ann and Jean had a great time shopping for scarves for gifts at Christmas so be prepared if you are on Ann's Christmas list. Every time we stopped at a shop the two of them were looking at more scarves. No wonder the suitcases coming home weighed so much. And I thought it was the 6 bottles of cheap French wine.
We had many more adventures in Paris but it is now too late to write any more so you'll just have to wait till tomorrow. The 4 of us are sitting at Kyle's kitchen table rehashing our trip and laughing at the photo's on Ger's camera. It's 10:15 PM and everyone is asleep except us. Tomorrow Kyle leaves for Frankfurt for 2 days and the kids will be in school so hopefully I will be able to catch some extra Z's.

THE MONTANA HOTEL, LONDON

Where they got the name for this place is beyond me. Our room is the size of my walk in closet and the shower is the size of a phone booth. Wide and Spacious like Montana it ain't but the beds are comfy and we are only here to sleep and shower. And it is right across the street from the train station where we will get the Eurostar train tomorrow for our trip to Paris. I mention the hotel because although they do provide free internet access the signal is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weak and the connection is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow that it is almost impossible to email. So if you're not reading the blog don't expect to hear from us! Unless Paris hotel is better. We shall see.
As for our adventures today, AH.....................  It was so hard to get up at 8:30 this morning G and I almost sent Ann Marie and Jean Marie off on their own. Remember that AM is 75 years old . . . she is 9 years older than me and she puts me to shame. Then woman is related to the energizer bunny and just keeps going and going. When our alarm went off this morning G and I just wanted to roll over and sleep for another day or two. But we got up and went to breakfast with the girls and then headed out into the streets of London for our last day of touring. First we took the underground to Buckingham Palace. (We are really getting good at traveling the underground!) WE walked to the Palace gate and staked out our part of the fence to look through to see the changing of the guard. Only trouble was we were there an hour early. WE got a great spot but had to stand and wait an hour. By the time the guard started marching in and the crowds had swelled to 4&5 people deep I was done with standing and had to leave to find a bench in the part across the street. Having seen the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle I didn't feel I was missing much. The rest of the group stayed for about 20 minutes and then we all headed off to walk along St. James Part to the government offices and the House of Parliament. We stopped at the Churchill War Museum where J&A took a quick tour. It cost about $30 to tour so G & I found a spot in the sun and rested for the hour it took the girls. I'm sure it was interesting but not for that amount of money. From there we walked a block or two and found a little place to eat out side in the sun. The day was chilly when the sun went in but when the sun was out it was a fantastic day. As we sat down at our tiny little table on the street a couple at the next table started up a conversation with us. They were here for 3 weeks and were from the Miami area of Florida. Small world. The guy was quite a chatter box and we had a few laughs with them along with getting some good info on how to get to Harrods and a great little tea shop to go for HIGH TEA. High tea involves tea and cakes, pastry, finger sandwiches, scones and jam. Ann and I decided we HAD to experience this before we left London so we made the plan to have High Tea for dinner. When we left our new Florida friends we walked over to see BIG BEN, THEE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY. We did all this and actually managed to avoid getting killed crossing the streets. Have I mentioned London is one of those insane cities to drive or walk in? The drivers all drive 100 miles and hour and weave in and out. When you are crossing you have to look in the opposite direction than we are used to so it is quite the adventure to cross busy intersections. G has a terrible habit of stopping in the middle of the street to take a picture. I think my picture of him being creamed by 3 big red buses and 12 taxi cabs will be sure to win prizes every where!
After the last of the SIGHT seeing we decided it was time to treat Aunt AM to a shopping experience of a life time. Back on the Underground and off to Harrods, that world famous department store for the rich and famous. All I can say is WOW ! If I had a few million I could have a field day shopping in this store. Seven floors of EVERYTHING ! It is an experience of a life time to go in there and if you can afford to buy something and get one of their shopping bags . . . Well . . . you are just about as posh as you can be. Unfortunately I have not won the lottery and G and I were tired! We sent the 2 girls off to find the Princess Di exhibit and G and I sat in one of the many little cafes in Harrods where I had a cappichino and G had a soda while feeling very continental. The girls found the Christmas department and bought some nice ornaments so they were happy. G bought his sister AM a shopping bag from Harrods and she LOVED IT ! That little gift made her day! When we left we crossed the street to the little place that our Florida friend had told us about and we all had dessert for dinner. Ann and I had High Tea and G and J had cake. It was charming and totally made the day. When we finished the 3 girls ran back across the street so Jean and Ann could show me the Christmas department where I got ornaments for my grand kids. It was the topping to a great stay in London.
Tomorrow morning we can sleep in a bit and then we are off to the Eurostar high speed train to Paris for 4 days. I am hoping to sleep on the 2 hour train ride but will probably spend the time yakking. We are having a great time traveling together if only I were younger and lighter. I suppose having High Tea for dinner won't help the lighter part but we only go around once.
See you in Paris!

READ THE BLOG !

Between the lousy Internet connection and my big fingers on this little computer I am TOTALLY frustrated with trying to write to you. Forget facebook and hotmail . . .  they are just too much of a pain to try to log on  to.  I think the "hotel" we are in has gerbils on a treadmill running the internet connections. I keep loosing connection and pages just disappearing into cyber space. So to Kristen . . . Keri . . . and my gal pals . . .I love you all but don't expect to hear from me till we get to a better internet spot.
Today the 4 travelers took on the London Underground. I think we won but other than the fact that we did get where we were going and find our way home again I can't say the trips were a success. Well, I guess they were, we still have our sanity and some money left over but our bodies are dead, dead, dead !
Breakfast at the B&B again this morning, same as yesterday. I am disappointed there are no scones and clotted cream, just plain old ordinary toast. Once our bellies were full we headed out into the damp, chilly morning to see if we could find our way to St. Pauls Cathedral. NO PROBLEM ! We are like pros riding the underground, "minding the gap" and "standing right". Did you know there is Underground etiquette? Speak softly, "mind the gap", which means don't fall between the train and the platform(DUH!) and "stand right", which means you must move your fat ass over to the right when standing on the escalators in the stations. If you don't stand right you will get pushed down (or up) the escalator by the folks who are in a hurry. Ann Marie is having trouble with this one but she is also stopping right at the top or bottom of the escalator which will also get her killed. We bought ourselves "OYSTER" cards to ride the underground so we don't have to stop and buy tickets each time. Why these "Easy Pass" sort of cards are called OYSTER CARDS is beyond me but they work great. You scan the card going into the station and then again when leaving. Jean Marie didn't swipe her card today and just walked through and got a 5 pound penalty which we got reversed because basically we are stupid Americans. The Brits are very very gracious and have been extremely helpful and pleasant but you know that under their breath as we walk away they are muttering, "Stupid Yanks".
We did tour St. Pauls Cathederal where Princess Di and Charles were married. Most beautiful place but we did not climb the 600 steps to the top. WE barely can make it up and down all the stair cases in the tube no less 600 more steps to see the same view of London that we saw yesterday from the London Eye. From there we got back on the underground and found our way to the theatre district to buy tickets for a matinee of "WICKED". We had lunch in a pub near the theatre and thoroughly enjoyed the show. The music, story, singing, costumes were fantastic and now we can say we saw a show in London. When we came out of the show it was 5:30 and the crowds and masses of people on the streets was like nothing I have ever seen. NYC is crowded but this was unbelievable. We wasted some time to give the crowds going into the underground a chance to subside a bit and then we made our move to attempt to find our way "home". We actually did quite well, came out of the tube and had dinner at a place we just happened upon. We had a pricey but delicious dinner and then walked the 3 blocks back to our hotel.
The weather has been amazingly warm. I would think low 70's and actually once the morning damp wears off it is very beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to venture out to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and then a trip to the famous department store of Harrods. Harrods is the carrot we have been waving in front of Ann Marie. The poor woman has not shopped in an entire week now and she is starting to go into shock. Harrods should cure that with the shock of their prices.
London has been great fun. It is NOT one of my favorite cities but we have had a good time here. I think I am missing the grandkids but I am also really looking forward to my favorite city of Paris.
To be continued . . .

FREAKING COMPUTER

This little computer is driving me nuts. My Apple really has me spoiled and trying to blog on this little thing is very frustrating. Thus no message yesterday!
Our bodies are screaming in agony with all the walking we are doing. I am sure if I was 50 pounds lighter it wouldn't be as bad.
Yesterday we arrived in London via the train from Windsor. Once here  we found our way on the underground to our hotel where we were able to leave our suitcases. Then it was off with the map of the bus route to find the tour bus that Kyle and Bridget had purchased tickets for us. That was quite an adventure because they had bought tickets for the ORIGINAL BUS TOUR but gave us a map to the BIG BUS TOUR. God Bless the English, they are so helpful and nice. We had construction workers, Bobbies(cops), strangers on the street all helping us find our way. At one point we jumped on a bus that was the "WRONG" bus but the driver just joked with us and then drove us to the stop where we wanted to be to find the RIGHT bus. Once there we needed tickets that we  didn't have so they let us ride for free to the stop where the office was so we could purchase our tickets. We rode the bus for about 3 hours and then took a cab back to our hotel. Once we were in the right neighborhood we found a great Irish pub for dinner. Lamb shank, mashed potatoes and veggies that were to die for along with a wonderful pint of cider and beer. The perfect end to the day. By then we were so exhausted we barely managed to crawl back to our old hotel and crash for the night. Our "hotel" is actually a B&B and nothing about it would fit the picture that you have formed in your mind. It is clean but it is very basic. The beds are comfy and the water is hot and that is all we need.
This morning we all met at 8:30 for the English breakfast of eggs, sausage, beans, toast and something else that I am not sure what it was. (This is all included in our room price). Ann Marie and Jean Marie had toast and cereal ! Once our stomachs were full we set off once again with a vague idea of where to find the bus for the remaining day of our tour. And find it we did! Off to see the sights of London and then a stop to change buses to go to the TOWER OF LONDON. I always thought this was just one tower. NOPE !  It is a huge castle complex right on the river Thames. I could have spent the entire day there. There was so much to see and there were personal audio tours for the entire complex. G just wanted to rush to see the Crown Jewels but was out voted by the rest of us. The cheap Americans rented ONE audio tour that I got to listen to and condense the info for the rest of the group. I would love to return here and spend a lot more time seeing the rest of the keep but we did get to see the Crown Jewels and they are magnificent!
We then had to catch the river tour before 3PM as it was part of our 2 day bus tour that expired at 3. The river tour was quite a bit of fun as the young man who was narrating was very funny.  When we hopped off the boat at Westminster Abbey we then walked across the bridge to take a ride on the London Eye, the HUGE ferris wheel that takes a half hour to complete its trip around. The views of this massive city are breath taking, even on a gloomy afternoon like today. Once off the Eye we found the underground and managed once again to find our way back to our hotel. We were so pooped that we decided to return to O'Neils for dinner and a pint.
Now we are back in our room and ready to call it a night. I got a text message today from Abby on my English cell phone saying she is missing us. I am looking forward to spending some more time with her next week but for now we will stuff these aching feet into our walking shoes and head out for another 2 days in London.
See you tomorrow night if I'm not too tired.

TOO TIRED

Once again I just can't take the time to blog too much. It's 11 PM, I am physically unable to stand up another second or stay awake another hour.  We will head into London for some grown up time tomorrow and stay there for 4 days before we head on to Paris.
Today we went to mass at 11. We all WALKED to church and as usual Abby and I were the 2 pokes at the end of the line. I am slow but this child is unbelievable! She gets distracted with EVERY THING, bugs, plants, and obscure thoughts that come into her mind. A usual 20 minute walk took us 40 minutes. After an hour rest in church we WALKED to the Windsor Trooper for a lunch of . . .  are you ready for this . . . I kid you not that this was ALL included in the dinner . . .  roast beef, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, roasted potato, cabbage, carrots, broccoli with cheese sauce, turnip, peas and gravy! The roast was so well cooked it was like a piece of leather and totally impossible to chew but the rest of the dinner was fabulous. Leave it to the English to cook the meat till it is totally DEAD and drained of any flavor.
From there we WALKED up to the castle where we parted from K&B. We took the kids into the castle to show Aunt AM and cousin JM the sights. We spent about an hour and a half before Roman gave up the ghost and begged us to go home. I would have left a hour earlier but didn't want to spoil it for the rest. Thank goodness Roman spoke up because I was on  my last ounce of energy. When we left the castle we needed to stop for ice cream so we would have energy to make it home. We then took a cab!
K&B were at home getting ready for their evening at the castle at a reception fund raiser. Kyle was in his tuxedo and Bridge wore a beautiful gown. They make quiet the dashing couple. The rest of us were left at home to scrounge for dinner, quesedias(sp?) for the kids and wine and cheese for us once the kids went to bed. Now it's time to call it a night so I will have the energy to WALK more tomorrow. GROAN !

ANOTER TRIP TO WINDSOR

We have returned to England . . . We arrived, wonder of wonder's, at Heathrow yesterday morning after a good trip. When we got to Kyle's house we dragged our suitcases into our rooms and then Bridget drove us into town for lunch. (Walking was out of the question after 24 hours with no sleep and standing an hour in the Q (line) for customs at the airport. When we got back we headed out to pick up Abby from her school. She looks WONDERFUL ! Then we met Roman at the play ground when he came home from the middle school that he attends. Roman has grown tall and is such a good looking young man. These two kids are just blossoming living here in England. It must be all the rain.
By the time we finished dinner last night the 4 of us were sooooo exhausted that we went to bed before the kids. That's pretty sad that I went to bed before the 6 year old.
We all slept like we were dead last night and woke up around 8 this morning. I guess we are all adjusted to the English time so there isn't any jet lag on this part of the journey. For breakfast today we all had bagels. Those would be the Florida bagels that Ger and I picked up on our way to the airport. Do you know how heavy 2 dozen bagels are? HEAVY ! I brought a large purse with me, more like a small suitcase, just for the bagels. That became my second carry on. Do you know how smelly 2 dozen bagels are when 6 of them are EVERYTHING bagels?  SMELLY !  Every time I moved the bag it sent out a whiff of garlic and onion. Thankfully the vents on the plane kept the smell to a minimum.
When I woke up this morning Abby was waiting for me so she could come in and play. She jumped right into the bed with her arms full of baby dolls and stuffed animals. Once Roman discovered where she had disappeared to he joined us and became Doctor Roman for all the animals. Roman had to go out to religious education at the church in preparation for him making his first communion. This amazing child has done so much in the past year. He has learned an totally different language, been baptized in the Catholic church, learned to read and write and traveled the world with his family.
After Roman left Abby had to practice her piano for a few before she headed off with dad on her bike to go to her piano lesson. Ann, Jean, Ger and I left at the same time as Abby and Kyle and we walked into town dodging the rain drops as we went. AnnMarie had her hair styled just before coming on this trip so she was worrying about getting her hair wet on only the second day here Heaven forbid she shouldn't look like the fashionista that she is. Once we got to town we drifted in and  out of shops until Kyle and Abby met us to go on the double decker Windsor bus tour.  We got off at stop 4, the Windsor Castle Farm Shop where we had a great lunch of pastys and soup. Then it was back on the bus to finish the tour. Roman had to spend the day at home doing home work and when we returned Bridget looked like she was ready to kill him. Rather than doing his work he had  spent the previous 3 hours asking when we were returning. When he finally finished his homework we all gave Kyle his birthday gifts to open. I  think he liked his Mets shirts and I know he liked the bike carrier for his car that Bridget and the kids gave him. To top off the day we all walked around the block to the Prince Albert Pub for dinner where I met my friend
Sammy and her Bloke. I had met Sam the first time we were here and have kept in touch via email and face book. It was great to see her and she looked just wonderful. We shared a pint, had dinner with the family and returned to the house for birthday cake.
Ger is already asleep and I am writing this in the dark. The computer has erased bits and pieces of this blog about 4 different times so I am going to say good night.
More adventures to follow tomorrow, maybe even a visit to Windsor Castle!

36 HOURS

I am too tired to fight this little computer so you will just have to be happy with knowing we arrived in England safe and sound with no problems. After being awake for 36 hours we are all done and going to bed. Tales to follow soon.

I'M PACKING, I'M PACKING !

I want to be sitting outside in the sun reading my book and pulling in the last of the Florida rays before we head off to rainy old England but there are so many little things I have been putting off till this last minute. And then there will be the 42 phone calls to wish us a good trip or to ask for money.  That was the last call, some charity asking us to pledge money to them. Our standard answer is "we don't pledge money over the phone" but some how that never stops them. But that is another whole blog for another day.
Today is about making sure I did pack some underwear and some makeup . . . two of the most vital things a woman needs when traveling. We also got our boarding passes and have the pass ports in an accessible place. Ger has been running around all morning getting his hair cut and ordering bagels. How can we go visit our grand kids and not bring them REAL bagels? If we really loved them we would have had Aunt Ann Marie buy some NEW YORK BAGELS for them but they will have to make do with Florida imitations.  NO Joke folks, there is nothing like a NY bagel. No matter where we have traveled we have never found a bagel to match those made in NY. We have decided that it must have to do with the water in NY. Lets face it, Florida Swamp Water is just not the same as those crystal clear waters coming from the Adirondack Mountains in NY. (Of course, by the time those crystal clear waters make it to NYC they ain't so crystal clear.) Maybe that's what gives them the flavor. Pizza also falls in to the same category. There is no pizza like a good NY pizza. I may be a Floridian at heart but my stomach will always be NY.
So as we spend the day trying to think of every possible thing that needs doing before we leave town I am concentrating on where we will have dinner. NO way am I cooking the night before we leave town! And I really don't want pizza or bagels so we'll have to come up with something else.
It's a good thing they don't weigh the passengers when they weight your bags before your flight.

NEW BLOG !

I know, I know,  I haven't written in days and I am getting complaints from the peanut gallery. I'm busy !
Not really, just lazy and more interested in sitting in the sun and reading. You can't blame me for that, I do live in Florida for a reason. But since it is the rainy season I have had to catch the sun when ever I can. It  has really been a very rainy rainy season. Back in June Ger dressed the flamingo on the front lawn in a rain coat and it hasn't stopped raining since. Not that we didn't need the rain. Our lake (sump/drainage ditch) in the back yard was really low and had a 3 foot beach around it. Then we started with the afternoon rains and the lake is filled to almost the top. That is a good thing and we Floridians don't mind the rain in the least. It is the poor tourists that are grumbling. My poor cousin and her golfing husband came down for almost 2 weeks of rain back in July. The sun didn't come out until their plane was on its way back to New York.  Since then we have had a torrential shower almost every day but between there are wonderful hours of warm sunshine and balmy breezes. And you want me to give up those hours to blog? I think not! And i can't write during a thunder storm for fear of lightening blowing up my computer. Usually my creative genius (HA HA HA !) strikes in the wee hours of the evening and Ger really does have a problem with me turning on the computer and my music at 2 AM. Thus . . . you have not heard from me.
And now we are preparing for the journey across the pond and our return to the quaint town of Windsor and our fabulous grand kids and their parents. We are so excited about the trip because we will have Ann Marie and Jean Marie with us to show all the sights to. I really have fallen in love with this amazing little village of Windsor. I get a warm feeling inside thinking about going back. The suitcase (only one!) is packed and I am ready to go. We are spending this week just dotting "i's" and crossing "t's" before we head out on the journey. We already have a date at the Prince Albert Pub for dinner on Saturday night. Abby has been wanting to have dinner there so we all thought this would be the perfect day since it is her dad's birthday and we can celebrate with a pint.  I can't believe my first born child is 38 years old. When did that happen? I think I will take his turning 40 a lot harder than he will or I did when I was that age.


As you can see by the following photos, we had a good weekend with a visit from Smith and family. We thought we would have a grand send off with a lobster party, Florida style! That means BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC, DELICIOUS lobsters that were cooked and cracked for us. It's the only way to go!

WHAT IS THIS THING ?  WILL IT BITE ?

LET'S ALL GO WALKING

WHOA ! WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?

BITS AND PIECES

I went for a massage and facial today . . .  AHHHHHHH   I am addicted.  But today's 2 hour spa treatment wasn't as relaxing as usual.  I didn't request any special therapist so I got Ruby for the first time.  She was good in loosening up my back but she was a weird redneck southern gal. She talked the whole time and when I was done I really wasn't as relaxed as I had hoped to be. Then the girl who did my facial turned out to be from NY, only in Florida for a while and hating it and she too talked the entire time. You know how you go to the dentist and they stick 42 things in your mouth and then ask you a question . . .  well this was the sort of day I had with these 2 women.
Then I came home and H is all in a tizzy about the President being on tonight, fires and drought in Texas, rain in Pennsylvania, and THREE named storms blowing around the Atlantic Ocean. It just seems that everyone wanted to talk today!
The good talking came from a Skype call from Keri telling us she and Kaelin did not have school today.  Seems that Southern Maryland is also being flooded. A restaurant that we had gone to with Keri and family on our last trip up there was now washing away down the Potomac River. It just fell in the river, kerplop. It really didn't serve very good food so I think this was a win win for everyone. The owner is probably clapping his hands.
As for Kaelin and school, she started on Tuesday afternoon. Preschool for 3 year olds at a local church. Kaelin is grandma's girl in that she doesn't DO mornings so afternoon session is perfect for her. But even with that she had a tough time on Tuesday. She decided that she did not want to get dressed or go to school. Neither Granny or Daddy could convince her otherwise so mom was called in on speaker phone to help Kaelin get through her trauma. Dad finally got her to school on time in spite of Finn throwing up TWICE on the way to school. Poor Daddy had me laughing my head off with memories of me trying to get his wife off to school. History does repeat itself in all its glory.
So when today the call came in that all the schools and preschools in Charles County Maryland were closed for the day,(and for tomorrow also) the girls were very happy to go back to bed and cover their heads for the day. It was pouring rain there for the last 36 hours and as we were talking to Keri there was a tornado warning. I think I would rather put up with Florida hurricanes that only appear every 5 years or so.
Haven't heard from the rest of the family today. Abby and Roman are back to school over in Windsor and so far we hear things are going great. We'll see for ourselves next week when we go over for our month's visit.
Smith is still teething and his 2 fangs are coming in nicely. He apparently fell and hit his eye on the coffee table yesterday but really didn't bruise that badly. Smith is at the permanent bump stage . . . a large lump in the middle of his forehead is a permanent part of his appearance. Sort of like the unicorn look.
No pictures to share, no other news to tell. The bags are packed and we are finishing up all our running around before our trip. Yesterday's adventure was to the dermatologist where Ger had a small something cut off his face. I got the AOK for this visit.
Talk to you soon.   I promise.

ANOTHER MORNING ?

I seem to be hung up on mornings these days. It is 5 AM and the Queen of Sleep is awake. (Hope you were all sitting down for that shocker!) I actually woke up at 4:30 and have been flopping around in the bed trying to convince myself that;
A.  I was NOT hungry (but I know that I am)
B.  I was NOT suffering the beginnings of food poisoning ( I know that I"m not)
C.  I WAS going to go back to sleep.

B & C just didn't happen and yes, I AM hungry. I guess this all stems back to yesterday when I slept till 10:30 AM, had a bowl of Total cereal mixed with raisin bran at noon and then ate a huge taco salad at Moe's Southwest Grill at about 4 PM. If that combination of food won't kill a stomach and intestines I don't know what will. I thought I was feeling OK but apparently the dregs of salsa and raisins hit me at 4AM and there was no going back to sleep after that !

So what do you do at 5 AM? Well, first I started with saying my prayers that I always fall asleep before I get through. OK, talked to God, He knows I'm awake and thinking so He'll put some real good thoughts into my head. You know the sort of things that you get thinking about in the middle of the night. I"m sure this was the hour that Christopher Columbus decided the world was round and the Wright brother's decided it would be a good idea to try to fly. Things some how always seem like a good plan at 4 AM. Well, after I got through solving our National economy and unemployment problems I got around to thinking about what I had packed and what I should still pack for our pending trip to England. The problem with that is Ger is still sleeping so I cannot turn on all the lights and start pulling things out of our closet. Not that he would be surprised or upset, it just wouldn't be a nice thing to do. So all that is still just buzzing around in my head and will probably continue to do so until I am locking the front door the day we leave.

Next best thing to turning on the TV is head for the old "Control Central" out in the garage and get the little computer up and running. This little notebook computer is just perfect for times like this. I'm sitting the the warm garage, which feels great. I seem to be cold all the time in the middle of summer in Florida in my house. The AC is set at 75 but it just feels cold. (I am really becoming a true Floridan Senior Citizen. "I'm soooo cold!")  So the unairconditioned garage is quite pleasant at this hour. In spite of the 5 thousand little flying bugs that are drawn to the light it is very comfortable out here.

Actually, in thinking about this waking up so early, it is all the angels fault. Last night H and I went to bed saying we would go to mass this morning if the angles woke us in time. Guess the angles need a new watch or they are on London time.

ANOTHER GREAT MORNING

Life is great, if you stop to look and listen.   As I sit here this morning there is a mocking bird out side somewhere in the greenery around the patio and he is singing his little heart out. We have several mocking birds and every day I enjoy their joyful songs. They sing to me and even answer me when I am outside. I can whistle to them and they sing back. This little one is just chirping away singing about some thing that I can't even imagine. I wish you could see and hear him.
Yesterday afternoon Ger and I went to 4:30 mass for the weekend.  It is our "Sunday" mass that we prefer, rather than getting up and dressed and out the door on Sunday morning, Saturday mass is our favorite. (Only the Catholics can justify celebrating Sunday mass on Saturday! ? )  As usual, the readings and the homily were addressed directly to ME. (This happens almost all the time.) The readings this weekend are all about our responsibility to keep others on the "right" track. I translated this to mean that I need to be more vocal with my 2 younger children in encouraging them to return to the Catholic Church.  Just a word here and there, just a nudge once in a while. I understand Keri, she wants her family to have a religion that they can practice together but I see her missing her Catholic faith. Maybe some day she will start going back to mass on her own just to reconnect or maybe her husband will see how important it is to her to practice her faith. I'll just keep praying on that one. Kent is another story. He is not attending any church and his wife has no history of religion in her life. Kent is not one to take the initiative so I don't know what will happen there. Again, prayer is my answer but maybe God does need me to speak up and give Him a hand.
So as I was thinking all these things I some how got to thinking about what a wild ride life is. I'm still learning so much every day and I hope God gives me more time to keep learning. In thinking of "Wild Ride" my experience with white water rafting popped into my head and I had an epiphay of what I was doing when I traumatized my oldest son on that fateful trip. It was a Girl Scout adventure with a bus load of teen age girls and their families. Kent wanted NO part of it so he was left at home in NY with someone and the rest of the family, H included, set off on a bus ride to the wilds of Pennsylvania. Who knew that in the spring the rivers rose and the rapids were HUGE ! (thus the term WHITE WATER!) Being the dope that I can often be I thought this would be great!  Until I found myself in the raft with some strangers, Husband, my 13 year old daughter and my 16 year old son. Kyle, being the strongest and most able was assigned the position at the back of the raft where he had to steer us around rocks, rapids, water falls and fallen logs. Thinking back on it no wonder the boy was traumatized even without his mother screaming at him to "go left, go right!" I was fine until I fell out of the raft about 3 minutes into the ride. I think it was Kyle who got me back in the raft but I really can't remember anything other than "Don't put your feet down" and "Don't let go" and the thoughts of "Oh Shit, I'm going to die!". Once I was back in the raft I was scared out of my wits for the remaining 2 hours which is no excuse to traumatize my son but in my defense I was not in a rational state of mind. (PS, this was all before I discovered the power of pills and therapy so I was quite the emotional mess.) Poor Kyle still goes sheet white if you mention white water rafting and he will still refuse to talk about that trip. It seems that I spent 2 hours screaming his name over and over, throwing orders at him to basically SAVE US!  This is sort of what I do on  a daily basis with God. As I thought more and more about this horrific experience I realized that Kyle was my savior and salvation on that raft. I  knew he was capable of saving me, I knew he was in the position to save me and I knew he had the strength to save me. (Ger wasn't even a consideration as my savior because I have found over the years that he is less that useless in crisis. No offense meant, just stating fact. H saved me when he asked me out on our first date and then married me.)  So what else would I do but call his name over and over asking for help. I don't think Kyle realized all that at the time and I sure don't blame him for his reaction to me. It is a wonder to me that he still wants to see me on occasion.
I just found all this so amazing that sitting there in church I realized what I had done that day on a raft in a river in PA.  And how, unlike my poor son, God doesn't get disgusted with me and he doesn't become traumatized by my constant screaming, (Most of that is done inside my head but it is screaming none the less.) I think Kyle has finally forgiven me for his horrible experience with white water rafting and I know that God ALWAYS forgives me for everything stupid that I do.
THANK GOODNESS FOR FORGIVENESS.

GOOD MORNING

Officially it isn't morning any more but that is just a technicality.  It is 12:07 and it still feels like 6 AM so to me it is still morning.
Today is the first Friday of the month. That only means something if you are Catholic and over the age of 55. Because it is the first Friday of September Ger and I decided to get our lazy bones out of bed and get to the 8:30 AM mass. That means getting up at 7:45 at the latest and hustling our bones out the door by 8:15. First Friday mass is when our church has Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In other words, it is a chance to sit and visit with God in the form of the Eucharist, or host. (Or for all you non Catholics, the piece of bread, that we believe has been transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of God, is put on display for all to visit.)
It is no easy task for Ger or I to get our butts out of bed before 9:00 these days.  I often have trouble making it up before 10 so 7:45 is off the charts for me. A few years ago H and I had been going to mass each day. Then we got lazier and lazier and now are just starting to try to get ourselves back to mass at least one day during the week. I do love daily mass and I do miss it but that old Devil loves to whisper in my ear that I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  tired, I need to go back to sleep. What 's one more day of not going to mass?  But this morning we moaned and groaned and off we went. Father Paul said the mass today and that alone is an adventure. Father Paul is Vietnamese and although he is supposedly in his late 40's early 50's you would think he was about 16 years old. There are bits of stories we have heard about this priest's life in Vietnam and his escape to Hong Kong. He was jailed for years before he was able to come to the US. He will often talk, (in his very very broken English) about how Jesus was ALWAYS with him during his earlier years and how he never felt alone when in prison. It sort of makes you stop and wonder about all we take for granted in our lives. We Americans are just so spoiled that we don't even see all the blessings we have. Just the fact that we have 3 pharmacies and 4 grocery stores within 2 miles of our house is something that we don't even think twice about. It isn't until a hurricane or some such natural disaster hits us that we even think about our electric and water, the 2 cars in our drive way and the house with a pool that we just accept as part of our lives.
I think that once a day we should all stop for a second and think about how Blessed we are. And don't forget to say THANK YOU for those blessings. Your thank you can be in any form you want . . . Just the thought that you ARE blessed is a start.