Ok....

I have been very busy with limited time to sit down and type up entries.

I had been preparing for my final Departmental talk that you do in your third year.....it was two weeks ago and it went well!!! Great!!!

Now I am trying to get finished up in the lab and to get organized in my writing up.......

M is of course super that the organized and got me to write up a detailed outline/structure.....so now I just have to DO IT!!!!

I have a bunch of Back log blog entries written on paper, receipts, napkins etc.....

travelling upwards...

Tonight I let three balloons (one for every decade) for CMC who would have turned thirty today! His passing 10years ago was life changing for me and he is often in my thoughts....


SM and SAJF helped as we each let go of a balloon with a positive thought.......

and watched as the balloons travelled upward together, weaving in and out of each other but always together even though they are seperated....It was really great.

Reflecting how precious life is and how lucky I am to be roaming around this place......

Leave nothing unsaid.

YEAHHHH

YEAHHHHHH
Little sister is here for a three week visit.... She came in last night!!! YEAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

This Thursday me, Little sis, and SAJF are going to his home town..Paris!!!!!! YEAHHHH!!!

WOHOHOHOH

Back in Cam

I am back in UK...I came back a few days ago....

Some bullet points.....
SAJF's visit for Thanksgiving was great!

I worked crazy hours to finish everything up in the French labo....so I could leave! The people in the lab were so sad I was leaving...but I was soooo stress, working up to last minute and sick of being in the lab....I didn't feel the same due to working a billion hours.

M surprised me by being at the airport when I arrived....he was suppose to fly in from Berlin two days after me....but SURPRISE he was there....soooo sweet.

Festivities happened the last two nights and they were fun and great...... I figured the surprise out and I ended up having to plan and take over preparations as usual. However, what was really cool was that I didn't know who was coming....so I kept answering the door not having a clue what to expect. It was really great and became a .....Reb this is your life and reunion special.

A nice way to come back to college life is to race in the terms biggest Head race and go to formal hall....very lovely!

ARAG and NAG are great friends coming in from London and bringing gorgeous flowers and (even better) themselves especially seeing the big baby bump!!!

M's mom giving me a great present that he amazingly brought over on the plane.

My friends surprising me to a show (Wicked) in London this Thursday night.....Dinner and a show with M.

I will be coming home soon....Woohooo!!!

Turkey's done.....

Today is All Saints day ...so a holiday and then Friday is a "Faire le pont".....take a day off between to bank holydays and weekend....

So long weekend…unfortunately I didn’t realize this until two days ago and started an experiment that required me to come in today…but that is ok. When I am not at work I am without internet….so I get to do an entry before I have a long weekend.

Things are still really good!

Back at the Ranch….ala House in Cambridge…SAJF is working to get all of the little things…..and some that have led to bigger things fixed by the landlord….who is a good man and sends people over right away, once he knows. The problem is with us…we see these little things and don’t say anything or try to fix them…and well that just means that before I left I had to call with a long list of problems.

The place is nice….and has been refurbished and with new furniture that is super cool and grown up…..but we now have a dampness issue…which has translated into other issues….Like Doors swelling so you can’t open them……

Nothing serious but things that make SAJF (who is the best housemate and friend ever) and I burst out laughing…..beause it looks sooooo nice….but we learning this house’s secrets….

Last night I spoke to SAJF and asked how it was going (as I have ran away from the scene) and he was bringing me up to date on the progress, some new problems,

and finally he said, “ Well, Maybe the house is trying to speak to us!”

Me: “OK well then speak back!”

SAJF: “How ?...Oh what like that time in Friends when they say goodbye to the hotel room and hug the walls?”

Me:…hee hee “Yeah like that…”….SAJF really loves Friends and is now getting used to the real actors voices after years of hearing the French actors voices….

Anyway he is visiting me in his country for my holiday….Thanskgiving….We will do it with a French twist….and that night we are going to watch a movie that I love and that I think can make us understand and laugh about our house issues…….

The Money Pit….. I love this movie check out this for my favorite 5mins……

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Oj15gi7x6mg

Have a great weekend and take time to hug your walls!

Here are some pics of our house.....( I scanned the blog and just realized I never put some on)

The Kitchen....I love the red tiles in the back wall and they match SAJF's red pots.....LOVE LOVE

The beloved leather couches...... oh we love them sooooooooo.

Our 14 kids the Penguins....which have names....this is a story for another entry another day......(and yes in case you are wondering their eyes are Googly eyes....you know I have never written the words "googly eyes" until now...I say it a lot but never written...huh)

weekend away.....

M and I have rented a car and are going to have a nice weekend away......we are going up to Yorkshire. This is where my mother is from and I want to investigate, something I have always wanted to do.

It will be lovely and already M loves the car we got....

Everyone have a lovely Labor day weekend......and I want to thank those of you that have reached out lately for your kind vibes and support!

I will be blogging more regularly soon.....

For tomorrow......
Happy B-day Chop!!!! MISS YOU!!! Come on JASL and VOG....time to get on a plane to Europe again.....I will do the math and bring the map!

first guest at our chateau

Last weekend RoHu came over for a wedding in south of England...and came up for a lovely all day visit. Our first house guest..... it was nice and relaxing. M and SAJF took us punting and I was tour guide pointing out the important stuff.

It was lovely to catch up with RoHu since the last time I saw her was the day before I first flew over here.

What is next?

Um quick note...for me to go into detail later..... oh screw I talk now....

Sooooo um I just found that are shed...or shack in the back of our house that we keep our bikes and BBQ in....HAS AN ALARM...a motion alarm....

I saw this white device above the door....and showed SAJF it. He started pressing buttons. Then I walked out and heard a beep. SAJF and I were puzzled and I stuck my head back in......

And WOHOHOH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE wowhwhworjhwehjrhwelkrhel !!!!!
A very loud alarm...that no matter what we pressed would not stop. SAJF had to rip the thing off the wall and we took out a battery.

We didn't know about this loud treasure.

Our crappy shack/shed has an motion alarm system and our house doesn't........
Anyone else think that is odd?

Bikes are valued like cars here.

Finally...the real me!!!

Finally after years and years of dreaming...due to a wonderful website....I am have now been Simpson-ized...

I feel like I have finally made it!

I wish I could use this for my passport......

Have a great weekend!!!

http://simpsonizeme.com/

Making a Home ./...Staying close takes work

I have been loving my new home ....feel like a grown up with great furniture. Things here are great..... and I feel really happy and comfortable here.
Things that have made me laugh.....
1. The fact that I am a bike commuter....and on the wrong side of the road too boot. As I commute through car traffic I think..."Wow this is soo odd that this seems soo normal to me now."
2. I am happy to have found a cheaper huge supermarket place open really early and late and just behind my house not to far away. I have to work at not buying too much as I am riding on a bike. Last night my bike was loaded with a huge bag in my back basket and my handle bar loaded with bags...it was soo funny I was so wobbily (if my family saw me they would think...what have you done with our Reb)....
3. I have a washer/dryer machine which is great...but it is in the same machine and so far I have learned that the dryer aspect to my washer machine only cooks the clothes ....it is seriously like just sticking wet clothes in the microwave. So we are rack drying. This is very European to me.....I have always had dryers.....SAJF and M just look at me and say ...."what this is normal." "You need an outside line!" ....um this is very interesting to me. Huh....maybe this would work if it didn't rain all the time here.

All of this translates to me.....My life is really different.

I have been speaking to sister and parents a lot more and I wish they could come and see my place and I could hang out with them. They ask questions about friends and other things and I realise that I am become more and more far away than I thought. Distance, I guess kills certain things and it is a shame. Never will this happen with my fam as they are great and we both work hard to make this not an option....and also I think only my family could put up with me calling early in morning (their time) excited about something that has happened in my day.

DD, I send you positive vibes filled with strength and peace. You really are great and will always work to stay in touch and connected to me and for that I am very grateful and hope you have a good Birthday month this August!


For now...Jaws is on the TV (my favorite movie) and I am having a BBQ tomorrow, I have just installed a Bamboo covering over our gate/wall so it looks cute and people can't look into our house and BBQ area as easy. (this required me walking to the home depot equivalent place here (Home Base) and walking back with this 7' x 13' rolled up bamboo....as I have my limits to what I can take on my bike ;)

Sexy Snape

Got the final book at Midnight...remarkably easy and have been reading it.....

I am trying to read it slowly as to savor each word...but then I panic that I will hear a spoiler.....so I am nearly finished.

I stubbled upon this on youtube.....

so funny check it out! Snape is Sexy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-bP94CzW8

New house

It has been a week in the new house....and SAJF and I are loving it. It is sooo great. We are waiting for our internet to get set up and then it will be complete.

Last Friday we moved in...pretty hassle free thanks to M renting a car and 5 amazing friends helping out. We invited them back the next night for a Bastille day-new house BBQ (French Revolution day) ....which was funny because Saturday morning....SAJF and I were unpacking and clearing up and we thought.....hmmmmm we need to go out and buy a BBQ. hahaha

So we got the one we had our eye on and I went out and cleaned/swept/weeded the "garden" BBQ area.....and we were on are way.

We both took Monday off and unpacked and met with the landlord and got little things sorted. It was soo nice and we love our place so much we don't ever want to leave it.

Things are good and we have everything we need as the landlord provided us with all new things we would need.... which is great and both of us know we won't end up here in the UK and don't want to collect a massive about of stuff.

Life is good....and I have flower pots and now flowers in them. Pictures will follow....

Dreaded Packing......

Future roommate SAJF's depiction of me packing....

I am struggling with Packing up ...I feel like I am always Packing up!!! But I am moving in 6days....AHHHHH
I am the type of packer that sees my billion scarves and jewelry and within an hour I have full make up on and am wearing them all......hmmm

I took a break and saw Shrek 3 last night....sooo funny I was laughing my head off forever!!!

One of the things I laughed for 5minutes was about the "that's what friends are for" mood music part.....if you have seen it, you will know what I mean. SOOO FUNNY

I think being away from home makes me love this stuff even more.

Also I stayed up late to have my first Skype chat with Choppy....YEAHHHH!! The first of many, I hope! Chop is sooo photogenic and he looked so handsome on the webcam rocking the blue shirt. Well done!!

OH back to packing........

Noooowayyyy

Lots of new things happening....hard to find time and appropriate place to Blog.....

I went to College yesterday to get something and what was parked outside of the study place?
.....it was MY OLD BIKE.....that was stolen earlier this year.....I didn't lock it up and left it outside my apartment for a few hours (my bad).....

This bike was cute and old and horrible for me as it was for a tiny person...but still. SO there it was with my lock still around the basket and handle bars and with a new lock left free standing........

So......I found my old key and unlocked my old lock and re-locked it to a bike post....with a note...on my old lock.....

"Yes you stole MY bike infront of my flat....and you are a member of my college. Next time take a bike from another college. Not Smart!"
Damn....

1, 2, Cha Cha Cha

......ballroom dancing the Cha Cha...my BFFL and future roommate SAJF......

Week of Balls....hee hee

This past week was May ball time here in Cam. So different colleges put on their best event ball (big big prom) with themes, feasts, activities, fireworks...etc.

I went to two...the first was huge but I was not impressed.

The second one was my College's one...and it was great...cause you know everyone and it was smaller and well done. There was Ballroom dancing classes (which M did avec moi) and our romantic punting trips and great food and drink! I did Karaoke....which i love...but there was a song error...that made me mad!!! I was SUPPOSE to sing La Isla Bonita..my favorite song which I know by heart.....I got up there ready....and HOLIDAY came on....which is OK...but like one of my not sooo favorite songs of Madonna...and I think kind of whiny and repetitious. So halfway through I just started working the words to La Isla Bonita into the Holiday song....and everyone was amused. Went something like this.... "We need a Holiday...to La Isla Bonita, where the samba plays......."

For both balls I but flowers in my hair. ....here is photo....


Funny thing is some of balls last until 6am and some until 3am....and their is a Survivor photo taken at this time....so you try your best to make it to that point....and then there is a picture of well dressed Zombies.....

Cute thing said during all of this.....was when my Dad called as I was walking to the first ball and he said..."Are you walking there?"
me: "Yes Dad, I am back in Cam and I walk or bike everywhere."
Dad: "What happened you could find any mice or pumpkins to make your ride...."
hee hee yeah Cinderella......growing up when doing chores Dad would call me Cinderbecky....and sing the song....... hee hee

A new treasure.

For the last few days M's grandma (Oma in German...which I think is awesome) has come to visit. She is tiny (soooo tiny and with M being over 6foot7inches....she looks soooooooo little) and she is beautiful and great. She is 80 and travels all over the place..just getting back from Australia. She takes these big long journeys with each of her grand kids. M was the first one...as they travelled the US together 6years ago for 3-4weeks. Then his sister accompanied Oma to Australia and now there is talk of his youngest sister going with Oma to Africa.

Oma is great she doesn't speak very much English so M played translator but she is so vibrant and energetic and appears soooo young.

I had a lovely time meeting her as we took her to formal hall. She told me she loved my name and we had a nice time. She had such a great fashion sense and had a beautiful outfit on that was put together sooo well. She was wearing this scarf that was sooo beautiful woven with what look silky gold.....the color is like a gold-ish champagne color and I told her I loved her scarf. Having M explain my comments. I am a bit of a scarf/wrap collector always have been...that is usually a purchase I make when traveling around and I feel that I have a gift of then wearing and actually using the scarf.

M and Oma went to London and travelled all around the city. He returned late last night and said, "Oh My Oma gave me something to give you." M pulls a bag out of his pocket as I am asking ...."Really? Is it from London or Germany." and he just smiles then I open the bag and it is her Scarf!!!!!! I flipped out with happiness and then said....."OHHHH NOOOO I didn't mean for her to give me this....I just wanted to tell her I really liked it and she looked beautiful....I didn't mean "I LOVE THAT GIVE ME IT".
But M said....NO NO NO she wanted me to have it as I loved it very much and she was fond of me.

I am sooo honored and will treasure this gift always.

Yeah.....

I like ...afternoon movies during weekdays...

M and I went and saw the film Das Leben der Anderen aka Life of Others. German film...very good about East Berlin stasis and a lives under surveillance well it is about a lot more than that...but I really liked the ending...... I have not been able to say that in a long time.

I can't imagine living in a place split in two....I find M's stories interesting. ....He always makes me laugh when people ask where he is from and he says..."Berlin....Western part...American quarter"

Great hanging around day

I am back from Sail and will now stay in UK for a bit ....so I feel like i can settle a bit and that is a nice feeling. Sail was wonderful and soooo relaxing I don't think I have ever napped/slept sooo much and M and I had such a great time and good important conversations.

I am back and taking a few extra days to settle things before heading back into the lab here.

Today was the Perfect Day.....it is M b-day and I wanted to go walk to Grantchester ( a lovely meadow filled picnic area)......we went to have lunch and tea and cakes at the Orchard.....

http://www.orchard-grantchester.com/

It was sooo peaceful and nice, we sat and had nice food sitting outside under blossoming trees. Before we left I remember going there previously and thinking it is the perfect place to spend hours sitting and reading. We both have been saying we miss reading the occasional paper....so I went into my favorite local convenient store and found and US paper for me and a German paper for him... (which unknown to me was his favorite)!!!! So we walked and then ate and sat and read each other interesting articles from our papers.....It was sooo great!