So Much Better

I had lunch with my Samoan friends again Thursday at work.  We call it the Curly Q Lunch because we all have curly hair.  This week I was told my 'eyeses' are beautiful with their green/blue color.  It was posted to all of us so that I would know I wasn't being hit on.  They crack me up!

That night I went to dinner with grandma.  She's been wanting me to try the Spanish restaurant on Main Street in Pleasant Grove so we decided to finally go.  She invited Sherry and LeRoy and we all headed over.  Not bad!  But I still crave me those Los Hermanos chips, salsa, and fried ice cream.  Unfortunately.

Friday, I played racquetball against Melissa.  We used to be able to play five games during our hour.  Friday we only managed two and a half!  Our first game was intense!  Final score was 21-19, in my favor of course but it was a TOUGH win!  Great exercise though.

Karen and her daughter came by on Saturday.  I hadn't planned on getting up at all that day, but since I'm feeling so much better and had guests, I made the effort.  =D  It also meant that I didn't have an excuse then to do some cleaning and take care of errands...

Photos Finally!

Last night we had another monthly book club meeting.  This time, everyone decided to come except Jenny.  At the last minute though, Shauna and Karen weren't able to make it (Karen has her first grandchild!).  Even Sarah and Mindy were there for the dinner at Los Hermanos.  There was a huge windstorm last night and it broke the gate on the south fence in our yard.  I'd like to blame the storm on my needing more sleep this morning and hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock five times...but I really can't.  I made it to work though on time!  (Sans shower...)

I finally got the England pictures from MaryAnn's camera!  There were some that I REALLY love because of the perspective.  Here's a little recap of my trip via photos:

 

 

Resurgence

My cold came back in full force...like it was brand new and I hadn't even been sick recently.  I spent all Saturday in bed, and I mean the full day in bed, only got up Sunday to take grandma to Church, then went back to bed.  You know it's bad when I actually cancelled my scheduled racquetball game on Monday.  I even hoped my Primary presidency would take pity on my when they heard how sad and pitiful I was, but they made me go to all of my meeting Tuesday night.  Boo!  I was miserable.  I have made it a point though to go to bed and hour to an hour and a half early all week and I think it finally helped by the end.

Tuesday, Karen and Shauna were in Salt Lake doing family history work so we met up for lunch at the Nauvoo Cafe and ate outside on the patio since the weather was so nice.  Wednesday was still beautiful too so I met up with some friends, Rosita and Lei Toilolo for lunch out in the little bower on the south side of the Relief Society building.  I tried racquetball Wednesday night and it wasn't too bad, then Sarah came over afterward and gave me a massage.  It always feels so good!  Except this time, when I had to lay on my stomach, I lost the ability to breath and my nose just started dripping.  I absolutely couldn't face going to racquetball again on Friday, but felt I couldn't cancel twice in one week so I forced myself to go.  Mistake!  I was so miserable!  But I think Friday was finally the turning point.

Lunch on Temple Square

Saturday we had the family wienie roast and Easter egg hunt.  Jenny said that Christian could stay with me afterward for a special birthday treat, so once everyone was gone, we watched the Black Stallion, then went and got McDonald's and took it to Highland Park behind Lone Peak High School.  There is a lake there where you can fish and swim, as well as trails, a playground, eating places, etc.  He had a fun time wading and playing in the water.  Lori, Cody, and Ari came and joined us and Chris and Ari had fun on the playground together.  He wanted to sleep on the Love Sac that night but only lasted until about 3 a.m. when he had a nightmare and came and crawled in with me instead.  So sweet!  We went up to Heber together this morning and I went to Church with Jenny's family and then had Easter dinner with them.  Jer still hadn't found his Easter basket so he bribed me to help him and we finally found it.  Good day!

Nathan hunting for eggs with his pretty pink basket.

Micah is so good with the kids!

Laying on the ground, looking up at the sun with my boys.

 

 

He had to wear one of my tshirts to bed...

Celebrating Easter AND Chris' birthday!

Back to the Grindstone

I usually do a pretty good job adjusting to time zones, and this trip was no exception.  Of course, it helped that my flight was late taking off on Tuesday (we sat for two hours on the tarmac and at the gate), Delta had changed my flight previously so I had less layover time, missed my connecting flight in Seattle (I had the plane row to myself again from Heathrow, YAY!), had to stay overnight in a hotel there at the airlines expense, and missed an extra day of work on Wednesday since I flew home then instead.  Lori was nice enough to pick me up from the airport, and I had time to do laundry, get caught up on some home things, and go to bed early so I was well-rested and ready for work on Thursday.  I did so well preparing my work ahead of the trip though, that I wasn't swamped at all on my return and had regular work days!  Bonus?  My boss knew how sick I was on the trip and said that even though this was a scheduled trip, I could take some sick days instead of vacation.  Sweet!

Friday I finally felt like I could face racquetball again and played with Amy instead of Melissa so I could ease my way back into it.  She made me fried ice cream afterward and we watched a movie.  I could feel my cold start to come back a bit, but since I am at two weeks with it now, that can't be...right?  Something else that is nice?  I wrote a letter of complaint to Delta about everything that went wrong during my return, all their fault, and they gave me 20,000 SkyMiles as a bonus to apologize.  Since I already have over 10,000 SkyMiles plus a round trip flight to Florida coming up, I've got another free flight anywhere domestically, and possibly even to somewhere internationally again!

NOW I Remember Why I Love London...

Another early start to the day on Saturday to drop MaryAnn and Margaret off at the airport, then I headed directly to Nottinghill to hit Saturday's market on Portobello Road.  They were in the final stages of setting the booths up (I was pretty early...), but it was still fun to walk along and see everything.  Afterward, I HAD to go back to the hotel to take a nap.  I'd had one too many late nights and early mornings AND a cold.  Once I was rested, I took the tube down to Wimbledon to meet up with an old friend from the Brittania Ward, Andi Herriott, and met his wife and baby.  We went out to eat together and all had a good chat.  Then I raced back up to the Hyde Park chapel to watch some of the General Conference broadcast, and then raced again over to Trafalgar Square where I met up with Darrin Johnson for a concert of Handel, Bach, and Vivaldi at the St. Martin's in the Field Church, after which we went to Cafe Rouge for dessert and a good talk.  I remember why I love London now!  Knowing where you're going, having a purpose and timing as you go, and not dragging people around with you means you can zip all over the place and see and experience so many more things!  So glad I stayed after all my friends left so I could remember that London really isn't as hard as it felt earlier in the trip.  I DO still love it!

Sariah Herriott

Andi Herriott

Darrin and me at the concert.

Outside Cafe Rouge for dessert. DELICIOUS salted caramel ice cream!

Sunday I finally got to sleep in!  I just had to make it to the Hyde Park Chapel by 1 p.m. so it was delightful.  I watched more of the General Conference broadcast, then went to the Victoria and Albert Museum between sessions.  At the second General Conference broadcast, I met up with another old friend, Richard Smith, and we chatted for a long time.  A young missionary walked by while we were sitting there and his last name was unusual and familiar, Koponen, so after he walked by again, I finally stopped him and asked if he is from Finland.  Turns out he is and is related to Timo Koponen, the one person in Finland that I know!  I emailed Timo directly afterward (he's the recorder at the Helsinki Finland Temple) and told him about meeting up with his nephew.  Turns out Timo also served in the Hyde Park ward years ago!  Richard walked me back to my hotel after.  It really is so conveniently located.  I need to rent in this area again the next time I come back to England!

Monday I decided to hit all of my old favorite places.  I started out early in the morning again in line for Wicked tickets once more.  Then I took a bus from there up to Regent's Park.  I overshot the mark a little and ended up having a nice walk through the St. Johns Wood area (unfortunately I forgot my flatmate, Kate Kinsel Ngai, lives there now so I didn't visit her) and then walked through Regent's Park and to the rose circle in Queen Mary's garden.  Too bad the roses weren't in bloom yet!  It was still beautiful, if a bit overcast.  Kate and I met up at the Victoria Apollo theatre for Wicked.  The girl who plays Glinda in the show, Savannah Stevenson, is LDS and was in the Brittania Ward with us.  She does a great job, and afterward, she had them let us in at the stage door and we went backstage to her dressing room and got to meet some of the actors.  We chilled for a bit with her and Elphaba before heading out.  Lets just say the fans were pretty disappointed when we walked out first instead of the shows main actors...  So funny!

Regent's Park

Oh Regent's Park how I love thee!

Flats outside of Regent's Park that I've always loved.

Sherlock or Elementary anyone?

At Wicked with my old flatmate, Kate.