Baby Will

hello!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog!

In a few days Jed and I are headed back to Cambridge for a week. We're also going to spend a few days in Copenhagen. We decided to go to Copenhagen b/c we really enjoyed our time in Stockholm and wanted to go back to Scandinavia. I love the the crisp air in Northern Europe, how the cities are on the water, the cycling culture, and the meats/cheese with a slice of bread for breakfast.

I'm also really excited about going back to Cambridge. I think that I'm actually feeling a little homesick for Cambridge and England. England is just so lovely. I remember all of the great runs that I did along the river Cam out to Grantchester and then along the river towards Waterbeach. Man, I was in such good running shape then! I'm hoping to run along the river a couple of times and also take my camera out along the river and get a few good pictures.

I'm also going to spend a few days in London. I'm really excited to go to Kew Gardens. I wasn't into gardening when I lived in the UK, so I'm glad that I get to go there now! I'm planning on planting a perennial shade garden, perennial sun garden, rose garden, so I'm hoping that I can get some ideas over there.

Santa brothers

Jed and I grew up 750 miles apart, but each Christmas morning we awoke to the same hand knit Santa stocking. Santa always brought lip balm, chocolate, socks, underwear, earrings, and a deck of cards.

Road Trip

I'm not going on a road trip, but Jed and our good friend from college and Jed's roomie for 3 years are in Scotland and Northern England for a couple of days. I think that they are having a fun time. Jed said that the drive up the A1 that goes along the coast of England is gorgeous. I went to Edinburgh in March 06, (have I been over here that long?!) to see Nickel Creek perform and to visit a friend who was studying abroad in Edinburgh. Right now the big festival is happening so I think that Jed and Colin will get a different taste of Edinburgh that I did. I bet that Jed will blog about it when he gets back.

I had my first wedding nightmare last night! I won't bore you with the details of the dream, but I thought that it was 3:20 when it was actually 4:20 and the wedding was supposed to start at 4:00. All of the guests were patiently waiting for the ceremony to start, but my hair was unwashed, up in a pony, and I was not in my dress. I wonder how many more nightmares I'll have before 29th December?

In other news, I'm back to work on Monday. Three more weeks and then my 3 plus years at CA is over.

I thought about going into London for the day, but I have a few things to do in Cambridge. I might though go and see the Simpsons movie tonight. I want to see it, but Jed doesn't have much interest. People have said that it's pretty funny, not great, but glad that they went.

Pictures site

Yesterday I went through some of my pictures and posted them to Picasa. If you click on the link "My pictures" on the right hand side, you'll be able to see them. Cool, huh?

My parents

My mom and dad came over last week and visited me for about a week. It was so good to see them and I think that they enjoyed seeing me and getting to know Jed more. We went punting one day and we also picked a place to have our wedding reception. Its' going to be at the Cambridge Garden House which is in walking distance of the chapel where we are getting married. The hotel is nice and it's going to be decorated for Christmas. We haven't decided what kind of food we are going to have, but it might an "English Christmas" themed dinner. I know that English food is thought to be bad, don't worry, we'll make sure that it tastes good.

Here's are two pictures of my parents on the River Cam.





Jed also had to move house last weekend. We are getting to be expert movers w.o using a moving company or even a car. Here's a silly picture of Jed wearing our friend's trench coat and "walking his chair" and carrying a lamp during the moving process.

Visitors

I don't do a very good job of keeping this blog updated. :(

My parents are coming over today. Actually they leave Atlanta tonight and will arrive in Cambridge mid-day tomorrow. We're planning to do a bit of wedding preparation, go punting, and see a concert at Kings. I can' wait to have them there. I'm also joining my church on Sunday and my parents are coming to that. Jed and I have a friend from Bowdoin coming over for about a week and a half starting Aug 7 or so. We'll probably take him punting too! We really do like to punt.

I think that I'm going to end my job on 31 Aug. That's when my visa expires. Should I apply for other jobs in case my Cambridge job falls through?

The band Uncle Earl is coming to the UK in the fall. Let's hope that I have a job and can buy a ticket!

The flooding over here is terrible. I'm not directly affected by it, but it's so sad to read about the situation in the papers.

Jed's computer is on the fritz. Ah!

Must do some tidying before my parents come.

garden

I can't really post b/c I'm at work, but Jed and I have decided that we're going to fix up our garden at 53 Selwyn Road. Jed and I dug a lot out a lot of weeds on Saturday night. I'll post some before and after pics next weekend. (That's when I'm getting Internet). Saturday was such a great day.

Congratulations, Jed!!

Congratulations to Jed, winner of the 2007-2008 Sidney Sussex Studentship!

this is my new idea

this

I think that I can do it if I start training now. I only want to do the half, not the full. I might convince Jed to do it w. me, but he'll probably only have to start training in early September.

Also, I went to Wimbledon yesterday! It was so much fun and very inspiring. I'll post more about it later. I don't have Internet at home (yet) so I haven't been able to post much recently.

Merlefest Live

I didn't get to go to Merlefest this year. I've actually never been to Merlefest, but I really want to go sometime. Anyway, I just realised that I can listen to the shows online!

Here's the link. Enjoy the great Tunes--check out the Infamous Stringdusters and Uncle Earl. I would say to check out Crooked Still, but I'm tired of them right now. I have yet to listen to the New Generation SuperJam, but I will tonight. I can't turn up the volume loud enough on my work computer to hear it in its full glory.


PS-skf, the book is called the Girls! I wish that I could let you borrow it!

a home!

Jed and I decided to rent the house on Selwyn Road. I'm moving in on Monday and Jed's moving in on December 30th. I feel like the only thing that I post about on this blog is where I'm living/not living. I'll post some pictures of it once I've moved in.

Commuting is going fine. I cycle to the rail station, 30 min. Wait for train, 10 min. It's always packed and you have to assert yourself in order to get a seat. The train ride is 1 hr. Then I take the Tube three stops and walk about 10 minutes to my office. Usually every trip something goes not exactly to plan. Example: I'm on the train and then an announcement comes on and says that we'll be delayed b/c a car has run into a bridge that we have to cross and engineers have to check it before we pass. Or--Baker Street is closed due to fire so I have to get off at Great Portland Street and take a bus. Or--it's raining like mad, not English rain, America rain, and I have to push my bike rather than cycle. (I'm still getting used to cycling).

Last week I read a novel that was written as an autobiography from 2 conjoined twins. Jed though that I was a little sick for reading a book like that, but I actually really enjoyed it. They had a great bond as sisters and completely took care of the other one. I know that it is really sad for people to live conjoined. I'll have to read some of the books that people suggested to me.

Americans are so funny

I went out to the big Sainsburys to get some light bulbs and on my way home I passed The American School in London. I knew that the American School was right around the corner, but I had never actually seen it. I felt that it was my duty as an American to see if before I left London. Anyway, the first thing that I heard when I walked by in a very American accent was "oh yeah, she was like...". The next phrase I heard was "like, yeah". I just laughed.

Tonight is my last night in this cute little flat. I'm going to miss London. There's so much that I haven't done here! Ah. I feel like the England chapter of my life is closing. It's not closing at all. It's just going to be different.

success!

I had a really productive weekend in Cambridge. I now have a place to live from late June until the end of September. This is great b/c it should give Jeddie and me enough time to find a place where we can both live come December. The room is in a nice family home in Newnham, the loveliest of the lovely places in Cambridge. The owner, just one woman lives there, is a medical doctor and she's going to South Africa and Indonesia for chunks of the summer. She needs someone to keep an eye on the house and tend the garden. She also has a 16 year old cat that needs to be fed. I'm a little nervous about the cat b/c it is so old. The rent is super cheap which is great b/c daily train tickets from Cambridge to London are not super cheap.

Also... I bought a bike. Now I can cycle all around Cambridge. It came with a lock, lights, and mud guards. I just have to fit it with a basket. I want a wicker, not metal basket. I also bought a helmet that has very small Chinese characters on it. You can't really see that it's Chinese writing unless you look closely. I'm not sure what it says.

Jed was a huge help in moving all of my stuff to Cambridge. He has welts on his shoulders from carrying a HUGE duffel bag on his back. We (Jed) only have to move that bag 2 more times this summer. Jed is also being really sweet and letting all of my stuff invade his room.

I'm going to be a commuter

It looks like I'll be commuting from Cambridge to London for the next two plus months. Does anyone (all 3 people who read this blog?) have suggestions of books that I should read on the train?

moving

I feel like I move every six months. Here is where I've lived since College graduation: (almost exactly 3 years ago!)

1. 316 (or something) C Street, Cambridge June 04-Aug 04
2. 248 S Street, Somerville, Sept 04-Aug 05
3. 32 I Street, Cambridge Sept 05- Dec 05
4. 11c C, London, Jan 06-Aug 06
5. 33 B Ct. London, Sept 06-May 07

I don't know where I'm living next. A family from church has said that I can stay with them for a couple weeks and I'm going to do that. I also have a couple of rooms in Cambridge, (england this time) that I might let. I'm meeting two people on Saturday. We decided that the nice apt. was too nice for us. I still don't know if secondment will work. The lawyers initially said no, but I think that's b/c HR didn't explain the situation well. I'm getting a bit fed up that it's taking so long for HR to answer a simple question. I'll commute from Cambridge to London for a bit. That's okay--not at all the end of the world.

Every time I move I just pack up my stuff and get someone to help me. Every time I've move either my parents or Jed have helped me move. Well, from flat 2 to flat 3 I moved w. my roommate and a friend. I try not to have a lot of stuff and do a good clean out each time I move.

Ah, I'm accompany a client alone to a manager meeting. It's a mid-market/growth equity London based manager. It should be interesting. I need to think of good questions to ask.

Here's a link to a good youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48B4dgHHp4

Saturday Morning

This morning I woke up to a brass band playing. It's the start of the cricket season at Lord's and they are having a game/match(?) today. It's the first time that the stadium has been full since I moved here. Cricket is one game that I still don't understand and I don't have much interest in understanding. People don't really cheer at Cricket games. I've been sitting with my window open for about 40 min. and I've only heard one polite 4 sec clap from the crowd. Not like the footy.

The stands are full here. Sorry that the trees take up so much of the picture.




I'm headed up to Cambridge in a couple of hours. I need to return a video before catching the train. We actually watched Borat the other weekend. I know, I know. I spent the morning tidying my flat. I had worked some long hours this week and it got dirty in the process. I'm going to go running in Regents Park in a little bit.

Not much else is happening here. Still no definitive word on the secondment idea. I do have a good lead on a place to live in Cambridge. It's actually in Newnham which is a really green area of Cambridge. It backs up to sporting grounds which back up to the meadows and the river. It would be a 20 min. walk for me to go to work and it's also close for Jeddie to walk to the UL or the Classics Faculty. I've yet to see the inside, but the desciption sounds charming. We'll see. I also likely have a place to live post 6 June in London. I'm not worried about being homeless. I'm also just trying to be really patient about not knowing the outcome of the secondment.

I'm sure that JEd will give you a full rundown of the conference on his blog, but the first day went really well. People kept telling him that his paper was excellent! Yeah!! :)

Wedding

I'm realising that I need to start planning our wedding. So far we have the chapel and the reception place booked, but that's it! Oh, we also have someone to play the organ and conduct the ceremony. Oh, and I have our marriage license application from the Archbishop of Canterbury. I never thought that they would legalize and bless my wedding! I keep telling myself that I'm going to wait until I move up to Cambridge to start planning, but now I don't really know when I'm going to move up there. I think that I'm going to start my master list tonight. I've been making one in my head, but that's not enough.

Here's a picture of the exterior and interior of chapel where we're getting married. The chapel will have a Christmas tree up b/c we are getting married at Christmas time and we'll also put up white candles along the side. I think that it will be really pretty.

visa issues

As my faithful readers know, I'm in the middle of trying to get a new job in country that is not my home country. It's likely to be a 2.5 month project before I get my Visa approved by the Queen. It's a bit of a hiccup, but I am reminding myself that in the scheme of things it is not a big deal. I have so much to be thankful for. I don't need to dwell on this.

Jed is giving a 40 min. paper at Oxford this Friday. I'm really excited for him b/c it's good practice to give papers and he will get to meet the leading ancient philosophers in England. We went shopping this weekend to get Jed a new shirt and tie to wear. I was successful at convincing him to buy a pink tie. Doesn't he look handsome? It was a great deal--shirt and tie for only 35 sterling.




I only worked 2 days last week so this week will be pretty busy. I need to be really productive at work.

Lugano

I'm back from 2 days in Switzerland. The meeting was WAY better than I had anticipated. I made friends and even met some people who are notorious in the private equity world.

Ah, here are a couple of pictures. THe first is a view from my hotel room, the second is the view from a vineyard where we had dinner. The fourth picture is a close of view of Lake Lugano. The last is a tram that takes people to their homes that are on the mountain. Ah. blogger won't let me post right now. I'll try tomorrow. Plus it is late and I'm super tired.


Oh, I do not recommend visiting salami factories. It is so gross to see mass produced raw meat. The butchers at this company train for 2-3 years and they really take pride in their work. Annual turnover is approx. 3% and jobs are often passed from father to son. The factory smelled like a mix of salami and ant-bacterial kitchen cleaner. Also, if there is anything more disgusting than watching the production of salami, it's the production of bologne.