i LOVE my church!!

italy...an overview

Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. Wow...good times!

Since there are a few folks chomping at the bits for pictures, I'll get that part out of the way, and save the good stories for the next few days.

First...Rome.
Rome is wonderful...truly amazing that so much has survived. But every step you take feels like you're walking past some amazing bit of history, and you just don't know it. I've already forgotten a large percentage of the things I learned while I was there (as is evident by my sparse commentary to the pictures). It's so full of history that it overwhelms me...and amazingly, you actually tire of seeing "another really old something". Strange, that. I definitely recommend going, but any trip (at any part of the year) needs to be planned well, as it's ALWAYS full of tourists, and lines can be so long it's just silly.

Next...Florence, Pisa and Venice.
Florence is my favorite, but that's only because I like spending money there. Venice would be my favorite if I had been travelling with a boy I get to kiss. Pisa is just a quick day-trip from Florence, and you can see all you need to see in less than 4 hours. But it's worth going just to get that obligatory "I'm-holding-up-the-tower" picture.

Um...do I sound like I want to be Rick Steve's next personal assistant, or is it just me?

when in Rome...

I'm keenly aware of the fact that, shortly after SWM gave me (and my good friend Laurie) props for having good blogs, I promplty dropped the proverbial blogging ball.

Before anyone else (namely SWM) has a chance to point out that fact, and in my defense, I'd like to offer a few pre-emptive points:

1. Good blogging takes time and energy, which are two things I have been short on since the aforementioned SWM prop-giving, partly because
2. I had a visitor last week, and
3. I was out of town for a few days. However,
4. it's not going to get much better for at least another week because
5. I'm leaving tomorrow to traipse around a few Italian towns for the next 10 days, and
6. even though I'm sure they have Internet Cafes readily available, they are (shockingly) not at the top of my "must see" list, and
7. if I should happen to experience any earth-shattering events while I'm there (such as falling in love with a fabulous Italian man),
8. I won't be taking the necessary time out of that whole thing just to tell YOU people about it, when
9. we ALL know the first thing I'll do is blog about it when I get home.

Yeah...so it's clearly not as eternally significant as the group of folks heading off to Cuba on Saturday (my prayers are with you guys)...but it IS Italy.

better late than never!

The irony is that when Danny and Steff and Basim were here, I laughed harder than I have in AGES...and it's taken me way too long to get these pictures posted.

Good times were had by all!

oh happy day

My little London suburbian town (Woking) is officially ON THE MAP.

best friends

I'm blessed. I feel like one of the fortunate souls running around this world that knows there are more people than I can count on my fingers and toes that truly love me. Family, friends, even co-workers. I don't think there are many people that can say that with confidence. I know it's none of my own doing...it's a blessing of God. Each of these loves is so very different...even one family member's love is different from another. And friends are the same.

Most of us probably have close friends that are in our current, immediate and daily life. Most of us also have life-long, or historical friends, that may not live nearby, but will never be far from our hearts. Somewhere, among one of those kinds of friends, is your best friend. I'm jealous of those of you whose best friend is still a pat of your immediate and daily life...in the same city, knowing the rest of your current circle.

I was never really big on that "best friend" label...or the whole BFF thing. But somewhere along the way I realized that I was going to be friends with my best friend for life, really. Nobody will ever be able to replace or match the history we have together...years of inside jokes, tears shed, and laughing so hard you can't breathe anymore. A few come close, and you bring them into the fold of life-long friends...but I think there's only ever one best friend.

My best friend lives something like 6 time zones away from me. Short of seeing each other almost daily, I'll always maintain that we don't get enough time together...but for being on two different continents, we do a pretty good job. It was one of those friendships that you just know was ordained before the dawn of time (well, let's not get into the theology of that)...it was at least one of the reasons I ended up at the University of Houston (instead of Austin or College Station), part of the reason I mustered the courage to spend 6 months studying in France with a bunch of people I never met (including the Americans), and so many other things. We've known each other long enough to know each other's habits, patterns of thought, and points of utter stupidity when it comes to certain points of our logic...and yet we sharpen each other every time we talk or get to spend time together. When she has moments of chaos, I'm the rock...and vice versa. She tells me when I'm a b*tch (and frankly, few others have been willing to do the same), and vice versa.

She's the first person I want to call when I've got fabulous news or when I think I might be about to lose my mind with worry or frustration or any number of life's quandaries. She doesn't get a lot of press in this forum, not that many do by name...but neither does my spine...and it's a hugely important part of my life. Without it, I'd be a limp noodle. Without Steff, I'd be the same.

I hope that you have a best friend too. They're, well...the best.

is love enough?

Two recent 'daily thoughts' from John Stott's ministry:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 1 - Faith and Love.
"Faith and love are signs of new birth (1 Jn. 5:1; 4:7). They are also commands. Some people object that faith and love are not amenable to discipline and are beyond the reach of any command. How can you tell me, they ask, to believe what I do not believe or love whom I do not love? The answer to this question lies in the nature of Christian faith and love. It is when faith is regarded as an intuition and love as an emotion that they appear to lie beyond the sphere of duty. But Christian faith is an obedient response to God's self-revelation in Christ. This revelation has a moral content. If people hate the light, it is because their deeds are evil (Jn. 3:19-21)...Similarly, Christian love belongs rather to the sphere of action than of emotion. It is not an involuntary, uncontrollable passion, but unselfish service undertaken by deliberate choice."

May 2 - A Sign of Authenticity.
"Love is as much a sign of Christian authenticity as is righteousness."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the proper definition of love, the May 2 statement becomes rather thought-provoking.

I'm not sure I'm ready to jump on board 100%, but it does speak to the frustration that many Christians feel with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who do not share either the same personal convictions or non-essential doctrinal beliefs.



Quotes taken from "The Letters of John" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries" rev. edn. Leicester: IVP, 1988), p. 164, 209. Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 219, by permission of InterVarsity Press.

maybe i should take a modeling class

In the last few years, I have embraced the fact that I have been "blessed" with the "Vaughan Family Curse" (shout out to all my mom's ancestors). This means, of course, that I have to also admit that I wasn't adopted (which is what I like to tease my mom about, but that's a whole other story).

The curse - which affects the lower lip - is present only in the women of the clan, and some are more affected than others. For example, there are some women who have been given the life-long enjoyment of a quirky (yet clearly cute) and slightly crooked bottom lip at all times. Others of us, myself included, only have fleeting moments of evidence. For example, the curse is most evident in me when I smile too big, which I seem to have a habit of doing quite a lot.

I'd like to think it's because I'm such a happy person (which I am), but I really think I just need professional help. I'm sure there's some modeling-world genius out there who can teach me to smile well, without looking like I just had a stroke! Note example below (click on the picture for a better view).



I mean, honestly...if anyone in this picture showed it to someone who doesn't know me, I think the first comment would be "Who's the stroke victim?" And, if, because this is a public site, somebody did a Google image search for "stroke victim", I'm sure this would be one of the photos that came up, and some random stranger would be thinking "How sweet for all those beautiful people to take that stroke victim girl out for dinner."

Mind you, I think it's a little bit endearing and cute, but I'd prefer that it didn't show up in 90% of the pictures that are ever taken of me. Management...that's what I need...management skills. All I want is to be able to "dial it down" without the assistance of a mirror...and that requires some training. You know, like that Friends episode where Joey tries to teach Chandler how to smile for his engagement pictures with Monica - "Look down...look down...look up!"

ah, the joys of home

LB. catha. paige. brandi. mom. dad. heather. micah. kristen. chad. greg. susan. tiff. michael. mike. carol. susannah. steven. todd. laurie. beth. dinah. robb. erika.

murray easter. reasonably-priced massages. nails and toes. mike's car. buying in dollars. the galleria. tj maxx. DSW. the saucer. section 108. lance. morgan. craig. adam.

central market. jose's dip. cheese enchiladas. american beef. free ice cream at jason's deli. the chocolate bar.

and last, but DEFINITELY not least:

he's off the hook

Since, in His infinite Wisdom, God ordained that some sweet soul would invent my beloved night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so-I-can-rest medicine (aka NyQuil)...I think Mr. 44 is off the hook.

I'm by no means ready for a marathon (or a half-marathon for that matter), but I am feeling better.

Now, what's funny (strange and a little haha) is that I'm a little bit miffed that I don't have this excuse to be mad at my neighbor. I guess I wanted a 'legitimate' excuse to think meanly about him (actually, I think it's technically 'them', but I freely assume that the man is the one who pulled the parking faux pas). How horrible is THAT? [Yes, I know the "freely assume...man" bit is a whole other can of worms.]

Maybe what I should do is bake them some cookies when I come back from Houston and take them over and introduce myself. I'm sure all the door slamming and general loudness would be a lot less annoying (and frequent, even) if we had some sort of neighborly relationship which actually made them stop and think "Hey, I bet Dovie is asleep...we should be quiet in the hall!" or opened the door, so to speak, to a friendly "Hey...could you try and not slam the door at 2am on a Saturday night?" or "Hey...would you mind moving your car into its parking spot so I can get mine out?"

This is where I prove all of you who think I'm an extrovert wrong. The only reason I haven't done this before is that THEY ARE STRANGERS! The idea of proactive relationship development with strangers I'm not even sure I want to know TOTALLY WEARS ME OUT...and it even STRESSES ME OUT. See...told you I'm an introvert!

grr!!

I'm feeling slightly less than fabulous today, and if I DO catch a cold just in time to be MISERABLE on the flight back to Houston, I'm going to...just...well, I'm going to have REALLY MEAN THOUGHTS about Mr. 44.

So, I'm about as loaded up on OTC meds as one can be without being in danger of over-dosing, and I'm going to take it e-a-s-y today...I think if someone gave me an indian name today it would be "wanders in a daze" because I just feel so loopy!

Or maybe it would be "prays for a strong immune system", but somehow I don't think that one quite has the right ring to it.

parking garage mores

Normally, I drive to the gym. This is mostly due to realizing that I seem to be particularly susceptible to weather-related colds and such. In the winter months, even the 10 minute walk home is like running the gauntlet of poor health (especially when I’ve just spent the last hour or so working up a pretty good ‘glisten’).

On Sunday afternoon, when I went down to the basement to hop in the car and point it in the direction of Peak Fitness, I was greeted with a fairly annoying sight – my neighbour, who lives in flat #44, had blocked me in (#45) with his car! See Figure 1.



The first thing I thought of (no, it wasn’t to key his car!) was to wait around and see how long it took for him to come back and have a little chat with him about parking garage mores. But, after 2 minutes of waiting, I thought, “Forget this. It's nice out today...I’m going to walk to the gym,” so off I went, and 12 minutes later was happily installed on my favorite treadmill.

A little over an hour later, I emerged from the gym to POURING DOWN RAIN. So there really is something to that whole “April Showers…” thing. Lovely.

After waiting around for 5 minutes, I thought “Forget this…I’ll just jog to the train station, walk through the subway, and jog the rest of the way home. It will be over in less than 10 minutes.” And so it went. Only, once I emerged from the pedestrian subway on the other side of the train station, I realized it was now SLEET that I was being pelted with as I scurried home. Seriously! And it’s APRIL!

The next time Mr. 44 blocks me in…it’s going to get ugly.

just when you think you've seen it all...

...somebody proves you wrong with something like this.

Who BUYS stuff like that??

i loathe me

At one of his weekly tea-parties somebody asked Simeon:(1) 'What, Sir, do you consider the principal mark of regeneration?' It was a probing question. With the current popularity of the 'born-again movement', one wonders how the average evangelical believer would reply today. This was Simeon's answer: 'the very first and indispensable sign is self-loathing and abhorrence. Nothing short of this can be admitted as an evidence of a real change ... I want to see more of this humble, contrite, broken spirit amongst us. It is the very spirit that belongs to self-condemned sinners ... This sitting in the dust is most pleasing to God ... give me to be with a broken-hearted Christian, and I prefer his society to that of all the rest ... Were I now addressing to you my dying words, I should say nothing else but what I have just said. Try to live in this spirit of self-abhorrence, and let it habitually mark your life and conduct.'(2)

'Self-loathing', 'self-condemnation', 'self-abhorrence'. The words grate on modem ears. The contemporary craze is for a bigger and better self-image. We are exhorted on all sides to love ourselves, forgive ourselves, respect ourselves, assert ourselves. And to be sure, as in all heresies, there are a few grains of truth in this one. For we should gratefully affirm ourselves as creatures made in the image of God, and as children of God redeemed by Christ and indwelt by his Spirit. In this mercy of God our Creator and Saviour we are to rejoice greatly, and there is much exhortation to such joy in Simeon's sermons.

But to rejoice in God is one thing; to rejoice in ourselves is another. Self-congratulation and the worship of God are mutually incompatible. Those who have a high view of themselves always have a correspondingly low view of God.

Notes:

1. Charles Simeon (1758-1836) Minister of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, 1783-1836.
2. Quoted in William Carus (editor), "Memoirs of the Life of the Reverend Charles Simeon", London 1848. pp. 651f.

--From Introduction to "Evangelical Preaching" (Sermons of Charles Simeon) (Portland: Multnomah, 1986), p. xxxix.

Go 'Stros!

My boys started the season off well, and I'm beaming with joy this morning. You can read Alyson Footer's story here. I still have major episodes of jealousy about her job.

I have no joint ownership agreement with Drayton, but still lovingly refer to the team collectively as "my boys", although most who have ever attended a game with me know that, in singular reference, only Lance is really "my boy" and the only one for whom I whoop and holler like a proper redneck...because he LOVES baseball, and (oh, by the way) he's REALLY GOOD AT IT!

eat-walking...

...not to be confused with sleep-walking. Also nothing like "whistling while you work", because that would be complicated and would just get messy.

Eat-walking is a phenomenon I have see elsewhere, but it seems quite prevalent here in the UK. I see it everywhere I go, not just in London. And this weekend, it happened to me.

I went in to do a little shopping, and was trying to hit as many shops as possible before they all started closing down. There's this great little Mediterranean food walk-up vendor about halfway down Oxford Street from Oxford Circus to Marble Arch...so I knew all day where I was going to grub, but then I realized that the streets were packed as much as (if not more so than) at Christmas...and if I wasn't going to take a load off and have a seat, why stand around just eating?

So I'm outing myself...I did it. I went eat-walking. And somehow it made me feel a little bit like a real local, rather than a temporary local. Mind you, it's not my preferred eating style, but when the food is eat-walking-friendly, why not?

why can't we all just get along?

So, it was "Spring Forward Sunday" this past weekend in the UK. The time change doesn't occur in the States until this coming weekend.

Now, it wouldn't be much of an issue for me if that were all I had to worry about, but (during working hours, at least) I'm going to need to consult this site almost daily through April to be sure I've got the right time noted for people around the world.

Seriously...I think we just need to drop the whole thing. Can't we all just pick a time and stick with it!??

i got caught

So...the lift in my block of flats that takes me down to the basement is lined on one full wall with mirrors. I have no idea why this is the case. However, it often affords me one last check on how the cute factor is rating when I'm headed out to greet the public.

Yesterday, I had to run an errand that required transport via Stella...so I was heading down, doing my normal check...and was feeling pretty cute, actually. So I gave myself a little wink. And then I thought "Hey...I'm better at the wink than I thought I was" (it used to involve my whole face, now it's really a lot more like a wink). So I did it again, and was cracking myself up in there...and then it happened.

I had reached the basement a lot more quickly than I realized, and as the door opened, some unknown and totally HOT guy was standing there watching me. NIGHTMARE!

Now, why, I ask, does Providence allow for things like this to happen? I mean...I NEVER see anyone in the lifts, so why, on this particular day when I'm being a complete idiot, do I have to "meet" the hottest guy who lives in my building and want to curl up in the fetal position in horror? It just ain't right, people!

heehaw

Through the ever-educational medium of "spell-check", I learned today that "heehaw" is much more than my grandparents' favorite 80s television show.

It is, in fact, a legitimate word:

hee·haw (n.)

1. The braying sound made by a donkey.
2. Informal. A noisy laugh; a guffaw.
   
   

hee·haw (intr.v.) hee·hawed, hee·haw·ing, hee·haws

1. To bray.
2. Informal. To guffaw.

How fun is THAT?

on record in Paris and Dublin

Another round of friends visiting...another trip full of "trip phrases" and inside jokes that only the ones who were here will ever fully "get"! Oh, the hardships of expatriate (thanks, Mike!) living!

Susan, Debbie and Paige were here for an extended weekend in London, and then we left for a few days in Paris, followed by a few days in Dublin to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

As much as we all know I love Scotland, I have to admit that St. Patty's in Dublin was full of a lot more "local flavor" than New Year's Eve in Edinburgh. It's now abundantly clear to me that everyone should visit Ireland at least once in their life, and I'm already considering booking for next year's festivities!

If you're into the pictures, check these out. (They look best when viewed as a "Slideshow".)

and now for a word from our sponsor

We here at The Proverbial Record do sincerely apologize for any disruption to your preferred leisure reading activities caused by the Record Keeper's recent (and unannounced) vacation.

We would like to report that the Record Keeper has returned to headquarters and will resume her stated duties effective immediately.

A proper posting to this service is expected to occur within 24 hours, but we reserve the right to allow the Record Keeper to ease back into her role comfortably, and do not wish to cause her any undue stress (although we are sure her readers are a bit more than impatient to hear about her recent adventures in Paris and Dublin).

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

The Management

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #5

Today's topic: legacy

legacy (n): Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.

I guess we all leave a legacy one way or another, so the thing in question is what kind of legacy we will leave. There are some people whose life work is to leave a legacy of their name or fame. Others a legacy of riches for their family or even their favorite charity or academic society. The list is endless.

Me? I want to leave a legacy of love. I don't care if people remember my name, or if they know who I loved, or even that I was bent on leaving such a legacy. I just want to leave a greater sense of love impressed in the lives of those I've known, such that their lives are more full of it, and it overflows from them onto others.

I had the humbling opportunity to speak at my grandfather's funeral a few years ago, and the only thing I could really say about him was that this is exactly what he did. I talked about a few different areas of his life where love was most evident...and how that love had been passed on to those he'd left behind. I'm SURE that most people have long forgotten the specifics of any stories I told, but my hope was that they would walk away thinking about what kind of legacy they want to leave...and that's what happened to me in the process. Many people will never know the love my grandfather had, they won't know his name or what he did for a living. But if anyone sees love in me...they've seen a little bit of him.

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #4

Today's topic: sincerity

sincere (adj)

1. Not feigned or affected; genuine: sincere indignation.
2. Being without hypocrisy or pretense; true: a sincere friend.
3. Archaic. Pure; unadulterated.

It may seem like this one 'goes without saying', but I think it's important to call to notice. None of the qualities I've pointed out over the week really matter if they're not coupled with sincerity. There are far too many people in this world who recognize that others value these sort of characteristics...and the world is FULL of actors (they're not just confined to Hollywood or NYC). Sure, most of the time, you can recognize the 'actors' from the real thing, but this usually comes with time.

I won't elaborate, as I think it's sufficient to point it out for the sake of pause...and all I'm really saying is that whatever you are, do, say, think: just mean it.

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #3

Today's topic: Thankfulness

thankful (adj.)

1. Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful.
2. Expressive of gratitude: a thankful smile.

Now, this might seem a trite quality, put next to the humility and diplomacy I've been talking about over the last two days. However, I think it is vitally important!

Obviously, the key here is to EXPRESS our gratitude. To FEEL thankful is not necessarily to BE thankful. When people express their gratitude, it breaks down walls (whether they be between strangers or friends or even family members), it opens up communication. Thankfulness builds relationship.

If I'm thankful only in my heart, the person who washed my coffee cup at the office will never know...and I may have stifled all sorts of unrealized possibilities for that relationship. Maybe she will think I'm assumptive, and decide to wash it again to see if I just missed her gesture, or if I'm really that much of a snob. And then, when I keep my thankful feeling to myself, I have confirmed her suspicion. Now she'll never wash my coffee cup again, and that relationship is (possibly) in a questionable state. Well, maybe I didn't know who washed my cup. Sure. That's fair, but I can chat it up in the kitchen with others..."Somebody keeps washing my coffee cup for me...that is just so nice!" and possibly the do-gooder will come forward or be named by someone else, and can then be properly thanked. That means a lot to people. More than they even realize, I'd bet.

This may seem like a ridiculous example, but I don't think so. I believe it's all about the details...the little things in life really do matter. And I'm sure we can all apply the same idea to all sorts of other daily situations.

Incidentally, I find that my joy or delight over something isn't really complete until it's been expressed...another major argument for getting that thankfulness out there!

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #2

Today's topic: humility

humility (n) - a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride.

humble (adj) -

1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.
2. Showing deferential or submissive respect: a humble apology.
3. Low in rank, quality, or station; unpretentious or lowly: a humble cottage.

"I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." -Helen Keller

(Now, there's a great advertisement for pursuing excellence in everything we do...for "working as unto the Lord" as Paul says.)

The reason a humble spirit is so striking is because it takes effort to achieve it...it's not a natural state for the human condition. To truly put off pride also requires that we embrace, or put on humility.

I love the way Spurgeon says it...he defined humility as, "(making) a right estimate of one’s self." And let's be honest, shall we? If it weren't for God's involvement in my life, I'd NEVER have a right estimate of myself!

sidebar: "bad rap"

Now, is it:

"bad rap", "bad rep", or "bad wrap" ?

I can see an argument for all of the above, actually...but I'm wondering what the proper saying is, colloquially speaking.

(And I'm almost certain it's not "bad wrap".)

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #1

I've been thinking a lot about what I value in my fellow peoplekind...thought I'd write a bit about a few things that have struck me in days/weeks/months gone by...

Fingers crossed, I'll make it to #5 by Friday.

Today's topic: Diplomacy

I think this word gets a bad rap...but it's such a wonderful quality to have, in sincerity. Most people would use 'tact' in it's place. Either is essentially at the heart of denoting "the ability to deal with others with skill, sensitivity, and finesse", but there are slight differences. Tact implies propriety and the ability to speak or act unoffensively, whereas diplomacy goes a bit further and implies adroit management of difficult situations. I like the additional connotation implied with diplomacy.

And here's why: we are such a conflict-avoidant society that we have grown far apart from our neighbors and loved ones and tend to just 'call it off' in relationships when we face even a reasonable amount conflict. I think we'd all be MUCH better off if we could learn to sharpen each other with gentle-but-poignant words instead of the more-often-seen extremes of either 'the silent treatment' or just being downright MEAN to each other.

I'd have to say that I don't know too many people that fall to either extreme, but I only know a few who I'd say have a very good grasp on this little word. I submit that Don Munton and Catha Duck possess this quality in abundance. Some would say it's because of their jobs...but I think it's a quality for the masses.

who tears up over WORK?

Last week was rough. In a good way. We had a new employee start as our admin/receptionist…and it’s been a while since I had this kind of support, or someone to look after, so it’s taking a bit of adjustment to make sure she has enough to do, understands what needs to be done, etc.

In addition to that, we had a ‘team-building’ meeting on Thursday/Friday. I’ll spare you the details, but will just say that it was VERY important to me that it go well and that everyone there walked away feeling like they had invested the time there rather than spent it. Turns out…it DID go really well, and I think many of our folks were surprised by how it came together.

As things were winding down, the meeting facilitator asked us all to share something positive that we are each taking away from the meeting…and EVERYONE had really sincere and meaningful positive feedback to give. Then, as our leader was making some closing comments, he said “I think that in six months, we’ll be able to look back on this meeting and say it was a pivotal moment for this team.” That was all it took.

It was all I could do to keep the tears from slipping down my cheeks! I’m not sure why it strikes me as odd that I’m so passionate about my job. I guess I get concerned that it might become my ‘idol’ or the place where I find my significance…but I really don’t think it is. And here’s why: I’d drop it ALL in a HEARTBEAT for the whole “husband, kids, white picket fence” thing…and I share the dream of chucking it all for seminary with a few very good friends, but that’s not where God has me right now.

So, since I believe that I should pursue whatever path God sets me on with passion…I have a deep passion for my job. I think it’s a special company, and I know God put me there (believe me, that’s a whole story in and of itself), and I feel like I’m getting a unique opportunity to play a part in a MAJOR change as it grows from a home-town success to a multi-national competitor in the market. This is SO not who I would have thought God chose me to be…even if it is only for a season.

Now, I’m sure most of the people reading this don’t tear up over their jobs…especially the guys…but I’m sure everyone has a story about unexpected passion that you KNOW God has planted in your heart for something ‘non-spiritual’.

proof

This was the view of the back seat (Basim's side) from the front passenger seat on that trip from the airport I posted about a few days ago.

See, people...I don't lie!!

"speaking of me being right!"

So, I have a few guy friends who I who I would put in the category of "UBERsmart" (either in various or highly technical topics). I'm in a constant competition to 'beat them' at something...I mean, it's just SO gratifying to actually KNOW something they don't, or catch them in a rare 'brain fog' storm. I don't think they know that I'm always looking for a chance to be right about something. It's not really that I WANT them to be wrong, per se...it's just that I enjoy the feeling of being right once in a blue moon. Surely that makes sense to someone out there!

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with one of these guys recently (he's a doctor...pretty smart guy), and somehow I managed to beat him in a bit of MEDICAL trivia. Let me just say that it was a EUPHORIC moment...and I still enjoy it. Unfortunately, the only possible witness of this event would be one of the Starbucks baristas, but I don't think they were paying attention to us.

Last week, two more of the aforementioned guys were visiting me in London (along with my best friend, so this time I had a witness)...and some similar situation occurred, and in the midst of my selfish and verbal enjoyment...I blurted out something like "SPEAKING of me being right..." which I planned to immediately follow up with the story above...but that's about as far as I got, because we all absolutely LOST IT laughing about how utterly arrogant it sounded!

Truly, I was just trying to bask in my few joys in that area...but honestly, I really sounded like the biggest snob in the known universe! For the rest of the week, anytime any one of us wanted a good laugh, we just blurted out "SPEAKING of me being right..." and we were all done for.

In case anyone's wondering...this is one of the episodes BOTSO is talking about on his recent post. I can't remember most of the others...but they were similarly funny.

over-loading stella

So...to those of you out there who are actually CRAVING content from my little corner of the Internet, a very sincere apology for the 'radio silence' the past few days. In my defense, it hasn't been without reason.

• Feb 09 was spent in massive house-cleaning efforts in preparation for my current visitors.
• Feb 10 was spent with some new local friends playing pub Scrabble (more on that in an upcoming post).
• Feb 11 was spent on the M25, picking up my visitors.
• Feb 12 was spent with said visitors.
• Feb 13-14 were spent in Aberdeen, sans Internet connectivity.
• And suddenly here we are a Feb 15!

ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand. Stella. My poor little Nissan Micra. You can see that she's not very big from the example below (think Mini Cooper, but smaller on the inside, and note that my Stella is NOT blue).

On Saturday, I picked up Basim (and his two bags) at Gatwick and then we headed immediately to Heathrow to pick up Danny and Steffanie (and their 5 bags). So, for the ride home, Stella was carting:

• 4 adults
• 1 very large suitcase
• 2 medium suitcases
• 1 large duffel bag
• 2 backpacks
• 1 VERY large 'handbag'

The phrase that should come to mind here is: "packed in like sardines". Let me just say that EVERY person in the car (except me) had a bag either under their feet or in their lap or both. AND everyone got to participate in the 'driving' effort because I could not see anything but luggage in the rear-view mirror nor the side windows.

I'm SURE this is what we looked like:



Don't even try to tell yourself that I'm just exaggerating...people were actually pointing and laughing as they passed us on the M25. And yes, THEY were mostly passing US, because Stella's little heart could barely handle the strain and we were in the GRANNY LANE!!!

for dennis

INTJ

Until recently, I tested as an INFJ. I was always borderline F/J, but the last time I took the test...the results were inTj for the first time. I wrestled with this result, because although I felt like a 'typical girl' when I was testing as an F, suddenly...I felt very UNFEELING to test as a T. (How typically girly of me, right?)

(For the record...most women test as an F.)

After much discussion with the facilitator of this particular installment of the test, I conceded that I am, in fact, a T. I'm still borderline, but most of my DAILY decisions are made from a position of logic rather than feeling. I still can't help but feel a bit mean (somehow) for that...but I appreciate it at the same time.

However, what I have noticed is that although my preference is to do the logical thing, I *always* find myself thinking about how others will perceive the action...so I work to find the best way to do the logical thing and help people understand why it's the best thing, even though it may be hard to take (from a feelings perspective).

I think my cross-over to the J side (did anyone else hear Darth Vadar's voice just then?) has a lot to do with my friends and the people I have looked up to (many of them are Js, and even the ones that aren't have encouraged that part of me) AND working in corporate America (well...and corporate England as well).

I recently read that some experts believe that if a woman tests at 55% F, she could still be described as a T. Maybe there's something to that.

multiple personalities

There are jingles of personality tests and profiles out there, but one that seems to be well developed and widely used is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In this profile, your personal tendencies are measured along 4 different continua:

Extrovert (E) - - - - - Introvert (I)
Intuitive (N) - - - - - - Sensory (S)
Thinking (T) - - - - - Feeling (F)
Judging (J) - - - - - - Perceiving (P)

The 'results' of the MBTI are a 4-letter profile, which indicates where you TEND to fall on each continuum. Nobody is a robot...so even the most extreme T can do something that would be very F at times. But it can be helpful to know how any one person would typically respond in a given situation or to any given task at hand. For example, a job that would be BLISSFUL to an NT might be TORTUROUS for an SF.

So, who knows their MBTI?

And who thinks it's a load of hogwash?? (There are some folks who I find resistant to the thinking that this sort of thing is worth the time of day...so stand up and be heard!)

what the $%@#??

This is just a test, b/c my blog is acting dodgy today...

outing all you IT folks

For the benefit of one of my lurkers…

I’m the administrator for a sales tracking system at work. In our set-up, this means that I’m the go-between for the users and the programmers…which puts me in that unfortunate position of knowing just enough about the technical side to sometimes feel a bit full of myself when the users just don’t get it.

When I was complaining one day about one of our less-savvy users, a programmer friend shared a little IT secret and said “You should tell him he’s having an ID10T error”. Apparently, this is one of several common jokes that IT folks enjoy playing on the inept (and therefore usually unsuspecting) user. Just a few examples, for fun:

ID10T error: [Synonym for PEBKAC, e.g. “The user is being an idiot”] Tech-support people passing a problem report to someone higher up the food chain (and presumably better equipped to deal with idiots) may ask the user to convey that there seems to be an I-D-ten-T error. Users never twig.

PEBKAC: [Abbrev., “Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair”] Used by support people, particularly at call centers and help desks. Not used with the public. Denotes pilot error as the cause of the crash. Very derogatory.

UBD: [Abbrev., “User Brain Damage”] An abbreviation used to close out trouble reports obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's part.

my ID10T error of the day

When I came to the UK, the office in Houston gave my old phone number to a new employee in my department. This new employee happens to be someone whom I call slightly more often than once a month.

Now I find myself having the opposite problem from Todd. Every time I log in to the company intranet to look up her phone number, I’m soon overcome with feelings of embarrassment, because I’ve just looked up what was my own phone number for the last 3 years.

I’m writing this today because it has just happened…again. I’ve been in the UK for five (5) months now…when am I going to learn?

are you coming to visit me?

If you are, you need to check out this little guide.

There's a link to it along the sidebar, but just thought I'd give a shout out to Mike and John and whoever else among the 'early visitors' (Susannah, LB, Heather, Basim, Dennis) who helped create this little guide using an online collaborative document site.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that I currently do NOT have any visitors scheduled for the months of May, June, July, August and beyond...you know...no pressure or anything...I'm just sayin'.

some oxymoron got paid for this

So, there's this show on television tonight called "Accidental Emergencies" and the listing gives the following description: "Dramatic accidents and survival stories. Featuring a drag racer whose leg was broken in seven places; a man with a spear in the face; and a woman who was struck by lightning."

Um...so...I wonder if the person who named this show is coming out with another series called "Purposeful Emergencies", because frankly, I'd rather watch that one.

in honor of robbie burns

I was invited to my first ever Burns Night dinner on Friday night. These dinners are held all over Scotland in honor of their 'national poet', and are not very prevalent in England...but I've got friends in all the right places!

One of the many pieces of tradition during the dinner is poetry reading...mostly works by Burns himself...but at this dinner, folks were invited to read some of their own work. I don't write much poetry, but I threw down a few lines for fun on the train ride to the dinner. I'd like to claim that my hurried efforts affected the quality of the prose, but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be much better if I'd spent hours on it! Here we go...

I'm jut a naive American girl,
Who fell in love with the land of the kilt.
And if the good Lord who lives up above,
Should deem in His heart to give me a pearl,
And send me a husband,
From somewhere among them,
I'll be quite happy,
Right to the hilt.

Now, should the Lord send me,
The one, the only, the perfect gent;
But one who can't really claim the descent,
Well, someone will just have to teach him,
Exactly how to speak with the accent.

tap dancing

One of the few things I just DO NOT understand is the continued usage of the double-tap sinks in the UK, which are even sometimes still called for in new construction.

It may have made sense at some point in the history...or maybe it's just that the 'technology' didn't exist to combine the taps, but come on...




...is there really any market demand still out there for the double-tap sink?

If you've ever used one of these little guys, you may remember doing a constant, delicate dance between the hot tap (which is desperately trying to SCALD your skin) and the cold tap (which is near freezing temperature, even in the summer) to achieve a luke-warm combination, which frankly isn't possible.

seriously?

I was in Edinburgh last week for a training course. This course was part 2 of 4 that about a dozen of us are going through over a two-year period (not critical information, but background is always nice). Because we ALL complained so much about the hotel accommodations for part 1 of the course, the super-sweet girl from HR kicked it up a notch for this session. Note Exhibit A below: the television in my hotel room.



Now, despite my initial giddiness over the size of that screen...as a group, we noticed several constraints to our full enjoyment of all of our respective room screens:

1. We were in 'class' from 8:30 am through to 7:00 pm (on average) each day we were there.
2. Our dinner seating was consistently approximately 45 minutes after each day's session ended.
3. After-dinner drinks were clearly not a course requirement, but we're all so cool that we couldn't NOT hang around and chit-chat, which translated into arrival back in the room somewhere between 11:00 pm and 1:00 am (yes, I was one of stragglers).
4. Such a late arrival back in the room forced a decision between taking advantage of a precious few moments of wonder at the screen and an immediate plunge into the already small amount of sleeping time on offer (clearly, I went for the precious few moments of screen enjoyment, which forced an even later bedtime).
5. The list of channel selections was disproportionately small compared to the size of the TV screen (I think the total was 8 channels, 3 of which were sports-only stations).
6. None of us realized before our arrival that there was also a DVD player hooked up to each TV, and therefore none were in possession of quality viewing material.

All of this rolled up to the following:

1. I came home VERY sleep-deprived.
2. I still don't feel like I got anything close to a justified amount of quality viewing on that screen.
3. I'm definitely going to have to stay there again (I mean, it's Edinburgh, so we KNOW I'll be back there sometime soon).

good times in january

Even though I've spent about 8 days "working", even some of that has been on a training course (in Edinburgh, of all places!), so I feel like I've been on vacation since I left the UK for the Christmas holidays!

So, here are a few pictures of my most recent visitors and our wandering about across the UK.

For the record, I owe all these shots to the collective lenses of Susannah, Heather, Dennis and Basim...so I can't take credit for most of them.

meme of four

I can't not respond to the call...Mike started it.

Four Jobs You've Had

1. Dead President Counter
   
2. Drive-thru Princess
   
3. Wireless Communications Interface Manager
   
4. Corporate World Flunkie

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1. Pirates of the Caribbean
   
2. Finding Neverland
   
3. The Princess Bride
   
4. Elf

Four Places You've Lived

1. Inside the Loop, Houston, TX, USA
   
2. Outside the Loop, Houston, TX, USA
   
3. Strasbourg, France
   
4. Woking, UK

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch

1. CSI: New York
   
2. House
   
3. Friends
   
4. Grey's Anatomy

Four Places You've Been on Vacation

1. Edinburgh, Scotland
   
2. Aberdeen, Scotland
   
3. Udine, Italy
   
4. Minocqua, Wisconsin

Four Blogs You Visit Daily

1. Catch Me if You Can
   
2. Mike Hon
   
3. B.Y.O.W.
   
4. For What It's Worth...

Four of Your Favorite Foods

1. Camembert
   
2. Granny Smith apples
   
3. Beef fajitas
   
4. Italian cream cake

Four Places You'd Rather Be

1. Venice, Italy
   
2. Paris, France
   
3. Any place that ends with "Spa"
   
4. Anywhere, Scotland

Four Albums You Can't Live Without

1. Gypsy Kings - Cantos De Amor
   
2. Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
   
3. Gavin DeGraw - Chariot
   
4. Derek Webb - I See Things Upside Down

Four Vehicles You've Owned

1. 1989 Nissan Sentra
   
2. 1999 Saturn SC-2
   
3. 2000 Audi A4
   
4. 2003 VW Passat

jazz hands strike again

Confession: this picture comes directly from the blog of my new friend Crystal, whose blog I found from a link on my good friend John's blog.

Crystal's only comment was: "i can speak only for myself, but i know that when i’m falling on ice i always do jazz hands on the way down".

HYSTERICAL!

She's my new favorite unknown friend because of that post, and the one just before it (but you ought to go to her blog and check it out...I don't want to keep thunder stealing)!

my little girl

Well, she's not the love of my life (that would be my new girly-pink-ribboned-bag-from-Scotland), BUT she does treat me well and carry me all about Surrey and everywhere else I demand.

I decided to name her Stella, in honor of my good friend John, who along with Mike, was one of my first guest passengers.



(Click on her to see a close-up)

Thou droning common-kissing strumpet!

IF I had participated in any street snogging on Prince's Street in Edinburgh on New Year's Eve, and IF I were going on and on about it...I'm pretty sure this is what Shakespeare would have said to me.

There are so many moments in any given day where it would be SUCH great fun to whip out a good insult and yet sound quite posh and proper at the same time...I wish I had one of those fancy always-connected-to-the-Internet mobile phones for on-demand access to the online Shakespearean Insult Kit.

(Thanks to Mike for reminding me of this wonderful corner of the Internet.)

Susannah-Jim

When Heather, Laura, and Susannah agreed to come to Edinburgh with me for Hogmanay (aka New Year's Eve), I knew it was going to be a great trip. What I didn't know is that we were going to have our first 'trip story' before we even landed in the UK.

It started with the rival girl group at the departure gate...as soon as we saw them, the competition was ON. (I'm sure they're cool gilrs...but business is business!) We had no idea how or when we were going to win...but shortly after breakfast was served, it happened. Susannah was visiting the rest of us (no, she wasn't in first class...but we were separated from her in the commoners cabin), and somehow, as flight attendant Jim came around collecting breakfast waste, before we knew it, Susannah was wearing Jim's apron and hard at work!



The whole back half of the plan was laughing, and we were the stars of the show (ok, well, Susannah-Jim was the star of the show, but they laughed at us too because we were taking pictures)!

After Susannah-Jim finished collecting the rubbish along her aisle, we were all invited to the galley in the back of the plane for the presentation of the wings.



We left that other girl group in the dust...even if it is because Susannah was picking up trash!

the new love of my life

Well...it's probably a temporary state, but I've fallen in love...with my new bag!



It may seem silly, but I actually smile just looking at it. See, a few years ago I realized I was an impulse-buy shopper, so in an effort to rein in my spending habits, I've actually OVER-corrected, and now it takes me what seems like forever to even decide to buy a CD most of the time.

I first met my bag when I was in Edinburgh in early September. I visited it two times while there, and left the city without it because I was concerned that it was a bit too 'girly' for me (I mean, it's got a bow, people).

However, I have thought about my bag many, many times since those early September visits, and was looking forward to seeing it again during my stay in Edinburgh to celebrate New Year's Eve. As soon as I saw it last week, I knew it was going home with me. And it's official...I'm in love.

(Yeah...I know...I need to get out more.)

happy new year - here's to scotland

Or...here's to Edinburgh, at least. Somebody up there really knows how to put on a fireworks display.

Although the fireworks were enough to make everyone on the street feel like a 7-year-old seeing the phenomenon for the first time, I have to say that the activities on the street were much more tame that I would have imagined.

We did see the odd guy walking round in a kilt, the occasional party-goer that was returning all their food and drink to the ground (circle of life and all that), and the obligatory crowd rendition of Auld Lang Syne (written by none other than Robbie Burns, so singing it this year did carry a certain je ne sais quoi).

I'm convinced there are as many Aussies in Scotland as there are Scots (which I've determined is a direct result of their unwillingness to endure the return flight to their homeland once they've arrived). There was a small group of them next to us at a pub the night before New Year's Eve - and they were OUT OF CONTROL on THAT night. As we showed up to the restaurant on New Year's Eve, they turned out to have a reservation at the SAME PLACE. What are the odds? If we had thought to think that they couldn't have been more wild...we would have been wrong. Someone in their group actually managed to set herself on fire over dinner...let me just say that the combined smells of burning sweater, hair and a bit of flesh are NOT appetizing. It was only a flesh wound, however, and all that happened was the waitstaff's removal of their table candles.

Cheers to Bobby and Katrina and Matt and Jemma - new friends (by extension from Susannah May) we met in Edinburgh. And cheers to Russell and Hamid - new friends in my neck of the woods, who seemed to enjoy the Americanisms of Susannah, Laura, Heather and myself as much as I enjoy my daily dose of Britishisms.

happy news

In case you didn't see this article on foxnews.com, go check out happynews.com for a lift.

The director of the journalism school at TCU was quoted in the Fox article, saying "Unfortunately, the events we need to respond to as informed citizens are not good". I agree with that, but I don't think the right answer to 'balancing the news' is what we get from the mainstream media (entertainment and celebrity news), so I am happy that someone started happynews.com.

countdown to tex-mex

The time is currently T-5 to Tex-Mex...and progressing!

For everyone in Houston dying to take me out to dinner and hear all about my grand adventures in the queen's England....I offer the following suggestions:

• Lupe Tortilla
• Chuy's
• Lupe Tortilla
• Molinas
• Lupe Tortilla
• El Tiempo
• Lupe Tortilla
• Chuy's

Please note the list does NOT included Casa Ole or Taco Bell. At this point, some people would say "Well, Dovie...beggars can't be choosers", but I'm not begging. So I'm being choosy. Is that so horrible?

random (small) acts of altruism?

First, a definition:

al·tru·ism: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness.

Now, maybe my internal content that comes from placing the Weekly Word News back in its rightful place (instead of in front of the one stack of Vogue) while standing in the grocery queue isn't atruistic, in the purest and grandest sense of the word. But in a very small way, I think it is.

And so is picking up that stray bit of paper in the office hallway. And so is filling up the holders for coffee sweetener and cream when they're low (even though I don't even use sweetener at all, and I am enough of a snob to refuse to use powdered 'creamer' in my coffee...but I digress). And so is putting out a fresh roll of paper towels when I've used the last one. And so is filling up the copy machine with all the paper it can hold when I notice it needs to be done.

These things may not seem very 'unselfish', but they take time...and time is a limited resource...and time is money. So (stretching the metaphor just a bit more), I'm giving away money every time I do these things. But I'm happy to do them. It gives me joy to do them. Now I'm reminded of that Friends episode where Phoebe is trying to find a truly selfless act and ends up making a donation to Sesame Street even though she hates it...but I digress, again.

These activities might be perceived as just a bit overly concerned with order and give a nod to neurotic tendencies...but aren't they just as selfless as letting the pedestrian cross the street in front of me when he's out in the rain and i'm in my nice, warm, dry car? (Or is that just common courtesy?)

Anyway, I believe in the broken window theory, and view my magazine sorting (and label facing and general product reshelving) and self-appointed trash duty to be my personal fight against the broken window phenomenon taking over my immediate environment. I mean, I really do want that girl I'll never meet but am sure is coming along behind me to easily find that stack of Vogue, because I know how sweet it is to make the odd impulse-magazine-buy and enjoy a long and quiet evening browsing the latest fashion trends and dreaming of shoes I'll never be able to buy.

I'm happy to make the bigger gestures...but on an average day, it's only the small ones that I have opporutnity to provide.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not looking for any crowns or anything (although a tiara would be kinda cool). I'm just sayin'...I'M NOT NEUROTIC!

me? neurotic?

In response to a comment on my last post about properly aligned Sweet 'n Low packets, I submit the following:

Since I don't use Sweet 'n Low (or anything that comes in little packets like that), it's a non-issue at home. In a restaurant, as long as the packets of (any given) sweetener are safely housed within the intended container on the table, I don't care if they are perfectly arranged or not. Admittedly, I do prefer if all the like-packets are kept together (i.e. all the yellow ones are together and blue ones together, rather than a stray yellow packed mixed in with the blue ones).

Now, I do catch myself rearranging magazines at the check-out line at the grocery to be put back in their appropriate place (b/c if they're not, a 'stray' copy of the Weekly World News might be covering up the one stack of Vogue that some poor girl is looking for. This also occasionally happens at magazine racks in the bookstore.

Generally, I consider this magazine-sorting behavior to be altruistic (and not neurotic). And the sweetener packet ordering is just plain logical and proper, right?

And for the record, nothing in my pantry is properly faced, although most items do tend to be placed such that the front of the label is generally viewable as it sits...but clearly, all the spices live together in one spot, the cereal all together in another, etc. I mean, isn't everyone's pantry set up that way? Who would be crazy enough to keep cumin and dill seed in one cabinet or shelf, and have garlic salt and marjoram in another?

So, it's not about having everything in PERFECT order...just in order.

But if you still wonder...check out this cartoon and then tell me I'm neurotic!

diction: it can be a monkey

I don't remember ever learning the word 'persnickety'; as far as I know, it has always just been there, in my brain, waiting to be used as appropriate.

I'm sure there are countless words that fall into this (unfortunate) category, and most don't ever get to come out to see the light of day. However, a few years ago, 'persnickety' started getting a lot of attention from me when I noticed a friend of mine using the word 'persnippety' (which isn't, actually, a word). 'Persnickety' quickly started working its way into my daily speech around this friend, in the hopes that it would rub off. I can't remember if it did or not.

Because it was such a rub for my grammar-patrol-loving mind, you can only begin to imagine the immense panic that I experienced two days ago, when, in the course of reading some bit of fiction, I ran across the word 'pernickety'. I froze. All those moments of frustration with my friend who says 'persnippety' came rushing back as I realized my worst fear might come true...that I had been wrong about the word myself all this time. THE HORROR!

Needless to say, I jumped up and went straight to the dictionary and looked it up. Turns out, the definitions cited on dictionary.com are as follows:

per·snick·e·ty (adj)

1. Overparticular about trivial details; fastidious. Snobbish; pretentious.
   
2. Requiring strict attention to detail; demanding: a persnickety job.
   

per·nick·e·ty (adj): Persnickety.

persnippety: No entry found.

My first thought: Ah...what relief!! Despite the fact that I know I've looked up 'persnickety' and 'persnippety' before, it has been quite a while, and confirmation is such a good feeling.

My second thought: As much of a fan as I am of people that have good diction, when two words are so similar as 'persnickety' and 'pernickety', shouldn't someone quite farther up the grammar patrol chain than me have the authority to just DELETE the superfluous word, and go with the one we're all used to - and comfortable with: 'persnickety'?

turkey day in the UK

Mmmm...pizza and red wine. Now doesn't that just SCREAM Thanksgiving to you? Well, it did to me.

Thanksgiving here is 'just another day' (because although the Pilgrims actually were English, England doesn't claim them, given how things turned out about 150 years after the first Thanksgiving).

So, when what was originally a double-booked night on my calendar turned into two cancellations, I carted myself off to the store to buy 'Thanksgiving Dinner', instead of doing what I technically probably should have done (go to the gym and cook dinner), and this is what came home with me. So compared to what I would have done on most any other night in merry old England, this was a blessed holiday!

In retrospect, I should have chosen a Napa or even Texas wine, given the event to which I was drinking. However, being that I didn't really think things through, since my Thanksgiving celebration was quite unexpected, I ended up with a Spanish Rioja. It was lovely.

impulse buys CAN be good!

The pictures I posted yesterday include one taken at Piccadilly circus, standing in front of the Virgin Megastore, where I had just purchased my new favorite CD called "Who Killed the Zutons". Buy it now from Amazon.

I decided to buy the CD after hearing only 2 songs, one of which reminded me of an older U2 sound. In fact, I asked Mike and John if it WAS U2...which won't suprise those of you who know about my mishap with James Taylor and Ronnie Milsap (aka "the Milsap mishap").

Now, I should state that, although I was much more prone to impulse buying in years past...lately (and by lately, I mean in the last 2 years or so), I have grown to be quite the spendthrift when it comes to CDs and DVDs. Reason unknown. Regardless, every now and again I still fall prey to the impulse by (like the rest of the human population), and it usually turns out to be a disappointment.

This time, however, I am gloriously happy with my purchase. If you're not up for the absolute impulse buy, you can read a couple of reviews here.

Dali was a FREAK!

I went to the Dali museum in London this weekend with Mike and John. Now, it should be noted that, generally speaking, I don't like Dali...never have. However, in the name of 'broadening my artistic horizons", I spent some time reading about the sculptures in the museum.

Apparently, one of the themes Dali was obsessed with during his life was the concept of time, and the fact that it is mastered by no one. So, even though I still don't really like his work, I do very much like one of the sculptures I saw. It's a melting clock (big surprise) with a crown at the top.

Some of these pictures are John's...he's got a MUCH better camera than me.

i can drive!

My permanent car hasn't arrived (fingers crossed for Monday), but I couldn't take another weekend of cabin fever...so I rented a car this weekend, and today I visited Windsor Castle.

My car will have an automatic transmission, but the only thing available at the rental agency was a standard. Now, it should be said that I'm QUITE good with a stick shift, as that's what I learned to drive on, and continued to drive until just 2 years ago. However, driving a stick shift here means that not only do I have to worry about the steering wheel and traffic on the wrong side, I also have to shift...and oh, yes, the stick is on the wrong side of the steering wheel as well.

Let's just say there was a general email issued to everyone in the office to steer clear of my part of town as well as the road to Windsor for the weekend. Emergency contacts were entered into the mobile phone, clean underwear was worn, and many prayers were prayed (by me and every Christian who knew I was on the road, I'm sure).

Even though I took a few pictures, the best part of the day was something I couldn't capture on film. It was me. Bouncing up and down in my seat in the car every time I knew I had taken a turn and was still on the right course. Especially when I was close (and knew it) and was having that experience Meg Ryan kept having in French Kiss of NOT seeing the Eiffel Tower...and then, finally, there it was!

I was like a giddy little girl who just found out she was getting a new puppy for Christmas!

I made it all the way to Windsor AND all the way home without hitting anyone or anything, and I only stalled the car 1 time (give me a break, it's been 2 years), and I only went around 2 roundabouts more than once. Now, for the record,I purposely went around both of those roundabouts twice to be sure that the exit I thought was the right one really was it.

So, for those of you who will be passing through my part of the world anytime soon...the one place I know I can take you (and get you back home) is Windsor.

today's blond moment

Today, I needed to filter through about 650Mb worth of engineering drawings to find a few specific files. So, given my lack of engineering expertise, I went to an engineer that sits just down the hall from me for help:

Dovie (cheerfully enters office): "Hey Nikos...can you take a look at these and find the blah blah drawings? It's all Greek to me."

Nikos (chuckling): "No problem, I'm fluent."

Dovie: "Thanks. Just save them to blah blah drive."(cheerfully exits)

[end scene]

Hah! Did you catch it? I was talking to a guy named NIKOS! And, to make it worse, I JUST had a conversation with him last week about how the Greeks don't celebrate birthdays, but they DO celebrate name days...so in a way it's more fun, because everyone you know with your name gets to party together on the same day (which, for Nikos, means about 50% of the male population).

(This, of course, made me very happy to NOT be Greek, because...clearly...I would never get to have a day of celebration.)

About five minutes after I got back to my desk, I got the joke...and laughed out loud alone in my office. I'm sure Nikos could hear me, and I hope he thinks I was laughing about something (anything) else. And way too much time has passed by now for me to go back to him and say "Hey...that was funny" or something equally stupid.

Mustang planned an Astros Spirit Day for today (excellent timing), and this is the picture I sent for the "Best Dressed" contest they were having.

I got 'Honorable Mention' all the way from London!! It might seem weird that I'm holding my laptop, but I'm trying to show my commitment to our boys from across the pond...I've had to sign up to watch over the Internet (on a 2x3 inch viewing screen, mind you).

the ugly green monster bit me

Seriously!! How did she get this gig??? I've GOT to figure out how to work with Alyson Footer so that when she gets promoted to bigger and better things (is that possible, given what she's currently doing?), I can take over as the Astros inside-scoop-girl!

I actually teared up a bit reading this article.

She's GOT to know how sweet a gig she's got going...I just hope that she's ready to move on when I get back from England!

oh no...i might like golf

I’ve got a whole list of things I’d like to do or learn how to do while I’m in England...some are things I’ve always wanted to do, and some are just for the sake of trying something new and different. Writing, painting, photography classes and horseback riding lessons are all on the list…and just before coming here, I added golf.

--- background story ---
(feel no guilt for skipping down to the main point)
Now, I have never EVER wanted to play golf. I always said it looked boring and tedious, and it’s a really expensive hobby (and frankly, there are other equally expensive hobbies I’d rather take up first, such as photography – if you really get into it). However, this summer my mom gave me tickets to the Shell Houston Open, and I went with a few girlfriends. We got some good advice from a guy on the shuttle bus to the course: “You’ve got two options, really…either pick a green and plant yourself to watch all the players come through, OR pick a player and follow him through the course to watch his game.” We went for the “pick a green…” option, and planted ourselves at the 17th hole.

This is where I started realizing that my disdain for golf actually stems from a lack of understanding (and an assumption that it takes a special blend of talent, fate and fairy dust in order to consistently make contact with that teeny tiny ball) rather than tediousness. Turns out, I like tedious things (as long as they’re interesting or challenging) because it gives me something to really focus on and turn off the rest of the world.

The weekend after the Houston Open, we visited my aunt and uncle in the thriving metropolis of Tyler, TX. My uncle is a GREAT golfer, and when I was telling my story about the Open (because I knew he’d appreciate it), he offered to take me to the driving range at his club. And off we went…where I got a second piece of good advice: “Now, do you see how – all across this field – there are balls on the ground as close as 10 feet from the tee boxes? That means that EVERYBODY hits a bad shot here and there…so don’t you worry about these other guys out here. Just concentrate on what you’re doing and have fun.” Brilliant. Exactly what I needed to hear.
--- end background story ---

So, last week, I signed myself up for 6 weeks of golf lessons. Last night was Lesson #1, and I was the only pupil (Woohoo!! Private lessons!) After about 30 minutes of getting familiar with a few terms, learning how to hold the club, and some coaching on stance, my coach had me swinging on my own, and worked with me until I hit 3 balls in a row, completely unaided. Then he left me with a bucket of balls and said “You need to hit 25 more balls before you leave.”

I managed to hit at least that many, about half of which actually caught some really good air and flew straight ahead. The really good ones made about 125 yards (or is it feet – well, whatever measure of distance is commonly used in golf) and a couple of them looked like they went even farther than that!

Confession: I loved every minute of it.

i want alyson footer's job

Alyson Footer is a journalist for mlb.com, and I would love to have her job. I have visions of all sorts of cool things that she probably gets to do...like attend MLB parties throughout the year (in AND out of season) and any pre- or post-game activities that she wants, hang with all the cool broadcasters (who come up with all those amazing statistics and give away blue stars to the guys who make the really great plays), and of course...interview the players.

She's doing a daily commentary series with Chris Burke throughout the Astros post-season run, and I'm about as jealous as is humanly possible! Well...in all honesty, it WOULD be worse if she were interviewing Lance or Bradley ("Is that what he prefers you call him?" "No...I do").

Laurie...can you hook a sister up?

By the way, in case you missed Game 4 yesterday...you can check out the photo gallery page on MLB's website. There's a really great shot of the crowd in the Crawford Boxes all going for Jason Lane's home run ball. (Click on the "Sunday's Gallery" link at the bottom of the picture-box labeled "Daily Pics" to choose any galery for viewing.)

taking recommendations

I've just signed up with Blockbuster's version of the Netflix subscription service (Netflix hasn't made it to the UK yet).

Anybody care to share their 'must see' movies...?

it's not versailles, but it'll do

So, in case you're planning or considering a trip to the UK to take advantage of the free room and board...you might be interested in the luxurious accommodations you can expect.

Here are a few pictures of my home sweet home in England.

haven't received my post card?

Don't worry...it's on the way!

The US Postal Service promises "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds", but they're no fools! The trick is, they just don't specify how long it will actually take!

how cool am i?

I'm feeling rather cool about my new place, due in part to the intercom system installed for visitors. It's so very metro...visitors have to buzz from the ground floor and then I buzz them into the building. THEN they trudge up the stairs and knock on the door.

At 7:45 this morning, as I was getting ready for work, someone buzzed my flat! Not being used to this noise, it took a few seconds to realize that it was NOT the fire alarm (sigh of relief), rather a visitor trying to gain access (Who needs to see me at THIS hour? Welcome back, panic attack!). And it took another few seconds to realize that it was likely the post man (not Joe, for those who heard that story) who was delivering my (insert singing angels in the background) broadband set-up package from British Telecom.

Frankly, it was WAY too early in the morning for me to have such an emotional roller coaster...maybe that buzzer isn't so cool after all!

i can't resist

I chuckle almost daily as I stroll through town center in search of lunch. There is a small clothing shop that is almost always along my chosen path for the day. Apparently, they sell shoes as well. The reason I chuckle is because of the sign that hangs in the window that looks like this:



Now, normally I would think lots of not-so-nice thoughts about the marketing person who made that sign, and the people who approved it. But in this particular scenario, I have thought:

• "I wonder if they're trying to be clever and make people think there's a sale on when there's really not...just to get them to wander into the store (I bet that's half the battle in the retail sales world)?", and
  
  
• "Hmm...I wonder if that's just how they say it here in England, as opposed to 'Buy one PAIR, get one free'?", and
  
  
• "I wonder if that shop just happens to sell shoes one at a time, instead of in pairs."
  
  
• "Maybe it's just another case of poorly done marketing that ended up with an interesting twist.", and
  
  
• "I wonder if ANYONE else has spent as much time thinking about that sign as me...including the people who made it?"
  

Whatever the answer, I still grin as I pass the sign every day...one of these days I'm going to wander into the shop just to find out, but for now I'm still enjoying my daily chuckle at all the possibilities.

patience is a virtue...

...and I'm not as virtuous as I'd like to be.

I’ve been in England almost 4 weeks.
I just got a phone last Friday (last day of week 3).
I should be getting broadband in 6 days.
But I still don’t have a television.

While this does mean that I’ve done a lot of reading and walking around town just to keep from sitting around staring at the walls, I am definitely looking forward to the day when the much anticipated TV does actually arrive. I have DVDs to watch, a language to learn (and isn’t a country’s media the best way to do that?), and hours of unallocated time in which to do it.

I’m living in a ‘fully furnished’ flat, and (clearly) a TV is supposed to be part of that package, but the people that lived here before me had their own TV, so I guess the owner never had to buy one. They agreed to provide a TV by mid-September, but we’re quickly approaching October and I still don’t hear the choir warming up to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

It’s definitely an exercise in patience…and I have to say that God is forcing me to ask myself I would be spending as much time in the Word or studying or prayer if I did have my precious TV.

What I’m hating is that the answer is NO. And what is even more shameful is that even though I AM spending more time doing those things, I still find jingles of other things to do instead of being thankful for all the ‘extra time’ I could be spending with the Lord! So, it’s two lessons in one, really (and maybe more, by the time it’s all said and done):

1. Have patience.
   
2. Reconsider how I prioritize my ‘free time’ before the Great Distracter arrives.
   

my introduction to the island

So, let me take you back to the first weekend I spent on the Island after I left Houston. Although I came here to live in England, I spent the first two weeks traveling in Scotland for work, mostly. Anxious to spend as much time as possible in the land of the Scots, I signed up for some extra time in country over the weekend before I was to report for duty at a conference in Aberdeen.

For brevity’s sake, I’ll confine this story to the events of the first (full) day of travel with my 2 (American) co-workers who were also in Scotland to work the conference.

Early Saturday morning, we picked up the rent car (which I was nominated to drive, given my need for acquiring the skill anyway) and were assigned a 4-door Smart Car. It’s cute…in an odd sort of way. I can’t imagine having the 2-door version, but this one actually looks like a whole car. So we were off.

I’m happy to report, for the record, that over the course of the weekend we managed to avoid contact with all other cars and pedestrians with which we shared the roads of Scotland. And I say ‘we’ because it took all three of us to get around – driver, co-pilot and navigator.

We left Aberdeen, and headed for the Braemar Gathering (Highland Games - the link is to the pictures of this year's event) to witness a traditional Scottish event (the caber tossing is particularly exciting!). One of the big pulls for us to attend this particular event was that it is traditionally attended by some members of the royal family. And true to tradition, the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince William arrived as expected at 3pm. We were rather excited that we were seeing the queen on our first day in the country – even though she was about 2 football fields away.

Not long after they’d arrived, we headed for back to Aberdeen. After stopping in a couple of small towns (to shop, of course) along the way, we headed across a small, short bridge to the entry gates of Balmoral Castle (Queen Liz’s home away from home). We couldn’t see much (except the gate itself), so we turned the car around and headed back for the main road. Now, remember that it’s my first day of driving in the UK, ever…so I look both directions about 4 times before committing to a turn in any direction. At my last glance to the left, I spotted the motorcade. The queen was on her way home! Her car literally turned RIGHT in front of us. I was, for a brief moment in time, approximately 4 feet from the Queen of England.



I will be eternally grateful to one of my travel pals for the speed of her trigger finger on the camera. What really got us about the whole thing was that, as we crossed the bridge to Balmoral, we noticed a few people that had started gathering to see the queen come home…and there were a couple of guards posted at the gate…but there was NO indication that we were MOMENTS away from her arrival. Needless to say, we all FREAKED OUT! We were screaming and laughing so hard that I had to pull the car over, and Heather (our shutter bug) had to get out of the car and run around a bit before she could begin to compose herself again.

A few minutes down the road, it occurred to me that, if I were an on-my-feet thinker, I would have hit the queen’s car with our little rental (hey, we bought the insurance!). Can’t you see it? “Why don’t you come in to the castle and we’ll exchange insurance information over tea” and all.



At least now I have a better plan for the next time I’m within striking distance!

simon

We’re about to move our offices to the 3rd floor of our current building. I’m working with two other people to plan the space: Shelley and Simon. In trying to explain how we plan to lay out the kitchen area, the phrase “Simon did a drawing” was said to me today. With the accent, “drawing” sounds like “drawRing”.

So, in my head, I immediately saw images of Mike Meyers in a SNL skit sitting in the tub playing the character of a little boy, singing “Well you know my name is Simon, and I like to do draw-rings”.

It was all I could do to keep myself from chuckling. I may have cracked a small grin, but at least whatever expression I had was not coupled with audible (and seemingly random) laughter.

wandering around edinburgh

I can't believe 3 days have already come and gone. I'm going to have to move closer to facing the real world tomorrow (but not QUITE back to office life yet).

I'm going to have to write a bit about our actual comings and goings...but for now, here are some pictures.

falling in love all over again

I have finally set foot again in the place where I first fell in love with Scotland...Edinburgh. I'm even staying at the same hostel I stayed at the last time I was here, and I'm amazed by my memory's ability to remember some of the places I visited last time, and exactly where they are in relation to my humble temporary abode.

I feel like I'm looking at everything with a bit more wisdom this time around, and although it is a dark place, so is a lot of Scotland...so is a lot of the world! However, Edinburgh is home to the roots of the Scottish reformation, begun by John Knox, whose church I hope to visit tomorrow (he's not there anymore).

I'll be happy to serve as tour guide for anyone who ever wants to make the trek across the Atlantic.

dedication or addiction?

This is me in Aberdeen this week anywhere from 11:00pm to 1:30am after a full day at the conference we're here for...I'm staying in the flat of a co-worker b/c all the hotels were booked, and of course some people decided at the last minnute that they wanted to come...so I gave up my hotel room to stay here, where I have a more 'homey' feel AND access to laundry facilities (which allowed me to pack a smaller suitcase for my two-week-stint in Scotland).

Someone in the building has a wireless network, but the only place I can get the signal in this flat is in the hallway...so this has been my 'home office' for the last 7 days.

I'm not sure if this makes me look dedicated to communication or addicted to wireless Internet...either way it was a good photo op!

scotland coastal trip

In case you don't pay much attention to the links on the right...here's a few pictures from my trip along the eastern coast of Scotland today.

We drove from Aberdeen down the coast to Stonehaven, which is a small town just before the Dunnotter (DunOTTER) Castle ruins - see more info here. Then we drove on to St. Andrew's and walked around the golf course, attended a wedding (on the 18th hole) and had tea in the club house. It was absolutely SURREAL!!

The 'old course' is closed on Sundays and you can just wander around on the course (and you can get married there too), but the other two were open for golfing (who knew there were THREE courses there?).

It will be out of order...but as soon as I have the pictures to prove my claims, I'll write about my day at the highland games in Braemar, Scotland.

home sweet home?

After a rather uneventful flight that included exactly zero minutes of sleep, I spent almost an hour in line to get through customs to enter my new homeland. Needless to say, I'm one sleepy chica.

Although I think it will be quite a while before I use the phrase 'home sweet home' with passion and confidence to speak of London (Woking), the truth is...this is my home now.

'Home home' will, obviously, always be Houston, Texas.

there's no place like home

Just in case anyone saw this article on FoxNews, I did NOT steal the ruby slippers.

Yes, I firmly believe that there's no place like home, and I did watch the Wizard of Oz every year when I was growing up, and I CAN sing every line of every song in the movie, and I AM aware that I'll be homesick at some point...but it REALLY WASN'T ME.

excel envy

If computers are alive (and I sometimes think they are), and as they are persnickety in nature, I think it's fair to assume that computers are girls. Further to that, I also think most software is of the female persuasion.

Limiting our subject to the standard-issue Microsoft Office Suite of products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access), I'd have to say every girl on the block has Excel envy.

Let's face it...Word is a helpful girl. She can get the job done reasonably well, but she gets a little hard to work with when you ask her to do things she wasn't really made to do.

PowerPoint is the popular girl on the street. Everybody wants to work with her, but her beauty really is only skin-deep. She tries...and she can really put out the charts and graphs...but when they get too complicated, she can't cut it.

Access is your girl for out-of-control productivity, but you've got to spend a LOT of quality time with her to get there.

In the end, Excel is the one everybody wants to be. She can be very simple, but if you treat her right, she can handle some of the work even Access could do.

She is all things to all people. And all the other girls know it.

john stott - a living legacy

The life of John Stott (and that of other legends of the faith) represents much more than a well-lived life. It represents the legacy of Christ. John Stott is who he is because of God's intervention in his life, and the indwelling of Christ...which extends and spreads Christ's legacy. Christ is the only thing that makes him special. Christ is the only thing that makes me special.

But I'm still quite the giddy school girl about having had my picture taken with him today. I was so excited to get to shake his hand and say hello that I don't even care that my eyes are closed.

oh, the anticipation!

This Sunday, I'll be attending All Souls Church in London with my boss and his wife, and we'll be sitting under the preaching of John Stott.

This is very exciting to me for two reasons:

1. I'm going to church with my boss and his wife! How many people have the opportunity to do that these days?


2. I'm going to be hearing John Stott...live!

Some may say "What's the big deal?". Well...I'll tell you. Several years ago, when God was growing in me a desire to learn more about Him, I was feeling very overwhelmed and was paralyzed by lack of a clear starting place.

A very good friend (Jay Bruce) was living in London at the time, working at All Souls. I asked Jay for some advice, and he mentioned it to Stott during one of their meetings. Mr. Stott recommended a book from his own shelf, called Understanding the Bible, which he gave to Jay for delivery to me. This book became instrumental in creating a framework for understanding the major themes and movements of God throughout Scripture, and it is one I often recommend and refer back to myself.

John Stott is one of my heroes. He's the rector emeritus* at All Souls, and doesn't preach regularly these days, but I'm going to get to hear him preach in two days.


* Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement.

my current living quarters

I can't imagine anyone is really interested, but I'm working out the new digital camera, and all I've got so far are a few shots of my temporary housing.

It's nice...but it's an apartment...these pictures aren't going to win any awards or anything!

They're on my .mac homepage, .mac homepage.

the King's Table

I visited a London church this weekend with a couple (Ian and Christine) I met through a friend in Houston. I had agreed on Saturday to come along with them after church to their weekly homeless ministry called “King’s Table”. The ministry has been feeding homeless people on Sundays under Waterloo Bridge for 14 years.

The system is so regular that the guys are queued up in line before the van even arrives. When we pulled up, a few of them jumped out of line to help set up the tables and food…someone said it’s one of the few chances they have to ‘earn’ anything, so they’re happy to help. One of the guys even walked around with a trash-grabber and bag to clean up after his fellow (less tidy) homeless friends as they were finishing their meals.

I served coffee and tea (“Would you like milk and sugar? One spoon or two?”) to homeless people for 2 hours. I’ve never done any ministry with the homeless before. They were not scary. Most were kind. Lots of ‘Thank you’ and ‘Thanks, Texas’ all day. One was strange (he was schooling me on the difference between angels and demons) and one was angry (because we were out of food...despite the fact that he arrived at 4:15 when EVERYONE knows we regularly arrive at 2:30 and the food ALWAYS goes quickly).

The thing that was most striking was that many of those guys and ladies looked like someone who could sit down the hall from me at the office.

In one afternoon…my heart melted. In Houston, I view every person on the street with suspicion, and walk with my cell phone to my ear when I think I might be coming up on an approach or request for money. And to be fair, a lot of them have been drunk out of their minds. And some of these guys on Sunday were drunk…but most weren’t. I just kept hearing the words of Jesus…”whatever you have done for the least of these you have done for me”.

What I think I like best is that the King's Table group is all about developing relationships with these people…they’re in it for the long run. There wasn’t one single reported “significant” spiritual discussion. But these guys know their names, and vice versa…and most of the Vineyard group know the homeless guys names. And people’s lives are being changed one step at a time.

A further testimony to the ministry - Bob, a guy that they used to feed on Sundays, passed away on Christmas Eve. They (and by ‘they’ I assume ‘the British government’ is meant) have been looking for a relative since then, with his body stored at the morgue. Apparently, they haven’t been able to find any. The King's Table ministry is going to sponsor and conduct Bob’s funeral, next week…and they’ve made up invitations and are going to provide bus fare to all those who want to come.

I’m floored by the real love these people have for those they are serving.