November 24, 2015

Baby Love

Paige and I went on a short trip to visit my niece and her new baby boy. He is 3 months old tomorrow and such a cutie! We had a great time experiencing the fun things babies do...spit bubbles, cooing, and precious smiles. Of course whenever there was crying or stinky bodily functions involved we  promptly handed him over to his parents! Thanks Erin and Jon for the great hospitality and sharing your wonderful little baby with us! 

Love, his favorite Great Auntie and awesome cousin  

November 3, 2015

Relief and Optimism

Tomorrow morning I will have a spring in my step because tonight I have been relieved of the heavy weight that has been on my shoulders for two years. Tonight the majority of voters in Jeffco saw the dysfunction happening in our school district and recalled our current school board majority. 

We will be starting again with a clean slate of professionals who I believe will work together to do what is best for our 85,000 students. I really didn't know what I was going to do if the election hadn't turned out this way. I have to admit I did attend a retirement meeting tonight to see what my options were. Thankfully, I feel optimistic again about what lies ahead and will push that retirement idea out of the picture for awhile. I love my job and tomorrow I can look into the faces of our students and smile because their future is bright again! Enormous thanks to all of you voters who listened and understood and gave the wonderful support we needed! 

Please note that you can follow me again on Facebook because my political posts have now ceased. I will be posting puppy pictures during the presidential election.

October 1, 2015

From Baker Street to the Theatre

On our final full day in London, we decided to pay tribute to one of the most popular English fictional characters, Sherlock Holmes. We found our way to 221b Baker Street where there is a small little house/museum (and of course gift shop) depicting his famous stories. 

We then headed back on the subway to the high rent district of Kensington to visit another royal property, Kensington Palace. To get to Kensington Palace you have to walk through Kensington park - a big and beautiful front yard that the Queen generously has open to her subjects. In fact, the combined size of Kensington Park and the adjoining Hyde Park is larger than the country of Monaco! When you are at the palace it is easy to forget that there is a huge city surrounding it. The apartments that you are allowed to tour were those of King George I and II and those of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. We have heard a lot about Victoria and Albert because there are many places named after them. I am intrigued with their famous love story and the devastating effect Albert's death had on Queen Victoria. So much so that she became a recluse for her remaining time as Queen. Her reign was the longest in history until this year when Queen Elizabeth surpassed her great- great grandmother with 63 years.

Speaking of the Queen, we went shopping at her favorite grocery store, Fortnum and Mason. I use the term "grocery store" loosely because it is more like a fancy department store with a vast amount of their famous tea, biscuits, tableware, and every other fancy thing you could think of. My friend Jessica gave me the recommendation and she should know. She is from England and owns and operates the tea room in Denver called The House of Commons which now I will be frequenting to get my Afternoon Tea fix (shameless plug- you're welcome Jessica!) They also have a restaurant there which we took advantage of to rest and relax before heading off to the theatre.

We found the Cambridge Theatre - a small venue nestled in the London theatre district. Because of our exhausting touring behaviors as well as shopping adventures, we didn't have time to go back to the hotel to change into fancier duds. Come to find out that London is similar to Denver in that many people dress casually to attend. We saw the musical Matilda and it was very entertaining and a very appropriate one to see in London. 

Well, that was it and you can't say that we didn't pack it all in our trip! Now to sleep and get ready for our travel day back to the states and reality. Farewell England! We will miss you and enjoyed your country immensely! 

The home of Sherlock Holmes

Kensington Palace

Built in ironing board!

September 30, 2015

Don't Lose Your Head- Drink Tea Instead!

The Tower of London was our destination today. It is so incredibly old and has a very morbid history. The first part of the tour is guided by a Beefeater. Ours was a retired military gentleman who had the personality of a weathered Marine but he was funny and very informative. Thank goodness we have the judicial system that we have because handcuffs and prison is much better than ropes and axes! While walking in the White Tower it was mind boggling to realize that it was built in the 11th century! The beautiful part of the Tower of London is the display of the Crown Jewels. Exquisite jewels adorn crowns of past kings and queens as well as the current queen's crown. There are many other treasures to covet there as well. It was truly the "house of bling!" I was disappointed, however, that none of it is for sale.

We enjoyed Afternoon Tea at a restaurant just outside the Tower next to the Thames. This was my first Tea and I enjoyed it. In fact my lunches now at school may involve some scones and cucumber sandwiches...

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Barb and Antonio because they had to head back home to Italy. After we parted ways on the subway, the remainder of our group set forth and toured Westminster Abbey. It was magnificent and we got to hear the organ as a service was being conducted  while we were there. We then walked past Parliment, #10 Downing Street and ended up in Trafalgar Square - the center of London. For dinner we walked over the Millenium Bridge and ate at the south end of London near the London Eye. Finally we hobbled back to the subway and called it a day..whew!

Outside the Tower of London

Afternoon Tea

Big Ben!

September 29, 2015

 Hangin' With Harry

Had an awesome day with my pals Harry, Ron and Hermione! It took us a few trains, but we managed to find Warner Brothers Studio and take the Making of Harry Potter tour. Last November you may remember that we answered the call to "All things Potter" by spending a week at Universal Studios in Orlando. Today's tour was different because we got to walk through the actual sets and look at all the actual props and costumes. I arrived in full geekdom- wearing my Griffindor sweatshirt and Timeturner necklace. I was a little self conscious because not many people were adorned in Potter couture. However, after the last gift shop, I was in good company!

I'm really glad that we spent most of the day there even though I felt a little guilty for not seeing some true London sites. However, on our way we found Westminster Cathedral while looking for Westminster Abbey. This turned out to be a good mistake because we were greeted by a delightful tour guide who gave a "top quality" tour.

Westminster Cathedral

Entering Hogwarts

Don and I on a self guided tour!

A huge model of Hogwarts that they used for filming 

September 28, 2015

The City, The Castle and The Ripper

This was a jam packed day! We spent the morning on a bus tour so we could take in all of London. There is so much to see...many parks, museums, the London bridge, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben (which by the way is the name of the bell, not the clock..who knew?). All within 600 some square miles and enjoyed by 9 million people! We ended up at Buckingham Palace in a prime spot to see the guards march in to change shifts. We weren't close enough to see the actual changing of the guard because you have to get there hours earlier but the parade was impressive. Our British tour guide was a walking encyclopedia with great stories. After the ceremony she declared, "....we may not be the best at everything but the English are the best in pomp and circumstance!"

We then headed out of town to Windsor Castle - the favorite home of Queen Elizabeth. She currently is at her summer home in Scotland so Lizzie and I will have to catch up another time. Windor castle is huge and it took the whole afternoon to see just a part of it. I'm pretty sure that I could handle this way of living!

Last night we took the Tube to the financial district to meet our Jack the Ripper guide. Kevin was an expert on the Jack the Ripper crime spree and took us on a walking tour of all the significant locations of all the macabre events. It was more historical than gory and very interesting. I was worried that we would be walking in empty dark places but we found that things start hopping in London around 9pm. The restaurants are full and it was a Monday night- we need to get out more! 

Over 20,000 steps on ye ol' 

pedometer today...time to crash!

London Bridge

The moat at Windsor castle is now a garden

Walking in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper

September 27, 2015

We Have Arrived!

We landed in London at 12:30pm their time and 5:30am our time. After a long wait for our ride to the hotel we finally arrived at our hotel in the Shepards Bush area. Our tour director threatened us with bodily harm if we didn't fight the urge to go to bed so we didn't even look at that soft and inviting piece of dreamy furniture when we dropped off our bags in the room. Even though it has been 30 some years since we have been in her high school classroom, Mrs. K. still has that super teacher power over us! 

We set off down the street and found the Tube (subway) station and acquired our Oyster passes for the week. We then caught up with sisters Lori and Barb and brother in law Antonio. Barb and Antonio only had to hop over from Italy so they were not feeling jet lagged at all. Still not wanting to give in to the call of our pillows, we headed to our first pub ....The Brewdog. 

We celebrated Lori's birthday, after a long and agonizing dinner provided by the tour company, with a delicious chocolate cake Barb was able to score down the street. We don't get to wish Lori a happy birthday in person very often since she lives in California, so it was extra special ....and being in London as well is an added bonus!

Finally time for bed!

Debby and Don in front of our hotel

London's version of the dollar store!

All together at our first pub

Happy Birthday!