Melyssa-with-a-Y

I'm pleased to report that a) it's been sunny in London (doh! I probably just jinxed us!) and b) we've really had a blast in the past two and a half days. We arrived on Wednesday morning. It's chilly, but not nearly as cold as it was last year. Or maybe I'm a lot less cold because I brought my super-warm wool coat this year! We hung out in the apartment for a bit, and then Bryan and I went out to find some lunch. Then it was naptime. Wednesday is also the customary trip to TESCO to stock up on groceries. We stopped at a pub for dinner - had to have fish 'n' chips! - and then went shopping. Prices seem reasonable when you look at the number in pounds sterling... then you do the math and realize that it's $1.65 to the pound. (Which is actually better than it used to be!) Mostly we need breakfast food. Thanksgiving Thursday, Mom, Dad and I went to the antiques market at Spittalfields . Many of the people in the shops wished us a Happy Thanksgiving. W...

Viva España! Rafael Nadal unseated the reigning king of Wimbledon yesterday, beating Roger Federer in five rain-interrupted sets. WOW. The tennis was unbelievable. Rafa looked amazing. I was jumping around my living room during the fourth set tiebreaker - I couldn't sit still! When I called mom, she wasn't even watching, she had to run away to the basement. But she gave in and went upstairs after she heard all of the screaming and yelling. ... and then I missed the end of the match. (I didn't even set the DVR) :( At the second rain delay (2-2 in the fifth set!), the tv commentators kept saying the players would have to come back really soon because otherwise it was going to be dark, so they'd have to finish on Monday. I figured they were right, it would finish on Monday, so I left the house. Little did I know that the rain delay would last only 30 minutes, and the match would continue into the twilight. (I remember one of Sampras' matches going so late it was ...

Catching up... Friday night was the end-of-year party for my office, so we all went to Round Rock to see the Express play. I went last year, too, but I'd only been here a few weeks, and didn't know anybody - and very few people came. This year we had lots of people, little kiddies, and... RAIN! It was hot and muggy, and we saw the dark clouds, but we kept hoping the rain wouldn't bother us. We were mistaken. [At least the girls got a chance to make some chalk flowers before the rain started!] Right around the time that the game was supposed to start (7:05), it started to drizzle. We thought we'd be ok under the tent, but it turns out a shade tent doesn't stop the water coming through.... particularly when the water is coming down in sheets! :( Rebeka and I used her quilt (a lovely American flag quilt that she made herself, btw) as a tent to cover ourselves and Giana and Nic. Lesson learned: four year old girls shriek a lot when they're getting wet! Eventually...