February 2, 2003

Before we forget (again), a few days before Christmas, we went to our neighborhood church (St. Peter's Church) with our neighbor Valerie for a candlelight Christmas carol service. Very lovely - the church was lit by candles only, and everybody sang carols together. Despite the fact that we'd not heard most of them, we did our best to sing along. Also interesting was the effort put into ringing the bells - 6 people all pulling ropes at the right time to get the right tune. They practice every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. - we'd always wondered why because we didn't realize there was that much skill involved. Live and learn. We were invited to a practice to see how it is done and perhaps even give it a try. Haven't made it yet, although we might do one day.

Since we last wrote a few weeks ago, we've taken a trip to Somerset, a region in the southwest of England. But not the deep southwest where Devon and Cornwall are - that's another few hours away. We went to Somerset to visit Toby's musician friend Julian Dawson (his website here). And, on the way, we passed right by Stonehenge. Not near it, but right by it. We're driving, we come over a hill and there it is right in front of us. Very cool. We stopped and had a quick look from behind the fence. A mere £12 each would've gotten us in the line you see below in the pictures, but we decided to pass for now - we'll wait for one of you to come and we'll give it another go. Anyway, a really nice visit with Julian, his wife Hanne, and their daughter Clancy. We had a lovely walk in the rain on Saturday to see a beautiful old church in a nearby village, a great dinner, and a great scenic trip to the south coast on Sunday. The beach was really beautiful. And it was so pleasant on Sunday, we had a pub lunch sitting outside by the ocean. Wouldn't you know, it started pouring about 25 minutes after lunch. Lucky for us we were back at their house by then! Some pics below.

Click on a photo to see the big version
Stonehenge - see the line of people!	Stonehenge again. Still a line of people	Their cat, Ilsa. Toby was in heaven	Our walk at the coast was up this hill	View from the hill	Another view from the hill
Toby and Julian	Coast panorama (big file)	Julian, on the hill. Looks like an album cover to me!	Skipping stones on the water	Tom, Toby and Clancy. We're not that pretty, but the scenery sure is

I had a quick work trip to the Lake District for a yearly kick-off meeting - sort of a 2-day retreat. I have to say the Lake District is absolutely beautiful. Reminded me of the Finger Lakes, but with more dramatic topography. Day 2 of my retreat included outdoor team-building games - I took part in orienteering (bashing around the woods looking for landmarks from a map) and viking boat races. Good fun and beautiful scenery. I'm sure we'll go back. Sorry, no pics though.

My sister Amy and her clan were in England for a visit in January. Amy came for a conference in London, but the whole family came and they were here for almost two weeks. We spent their second weekend with them at the Moss' house in Surbiton (suburb south of London). A fun time - it's always fun to see them and my nieces Hannah and Ellie. We did some kid stuff as well as going out to dinner with the adults. Good fun and a good visit. A few pics of the nieces below.

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Big sister Hannah and little sister Ellie	Hannah and Ellie again

We also went to see Cirque de Soleil in London at the Royal Albert Hall. We went with Steve and Sharon (Toby's boss and her husband) and Trevor and Autumn. (Well, that was the plan anyway. Truth is Sharon had to stay late at work to finish something and didn't get to go. Rats.) If you don't remember them, we went on a steam train ride with them for Trevor's birthday. Great show, amazing acrobatics and gymnastics. It was pouring when we left and we got pretty wet getting to the car a few blocks away, but it was worth it. Also, just kinda cool to be in the famous Royal Albert Hall.

After both passing our driving theory (written) tests, we've both now taken our driving tests. The good news is that Toby passed (barely), the bad news is that I failed. Oh well. It's fairly common to fail here as they are pretty persnickety about how you drive and I was perhaps a bit agressive at the roundabouts. I'll do better next time (a few weeks) - wish me luck, I'm sure I'll need it.

Bits & Bobs:

• People here get a pay rise, not a pay raise
• Many receipts say "Thank you for your custom", as in customer --> custom. A new word of sorts.
• Bank statements and the like report your balance as at a certain date (as at 02 Feb) - in the States, we say as of a certain date (as of 02 Feb)
• Somebody in my (Toby's) office mentioned 'secreting' something away. Pronounced like secrete-ing, but basically meaning hiding away. More like secret-ing in meaning. Clever, but not really a word, is it?
• I (Toby) was saying something in the office about my being discombobulated. Well, you should have seen the 12 or so heads turn and look at me! Almost in unison they all said 'discom what?' (Try it with a British accent - it's really cute!) Apparently not a word that is used in this country. Must be one we are "secreting" from them;-)
• They did air the Superbowl live here. Of course it started at 11:30pm. Just not worth staying up for if your not in an office Superbowl pool. Rats.

And there you have it for this report. Next up - Toby's mom comes to visit.

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