London Greetings

Hello from England!! I thought you would like to see a few photos that I took around London today. It was a gorgeous day - temperature was in the low 70's with a breeze - lovely!! How nice it is to be back in England, land of scones, gardens, fish & chips (still trying to get some) and, most importantly, my dear friend, Cecile, who many of you will remember from UA Class of 85 (good times).

I adore Cecile - always have, from the minute she landed in our Humanities class with her fabulous flowing red hair and ultra sophisticated British accent, I knew we had to be friends. And being with her, it's like no time has passed since we were last together. Today she was waiting for me while I was doing my make up and she said "This is just like when I waited for you when we were teenagers"- hahahaha. She's so right - I spent some of my favorite high school moments with Cecile (and Kathy V. who many of you know in UA technology) floating around in her pool and eating all of her delicious gourmet cuisine. This custom endures as I have raided her fridge yet again in my desperation for meat having been a vegetarian these last two weeks (prosciutto has brought me back to life).

So Cecile and her family are living here in London for three years (away from their home in Seattle) while Jim, Cecile's husband, works as the Associate Director for Ocean and Undersea Science for the US Office of Naval Research Global. Cecile, being a PHD in Biology herself, is also quite the scientist but she is taking a break from teaching and research while they are here in London and she attends to her 2 small children, Caroline (9) and William (6). I am having a real blast being in this scientific and international household (Cecile's family is from Alsace and the children attend a bilingual school - French & English). Cecile sends a big hug and hello to all of her former teachers and friends back in Big D - she claims she's coming for a visit so let's hold her to that!

Oh - note the pictures of the "Smarties"candies - Cecile has introduced me to this British cousin of the American M&M - brilliant (as they say in the UK)!! You'll also be interested to know that Cecile's very "posh" London apartment is just "round" the corner from Abby Road and the Beatles recording studio - splendid indeed!!!

Will soon publish pics of Cecile and family and I also want to tell you about my excellent school visit to Ursuline High School Wimbledon today...