Sunday Bread

Well, I finally got around to making bread entirely by hand.  I made a Swiss bread called zopf, also known as Sunday Bread.  It's a very simple recipe, just flour, butter, salt, yeast, milk, and honey.  Once it's all mixed up, it takes about two hours to raise.  

Then,  after about ten minutes of kneading the dough, you separate it into three sections and roll them out.

The three strands are then braided and coated with egg yolk.  I had extra dough, so I made little knots of dough as well.

Bake for 40 minutes.

And enjoy!

It was a lot easier than I expected and quite tasty!

Pancake meetings

Yesterday we had a meeting.  Half of our group is in North America, and now there are only three of us left in London for a few weeks.  I offered to have Val and A over to mine for a brunch and then have our business talks afterwards.

To me, nothing says brunch like pancakes!  While our coworkers enjoy Denny's and Tim Horton's, we had homemade pancakes.  It wasn't a bad trade :)

Now today, I'm off to a farewell party for a couple of friends moving to Africa for Bible school.  I volunteered to make a dessert, and I'm thinking of making a rich chocolate cake called Black Magic cake that has one cup of coffee in the batter.  I'm making a mocha icing as well.  

It's funny how much I've come to enjoy being in the kitchen.  I've always enjoyed baking, but cooking felt like a chore.  Making an entire meal, even just for one person, took too much effort.  Perhaps it's the communal aspect of cooking for friends that has inspired me.  Now, I like finding new recipes and making something successfully.  It's great to share it with loved ones.  The challenge now is to manage to take it on the bus with me!  

It is also fun to see the reactions to my food.  Most people here do not do a lot of cooking or baking.  I remember in my previous flat, one of the girls I lived with came into the kitchen after I had made chocolate chip cookies.  She looked at me in shock.  "You can make cookies?  I've never known anyone who makes cookies!"  

While her attitude still makes me giggle, I have heard repeats of that.  Most desserts are bought at the shops.  Among my circles in London, I think I'm getting a reputation as "one who cooks," which makes me laugh! 

It doesn't rain, it tours...

Tour season is almost over!  Today Val and I had a group of 25, and tomorrow a group of 35 teenagers.  Val has another group on Saturday, and then we'll be done our busy season!  We still will have a few more throughout the year, but the crunch will be past.

I'm so glad.  Right now, it's 9:30 and I could go to bed.  Instead, I'm eating the last of a bag of peanut butter M&M's and writing to you about London life.  (Please, do NOT send any more candy.  My willpower is not that good, people.)

Val was going to be taking some pictures of me giving the tour.  I just texted her, asking, "Do I look this scary giving the tour?"  Every picture was awful.  I have to show you just so you see what I mean:

I hope I was at least saying something intelligent, because my face does not reflect that!

Sadly, this one is the best of the bunch.  I'm too embarrassed to show you the rest!  

After the tour, Val and I conferred about a few details on the tour, and then went our way via a little place called TK Maxx.  Nope, it's not a typo.  T"K" Maxx.  For reasons I don't understand, TJ Maxx is called TK Maxx in the UK.  Same store, same decor, just TK.  Among the racks, we found something that baffled us more than any Assyrian Cuneiform in the British Museum:

It's a scarf.  With lapels.  

Need I say more?  But wait....

It can be yours.  For the bargain price of £99.99, roughly $163.00.  The original price was £610.00 (a little under $1,000).  Don't miss your chance.  After all, we all secretly want a scarf with lapels.

If you don't like the scarf, perhaps you would like a mop dress?  I'm pretty sure there is a breed of dog that perfectly complements this ensemble.  

Let me know, folks.  I'll start Christmas shopping soon. :)

Omelets :D

I was housesitting last night for some friends.  Laura came over to keep me company for the evening and I made omelets for dinner.  Considering I've never made omelets, they turned out quite well!  I even had the foresight to bring some rather aging potatoes with me and we had fried potatoes as well.  Maybe it wasn't the most healthy option, but it was a yummy meal!

I'm really finding out that I enjoy cooking!  I used to say I only enjoyed baking, but that's not the case anymore.  My next challenge is a Swiss bread called Zopf, or Sunday Bread.  I have the ingredients at home, so perhaps later this week you will see the outcome!  I had it when in Switzerland and it was yummy...hopefully mine will be as well!  

The next two days promise to be very busy, with tours on both Wednesday and Thursday.  

For those of you enjoy the heat wave in the USA, it is rather...English...here today.  We have a predicted high of 68F.  Not exactly a hot summer day!

Sunny Sunday!

London finally got the weather right!  Today was a beautiful Sunday.  The day went as usual: church, training session, coffee while walking down to Hyde Park, conversations, etc.  Since today was such a gorgeous day, several of us decided to take a picnic dinner to the park.  Between McDonald's and Sainsbury (a grocery store chain), we got dinner for six and found a grassy spot in the sun.  Not a bad way to unwind!

I got home quite late, but much more relaxed than I usually am on a Sunday evening.  In the midst of several really serious conversations today, I had to stop and just appreciate the beauty of the clouds.  

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

   night after night they reveal knowledge. 

They have no speech, they use no words; 

   no sound is heard from them. 

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, 

   their words to the ends of the world. 

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 

It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, 

   like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 

It rises at one end of the heavens 

   and makes its circuit to the other; 

   nothing is deprived of its warmth

Psalm 19:1-6

Weeds

I don't understand how weeds grow so much faster than flowers!  With the rain we've been having over the two weeks, previously cleared spots in our garden started sprouting all over again!  I had the morning off and for the first time this week, there was sunshine!  I put on my Wellies and out the door I went...

I apparently take gardening very seriously!

To be truthful, I don't know that I would have gotten around to the garden if my day had gone as planned.  If I have a morning off, I enjoy sleeping in!  However, at 8:31, my phone rang, jolting me out of a very deep sleep.  I fumbled for my phone with my eyes closed and manage to send it crashing to the wooden floor.  Fortunately it was ok!  When I answered, it was my landlord, telling me the plumbers (a father/son team) were just five minutes away to check on some things here at the house!  

Well, that got me moving!  I jumped out of bed, got dressed, and brushed my teeth.  Part way through their work, I offered them drinks.  The son said he would like a cold drink.  I explained to him that I didn't have any juice, but I could offer him water or an American fruit drink called KoolAid.  

"I'll give it a go," he said with a nod.  

By the time they were finished, I had made some cornbread muffins for them to take for tea.  When the son handed the empty Kool-Aid glass to me, I asked how he liked it.

"It's quite good, innit?" he said.  "Tastes like bubble gum!"  

"Innit" makes me smile and grimace at the same time.  It's an East End pattern of speech.  It's supposed to be "Isn't it?" but it is used in more ways than just as a confirmation.  "That's just the way we lot talk, innit?"  It gets tagged onto the end of almost every sentence.  It is one pattern of speech I refuse to adopt.  I'll call my sweater a jumper.  I might even say the traffic is "chock-a-block."  I'll call my stovetop a hob, my phone a mobile, and snow peas mange-tout.  But please spare from me from saying, "Innit?"  

The other phrase that still trips me up is "You alright?"  Basically, this is "How are you?"  It seldom requires an answer.  It took me a few months to get used to this.  I kept thinking, "Do I look ill? Confused?  Why do people keep asking if I'm alright???"  

Sometimes I just sit on the bus, listening to the hodgepodge of conversation around me and think, "And Brits have the nerve to say that Americans butcher the English language?"  

Museum Humor

Wednesday's tour, followed by the coffee featured previously, was perhaps my most positive experience yet.  Perhaps it was because I ordered a medium coffee instead of a small :)

The tour group was a mix of Americans and Brits of all ages, about 30 in all.  We had expected 40, so Val and I thought we would each take a group of 20.  However, since some cancelled last minute, we decided to tag team.  It's actually great (for me!) to do the tour that way.  It helps to give our voices a break when we alternate, and it also is fun to banter back and forth.  Val and I both enjoy entertaining and our friendship comes through as well when we work together.

Part way through the tour, one gentleman came up to Valerie and I and commented, "This is just brilliant.  Do you two plan the jokes?"  We had a chuckle.  The great thing about co-guiding the tour is that we actually fit more humor in because the presence of another guide allows for more spontaneous interaction. Most of the jokes we were using weren't planned and some were actually our segues into the next artifact!  It is true though that as each member of our team has learned the tour, we have developed our own style and our unique jokes which are woven into the dialogue.  When I first started doing the tour, I felt that I needed to do it exactly as my boss does.  However, I quickly realized that my own humor fits much better for my tours, just as his flows with his style.

Val created the best pun yet (in my opinion) on Wednesday.  She was discussing the city of Ur.  We were looking at ornate artifacts from Ur in Mesopotamia.  Val was emphasizing that Ur was a metropolitan city in it's day.  When Abraham was called by God to leave Ur, it wasn't as though he was leaving a small, dusty village to go wander and find another small, dusty village.  Val said, "It would be quite accurate to say Abraham was an urbanite."

I thought it was hilarious!!!  No one else laughed!  I had the next artifact, and I did make a point to reiterate the humor.  "Abraham was an "Ur"-banite!" :)  Val hadn't realized the pun and we have since decided it should be an included joke :)  As she said, it should go down in history....although technically, it already did!

One of my trademark comments on the tour is, "Isn't that amazing?"  I try to avoid repeating it too much, but I get so excited by the details of the tour and I want others to see the value of what they are seeing and hearing.  I often jokingly admonish the tour group for not getting excited enough by what they are seeing.  At the end of Wednesday's tour, one of the couples came over to compliment the tour.  After thanking me, the husband said, "Hope, I have to tell you something.  I'm an Englishman.  This is me being excited!"

The Pre Tour Hot Drink!

The secret to my enthusiasm :-)

Twelve

I have a several friends who encourage me to blog about the things I learn through work and my different courses.  In response to that request, here is something brief regarding the use of the number twelve in the book of Revelation 20-21.  I hope it is both helpful and enjoyable!:

Revelation is full of “twelves.”  Twelve gates, twelve angels, twelve tribes, the names of the twelve apostles, twelve precious stones,  twelve foundations, twelve pearls, a perfect cube with sides each measuring twelve hundred stadia, the tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit and numerous measurements in multiples of twelve.  The number twelve has significance in other parts of Revelation, representing the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles.  The multiple of 144 in a sense combines both the Old covenant of the Israelites and the New Covenant with all who accept it.  Where an additional three zeros are added, this can be understood as a great multitude or all believers.

The number twelve shows diversity, completion, and universality.  Rather than just one or two precious stones, there are a variety.  Rather than one way into the city, there are twelve gates.    Rather than one fruit, there are twelve.  An example that comes to mind is South Africa.  Post apartheid, South Africa chose to represent it’s diversity in establishing an official language.  They have eleven national official languages.  (It would perhaps be a perfect example if they had only picked one more language!  However, in census date, researches do include a twelfth category of “other languages” to encapsulate the remaining tribal languages.)

The nature of the city is perfection.  There is no sickness, no death, no pain, no persecution, no sadness.  There is no need for sun or moon because the Lord is the light.  The city is measured, not for reference or question, but to show it’s completion and symmetry.  In short, the symbolic meaning of the dimensions of the cube-shaped city is the splendor and perfection of the New Jerusalem (Ezek. 37:26-28) (Yeatts, 2003: 408). Nothing and nobody unclean can come into the New Jerusalem. Even mud is not going to mar the city, for the streets are gold.

I wonder as well if having twelve options reduced the risk of idolatry or at least misplaced value on the detail. If John’s vision showed one gate to the New Jerusalem on the eastern wall of the city, would some believers not have insisted that gates only be built on the eastern walls of cities and homes?  If one fruit was listed or one jewel, that could be viewed as “God’s fruit” or “God’s jewel.”  By focusing on such trivialities, the readers could easily lose focus on the New Jerusalem, forgetting that it is a testimony to the perfection and beauty and holiness that comes from God’s presence.

When reading, I had the sense of the enormity of John’s task, to find human words to describe a glorious, heavenly vision.  It’s as though John is saying with excitement, “There are all these good things, precious things, beautiful things...but wait, there isn’t just one or two, there are twelve, there are plenty, there is no want, no lack!  It’s the best thing you can imagine, and then multiple that best thing by twelve, and it’s still not even close!”

I'd encourage you to examine Revelation.  Often in the Church, we get caught up in the details of "the rapture" and dates and prediction.  But there is much more in Revelation.  It isn't meant to be a literal, chronological explanation, so be prepared to use your imagination and try to visualize the word pictures John is creating as he records the vision he was given.  I've found a commentary to be hugely helpful as I've read through.  And if you do this study, feel free to email me or comment on this post!  I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Transportation

I love having public transportation.  When it works.  Monday was to be my day off, which it was not, but that's ok.  I had a tour scheduled.  I knew one of the girls on the tour, and she and I arranged to meet for a coffee at 11 before the 12:30 start time for the tour.

My morning started with waiting for the delivery of 500 new booklets for our tour from the printer.  I hadn't had an option other than to have them delivered to my house, but what I hadn't thought of was 4 printer-paper boxes full of booklets.  They are still sitting in my hallway, waiting for a place to be found to store them.  After they were delivered, I finished getting ready and headed out the door.  

Avril and I had said we would meet at 11, and I knew it would take me about 45 minutes to get to that particular coffee shop just across the street from the museum.  I left home and walked the half mile to the station.  I walked around the corner and into a mass of people, all staring in dismay at the dreaded whiteboard, announcing a disruption to the Central Line service.  I peeked at the details to see if my route was affected and  yes, the line was closed all the way from my station to Liverpool Street due to a train that stopped working.

I started trying to figure out the fastest way to get to Tottenham Court Road and nothing looked promising.  All required a lot of changes.  Had the line been running well, I would have only been on the tube for 25 minutes.  With a bit of a grumble, I left the station and walked to my high street to see what buses I could take.  Of course, the one bus I needed left the bus stand as I walked up.  And then it started raining again.  

Fortunately, I didn't need to wait to long for my next bus.  I hopped on that and rode it to Stratford, where I waited a few minutes for a train that never arrived.  I switched platforms and managed to get on a National Express train that fortunately went directly to Liverpool Street!  There, I switched back to the Central Line and went the rest of my way on a very crowded train.  Tottenham Court, then up to street level and a quick walk back to the museum.  All in all, I was only twenty minutes late!  

My time with Avril was great, and the group was wonderful.  I had 16 people for the tour.  I don't get nervous about giving tours anymore! I was still exhausted by the time I finished the tour.  

Afterwards I made my way back to Paul and Claire's house for dinner with them before they leave for a few weeks.  On the way home, I saw the travel poster below in the tube station.  It made me laugh and I figured I would share it with you! 

It ended up being a late night and another early start today.  Tomorrow there is another museum tour for quite a large group.  Val and I are thinking we will each have 20 in our group, so I think I need a good night's sleep to have energy to be loud enough!

When I think back over the last six months, I'm amazed at how quickly time has gone by!  The last two have been especially busy.  The next few promise to be so as well.  Even just next two weeks, I will be giving another 4 tours, which end up being an all day event.  At times like this, it's good to remember I have a wonderful source of strength and help!

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NIV

The dreary days of summer

Today started off as a quite moderate day.  I wisely took a jacket when I left the house for the day.  I foolishly left my umbrella.  By the time I was down in central London, the sky looked like this:

Meanwhile, my aunt is sending me messages from Pennsylvania about 80 degree weather and an afternoon in the swimming pool.  Sigh.  "They" were right when they said life isn't fair.  Five minutes after I took this photo, the heavens opened.  I started singing a song from my youth: Oh, the rain came down and the flood came up, the rain came down and the flood came up...  Fortunately, this is England.  So five minutes later, the downpour stopped.  I dashed from EAT, the cafe where I bought a cup of soup to warm me up, to the church.  An hour later, when I dashed out of the church to catch someone before she left, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  I went back into the church to get my bag, chatted to someone else and walked outside.  And into another downpour.  Three of us sprinted into a Starbucks to wait for it to clear up.  One coffee order placed (not me, I'd already had two cups by that point!) and paid for, and the rain stopped.  We walked to the park to join some friends in our Sunday discussions, glancing furtively at the sky every so often, hoping we wouldn't see the dark clouds coming back.  

The clouds followed us.  

The entire group started a little routine.  Rain comes down, umbrellas go up.  Those of us who did not plan well huddled close to those who have lived and learned London's fickle weather patterns.  Usually about ten minutes later, we could start to step away and out from under the umbrellas.  Then the shift came to be out from underneath the leaves of tress, to avoid the remaining droplets.  Umbrellas were collapsed, sunglasses adjusted.  And repeat.

the sea of umbrellas

At one point in my day, I experienced the awful side-affect of being a very observant people watcher.  Standing in the crowd with Valerie, I glanced to my left.  And regretted it.  I poked Valerie.  "Look at the man to my left."  Remember, we were in a crowd.  Still, I could tell the second she saw who I meant.  Have you ever seen a man with homegrown earmuffs?  

I'm not trying to be mean.  This man had more hair coming out of his ears than he had on the top of his head.  I don't know how he could hear ANYTHING.  He looked like he was prepared for a chilly day in the park and slid on a pair of furry earmuffs before waltzing out the door.  

Val leaned over and whispered, "That's exactly why men need women."   

Celebrate!

Today, our denomination celebrated 31 years of establishment in the UK.  Paul and Angelina and I went to the party.  It reminded me so much of many church events from my childhood.  

We were told the party was from 12-5 p.m.  We arrived at 12:20 and the decorating was only beginning.  We got home from the day at 8:30 p.m.  It was a great time, don't get me wrong.  I was just exhausted at the end of it all!  

When we arrived, we pitched in to help decorate.  After I worked myself out of a job, I asked someone what else I could.  She thrust a child into arms and said, "Hold her."  Irony of ironies.  I generally NEED help with babies, rather than be considered helpful with them.  I had Angelina capture this for my family's laughter.  To be fair, Tiana just didn't want to smile.  She didn't fuss at all while I held her, thank goodness.  I also didn't know whose child she was!  After about 45 minutes, her mom came to collect her :)

The pastors' wives

The choirs

Paul was invited as one of the many speakers

Auntie Ivy K was one of the original church members.

Angelina sharing our history and vision.

the original pastoral couple

The meal that followed was a truly African meal.  As the MC said, "It's our culture.  When we get together, we make sure we pray, we make sure we celebrate, and we make sure we eat!"  

There were many mishaps with the sound system, which left Angelina and I with ringing ears and headaches.  However, the joy and zeal of the worship teams was undeniable.  Some songs were sung in English, some in Ndebele, and some in Zulu.  The accents while singing were a bit difficult for Paul and Angelina to understand.  I had a good laugh when we sang a song I remembered from church in my childhood.  The lyrics say, "I am a winner with Christ my Lord."  I noticed that Angelina was clapping and moving with the music but she wasn't singing.  I figured she was having a difficult time with the words.  I leaned over and whispered, "The words they are singing are, "I am a winner, with Christ my Lord..."  Angelina looked at me in confusion.  "They're singing in English?"  Haha!  

tour guide

Jay just sent me some snaps from his phone of me doing the tour!  They aren't very good quality pictures, but it will give you an idea of how your official tour guide might look :)

Update: my foot :)

Just got back from the doctor's office.  The ease of NHS (National Healthcare System) left me feeling a bit out of place.  I walked into the doctor's office and went to a computer screen on the wall to sign in for my appointment.  I had to input my date of birth and then it found my appointment and signed me in.  Ten minutes later, a screen in the waiting room announced which room I should go to.  There is not the same amount of patient confidentiality here.  I wasn't sure if I should knock or just go in or what!  I went on in and met my doctor.

After the usual chat and examining my foot, he said he doesn't think it is a stress fracture.  He's calling it a ligament sprain instead.  That sounds good to me...shorter recovery time!  It surprised me though that he asked me if I wanted an x-ray to be sure.  I didn't know how to respond at first!  I told him I felt comfortable not x-raying it, but I was thinking, "Why is the doctor asking me????  Isn't it the other way around???"  Basically, he's told me to keep up the ibuprofen and ice as needed, take it easy on my foot, and wait at least two weeks to start gradually easing back into any running or aerobics.  Unfortunately, this means I'm not running my 5K with my friend on Sunday :(  The bright side is, a stress fracture would have been much worse!


As I put my shoe on, we chatted about my accent.  He's been to Philadelphia twice before.  "Lovely city.  Very multicultural."  That makes me giggle.  Someone in London calling Philly multicultural?  That's like a penguin going to Pennsylvania and saying (if penguins could speak), "Oh yes, you do have cold winters here!"

And once we said goodbye, I just walked right through the reception area and out the door.  So odd.  I felt like I was dashing out without paying the bill.  In retrospect, I guess I was, except there is no bill.  Weird.

Apple Temptations :)

We have an Apple/PC divide on our team.  Paul and I are diehard Mac people.  Everyone else is not, although interestingly enough, we all have iPhones.  Jay even has an iPad, but he just won't recognize that Apple is the best!

Yesterday at church, the guest speaker used the following cartoon in his sermon:

taken from http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2010/03/adam-and-apple.html

Although technically it would show support for the opposition, it makes me laugh :)  I hope it brings a giggle to your day as well.

Update: my foot :)

Just a quick note for those of you who have been asking about my foot.  It's pretty good, still a little sore, but I have been taking care to not overstress it.  I have an appointment at my GP for Wednesday morning just to check it out.  Paul keeps calling me "Hoppy," and losing that nickname is starting to become a priority for me!  I'll let you know how it goes :)

God's provision

On Sunday, a new girl came to our church.  Her name is Laura (another Laura!).  She's from South Africa and working as an au pair (nanny).  She somehow is connected to a member of our congregation and came to visit.  I was chatting with her for a bit and just really connected.  Do you have those moments when you meet someone and you just think, "This is someone I want to get to know" ?

We had a church luncheon after the service, so I invited Laura to stay and we had a quick lunch together.  She needed to get back to the station to get to central London to meet some other people and wasn't sure of the way.  I offered to walk with her to show her the way.  As we walked, it started to get cloudy and rain seemed to be on it's way.  The walk to the station went right by my house, so I popped in and grabbed an umbrella.  Once we got to the point where Laura would carry on her way, I gave her the umbrella.  She said she didn't think it would rain, but I reminded her that she would be out all day.  I also told her I have several, because I am frequently caught without a brolly and then I end up buying these little cheap ones for a few ££s.  In the end, Laura took it and gave me a big hug.

I had added her on Facebook to keep in touch.  She's only been in the UK a few months and it's her first time to live outside of South Africa.  Several of us young women at church wanted to make sure to connect with her.  We all know the loneliness of getting to know a new area without anyone familiar around you.

Laura sent me a message last night once she arrived home.  Here's what she said:
 "So about the umbrella you so generously gave to me today. The strangest thing, an umbrella is something that I have really needed to get but just haven't got around to buying. And although it's rather a small thing, it is something on my list of "things to buy" for the move in September. The whole idea of rent, groceries, taxes and finances has all been a bit of a stress to me because it is the first time I will really and truly be a grown up and have to do it all on my own!!!! When you gave the umbrella to me today, I felt like God was saying in His loving, calming, humorous way; "See, I promise to provide for you, even in the little things. So STOP worrying about it!" Hee! Don't you just love it?! I have been so blessed and every step of this whole trip God just keeps sending me little reminders that He's got my back.So thank you for being a part of that. Was really quite special!!!" 


Isn't that wonderful?  I was just really touched by how God uses such small things to remind us of His provision.  This was such a good lesson for me to remember that we never know how God uses the little gestures.  Also, this was a good trigger for me to remember even the ways that God has done similar things for me!  I hope you are encouraged today, as I was, in the knowledge that God uses the little things to bless others in ways we aren't even aware.  We might not always hear of the ways we affect us, but that doesn't mean God isn't using you to bless someone else.   


Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you--Luke 6:38.  I've always thought of this as originating with me.  I've thought of my giving as the action.  However, this morning, I've been thinking of it terms of being a means of fulfilling this for others.  In this case, someone else giving is the action, and my giving is the reaction.  Perhaps, through my giving, God is using me to fulfill his promise to someone else, to reward them and encourage them.  Isn't it awesome that God allows us to both be blessed and bless someone else through the same deed?

Thankfulness

It's amazing how much I take things for granted.  This week has been a good lesson in remembering to give thanks.

As you may have noticed, the past week was very busy.  Friday was the worst.  Thursday, I worked until almost 12:30 to try to get ahead on my schoolwork because I knew this weekend would be busy.  Then, I got up at 4:45 to get ready, because Paul was picking Angelina and I up at 5:30 a.m. for a trip to the airport to meet a colleague's 6:30 a.m. flight.  Neither Angelina nor I are morning people, and Paul is always teasing us for it.  However, roles were reversed on Friday.  Paul hadn't had his coffee yet :)  Angelina and I were chatty as anything and I found out that life is really funny on four hours of sleep.  She and I gabbed the entire trip to the airport, interrupted by Paul's groans at the traffic, even at the wee hours of the morning.

By the time we made it to the airport, Paul headed straight for the first coffee kiosk with no looking back!  However, he did buy Angelina and I hot drinks as well :)  Paul subsequently headed over to the seats in the waiting area of Terminal 3, expecting us to follow.  However, Angelina and I did not do anything directly that morning.

First, I needed sugar.  Paul looked at me in shock.  "Sugar???  It's a caramel latte!  It's already sweetened!"  I took a sip.  "Nope.  Still need sugar."

So, Angelina and I walked back for sugar.

Then, we got stopped by a man wanting advice on which train to take to central London, the underground or the National Express or Heathrow Express or....Poor man.  We both answered at the same time, and he just looked confused.  Besides, English wasn't his first language.  We did slow down and take turns and eventually get him headed in the right direction.  We continued on our way to join Paul, who was waiting patiently (well, sort of) for us to catch up.  Angelina stopped behind me.  "Wait, Hope, did you dye your hair?  It's darker!"  I had just dyed it the other day (It's not much darker, just a bit.  There are a few grays that are starting to show!  That's a whole 'nother story.)  So, we chatted about my hair, not realizing that we stopped walking to do so.  I glanced up to see Paul's somewhat glazed expression as he just turned and walked ahead without us.  We caught up to him and joined him in sitting to wait for our friend's now delayed flight.

He shook his head.  "You just talked for five minutes about hair."  We had a good laugh.  He still doesn't get it.

(Paul is just making a face!  He did enjoy the morning)

Our friend arrived and we fulfilled the customary tradition of going out to breakfast.  Having been the recipient of this generous offer, I sometimes wonder if we are selfish in doing this.  The poor traveller has often just had an overnight flight from North America and is just feeling blessed to be on solid ground and would rather not eat a greasy full English.  (Full English breakfasts include eggs, sausage, toast, baked beans, and blood pudding along with the worst coffee ever.  I am not a fan.)  

 
After breakfast, we had to head our separate ways.  I caught a bus, rather two, from Heathrow to meet another colleague to do some grocery shopping for our "social" that evening.  After I tapped my Oyster (bus pass) on the reader, the bus started to pull away.  I lost my balance and stepped hard on my left foot, which is of course, the foot that was hurting.  Not good.  Thankfully, it was mid day, and I was able to get a seat and sit for the hour and half I travelled.  The rest of the day passed in a blur of shopping and getting ready for the social, chatting with everyone as they arrived and just enjoying the time together.

The early morning caught up with me as the evening carried on.  Angelina and I were traveling in the same direction, and I think we got on a 10:40 train.  The train's next stop was Wembley Station, where Take That had just finished a concert.  Suddenly the tube had breathing room only and it stayed that way until Oxford Circus, where we both changed tube lines.  Angelina got the Victoria and I got the Central, and unfortunately had to stand.  Fortunately, from my station I can catch a bus that stops very near my house.  By the time I fell into bed, I was exhausted.

The next day, Paul told me to use my judgement but to take it easy on my foot.  I was to be helping with an evangelism event my church was doing at our local park, but I just couldn't.  So, I stayed home, worked on some other projects on my computer and most of all, kept ice on my foot.

But this post is about thankfulness.  So I'd like to share some of the things I've been reminded of in that regard.  After all, we are to give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  There is so much I forget to appreciate.

1. Buses: When my foot hurts, I can take a bus.  I have the finances to make that choice, and the transportation is available as well.
2. Housemates: When I came home on Wednesday with my sore foot, Laura picked me up from the train station, and she and Joanne heated up dinner for me and brought it to me so I could stay with my foot propped up.
3. Water: We've had a bit of a mess getting our water bill sorted out.  We recently changed who paid the water bill at our house, and the company decided to revaluate our bill.  The first agent we talked to assigned us a water bill that was insane.  When we called back, the second agent told us that the first agent had assumed a water use typical to that of a 6 person family!  We now have that sorted, but all of it has reminded me how thankful I am for readily available, clean water.
4. Skype: I'm so thankful for the ease of talking with family and friends.
5. Sight: I had one of those frustrating moments when I had already taken out my contacts but didn't know where I had placed my glasses!  But, I'm so thankful that I have corrective lenses and that I have vision!
6. Mobility: I've been annoyed by my foot, but it's reminded me how blessed I am to have typically very good health and be able to move around without giving it a second thought.
7. Medicine: Joanne has been struggling with her sinuses, I've had my foot issues, and the other day I started to get a headache.  I frequently have bad headaches and migraines, but thankfully this headache went away quickly.  However, I was reminded of how I can buy a packet of 16 tablets of ibuprofen for 30p (less than 50 cents) at the grocery store.  

These are only seven things, but I could continue in my listing, and I'm certain you could do your own list as well.  Even as I wrote, I was thinking, "God has been good to me."  But then I stopped myself.  I'm not sure that is the right perspective.  Yes, God has been good to me.  But I shouldn't only thank God for being good to me.  God is good.  That doesn't change with my circumstances.  I need to remember that He is good to me regardless of how things are going.  It reminds of the refrain used in church services:

Leader: God is good.

Congregation: All the time.

Leader: All the time.

Congregation: God is good.


Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Days go by...

I literally feel like I'm blank.  Goodness, this week is busy.  Monday was a full day, even though you know from my last post that we had a lovely dinner.  Aside from that, I worked on coursework until 10p.m.

Tuesday was a long day. I went to our office, which is across the city.  That meant, I arrived at the station at 9:30 and travelled an hour on the train.  I arrived to the office and signed in at security.  When I went through the building, all the lights were still off, meaning I was the first one there. I unlocked our door and entered a sauna.  It took almost four hours and as many requests from me to the security desk to get the air con sorted, which meant my first few hours of work were done in 80F in a room with windows all around, but none which open.  Then the air con came on, and the temperature drastically dropped to 66F.  I worked until 7:30 with my jumper on!  Then of course, as soon as I signed out to head home, the rain started.  By the time I got on the tube home, I was ready for the stifling heat that normally exhausts me.  However, heat + damp clothes + many people at the end of the day + 1 hour on underground trains = ...well, let's just say I tried not to breathe deeply.

We had a meeting today, and Paul very graciously offered to give Angelina and I a lift to the office.  He was in front of my house at 9 am and off we went.


Road works.

It doesn't matter what you call it, construction is the bane of drivers everywhere.  We drove 18.7 miles from my house to the office parking garage.  It took us one hour and twenty minutes.  Oh, London.

Our meeting went well and it was much needed.  The two families here will be headed to the USA and Canada for a few months each, and we were discussing projects and such to be carried on in their absence.  We have good meetings, fun meetings, productive meetings, but we never have short meetings.  By two, everyone else except Val left for the rest of their day and I dashed to the nearby polski sklep (Polish shop) to get some bread, cheese and walnuts for lunch.  This particular shop always has nice whole grain, freshly baked bread.  The cheese is always a matter of guesswork, because the labels are all in Polish.  It would not have helped to ask, since I'm pretty sure the cashier today was Iranian.

I needed to use our printer, but alas, the cyan blue cartridge was finished.  There is a Staples store less than a mile away, so Val and I walked over and bought several new cartridges.  Believe me, it was fast to walk than wait for the bus.  On the way, I noticed that my foot was quite sore but I didn't really think anything of it.  Once back at the office, I started printing the booklets I needed and working on a few other things as well.  As I walked back and forth between my computer and the office Mac, my foot really started to ache.  By the time I left (again at 7:30!), I texted my housemate to see if she could drive to the station at the other end of my journey to spare me a walk home.

I don't know what happened to my foot!  I can stand on it, but wiggling my toes or trying to flex my foot really hurts.  It's quite swollen as well.  As I sat on the Tube, praying my foot wouldn't get trampled on by someone stepping to a seat, I realized there is a perfect description for how I was walking.  I was walking with all the grace of a pirate with an ill-fitting peg leg.  It is very challenging to walk without flexing one's foot!  And as my sister well remembers, London is not a city for anyone with mobility issues.  (Joy will never forget lugging her suitcases, admittedly filled with things for me, up and down steps at tube stations while she visited.)

Laura met me outside the station and drove me home.  Once I was home, she promptly had me sit down and prop my foot on a chair.  Joanne gave me arnica oil to rub into my skin, which is an herbal anti-inflammatory.  They even heated up veggie lasagna for me! :) A good end to a long day!  Hopefully tomorrow my foot will feel better, but I think I need to skip my Bhangra aerobics class.  Tomorrow promises to be a busy day, regardless.  And on that note, good night :)

the 4th of July Picnic at Number 8

We took our coffee table out into the garden to have a proper picnic :) 

Enjoying our corn on the cob :)

I think I've finally figured out how much chili and cayenne pepper to put in my chili.  It's a delicate balance of spice and still being able to enjoy eating!  Since I'm a vegetarian, I like to make a Three Bean Chili.  But the cupboards are getting a bit bare and apparently I haven't gotten tinned beans for while.  I usually use kidney, black, and pinto beans for chili.  But alas, there were no pinto beans.  

Today, I used an ingredient I have never heard of before.  The tin is from a Caribbean shop and they are called Jamaican gungo peas.  The label from the tin had a recipe for rice and beans using the gungo peas, so I figured they would taste ok in the chili.  So, today's chili included kidney beans, black beans, and gungo peas.  I did a little wikipedia-ing and apparently they are also called pigeon peas.  

It tasted quite good!  To make it complete, we toasted "To America" with our KoolAid.  I'm sure our neighbors were wondering what we were on about, but we enjoyed ourselves.