What To Do...

Standing in my kitchen last night, contemplating what to cook for dinner, everything in me wanted to run. Part of the feeling stems from the fact that I still don't have a working refrigerator. The rest of me wanted to run down the block, enter the subway station, and board a train.

I missed Seoul.

I missed the food.

I missed meeting Christopher and Lauren for dinner.

Having spent so much time in London, it felt like I should be able to walk out my front door, round the corner,

to wait for a double-decker bus with Sarabeth and get a bite to eat at a local pub.

I miss the city, but as I write, Sarabeth is in a plane somewhere over the ocean, headed for home.

I resisted the urge to run, and instead rustled up something for dinner. Having a second 'fridge downstairs (thankfully), I must have stepped up and down those stairs 50 times. Each time I did, I imagined I was headed to the subway or underground. Walking back up, I envisioned myself emerging from Picadilly Station

or in the middle of downtown Seoul.

Maybe, just maybe, the reason my eyes itch and water as the grass turns green, my nose runs and I sneeze as soon as the trees bloom, and I cough with congestion as the weeds grow wild making it difficult to breathe is all just God attempt at letting me know, I belong in the City.

In my heart is a city girl fighting to get out of the country.

Dancing In The Rain Of Life

Thirty

Thirty years ago, at 5:04 p.m., I became a mom to the most beautiful baby.


Eight years ago, she became mom to my 1st grandson.

Happy Birthday Christina, just as beautiful as the day you were born!

Wish we could spend the day together.

Blessed Part 2

Ten years ago I never would have guessed my velcro-baby, Sarabeth would venture off alone to spend a semester living in England.



Daily walks through hundreds of years of her British Heritage,


mingling in the culture,


including Camden Town.

drinking in the experience of afternoon tea,


and sipping cider in the pub.

Navigating the Tube,

or Underground,

whatever name you prefer,


double-decker buses,

crazy drivers

and bus schedules,

she got lost and used it as a time of learning and adventure,

accepting it as part of the journey.


Courageously, she braved the public health care system



Endured the pain and uncertainty of a medical emergency,

Triumphantly overcame all obstacles.

Forever changed, my little girl grew more confident, determined; embracing whatever came her way,





and walked gracefully through to the other side.


Love you Sarabeth! Thanks for sharing London with us.

Blessed Part 1

Ten years ago, I didn't imagine my son married & living abroad. I certainly would not have believed Michael and I would fly around the world to visit Christopher and Lauren in Seoul, then meet up with our daughter in London.

It's been fun to journey with them via pictures, email & regular video chats. But I can't quite put into words what it was like to literally live in their worlds countries for a week & share their every day living experiences.


The rich cultural immersion was so much more than if we'd merely taken a tour.

Michael and I are so very blessed.

Christopher and Lauren sacrificed their bed, sleeping on the floor in their tiny, studio apartment so we could spend more time together.

One of the highlights of the week was spending an afternoon at their school. We saw their classrooms & interacted with the children.

One boy named Mike wanted to know who we were, exclaiming that Michael looked just like Santa Claus. I thought it was the beard, since I never saw any of the Korean men with facial hair.

Mike said it was the glasses too. Michael wondered if there were any other outstanding features the boy might have associated with the jolly old elf.

We met their principal, who is a gem, and couldn't stop telling us how proud we should be of these two. We couldn't agree more.


It was hard to say good-bye, but we were off to see Sarabeth. We left content; having witnessed seeds that were planted so many years ago through prayer, now in full bloom.

Rooted in love & commitment, honor & intergrity, their depth & growth of character was splendidly displayed.

Why Do They Have To Die?

Thank-you Brian
and Elisabeth!
I'm so grateful you are observant, and noticed the water leaking on the hardwood floor, while we were out-of-the country.

That at midnight, you spent 2 hours rescuing the food from our dying refrigerator. My goodness, what would we do without you? (Hilary would say, "if anything happens, turn off the water," lol.)

Changing Of The Guard

Standing outside Buckingham Palace (with the Bobbys)

to watch the changing of the guards.


Does this look like a serious weapon or what?


I was hoping to see the red coats, but it was still awesome!

Never A Dull Moment

Sarabeth and I headed down to the Picadilly Circus. I have a photo hanging on my wall of this train station from 10 years ago. The photo was taken of Christina and her cousin when they came to London with my parents.

I was tired and decided not to take my nice camera. Instead, I tossed my point and shoot in my purse and off we went. Boy did I miss a great photo op!

Not sure if you can get the full detail, but when we arrived at the top of the stairs, we were met by chants, beating drums and a mass of people. Police were everywhere. We decided to go back down to the Tube. We should have known. Sarabeth's house parents warned us of going to the West stations for safety reasons, due to the protests.

Being on vacation, I haven't kept up on the latest news.

We passed a group of policemen on their way up.

We tried to manuever our way through town, but at one point, we heard sirens and saw 3 helicopters hovering overhead. Three police vans were lined up.

The police had donned their riot gear-shields and batons.


I would have felt a lot safer if the police carried guns.