A Trip Home

In case there is anyone who has been befuddled by the long radio silence, it is only because we ventured home a couple of weeks ago, and have only now returned to London. Despite the fact that we were home for basically a full two weeks, we still ended up not doing everything we wanted to do and not spending as much time with people as we would have liked. Two weeks is just not long enough among family and friends. Still, all in all, the visit back was much more relaxed than last time, and it was certainly enjoyed by us - it was nice to sit and enjoy some of the warm summer weather.

It's hard to sum up the past couple of weeks in words. I could write about how much we enjoyed feeling more like we were back "home" this time, and how we enjoyed meeting and eating with our friends and family, or about how we enjoyed our chance for American food, whether it be sandwiches at the Diplomat Deli, grilling out with friends, or dining at the Macaroni Grill. I could talk about how good it was to see everyone, and how we enjoyed kicking back in the slower pace of Alabama life. But, I think, all in all, it was a reminder that two years, although it sometimes feels like a long time, is really fairly short... and that we'll be home soon enough, with plenty of memories and stories to tell, and a newfound understanding of the British.

Dalton and Maggie were extremely glad and delighted to find that they could still hang out with their friends from almost a year and a half ago, and are looking forward to the spring when we will finally make our way towards home. Maggie in particular is looking forward to starting at Bluff Park. Now we just have to make sure she's actually ready. Dalton, too, is looking forward to going back and joining in with his school friends again. Michelle and I are looking forward to coming back and re-establishing old relationships and building new ones, and continuing our ongoing house project.

For those of you who we didn't get to see, or to see as much as perhaps any of us would have liked, I can only say that although two weeks is a long stay, please don't consider our lack of visitation to be indicative of anything other than a lack of time. There were several people that we wanted to see and spend some time with that we just weren't able to see. Hopefully we can remedy the situation when we return with some good old fashioned Southern hospitality. And to the numerous people out there who were overwhelmingly kind, supportive, and helpful throughout our visit, a few short words of thanks fail to express our gratefulness. But, thank you anyway, and know that we truly appreciate your words and acts of kindness.

Having made it to the home stretch of our stay in London, so to speak, I imagine I'll come back with our updated list shortly, and hopefully we can make a good go of actually doing a good bit of it. I do know that we have a couple of visitors coming over the next few months, so that will be good, and perhaps we can entice a few more - the time really is getting short now, so if you're interested, please speak up soon. We really do appreciate the visits, and I can assure you that you will have two guides who are reasonably knowledgeable of London to boot.

The jetlag has long ago caught up with me and now I am approaching the point of being unable to type anything coherent, so I will close. God Bless Alabama.