Running on Empty

I promised to post a picture of our family dinner tonight, and call it sleep deprivation, but I totally forgot to get out the camera!! Sorry to those of you waiting patiently to see a photo of the Stoke Poges bunch. We had a lovely evening though, another great meal, and I even remembered to show them the photos of Darling Daughter's wedding, but did I remember to take the camera out of my purse??? No! So, for lack of a better subject, I snapped this one of Jim just now, reading the map in preparation for his solo trip tomorrow to some Boy Scout mecca, called Gilwell Park. I'm nervous about his driving there alone (this wrong side of the road thing is rather disconcerting!), but John and I have a date to go looking at all the old sites of family history interest. Jim has no interest in that, so it makes sense to separate for the day, but he has to go on the M25 (the motorway ring road around London) and it has a horrible traffic problem and it's so much easier to drive around with a navigator. We practiced with our cell phones to make sure he could really call me if necessary. He can dial my cell phone just like I was at home and it's amazing that the technology can find me here in Beaconsfield, England in only seconds!

Back to dinner.....we went to the Bull at Bisham (The Bull Inn Pub). Darling Daughter will remember we went there in 2002 and had a long table for the whole family. I had a nice meal of Chicken Princesse (chicken breast cooked in white wine and cream and topped with asparagus), some veggies, potatoes, and Nina and I shared a bottle of pinot grigio. For dessert, I had the almond tart. You know, I'm beginning to think this blog should have been called The Meals of an Ancestor Collector!! Anyway, we had to travel in two cars, as most cars here are quite small. Joan drives a Toyota Yaris and no one was fitting in the back seat of that!! We spent quite a lot of time talking about Nina and Adrian's wedding plans. They will be married on June 21 of next year. DD, you will be happy to know that Nina's gown is quite similar to your's but will cost twice as much! Be happy we all live in the USA...things are much cheaper at home. Adrian is such a nice fellow. When we met him five years ago, I didn't really get much chance to talk to him, but he is quite funny and engaging. Tonight was bittersweet because my cousin Mike's presence was sorely missed. He was such a larger than life character.

One other observation, somewhere buried deep in my brain are the remnants of my British accent. When I come here, spend so much time with the family, that accent tries to come out. At times I have to actually surpress the urge to sound like the Brit I am. My voice takes on the lilt, and being bilingual, I speak with the British expressions like "call my mobile", on holiday, wing mirrors (car side view mirrors), Mum instead of Mom, and "Ta" for thank you. It is so strange and quite amazing to me that this happens to me. Good thing we're stopping in Iceland for four days on the way home....that will totally clear the Brit out of me. Their language sound like a combination of French, German, Scandinavian and Russian! It's like nothing we've ever heard.

Well, when I started writing, Hubby was reading his maps, but now, surprise, he's fast asleep with maps in hand. Off to bed for us so we'll be ready to start a new day. We're both running on empty....jet lag is brutal coming in this direction, but at least we have a later start tomorrow. John will come for me at 10 AM and Jim will leave around the same time. Till tomorrow then...night night!