Happy Mother's Day... yes, it is in England!! We won't be trying to go to lunch today... Lunch on Sunday is a traditional social time in most of Europe. You either have people over for lunch or you go out to lunch. I kind of like it... It is very civilized.

It has been a very busy week. We had a number of collegues at work visit us from the US this week. Aside from the meetings we entertained them for dinner out one night and then I cooked on another, my first true large dinner party... great fun. I even played tour guide, with a trip on the train into London. Picadilly, Trafalgar Square, St. James Park and then a nice pub dinner with a busines associate from SF. All good fun, but tiring.

List of guests to Cleare Cottage the past few weeks include my second cousin, Eliza (Shannon Kelly's daughter) and her mom... great people. It was wonderful having a true chef in the kitchen... also a friend of Nick's who was on spring break from his German studies, Kevin Fox... as they all made their way to different spots, my good friend and her son, Josh arrived... We did a trip to Stonehenge, a train trip to London and Jess and I even went to Mass in a beautiful church, the Immaculate Heart of Mary situated between the Natural History Musuem and Harrods. We just happened past it while Josh and one of his friends from high school visited a pub to get up date on each others lives. It was Sunday night and they had a 7pm service. Well, it was total "old school" mass. The priest wizzed through in 30minutes (including communion). His sermon was a very appropriate one on what Lent really means and how we should look at it as the spring of our religion, not the sorrowful time some make it out to be. It was very thought provoking. Anyway, after Mass we walked past Harrods peeping in the windows because of course it was closed on a Sunday night. We hooked back up with the boys at a cute little restaraunt off the main street and had a wonderful meal, served to us by the cutest Irish boy... then we went to another pub, the "Bunch of Grapes" that was actually an Irish pub, deep in the Kensington part of London... The boys wanted us to share Tequilla shots with them, we declined. I had to work and besides, Tequilla is no longer my friend!!! All and all we had a good time. Jess and Josh went to Paris during the week and returned on Thurs night. Yesterday we went to Windsor and I finally "stormed the castle" with an amazing tour of the state apartments...truly amazing. We were treated to a choir presentation complete with orchestra in St. George's Cathedral... they were practicing. It was fabulous... almost 100 in the choir with at least a 20 piece orchestra... both Jess and I felt very nostalgic, remembering our time in the Mercy choir with Sister Mary Susanne leading us with vigor!! We both felt a spirtitual twinge... Josh of course rolled his eyes at us and wanted to move on... agreeing though that it was amazing. Anyway, well worth the time! We took Josh to the airport this morning as his spring break is over and Jess is staying for another week. We are planning a trip to Bath for a couple of days. I have to be back for work on Wednesday and then on Thursday she is going with me to Amsterdam, as I have to go over there for a customer meeting. She leaves on Saturday. I am off to Denver on April 1st and then home for Easter on the 6th.

Also of note this week, my good friend Emily (of Larry and Emily) is recovering from an 8 hour surgery to remove an abcess on her spinal cord. She had to have three vertabrae removed from her neck and then they put in a rod to support her neck..eewwwh! Larry reported that she is speaking (they weren't sure she would be able to) and they think that it was a successful operation. Please pray for her.. she has had some major health problems lately...