Thursday, March 12, 2009

Tour Guiding is not for wimps

I'm tired. Fortunately so are they. Sightseeing and shopping are exhausting y'all! We all agreed today would be a little more low key in that we’d sleep in and then enjoy some of the village life. Village life in our little village is pretty low key all the time. Boyfriend was surprised when they walked into town last Saturday just before 5 PM to find pretty much everything closing up for the night. When we first arrived in the UK I found the shop hours a bit frustrating but I’ve grown to love that part of life here. Even our closest ‘mall’ closes at 6 PM. I put that in quotes because my girls say that technically it really should not ever be called a mall. We always have a laugh at Christmas time when they advertise Late and Extended Holiday Shopping Hours!!! in other words…open til 8 PM Thursdays and Fridays. And nothing is open in town on Sundays with the exception of the few dining spots and our local Marks and Spencers which has odd hours like 10-2 on Sundays. (Great ready meals though and M & S might be worthy of its own post one of these days). Anyway, the fact that nothing is open makes Sundays much more of a family day for sure. People are out…in church, walking thru the commons, biking, strolling thru town, playing with their kids in the community playground….it’s nice. We can always pop into the city if we’re looking for something to do but Sundays have pretty much become a true day of rest in our home here. I hope I can keep that up when we are once again living in the states but one thing that really hits us in the face when we’re back for home visits is that the US is all about 24/7!!! Not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing…just that we are used to something different now and that will be another adjustment for us.

Oops…went a bit off topic there. Back to our low key day today…one of the things daughter1 wanted to do while she was home was take our pup for a nice long walk around the nearby countryside. There are fabulous places to walk with beautiful scenery and she definitely wants her boyfriend to see that side of life here. And our dog would certainly be over the moon to get a good long walk today since we’ve been out almost all day every day this week. Daughter2 wants to visit the gym with me at least once while she’s here and since we’ve been eating out A LOT hitting the gym today is probably a good idea.

Yesterday we spent the day in London… a little sightseeing and a little more shopping (heartfelt apologies to the boyfriend-he is so awesome about the shopping!). After lunch Daughter2 met up with a friend from highschool who is at uni in London so that made her day extra special.

It cannot be Thursday already...whaaaa! Someone explain to me why time moves so slowly when I’m waiting for their visit and then moves at supersonic speed when they are home???

9 comments:

  1. Hey Joyce,
    Sounds like you have been making the most of your time with the girls and the beau (tee-hee). He's quite a chap as they say here. Or do they say that? :-)

    You're not going to believe this. We have yet to visit London. We've been here for 10 months and haven't made our way down there (4 hour drive). It's not for a lack of desire, we've been to lots of other places. We've been to Italy, France, Switzerland, Wales, Scotland and different places right here in England. Oh, and we went to Ireland the summer before we moved here.

    My friend, Sarah, and her daughter are visiting on 3/28 for 2 weeks and I think then we will finally make it to London. The funny thing is she says she'd be happy just hanging out here. You can't just hang out if you've come all the way to England, right?

    Question: When are you moving back and where are you moving to? I have forgotten. This may sound strange, but I'll miss you not being here. Does that sound weird. I don't mean it to, it's that we havw so much in common.

    Anyway, enjoy the rest of your time with the kids.

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  2. Sounds like a great week with the girls plus boyfriend! You can rest and reflect next week - time will be in surplus then.

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  3. I'm so glad you and yours are having such a great time.

    Love all the photos. It makes me want to travel to England.

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  4. I agree with Cindy....makes me want to visit England. Let's see, I have good friends in Germany....Joyce, my new blogging friend in England....;)

    Looks like y'all are having a wonderful time. "Boyfriend" is a good sport, but also very blessed to have such wonderful tour guides and such a lovely place to spend spring break.

    I think it's kind of refreshing to hear that they close up shop early there and that so few places are open on Sundays. Sunday's turn out to not be such a day of rest for most living in the U.S. I have to admit I'd miss some things b/c of my 8 hour work days, but nevertheless, it's nice to hear that some places truly do shut down & rest and spend time with family.

    Thanks for explaining the Carolina Cup. How fun!

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  5. Morning Joyce! I'm so glad you stopped by to visit me!!! I love to learn about life in other countries!!! Before I moved to my current home I was making friends with a lady from England and it was soo much fun to learn the different terms for common things like "shopping carts" = "trolleys" and "take out" - "take away!" Now I can learn through you!! You'd never know you are fairly new to blogging; your blog is like a pro's been doing it for years!! Empty nesting does make time with our kids fly by when they visit! I'm off to meet my daughter for breakfast which is becoming a Friday morning tradition which I cherish!!! Have a fun weekend exploring and shopping and enjoy Sunday's peace and quiet!!! Sincerely, Jeannette (hope you'll stop in again too!)

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  6. Joyce, you were asking me where my friends live in Germany....
    they live in Wiesbaden.

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  7. I have so enjoyed reading your blog! I love the pictures and the peek at the English Culture you are sharing with us. I love hearing about your daughters. I have a 6 year old daughter and your Sugar and Spice entry just made me cry. I wish I could get a pair of "Wellies" and not look totally out of place here in Georgia. Have a great day.

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  8. Thanks for reading and becoming a follower of Life Is Good. I appreaciate each follower and enjoy every comment.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

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  9. That's wonderful that you've enjoyed your time together. Family time is sooo important. I am glad you went off topic, because I do not like the 24/7 of America and love that your village is calm on Sundays...a day to focus on God, family and rest!

    Speaking of family...Sissy will be home in a few minutes from school. I will read your other post later. I'm so glad I've found you. : )

    OH...this is sit a spell...it might post under Hubby's accout.

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