The Biggest Game in the History of the World!!!!

UPDATE: WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN-FULL 90 minute game, tied 1-1. 30 minute overtime, still tied 1-1. 5 Penalty kicks, tied 4-4. FINALLY, in the 3rd extra penalty kick, WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the BEST GAME EVER!!!!! I thought I was going to absolutely pass out from excitement, anxiousness, nerves, all these emotions. Now I'm going to watch Ronaldo get his medal...because you know that's why we really watch ;)

Today is historic. It ranks right up there with the discovery of the New World and Al Gore's invention called the Internets. For the first time in the history of the world, two English teams will be competing in the UEFA Champions League Final, being held in Moscow, Russia. The teams are Chelsea, and Ronal.....WOOPS, I mean Manchester United.

For those of you who don't know about football, here's a breakdown. Basically, players can compete with two different teams: Club teams and National teams. It would be kind of like a player from Texas playing for the Dallas Cowboys, but also playing for the State of Texas, if individual States had teams. For example, David Beckham now plays with the LA Galaxy, but he could also play for the English National Team. With these different teams come different championships. Club teams compete within their country for their country's title and also against other club teams around Europe for the UEFA title. National teams also play against each other and you may have heard about the World Cup, which is the ultimate National Team Championship.

Tonight is the UEFA Championship. It could just have easily involved a team from Spain, Italy or any other European country. But tonight is historic because of the two English teams. I am a huge Manchester United Fan, mostly because they have a player named Cristiano Ronaldo, unarguably the BEST player in the WORLD. I have said, and will say again, it is only because of his mad skills that I am a fan. One look at his skills in the linked photo will show you what I mean. Can I get a "hell's yeah" from the ladies?

Well, I'm off to put on my red shirt and put war paint on my face. I'm so excited!!!!!!

Tourist Day-Hyde Park

Thursday was tourist day for the expat ladies. We have done so many London Walks that there weren't any left for us to do on Wednesdays! The weather was so beautiful we couldn't imagine being inside a museum or any building. So, we decided to do a walk and picnic through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The two are pretty much connected with just a small road separating them. Our initial plan was to get off the District Line at High Street Kensington, stroll through Whole Foods Market, which is next door, walk the park loop, and then meet Cata for lunch. To our delighted surprise, H&M, one of our favorite stores, was also right outside the tube stop, so we took a slight detour from the original plan for a little summer clothes shopping. Doesn't everyone need a fun summer top every now and then? We met Cata, our working woman, at Speaker's Corner (a corner of Hyde Park) and had a fabulous Great British Picnic. Adam had fun chasing pigeons and perfecting his bear crawl through the grass.

Today, we are back to more early Spring weather-rain and a sweater! It feels kind of strange to have a peeling sunburn one day and a sweater on the next-especially when it doesn't involve some sort of winter break beach vacation.

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish my dear Mom a very Happy Mother's Day today. Your unending enthusiasm and energy has propelled me through many moments in life. You are there at the drop of a hat before the need is even spoken. Your care and concern for others mean you are oftentimes the last on your own list. And at the end of the day, when the whirlwind has blown through, you can still spare the energy for a warm, gentle hug. Thank you for all you do-for me, for everyone, everyday. Can't wait to see you in 3 weeks! Love, Vonda

Serious Trauma at the Gas Station

I couldn't just say "Pain at the Pump"...the typical headline when fuel prices are so high. Today was sheer trauma. Since I can now drive again, my first stop was the gas (petrol in UK) station. Our car was on fumes. Here is the breakdown of my transaction (I'll spare you all the conversions)...

Amount of petrol:
13.95 gallons

Price of petrol:
$8.15/gallon

Total Price: $113.69

Making my friends and family feel better about paying $3.70 per gallon: Priceless

Yes, you read correctly...it really costs $8.15 per gallon over here. Thank goodness for public transportaion!

Driving Test Result

I know that so many of you are bleery-eyed, tired...waking up at the crack of dawn, refreshing my blog every 5 seconds, eagerly awaiting the outcome of my driving test this morning. Well, your wait is finally over. As of 9:57am I am officially a legal UK driver!!!! I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And with flying colors I might add. They grade you here on a series of faults. You are allowed 15 minor faults for things like not holding the steering wheel correctly, not signaling properly, etc. and absolutely zero major faults for things like running a red light or being in the wrong lane at the round-a-bout. I only received 4 minor faults and of course no major faults or else I would have failed. I was so pleased with myself as only 42% of people even pass the test on the first try and I did it with room to spare.

My examiner was actually very nice and was even giving me pub recommendations for when my parents come over in June! Now, my instructor, that's another story. When I so excitedly told him that I had passed with only 4 faults, he said, "Oh yes, you remember the chap from last week that I told you about? The one who passed with no faults?" What a Debbie Downer!!! He never once congratulated me or said "Well done!" I told him about one area that gave me a little trouble and he said, "Well you really should have taken some more lessons." WTF????? I just passed the thing on the first try and you are telling me I should have taken more lessons???? Oh well. If he's out there somewhere and reading this blog, here's a little constructive critisism...Tell your students something encouraging or positve every now and then. It isn't good practice to only speak to your students when they do something wrong. And most importantly, at least give them a pat on the back when they pass.

I am most excited because this means I can drive my parents around freely and can finally start planning that trip to Ireland and France with them! Charlie invited me to lunch with a couple of her very sweet friends and we had a Prosecco and Cherry to celebrate. We sat outside and it is so beautiful and sunny here today that I even got a little bit sunburned! So now I'm off to pick up some things for dinner..I think we may even crack open a bottle of the good wine tonight. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me...I just kept your good thoughts on my mind throughout and I couldn't have done it without you! ~V

Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands...

Edgar and I are really craving TexMex. After 3 failed attempts, we've resigned to the fact that we will not find any Latin related food here in London that is worth eating. So...I decided to just cook it myself. I ordered a TexMex cookbook from Amazon and got to work. Anybody can make fajitas and guacamole. It's those darn enchiladas that are an enigma to me. I just couldn't imagine how to make that luscious brown gravy sauce that comes on top of them. This cookbook scored a buy from me because the very first recipe was "Enchilada Gravy Sauce"...SOLD! It's a pretty basic recipe and I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. You just make a roux out of oil and flour, add Mexican spices like cumin and then water to thin it out. I'm still experimenting with the combo of spices because I have a certain taste in my mouth and I won't stop until I've mastered it! But I have to say, my enchiladas turned out so well!!! We both had little tears in our eyes upon the first bite!

I am always amazed at the emotional connections with food. The flavors, the smells, even the textures can take you back to familiar and happy times. As we sat at our table last night, enchiladas, charro beans and margaritas laid out before us, we were instantly transported to Texas, to Romero's, our favorite place in Houston. We could feel the vinyl of the booths, the coolness of the tile table tops, and the smoky smell of fajitas sizzling by. As I closed my eyes, I could see Mama Romero plating up all the deliciousness for the waitstaff to deliver to hungry and eager tables. Nothing will taste as good as Romero's "Pick 3" platter with a cheese enchilada, chicken flauta and guacamole, but at least we can give ourselves small drinks of goodness until we can taste it again for ourselves.

Spring is Here!!!

Spring is a time of change. One day it's freezing cold and the next day it isn't. One minute the sun is shining and the next minute there is a torrential downpour with tiny pellets of hail. It can get frustrating because you never really know what the day's weather will hold. The forecasters can't really predict anything except that it will be completely unpredictable. You just learn to never leave home without a light jacket, sunglasses, and an umbrella. But all of these climatic differences can only mean one thing....Summer is on its way! And I LOVE British Summers!! I've only lived through one of them, but boy was it a good one. We didn't even travel last summer because we were having so much fun just hanging out in Richmond.

I think we have turned a corner this weekend. We've had several days in a row of nice, warm weather, and we're even keeping our windows open all day and night to let the fresh air in. I've taken the down comforter off the bed and my mind is swirling with visions of salads and cool drinks. The absolute best part about this time of year is that it's finally time to head outdoors! Yesterday, we joined the Whartons for a picnic and rousing game of football (soccer) in Richmond Park. Today, I did an entire 7 mile loop around the park with Charlie and Adam. Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday over here, which means Edgar has a day off work! I'm sure most of the day will be spent studying, but I'm hoping to pull him out of the flat for at least an hour and a nice walk down the river. With all this activity, I'm hoping to shed this little extra layer of insulation that kept me warm and toasty over the winter!

The above photo was taken from our kitchen window last weekend. You can't really see it in this picture, but there were actually 2 rainbows stacked on top of one another.