Hey I think I see some old rocks?!?!?

Why did they put the stones so close to the road? hehehehe That is what many tourist ask when they visit Stonehenge for the first time. So confused are they to find that the monument is surrounded by roads and appears small compared to the daunting tour buses that are pulling in and out of the carpark by the hundreds! Where is the mystic, the mist, the haunting presence of thousands of years gone by? Standing next to the German teenagers, the Japanese middle aged couple, or the elderly Americans all toting cameras and name badges? You mean you have to pay to get in and you can't touch them for THAT PRICE? grrrrr

Tuesday morning we awoke to the delight in remembering that our German friend we had also meet on MFO was here staying with us for the week. She had flown in the night before and wanted to see Stonehenge while she was with us. Since I had never been either, Fruit Loop decided to be a tour guide and show us one of England's most visited sites. The drive is not long from Bristol so we arrived in less than 2 hours. Guess what? It looks just like you see on TV. Nope, no magic, DARN! I was really hoping to see it surrounded by strangely dressed Druids doing a fairy dance or sacrificing a goat! Don't worry, I know that is not going to happen, but only because the government won't let them! Actually we did see one crazy guy dressed as a Druid trying to protest that they are not allowed to claim the Stones as their own. Nobody seemed to pay any attention to him, so I don't think he will win his cause!

As we approached the stones it was disappointing that we could not run between them, touch them, and climb on them to declare our superiority over the planet! It had been a while since Bluefish had been to see the alter, but he made my friend and I both jealous because when he was a child you COULD play on the stones. However, it is a necessary evil for there preservation and protection. Everywhere you looked you could see tons of tourists who would all have loved to take a piece of Stonehenge home with them, or carve their name it. What I found amusing was that one stone was off by itself. We all laughed and declared it unworthy of being included in the actual design! RATS, they wouldn't let you touch that one either.

In about an hour we had BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, AND BOUGHT THE T-SHIRT! (No actually they don't really sell t-shirts here in the UK at tourist shops, strange huh?) Now I can confidently say I have seen one of the Wonders of the World and yes, it was close to the road!

Link

Stonehenge Official Website

My first CASTLE and it was in WALES!

Saturday night (6/13) Fruit Loop and his brother took me on a drive and out to dinner. I was wearing my cute flip-flops so I should have known we would go for a walk! The drive through the countryside was nice and we kept catching a glimpse of the Severn Bridge that connects Bristol to Wales. Next thing I know we are taking a walk down a path to the base of the bridge. It was so lovely and chilly too! I kept thinking that maybe we were going to Wales, but to my disapointment me did not.

The next morning (Sunday 6/14) Bluefish and I got up to set off for the day on a SECRET adventure. I had no idea where we were going, and actually didn't even care! I just enjoyed getting in the car and letting Fruit Loop drive me around. Certainly ANHYTHING we saw would be a new sight for me! hehehehe To my joy we headed in the same direction as Saturday evening and then actually CROSSED the bridge and went into WALES!!! (If you remember your geography lesson from earlier...WALES is another country in the United Kingdom!) The road wound around and I wondered where we would stop. At a carpark we left the car for a journey into a quaint village with steep hills. It was very nice, but what I saw next was STUNNING. The sneaky boy had taken me to the outside of town to a place that would not give me a view of our actual destination, A CASTLE!!!! Yes a real god honest castle that was built years and years ago. When we rounded the corner and I looked up I was AWED! I actually stopped and sat down on a bench just to soak up the image. My head was spinning with tales of love, battle, and history. Over my 37 years I have read many a romance story where the girl lives in the castle and must wait for her knight to rescue her... ahhhhh.... so amazing.

Then I wanted to run up to the gate and actually TOUCH a stone. Can you truly grasp that this building was first erected in the 11th century (d. 1071)? Seriously! In Texas nothing is that old except the dino prints in the river!! Our visit to the castle was so romantic. Every nook and cranny I could imagine being used for a chaste kiss, so I would give Bluefish one! lol xxxx hehehehe! The views of the Wye river from the castles crumbling windows brought chills to my bones. This view was the same for hundreds of women throughout the years.

After the castle we continued to travel along the path of the river to visit Tintern Abbey, and Symonds Yat Rock. The Abbey was founded by the Cistercian Monks in 1131 and dissolved in 1536. What amazes me the most is how skeletal ruins look so stunning and even more spectacular than in-tact buildings. I think it has something to do with the immaginative eliment that is involved when you are trying to picture the ruin whole and in use. In the village of the Abbey we had lunch, a nice stroll, and shared some fudge. Next stop was the rock. Also adjacent to the river the Symonds Yat Rock provides a fabulous viewing point for the Wye Valley. The countryside is just shockingly GREEN, did I say green? Oh I am sorry I ment GREEN-GREEN-GREEN-GREEN!

As the day drew to a close we started our journey back only to be waylaid by a heard of sheep! I was so excited to see the sheep blocking the road. I had dreamed of this happening one day to me and had just told Fruit Loop that I wanted to take photos of the sheep, and to my wish came SHEEP IN THE ROAD! Once our friends had crossed to the other side, we too crossed the the other side of the Severn Bridge, back home to England

I Bought a BIKE! (and other shopping in England)

On Thursday afternoon, my first day here, Fruit Loop and I went shopping! Yes, crazy in a way because I was so jet lagged, but we wanted to keep me awake so my body would start to adjust to the six hour time difference. Off we went to Ikea, home of all of our furniture and FOOD. I was still hungry so we stopped in the cafe where I had a spot of fish and chips! Oh and a lite soda with NO ice. In fact I didn't even see ice ANYWHERE! grrrrrr YUCK, it was disgusting. Best not let Fruit Loop know, hehehehe. Well we zoomed around and picked up bits and pieces for our wardrobe (That is a fake closet in case you didn't know. They don't have closets! strange?!) Then we went to a store like Walgreens called BOOTS. It was very nice, but NO crest toothpaste, hmmm. Honestly, I can't remember if we did anything else because I was about dead!

Then on Friday we did more shopping at.....WALMART!! They call it ASDA here, but it also has Walmart on the sign. We ate a yummy brunch there and then looked around and bought a few things for me to cook for dinner. (Ok, don't faint, yes I cooked dinner for them! I also wash dishes, do laundry... but that is for another blog entry!) NOPE, Walmart in England is not the same. They have just a tiny selection of stuff, but it was nice to be in a familiar place. The grocery department was wonderful with plenty of choices. AND I avoided the clothes section so I wouldn't be tempted!

After Walmart we went to a place called Argos. EVERYONE in England has an Argos catalog, it is real thick and FULL of great stuff at awesome prices. I was all excited and I had picked out something to buy. We walk in and BAM there are NO shelves, just little stands with catalogs and computers! You can only order from the catalog and they will get it from the warehouse in the back or off site! I was SHOCKED. Guess I was expecting how Sears used to be when I was a kid, you could shop AND order from the catalog. :-) I think we went to a few more stores, but my brain was so tired by then I had no idea what was up or down.

Saturday we went shopping again! (But first we cleared out tons of junk from the backyard and took it to the tip, that's the dump. I think we made about 5 trips!!!) This time we went to the giant B & Q which is just like Home Depot, orange too! We went straight to the bathroom section and I got my medicine cabinet I wanted. (The purchase at Argos was for the bathroom as well. Living with two boys, you have to find space for all your girly stuff!) After we strolled around a bit we left for the next shop....the BIKE store!!!! WAIT!!! I am wearing a skirt and flip flops, cute flip flops too!!!! Maybe we should go another day? He looked disappointed so I decided to give it a go.

It was LOVE at first site.... and no I don't mean Bluefish. A classic red bike, three speeds, leather seat/hand grips, ding-ding bell, skinny tires with a white wash, a back rack to carry items, and the cherry-on-top... a wicker basket!!!!! Just what I had been looking for. I was so excited I bought it right away, forgetting that pounds and dollars don't match! YIKES, went a bit over my budget, but when I got on it Monday... It was worth every penny!!!!! Now all I need is a dog to ride in the basket. Bluefish tells me he is going to get me a stuffed one, darn...

Almost forgot, we went to the mall on Saturday too and guess what? It is just like ours! Big, bright, posh, full of stores like GAP, Starbucks, Disney... oh and even McDonald's - where I finally got a diet coke with ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sunday we went on an adventure (I will write about that next!)

Welcome Home!

In my daze of despair, sure that the "Bobbie" (British Police) were following us as we left the airport, Bluefish drove me for a scenic route around Bristol before we headed for his house. Having been unable to give him a proper enthusiastic greeting at the airport, all I wanted to do was get to the house, get a drink, and sit on the sofa and say hello. Instead we went from one beautiful vantage point to another and I grew thirstier and thirstier! Remember that nice kiss I was going to give him? Well now my lips were so dry I didn't think it would even be possible EVER AGAIN! hehehehe FINALLY, I begged to go to his house and he realized I really WAS in need of a drink and a place to sit down and BREATH in safety for a moment. After checking the rear view mirror a few more times, we pulled into the street positive that the blimey immigration police had not followed us. Phew!

I had a nice diet coke, Fruit Loop had bought me a whole 12 pack, and finally calmed down from the interrogation at the airport. Oh yes and a bit of kissing went on too! lol Eager to show me the bedroom he had worked so hard on, Bluefish took my hand and lead me up the stairs. When we opened the door to the room, I started to cry. He had decorated it with all assorted colored Welcome Home balloons, Welcome Home signs, fresh flowers, a cheerful duvet cover (bedspreadish thing) and the furniture as stunning! But most important was the message...WELCOME HOME. On the headboard was also a cute card that offered me HIS HOME, HIS FAMILY, and HIMSELF as mine for always. Plus a set of house keys. SIGH, SIGH, SIGH.... so romantic. He even had a box of tissues ready for me to use because he said he knew I would cry!


PS. The dinning room and living room also had fresh flowers too! No ladies, you can't steal my man. BUT he does have a single brother....

So, how was the trip? YIKES!!!

First I just want to say.... I looked CUTE! Who could resist a Texas Gal dressed in cowgirl boots, long denim skirt, lacy tank-top, pink/brown western shirt all topped with a straw hat???? Oh and don't forget the piggies with pink ribbons! Guess I should have thought twice, three times, or maybe four times about this being my arrive in Bristol outfit. Why? PASSPORT IMMIGRATION OFFICERS! DING DING DING!!! American flying to meet her one true love and sneak her way into the UK! DANGER! We are being invaded by American girls trying to steal our men! DON'T let her in!!! If that doesn't work...SCARE her to death! Ask her lots of questions when she is at her weakest (remember she is on USA time it is 3am over there!), look to see if she has any money, and whatever you do don't forget to tell her she will be BLACKLISTED from ever returning to England if she stays EVEN ONE DAY past her six months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It all started so innocent. I got to the airport, just one bag heavy (only a $150 fine, grrrrr but a girl needs her clothes!) and only needed to rearrange a few things to meet the 50 pound weight limit. Shot through security and then typed the distance entry on my blog. Up in the air to Newark and then writing cards, eating lunch, and mailing bills at the Newark Airport. Hmmm... plenty of time left lets get online and chat with a friend. "Last call for boarding to Bristol at gate 75!" HOLLY BATMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's my flight! I am at gate 71 and still on Texas time one hour behind. Three other people also scramble and we make a mad dash to the terminal, jump on the plane, and slam into our seats. WHEW!!! Safe of board I get all excited again and settle in for the zillion hour flight. ARGH!!!!!! If that baby screams one more time.... geez this is so uncomfortable, when I am rich I am flying First Class! hehehehe Wait, what is that..... I can see ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!! As we flew over the countryside ready for our decent I was so happy. Finally the journey was over. All I had to do was clear customs with my forty bottles of hair products and I was in Fruit Loops arms.....NOPE!

As you read earlier I was held hostage at the passport area and grilled to a crisp by a very professional Customs Agent. I have been duly noted and warned that I am only welcome in the UK for 6 months and not a MINUTE longer. Guess Fruit Loop best take care of that situation pretty darn quick then!

(For those of you who are on top of things, sorry this took so long to post. Been so busy and trying to get over jet lag. Geez it is not easy to loose 6 hours. Will write more soon!)

How FAR away is that???

Have you ever looked at a map of England? No I don't mean Britain - just England itself. Ok, get that atlas out...WHAT you don't have one???? Alright, here is the link to the information on the worlds only source of completely inaccurate information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England hehehehehe For those lazy ones of you (yes that is almost ALL of you) I will give you some of the basic need to knows for understanding distance in England;
1. 130,395 km2 or 50,346 sq mi England and Texas 268,820[2] sq mi or 696,241 km2

so.............basically Texas is 4 times larger than England. Now don't forget that England is just one of the countries on the isle of Great Britain. Wales and Scotland are present too. Together they are 209,331 km² or 80,823 square miles. STILL tiny compared to Texas! hehehehe

Now for the distance from Texas to Bristol....let me consult my friend google maps, what will he tell me? I hope he doesn't recommend driving directions!!!! LOL :-) Hey it is smarter than I thought, it didn't work! Ok, now I am going to try... hmm I don't know... time for Ask Jeeves! Forty years later I will give you a rough estimate. The distance is approx. 4.000 miles give or take a bunch of miles. hehehe.

What I am trying to say is I have a lot of sitting to do on the airplane and I hope I don't go stir crazy!!!!! I have only flown as far as Puerto Rico before and that was bad enough. This time I will arrive at DFW Airport at about 10am Wednesday, June 10th and arrive in Bristol Airport 9am THURSDAY, June 11th. Do you feel sorry for me yet? NOT! I am sure you don't because I think it will be all worth it to see my Fruit Loop again. PLUS I will get to EXPLORE ENGLAND with him by my side. Oh and there is a six hour time difference so I will only be an airport/airplane captive for about 17 hours!

Yikes it is time to get on the plane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Write more when I land and get over my jet lag. Adios for now!

So this is what kissing is like?!

Many of you know that what I write here on my blog is read not only by adults, but by my students and there friends also. I have tried to make this story PG so that all of my followers can enjoy the journey with me. HOWEVER, there IS more to the story so stay tuned all of you "fans" for my future book. It is a "coming of age" type of novel that is sure to give you the details you have been wondering about! hehehehehehe

In my past I have had some experiences with men that have caused me to shy away from potential relationships. Every time a boy started to become "interested" in me I would back off quickly, even if I really liked him. By the time I was thirty-seven and three-quarters I had still "never been kissed". Ok, yes I had been kissed, but not like a REAL boyfriend/Girlfriend kiss that I wanted and let continue! (hehehehehe This is starting to sound like a Drew Barrymore film!!!) To be honest I was EXTREMELY worried about this fact and knew that I would just embarrass myself to death if Bluefish and I were to ever meet in person and he expected me to KISS him. GROSS!!!!!!!! KISSING!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is what my students said when I would talk about Mr. Crates! BUT the day that Mr. Crates photo fell onto the floor they INSISTED that I KISS HIM to make it better!!! Now here I am 37 and never really kissed a man and 4TH graders are telling me to kiss his PHOTO! lol Heck, I was even embarrassed to do that! THEN the day finally arrived... Fruit Loop was on his way to see Sweet Pea and she was going to have to KISS him!!!! grrrrrrrr What was she going to do??? Let's face it, I am a terrible kisser! I don't even know what kissing is supposed to be!!!! The only advice I have is from one of my students on how I should kiss the computer monitor to tell Mr. Crates I love him!!!!!!!!! Hey, I have an idea! Do they sell books on how to kiss? Maybe I can read a book about good kissing....hmmm.....that idea has potential....

DARN! I never read the book and now he is going to come out of the airport terminal and..... Oh, we will be surrounded by all kinds of people so he will just kiss me on the check or peck me on the lips. Right? RIGHT? Oh no people are coming through the doors... I think I am going to be sick... Is it too late to run??? Will he see me or can I just hide? What if we just stick to being friends... friends only kiss on the check right? I see him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo scared!!!!!!!!!!! NERVOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Holly Batman he is hugging me and KISSING ME IN FRONT OF EVERYONE and I don't know how to kiss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People are watching my humiliating moment in time, they can all tell. They are saying..."Look at that poor guy, his girlfriend doesn't know how to kiss. How sad." Yes, I am lying. They are not saying that. They don't even know that I can't kiss, but I bet Bluefish can tell! Yikes, he is kissing me again. Who in the world is this guy anyway???? I have only talked to him on the internet for a few months. Why is he touching me and kissing me?

Have I given you guys an understanding of what was going on in my head the very first time I meet Bluefish? I am sure you never dreamed that the only thing I would be worried about was the kissing. Again, I want to remind you that certain men had not been nice to me in my past, so I was very scared to let a boy that close to me. On a serious note, I urge you to talk to a trusted friend if someone has hurt you in the past so he/she can be stopped. It is NEVER ok to just let the situation go. In my case I did not take that advice and other girls have paid for my fear.

Don't worry, this is a fairy tale so it has a happy ending! Well, I finally got Bluefish to the car and we headed home. Away from the onlookers I started to relax and remember that I DID know this strange man in the car...he was My Fruit Loop, my One True Love. WOW! I could actually touch his arm and smell him. He is not on the computer screen, he is REAL!!!!! After a short drive we arrived and as the minutes passed my anxiety decreased and I decided maybe I would try to kiss him myself! hehehehehehe

It wasn't long into our 16 day vacation (holiday if you want to talk Brit!) that I decided kissing the man you love and want to be with for always wasn't so bad after all. Now, over two months later, Fruit Loop had best watch out because it is going to be me that kisses him at the airport so hard that he is going to fall over!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx These are all for you GBRC!