Country life

My visit to England is going very well. I'm relaxed and having a great time. I love that I can make myself understood so easily! That I can annoy innocent clerks with my friendly chit-chat--who knew that was something that would be missed?

Other unexpected things: Learning to play Wii Lego Star Wars. You may not know this about me, but I'm not much of a video game fan/expert/whatever. I never had a gaming system growing up and except for a brief addiction to Tetris, I've never spent much time playing video games. (As a teenager, I was rather fond of pinball.)

My friend's six-year-old asked me to play Will Lego Star Wars my first morning and I agreed. Now, I'm pretty far from addicted to the game (I'm even starting to tire of it), but I can see the appeal. I am bad at it but it's fun playing with a kid who is so into it--even he is a little overly directive at times. (Alicia asked, "isn't he bossy?" I said, "Directive.")

Yesterday, we had decent weather and walked all around Hampton Court Palace. Today, it will be another field trip. On Thursday and Friday, I wandered around central London and very much enjoyed getting a feel for the place again. Fun!

Grateful for: good friends and good weather.