New Friends in Kolkata

Mohan and Aditi own a tea and coffee business and live in Kolkata. I met them at the hotel last night and they were kind enough to call me up today to see if I wanted to get out and see some of Kolkata with them. They took me to Swabhumi, a very nice shopping area where you can buy handicrafts like this purse.

They also took me out for a nice lunch which is where we saw the dancers in this video. I leave for home in three more days. I've met some very nice people in Kolkata. It's amazing how that happens when you leave your hotel room.

Indian Drivers are Crazy!

Since I posted last, Bows and I have been to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We are now in Hyderabad, India. So far I have been very entertained with my drives in a cab to and from work each day. The approach to driving here is completely chaotic. It's just crazy. I almost had 4 heart attacks in the cab today. Horns are used as signals, constantly. Everybody drives every which way, pulling out in front of each other, coming within inches of smashing each other, yet I haven't seen one accident yet. I can't put anything into words that would describe the chaos. It's amazing.


In Hyderabad I've learned that this city is well known for it's Pearls. I would like to go shopping for some. I'm also told by several Indians that the food in India is spiciest in Hyderabad. They have one mixture of ingredient they use and it's call gun powder. I like Mexican food and that is spicy but I can't hardly eat the Indian food here. I cough after each bite.

I taught my first 8 hour class today and it went well considering it was my first presentation to a large group of people in a looonnng time.

London - Days 2 and 3

I have to say the internet connection I have at the Easy Hotel is horrible. It sucks actually. I am not posting as much as I'd like because of it. Maybe I'll have a better connection at the hotel in Paris or India. I've just spent several hours trying to upload photos and more than half failed. I need to get to bed now because I am getting picked up for my trip to Paris at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow. I'll be staying over night in Paris, getting back late Saturday night. I don't know when the next time is that I'll be able to post.

Yesterday I toured the British Museum and took several pictures there (that I haven't been able to show yet). I also toured the West End of London which includes the theater and Soho districts. This is my favorite area in London. After a really nice supper at the Criterion at Piccadilly Circus I attended Mamma Mia at the Prince of Whales Theatre. ABBA is one of my favorite bands so I really enjoyed the performance.



Don't know what these horses are but this photo is only one of a few that I am in so I thought I would share it. Some stranger was kind enough to take it for me.

Today I did the Westminster walk and then went back to Soho and did some shopping. Picked up some really cute things at the Octopus which does not have a website yet but when they do I will be sure to share the link because they have the coolest stuff!!! The person who worked there told me that there would be online shopping.

I have posted more pictures on facebook.

And just so you know, Lydia, Bows is having a great time too. Here she is at Big Ben...
...and at Parliament...

...and at the London Eye on the Thames River...
...and finally relaxing after a long day.

I love you Lydia!

London Day 1

It is 2 a.m. London time. It's been a long but fun day. The flight wasn't so bad because there was an empty seat next to me so I was able to lay down and sleep for 4 or 5 hours. I found my way to my hotel pretty easily via the Underground (tube). Today I saw the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. I didn't take the tour of the Tower of London though because I arrived 30 minutes before closing. I may go back to do the tour. I also took a 2 hour London by Night sightseeing tour which was worth the 15 p.

Some things I noticed today:
1. People in London walk really fast and there are lots of steps everywhere! I'm a fast walker, or so I thought, and had a hard time keeping up.
2. Pop comes in 2 Liter bottles vs. 1
3. They hand out free newspapers all over the place
4. No washcloths??

I took 111 pictures today. Too many to post here. I will get them up on Flickr or something like that soon. I'm here and safe and hitting the rack! Good day for now...cheerio.

My Travelin' Pal

Lydia has sent me off from the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee with "Bows" the bunny. Bows is the purple gal you see on top of Lydia's head. Bows will be my travelin' pal and you will see a lot of her. Right now we are doing some people watching at the O'Hare Bar & Grill.

Leaving for London Tomorrow

Here's the scoop. When I started with IBM in July of '99 (my first real job after graduating from college at the age of 27....I was a non-trad), EVERY IBMer I met would break from their polite, welcoming chit chat and in a very serious, concerned tone warn me to be careful because IBM would work me into the ground if I let them. Following that they all said that IBM would give me amazing experiences that I could get no place else. Ten years later I'm here to say that these folks haven't been proven wrong yet. I work hard at my job and there are times I need to draw the line but I also work with some of the brightest, talented people in the world and the work we do every day is important, challenging, and keeps me on my toes which is something, when it really comes down to it, I need to keep me interested in my job. I am one of twelve IBMers being sent around the world (Mexico, Phillipines, China, Argentina, India, Brazil) to mentor other Project Managers. I will be traveling to India for 4 weeks and to Argentina for a total of 7 weeks. I'm stopping for a vacation in London and Paris for a week before I arrive in India. I have a 7 year old daughter I am leaving home with her dad. That is turning out to be the hardest part of this whole adventure so far. I'll be logging my travels on this blog. I leave for London tomorrow. I'll be in touch soon.

Scrapbooking Weekend with the Jensen Girls

I spent this past weekend scrapbooking with the Jensen girls. We got a lot of pages done. I think I did 22 myself! I finished an entire album of our trip to Disneyland last March. Yeah! It was a fun time but we missed you Linda! I hope we do this again so I can get some more done. Scrapbooking is much more fun for me when I do it with other people.

Big Heart

Valentines are always fun to make. I would have liked to have made time to make more!

Cooking with Lydia

This post is for Grandma Jensen. Lydia made the Shake-It-Up Chicken Nuggets from the cookbook you gave her for Christmas (Kids' Cookbook: All Recipes Made by Real Kids in Real Kitchens). We had a lot of fun together making them and they were really delish too! We will make these again and other recipes for sure. Thank you for the cookbook!

Totally Awesome 80's New Year's Eve Party

We rang in the new year in 80's style. Nobody told each other what they were wearing ahead of time so we laughed even harder when we saw each other for the first time. It's a good thing the black onyx eye liner I wore was water proof because I was laughing so hard I had tears. You can see more of the high fashion from this party at my Shutterfly site.

Merry Christmas!

Lydia was wanting a cupcake pin cushion so I finished this one up for her for Christmas. She loved it.

I just love this time of year. The time spent with family, Christmas music, Christmas Eve service, helping others, celebrating the birth of Jesus, and visiting the Emergency Room at 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve because your daughter has an ear infection (sigh).

We spent Christmas Eve with my family...

And Christmas day with my husband's family...

Lydia enjoying a rare moment...a spot in Papa's chair!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You!

We are going to an 80's New Year's Eve party. I'm still working on our costumes. I will share pictures. Should be a blast.

We've Been Crafting, Just Not Posting!

Lydia and I pulled out the sewing machine the other day and made this pillow for her baby panda bear.
Lydia also did some cookie decorating at a holiday party...
I think she did a great job. So detailed!
I didn't finish the frog cross-stitch for Christmas so now this is a birthday present for my grandma. Her birthday is January 27.
Once I finish this I plan to get back to the "Strength" (tree) cross-stitch. I learned that I had been suffering needlessly on this. When doing work on such a small thread count you don't stitch in EVERY hole, you do every other. What a difference that makes! WOW! No more need for dramamine when working on this project.

(The above picture is owned by monsterbubbles.com.
You can purchase the pattern from monsterbubbles.com.)

Cross-Stitched Frogs

My grandma collects frogs and my goal is to make this cross-stitch for her for Christmas. I should have lots of time to craft until Christmas now. Work is slowing down and my vacation starts this Thursday. I will not go back to work until January 5th. Woohoo!

Scrapbooking Po the Owl

Lydia and I did some scrapbooking last night. She is holding up a page she made for the owl she and her class adopted. His name is Po and he currently lives at the Pineview Rehabilitation Wildlife Center. Lydia raised $21 for him by doing a mathathon and completing 113 math problems. Thanks Grandma Jensen for your donation.

'Tis the cold season and I have one. Ken and Lydia went to church without me this morning while I sit here drinking echinacea tea. I was up most of the night coughing and just basically feeling really yucky. I see out the window in front of me some white flakes drifting down. It is a great day to scrapbook in comfies and that is what I plan to do.

Anything wrong with this picture?

Lydia's off from school today and it's a beautiful day outside so I decided to take her with me for a run on the trail down by the river near our house. Threw her bike in the back of the truck; her helmet, nano, water bottle, and jacket followed. Grabbed my water bottles and waist belt for them, heart rate monitor and watch, ipod, and my green tennis shoes from our shoe box and threw that all in the truck too and then we were finally off. Parked at the head of the trail and put my right shoe on. All is well with my life. Put my toes in the left shoe. Notice anything wrong with this picture??? I considered driving back home for the left shoe for about 3 seconds but with all I wanted to get done today, said screw it and ran 5 miles wearing 2 right shoes. Not the most comfortable run I've ever had. We passed about 6 people on the trail at different times and nobody noticed. They were probably distracted by Lydia's whining about her ear buds not staying in her ears. It sure was a beautiful run though.

Pumpkins and Brain Cupcakes

I had off from work for most of the day today so Lydia and I decided to make some cupcakes -- brain cupcakes that is.

We carved pumpkins this week too. Ken's is on the left, Lydia's is in the middle, mine is on the right. I think Ken and Lydia's pumpkins turned out great. Ken said his looked like he felt the day we carved these and I believe him (sore neck).

Lydia also painted several pumpkins and had lots of fun with this.
Lydia is a cheetah for halloween this year. I totally misunderstood the look she was going for. I bought the leopard jacket thinking she wanted to be one of the members of the Cheetah Girls singing band but when she asked me to paint her face I realized she was going for the actual animal. Hey, she's happy with it, so I am too.