Trying to Shore up the Old Foundation

A nice thing about moving to a new location on your own is that you can build an interesting life based on what you would like to do. And if you find something you thought you would enjoy doesn't turn out to be so interesting, you can drop it and do something else. I love having the freedom to do that.

I folk danced for 20 years then stopped for almost 10 years but now I am back dancing. I have found a lovely group of people who enjoy dancing and have been friendly and welcoming to me.

However, dancing once a week was not enough and I began to wonder about how fit I might be. I joined the local Leisure Centre (fitness centre) so that I could swim and go to water workout classes but after watching a program called The Biggest Loser, I decided I needed not only more regular workouts but something more intense than swimming.

The Leisure Centre has a state of the art gym so I now go workout almost a hour every evening. At first I did a 20 minute walk on the treadmill and a few reps on the various weight machines. I have slowly been increasing my workout time and intensity.

Tonight I ran for 15 minutes, walked for another 10 then did three reps on each of the machines, most upper body work. I usually do more but I cut it a bit short because I wanted to get to the cleaners to pick up my yellow coat. Unfortunately, I just could not get out of the shower - it felt too good, so I missed the closing by 10 minutes.

This will be my last weekend in London until after the new year so I have been mulling over my options. I need to get my hair cut, I need to pick up my coat.

I also want to go to a play and it will be my last chance to get to the biggest Christmas Market which is in Hyde Park. So it will be a busy weekend doing some fun things.

I am actually totally packed and have figured out my route to the airport on 19 December. The usual tube line that I would take to Heathrow Airport is closed that weekend so I can either pay £50 for a cab or take two tube lines and a train to get there. I will have to see whether time or money feels more important as I get closer to the day I am leaving.

The weather continues to be unseasonablely warm but it sounds like I will get to feel the Artic Blast that has hit the northwest. I can't wait to get home!!!

What is With the Weather?

Hi All,
I notice that at 10:30 AM today in Portland Oregon it is 22.5 F! That seems a bit cold for this time of year.

The weather report currently on the BBC is telling me that it is 10 C (48 F) here in London at 6:30 PM. I already knew it was "warm" because I walked home from the grocery store, (about a kilometer) and noticed I was very warm in my coat and hat.

As I neared my flat I realized this was an opportunity for me to drop my coat off at the dry cleaners. This coat is one I bought here in London 2-3 months ago. It is a wool pea coat in a bright yellow with black trim.



The vast majority of Londoners wear black coats - well really black everything- during the winter. It seems so dreary and morbid - but maybe I feel that way because I have taught for so long and liked to brighten up the classroom during the darker months to keep spirits up and minds engaged.

What I didn't realize when I bought this coat is that yellow is a hard colour to keep clean! Particularly when I pick up a morning paper each day on my way to the tube to school and walk with it under my arm. All that newsprint rubbing off on my coat! Plus just the normal encounters with dirt here and there - it really shows on yellow.

So the coat is now at the cleaners and I will see how it looks when I pick it up on Wednesday.

I have a purple REI outdoors coat but it doesn't have the class needed for my daily trek to work. I also bought a lovely boiled wool coat at the yarn show in October but had stopped wearing as I thought it was getting too cold. Looks like it is warm enough to wear it since we are predicted to have sunny days with the temperatures in the 50's the rest of the week.

Global warming? We may never know!