What a difference a week makes...

Well one week later and I think we all feel much more settled...we signed the lease on our old house on Wednesday so when we saw there was to be another Gaza demonstration at the Israeli embassy next door, we packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel.  We are camping at the house with no real furniture, except a kitchen table and chairs and some beds and a couch I rented.  Our stuff should arrive in two weeks.  

Ramsay came back to us yesterday and we are happy to be back in our house.  Last night as I was settling into bed,  I heard the police helicopters and was so glad we were not in the hotel frenzy.  There's no place like home.

News from the school front:

Lauren is doing well, catching up in her classes and shopping and working out with friends..she has started Fencing Club on Mondays and Challengers (toward the Duke of Edinburgh Leadership award) on Tuesdays.  We met with her school and have learned the British exam system which she will follow for the next few years...very different from the US system.  She will spend the next 2.5 years in general studies, with a focus on 9 subjects (Bio, Chemistry, Latin, French, Religious Studies, Geography, History, English and Math)...at the end of Year 11 she will have exams (called GCSEs) for those subjects.  Based on the results of those, she will then spend the next 2 years (Sixth Form) focusing on her top 4 subjects which will then lead her to appropriate college applications for her.

  

Rachel is happy at school with the two new drama productions in the works and her new hamster (who bit the end of her nose this morning - very bloody)..we have had lots of fun getting back into the school groove with her lessons.  All is well with her.

Megan is happy she has a new swim coach (a nice woman this time) and has asked to join the Year One French club after school (parlez-vous)..cute..she cries a bit still in the morning but I think its more of a bad habit than any real issue.  When I see her during the day she is all smiles.  I need to meet with her teacher as she is behind in her multiplication tables and spelling.  Can you believe that at 6.

I am catching up with my London friends and having a lot of laughs..spent way too much time trying to find a car that seems just right and setting up house (again).

Bob had a busy week with US visitors, and had some late nights (visitors on American time) but had a good time.  He seems happy with work and happy in general.  His London doctor told him he looked fat (even with his clothes on).. Mean...but it motivated him back on the health wagon and he is running every day now...(Watch out you biggest losers, there is no one who can focus on a goal better than the Professor).

Its great to have Ramsay back...he was no worse for wear after his 3 weeks with Auntie Mary..a bit thinner from all that doggie play but I will fatten him back up with scrambled eggs and table scraps.

We got the Skpe working, so lets chat!!

Lots of Love from London