Has It Been That Long?!

It’s almost a month since I last updated this blog!!

Quite a bit has happened in that time; obviously there was the Royal Wedding, I made a trip home to see friends and family, and the world was going to end (but it didn’t).

Unlike everyone back home in the UK, I didn’t get the bonus of a day off for the wedding. The fuss over it, here, was incredible; especially to me as I wasn't bothered with it all. We did however have a bit of a Royal theme in the office and so I bought some crowns from a party shop. I hung a huge Union Jack on the wall (some conditioning for the Americans for when I hang it on Independence Day …), and I had plenty of visitors throughout the day asking me questions about William & Kate; although I didn’t have any of the answers. I didn’t wake up at 4am to catch the coverage of the wedding, although plenty of others did. When I woke up, I looked back through my Facebook timeline and realised the attention had quickly turned to Kate’s sister Pippa and her arse. It’s pretty much the same here in the States too! My manager here in the US wanted us to have a departmental photo taken as a memento of the day (in other words, something that can be used as blackmail!) so, for your amusement on a Sunday night/Monday morning, below is a cropped version of the photo (saving the others in it from the shame!) …

A week later I made a trip back home to a very sunny England! Was great to see everyone, but it was a very manic trip home trying to squeeze so much into a week and a half. Managed to catch up with everybody, ate all the foods I’ve missed (mum’s Sunday lunch, fish & chips, proper bacon sandwiches!), and got to only my 2nd Arsenal game of the season (terrible game, result, atmosphere, and travel; but as always a great day out with dad). Before I knew it, it was time to head back to Heathrow to board my flight to Chicago. This turned out to be one of the worst flights I’ve ever been on; sandwiched between a guy who virtually had his name on my arm rest, and a woman who was, err, of the larger variety.

The first five days of my time back in the States have been pretty dismal weather; until this weekend. It’s 11pm here and still 24 deg C, today has been so humid. The temperature in the apartment also hasn’t been helped by the fact that I didn’t realise the a/c had been set to heat! A quick slide of the lever and I’m now sitting in conditions that would make a polar bear feel at home.

This week should be a good one. It’s the build up to the Indy 500 and next weekend I’m off to the race with a group of friends!