London, A Pictorial: Night Pictures, British Museum, & the British Library

(You can click the pictures for their original size versions.)

SUNDAY

By 8:00pm (Saturday), we were finally on the plane headed from DFW to London Heathrow! We were so crazy lucky that we had the middle 3 seats of the 5-seat center, and the two aisle seats were empty!!! :) 

We got to London via the Heathrow Express train at Paddington Station. The first thing we did on arrival was dump our stuff at our hotel just a block from Victoria Station. Off to a hop-on bus tour!

Yes, we were the only ones brave enough (read 'dumb enough') to sit on the top deck. :) 

At some point we realized this bus was stopping too frequently for us to make it to the organ concert at Westminster Abbey that evening, so we hopped off the bus and figured out which Tube lines would get us to the Westminster stop. As we climbed the steps from the Underground, our eyes were met with this:

.AMAZING.

We walked from Parliament across the street to Westminster. This is the side entrance near the high altar. Freezing, we joined the crowd gathering at the south entrance (main) for the organ recital. No pictures were allowed inside the abbey, but I was emotionally moved.

For dinner our first night, we found a pub called the Jugged Hare and indulged in their specialty - pies. Mine was the closest and was filled with duck, port, and cranberries. SO delicious! 

Off for some night pictures!

I call this one "Leaning Tower of Elizabeth". I'm not sure how I took this so crooked... While the clock might be called Big Ben, the tower is actually the Elizabeth Tower, renamed in honor of her Diamond Jubilee.

My new lens had some serious zoom power.

Some of the stained glass.

Look super close at the 4th martyr from the left.

By this point, my fingers were too cold to function any more, 

so we took the Tube back to our hotel and slept hard.

*****************************************************************************

MONDAY

 Monday we started the day with a trip to the British Museum. From the moment I fell in love with mummies 20 years ago, I have wanted to visit the British Museum, but getting to do so in the snow was even better! We seemed to be the minority excited about the weather.

Dude! That's the real Rosetta Stone! 

 The ceiling of the British Museum

 side trip to King's Cross Station!!!

 A trip to the British Library (no pictures inside...) showed us Handel's Messiah, a Gutenberg Bible, and one of the only 4 remaining copies of the Magna Carta with King John's actual seal! 

And we ended our first full day with a tea service at Harrod's, 

quite possibly the coolest department store ever!

Platitudes

Saturday marked two years without my sweet husband.

When I was told (what seemed like) not so long ago that time heals wounds even as deep as these, I was positive that no one who could say that to my face had ever experienced a pain such as mine. Had they never felt their heart physically ache with every horrible beat? Did they not know the weight of such an absence? And how could they not see the cruelty in patronizing the newly aggrieved with such platitudes?

Loyalty would dictate this cannot be true; if mere time can take away the pain, the hole that is left in my heart, then I must be unfaithful to the memory and love of a man to whom I pledged my life. Grief originally felt like my cross to bear; the only emotion I had left to tie me to my husband; the last piece of my marriage that I desperately had to protect.

read that again

I sought to protect my grief.

No one says that in the books. No one talks about that in the meetings. No one mentions the sick and  twisted thought that as long as you are afflicted by sadness, whether openly or in private, he is still relevant to your life. And so you poke at the wound to make sure it still stings. You feel the hole to make sure a little piece of you is still missing. That grief becomes the only physical reminder of something and someone that will never be tangible again. 

I tried valiantly for some time to hold on to Roger through that grief, but at some point (I don't know if I can even recognize when that point was for me), you realize that the sting has become a warm memory that makes you smile instead of cry. And that hole was merely a reshaping into something that truly can be relevant in my new life. 

I don't know when it happened. I'm not sure how it happened. 

But I am thankful:

Time heals all wounds.

Even the ones you know it can't.

Open Warfare Against Turbo Tax

I've been wanting to blog about my recent conversion to vegetarian, but I've got the taste of venom in my mouth, and I'd rather share that.

I hate Turbo Tax.

Actually, I used to love it. It's been probably a decade since I did my taxes by pen and calculator... I don't remember the last time. How wonderful to input seemingly imaginary numbers, receiving encouragement with each click of "continue", and finally the moment when you discover Uncle Sam is going to send you a monetary token of his appreciation for your hard work all year.

I do, however, remember these last 3 filings that have left me bitter and angry.

I feel like I've been grinding my teeth for the last 2 hours.



2010
As I filed our taxes jointly just a few weeks after I lost Roger, I was slapped in the face when I discovered that in spite of all the other horrors of my year, I now owed money because of Roger's military earnings and some contracted work subject to self-employement taxes. Not Turbo Tax's fault per se, but you know what they say about the messenger.

2011
Finally at the end of navigating through my finances as a Qualifying Widow in the eyes of the IRS, I was asked to enter our PINs right at the very end... Guess what? When your social security number has been "retired", the IRS won't give you a PIN... And even when Turbo Tax tells you they have accepted your tax submission using the alternative (your Adjusted Gross Income from the previous year), they wait until you have gone to bed to email you that they have decided instead to reject your e-filing. But please feel free to print all of that online work and snail mail it in... Because as a widow you haven't filled out enough paper work that year.

2012
Feeling more positive that, despite being responsible for $1200 more per year now as "Single", my new filing status would bring me back to a more simple filing process, I gave myself 20 minutes to take care of my taxes. That was before Turbo Tax decided I need to repay the First Time Home Buyer's Credit we received with the purchase of our house four years ago since Roger doesn't live here anymore... 2 hours and 7 minutes of seeking online support later, the support tech and I decided to simply delete that form and hope for the best. Turbo Tax has (at this point) accepted my e-file... at least until I go to bed.



When does it end???
Why am I still being plagued by paperwork 2 years later???

And why hasn't Turbo Tax figured out how to tailor its services to appropriately and delicately address a very real percentage of our population that doesn't need more forms, more signatures, and more reality checks.

2013 Resolutions

2012 has come and gone, and as I stand (or rather sit) on the birth of this new year, full of promise, opportunity, chances for new experiences, new friends, and to make better choices,

I stand firmly resolved:

1. to more regularly use lotion on my face, neck, and hands. A little Retin A will be good, too.

2. to not check my school email from home. The boundary of home and work is far too blurred.

3. to do some stretching every day, even if it's just a few sun salutations. 

4. to read more. Janet Evanovich counts.

5. to sweep regularly. Whatever... that's not gonna happen.

6. to eat vegetarian one day a week.

What will your goals be for 2013?

Happy New Year!

2012: A Year in Cell Phone Pictures

After what felt like a multitude of tumultuous years, 2012 was pleasantly boring. 

I started playing with Cedar Park Winds again, and hit an unrecognizable, 

mythical creature on my way to the first rehearsal. 

I made this amazing sock monkey hat for my nephew. 

I was pretty pleased with my 4th Painting with a Twist attempt. I promptly put it on the roof of my car and drove to the grocery store. I found it (somewhat) unscathed in the middle of my street when I got back home.

I did lots of yard work over spring break, including creating a planting bed out of part of my front yard and joining the green(er) movement with my new electric lawn mower. 

I played with my camera. 

I learned to "bull ride" on a spa weekend with Joan and Kim. 

A few of my band students declared friendly war... I always win. :) 

I learned to eat "healthy". :)   [notice the green beans]

In an unexpected moment of fate, I accepted a new job and visited my new band hall.

I turned 30.

I made an elephant hat for another midget.

I went to Hawaii with Kim and Dave and saw life changing things 

(obviously the volcano was an 'oh my god' moment, but did you know that pineapples grew on bushy things???)

 Prepping for a brand new school made me a little crazy, like when I lost a banana for a couple of days and found it in my purse. But when all was said and done, we were ready for the first day of school.

I woke up early one morning for a downtown interview with Suze Orman that I never watched.

My front garden exploded after our 9 inches of rain.

My doglets were pretty upset by how much time I spent at school. 

My parents came for Thanksgiving. I made my first attempt at homemade rolls, 

and Dad and I made our first attempt at framing a bathroom mirror.

 Finally in the Christmas spirit, I decorated the house.

 Austin decorated the highways.

Inspired, my band decorated a tree on campus after our first ever concert. 

I drove home for Christmas where we decorated cookies in our now traditional ridiculous fashion (this is a sampling of our more appropriate cookies).

All in all, 2012 was a pretty decent year: 

a year of gardens, photos, excursions, new jobs, new babies, Downton Abbey, and a return to normalcy.

2012: It's been real. I'm excited to see what 2013 has in store. :)


2011: A Year in Cell Phone Pictures