5 Months

WOW! I can't believe we have been living in London for five months. The time has sure went by fast, which I think was helped by our trips back to the US and looking forward to the holidays! As we start 2010 we have been busy planning some travels for the new year and have lots to look forward to over the next six months. SO stay tuned as here's what we have in the works: a possible trip to Amsterdam over my 1/2 term break from school in February, ski trip to Austria in March with our friends Tom and Claudia, April is filled with visits from friends (which include a visit from Bethany & Chris and maybe a trip to Scotland while they are here), May is also exciting with a two week visit from mom & dad Batusic that includes a week trip over to Croatia, June more visits from friends and a possible trip to Germany, and July/August we have a trip back to the US for a wedding (my time at home might be a LITTLE longer than Chris' as I'll be on summer break from school and it's Chris' busiest time at work so it's PROBABLY best if I'm not around!!). Hopefully we will FINALLY have some travel pictures and updates on the blog about our traveling experiences!!

As for everything else that's going on with us:

Chris-He's still busy at work, but his hours seem to not be AS bad as 2009, but it's all cyclical depending on budget due dates, meetings, and the whole "planning process"! He was in Illinois last week for work and was able to spend Friday night with his boys in Chicago and to celebrate our friend Sam's 30th birthday!! He made it back safely and surprisingly was not too hungover or jet-lagged, he usually does quite well coming back from the U.S. and doesn't get my kind of jet-lag (which last for a good couple of days)!! His new thing is to say "perspective" in his conversations, it's like he's bringing his work communication home with him. For example, we were at dinner with Tom and Claudia a couple weeks ago and Chris was talking about the ski trip and the exact words out of his mouth were "Well, from a financial "perspective" we were looking to spend about..." and then (as we were all laughing) precedes to say "I need to check those two weeks to see if from a date "perspective" that works with my schedule!!" SO we are working on him not using his "financial jargon" in his outside of work conversations!!

Lisa-Well, let's just start off by saying it was VERY hard for me to get back adjusted after our trip home for the holidays, I'm claiming jet-lag but I think it was pure exhaustion from running around like crazy while we were home and not getting much sleep during those two weeks. So after I got myself back in the swing of things, I ended up getting the flu...really bad!! I had most of the symptoms of the swine flu and was treated for it with Tamaflu. It knocked me out for a week and just so happened was when Chris was back in the U.S., but luckily the worst of it was when he was still here and could take care of me (of course, when he got home from work!!). I'm feeling SO much better and was back in school all week, however I definitely felt more run-down at the end of the day than usual...they say that this flu really gets you even after the symptoms are gone!!

On a side note, I'm getting used to always having to walk "left" instead of "right". For example, whether I'm walking on the sidewalk, in a hallway or "corridor" at school, or through a crowded shopping center, the flow of the traffic of people is walking to the "left" rather than in the U.S. which would be walking to the "right". Even escalators are opposite...going UP is to the "left" and going down is to the "right". Think about it the next time you are walking or going up an escalator, I guess it follows with the direction of driving here, which is opposite from the the U.S.

Oh, and a new phrase I've been hearing way TOO much at school is "oh, gooooodnesssss me"!! What??

*Congratulations are in order for three of my very good friends and coincidentally all of them my college roommates...Chris, Lindsey, and Monica are all expecting in 2010!! Lindsey is due in June and is having a baby girl!! Chris and Monica are both due in July!! Also, my teacher friend from Calumet College, Candice, is also expecting her 2nd baby!! So that makes five of my friends pregnant...YAAY!! So excited for all of the them!!