Bad start to my weekend...

On Saturday, I had planned to spend the day in Central London and go see Billy Eliot. Unfortunately luck wouldn’t have it! I got to Picadilily Circus around 10am and bought a ticket for the 2:30pm show. Then I went to a jewelry store to look at a ring that Michael had found on-line. After that, I decided to go to a Starbucks for a little bit before heading over to the theater. I sat at Starbucks for about an hour and then I went to the theater. When I got to the theatre, I went to get my ticket out of my wallet and realized that my wallet was gone. I ran back to Starbucks hoping that I had left it on the counter, or that someone had turned it in, but no one had. It appears that while I was sitting in Starbucks someone sat behind me and pulled my wallet out of my purse. I rushed home to cancel all of my cards. I had made copied of all of my cards when I came over here, so I knew exactly what was taken. I found out that my corporate and personal American Express cards were tried at an ATM, but the access was denied. My Wells Fargo ATM was denied as well, but they were able to use my Wells Fargo Credit Card, and managed to rack up $3000 worth of stuff at a Men’s clothing store. I was able to cancel all of my cards and I put a Fraud Alert on my credit, so that if anyone tries to open up a line of credit in my name, they have to contact me directly for approval. My Social Security number and drivers license were in there as well, so I am so worried about my identity being stolen. The only good thing is that my passport was not in my wallet, so I still have some form of identification. So I had no access to any money for the rest of the weekend. I was able to go to my UK bank here this morning and cash a check so I now have some cash until all my replacement cards arrive.



Yesterday, my co-worker, Marcus and his Girlfriend Linda took me out. They paid for everything, which was so nice of them. I had called Marcus on Saturday and told him that I didn’t think I would be able to make it due to what had happened. But he insisted that I go and that they would pay my way. So we went to Canterbury to see the Canterbury Cathedral. It was awful weather yesterday, cold, windy and raining, but the Cathedral was gorgeous. We then drove down to Dover to go to the Dover Castle and see the White cliffs of Dover. But they had closed the Castle for the day due to the high winds. We are still wondering why a castle would be closed because of winds..but that is England for you! So we went to the cliffs…It was amazing…absolutely beautiful. It was funny, because the wind was really strong at the top of the cliff, it felt like you were going to get blown over. We were all bundled up freezing our butts off, but it was a lot of fun. We walked along the coast for a while and then went to a local pub for dinner. I had my first proper Sunday roast. It was so good! Then we headed back home. It was a nice way to end a not so great weekend!

2 ½ more weeks and I will be home. I am going to start my packing this week and ship some stuff home. I’m so excited! Can’t wait to be home!



Love You all,





Cantebury Cathedral













Dover Castle - That we weren't able to go into =(




The White Cliffs of Dover




Linda, Me and Marcus on the cliffs - trying not to get blown over!




Me acting silly!



Me down at the beach

The Coast of England - France is about 20 miles from where we were - just accross from the English Channel - On a clear day you are suppose to be able to see France.

What I have been doing in London

Hi All,

I thought I would download a video that I produced here at Cisco, so you can see what I do way out here in London. This is the Video that we shot in Paris and London before Christmas. Cisco had shadowing days in the Paris and Bedfont Lakes offices, where young girls where able to spend the day with Cisco Employees. The video was produced to encourage young girls to enter into the Technology field and it will be posted to the EU website.

The video quality isn't the best, because I had to export out a smaller file to be able to post it, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Been a while...

A little over 3 weeks and I will be back at home. These last 6 weeks seem like they have lasted longer than my entire stay here. I am so excited to come home it is making it tough being here. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved the experience and I am so glad that I had this opportunity. But the excitement of being back at home is in full force now!! =)

Tonight we say good bye to Bush and Hello to Barak!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! I am so excited…it is about time we have a change. I know that this is huge in the US, but I was taken back by how excited the UK is about this. It has been the number 1 story on the news, and there are going to be late night parties all over the city tonight. I am disappointed because I wanted to try to go to one, but with the time difference it is going to be really late here. And unfortunately I have an early morning taping tomorrow, so I don’t want to be out late. So I will be watching it on BBC from my flat! It has been interesting to see the coverage from here. It is a refreshing feeling to see how positive the world is reacting to his election. It has almost felt like the rest of the world has been laughing at us for the past 8 years…now they are starting to respect us. I saw an interview with a British citizen this morning, and he said that he hoped that the UK would follow in the footsteps of the US in breaking the racial and class barriers. He said that Barak does not only bring hope to Americans, he also brings hope to the world. A big day in History today. And when my kids ask me where I was….I have to say…in the UK!!!! At least I was able to be home to Vote!

It goes without saying….but I miss you all so much. I am looking forward to seeing you all very shortly.

LOVE YOU!

Lisa

Snow in London

Michael left on Monday morning =( When we left my flat to go to the airport I opened door and everything was covered in snow. I asked Michael if it was just Ice or if it was actually Snow....he told me that I have lived in California for too long. It snowed over night and continued off and on throughout the day. It was so beautiful with the snow on the ground, but it melted fast and today it was just cold again. If it is going to be cold...atlease we could have some more snow!!!

Here is Michael at the bus stop trying to keep warm...He was ready to get out of the cold and go back home. I wanted him to say a couple more weeks ;)

UPDATE:

So it is official now...I booked my flight to come back home for February 12th. So I will be back in the bay in just over 5 weeks. I can't believe I am finally coming to the end of my stay here. It would be nice if I had another visitor come out here...it would make the time go by even faster!!! ;) Erica....Gina...Becca....any takers!!!! :) Too bad it costs so much to fly out here!

I love you all so much and I can't wait to see you all.

Talk to you soon!

Back to Blogging

Happy New Year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. It was definitely difficult for me to be away from home for the holiday's, but having Michael here with me, made it a lot easier. We both commented that it didn't much feel like Christmas this year, but I guess I can't complain too much! =)

Paris was a lot of fun. I found it really difficult not knowing the language. The French aren't the most helpful and friendliest of people, so I found myself getting really frustrating not being able to communicate...I guess I am the typical American - expect everyone to speak English! But other than the language barrier, I had a wonderful time. We went to the Louve and saw the Mona Lisa, as well as other art, we went to Champ Elysee, a gallery, Disney Paris, the French Olympic training center and of course the Eiffel Tower.

Disneyland was a lot of fun, but it was really cold and rainy and it didn't help my cold. The next day I started feeling really sick. By Christmas Eve I was bad, I had a fever, a bad cough and an awful headache. We had planned to go to the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Eve, but when I woke up we weren't sure if I was going to make it. I told Michael that I couldn't come all the way out to Paris without going to the Eiffel Tower. So we found a pharmacy and got some amazing French Cold medicine that worked wonders. We wanted to walk to the top, but I was not up for it, so we took the elevator up. Once we got to the Top the view was amazing, it was completely breath taking. I told him that I wanted a picture of us, so we were trying to find someone who spoke English. Michael found a really nice couple from South Africa and had them take our picture. We first took the pic with my camera and then Michael gave them his video camera for a picture. I didn't think anything of it, since he always has people take video of us. Then he turns to me takes my hands and gets on one knee. I couldn't believe what was happening...I was so shocked. He asked me to Marry him and I of course said YES! I was so excited...I practically jumped into his arms and gave him a huge hug and kiss. It was absolutely perfect! We have it all on video, which I think is so special.

It has been so much fun having Michael here, I am really sad that he has to leave tomorrow. The 2 1/2 weeks that he was here flew by! I know that he is ready to go home and get back to his routine and comforts of home, but I am going to miss him so much. It also looks like I will have to stay out here until February 13Th, so the idea of 6 weeks being here alone is not very appealing! I'm hoping it will go by fast. I am ready to be back in the Bay.

Here are some pics from our trip to Paris, hope you enjoy.

Love You All,

First day in Paris

Michael on our way to Champ Elysee

Disneyland Paris ~ Michael walking down Main Street

Me Posing with the Candle stick!

Waiting in line for a ride.

Eiffel Tower

Getting ready to go to the top.

Almost to the top ~ 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower

View of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Proposal!!!!

YES YES YES!!!!! SOON TO BE MR AND MRS RICH!!!