Just letting you know that I'm still alive. I made it home safe and sound, but since I'm in the middle of moving, the website will fall behind for a few more days. Once I'm settled in though, the website will re-launch with a new design, and I will post a few more updates about everything that's been going on since I got home.

Please check back...

Stef and I are getting on a plane at Gatwick at 1:50 local time this afternoon, and should be arriving in Detroit at 5:15 EDT. I am coming home!

I get no kick in a plane
Flying too high with some gal in the sky
Is my idea of nothing to do
But I get a kick out of you

Yesterday was my first and last trip on the tube in almost a month. There really isn't any other way to get out to Wimbledon without paying a an arm and a leg for a cab, and I figured that the terrorists were unlikely to target a train heading towards the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, so I sucked it up and bought my ticket. The ride out to the Wimbledon Station was actually quite pleasant since about half of the trip is actually above ground, so I had a nice little view of the city for my ride. On the official Wimbledon website, it says that there's a tram at the tube station that takes people to the museum, but it didn't look to far on the map, so I decided to walk it. That was my first mistake. You see, today was the return of what I have appropriately termed "fot" weather, and I was wearing jeans. So, after hiking up a massive hill for about forty minutes, and getting lost along the way, I finally made it to the facility.

I was somewhat surprised by how isolated Wimbledon really is. It's surrounded by a golf course and an upscale neighborhood, but it's kind of in the middle of nowhere which I thought was weird, considering that it's really not that far away from London. Anyway, I finally made it there, and was sweating buckets when I walked in. You see, in my haste to make it out the door this morning, I neglected to eat any breakfast, so I'm sure that wasn't helping my cause any. I paid my five pounds and took the short self-guided tour of their museum. It's decent enough, but a little boring and outdated if you ask me. I later found out that they have a huge new museum opening next spring, so that explained why it was a little old-school. Still, some of the memorabilia that was there and little displays were cool, and the highlight was DEFINITELY getting to peek out and see centre court. I just stood there with my jaw hanging open for about five minutes, and took about a dozen pictures. They've already done a considerable amount of work re-growing the lawn, and repairing the grass since the championships ended, but I will admit that I was a little sad to see it without any court lines or a net. Still, it was quite a site to behold, imagining all the famous matches that have been played there over the years. Seeing centre court only solidified my desire to come back some day during the tournament.

So, after my little jaunt thru the museum, I spent some time poking around the gift shop, trying to find some gifts for certain people in my family. I will admit that I was a little let down by how picked over all of their merchandise was, but I guess I'm not surprised, considering that the tournament ended just over a month ago. As I was checking out, the guy at the cash register gave me directions to find my way back to the nearest train station. Of course... they were wrong. He sent me about 15 minutes out of my way, and I was totally wiped by the time I stumbled into the Southfields underground station.

I finally made it back to Russell Square just in time to meet up with Stefy, who had just gotten out of class. We took a short break, and I had a late lunch at the Cafe in the Gardens before we took off to do some last-minute souvenir shopping. I think our little shopping outing was actually pretty successful, and it felt good to get some stuff taken care of.

Well, today is my last full day in London. I'm still getting around for the morning, but am about to go do some more packing before heading over to Russell Square one last time to fill up the last forty minutes or so of DV tape I have for my film project. After that I have one more shopping stop to make, and then I'll probably be meeting up with Stef after her last exam so we can make plans for our trip to the airport tomorrow morning. I'm not sure if I'll have time for another post before we leave for home, so cheers for now!

The show was a lot of fun last night. Of course, I have all the songs stuck in my head, but I guess I can fix that by putting my iPod on shuffle while I'm on my way to...WIMBLEDON.

Yep, after six and a half weeks, I'm finally going to the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club today. Stefy's in class. It's a beautiful day. And I'm going to Wimbledon. Ahhh. I'm REALLY looking forward to it. Of course, it's nowhere near as cool as actually going to the tournament would've been, but I'm still really excited
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Well, my travel plans did get shaken up, but everything is falling into place. Stef and I are now heading out on the same plane, only it's a Northwest flight now, non-stop, and we leave out of Gatwick. A very big thank-you goes out to Tim for making the arrangements for us. Now all we have to do is cross our fingers that this labor dispute doesn't muck up our trip.

Stef and I are about to leave to go see The Phantom of the Opera tonight. I wanted to surprise her with tickets to Mary Poppins which she really wants to see, but they were all sold out when I went to Leicester Square this afternoon. So, I figured that this was our best bet since she's such a huge fan. I know that we just saw it in the spring at Masonic, but there's always something cool about seeing a production in its home town.

Well, my travel plans on Friday are suddenly up in the air again, but for the better. I don't want to jinx it though, so I'll hold off on saying anything here. Zipping my lips now.

Well, we're off to dinner. Ta ta for now...

Well, things here in London are starting to wind down. I know it sounds crazy, but we're starting to run out of things to do, and both Stefy and I are starting to get a little homesick. Still, there's several days left on the trip, and we're still trying to make the most of it.

Yesterday Stef and I went to the London Museum to burn off most of the early afternoon. Basically, like the name implies, it's a giant collection of artifacts and displays that chart the history of England's capitol. Parts of it were more interesting than others, but it's safe to say that we had a good time. Plus, you can't beat the price... free.

After the museum we went to our favorite London chain restaurant for lunch, Pizza Express. Since the museum is in the middle of the financial district (and so is the restaurant), there weren't many people there eating lunch since it was a Sunday. In fact, that whole part of the city was practically a ghost town. It reminds me a lot of downtown Lansing at 6 p.m. on any given night. Still, our food was excellent, and we had a nice time just sitting and chatting over lunch.

It was pretty cloudy and cold all day yesterday, so on our way back to Stef's dorm we stopped off at Virgin Megastore and picked up some more DVDs since we're fresh out of stuff to watch. Now, I should mention here that after talking with my cousin Lisa on Saturday, I have received some criticism for our frequent home movie watching. Well... Stef and I weren't any better today. I don't know, it just seems like the best thing to do after a lot of walking and whatnot, and especially when it's so crummy outside. The movies we bought were: Election, Harvey, Goodfellas, American Graffiti, and Rain Man.

So, Stef and I made it back to her dorm, and she spent some time working on homework stuff while I did some tinkering with my work projects. After a couple hours, we finally popped in Election to watch. Neither one of us had seen it before, but we both thought it was pretty hysterical. For me, the funniest thing was seeing Matthew "Ferris Bueller" Broderick playing a TEACHER, and a real jackass one at that. After the movie we ventured out for a bit and ended up heading over to my dorm to kill some time, and watch another movie. We had a late night snack while we watched Rain Man, which Stef had never seen before.

Today was a lot like yesterday. Stef had a LOT of homework to do, so I sat around and did a ton of work on the new MITF brochure while I was here at her dorm. I felt like I was getting nowhere on it for a while, but I think it finally came together pretty nicely. Now all I have to do is cross my fingers that Christi likes it.

Tomorrow is WIDE open since Stef is back to class for her last three days. I'm thinking that I'll get out again and fill up the rest of my two remaining DV tapes with random footage of London. It's supposed to be nice and warm over the next couple of days, so I shouldn't have any trouble getting some good shots of people out and about in the city. Hopefully it all goes well. Cheers for now!