Long Time No Read

Hiya Blogees,

I know, Christmas was a month ago today, and I have been almost non-existent in the blogosphere.  Please accept my sincerest apologies.  When I applied for the Senior Director's Administrative Support vacancy in London, I did not realise the extent of the commitment.  I have not been able to blog the last month because I have been busy putting food on the table, cleaning our flat, laundering the Senior Director's power suits, scheduling upcoming visitors, planning our future adventures, and organising our social calendar, all the while, finding the future leaders of the world for Apple.  If you saw our record earnings release yesterday reporting a net profit of $13B last quarter, I was pretty much solely responsible for that.

We had an amazing 2.5 weeks with Joe when he came to visit over X-mas.  There are so many stories and memories, so it would be almost impossible to capture it all in the time that I have, but here is a high level overview:

Dec 22 - Joe arrived in London - good pub dinner at Builders Arms followed by some pints at Prince of Wales, where Ann got a touch bit cheeky with us!!!
Dec 23 - Pizza in Notting Hill followed by a low key night in preparation for X-mas
Dec 24 - X-mas Eve - picked up X-mas Day dinner from Ottolenghi; Afternoon Pub Crawl in Central London - Lamb and Flag, Browns; X-mas Eve Mass at 6pm at Westminster Cathedral(not abbey unfortunately); Pub Crawl in West London - Champion, Churchill Arms
Dec 25 - X-mas Day - presents, Skyping with our families, watching the Queen's X-mas Day address, being over-served on Mimosas, Christmas Vacation - "what a beaut Clark"
Dec 26 - Boxing Day - Movie Day
Dec 27 - Day Trip to Brighton
Dec 28 - Joe in London
Dec 29 - Joe in London; Great dinner at Randa Maroush
Dec 30 - Flew to Basel, Switzerland; caught a train to Colmar, France (what a town, especially at X-mas)
Dec 31 - Train back to Basel; NYE in Basel; Pub Crawl - Annie's Bar....; Fireworks on the Rhine River at Midnight
Jan 1 - Recovery in Basel
Jan 2 - Return to London
Jan 3 - Joe in London
Jan 4 - Ice Skating at Somerset House; dinner at best Mexican restaurant in London (Wajaca)
Jan 5 - Joe in London
Jan 6 - Joe in London
Jan 7 - Joe and I took the House of Parliament Tour; Pub Crawl
Jan 8 - Cirque Du Soleil at Royal Albert Hall - we saw the "Totem" show and it was simply brilliant
Jan 9 - We sent Joe packing
      
The last couple of weeks in London has been so relaxing for us.  We have used this time to refresh and gear up for the busy upcoming months.  We have some new trips planned and also some visitors booked in.  Ann did make a quick trip to Paris and Rome for work last week, but other than that, it has been quiet and calm here.  We are excited to have Ann's cousin Derek, who lives in Sweden, spend this weekend with us.  Starting Monday, I am going to have to endure 2 weeks of being a bachelor in London.  It will be tough without Ann's direction, but I am confident in my solo skills to survive!!!  Ann flies to Dallas for work next week, and then is taking a week off to spend in Wisconsin.  I am certainly jealous of her getting to meet Max, spend time with the Berenz clan, and eat Joe's Fox Hut, but all the more reason to look forward to October when I can do all of that when we are there for the big wedding!!!  Most concerning, however, is her recurring monologue about the seemingly black hole in her wardrobe.  If Wisconsin retail has had a bad start to the first quarter, do not fear, the stimulus is coming.

I suppose that is about all that I have for today.  I promise that I will not leave you again for this long.  Perhaps, Ann will share some of her travel stories while she is back home in the States.  I will surely keep you updated on my bachelorhood as well.  It will probably be best to keep track of me in the "Daily Star" as I will be out with Harry, Kate, Will, and Pippa quite a bit.

Cheers
Kevin