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Hi Everyone,

I could not have found a more befitting title for the blog this week than the one I have chosen.  It is so relevant to recent conversations, jokes, and events.  And so it begins........

We had a fantastic last weekend before Ann began her February of multiple transatlantic crossings.  Friday night, we had dinner at The Belvedere in Holland Park.  The restaurant was the ballroom of a Jacobean Style mansion in the 17th century.  It is beautiful, the food was amazing and we had live piano music.  Coincidentally, the conversation turned towards where our next HOME is going to be after London.  It was certainly not the first, but since Ann is meeting with her boss this week in Dallas and potentially talking about her post London career, it was quite timely.  We have now made 2 moves for our careers, one to Minneapolis for my position with Target, and this one to London for Ann's job at MGI.  It is no big secret that we put kids on hold to move abroad, but now the bigger question is, should the next move again be for one or both of our careers or, do we pick a place that we want to call HOME and let our careers work themselves out?  It is a little bit more complicated than that, but essentially, that is the "To Be or Not To Be."  Sadly, I have no decision to report, although this week could get us a bit closer.  I can share that, career or not, Ann just wants to be within walking distance of Fond du Lac!!!  Alright, that is perhaps a gross exaggeration, but I do love to tease her about it.

Speaking of Fondy, Saturday brought another one of its international descendants to London for a visit.  Don't ever tell Grandma Diener that Fondy has not gone global because she has 2 grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and a soon to be great-grandchild in Italy, another grandchild and 2 great-grandchildren in Sweden, and little Annie in London.  Ann's cousin Derek, who lives in Gothenburg, Sweden, came to spend 2 nights with us before a conference in London this week.  The three of us had so much fun.  Saturday, we incorporated a little London sightseeing into a good English Ale pub crawl.  One of the highlights was a stop at an Irish pub called The Toucan in SOHO.  Given the time of the day, it was not out of the ordinary to see a bar full of just guys, but not one of us could fully determine if we were in a gay bar or not.  That is not uncommon in SOHO might I add.  The best part however, was that the bartender was wearing an Under Armour athletic shirt, not your typical attire for a bartender in an Irish pub.  We followed the pub crawl up with a great dinner in Notting Hill and then an English nightcap(another pint) at the Churchill Arms.  Sunday, we had a great breakfast at Cafe Phillies near our flat, and then we ventured to a neighbourhood just north of London called Highgate.  Highgate was established in Victorian times as a hunting ground outside of London for the Bishop of London, but now it is a very affluent area with Georgian shops, pubs, restaurants, and residences.  It is currently or has been a residence of Pierce Brosnan, Sting, George Michael, Annie Lennox, and many others.  There were unfortunately no celebrity sightings beyond the 2 royals from Fond Du Lac.  We finished Sunday night at a brilliant sushi restaurant called Koi where Derek entertained us by spooning mouthfuls of roe(salmon eggs) into his mouth.  That guy will eat anything.  To bring the theme back "HOME," it is absolutely a fact that you can take someone out of Fond Du Lac and put them all over the world, but you certainly can't take away the Fond Du Lac.  Every story that was told or experience revealed, there was always a direct correlation back to the Foot of the Lake.  We decided that one day, for as many Yankee hats that you see in every country around the world, there will be just as many FDL hats being worn.

I am happy to report that Ann made it safely to Dallas on Monday night, and I am just scraping by here as a bachelor in London.  It was actually -2 when I left for work this morning, that is celsius, however, but still cold for this softened former Minnesotan.  I will certainly keep you updated, as I promised, on my bachelor exploits, and I am sure that you can just picture the smile on Ann's face this Friday when she boards that plane from Dallas to HOME.

Miss you Annie!!!

Sleepless in London;)
Kevin