Made It Safely!

Hi Family and Friends!

I've made it and doing well so far. Saying farewell to your husband before entering security is excrutiating. Very very very hard to say goodbye.

The flight to Atlanta was ridiculously fast - up and back down in 1 hr. I'm glad I bought a neck pillow in Atlanta - very worth it. Luckily I had a window seat so along with my neck pillow, eyemask, and earplugs, I balled up my coat along the wall, popped 2 Tylenol PM after 'dinner' at midnight [geez!] and actually slept decently until 6am. I'm so glad I thought of earplugs b.c the baby 2 rows up was not happy!

I passed on breakfast b.c I didn't want to remove my sleeping tools from around my head. We landed at Heathrow at 7am Cincy time/12pm London time. Got through cutoms somewhat well. I hate answering their questions - they make me nervous. I got a luggage trolley - free here - suck on that, US. And I found both my bags within 5 minutes - wahoo! Next, time to find my driver. I didn't see any signs with my name, so called Noemi, Landor London's HR Director and she told me where he was standing.

The drive to Clerkenwell Green was one hour, my driver made sure to be a tour guide for me. I'm in walking distance of St Paul's Cathedral, Globe Theatre, and Tate Modern. I was dropped of at Landor London where Noemi greeted me and we rushed off literally around the corner to my flat complex. It's very nice - I think my flat a decent size for London - ? I feel very comfortable here already. I have On-Demand TV [yay IT Crowd!], a washer - but no dryer [?], everything I need to cook. I'll have to get used to using a french press - I just can't do instant coffee like most English.

But the cherry on top: WiFi!! Wahoooo! That means I can still watch my NBC shows, talk to Tim on IM and keep up a blog on my time here for those interested to follow.

I've ventured out already to Tesco - a very SMALL Tesco - for groceries. It's a huge change from my Kroger Marketplace; i.e. only 3 options for olive oil instead of 12. I'm spoiled at home. Luckily it's only about 100 yards away, but I can only buy as much as I can carry back, so I've already made two trips. My 2nd cashier was very interested in Michigan - he asked what it was like and that he'd like to visit Michigan - ha!

I also walked the opposite direction past the City University London into an area called "Angel" - lots of cafes, stores and places to pop into. Thank God I found Boots Pharmacy - got an adaptor so I can spend my first evening connected to the internet : ) My laptop doesn't have iPhoto, so I need to find a way to upload photos!

Don't have to be in tomorrow until 10am - two days will be a nice step into work, then the weekend!

Love to all -

C