Weekend Getaway

So this weekend we headed out to Stoke Park Club for a nice "Quick Escape" weekend getaway to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary. The trip out of town was quick (15 minute train from Paddington Station to Slough) and suddenly we were very far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Stoke Park club is a hotel, several restaurants, a 27-hole golf club, spa, tennis courts, and a large fitness center. According to the hotel's brochure, it is located on an old estate that has been maintained for nearly 1000 years; it has been the estate of dukes, earls, and rich families. Given my limited recollection of British history, the only one that I recognized was the Penn family -- the founders of Pennsylvania. In the late 1800's, the estate was transferred from private ownership, turned into a golf club, and has undergone several rennovations through the years.

The hotel was quite exquisite, giving us the impression that we were staying in an old palace! We had a nice lite lunch at the health club, treated ourselves to a massage, and took a dip in the swimming pool yesterday afternoon. Once we arrived back at our room, we discovered a fruit basket and a bottle of chilled champagne; this late afternoon snack was just enough to hold us over to a dinner of vennison (Jason) and free range chicken (Annelies); because we don't have a television at home, we treated ourselves to a few TV shows and then slept in our giant king-sized bed. Today we arose after sleeping in to watch some of the Australian Open tennis tournament, have a proper English breakfast, and then take a walk around the gardens and golf course. All in all, a very relaxing weekend and a great way to celebrate our anniversary!

We hope everyone is doing well; have a great week!

-Jason & Annelies

P.S. Our pictures from Brasil and Uruguay are online at www.jasonandannelies.co.uk. Enjoy!

Vacation Glow

The wonderful thing about a holiday, of course, is that you get a chance to relax, detach from the stresses of normal life, have a bit of fun, enjoy family and friends, and hopefully catch up on your reading! Indeed, we did all of the above in Brasil during our holidays! And once you come back to the "real world", it's easy for the first few days to keep that relaxed state of mind. Problems at work aren't a big deal, you don't mind so much that the incompetent plumber couldn't fix the leaky toilet, and cold weather isn't that big of a deal (after all, your tanned skin still hasn't peeled off!). I like to call that state of mind the "Vacation Glow".

This time back, I think the Vacation Glow was destined to wear off quickly! Jason had some big events going on at work (new people starting and senior people leaving); Annelies didn't want to leave Brasil so quickly; Vinny was stressed out for not seeing us for two weeks; and the plumber (and an electrician) was indeed incompetent! We also had a deadline for our flat to figure out if we were going to stay or not; given the problems we've had with plumbing and the relatively long commutes into work, we decided to get a new flat. We're going to be moving to the Clapham area in a month; the new place will be larger, in a nice neighborhood, quicker to work, will have a yard, and is actually a bit cheaper than this current flat!

Also, we received some very sad news this week that Jason's uncle Harry passed away last Saturday evening. We wish everyone in the family all the best and wish we could be with you all to give everyone a big hug. The services are today in Greeley, and we know that it will be a celebration of Harry's 79 years with us!!

There are some reasons to celebrate this week, however. It was both Steve's and Anita's birthdays -- Steve turned 60 today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you both! And Jason and Annelies celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary this week. We are off for a bit of relaxation this weekend, heading out of the city to check into a hotel for hopefully some nice food, a lot of relaxation, and even a massage.

Last weekend we got out to enjoy a very winter-season British event - outdoor iceskating (at the Natural History Museum). We went with a few friends from Shopzilla and had a nice time (surprisingly, none of us fell!). The weather was a bit cold this week, and we actually awoke to snow on Wednesday! This was quite hilarious as it was the first time Vinny has ever seen snow. When we took him out to use the bathroom in the morning, he basically stopped and looked around (somewhat confused...) for a few minutes. Jason had to actually walk into the snow before he figured out that it was okay. But after a few minutes, he became quite excited and started zooming around in the snow :)

So I still owe you all some more stories from Brasil and I'll add those here in good time. We hope you are all doing well and that any of your Vacation Glow that you may have acquired is still with you :)

Love, Jason & Annelies

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! Long time, no write again (oops, I guess we've been having a bit of fun in the sun). We hope everyone is doing well and we wish you all the best of health, happiness, and success for 2007!

We got back into London last Sunday afternoon. Both of us have been busy at work catching up and dealing with all the fires that started while we were away. This weekend has been nice and relaxing, as we're starting to hunt for a new apartment, take Vinny for a few walks, and get the house cleaned up.

There are still a number of stories to come from Brasil and Uruguay, but unfortunately you'll have to wait for a future posting, as I left all of the notes in a notebook that was left at work. Good news is that we've sorted through all of our pictures this weekend and will add a few of those for fun.

For some reason, our Skype headset isn't working anymore, which is why we haven't been able to call anyone this weekend. We'll try to get that sorted out this week and hopefully we'll be back in business next weekend. Take care and talk to you soon!

-Jason & Annelies