IT WAS JUST TOO DARN HOT!

I think I'll work backwards with the weekend

But first, a cute picture of Abby in our kitchen from last week:)

Sunday
Of COURSE Saturday night our neighbours had to have a party - thanks. So, we had to close our window and turn on the fan because at 1am they were still very noisy. Sunday morning we woke up late as my alarm did not go off, but we still got out the door in plenty of time. The bus ride into the city was exciting as we seemed to pick up more & more runners at every stop for the Great British London 10k Run. When we got into central London we had to get off the bus early at Hyde Park Corner because so many streets had been closed down for the race!!! Walking the rest of the way to the locker station was exciting - SO many people!! We dropped off our bag then made our way to get into the starting queue. That's when we heard the announcement that there were 30,000 runners this year - WOW! When the first runners finally took off at 9:35am, we could only just see them sprinting past as the crowd we were standing in was so many people deep it was hard to see! Eventually after much shuffling forward it was our turn to take off running. I had butterflies in my stomach - it was very exciting to be running through the city with so many other people. One of the first landmarks we passed was The Ritz! The first few kilometres were ok, but the heat was starting to be a problem already. Even that early in the morning - it was pushing 32c (94f) and we could definitely feel it! I tried to run in the shade as much as possible, but sometimes there just was none! It was a great route - down along the riverside and then back again with a final cross over Westminster Bridge and back with Big Ben right in front of us. The ipod helped a LOT! Kid Rock helped me up that one hard hill (surprising because I really don't like his music), Mariah Carey urged me to keep my legs moving when I got really tired, and my boy Justin Timberlake had me sprinting to the finish line. The only disappointing thing (other than the extreme heat) was that I really don't know what my finish time was. When we started the official clock was not working which is a shame because we had been shuffling along for many minutes before we could actually run - but now I'll never know how long that was. The time when I crossed the finish line was 1 hour 13 minutes, not too bad. I am going to estimate that my actual time was about 5 minutes less than that because that's the same time I had last time I did a 10k, and I ran a LOT more this time, so that just can't be right. Oh well. I never was so glad to see a bottle of water in my life as when that race was over. The heat can only be described as awful. There were many people along the route who had become overwhelmed with heat stroke - Murray even saw one guy who had passed out and was grey - scary! Those mean race organisers didn't think the finish through though obviously - they made us walk for what felt like ages back to where the lockers were - and up stairs too!!! My legs were not happy. However, after we got our stuff we walked across the city quite a bit which was probably a good thing for cooling down our muscles. Oh - and I must mention that we saw a few REALLY crazy people who decided to run in costumes - I saw a horse, people running with blow up mini life boats around their waists, and of course - an elephant! crazy!

Me posing with my medal

(we ran on behalf of the The Anthony Nolan Trust which helps people suffering from leukaemia.)

After collapsing on the couch for a few hours (until we could actually stand again) we went to see the DaVinci Code because the movie theatre was the only place we could think of that had air conditioning! I really liked it and I'm glad I got to see it on the big screen. We then enjoyed a nice dinner at Hudsons Wine Bar & Restaurant - just steps from our flat. It was nice to try out a local restaurant, and the food and service we great. Now today my legs are sore and my left ankle is aching. I just need to recruit someone in the office to push me in my work chair to and from the printer. Ha ha, or not. I think I'll just try to stay at my desk as much as possible to today and let my legs recover!

Saturday
After a nice leisurely morning we met up with Eva & Abigail to check out the school fair & bbq that the little elementary school just down the street from us was hosting. We could hear and see some of the setting up from our window all morning! It was cool to see how huge the playground was, and the local 14 year old boy band was great! Abby enjoyed herself in the jumping castle, cleaning up litter from a little playhouse (ahhh she's such a a good little citizen - ha ha!) and eating a very messy ice cream cone.

Abby & some unknown England fan in the jumping castle

Waving to us from the playhouse

Checking out the playhouse

Abby helping herself to a black olive - the first time she has ever eaten them.

And she loved them! Ate almost the whole cup (I'm not so keen on my face in the background though - I was finishing off the green ones)

A nice cool drink for a hot day

1 Pimms for me too please!

cutie!

yummy messy ice cream

Mo & Eva

Eva, Abby & Me

Afterwards we headed down to our closest park and had a nice little BBQ. Abby showed us her world cup worthy football skills, and for the first time we heard her speak a sentence!!! ('where did mommy go?' when Eva had to run home for something), and of course 'Ball up the tree' when I accidentally got it stuck in some branches:)

Abby chowing down on some apple slices

Our little picnic site

Where did that ball go?

Murray & Abby - such a cute picture!

Having a refreshing drink

Our little grill on it's second outing!

Friday
We watched Black Hawk Down on dvd. Wow, super emotional movie. I can see why it won 2 Oscars though, it was really moving and well acted and directed. Always exciting too to see Josh Hartnett on screen as he's a good old Minnesotan boy:) It was also interesting for me to watch as I just finished reading Links by Nuruddin Farah. His novel is based in Somalia and discusses some of the same clan warfare issues that that Black Hawk Down is about. It was a very interesting book, always nice to get away from reading just chick lit once and awhile to expand my horizons.

Ahhhh and just to keep on with my longest post ever.

In other news - England lost their quarter final game in the World Cup, Beckham quit as captain, and the country is mad at Rooney for kicking another player. Hopefully we won't have to hear as much about football now.

More importantly - our last remaining Wimbledon hope Andy Murray beat Andy Roddick - I can't believe it! He's up for another tough match today - but fingers crossed he wins! And I tend to agree with the newspaper - he seems to have a goofy face in almost all of the photos of him playing - but England is proud of him (not bad for a 19 year old!)- GO ANDY!