Today we left the house and it was sunny, and then thirty minutes into the journey it was “tippin’ it down” with rain! This weather makes it very difficult to sell a sundress! Nevertheless we have managed to set up two fundraiser/sale events to relieve the orphaned cyclone victims in Burma. We are holding a one week sale (of summer clothes, so pray for sun!) in Wallingford and one in Marlow beginning tomorrow. We’re very excited to see how the public responds to HOPE in England.

Speaking of public response, Tuesday will be a big day for us as we will find out how the spring ’09 fared at the show in Manchester. I have a good feeling about our “agent”. Out of ALL the parking spaces at the Premier Kids show in Birmingham she just happened to park directly and I mean DIRECTLY adjacent to us. It couldn’t have been any easier to pop the collection into the boot of her car at the end of the show. You see, it’s a sign. It must be.

Did you know that in England they are not allowed to hold sidewalk sales? It struck me odd, but come to think of it the “pavement” is rather narrow.

I’ve had six cups of tea today. They’ve all been offered to me.

I get my own coffee in the morning.

I am being such a good daughter-in-law. I’ve gone to “aqua-fit” twice with my mother-in-law. Actually it’s fun. There are all of these wonderful English elderly ladies with pink cheeks and jolly smiles and they talk about the weather in the locker room. Everyone has had to turn the heat on at night. Several husbands have had to wear jumpers to bed, and one aqua-fittee even used a hot water bottle Tuesday night. I’ve been informed that England saw a very nice February.

One of the things that England does have going for it are shoes. The store in Wallingford and in Marlow who are holding the Burma Fundraiser have amazing kids shoes. It just so happens that I went on a shoe spree before leaving Thailand only to find that every single pair I purchased was either seriously uncomfortable or seriously unsuitable for July storms. Hence to my utter delight CLARKS (and there is a CLARKS in every teeny village, even the ones where you can’t get a coffee past 4 p.m.) is having a 50% off sale! When you can’t drive down the road without seeing a CLARKS 50% off sign, well there’s no way to resist. It’s like Starbucks in the States. Shoes, coffee – coffee, shoes – addiction is addiction, right ladies? You may be thinking that CLARKS are comfort shoes, but those of you who have done the comfort shoe circuit know all too well that there are some darned cute CLARKS out there, and super comfy to boot. Well, let me just say that there are tons more cute CLARKS here. I got these (it was complete necessity—I had a backache and as we all know footwear is key to a healthy back) amazing ones with little stars cut out all over the toe with a cute criss-cross buckle. Tres’ cute. BTW, stars are HUGE in London. I also saw lots of stars at the trade shows for spring ’09. Stars = HIP. Hip=STARS.

Speaking of shopping, I am very knowledgeable about the English shops. Thanks to Becky Bloomwood, I am quite familiar with all of the shop names. Contrary to my husband’s notion that I was escaping in the Shopoholic novels by Sophie Kinsella, I was actually conducting research. Because of these fluffy novels, I can also speak British now. If you’ll notice, I slip in some British phrasing from time to time. If you crave lightness, read these books—-they are so funny. Get past the first ½ of the first book and you’ll get hooked.

And lastly, Speaking of Becky Bloomwood, I’ve had a sort-of Becky Bloomwood moment which I must confess. Before leaving Thailand I had to pick up some HOPE postcards from my friends house. But I couldn’t find them so I had to look through every single cupboard. And while I was looking through those cupboards, I spotted the 4th Shopoholic book (which in all honesty was taking entirely too long to pass along to the next reader, which was moi) all yellow and bright and I thought——I don’t have anything to read on the plane. I began to panic so I thought okay, I’ll just take the book because obviously she is NOT going to read it while her sister is visiting, I’ll read it on the plane (which I did save 2 chapters) and then I will post it back before she even knows it’s gone missing. It was a good plan. Almost fool proof.

The first mistake I made (other than swiping it in the first place) was reading the last two chapters in the lounge around the family and laughing out loud A LOT. The second mistake was being so organized as to leave it down by the stairs so that I could post it straight away the following morning. I was ready to leave for the post office and the book was gone. I looked everywhere. Then my mother-in-law pranced down and said “Gina, I hope you don’t mind, I’ve taken your book. You took to it so well, it looks like a really good read.” My first comment was to inform her that it actually is book 4 in a series, and really we should go out and get the first one. But she “couldn’t be bothered.” So I thought okay, she’ll read it really quickly and then I’ll send it back Thailand. My friend’s sister is staying for a month so she won’t need it, no problema. But NOW, I realize she hasn’t even STARTED reading it and it’s already been over a week. Maybe I’ll just start talking about how great it is so that she can’t bear waiting any longer to start the blasted book. Yes, that’s it. That’s exactly what I’ll do. And then I’ll post it back to Thailand in about three days because I know that at least two people are already waiting to read it there. In fact I’ll go downstairs and start talking about it straight away and while I’m at it I’m sure someone will offer me a cup of tea and then I’ll be sure to feel much better about the whole thing…….