Seattle with the Abellanosa family

I drove to Seattle last July 25 to spend the day a friend of mine from high school, Christmas. She was having a family holiday with her husband Albert and daughter Mikey. The last time I saw them was in 2001 when I went to Long Beach for work. Christmas and I have known each other since grade school. When we were in high school, I rode to and from school with Christmas and her sisters. I can’t remember how that arrangement all started. Anyway, I got to know their whole family pretty well since I was at their house five days a week.

I arrived in Seattle at around noon and met up with them at their hotel. The thing with childhood friends is even if you don’t see each other for years, when you do see them, you just pick up where you left off. We settled into conversation with such ease and comfort. It was such a gift.

Chris and I spent the day catching up on each other’s lives. What touched me most was how loving their family was. Chris and Albert have been married for many years and they are still very sweet to each other. And Mikey is a confident young lady with a good head on her shoulders. And she has a great relationship with her parents. It was really nice to be around them.

The day went by so quickly. We had a very delicious dinner (best steak ever!) at Metropolitan Grill, then it was time for me to drive back to Vancouver. It was great to meet up with them, even for just a day. Hopefully, it won’t take another 8 years before we meet up again.

Hamlet

Last July 19, I went to see Hamlet at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End. Jude Law starred as Hamlet and the other cast members (Kevin R. McNally, Penelope Wilton, and Peter Eyre) were very experienced actors, too. I enjoyed the show very much and for most of it, I even forgot that I was watching Jude Law. I just got pulled into the story of Hamlet avenging his father’s murder. Jude Law is a charismatic actor who also happens to be very easy on the eyes. ☺ He and the rest of the cast did a fine job and I’m very glad I got to see the show.

Slum lords

Ed and I have a new role - slum lords. We bought a condo in Vancouver last June. It’s an investment property and the intent is to rent it out and hopefully, the property value will appreciate as the years go by. It’s our first investment property and we are understandably nervous about the whole thing. But we figured that if we are able to rent out the condo, we’ll be okay. On June 10, our offer for this condo was accepted by the seller and we got the keys to the place on June 30. We tried to get it rented out for July 1 but we had no takers. So we lowered the rent a bit and opened it up to owners of a small pet. We had more people show interest and finally, on July 13, we had four couples fill out the application to rent the apartment. I was getting stressed out about it because if the condo isn’t rented, it means that we’re paying for the mortgage for that month. We did the reference and credit checks for the applicants and decided to rent to a young couple who are looking to move in on Aug 1. They seem very nice and quiet, and their references had very good things to say about them. I’m really, really hoping that they turn out to be good tenants and that their cat doesn’t destroy the place.

Here are a couple of pictures of the apartment:

Back in London

Been here since noon on Wednesday and I fly home on Monday. I had meetings with a Navarik client on Thursday and Friday. I’m spending the weekend here so that I can go watch Jude Law be Hamlet. Late afternoon last Wednesday, I went to Portobello Road in Notting Hill. I worked for a bit after I checked in at the hotel then needed to move around so I could stay awake for a little longer. Jet lag is a tricky thing. Portobello Road was interesting with lots of shops. Since it was late on a Wed afternoon, it wasn’t the bustling Portobello Market that it is known for. But I’m still glad I went because it would have been crowded and busy on a weekend. Friday night, I went with Bill to see a musical in East London. I enjoyed the show very much. I love musicals. Today, I walked around the Seven Dials area in Covent Garden. Went into the Camper store and spent money on shoes. I did the same thing last year, too. Does that make it a tradition??? New Campers in July. I like that tradition! Tomorrow, finally, I have my date with Jude Law. I’m excited to see him and to see a Shakespeare play here in London. I may go visit the Science Museum in the morning. Should be interesting.

Friends come to visit

The gang at second beach
Originally uploaded by Liezel&Ed

Last week, my friends Lizza, Pat, Deb, and Dave paid us a visit. We all met up in Victoria on Thursday, then headed to Vancouver on Saturday. This was taken at Second Beach in Stanley Park.