London: Day Seven and Day Eight

Day Seven wasn't nearly as exciting as the rest of the week, but it was much needed for me, my body, and the little fetus moving around inside of me.

Brandon and I got up, got ready, and walked to Church. We attended the Hyde Park Ward, which was right next to the Victoria and Albert Museum (and across from the Science Museum and Imperial College). We sat next to our friends (the couple we had gone out with the night before), and attempted not to fall asleep in Sacrament Meeting. Sunday School was held in the Chapel, and so was Relief Society, so you know what? I didn't move from my spot. Not once. The weirdest part? Not one person said hello or introduced themselves to me in Relief Society. Not one. (My friend was in the Young Women's, and so she wasn't there.) I only noticed it because it's strange --it's rare to enter a new ward without being noticed by somebody. My surprise should not be mistaken for being upset, though, because it didn't really bother me. I just found it strange. Later I realized that the Hyde Park ward is extremely international and transient --perhaps they thought they saw me before? Or knew I wouldn't be back? Or were offended I kept nodding off during the lesson?
Heh.

So, after church, Brandon and I walked to a little Thai restaurant. The food was great! And hooray! My appetite had come back with a vengeance and it felt good to eat again. After we ate, we went back to the hotel and napped for 3 hours. Three hours! Oh, it was nice. When we woke up, we thought about where we would go for dinner, but Brandon had some work to finish, and I was still so tired. My body was jut finished with walking around. So, without any remorse for not visiting Hyde Park (and seeing the Peter Pan statue), we ordered room service and stayed in the hotel room the rest of the night.

Day Eight came too fast. My flight was leaving by 8:40AM, and Brandon couldn't come with me to the airport, so that meant I needed to get up extra early. I was packed, showered, and ready to go by 6:30AM, and Brandon was going to walk me to the tube station. However, when we walked outside, it was pouring buckets and buckets of water. That was when I realized how lucky we had been with the weather all week! We never got rained on (it mostly rained at night or early in the morning). But this rain was crazy --I had no idea how I could walk in it with all my luggage and still maintain my sanity. However, a miracle presented itself: Parked all alone in the hotel's drive was a taxi. The driver was just sitting there, waiting for anyone to come by. Brandon ran over and talked with her about price and distance, and she pulled up. Whoo-hoo! I got to ride in a black London taxi!
When we realized that I was actually leaving, it was strange, and our goodbye was something akin to a movie scene: Taxicab, pouring rain, international travel, kissing over and over (yes, but it's not like we were making out!), etc. It was perfect, actually! And boy-howdy, was I glad that I rode in the taxi --I realized that the rain was worse than we had thought, and she said some of the tube stations had to shut down already (because of flooding) --there was a chance I would have had to find a taxi, anyway! Missing my flight wasn't an option, so it was good to get there on time.
My flight from London to Houston was awesome. The flight was half-full, so I ended up getting an entire row to myself. Ah! Pure bliss! I read a book, slept, watched a movie, ate, and all in good comfort. The flight from Houston to SLC was not as comfortable, but I did get two seats to myself. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't, so I just read. When I got to SLC, I still had to take a shuttle out to Eagle Mountain to pick up the boys. I arrived and the battery on my van was dead. Sigh. We got it running, and by the time I got home and all the kids in bed (the girls met me at home), it was after 10PM (but 5AM London time!), so I crashed. And you know the rest! Sort of...

So, there you go. My awesome trip to London was a smashing success! And even though I got sick and such, it was still worth every minute. I loved it! I can't wait to go back one day, and next time? I'm going to see the whole country. And Scotland. And maybe Ireland...