Hello All...

 

This is just a quick announcement to make sure everyone knows that our Jane Lillian Johnston has officially arrived.  We are all doing well.  Hard to do anything for longer than a few minutes as she is wanting her mom to feed her right now!  We will write more later but wanted to share our blessed arrival with everyone.  She is our star.

 

hugs and kisses...meaghen, evan and jane

Hello...

 

December is here...the month we have been anticipating all year!  We have had a full November with Evan's work schedule picking up and requiring some very long hours.  I have managed to successfully complete my final papers and am now trying to get everything planned for all of our exciting arrivals this month.   Packages are wrapped and baking is in the freezer so I think that we are in a good position to enjoy the holidays.  We absolutely cannot wait until our baby arrives...never in my life have I anticipated something with such emotion.  I can't imagine the joy of having this little one in our arms and lives.  We have had our challenges this month as my Gran passed away.  We are all feeling very sorry for ourselves as she brought a graceful spirit and great joy to all our lives but I am seeing her all around me now and feel that she will be present for the birth of our little one which is really the true gift of the circle of life. 

 

As we turn our attention to the holiday season and the arrival of many important people we are reminded of the blessings that surround us.  We will likely be updating our photos in the next few weeks with some very cute photos!!  More to come....

 

xoxoxo Meaghen and Evan

Hello Everyone,

 

I realize that we have not updated our photo albums or blog for a wee while so I thought I'd write a quick note.  Life is slowing down a bit as we reach our 35th week of pregnancy.  We are still getting out to do some exploring on the weekends however I can only do 1/2 days on my feet before I start to whine and complain.  Of course, Evan's pace of walking is really a slow jog for me so I blame him for forcing me to move along so quickly!  We spend each Friday night at the local community centre in Greenwich along with 5 other pregnant couples receieving all kinds of advice and tips from a lovely midwife.  Woohoo what a Friday night!!  The course is really great, Evan asks the BEST questions (surprised?) and feels much more comfortable with the impending labour then he did before....wish I could say the same!!  I finally understand the meaning of  "too much information!"

 

We spent Sunday in Blackheath which is a really lovely village we can walk to from our flat.  It has great little shops and we can't wait to see how it looks in December with the holiday decorations.  There is a chocolate shop there called "madame chocolat" and it serves up the yummiest hot chocolate I have ever tasted - we plan on taking everyone there at some point!  Greenwich is called the "Christmas Village" over the holidays with a gorgeous outdoor skating rink in the park and several other festivities - we are really looking forward to seeing what it is like. 

 

All else is well - we think of friends and family all the time and send our love to you.

 

Hopefully we will do something worthy of a photo before the baby is born so that we can update the photo albums...although videos and the sofa are what really appeal to me right now on weekends. 

Take good care, Meaghen and Evan

Hello All,

 

It's Sunday evening and Evan and I are just resting up from a fantastic weekend of non-stop sightseeing during my brother's short visit to London.  Of course...if you are reading this note you have likely had the pleasure of seeing the latest photo album with all of the pictures from our adventure.  Jeff arrived on Friday night and had the pleasure of being our first guest to cuddle into the comfort of our lovely guest futon!  Given that he spent 3 months in Afghanistan we were pretty confident that he would make it...despite his weak grumblings.  On Friday night we stopped into an English pub situated right along the Thames where Jeff had the experience of purchasing his first half pint....(for Evan) which was a visibly painful and somewhat confusing experience.  Afterwards we enjoyed a nice Indian meal and headed home to rest up. 

 

Saturday was a FULL day...we left the flat at 9:00 and walked up to the Greenwich Observatory to see the Prime Meridian Time Line, and then headed through Greenwich market to catch the train to London.  Within a few hours we managed to see the Tower Bridge and take the Tower of London tour...anyone who has ever been to a museum or any historical site with Jeff will appreciate that getting through the tour within a day was quite an accomplishment!   Of course with the lure or fish, chips and mushy peas for lunch we coaxed him out of the Tower and into a great Pub.  Onwards we travelled to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Picadilly Circus and ended in SoHo to catch a West End Show...and here comes a good story. 

 

As we were sitting in the theatre waiting for the show to begin Jeff was approached and asked whether he would be interested in participating in part of the show.  Evan offered him up fully to the staff and off Jeff went for his pre-show briefing.  Of course, he wouldn't tell us anything about what was going to happen so we anticipated his debut the entire show!  Towards the end, a Blue Man (who I found to be very creepy) was suddenly standing beside Jeff and off he went hand in hand with a Blue Man.  Suddenly, he appeared on stage, was changed into a white jumper and a black helmut was placed on his head...he was wisked off stage and a screen came down to show what appeared to be him backstage being painted blue, strung up by his ankles and swung into a white canvas!  Of course I was worried that they were hurting him all the while Evan (aka Sherlock) was studying the evidence and realized that it wasn't acutally Jeff they were abusing!!  For the grand finale, a black table was rolled out onto the stage with a big red jelly salad on top of it.  The Blue Men then pulled the jelly off the table, and there was Jeff peeking out from under a red jelly glaze!  We were laughing pretty hard...not many people get to come to London and appear in a West End Show!   He's set the bar pretty high for all subsequent guests...not sure how we'll top that one!

 

We really enjoyed Jeff's visit and we hope that we have more visitors in the near future.  All else is fine with us...we are at 32 weeks of pregnancy and looking forward to getting through the next few months...

 

Take care everyone....we'll talk to you soon, love Meaghen and Evan

 

Hello Everyone...

 

It's been a wee while since our last entry and everything is going very well.  We often spend the weekends exploring different parts of London and have already found some favorites.  We have found our breakfast "White Spot" in Notting Hill and we've been there twice now for breakfast and look forward to taking visitors for a full yummy English Breakfast.  It's right across the street from the Travel Book Store that appears in the movie Notting Hill (picture in the photo album).  Of course my stamina is wavering day by day as our little bump continues to grow and as I try to keep up with Evan who continues to gauge a "short walk" with incredible imprecision...yesterday a "10 minute walk" took an hour at a pace slightly slower than speed walking.  I've decided that next weekend I'm going to make Evan drink two litres of water and strap 30 pounds onto his stomach to see how he likes it!!!  We did visit the BABY SHOW yesterday and have picked up several little things to set up our nursery (again...see pictures if interested!) Of course, there were free giveaways which meant that Evan was a repeat visitor at several booths to accumulate as many free diapers and baby detergent as his backpack could possibly carry!!  We are having lots of fun getting ready for the baby's birth...we've made it to 31 weeks now and they say you have to be ready for it to happen anytime after 36 weeks so we're getting close!  I had put the crib together last week but was assisted by Evan today when he became concerned by the fact that I was putting it all together with a butter knife and seemed to have several left over bolts...!   All in all we are well - I'm going to get busy cooking dinner and Evan wants to write...so now things will get considerably less witty...

 

This is Evan now. I thought I should add something to this blog.  I think Meaghen has pretty much captured our experience over the last couple weeks. We are both very excited about the baby. I am looking forward to teaching the little thing all it needs to know about life. For example, it needs to learn how to walk, talk and play the stock market. All good things to come.  Life in London has had its ups and downs. We are now settled into our place in Greenwich. The flat is great. We have never had so much space.  The city itself is incredible. There is something to see around every corner. You could spend years just exploring. Work is another story.  The biggest law firm in the world is not exactly Catalyst Corporate Finance Lawyers.  The place is really a legal machine working for the largest clients around the world. The deals are complex and challenging. With the exception of a few, the lawyers in our Structured Debt Group have little in the way of lives.  They seem to like working well into the night everyday.  It really is a different world.  So far, the experience has been a good one and I have no regrets about the move to London. 

 

Meaghen and I promise to keep this site up to date as we move into the holiday/baby season. 

 

 

 

 

Hello Everyone...

 

It's the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and we hope everyone had a nice holiday.  We are still without internet access at home so I'm back in the smokey internet cafe (sorry baby) trying to get some work done as quickly as possible.  Hard to believe that it's almost the middle of October and we still are not connected with internet...which is proving to make my studies more difficult than I anticipated.  We have been told that the equipment will arrive a week today so with any luck we may be up and running by this time next week. 

 

Evan spent the weekend in Portugal at a work retreat and is encouraging anyone who comes to visit to plan a little trip to Portugal as he loved it. He is feeling settled at work and has met a ton of people which is nice.   We managed to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner....well almost...we couldn't exactly get a real turkey but managed to find a Marks and Spencer "Roasted Turkey Breast" after a full afternoon of searching.  I think we might have set a record...we purchased the groceries at 5:30, started cooking at 6:00 and actually managed to feel like we had a complete Thanksgiving meal by 7:00 p.m.! 

 

Overall we are settling in well - learning new things every day.  I've seen our hospital and it looks just fine.  I meet with my midwife for a long meeting on Tuesday at which time she takes all my medical history and we start "planning my antenatal care"...can't wait to see the look on her face when I walk in 30 weeks pregnant rather than the typical first appointment that occurs at 5 weeks!!   I've joined a gym and met a group of girls all pregnant and due over the next 4 months which is nice.  What is perhaps even more surprising is the fact that they have befriended me despite the fact that I'm still wearing the neon bikini from the summer which isn't exactly modest or flattering.  Last night one of the women told me I was very brave....we are not sure if it was meant as a compliment.  Oh well...life's too short to get uptight about these things and until I have an official wardrobe malfunction in the pool I'm sticking to what I've got!

 

Okay - I better run along - the bakery up the street makes the most amazing gingerbread men and they are calling my name!   Take care everyone...we will add pictures to our photo albums once we have internet in a week or two.  Take care, love Meaghen and Evan

Hello,

 

I'm writing this message from an internet cafe as we will not have internet service for at least a week.  All is well here - we have settled into Greenwich nicely.  Evan leaves for a work weekend in Portugal this weekend so I'll be surviving in the flat on my own. 

 

Our new address is:  Flat 4 - Vista Apartments

                               23 Woodland Crescent

                               Greenwich, London

                               SE10 9UH

 

Phone number:  011442083051669  (exactly how you dial from Canada or US)

 

Take care...Meaghen

Hello Again,

 

It's Monday evening.  I've just finished my first PhD seminar via teleconference and Evan is working the evening shift at his work.  We had a great weekend with the exciting news that Tana and Mark are officially engaged and plan to be married in Gimli in early September.  We are thrilled and looking forward to a year of anticipation, planning and celebration.

 

We spent 10 hours exploring London on Saturday and ended the day with our first West End show.  We saw a play called The Donkey's Years that was very funny.  Of course, nothing made Evan happier than the ability to purchase student stand-by tickets with my student card - very good deal for great seats.  A helpful hint for future visitors...when out with Evan remember that "just across a park" and "only a few blocks" usually translates into about a 30 minute hike...I almost had to be carried home at the end of the night.  We'll post another album of our day in London in the near future for anyone who is interested.

 

I went for yet another medical appointment today.  I'm sure that by the end of this pregnancy I'll be able to write a script for a good comedy.  It seems that I mysteriously end up in situations that seem very strange.  Warning: If you don't want to read about a blood test..STOP now!! I was meant to have a standard test done today to monitor blood sugars - it invovled a blood test followed by a sugary drink, sitting for 2 hours and then another blood test.  I arrived at the clinic after fasting over night (which is difficult for me at the best of times) and was called in to the room only to learn that the "phlebologist" (not sure about spelling) who is essentially the lab technician who draws the blood called in sick...therefore I had a "practice nurse."  She poked my right arm while apologizing to me the entire time and found that she couldn't get any blood....hmmm...missed the vein.  So, she proceeded to withdraw the needle and try the other arm.  All went well with the second poke until she put a small bandaid on and proceeded to busy herself preparing my drink...and without any warning the vein just kept on bleeding!  (okay...I know this is gross...but nobody was there to share it with).  So, she panicked and taped me up and sent me out to the room to sit for 2 hours.  During the 2 hours of sitting in the clinic I had an elderly muslim man so confused by the fact that I was sitting there that after every patient was called in he would say "your turn next?" and then when we was called in he insisted that I be ahead of him.  They had to bring an interpretor out to explain to him that it was okay - he was very kind and sweet - just a little agitated by the pregnant Canadian woman sitting for way too long in the clinic lobby!!

 

Another interesting start to a week in London.  We settle in on Saturday to our new flat in Greenwich and we'll be posting our phone number and address.  We are THRILLED that Tana and Mark are getting married and send all our love and best wishes to both of them. 

 

Take care, love Meaghen and Evan

Hello Everyone,

 

This is our first entry on this live webspace and we are not sure how well it will work but thought it's worth a try.  We have been in London for over a week now and have settled in quite well.  Evan's firm is enormous and he has just been assigned a "file" that will take until December to complete so let's hope it's completed before the arrival of our baby!  London is very busy - finding our way around has been quite a task - I did get myself stuck in the middle of a "turnabout" on a busy intersection and had to sprint across it holding my breath. 

 

We have decided on Greenwich as a place to settle.  The community is amazing. It is about a 20 minute commute for Evan from door to door and only a 10 minute tube ride into London for guests. I'm hoping that I can figure out how to attach photos to the album very soon and as soon as we have secured a place we will post some photos.  I spent the day yesterday out with an agent and had a successful trip.  I made 2 offers on properties and both have been accepted.  I will see a few more properties today and then we will make the final decision. 

 

More to come...take care, love Meaghen and Evan

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