Quenching My Firsts

I’m convinced my physical makeup is 70%water, 20% muscles and bones and 10% peanut butter and jelly. I literally ate it every single day of my life from age 5 until 18, and probably most days since then. I love peanut butter and jelly. It is, in fact, what I like in my belly.

So when Alex told me the other night that he had never experienced this American dietary mainstay, I was straight-up dumbfounded. In fact, I believe his exact words were, “Ew.” Now, in his defense, jelly here is actually what we Americans know as Jell-o, so you can sort of understand his aversion. Regardless, I whipped up a Peanut Butter and Jam sandwich (heavy on the crunchy PB with raspberry jelly, natch) and gave him a bite. Soon, a bite turned in to him eating the whole half, which turned into me making another one so he could have another half. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a believer.

My satisfaction resulting from this delightful little domestic exchange was twofold: First, I “cooked” something delicious for Alex that he’d never had before (this will likely never happen again unless I screw up some rudimentary recipe and accidentally “invent” something), and secondly, I was, for the first time (damn it!), not the one experiencing a first this month.

Observe:

The first time I met my cousin's daughter, Freya.

Despite her having been around for going on five years, I have never actually had a chance to meet the adorable Freya. Fortunately, Alex and I were able to meet my Australian cousin, Gervaise, and his girlfriend, Sarah, in the river-side town of Richmond upon Thames for lunch on Sunday. It's at the end of the tube, but worth the time it takes to get there--really great shopping and beautiful on-the-water dining. (note also, the first time I have had really bad roots in London. I'm in denial over having to spend money and time looking for a new colorist....)

Next, the first time I ever witnessed THIS in a softball game.

The guy on the left is the first baseman. The girl on the right is the one who hit the ball. The girl in the middle is the runner from first to second. The fact that scenes like this were not out of the ordinary in my first RTKL-UK softball game in Regent's Park should reveal a thing or two about the nature of "the game" here. I caught someone out and then tagged the base to get the runner for the second out; everyone looked at me like I was crazy. When some guy ran directly from first to third, he got less suspicious looks than I elicited for my (legal) double play.

Next, the first time I ever spelled something with my body in public.

This, believe it or not, spells "No Name." I am the E. As part of my company's summer party, we broke into teams to do a scavenger hunt around London. One of our tasks was to spell our team's name in front of this pavilion. I think the n's should be fired.

And finally, the first time I took a picture with an aging rock star.

If you aren't too blinded by my extra four chins, you'll see that there in the back is this guy:

That's Kevin Cronin, lead singer of Midwestern 80s rock band, REO Speedwagon. We sat with him for an hour or so in the British Airways departure lounge. He seemed cool, but his agent has "Can't Fight This Feeling" as his ring tone. LAME.

Anyway, clearly I have this photo thing down now, so I'll try to keep the pics coming. Miss you desperately! More soon....