So excited!!!!

Let me begin by warning you that this will be a very long post. I have a lot of things to be excited about today. You are by no means obligated to read it all. :)


It amazes me how God can turn a bad situation into a good one. I locked myself out of my room earlier tonight when I went to the lobby to use the computer. Now, in a hotel with a 24-hour desk, this would not be a problem. However, in a small family-owned British hotel where the family lives off-site and no one mans the reception desk at night, this is a big problem, especially when they leave a British phone number to call for emergencies and I have no phone. I did not have my wallet to go use a pay phone, and even if I had, I would then be locked out of not just my room but the hotel, as the outside doors are locked at night.


I figured my best option was to wait for someone to come into the lobby who had a British cell phone I could borrow. A middle-aged woman finally came down the stairs, and though she did not have a British cell phone, she offered her iPhone to me to try. It didn't work, so then she asked if I had tried using the phone behind the desk. Of course I hadn't, because I assumed the door to the desk area was locked, and I didn't want to climb over the desk and risk setting off an alarm, being arrested, etc. So she says, "Oh no, you can walk back there, I asked the guy earlier if I could get back there to plug my USB drive into the computer to upload pictures and he said yes." I stared at her in shock as she opened the door and walked behind the desk. "You can put your USB drive in this computer?!?!?"


I was so excited I almost forgot I was locked out of my room. To make a long story short, I then used the phone to call the emergency number, and one of the owners told me how to find the spare key. So my pictures are all uploading as we speak!!! SO happy I met that lady, which I probably would not have if I hadn't been locked out.



Next exciting thing... I really liked the house I looked at today. Could it be the one? :-O I am also nervous, because the guy that showed me the house mentioned two other people he had showed it to who also liked it... what if they take it before I decide??? Here is the picture of the house that is posted on the company's web site:



It is located on the edge of a stud, which I learned today is a place that raises horses. The front and back gardens are both beautiful, and over the hedge on the side is a field with pretty horses, which you can see out the second floor window. It has three big bedrooms, and a big kitchen which has everything I need except a dishwasher, but there is a space with hookups for one so I can easily buy one if FMO does not provide them. On the other side of the fence in the picture is a small road that goes into town, but the house is actually accessed from the left down a beautiful private driveway that looks like this:


The rest of the pictures from the house are posted here, if you want to see more: http://community.webshots.com/album/573900940oEzWks

Also, if you want to see the Chapel House I saw on Monday, pictures are here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/573898696xcBuAS

So... I really really liked this house. As excited as I was about seeing the one tomorrow, I now think this will be some competition. We shall see!


Next exciting thing... I will be driving tomorrow. :-O I passed my British licensing test this morning with a 49/50 (you only had to get 80%). However, because I am under age 26, I have to take an extra "behind-the-wheel" class with a British instructor tomorrow morning. I actually think this will be a good thing... I will be a lot less nervous the first time if there is someone telling me what to do. Then tomorrow afternoon, I get to pick up my rental car, a Rover 416. Google Image it or I will take a picture tomorrow. Not bad looking.


Last exciting thing... tonight I called the number the chaplain gave me yesterday for the couple who leads OCF. They say the AF is a small world, but the leaders are the OG/CV and his wife, who I randomly happened to meet earlier today (just him, not her) when Jose was showing me the OG building! (For those not familiar with AF terminology, that means the Operations Group deputy commander, a Lt Col who is my commander's boss's deputy.) Crazy, isn't it? Anyway, I talked to his wife, who was very friendly and invited me to their house for the next OCF meeting this Friday evening. She says there are even a few other Lts who have just started coming! Woohoo!


And now, I will post the pictures I mentioned yesterday of my walk on the public footpath near my hotel. Mostly open fields with wildflowers and horses, but there is also the narrow way between bushes I squeezed through for about a half mile, and a beautiful house I saw on the way back. http://community.webshots.com/album/573908095rCdJpm


I think that is it for now, (pause for your sigh of relief), I will post pics of the next house and my car tomorrow!