Milligan's update

By the grace of God, I received word last Friday from London Business School that I’ve been accepted into their full-time 2-year MBA Programme, which begins August 28. After several cartwheels around the living room and hugs & high-fives from Greg, I promptly rang my parents’ house to wake them with my victory. LBS is not only ranked #5 globally by the Financial Times, but it’s #1 in Europe AND most importantly, in London! So pretty soon we’ll be scouting homes to let near LBS and researching dog walkers as our 6-month break clause allows us to move by the end of October. This way I’ll be within walking distance of the school and Greg’s commute to Heathrow will be less of a shock on Monday mornings when he has to fly out to Aberdeen. After three months of filling out applications, boarding trains to interviews, and checking my inbox & mail slot for admission results, there is a definitely a lesson to be learned: apply early if possible! I am very happy and fortunate on the outcome of my MBA pursuit, but could have done without the half dozen Excedrin Migraines I had to pop along the way.

Now that Duke has completed his Puppy Foundation Course, we quickly signed him up to continue training with his instructors Sue and daughter Cari. On Sundays at 11am, we’ll tube Duke to Finsbury Park for group outdoor instruction and then on Tuesdays at 7:50pm, Duke will attend the Bronze Foundation Course at St. Mary’s Church. We had our first private training session with Ingrid and learned we need to be more interesting pet parents. Apparently, we should talk to Duke three times as much as we do now when we walk him and spend more time playing with him! Yet, Ingrid complimented us on how much Duke has progressed under our care and what a great puppy he is compared to her other clients. I’m thinking our expectations may be a little high for Duke at 4 months…go figure  Sunday, Duke boarded the tube and bus as we ventured to Richmond Park for his first Viz Whiz (a gathering of about 10 or so Vizsla owners and their dogs). Duke was the only pup and did a superb job of keeping up with the big kids! At one point along the 3-hour romp, the dogs had the chance to play in the river, swimming around and fetching sticks. Duke was a bit intimidated by the barking and competitiveness of the others, but went in waist-deep once the others had moved on. We’re so proud of him and look forward to his next open water experience where we hope he’ll try out doggie-paddling.

Throughout July, we’ve been spending quality time with our friends and London visitors. We feasted on delicious French cuisine and wine with Emily and David at the L’Artiste Musclé in the picturesque Shepherd Market of Mayfair…menu tip: pick the beef bourguignon (stew) over the sausage & beans! After our tarte tatin, we stopped by our place to relieve Duke, whose manners were quite impressive, on our way to Harvey Nichols to relax in their fashionable department store bar on Knightsbridge. Among the stag party, the prostitutes, and business suits, we enjoyed our cocktails until the wee hour of 11pm. The following Sunday, we met Emily and David in their neck of the woods at The Waterway located on the canal (in Little Venice) for an afternoon BBQ complete with pitchers of the traditional British summer drink Pimm’s (lemonade and gin with slices of orange, lemon, apple, cucumber and mint).

The next Friday, Greg’s SAIC colleague Debra was in town visiting with her friends Jaclyn and Charmaine. After sharing a pitcher of Pimm’s, revealing city secrets, and devouring fish & chips at the Grenadier (our favorite neighborhood pub that we recently ate at when I learned of my place on the LBS wait list), we headed to the Turk’s Head to catch up with my old boss Karen and her KBR entourage who were at the tail end of their Kinnerton Street pub crawl. We moved the party to Motcombs for some late night conversation, grub, and consulting reminiscing. Then Saturday night we hosted Blanca and Stephen for a very homemade lasagna and Peach Melba supper complete with Duke’s snoring as entertainment. Luckily we planned the date well in advance so we had plenty of time to put away all the laundry “line-drying” around the flat.

Last Thursday, we had the pleasure of dining with Angela, Greg’s boss at the incredible Indian restaurant Benares in Mayfair. In addition to exploring travel opportunities, we were taught the importance of ordering sada dahi (yogurt to cool down a spicy dish), naan (bread instead of rice) and hari machchi (a spectacular John Dory fish). Saturday morning we navigated through Borough Market with Duke as Blanca and Stephen introduced us to one of London’s many fabulous fruit and vegetable wholesale markets. About five times the size of the Farmer’s Market in Houston, you could buy anything from fresh salmon to melt-in-your-mouth Belgian brownies. Duke was a bit overwhelmed with the smells but settled down while we sat for organic burgers and filtered coffee. Afterwards, we strolled along the South Bank of the Thames River as Blanca and Stephen acted as tour guides, pointing out all the sites we’ve put to memory for our next outing. Last night, we celebrated my LBS offer at the Mango Tree, a trendy Thai restaurant situated under the old Enron building opposite the Queens Gardens, with Emily and David. I discovered Ciroc (grape vodka) and meung cum (betel nut leaves served with peanut, lime, ginger, chili, dried shrimp, and toasted coconut).

I recently watched Greg and David play flag football with Duke in tow as Emily and I tried to picnic and focus on the game despite taking shelter underneath a tree during a welcomed shower. I’ve been busy with my triathlon training for this Saturday’s London Triathlon. Not sure what to expect considering this race is the world’s largest triathlon. I’ll do my best to represent and pray that I’ll be able to find my bike in the transition area! Next up is the London Duathlon in September. As LBS has a workout facility, I can’t wait to abandon my current 40-min gym commute.

Odds and ends

Since the price of dry cleaning in our area is a joke, I had my mom mail us Dryel. Brilliant idea; however, the need to iron has not been eliminated…least I forget that the tiny washer/dryer will never produce wrinkle-free clothes. Argh! Taste-tested the grocery store brand tortillas and glad to report that the shrimp quesadillas I made probably would have tasted just as pathetic in Houston! We’re finalizing our trip back to the States and planning our Christmas vacation. As soon as the flights are confirmed, I’ll send out an Evite so we can meet up with as many of you as possible during our time in Houston.

On Wednesday Duke did his parents proud by showing that he has mastered skills in socialisation with other dogs and people, basic commands, and basic manners. Although Duke struggled at first with certain parts of the training such as sitting still during class and listening while the instructor talks (of course Greg had those problems in school as well) Duke excelled in the trianing once he realized how fun it can be to show up other dogs. After the ceremony Duke was found chewing on froggy and whining in complete puppy bliss. What's next for Duke? He says he's ready for the big boy class, we'll find out in the coming weeks.

Greg finally sat down and got this thing going. The hope is to keep everyone updated on our lives without having to send out numerous emails and telling the same stories over and over again which inevitably means that some will have to sit through the same story five times while others won't hear it at all.

We hope this site will be fresh and useful, if you think it's not doing it's job let us know! The last thing we want is an outdated website.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Karen and Greg