Weekend in Manchester

I’m sitting at the airport reflecting on a fantastic weekend in Manchester. I was here to celebrate my brother Aiden and Orla’s engagement. There were so many great moments, made only because the entire family traveled to be there. In so many ways, the weekend had all the hallmarks of our reunions, classic moments we’ll not forget, from hugs and kisses to tears and everything in between.

Orla and Aiden, thank you both again for a great event on Saturday and welcoming us like you did. To the rest of you, well thanks for everything, I love you all, miss you already!

As a final update on this, shown below are some of the many photos that were taken.

Circle the State with Song

Our big event of the weekend was a Choir performance yesterday by Anja. She is part of her school Choir and one of the highlights of their year is Circle the State with Song. In this event, the Choir groups from approximately 30 schools in the area come together to perform under the direction of a professional music director. Of course this is done in front of roughly 1000 adoring parents and family. Anja was a little nervous but they all did very well doing a very sophisticated line-up of choral music, which sounded fantastic. We were very proud of her.

She was gone all day which gave Isabel and Connor some time together, they played well (mostly) and painted this bird house in preparation for a Spring that still seems like a long way off!! 

Last Night Dinner in Japan

We were hosted on our last evening in Japan by a very warm and gracious group of Lilly colleagues. I can't recall how many courses we had, I tried everything and it all tasted absolutely wonderful. All we have to do now is arise for our 5:30am taxi to the airport and hopefully make it home for the weekend. 

Kobe Beef

I passed through a shopping area yesterday evening and saw lots of very interesting and amazing things. Fish of all varieties. I saw this beef and although I could not read the Japanese I think it's Kobe beef. It certainly has that marbled fat appearance. 

Good Morning from Kobe Japan

After one of the longest in a long time which saw two cancelled flights, a drive from Indianapolis to Chicago, 3 hour delay resting in a missed flight, 1 hour bus ride to Tokyo's domestic terminal I finally arrived in Kobe. This the view across the harbor as I prepare for a long day in the Lilly offices. 

Two items thus far, the coffee is fantastic and I cannot seem to get my Google blogger site back to English! 

Swimming, Snow and Japan Trip

We spent the entire day yesterday at the BA Gold Fever swim meet at Purdue. Both Isabel and Anja swam very well and we had fully planned on attending again today but after Anja twisting her ankle and a sudden heavy snowstorm, we deferred. We are taking it easy in preference.

The next time I post it will be from Japan. I leave this evening for a very short trip to visit some of my Lilly colleagues at the Kobe office. I’ll keep an eye for some interesting pictures as a backdrop for a post. I’ll be home Friday afternoon, have a great week everybody!