Getting all dressed up is not the easiest thing I have ever done but today it was a blast. My good friend, Sheryle Festa came all this way toEnglandjust to help me with my hair. When she started with the curling iron on my hair I thought she had lost her mind. She was making little ringlets all over my head. It was looking like Shirley Temple hair back when she was looking for the good ship, Lollipop!

Sheryle assured me she knew what she was doing so I relaxed. And she did know what she was doing!! She made my hair BIG! All those curls turned into fluff to make the hair have body! Who knew! The hair styling came out just perfect! Really Really Good!

Then I sat in the make-up artist’s chair. She had a go of it making my skin look natural, soft, feminine and gorgeous!

The finished product was me: looking my best!

I quickly put on my evening gown and we dashed off to St Hill Manor where the Patron’s Ball is held.

I am calling my dress an ‘evening gown’ using a very broad definition of ‘evening gown’. I had to wear something that really suited me; something elegant yet warm and stunning. So I brought with me my brown velvet western outfit that I got inSanta Feyears ago. It was perfect! You will see it when the next Impact Magazine comes out. Look for those who are GOLD MERITORIOUS! That’s where you will find ME!!

Last year I attended the IAS event here inEngland. I had achieved the status of Patron Meritorious. That really Rocked! While at that event I decided I wanted all of my Mace Kingsley team with me here this year for our next status. Then in April 2011 we did it! We pulled out all the stops and made it go right to achieve the status of GOLD MERITORIOUS!! WE DID IT!!

I am so proud of our group, Mace Kingsley and our group, the IAS! I am proud ofMACEKINGSLEYFAMILYCENTER. I am proud that we support the IAS in a BIG WAY and the IAS supports us in a BIG WAY!!

My dear friend, Kjerstin, recorded the introduction that COB gave me. We will get it transcribed so you all can share it with me. When he started talking he said something like

“The next awardee is an iconic legend in the Scientology world”. I looked at my companion and said “That’s got to be me” and it was… He went on to say many nice things which you will all get to hear.

I went on stage, shook his hand and thanked him. He thanked me. I told him there was more to come and he said “I can see that”… WOW! We have his agreement to just blow the top off our expansion and contribution to Command Intention! I was so basking in the joy of the moment that I forgot to pose for the camera. So after a few minutes of just soaking up the applause the camera man was motioning for me to do the pose and get on with the photo! I did. It will be an awesome photo!

The remaining awardees were George Duggan and Dr. Meagan Shields with a Diamond Meritorious followed by the Bayback family who had done some awesome level of contribution and then concluded with the Bob and Trish Duggan family who have set the bar for generosity in our group.

We had a fabulous meal which was catered by the queen’s caterer. I know I have shared most of my meals with you in this blog but on this one just know it WAS GREAT!!

Following the meal there was the best entertainment we have ever had at an IAS event. Each act was just perfect.

And two of our former Mace Kingsley kids were key performers. Matt Lorentzen played the bass guitar in the band for all the performers and Hana Li sang both as a back-up singer as well as some songs as the lead performer. I was so proud of both of them!!

So that is the rundown of the event. But what I need to say about it is so much more. It is the spiritual aspect of this game that makes it worth playing. You have heard me share the reference from HYMN OF ASIA which talks about how there can be love; he gives us the reality of creating love on each dynamic and concludes this passage with the statement: AND LOVE IS ALL

Tonight that is my reality. Love is all.

Something BIG is happening here. I know that I’ve been joking about the ‘jet lag vampires’ but last night I couldn’t sleep for other reasons! I’m too excited! Too HAPPY!!

There is so much Freedom to an individual when they adopt the viewpoint ‘I CAN’… And that is what is happening here. It is similar to that Freedom I experienced years ago when I was jogging everyday. After running a couple of miles at a time I knew that I could put on my sneakers and go anywhere I wanted. I CAN.

Then there was the time in Oklahoma City after the bombing. It was raining. We had limited transportation and people all over the city needed our help. I decided “I CAN” and the rain stopped shortly and we had transportation and the people were helped.

Another big moment was finding a home for the Mace Kingsley Family Center in Florida. We had to move. We needed a building. We needed funding. The auditors were making it go right by auditing anywhere they could. I knew “I CAN” and I found the building, got the funding and here we are in a beautiful ideal location for our Clearwater families.

There are many of these special times and each has lead me and all of my Dynamics to a far greater expansion and level of survival. And it is happening now.

What we are doing now in Scientology with each of the strategies from Int Management and the campaigns from the IAS we are making it. Our Church is secure on this planet. Now it is making it safe for all people and all cultures so they can find the Bridge and make it across. It is happening. WE CAN.

Today I went to the 27^th year Anniversary IAS Event here at St. Hill. There were approximately 6,000 people here from all across the world. The principle of aligning a group with a common purpose and having the power of each individual amplified by the power of the group is a reality in this group.

What we are achieving individually and as a group is far greater than anything we could do without this group called THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCIENTOLOGISTS!

What a group! The accomplishments that were summarized since the Wake Up Call on September 11, 2001 are not just huge but life changing for this planet. It will never be the same. We will never be the same. We are making it better. We are improving conditions. We are helping. WE CAN!!

Please see the event for yourself. You will see. YOU CAN!

By the way, several people commented that I looked quite glamorous and I was proud that I had just the right garment from New Mexico to help me sparkle!

Today my friend from Norway, Kjerstin, arrived with her son, Sebastian. We joined with a few others from different places on the planet for a trip to London. Our group consisted of people from LA, Russia, Norway, and Clearwater. We went to the Gatwick Airport and took the express train to London. It was a very nice train; very quiet and smooth riding for about 45 minutes until we arrived at Victoria Station.

And then it became the ‘herding cats phenomena’. Gads! The Russians saw a McDonald’s and they had a child traveling with them so off they went. But no one else in the group knew where they went! So like good little soldiers we waited and looked around etc until I finally decided ENOUGH! We would carry on and they could find us later. We piled into a taxi but not before a stranger assaulted me for jumping the queue. He pushed my shoulder and jabbered something about going to platform 2. I had no idea what he was talking about until later I found out that there was a line and a protocol on how you got a taxi at the airport.

By the time I finished brawling on the streets of London the Russians showed up all well fed and refreshed. Hmm. Thank goodness for the joy of waxing enthusiasm! So off we went to the fabulous London Org.

Those of us who hadn’t eaten decided to find food before touring the Org. We wandered around nearby streets only finding that all the food places closed at 3PM. Who knew!

Finally one of the ladies in our group asked a local for help. He led us to a wonderful restaurant called THE SOCIETY. It was very ‘hip’ done up in that industrial minimalism interior decorating style. They had large photos of famous movie stars on the wall and great jazz playing so it felt like Los Angeles!

The food was super and very reasonably priced.

Then we took a tour of the London Org. WOW WOW WOW

It is very efficient and upstat looking. We were there after hours so most of the people and staff had gone but what a great facility. LRH would be proud to hang his hat in that Org for sure!

Then we again taxied off, going to the Fitzroy House. This is the home of the original London Org that was run by LRH in the early 1950’s. He did much of his policy research and writing there. He also wrote ‘HAVE YOU LIVED BEFORE THIS LIFE’ while based there. It was really great to see his presence there in the form of photos and early writings. They had a display of each of the Basic Books in its original publication along side the current edition that we now enjoy. What an evolution we have experienced in the past 50 years or so.

After this tour the group split up a bit. My friends and I took a taxi heading back to Victoria Station but along the way I asked our taxi driver, John, to share with us any of the sights that he could tell us about along the way. Well that turned into a full blown private tour of London. We were laughing and having a ball as he showed us famous landmarks like Buckingham Palace, the Parliament, Big Ben, and the Eye of London (which is a beyond belief huge ferris wheel that overlooks the city and is right on the Thames River).

We reached Victoria train station and had a lovely, smooth train ride back to Gatwick. There, we separated and some of us went to an Indian Restaurant in East Grinstead. We had some very authentic fine Indian food and some rousing fund raising for the IAS. It was nice to be among such generous and caring people.

Sheryle made it the hotel sometime during the day and has a story to tell which will need to be it’s own chapter in another blog. I haven’t seen her yet. So stay tuned for more adventures from Merry Ole England!

Last night I thought I had licked the jet lag phenomena but sometime during the night the ‘jet lag vampires’ came and sucked all my blood. I was so tired all day today it was a miracle I was able to squeeze in a session… yahoo!

To keep you up to date on British potatoes… at lunch today they had these itty-bitty potatoes; like mini-potatoes. They were about the size of a purple grape but tasty as could be.

It didn’t taste like a grape at all but rather a real ‘tater tot’. They were boiled and lightly salted with the skins still on. I had never seen a potato like that before.

There was also some amazing dish made with sweet potatoes and salmon at lunch but I passed on that one.

So breakfast was early today then off to boil in the tub with all the jets going full blast! I have to get a bathtub like this. WOW

All during the day people from around the world were arriving. It is so special to see our group congregating and everyone with a big smile at the prospects of seeing old friends and sharing the amazing up-coming events.

Late in the day I took a walk down to the village. The streets in this part are more like freeways; sort of like US 19 before they blocked off all the intersections. Here the cars are racing by (and of course driving on the wrong side of the street!) and they have a round-about to let the traffic flow in different directions. The big round-about in front of the hotel is huge. It is like the hub of a wheel with different streets all meeting at the round-about with cars turning and flying around the round about like it was an amusement park.

The reason I am giving you so much reality on this is that my map showed the path going right into the round about.

So being a good little trail blazer I crossed the street running to get through the flying cars and onto the round about.

Several cars honked. I think they guessed I was from Florida! Anyway, once I was on the round about I realized the error of my journey. Now I was trapped in the center of the hub with cars flying all around. It was commuter traffic which made it even more a challenge.

All I can say is that I’m glad I am not PTS or I would not be here writing this! I finally saw a millisecond break in the flow and I ran for dear life across the road to get to the village side of the highway. Great. But then it started to sprinkle with rain. And it was approaching dusk. Now I had visions of trying to cross this again to get back to the hotel only this time it would be raining and in the dark! Gads. Is this some kind of survival test??

There was a young man approaching me on the village sidewalk. He was coming from the way I wanted to go so I figured there must be a way to cross these streets without risking my life. I stopped and asked him. He half smiled at me and uttered in some heavy accent that he did not speak English! At that point I wished that I didn’t either. At least I could plead some kind of “no hablo Englis” if I got killed on the return trip to the hotel.

But, fate was on my side and I ran into another pedestrian who told me there was a path that led back to the hotel whereby I could by-pass the round about and just race across 4 lanes of flying cars.

I found the path and the traffic gods were watching over me. No cars coming or going for that millisecond it took me to race across the street to the safety of my hotel.

So much for the traditional British walk in the woods!

After that I called our friend, Leann Smith, and took a taxi to her home. She prepared a super Indian dish of chicken curry and other things that I can’t spell but it tasted wonderful!  Lucas is growing up and going to school now. What a handsome youngster he is too! She is on the metering course and still has the desire to become our permanent child auditor in East Grinstead. She is on e-m drill 22 and is wondering when she will ever finish it! I told her to date it.

(joke)

During the day, as I met new and old friends, several people remembered me from tours from years ago; one lady from Detroit, another from Austin and another from LA. They mentioned how much they like receiving our Tech Tips… thanks to David for making this such a well received dissemination line!

Tonight I’m off to bed with garlic hanging around the windows and doors so the jet-lag vampires don’t find me!

And by the way, why is it called “Jet Lag”?? It has nothing to do with jets or lag. It has to do with those blood sucking vampires that live in every one of those places where we land after a long airplane ride! So bring lots of garlic when you travel!

More travel tips to come!

Bags packed, dogs hugged and off I went to catch the flight to London. Jeff gave me a ride and I very much appreciated his time and kindness.

He helped me into the baggage check line and then had to race back to his waiting car before a airport security person gave him a ticket. He was successful in avoiding a ticket! Yeah!

My flight from Tampa to Atlanta was delayed about an hour due to rain in Atlanta so when I arrived at the airport it was a mad dash from one end of the airport to the further most other end where they had international flights. I made it with a few minutes to spare. Enough to settle in my seat and prepare for an 8 hour flight across the Atlantic!

My travelling companion was a nice young man who helped me stow my carry-on luggage in the overhead bin. He offered to help and I was grateful for it!

The trip was quick due to the entertainment of a good book and some snooze time. I was glad I had my heavy jacket with me as the plane was chilly. They provided a thin blanket and tiny pillow for the passengers in the section where I sat. I had upgraded my seat to one with a bit more leg room but even with that, trying to sleep comfortably was a challenge. Then as I was departing I saw the seats in first class… they had about 2 blocks worth of leg room; enough to fully recline along with a nice pillow and blanket. Well, next time I go on a LONG distance flight for many hours I will fight to get that kind of seat!

I had made no plans for arrival. I just figured I’d get a taxi and wing it. When I passed through customs and came into the arrival lobby, there was a familiar face and another smiling face holding a paper with my name on it. A momentary confusion ran through my mind wondering if there was someone else with my name! But they were waiting for me! A lady named Jo, who is the PR for St Hill, greeted me. She helped me with my bags and led me to an awaiting limousine. The chauffeur stepped out of the waiting car and welcomed me to England. I was still wondering if they had the right person but I accepted their generous hospitality happily!

Inside the limo there was enough room to comfortably sit a baseball team along with a full bar. It was a very pleasant drive to my hotel. And it gave me a moment to tell Jo about our awesome group at Mace Kingsley and the wonderful things we do to help young people and families. I loved it!

Later in the day a porter brought me gifts from the IAS. What a surprise! They gave me three small boxes of exquisite chocolate, a Brooks Brother knit cardigan embroidered with the IAS logo and a lovely fresh bouquet of flowers! WOW!

The hotel is huge. My room is about 4 miles from the lobby. It is an older building and there are no elevators. A nice young man helped me drag my bags to my room and I spent a leisurely bit of time unpacking, preparing for a good nap and enjoying the cool, damp British air!

Now off to nap!

Well, my nap turned into hibernation and several hours later I awoke, realizing the room I had was not going to work for me. So I repacked everything! GADS! I arranged for a better room; larger, closer to the lobby, no stairs and free wifi. How demanding we get with age!

They happily changed my room. I called for a porter and another young man helped me haul everything to the new room. AHHH. As it turned out he is from Hungary. We talked a bit and I invited him to visit us when he comes to Florida. I gave him my card and he was pleased to be welcomed in the USA! His name is Frank and he asked me to remember him when he calls me in Florida!

The hotel is like an old British Inn. Well, in fact, I guess it is an old British Inn! But it is humungous. It has a lake on the grounds with geese, ducks and swans. It has a spa with pool, exercise room, racquetball and sauna. There are two very nice restaurants in the building and a couple of sports lounges where food is served as well. Tonight I had dinner in the Garden Restaurant. It is a self-serve hot buffet with a variety of entrees. I had a garden salad to start along with a taste of fresh raw salmon. Very tasty. I skipped the bread and went right to the main course of grilled sirloin in a glazed onion gravy along with steamed vegetables.

England is famous for great carrots and a variety of potato dishes. I had the carrots and they should be famous. So good! But the best was the sweet potato soup! WOW! And then for dessert I thought I was getting some kind of pudding but it turned out to be a vanilla yogurt with some fresh pieces of blueberries and strawberries. Perfect! I was scooping it out of the dish to the last morsel.

After dinner I met Joava Good and her assistant, Mary, for a visit in the sports lounge. We had a great visit and enjoyed some excellent bottled water! By the way, even the tap water taste great here!

Now I’m back in the room. It has a large king size bed with a foot long older desk, refrigerator, coffee/tea accommodations, and a small TV that has movies, radio, internet and TV all in one. It is an adventure for me to learn how to navigate the media opportunities! Tonight I plan to watch ‘WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’. The book was great so the movie should be fine.

The bathroom is also awesome. It is large with a granite counter and a large tub with whirlpool jets. That comes next then the movie!

To be continued!!