In the course of writing more than 1,000 columns during a span of two-plus decades I've missed only one deadline, a week when Main Street went dark.That occurred during the early years when I was also the publisher, editor and chief cook and bottle washer of the Post Falls Tribune. I simply ran out of words and time on deadline.

I share this personal trivia as meeting deadlines is a badge of honor and I originally filed this Main Street from afar. Over the pond as the English say, which is where I found myself a few days longer than planned. My flight attendant daughter, Sarah, invited me to join her for a lark of a hop to London. The flight over was phenomenal, a nine-hour flight is a nice ride in business class with reclining seats, quilts, meals and all the extras. Our first afternoon in London we walked through a neighborhood of row houses and struck up a conversation with a lovely 92-year-old woman named Molly who was watering her flowers. She gave us a tour of her gardens and even showed us where her husband's ashes lay.

Day 2 was a full day of sightseeing the historic and iconic places of London, including Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, riding the Underground with hoards of commuters. It was interesting to see all of the preparations taking place for the royal wedding in a few weeks. We headed back to Heathrow to catch a flight home the next day, which is where the adventure began in earnest. We were reminded of the downside of the airline employee perk of flying space available when there's none. Seems everyone in England was heading to the states for their Easter holiday over the weekend.

But the extra unplanned time in London allowed for a beautiful sunny Sunday in Hyde Park and wading in the Princess Diana Memorial Park water feature, where children frolicked with a backdrop of picnickers. Monday we headed back to Heathrow bright and early and got flights out ... I headed to JFK while Sarah was Boston bound. We rendezvoused in Salt Lake City before I caught a flight home to Spokane after about 20 hours of traveling. We had a jolly good time in merry ol' England but as Dorothy would say, there's no place like home! ***

Didn't see anyone I knew in London but shared a flight to Minneapolis with Anna and Mike Pearce. They were heading to New York last week for the launch of new Social Security PSAs that Anna, aka Patty Duke, had filmed.On my last flight home on Monday from Salt Lake to Spokane I shared a plane with Jon Mueller, who was returning from a business trip to Boston. And while Chris LaVoie wasn't traveling I was sure appreciative of having one of his Slumber Mitts along for the long trip over and back. Loved that his new product is Coeur d'Alene-manufactured. ***

Happy birthday today to Corbin Messina, who's turning 13, and to Sandy Robertson and Evalyn Adams. Tomorrow Mark Robitaille, Joan Harmon and Dana Shapland will celebrate. On April 15 Caroline Crawford, Tori Gray, Randy Teall, Doug Harms (80!), Judy Donner, Dallas Scharf, Betsy Hawkins, Dave Holmes, Ian Waltz are the birthday girls and boys. JD Dickinson, Leslie Gourley, Kevin Johnson, Tom Fisher and Chris LaVoie will blow out their candles on Saturday.April 17 is the birthdate shared by Curtis Ormesher, Jaime Deacon, Peggy Fairfield, Sheila McDaniel, Andre Ney, Blythe Templin and Pat Krug. Monday birthdays will be marked by Branson McAlister, Lisa Johnson, John Cross, Pat Stroud, Anne Goodwin and Ryan Edmonds. On Tuesday, April 19 wish Joe Bodman, Charlie Staples, Gerlinde Hamilton, Rich Piazza and Rick Seymore a happy birthday!

***THERE'S MORE: Photos and tidbits on More Main Street each week. There's a link also for adding your birthday to the Main Street Birthday Club!

***Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. She was voted Best Local Writer for 2011 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. More Main Street blog is at http://moremainstreet.blogspot.com. Listen to Main Street Monday on KVNI AM1080. Kerri can be reached at mainstreet@cdapress.com