I LOVE TO READ!

There is one thing that I love about my long commute, all of the great leisure reading time!
I must talk about the book I'm reading right now. I'm on the second book of the series Vilhelm Moberg wrote about Swedish emmigrants moving to Minnesota. It's fictional, but based on extensive research that he did about what it was like to move from Sweden to Minnesota in the 1850's. It is SO fascinating, especially since the area where 'Karl and Kristina' have just settled (in book 2 - Unto a Good Land) is the area where I grew up!

I also found it really interesting to read what a trip to America in those days entailed (10 weeks in horrid conditions in a small ship)! And then to GET to Minnesota from New York - took over a month - via 'steam train', boat and ferry.

I read the first book 'The Emigrants' for my book club, but as soon as I got to the last page I started on book number 2. I'm nearly done with 'Unto a Good Land' and I can't wait to read books 3 and 4 as well.

I always know I've got a great book, when I get off the bus disappointed that I have to stop reading for the next 8 hours - have to work instead. I do sometimes read while I am walking very slowly to the office from the bus stop as well - have to finish off the chapter! GOSH these books are good!!!!

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. I just feel run down and exhausted, need some good sleep.


Chickity china the chinese chickenYou have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin

(can you guess who we're going to see tonight?????)

the Barenaked Ladies - YAYYYYYY! (by the way - for those of you who don't know - they are an American band - not a strip show - ha ha- just thought I'd clarify)

Ahhhhhh my husband is such a trickster!

Last night was my birthday surprise.

I met Murray at Leicester Square tube station at 6 as planned. Then we decided do go to dinner at Pacifico - the Mexican restaurant in Covent Garden.

He had me all confused, because I asked if we had to be finished with our meal by a certain time and he said no????

Hmmmmm so we had a nice meal, and then walked back towards Leicester Square.

He stopped to get some cash, and told me he was waiting for a phone call from our 'driver.'

Ha?

And he told me that the activity we were doing was somthing I mentioned awhile ago - of something I wanted to do???
Hmmmmm - stumped......

So at 7:30 we went back up to street level and he got the 'phone call' he was waiting for. He told me that the driver was waiting for us in Trafalgar Square so we needed to hurry down there. On the way we passed the theatre where the musical Avenue Q is playing. I commented that we MUST go see it some time, because I keep hearing form people how good it is.

When we got just past the theatre he turned to me and said 'So do you want to see it tonight then?'

Ha !!!! YES!

I said you trickster!!!! I THOUGHT we were going to a show - but he had me all confused! Telling me I had to bring ID, that we had a driver??? and the timing. Ha ha ha

The show was GREAT! Very contemporary - lots of interesting modern things that I've never seen in a stage show (tv screens, bubble machine, etc etc). It was MUCH ruder then I expected (I did cover my mouth with my hand a few times in shock at some of the songs!!!) and it was MUCH funnier then I expected (laugh out loud funny). I was VERY glad that we didn't see any children in the audience - very much an adult show. What a GREAT night though!!!!!!!!

My favourite character - Trekkie Monster. He was sooooooooooo cute - but oh so rude! ha ha

Sore, so sore

I guess that Yoga on Monday really WAS a workout - I am SORE today!

Last night was the last class of my 10 week Elementary Spanish class. AND - he gave us - GASP - a TEST!!
Oh my goodness it was HARD! I did ok, not great, not terrible.
We spent the rest of the class just talking in Spanish - him asking questions and us stumbling over how to reply.
Overall the class was great - it's really too bad that he's going back to Spain soon because he is a fantastic teacher!

A few of us went out for a drink afterwards which was nice as well.

SO

I'm undecided what to do about the next course......................

Do I

1. Take the next level (lower intermediate) which starts at the end of April, and then take the final course (intermediate) which starts in the summer? We asked last night and he said that we do know enough for this next course, but should just do some vocab review before it starts.

OR

2. Take the next few months to work on my vocab, then take lower intermediate in the summer??????

I dunno, I dunno......

What do you think - my Internet friends?

I need to decide fairly soon.....

But anyhow - more importantly - I am dressed up today. Because tonight, is the final part of my b-day present from Murray, a surprise!!!! AHHHHH what is it? I want to - no I NEED to know! All I know is that I am to meet him in Central London at 6...... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

YOGA

Last night I worked HARD at the gym and OH am I tired today!

I was going to go to body pump, but the darn train was delayed so I got there 10 minutes late, which is too late to join in. So I ran instead, well - walked and ran - for 5km - works for me! Then Murray and I did a Yoga class. It was my first - ever. It was fine - just felt like an hour of intense stretching - but in a good way! I did enjoy it, but I'm so used to classes with music that it was a bit weird to just listen to someone talking softly for an hour saying things like 'and now put your hands in reverse prayer and bend forward so your head is relaxed.' Ha ha. I think I will do it more often though, it really was relaxing and I did feel like it was good to stretch for that long.

Afterwards we totally blew our healthy exercise out the water by heading out for Italian food.... yes again.... to our favourite Italian place in Putney 'Il Mas Calzone.' It was fab - as usual. Great service, yummy food. I admit it - during the last few minutes of yoga where you just lie there and are supposed to be relaxing I was thinking about getting a Fantasia Pizza and Spaghetti Carbonara. Yummm. We wouldn't normally ruin our good exercise by loading up on carbs, but it was Murray's B-Day after all - had to celebrate!

Birthday Monday!!!!

Two BIG birthday's today -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite fun that Murray now shares his birthday with our god child Abigail who is THREE today!!!!

Me with Abigail when she was 7 days old!

Eva, Murray and little little Abigail :) Gosh how time flies!!!!

We had a lovely weekend.

Friday - American Idol night - of course. Great - as usual! It's SO cheesy - but I love it:)

Saturday - we ended up going out to lunch with niece Lorraine and nephew Justin. We haven't seen in Justin WAYYYYYYYY to long (he's been busy in the army!). It was SO good to see him and hear a bit about what he has been up to! Then the 4 of us went up near Tottenham Court Road to check out 'FOPP' the new cd/dvd/book store up there. OH MY GOSH - they have hundreds of cds and dvds and books for only £5!!!! Let's just say we were there for AGES!

That evening we went and saw the movie '300.' WOW - excellent movie - much better than I thought it would be!

Sunday we caught up with friends Heather & Jason for a very nice pub lunch. Nice to catch up:)

Overall - a LOVELY weekend. Cold still (yuck), but relaxing and nice:)

Oh my poor muscles!

Last night I did something I haven't done in longer than I can remember (at LEAST a year +). I went to 2 classes - in a row - at the gym. And OH MY GOODNESS am I sore today!!!!! I don't think I've done that since before my wedding - which was the last time I was REALLY motivated! It was fun though. First, I attended Body Pump - which is weight routines set to music. It was fun, as usual. But then I also stayed on for Body Attack. No, it's not a combat kicking class - it is actually a VERY high impact aerobics class. You jump around and kick and run and squat until you feel like you're going to collapse. The way the class works is that you do 4 routines, building up each time, until you hit your 'peak.' This lasts about 20 minutes, then we do some cool down mat work (push ups, sit ups, etc). Then it's back to hit another peak, before collapsing on the floor for stretching. It's great fun! I really missed taking that class, thus why I did 2 last night. Oh WOW am I sore and tired this morning though! I think that's the latest I have got up to get dressed and run to the bus in a LONG time!

Luckily the bus was 2 minutes later than usual so I made it - hooray!

On the bus this morning, as we went by the American Car lot, I was commenting to Murray how I didn't like the shade of green on the suburban they had in the lot. The lady sitting next to him then asked 'Are you American?' I said yes and smiled, expecting that to be it, people don't talk on the bus after all! (not to strangers anyway!) But she was lovely and asked us a bunch of questions about why we're here, where I am from, etc. She's from Oregon and here for work, heading back soon with her daughter. So lovely to encounter nice people on the bus once & awhile!

So anyhow, I'm glad it's Friday - and I'm SO looking forward to the weekend (even though it's supposed to be rainy). And now - I must finish this post - as I'm so tired I can barely think straight:)

BURRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Just as I thought 'Summer is on the way! It's getting so warm and lovely - isn't this nice!'
Then the weather decides to remind me that yes - this is still winter - it's on March!
BURRRRRRRRR it has been SO SO cold the last few days! I had put away my gloves and hat weeks ago when it started to get so warm, had to dig them back out Monday night though. Monday after the gym Murray and I stood on a bridge waiting for a bus and froze - it was SO cold!!! This morning it was snowing!!! Pretty though - I must say. But the ground isn't cold enough for it to stick, so it melts straight away. Still pretty though. But Darn it - Easter break is only 2 weeks away - I hope it warms up!

Last night I read that New York Magazine has named London the World Capital of the 21st Century. That's pretty cool!.

They said: "If Paris was the capital of the 19th century and New York of the 20th, London is shaping up to be the capital of the 21st century."

I agree! I love this city!

Hola!

Last night was my second to last Elementary Spanish class. It was good. He's such a great teacher, bummer that this is the last course he's teaching, as he's leaving the UK this summer:( I think I will take the next level though - lower intermediate - which starts at the end of April. I'll TRY to use those few weeks in between to study my vocab - which is my biggest weakness at the moment!

The bus is so weird sometimes. Last night on the way home from Spanish, I was sitting near the front. I saw a guy go up to the driver (who sits behind a plate of glass) and start yelling at him. He sounded Italian? I think? He was saying that he can't believe that on a bus with 200 people that the driver is driving without hands, and that he was going to report him. Ummmmm what? So of course I kept my eyes on the drivers hands for the rest of the journey - looks like he was doing a fine! I hate when people verbally abuse drivers like that though, it happens a lot - which is a shame.

Oh I almost forgot - CUTE ABBY PICS!

I finally got these off of my phone last week!!!!!!!! These photos are all a few weeks or months old, but cute!

Murray and Abby playing superman (or should we call it super Abby?)

I'm teaching her well ! (checking out the shoe sales) She actually sat down and took her shoes off, then grabbed this red pair with 3 inch heels and put them on and tried to walk around. I quickly put her own shoes back on before the sales staff saw us! It WAS pretty funny though!

Cool chick in her hat & glasses

Abby and Murray working on their laptops

This was so funny! We were going to the post office when it started to rain. I had only brought 1 umbrella though. She's too heavy for me to carry now, and stooping down to cover both of us just didn't work. So I just gave it to her and I got wet. She looked so cute walking down the street with the bag holding the package we were going to mail & this umbrella that just towered over her. (I did end up asking if she wanted me to carry the bag, but then she held the umbrella down so low she couldn't see where she was going)!

This was our last Saturday together (when we babysat for the morning). I took her to Starbucks and let her pick out whatever she wanted to eat. Surprise surprise she chose this chocolate muffin topped with LOTS of white chocolate - it was lovely!

Chillin' at the coffee shop with her muffin and her baby chino (steamed milk with chocolate sprinkles)

Yummmm

Oh and how could I not include a photo of ONE of the Krispy Kreme's I ate last week for my b-day - lovely!

Last night I hit the gym for body pump. I had a bit more weight on my bar then I usually do which felt GREAT but made it so so hard! By the end of the class I just felt exhausted - I guess that's a good thing though! Man can I feel it today though - my arms are SO sore! (my little whinge of the day!)

Had to stay up late last night to watch ER. I missed this week's episode on Thursday cause we went to that concert, then it slipped my mind on Sunday night. I ended up catching only the last 10 minutes! So stayed up to watch it when it was repeated again last night. I just thought it was funny because on Sunday when I saw just the last 10 minutes Murray commented that if I had seen the whole show, I would be sobbing by now. I had to smile last night - cause he was SO right! Oh how that show makes me cry! Such an emotional episode last night - but also so great and uplifting - I LOVE that show:) Can I just say that I hate the new theme tune music though!

Relax......

Ahhh what a lovely relaxing weekend.

Started it off on a high note with American Idol. It's great now that they are down to the top 12 because that means we don't have to watch FOUR hours of the show all in one night! Now it's just the hour and a half show, and the half hour final show where they kick someone off. What oh what are the American public thinking though. HOW did Sanjaya not get kicked off? Or more importantly, why wasn't his hairdresser fired on the spot? What in the world were they thinking - curling his hair up like that - that is NOT a man's hairstyle! Shame that Brandon went, he wasn't the best performer, but Sanjaya was much much worse. I read this morning in the paper that Howard Stern has a campaign going to try to get the public to vote FOR Sanjaya, because Simon Cowel said that if Sanjaya wins he will quit the show. Well that's never going to happen, so I think Simon's job is safe! If he wins, I promise never to watch the show again!

Anyhow

Saturday we just took it easy. Finished season 2 of '24.' Hmmm I didn't like the ending though - made me think 'Is that it?' We have already seen season 3 - so now it's on to 4 hooray! I also FINALLY watched the British cult classic 'Shaun of the Dead' which was very funny!

Sunday afternoon the rain sounded REALLY loud so I peeked out the window - and I couldn't believe it - HAIL! It was coming down like a snow storm. The whole sky was full - amazing site! It only lasted about 10 minutes, and WOW was it chilly outside once it was done!

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to The Escape day spa in Putney for a WONDERFUL facial! (b-day gift from a friend). Oh wow it was so relaxing that when it was over and I went to get up I had to sit for a minute because I felt so dizzy!

That afternoon Lorraine came over for The OC and dinner, and then my Dad and I spent an hour and a half on the phone trying to get our video conferencing to work! Eventually we got both the sound and the picture to work properly (on yahoo messenger) and I was able to chat to my Mom and sisters (and see my dog Minnie)! Although I think Minnie was a bit freaked out when I said Hello to her through the pc - she looked up at the screen with a confused face!

It is supposed to snow today in London - apparently. Just as it was starting to get warm - now it's cold again? Bummer. Although I don't actually think it's cold enough to snow - I bet we just get a lot of rain! BRING ON SUMMER!

HALF MAN
HALF MACHINE
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHAT DOES IT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN?

Last night for Murray's early birthday surprise night out - I took him to see a band he love - Goldie Lookin' Chain. They are goofy Welsh 80's rap group. They were great because they don't take themselves seriously - at all! There are 8 yes EIGHT of them, although only a few actually are the 'main rappers.' The rest just dance around the stage and shout out things once and while - too funny. Although I do admit that I found them very hard to understand - the bass was EXTREMELY loud and their accents were hard to decipher!

Their hits include:

Half Man, Half Machine (thus explaining Murray's tinfoil photos above). The song is about a guy who covers himself in tin foil and then tells his friends that no it is not tinfoil, he is a robot. ha ha

This is Murray in his new 'GLC' headband (how 80's is THAT!) - please notice in the background a fan who wrapped tin foil around his legs, taped some of it to his shoulders, and made a lovely tin foil hat!

They closed the show with a song called 'I got a tracksuit.' These guys are what are called 'chavs' in the UK. They always wear tracksuit, big gold chains, and act tough (and they look kinda rough - like you don't want to make them mad)!

A video from my mobile phone - another of their hits 'Your Missus is a nutter.' Oops - now I know not to take videos sideways - oh well, you can still hear their Welsh accent come out in the song!

Oh - and very important - we went to Hamburger Union for dinner. IT WAS TERRIBLE!!!! I would never eat there again. Gross tiny little burgers with no sides for £6 each - which tasted like McDonalds' freeze dried patties - gross. They have nothing on GBK! (Gourmet Burger Kitchen). BUT they did have 'dill pickles' as a side - so I HAD to get one! REAL dill pickles are hard to find here, as nearly all the pickles here are sweet. This monster came out (well it SHOULD be big for 95 pence for ONE pickle) and it was ok! It was a bit too juicy - when you touched it it bounced back like a sea cucumber. But it was sorta vinegary - which is how I like my pickles - yummmm.

OH and I almost forgot - the venue last night was ULU (the University of London Union). It felt like stepping back in time! I spent four months back in 1999 taking classes in that building - SO bizarre to go back! It's a fantastic gig venue though - TINY! There were only about 200 people there!!! Oh and the surprise was great. I am TERRIBLE at keeping surprises - but I was able to manage it and it was fun that he didn't figure out who we were going to see until we were in line and he spotted someone's ticket!

The Bus - the daily soap opera

It took me a long time to get used to riding the bus. We used to live right across the street from a tube stop, so I NEVER took the bus, unless I had a lot of time on my hands and wanted a 'scenic' view. Now, we live a lot further out, and have the option of either a 15 minute + walk to the tube, plus an hour and a half on the train. Or we catch the bus a few minutes walk from our house, and cut down that train travel to less than an hour. Not a hard choice. BUT this bus only comes every half an hour. So over the past year we seems to have created our bus routine.

Our daily bus routine.....

7:20 Monique leaves the house in plenty of time to walk leisurely to the stop while snacking on her breakfast bar. If she gets to the stop and the two teenager girls who take the same bus aren't there, then she knows the bus came early, and she missed it, and will have to get to work another way - which is what happened today :(

7:30 Murray comes running like a mad man down the street while Monique stands in the doorway of the bus trying to convince the driver to wait just 30 more seconds. OR Monique sends a text 'bus' to Murray as he missed it by a few minutes.

7:30-45 Murray and Monique get on the bus and glance towards the back. Those two darn teenage boys have now spread themselves out on the back seat - one on either side. We USED to sit in the back (as that's where the most leg room is) but the boys would get upset a few stops later when their friends got on and they couldn't all sit together, so now they have pushed us out. There's NO way we're going to go back there and sit in the middle between them - and they know it - sneaky little twerps. So now we sit in the front. We prefer the left hand side because then we can see and listen to Napoleon. He is the teenage king of the little boys on our bus. He looks just like Napoleon Dynamite (i.e. geeky, very curly hair, tall & skinny). He always sits perched up on one of the front seats. His little subjects are a few years younger than him, and always sit next to him. They spend EVERY morning arguing with each other.

IT IS SO SO FUNNY!

The younger boys will bring something up about school, and Napoleon always retorts with (scoff) (in a posh accent) 'Oh well when I had that subject it was so much harder, and I was first in my class, blah blah blah.' These little boys look up to him like he's a god - a know it all older boy. It just cracks us up.

This morning we were on another bus (missed the every half hour one), so we got a whole new group of school kids to entertain us. We sat near three school girls with very posh accents. They spent the entire bus journey with one of them discussing her report card in detail 'And then she said I'm smart, but that I could do better in Chemistry...' while another kept interrupting to tell their other friend about the rules of Lacrosse. I dunno - the bus is entertaining!

I DID read a very disturbing thing in the paper this morning though. That by mid 2008 they will have the technology in place so that people will be able to talk on their mobile (cell) phones on the tube. OH NO! Sure it would be more convenient, but it's already annoying enough when you have people yelling into their phones on a very crowded carriage while you are squashed up like sardines. I PRAY for those tunnels to come when I'm stuck in situations like that.

There have been a lot of letters to the editor in 'the metro' newspaper lately as well about what do when people play their mobiles out loud on the tube - with the new phones that are coming out - this seems to be happening more and more often. One reader suggested that what he does is take his hearing aid out and offer it to the person who's being so noisy - and they usually laugh and turn it down. Obviously I can't do that so I just say 'Excuse me, can you please turn that off, it's really inconsiderate to the rest of us.' Hello - this is England - we want to sit quietly and read out papers - cheers - thank you very much.

Anyhow, enough of my ranting.

Last night we went to our FAVOURITE Italian place il MasCalzone in Putney, ohhhhh I LOVE that place. Great food, good service, and close to home - you just can't beat it! And oh did the waiters LOVE Lorraine (we went out to celebrate her b-day and give her her pressies)! They were hanging around our table smiling at her practically all night! It was nice to see her and catch up on what she's been up to.

And tonight - I have a surprise for Murray. An early birthday present..... and I'm trying REALLY hard to be strong and not tell him what it is. It's proving hard! But I'm determined not to tell him..... surprises are FUN!

Espanol?

Hola!

Last night's Spanish class was EXCELLENT! I am so pleased I went! As usual I was tired on the way to class. I nodded off on the tube (but still made sure to listen to the announcement at each stop so I didn't miss my stop)! I felt tired and didn't want to go, but I did.

I was still upset about missing last week's class - got stuck at work:( AND I was worried that I would be behind after having missed a class!

BUT it turns out they just did some speaking practice last week, so I didn't miss TOO much! Last night there was only 3 of us so it practically felt like a private lesson! Fantastic!!! It was frightening though when he would ask a question and we'd all look down at our notebooks - pretending we were searching for the answer - then he would call our 'Monique - how do you say you got on the bus this morning to work?' AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SCARY!

But it was ok! I do actually feel like I'm progressing. Last night we learned a bit about the Future tense, which thankfully, is MUCH easier than the past (although I AM starting to get that a bit now as well)!

He did a great exercise at the end. He made us put away all of our notes (even my sheet of verbs - ekkkk). Then he gave us each a dozen pieces of paper and we had to write down verbs that we knew about things we do every day (todos los dias). So I searched my brain..... and after asking for some help I did eventually get 12 (to eat, to drink, to write, to talk, etc...). Then he had each of us say a few sentances about what we do during the day (using present, past and future tenses). It was actually really good. Forced us to think about how to answer without using a cheat sheet, and made us realize that we know more words then we thought! However it IS hard to describe your day with limited vocab!!!! But I suppose that will improve with time.

Waiting for the bus last night I saw some more Wimbledon teenage thugs. It's a lovely place Wimbledon - but they do seem to have a teenager problem. Time to ship them all off to boarding school I think! I saw a group of teenage boys run past on the other side of the street holding a hub cap that they had obviously just torn off a nearby car - nice. If they had hadn't jumped on a bus I would have called the police, oh well.

And that DARN DARN bus was so late last night that I missed the first 15 minutes of the OC. So we decided just to watch the repeat on Sunday night instead - I don't wanna be all confused! And after all, Jack Bauer was anxiously awaiting us anyhow. We're nearly done with Season 2. Oh my gosh - how does the president get out of this mess? Surely only Jack Bauer - super agent - can help! If ONLY witnesses would STOP DYING on him!

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY some pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are from the weekend before last. This is Abby - practicing the move Murray taught her. Throwing her arms up and saying 'Superstar.'

(Based on the Saturday Night Live movie 'Superstar.' Awfully cute when Abby did it though!)


Super Star in the making!

(p.s. she's only upset at the end because he set her down - she forced him to do it for AGES - never gets old I guess!)

She was having a good time climbing on Murray!



This is only a short video - but I thought it was CUTE!

This is her favourite spot! Could even touch the ceiling a bit!

Chilling on the couch. I took this photo when I saw her throw her leg over Murray while they were relaxing - SWEET!

Random photo! My NEW fancy steamer!

From left: Birthday Girl Lorraine, her Dad Graham, Murray and Me!

I think Lorraine looks stunning in this photo - like a model from the 60's.

(please ignore me having a sip of my drink! If only I knew how to edit photos!!!)

Uncle & Niece - SUCH a great photo!!!!

The whole group! Lorraine, Dad Graham, Mom Kerry, Murray & Me

Silly Girls!

Ok and I MUST tell this one bizarre story! Last night on my way home, I hopped off the tube and headed towards the bus stop. And there - in the middle of the road (this is a street where only buses are allowed) was a man and his (about 13? year old) son sitting cross legged on the street. I heard him say to the boy 'The world will listen to us, we don't listen to the world. If a bus comes, it will stop for us, we will not move for it. Look, all these people are walking AROUND us.'

Ummmmm ok?

I just looked at them like they were crazy (like everyone else did) and stepped around them. I did keep an eye as I walked by though to see what they would actually do when a bus came - and of course they got up and scrambled out of the way.

How VERY strange though? What an ODD thing to teach your child?????

Happy Birthday Kevin & Lorraine!

Hope you both have a great b-day! :)


We had a nice weekend....
Friday night - the usual - gym and then American Idol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm surprised about who made the top 12 - that Sanjaya should NOT have made it!
Looking forward to the 'real' show starting now that they are down to the top 12!

Saturday I spent all day running around doing errands.
That evening we met up with Murray's half brother Graham and his wife for dinner, and then we headed over to the Zoo Bar (where Murray and I met)! Niece Lorraine had an area booked there to celebrate her 21st birthday (which is actually today). It was fun, they played good old 90's music, and it was an experience (although exhausting) to catch the night bus home and crawl exhausted into bed at 2am!

Sunday I met up with a couple American friends for a knitting lesson! I was so tired though that it took me ages to understand what she was showing me. After doing 2 rows I messed it all up and couldn't be bothered with starting over, so I just went back to my crocheting for a bit.

When I got back, after throwing in many loads of laundry, we headed over to our favourite big meal for a good price restaurant - NANDOS! I love that place! It's a Portuguese chicken restaurant - you get SO much food for your money - it's such good food - and fairly healthy !

OH and I almost forgot!

Last night I REALLY enjoyed my 'Body Pump' class at the gym.
The instructor was in a ridiculously good mood (especially since he had already taught 4 classes that day)!

At one point he said 'Ladies, pick up your weapons' which I thought was hilarious. (He meant our bars with weights on them).

But the best part was when we started doing the triceps 'track' (every exercise is choreographed to a different song). I couldn't believe it when the song started and it was the theme tune to the OC. So as I struggled with my triceps exercises (they really ARE my weakest muscles!) I sang to myself... 'Californnnnnnnnnnnnnia here I come, right back where I started from, Californnnnnnnnnnnnnnia!.

He he - it's the little things isn't it?
It was FUN!

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe what I did today!

I switched coats this morning. Grabbed my train pass & my phone from the right pocket, not thinking to check the other pocket - as I usually don't keep anything in there. However last night I had put my house keys in my LEFT pocket after opening the door because I had a bunch of groceries weighing me down. Now I don't have my keys today, so I can't open my desk!!!!!!!!!! My coffee cup (ok not that big of a deal - but still!) is in there and my tea, and my calender, etc etc.

Not that big of a deal... but SO annoying:( I went and checked - there is no master key - so I'll just have to live with it. I think I'm going to attach my desk key to my work badge on Monday - at least that way I'll never be stuck with drinking gross machine made tea all day again - bleh!

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to this weekend! Tomorrow is niece Lorraine's 21st birthday celebrations (she has booked a space at the nightclub Murray and I met in (in 1999) - FUN)! We're also cathing up with her Mom and Dad and brother before hand for dinner, we haven't seen in years - so should be fun! And Sunday is the first meeting of the American 'Stitch and B!tch' group (ha ha, sorry - I think that name is hilarious)!

Last night I used my new fancy steamer for the first time. I even remembered to bring the recipe book with me to work so I could stop at the grocery store on the way home! I made salmon parcels. A piece of boneless and skinless salmon, wrapped in tinfoil with thin slices of red & orange peppers, thin slices of courgette (zucchini), spring onion and fresh dill (with a bit of butter on top). I had NEVER thought to put something wrapped in tin foil in the steamer before! I do that once & awhile in the stove - but in the steamer? It worked beautifully though - tasted so fresh and lovely. YAY I'll be using that thing ALL the time!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I am starting to come down now

off of my sugar rush.

Ok - I admit it - I had 3 krispy kremes yesterday.
But I promise you - they were calling out my name - I couldn't say no!

Oh well, if I only do that once a year I'll be ok.

We had a lovely dinner last night at The Farm in Fulham. It was a very nice posh place. Great food, fantastic service, and cool decor. We had a drink by one of the many fireplaces before heading into the dining room. We were lucky to have the corner table with the big comfy leather seats - nice! Murray had a steak that came all the way from South Dakota - which I thought was hilarious! The food was good though, it was really a lovely evening!

I hear from Heather though - and our waiter concurred - that Sunday is the day to go to this restaurant! They call it 'Mary's and Benedict's'- apparently their Bloody Mary's are fantastic. We'll definitely check that out some time!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Is that too attention seeking?
Ha ha - oh well.

Today is my 28th Birthday - ekkkkkkk!

Started off the day in a great way - opened ALL my pressies - FUN!

I stopped in this morning at the grocery store to pick up two boxes of a dozen mixed krispy kremes....
I can't even tell you how many drooling looks I got from people on the train!
I actually gave one to my last bus driver of the day - he was SO thrilled:)

I still think it's funny how here you bring in cakes on your birthday for the office. Odd. But hey - any excuse to have a krispy kreme (or two) is fine with me!

Tonight we're out to dinner which will be lovely!

Oh and my uncle sent me this - I thought it was pretty funny!

You know you're in your late 20’s when …

The elevator is playing your favorite song.
You look like the morning after and you haven't been anywhere.
You throw a party and the neighbors don't call the cops. In fact, they don't even realize you had a party.

The wheels on the bus go round & round

Last night we both left work a little bit early and went on an adventure (well, sort of).
We caught the bus from West London to Oxford (about an hour and a half ride). Then we got on another bus to go to the tiny little village of Whitney. We got there just a few minutes before the show was about to start which was PERFECT timing!!! We travelled all the way out there to see a presentation by George McCarthy, a professional photographer who travelled around the USA for a year in a Winnebago taking photos. It was a fascinating 2 hour presentation - amazing photos and great stories! Wow it really does take a lot of patience to be a wildlife photographer though!

He told us for example, that for this first photo he built a little 'hide' and went early early one morning to catch these birds behaving naturally. Then he got this amazing shot & knew that he just wouldn't get any better. I LOVE this photo of the little birds on their mother's back - so cute!

He had some stunning landscape photos as well!

A few of his photos were from animal parks - such as this one, but still with a stunning result!

This is one of my favourites - how chilled out does this bear look?

He told a lot of interesting stories ranging from how dangerous grizzlies are, to how he nearly lost his equipment to a curious bear cub! We were very impressed and inspired by his talk. And I must say I really love some of his photos!

We did however sneak out a few minutes early, which I felt bad about. But darn it the presentation was followed by raffle draw that was taking AGES and our bus only came once every an hour! So we booked it out of there and JUST made our bus, and had perfect timings all the way home - getting home just before 1am!

I was impressed as well that we were able to get 2 1/2 hours outside of London, all on buses, for a very reasonable £15 each - not bad!

I wish I was a celebrity....

Just so I could get someone to blow dry my hair for me EVERY day!!!!
Ahhhh I had my hair cut yesterday. Nothing major, just a trim (although she did do a nice job of shaping it)! Gosh I love how good it looks when someone else blow dries my hair though - why can I NEVER re create that look? I slept very carefully last night with my hair down so I could make it last one more day!!! Ahhhh it's so nice to have someone wash my hair, and style it all nicely while I read a trashy gossip magazine - lovely!

I had a very relaxing weekend. Took it easy - ran some errands, watched some 24, and did a bit of crocheting, caught up with Abby & Eva.

We decided it would be nice to go out to dinner, and unfortunately chose tapas. We went to La Mancha in Putney. We have eaten there before, years ago, and it was always a good experience. I don't know if they have changed management or what - but it was terrible. The service was AWFUL - they wouldn't look at us at all, and it took ages for them to even remember we were there to take out order. Then they forgot one of our dishes, and tried to charge us for it. Overall, very disappointing - over priced for the amount and quality of the food you get, and terrible terrible service. Oh and most importantly on Saturday. After running my errands I popped into the shopping mall (always fun to just LOOK) and went into my favourite show store Office. AND SO EXCITING!!!!! They had the shoes I had ordered AGES ago back in stock (they hadn't had my size - cause the line had sold out so quickly). So I quick snapped up a pair in my size - and went home a happy shopper. They are my new comfy & cute work shoes - YAY!

Abby came over in the afternoon, and we had a nice time. She really has grown so much, even in the past few weeks. We coloured, watched Ice Age (AGAIN - oh my gosh - we have GOT to get some new kid movies), played with her baby doll and a stuffed cat! Eva LOVED that Murray taught Abby to stand with her arms outstretched and say 'Superstar' ha ha. And that she seems to always request one thing when she comes to our place 'Jump on the bed, jump on the bed!!!' I swear - we didn't teach her that (ha ha). When Eva got back from teaching she ordered pizza, and we had a nice time catching up while watching the American Idol finals.

Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

A big Happy 18th Birthday to my 'little' cousin Johnny!
WOW am I really that old? I remember when he was born and was this tiny little thing! He was the first baby I was ever allowed to hold & watch for a few hours - it was SO exciting! I remember auntie Joni saying when he was born that because he was 10 years and 5 days younger than me that he'd be just old enough to write to me when I went to college. Ha ha - now HE is going to college - oh dear!
Happy B-day Johnny - hope you have a great day!

Ahhhh isn't this picture just adorable? I loved this story..... cute:) We saw 'The Number 23' last night - bit disappointing I must say. I loved how the film was shot - very cool images. But the story was disappointing, just didn't draw me in enough, so at the end I didn't feel very attached to the characters.

Last night I couldn't do much at the gym. I seem to have done something to my foot - I don't know WHAT though! On Sunday it started aching, on the top of my left foot. By Monday it was sore enough that I just wore trainers (tennis shoes) to work rather than work shoes for my commute - and changed at the office into some comfy flats. I elevated it & iced it that night, but it was even more sore yesterday. I dunno - strange. So last night at the gym I only did arm weights - no cardio - and nothing involving my legs (other than stretching). It feels slightly better today, but I think I'll continue with the flat shoes & favouring that foot until it's 100% better before trying anything to taxing. Strange strange strange!