Mike is Home

Mike FINALLY came back from England Thursday December 21st after being gone for 3 1/2 weeks!! It is so great to have him back! I made him his favorite dinner - Chicken Enchaladas and we watched The Office which he had downloaded onto his computer (which I had missed since the power was out last thursday). Friday, I had to go to work and did 8 hours of work in 5 1/2 hours so I could rush home to hang out with him! When I got home I was surprised to find the ENTIRE place decorated for christmas he had bought a fake christmas tree, hung lights on it, put up our stockings, tinsel, and got out all of our chirstmas decorations! Then we spent the afternoon drinking tea and decorating the tree (last christmas Mike's mom mailed out all of his christmas ornaments from when he was a kid!). We only got to enjoy our christmas decorations for 24 hours as our plane left for Maine Saturday evening! (More to come on Christmas in Maine).

Family in Town

This update is long overdue! My mom and Anne came up to visit me in Seattle to keep me company while Mike was still out of town. They arrived Thursday December 13th and left on Monday morning. Fortunately for me, not so fortunate for them, they got to be here when my power went out due to a storm with high winds! I impressed myself by knowing exactly where 2 flashlights were and matches to light candles! This happened about 5:00pm on Thursday. After playing cards and eating chips and dip by candlelight, the power still hadn't come back on and we went out to dinner with Katie and Jim. Friday morning the power was still out and since our garage doors have a key pad entry, I couldn't get my car out and therefore couldn't go to work - darn!! The power was back on by Friday evening and we spent the rest of the weekend shopping and then on Sunday my dad was in town for a layover so we spent the day walking around downtown and then met Katie and Jim first for happy hour and some pool, then to Chinooks for a fabulous seafood dinner!

I'll be home for Christmas

Four more days until I fly home from England! It's been a fun trip but I'm ready to go back. The fact that I actually have to work has limited my travel a bit but I have enjoyed my time here. I have been staying in Nottingham, yes where the story of Robin Hood takes place. There's a nice big statue of the man in tights as well as the Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest around the corner. Nottingham is actually a big college town so Christmas lights are all around and the streets have been busy with holiday shoppers.

I've been here for 20 days and in that time, I've tried over 20 local brews and experienced over 30 pubs, clubs and restaurants. That means, I'm afraid to step on the scale when I get home and fear I may look a little too much like Santa. I think I'm going to have some serious work to do in January. But until then, there's plenty more pubs I haven't yet tried.

With any luck, work will finish up at little early on Wednesday. I plan on driving the 3 hours to London for the night since my flight's not until 4pm on Thursday. Hopefully everything goes as planned, I'd like to see it even if I'm only there for a few hours. As for now, I'm off to do some Christmas shopping and maybe grab another cask conditioned ale!

Thanksgiving in St. Louis

We spent thanksgiving in St. Louis this year and keeping with tradition, thanksgiving dinner was at my parents. It was great to see my baby cousins Sophie and Audrey (as well as the rest of my family)! Uncle Les didn't like my "light" version of pecan pie and he let me know about it (that's okay, Anne can make hers again next year). The next morning we drove down to Kanas to visit my mom's side of the family. It was the first time Mike met my grandpa! We all had fun in Kansas and I saw my other baby cousins Abagail and J.D. Mike took Amber and Troy's engagement pictures which was fun and they turned out great!

So Mike is in England (Derby to be exact) for the month of December. I am getting along fine without him (well sort of). Last night I thought the washing machine was making a funny noise, but then I decided it was my imagination. So left for the gym in my apartment complex. I ran all the way there and realized I forgot my key card so I ran all the way back home. When I opened my door and it smelt great in my apartment and I realized I had forgoten all about my cheesecake in the oven. (one disaster was adverted). So while I was waiting the 10 more minutes for it to be done I went to put the clothes into the dryer and realized that somehow the ENTIRE FULL box of dryer sheet somehow landed in the washing machine! The box was torn to shreds!So I put the clothes into the dryer hoping dry pieces of cardboard would be easier to pick off the clothes. Not really. I still have a huge mess to clean up!! Mike, when are you coming home???