my thanksgiving in britain

The Americans planned and cooked. The Brits aided in the preparation. We did Thanksgiving a day early, Wednesday night, because we all had that night free.

I think we did pretty well, considering.

Turkey, stuffing (almost didn't work but was resurrected), real gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, pumpkin pie (canned pumpkin shipped across the atlantic for the occasion), and cranberry butter.

help! I'm enculturating.

I have begun to understand the British affinity for hot tea.

It was cold, windy, and rainy on Sunday afternoon. But I had my lucky black boots on, which makes my feet impervious to rain.

I was heading home from central London, waiting for my bus. Several buses approached my stop simultaneously, and my bus instead of waiting for the first bus to pull out, did a half-hearted slow-down before whizzing away without new passengers.

I was too frustrated and cold and stubborn to sit and wait for fifteen minutes for the next one. So I decided to punish myself and just walk the whole way back.

As I fought torrid winds on London Bridge, all I could think about was how nice it would be to get home out of the wind and rain and sit down with a nice cup of tea.

on greatness.

Yesterday was a great day for me. It didn't start out that well. It began with me arriving at work early, which entailed me shivering in the cold and wet on the train platform until I could go get inside.

But work was fun. It is just three of us on Saturdays, which is relaxing because usually there's half a dozen staff flying around. It was slow in the morning so the three of us had time to talk, then it go pleasantly busy but not manic.

Iza always makes "Saturday breakfast" on Saturdays. Lamb sausages, hashbrowns, toast, an egg, a tomato and mushrooms -it's so good. Customers were pleasant.

When I got home, I mustered my determination and went running in the dark and in the hurricane-like wind. But it was actually a really good, long and satisfying run.

When I got back, I hobbled together all eligible ingredients and made a smoothie- the first proper one since I've been here.

working on these things.

It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to download this font, and even now, I'm not sure how I managed it. But I'm excited that it's here nonetheless.

dear diary...

Yesterday, I had so many thoughts jumbled up in my head that I had to get them out. I just put down the key words so I'd remember them to think about later.

real Need.
home.
middling
120
blast it!
Martha Stewart job
nailclippers
lifestyle art
French Revolution
Little Women
J.J. Heller
photoshop
novels
call mom
art
haircut
cook for dinner
jo.

where I've been lately.

Usually there is a rut where my little feet trod to and from home and work daily, with some little variation through the week (hey I don't have a lot of friends yet). This past week, however, I skittered around a lot.

Okay, this was a little earlier than last week. It was also a day when we had a day of freak warmness. It was wonderful. This is me on the Prime Meridian in Greenwich Park.

This is the green, green grass of Belfast, Northern Ireland, which I saw for day. When I wasn't in and out of meetings.

The "beach" near Dover. It was the first time that I saw the North Sea.

recovering from traveling

Belfast and back to London within twenty-four hours. A lot of talking and little liquids. Today, I'm making it up to my body. Consuming within two hours of waking up:

. A tumbler of apple juice.
. A bit of soy milk in cereal.
. A glass of water.
. A mug of instant coffee.
. More apple juice.
. Another glass of water.