Wrapping up

I've got about a day and a half before my flight back to London, and I've been busy trying to figure out exactly how all of the stuff we bought will make it back to London. :D Hey - it's all so cheap!! I've stocked up on yarn (not like I don't have miles and miles of the stuff in London, but after going to the knitting convention and buying all these new cool patterns, I can't be expected NOT to stock up... that'd be just wrong!), some baking supplies (the surprising lack of Dutch-processed cocoa in England being one of the things coming back with me), new clothes & shoes...

So, besides decent prices on EVERYTHING here in the good ol' US of A, what did I miss? Funny you asked - I've got a top five list!

5. Listening to the radio. I didn't really realize that I never listen to the radio in London. I usually am traveling by tube, so I just play MP3s.
4. Singing along to music during my commute. Doing so in the tube is frowned upon.
3. Stores that stay open late. Like past 6. Sure, London has some grocery stores that stay open kinda late, but nothing generally helpful when you have an impulse to knit those pair of socks you're dying to try but you're fresh out of size 2mm double-pointed needles and self-patterning yarn.
2. Not having to wear a heavy wool coat all the time. Or hat. Or gloves. Or bring an umbrella.

and finally the number one (drum roll please....)
1. SUN!

I know that last one is sort of a gimme given that I do live in England, which does have a bit of a reputation.

16 degrees latitude does make a difference

Apparently I chose my dates to visit California pretty perfectly. It's been alternating between usual London-ish type weather (cloudy, and some pretty strong rain) and beautiful, sunny, fabulous days of 70 degrees F (21 C for those who who care). The difference in the strength of the sun (when there *is* sun to be seen in London) is pretty dramatic. I've managed to get in some time lounging outside recently to try and look a tad less ghostly.

I'm starting my 3rd week of being back in CA; I'd only intended to be here 2, but had to extend for work-reasons another 10 days. My first week was working in the office, and my second week was vacationing with Hank (though it's an odd concept to vacation at your own hometown). H and I spent quite a bit of time shopping with the bargain that is the US Dollar, seeing different family and friends, some more shopping. Hank's suitcase for his flight back to London just barely eeked by the weight limit! "Hey, I can't get good baking chocolate chips over in London, Mr Customs Officer!!"

Coming home after 6 months definitely felt odd. Everything seems a bit more garish than I had remembered it. England is just different enough to cause a bit of culture shock. I've also enjoyed checkout out what little changes have happened since I left - new buildings popping up, friends' kids getting bigger, etc. The highlight has been seeing everyone I've missed for so long! And oh, how I've missed the cafes at work.... mmm. The revised cafe in London just opened yesterday, so hopefully a lot of the effort I've put into promoting changes will pay off there as well!

I'm still in California for another 8 days or so, but I am looking forward to not traveling for a while and being home with Hank and the kittens (he propped them up in front of the webcam last night for me to see, but it's definitely not the same as waking up with one of 'em on your hip and one on your head).

Catching up

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I'm back in California right now, but sick in bed, so it seems like a good opportunity to update the last month or so.

For Christmas, we were adopted by our friend Amy and various sides of her family. Christmas eve dinner was at her mom's, and they made three wonderful pies for dinner! I made sticky toffee pudding, which I was relieved got rave reviews (actually having English people try my version of an English dessert was surprisingly intimidating). For Boxing Day we then went to Amy's aunt's house. That side of her family is predominately French, so I got some good practice of my language skills in. (Hank smiled and looked pretty.)

New Year's was pretty much just me & Hank - we went and stood outside Downing Street (Tony was in Florida, otherwise we would have yelled "hi") to watch the fireworks over the river. We ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant called L'Escargot in Soho - highly recommended! I had fish with clams and cockles that was simply divine, and a surprisingly great banana souffle for dessert that Hank (even more surprisingly) finished off for me.

January was definitely the craziest month we've had so far. First I had a work off-site in Zurich, so Hank flew out to meet me there and spend the weekend. The weather was so beautiful - and almost 50 degrees (F). I was glad not to be freezing, but it was disappointing we couldn't sled down one of the mountains. Zurich is a beautiful city. Shopping is pretty pricey, though, but they make up for it in CHOCOLATE! I think I brought back at least a kilo of chocolate with me. Hank picked up a few Cuban cigars also.

After that, our friend Kari came to visit, and brought her friend Bethany with her. They stayed for about 10 days, and spent 3 of the days in Dublin and dragged Hank along with them. (I'll let Hank post his update about Dublin separately.) Nope, I couldn't go since I had a date with my skis in Courmayeur, Italy! That was the site of the 2007 company ski trip, generally very successful except for the bout of food poisoning I was lucky enough to catch. But I got in two great days of skiing on the fresh snow that had dropped our first night after arriving. Courmayeur is one of the sites of the Turin olympics, but the site wasn't as large or as difficult as places in California that I'd skied. But I was able to watch Amy learn how to snowboard and ski down some of the black runs with other buddies from work, so it was great fun!

I've also uploaded a bunch of other recent photos to Flickr that I've had sitting around for the last month.