The sun is out!!

So today the sun is shining... and I'd already psyched myself up to be inside doing laundry and cleaning up all day. Sheesh. Luckily I'm meeting Jen in town for coffee later. I do need to get out of the house and out of my PJ's. I have 5 loads of laundry to do (the washers over here are very small) and I'll be lucky to get 3 of them done today. I've got a washer/dryer: one unit which washes and dries the clothes. For some reason though, it decides that it's ok to take an hour and a half to just do the wash cycle and that 3 and a half to four hours is perfectly normal for a dry cycle. So a single load of laundry can take up to six hours sometimes! It's not just the washer/dryers either. Steve's mum's washer unit takes over 2 hours sometimes to wash a load of laundry. Two hours!!! Boy do I miss the days of a 22 minute wash cycle and a 45 minute dry. Clothes done in an hour and you don't have to iron every single little thing. Seriously, everything comes out wrinkled here, unless you hang it out on the line, but then you've got to wait for nice weather (come on, this is England, how often do we get that?) and unless the conditions are just right - sunny and breezy - you end up with crispy clothes. No one likes to put on a pair of crunchy jeans. Not that it matters anyway; there's no line in my garden, and there's not really an easy way to hang one either.

Anyway, I thought I'd just throw up a quick rant for everyone. I'm not quite sure how often I'll be posting on here. Life has been bashing me up a bit lately. I'll try to send you some little quirks every once in a while. For now, check out this site for some really gross/weird/nauseating food concoctions.

Long time, no see

Sorry guys. I know it's been a while. Things have been a little crazy since I last saw you. Let's see, what have I been up to? I had my first proper night out in Bristol with a girlfriend. I went to Bristol all by myself and visited the painting that I really want and also stopped at Cabot Circus which is the new-ish shopping centre in the middle of the city. [Edited to add Stephanie. Painting by JodyT]I had a trial shift at a bar which was absolutely fantastic and I've been offered more hours but not for a couple weeks. So I think I might have some hours as a bartender which is something that I've ALWAYS wanted to do. I really had a great time.

So anyway, I am suuuuuuuuper excited about the cruise my dad is taking me on in October!! We're scuba diving in Grand Cayman and Jamaica and going snorkeling off of a catamaran in Key West. The rest of the time we're just going to chillax on and off the boat. I can't wait!! Today I took the train to Taunton to look for a new bikini since mine are all too big for me and I found a super awesome one. It's right here in case you're interested. I know; it's adorable. I'll be needing one that actually fits because we'll be diving without wetsuits and I'd rather not have my bathing suit fall off in the water thankyouverymuch. Actually, I'm kinda just excited to get to dive without a wetsuit, though I'm considering getting a rash guard just to keep my BCD from chafing on me.

In other news, apparently sleeping next to me is like a contact sport. I've left Steve with verbal bashings, scratches and possibly bruises over the last couple weeks. Of course, from my perspective I go to sleep in one position and wake up in the same place, as if I've been completely still and peaceful the entire night. I'm learning that that's not the case at all. Apparently, while my lids are closed there's flailing of limbs and a cacophony of sounds all coming from me. Needless to say he hasn't been sleeping well. It's kind of weird. I wonder if I'm being possessed at night.

Anyway dears, I'm off for the eve. Have a good one

JodyT rocks my world!!

So last night we took the train into Bristol to to go the gallery opening of an incredibly talented Bristol artist. Jody started off doing graffiti in the 80's. Now he does gorgeous aerosol portraits. Seriously Jody's work is absolutely amazing. I've never seen a piece I didn't like. The pieces in this show in particular are thrilling and seductive, but haunting and unbelievable. So beautiful. If you are in or around the Bristol area, I highly recommend that you go by the Weapon of Choice Gallery on St. Michael's Hill in Bristol. You can even stop by Zero Degrees just down the road between 4 and 7 pm and get £2 pints! And they have American-style pale ale!! It was fantastic! If you're not near Bristol, you'll have to settle for checking out Jody's website.

One piece in particular, called Stephanie, I absolutely fell in love with. Unfortunately, she's £550. So I'm collecting money for my birthday so that I can get her. So *hint, hint* my birthday is in less than a month. If anyone wants to contribute to the Stephanie cause, send me money. I'll let you come visit her all you want.

If you'd like to see some of Jody's work, his website is here. Check it out, his work is truly incredible. Oh yeah, and send me your money so I can get my painting ;-]

You'll have to wait for me, California...

So I'm having to postpone my trip to California. I know this is very sad for everyone. Don't worry! I'm still coming out! It'll just be closer to October, not August. Sorry guys. I'm not sure of the dates yet so I have just removed the countdown timer and will repost it when I know for sure when I'm coming.

I know all you Californians are broken-hearted that you will have to wait longer to see me but I promise I have good reasons. First of all, my dad has invited me to go on a Caribbean cruise October 4-10. He'd originally booked it for himself and my mom, but now that she's starting a new job, she can't go. So I get to go. If I fly to the States in 2 weeks then back to the UK in Sept, I'd have to fly back to Miami in October for the cruise and that's like nearly £450. I could just stay out in California for the whole 7 weeks, but that's sooooo long to stay out there with no car and I don't think Steve would appreciate me being gone for that long anyway. The other reason is that I have a health issue which needs to be taken care of asap. I've got a doctor appointment the Friday before I'm scheduled to leave and I'm probably going to need to go back for more tests and stuff after that which I'd like to get over with as soon as possible. It's just easier to get it all done before I go. Also, it'd be nice to have the extra time here to figure out job stuff and get that all settled. I'm more than a little bummed that it's being postponed (though the cruise is definitely making the deal sweeter, thanks Dad!) especially since today is the last sunny day for the next week at least. It's supposed to just rain and rain and rain for the foreseeable future. Lame =[

In other news, Chaz has a vet appointment tomorrow. Just a little checkup. Hopefully anyway. He's been quilling and he's nearly done now and still grumpy as ever so I'm wondering if he might have gotten mites somehow, maybe through the wood shavings we used to use or maybe from a fly that got into his cage or something. You never know. So I'm bringing him in to get him checked out, just in case. He's never been to the vet anyway so I thought it'd be good to take him in and have him looked at. He's so getting another bath tonight too because he's so dang cute in it. Hopefully we'll get video this time. I'll totally post it. Speaking of cute, how hilarious is this picture of him on his back? He can't get out of this position and his face gets all fat and it just cracks me up. His arms and legs wiggle and he looks like he's kinda trying to swim out of it. It's so cute. Maybe I'll get video of that too.

Anyway, it's about time to bathe the hedgie so I'm off. Ciao all.

Clean Chaz

So yesterday we gave Chaz a bath. I love bathing him. Not because he smells better after - he doesn't - but because he is hilarious in the bath. I'll pop him in the sink with about an inch and a half of warm water and a little bit of baby oil (it soothes his skin) and after sitting there for a few seconds figuring out where he's at, he starts to panic because he HATES baths. He starts this really cute thing where he tries to climb up my arms or the walls of the sink and the look on his face is priceless. Then, when he's done, I pull him out and set him in a towel in Steve's waiting arms so he can be dried off while I'm cleaning out the sink, but Chaz just tries to get out of the towel and towards me. That's the funny part. I'm the one that put him in the bath. I'm the one that tortured him by pouring water over his quills and rubbing water into his belly and wouldn't let him crawl up my arms out of the water, yet I'm also the one who pulled him out of the water. Steve always tried to keep Chaz wrapped up in the towel so he doesn't get cold as he's drying but if he knows I'm around he'll just want to be with me so Steve usually just gives up and hands Chaz to me in the towel and cleans up the sink himself while Chaz cuddles up to my chest and tried to forget the horrible experience I just put him through. Next time we'll have video.

This is a short one. I know you've all probably seen this picture of Chaz before, but it' just so dang cute so I'm going to leave you with it again =]

English Sushi

Steve and I went out on a date last night. It was our first date in forever. Probably the first one we've had in over a year and a half. Very much overdue. We chose this ridiculously expensive Japanese restaurant because it's also been way too long since we've had sushi. The photo to the left is the label of the incredible bottle of wine we had with our dinner. I know it seems strange to have French wine with Japanese food, but it worked. I also know it's strange for me to actually enjoy a bottle of French wine, but I did. Oh boy did I. Because we don't get really good French wine in California (and even if we did, who cares! We have amazing California wine to drink, so there's no reason to drink some stinky French wine) I'm not very well-versed on reading the labels of them. So I took a photo in hopes that someone will tell me which information is important for me to know in order to find more of this so I can buy it. This wine was really amazing. Upon finishing this bottle we asked for another, but we'd gotten the last bottle! So we were wavering between a Rioja or a South African Bordeaux blend. The Rioja was the safe choice so we went with the SA wine which, unfortunately, was the wrong decision. We ended up giving half the bottle to a bunch of younguns at the table next to us because we couldn't stand it. Luckily, Steve knocked over my glass while we were thumb wresting so I didn't have to finish it.

After sushi we headed over to Bond's which, if you're just tuning in or can't remember from last week's episode, is our favorite place to drink at in town. I discovered that I drank mojitos when we were there last Friday and don't even remember it. I just have to reiterate how much I love that bar. The people who work there know us by name and every time we go there, we meet new people. Last night Steve disappeared for a while and had gone and chatted up a couple and also a table of ladies and I was sitting in the corner talking to an older couple for an hour or so. At one point some kid walked by outside and punched a window and broke the glass and a bunch of customers inside ran after him. They didn't have to. It wasn't their bar or their responsibility to go after him. In any other place they'd have just gone back to their drinks and conversations and whatnot, but these guys went after the kid, while the doorman just stood there. Anyway, it was a fun night. As always.

Sooo, if you're perceptive you'll see I put a little countdown to California. Most people know about this, but I'll announce it anyway: I'm coming out for a visit August 24-September 3. I'll be in SLO Aug 28-30. I'm sooooooooo excited!! just over 3 weeks and I'll be home! I can't wait!