10pm-5am

From 10pm to at least 5am, one should be asleep. 10pm may be a little early, yes. I agree. But when you went to bed at 3am the day before, then 10pm should be a good bed time.

Wellll ... I have a confession to make.

I didn't go to bed at 10pm, nor did I wake up at 5am. Rather, I stayed out from 10pm to 5am continuing the Thanksgiving celebration.

Thursday evening, after pretty much everyone had left & Michelle & I had cleaned up the house, some of us stayed in the kitchen finishing the bottles of wine (we went through 10) & I decided to crack open the bottle of Malibu Rum (though I would have preferred Captain Morgan's, but beggars can't be choosers.) Anyway, Stefan, Mus, Shanu, Thomas, Michelle, Sam, Rachael, & I greatly enjoyed our 'til 2am festivities, even when Andy & Daniel showed up. :-)

During the reminscing during the early morning hours, we decided we were going to go out Friday night. So plans were made to go out about 10pm. Now I'm not much of a night owl, especially when it is cold & raining (but I do live in Wales, so we must overlook that). But I was game & I had only gone out twice before with the last time, known as "Girls Night Out", flopped horrendously. So what the heck? Why not? Plus I might not have to buy any drinks.

So Michelle & I got all dressed up as you can see here. She's in her "booby top" as I like to call it, whereas I am going for the more mysterious & alluring outfit. ;-) Love ya Shell!




So we went into town, met up with Rachael & Jenny outside of Revolution & headed to "The Bank Statement" which is a fun little pub. There we had our one drink & then decided to head to Time & Envy. Time & Envy are actually 2 clubs that are joined by a corrider. Time is in the basement & plays mostly techno music, whereas Envy is above & plays more of the pop stuff (but is older pop stuff compared to what we have in the US right now). The guys (Mus & Stefan) were supposed to meet up with us, but were losers & didn't want to go to Time or Envy. They were at Play, so I decided to meet up with them because Time & Envy was getting too crowded for me & Michelle, Rachael, & Jenny were dancing. So I headed back to Wind Street, met Mus in front of Revolutions, & walked to Play. At Play were some of the people who had come to Thanksgiving & you could actually walk around without hitting someone. Mus & Stefan each bought me a drink (thanks, guys) since I ditched the girls to hang out with the guys. At 2:30am, we decided to head out & get some food 'cause we were hungry. Now I was craving Taco Bell, as you should at this hour of the night. But, alas, no Taco Bell in the UK. Instead we went to Mus's favorite place - Oasis Kebab. I had chips, i.e. french fries, that I shared with Andy since he was nice enough to get them for me. By 3am, it was decided to get a cab for the 8 of us to go back to the Village. Mus & Stefan ran to the Spar that was open to pick up some more drinks & some Coke & then we headed back. Once we got to the Village, we went back to Mus & Stefan's house (also where Michelle lives) to sit around & talk & drink some more. Mus introduced me to Turkish music which I actually kinda like. Daniel & Stefan kept talking in German which meant no one else understood, & Andy kept telling me to drink by rum & Sprite faster. I told him I had to sip it since I was drinking it out of a tea cup! :-) My one drink lasted until about 4:45am when I realized what time it was. By 5am, I was finally walking the 2 doors down to my house so I could go to bed. And believe it or not, I woke up at noon! No alarm clock! And then went & did laundry. It's craziness. Today has been mostly a chill today - I've watched some Grey's Anatomy & Men in Trees ... & I have thought about writing my paper that is due next Thursday, but, yeah ... it's not coming along as planned. :-)

Oh well ... for those of you looking forward to more pics & stories - I am going to Paris next Thursday night! We're taking the ferry over to Calais & then a train to Paris. We'll be there for a few days, so I can actually see Paris at Christmas! Should be loads of fun! And Michelle has made me speak French with her on numerous occasions. As long as I speak in the present tense & use a limited vocabulary, I'm good ... just don't go using big words & I think I'll be okay.

Thanksgiving

Thursday was Thanksgiving in the States. It was Thanksgiving to those of us who are American living in Wales as well. But the UK isn't as cool as the US - I still had to go to class. Regardless, after class ended at 11am, I came back to the village to start cooking for the Thansgiving extravaganza Michelle & I had unwittingly planned.

Now, originally we had limited the invite list to just the housemates - a total of 16. Well, Michelle got to inviting people & we ended up with a little more than 20 at one point in time - & that's with only 4 of my housemates showing up! But it was fun!

Michelle had class at 2pm, so I did the bulk of the veges since I was home all day. I cooked the mixed veges, the cheese grits, green beans, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, brownies, & a pecan pie that tasted nothing like Aunt Beth's. I "saved" our precious 12 lb. turkey from Michelle's house when someone turned the oven off & then proceeded to turn the electricity off in its entirety (the upstairs bathroom leaked & they were afraid someone would get electrocuted when taking a shower in the downstairs bathroom). But in the end, it all came together & was delicious & everyone loved it.

Here are some pics from the festivities. Sadly, I'm having camera issues so they are fuzzy. Stefan is supposed to send me the photo he took of Michelle, Mus, & me with the food, but he hasn't yet. When he does, I'll post it.





This what was leftover of the turkey. I didn't even get to try it!














This is Sam, our resident Welsh guest who appreciates any & all food. ;-)

It's Christmas!!

Yup, it's not even Thanksgiving yet & I am declaring it is Christmas. But I have every right to because today Michelle & I received the coolest stuff ever: our Thanksgiving supplies! So now we can officially make Thanksgiving dinner without too many worries ... though I do have to make a pie crust from scratch.

So what was in the box, you ask? Well, first we had TWO boxes, mostly courtesy of my mother. We have stuff to make s'mores (the Germans just cannot imagine what we're talking about with this one), tons of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese (you'd better believe that's what I had for dinner tonight & it was DELICIOUS!), granola bars, cookie & brownie mixes, cake mix & icing (for Matt's birthday Dec. 7), pastas, hot chocolate, & probably the crowd pleaser with the North Americans - Peanut Butter M&Ms. Matt, Jordan, & I have already eaten half the first bag. Europeans do not believe in combining peanut butter & chocolate, so now Reese's & no P&B M&Ms. Such a shame.

Girls Night Out flopped last night as only 4 girls actually made it to Pub on the Pond for dinner. And from there we nixed the idea of going out to Wyne Street. Supposedly we're all going out Friday &/or Saturday. I did have a really good salmon for 5 quid which was quite exciting because it was so cheap! And so good!

Michelle & I will start cooking for Thanksgiving tomorrow & will cook through Thursday morning/afternoon. Still don't have a turkey ... guess we need to go visit the butcher & have a chat. We'll try to take tons of pics on Thursday so you all can "meet" everyone from the 2 houses & the random friends that will be showing up.

And no pics from last night, because, well, it sucked frankly. So they didn't merit any picture taking.

So yea ... I love mac 'n cheese & PB M&Ms & will probably make myself sick on them between now & Thursday.

Oh, random comment. My professor of the Unsex'd Female class has canceled class from here on out so we can "work on our papers" she claims. So that means I have TWO classes a week - Wed. & Thurs. - which is super crazy, but kinda nice ... doubt I'll actually get loads of work done. Oh well ...

Books & Shoes ...

Oh my gosh! Today has been the best day ever!

First, I didn't leave Michelle's house last night until 2AM! Yes! TWO IN THE MORNING! We were having "girl talk" until Shanu interrupted & then we had girl talk with Shanu there, but whatever. So that was loads of fun & much needed. Sort of reminiscent of the US Bitch Fests that we would have except there were only 2 of us & my nearest & dearest weren't present.

So at 9am, there was tiny knock on my door. Now my alarm was snoozing because I had to be at Michelle's by 10am so we could blow off class together & have a "girls' day." So I struggle out of my toasty bed, open my door, & lo & behold! what is there? Oh yes, my books! FINALLY! Now, had they not shown by Thursday, then I'd be calling Barnes & Noble to complain, but that is not necessary because I have my books & I can write my paper & I am SO excited! (Yes, I'm excited about writing a paper - I'm weird, okay?)

Now I have to tell you what this box looks like. First off, it's encased in a blue airmail bag that looks like a woven grain sack. The box itself is fairly big - I don't know dimensions, but it's a good size. It has SEVEN books in it - that's it! And TWO layers of packing wrap. I mean really - save a tree & use a smaller box.

So I called Michelle to make sure she was up & told her about my newly arrived mail. I proceeded to go downstairs to take a shower. Well Freddy & Jordan are sitting in the kitchen & they look as I head to the shower in my wonderful blue terry cloth bathrobe. Freddy is Freddy & wants to chat. Mentions the box. Says "Are they sending you dead babies in that blue bag or what?" He then told me how he had answered the door when the postman knocked & looked a little bewildered when the exchange was made. Whatever. I have my books now!

Finally I'm ready by 10am & I head to Michelle's so we can catch the bus. We walk to Blackpill which is about a 45-minute brisk walk (1.5 miles, we're guessing) so we could visit Clyne Farm where I'm considering taking riding lessons. We then have to walk UPHILL for I don't know how far to get to this farm! The view was SPECTACULAR! You would never guess this farm exists in Swansea! I mean really! And we find this garden, though it might as well be a park, which is gorgeous as well, complete with a dog graveyard, a Japanese bridge, a castle, & all sorts of cool stuff. Would be a great study place 'cause it is so peace & quiet & gorgeous.

By then it was 11:15 & we decided to head back towards the city because we were going to go shopping for our Thursday evening night out. We needed "sexy shirts" that we actually never did find. So we go to the city centre & decide to eat at the Bouchon de Rossi, a French cafe that we kept saying we would try.

Well! Let me tell you what! AHHH! THE FOOD! DELICIOUS! I had the cream of celery soup & Shell had the melon starter. Then I had the pasta of day which had an asparagus cheese soup, or so I was told, which really ended up being lots of mushrooms. Yes, mom, I ate some of the 'shrooms. Be proud. Michelle had the pork chops in a cream sauce with green beans & chips (fries). It was so good, yet expensive when we did the conversion, but it was so worth!

After that we HAD to walk off the meal. So, by 1pm we were shopping. Shell has been pricing Christmas trees because the guys have given her license to decorate. I needed a new pyrex container 'cause ours broke (guess it couldn't stand the heat). And we were on the prowl for shoes. Oh yes ... shoes. We love them. We're female! And I am my mother's daughter & her mother's granddaughter. I get the shoe addiction from them. I found the coolest pair of heels - & we all know how much I LOVE heels (note sarcasm please). These are REALLY comfy, about 2 inches or more high, & black with pointy toes. I love 'em! I wore them around Shell's house when we were cooking dinner to break them in some. She found a pair to for her big, UK size 9, feet.

Then we hit Jane Norman which is this new store that has just opened & they have really expensive clothes but this fab sweater I really wanted. I finally broke down & bought it. And Shell bought a black sparkly shrug to wear over a corset she has. Ah, glorious.

Next stop was Debenham's. Since we have planned to go out Thursday, I needed makeup 'cause I brought none over & Shell wanted perfume. Debenham's was having a sale on everything in the store, so I shopped at the Clinique counter & bought some makeup since the bulk of my show makeup needs to be thrown out & it's not exactly "going out" wear.

Let's see ... can't really remember what else we did. We were certainly worn out when we got home at 5pm. We shared a pizza cause we weren't really too terribly hungry after our large dinner. OH! We did try to make no-bake cookies last night. Those flopped. We even froze them & they still would not harden like they should. So we ate some cookies with spoons - quite amusing to watch anyway. But the guys, particularly Raza, liked them & joined in our cookie eating extranvaganza.

Now it is 10:15pm & I'm worn out & I have yet to open one of my new books. And I have a 9am class, so I can't stay up late tonight perusing the books. And I HAVE to work out tomorrow after class since I blew it off today - our uphill climb to the farm counts, right??? And the shopping? Those bags can get heavy!

So hopefully we will go out tomorrow night if we can convince Mel to go. Rachael is going to Edinburg so she can't join which is sad. So if Mel can't go, we'll cancel & move it to Monday when we can all go & enjoy one other's company for a glorious girls' night out of dinner, a pub crawl, & picking up guys.

But the highlight of the day ... my books & my shoes. At least I'm addicted to harmless things & not something worse, right? :-D

Welcome to My World

Welcome to my world of current boredom. I'm sitting in the library, staring at a computer screen, while Denise giggles her way through her 'homework' which has really turned into procrastination & talking to friends online. We're waiting for Michelle & Rachel to get out of class in an hour.

So I'm in the library, attempting to be productive. I have read Freddy's English paper which is only 3 pages, but sadly needs some work. It is interesting to read a paper by someone who is not a native English speaker. His sentence structures are problematic in some parts. We'll see what he thinks of comments when he gets back from Cardiff tonight.

I have printed out a ton of papers to read through today as well. All by Judith Sargent Murray. Oh, here's some fun info. A little over 2 weeks ago, I ordered some books from Barnes & Noble for my essay that I am presenting a week from TODAY. I shipped them priority so I would, theoretically, get them in 5-15 days. Well, I have yet to get them. So I made a friendly phone call to B&N yesterday & the guy I talked to said, 'Wait 'til Thursday. If you don't have them, call your local post office. If they don't know, call us back.' Right. Whatever. If I don't have them Thursday, guess who I'm calling!? That's right - B&N. And since it is GUARANTEED, I'd better get some money back if they're not here by Thursday! So I did find some primary sources on the great world wide web & printed them out - spent 4£ doing that, which is almost $8! It's crazy, this exchange rate. So the papers are sitting beside me, staring at me, waiting for me to pick them up & read them, but I'm just not feeling it.

Oh, I'm officially playing hooky tomorrow. I'm not going to class. I see no reason to since it will be 2 hours of learning how to search for things on the net. Um, I could teach the class thank you. I mean really. It would turn into 2 hours of me playing Jigzone or Popcap which I did LAST week when we had this exact same class. So yeah, not going. Blowing it off. I don't think Chris & Lucy are going either. Chris proposed going straight to JC's at noon when class starts & having some beer. The Beer Race is tomorrow night (very hard to believe that university's actually encourage drinking) so he thinks starting early would be great. Whatever. I'm not up for that nor am I going to the 'great' Beer Race. I'll stay home & bake cookies or something.

That's another thing ... I'm craving sweets since I haven't had any in ... about a week. I figure if I can work out for 2 hours a day (with the exception of today because it hurts to move) then I can reward myself with a cookie or 5! Right?? Surely! Michelle made cinnamon rolls the other night, so I made stop by her house & pick up one. But we're really wanting to make some chocolate chip cookies - ok, she wants to make them, I want to eat the batter. I also proposed having cake batter for dinner ... er, dessert I mean, but I don't know where we can get a hold of that. So yeah, that's the excitement of my life right now.

Guess I'll rewrite the newspaper article subjectively like I was supposed to for my early Thursday class.

Oh, we are going out Thursday night, Michelle & I have decided. Rachel was going to go, but she leaves for Edinburg that night. And Denise has to work 'til midnight. We're hoping to rope Mel into this. We're thinking about getting all dressed up, going to dinner, then hitting some bars. Michelle's determined to meet some guys that aren't younger than we are ... so we'll see what happens!

Anyway, I must get back to work, though I have only killed 13 minutes writing this blog. Oh well. Thanksgiving's a week from Thursday, which means I'll be cooking up a storm!!

Fall Adventures

Finally! Finally! Finally! The leaves are FINALLY changing colors. Does that mean fall is here for a little while? Let's hope so ...

Saturday was November 11, which is the British Rememberance Day. At Chepstow Castle (more about that in a few), I got to watch the lord-mayor, dressed in official regalia, launch 2 rockets into the sky (I have video) at 11am when the church bells tolled the hour. This was followed by 2 minutes of silence. Very creepy & eerie.

On Saturday I went to the Wye Valley which is considered the most beautiful area of Wales. It is right on the border of England. The Wye Valley houses two really cool pieces of history - a castle and an abbey. Chepstow Castle, dating back to the Normans, sits on the Wye River. It is huge! At first glance, looks can be VERY deceiving. See for yourself -








Construction on the castle began in 1067!! (William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in 1066 - he has a castle in Caen, France for those of you history buffs.) Over the years, the castle was expanded to the huge thing it is today. The castle was hardly ever taken because of its location - literally on the rocky ledge of the Wye River - in fact, part of it is built into the side! It was during the Civil War (British, not American) that the castle became damaged by cannon fire since it was outfitted to withstand medieval attacks, i.e. arrow fire. Oh, and supposedly the castle is haunted by a guy - I think it was Henry Marten - who only appears to young females. *shrug* Sorry, my southern charms didn't bring him out.

After my visit to Chepstow, the American Studies bus took the short 6-mile drive to Tintern Abbey, a Cistercian abbey that was miraculously saved from demolition during Henry VIII's reign. Our guide Brother Thomas, aka Keith, told stories as if he were a Benedictine brother living in the abbey.


Now Tintern is only the 2nd Cistercian structure in Britain and the 1st in Wales (founded May 9, 1131 by Walter de Clare, lord of Chepstow). However, it was dissolved in 1536 thanks to the whole "I want a divorce" & "I don't like the Pope" bit happened with Henry.

The abbey is designed in typical abbey format - the altar facing east, but the cloisters had to be built to the north because of the geography of the land. The actual church that still stands was built between 1269 & 1301 - the only things missing are the roof, the window glass, and some walls.

The 1348 Black Death really hurt the abbey since 1/3 of the population died. The abbey could no longer maintain the lands without help, so they leased it to tenant farmers instead of farming the land themselves.

In the 1500s, Henry VIII came to power & well, we all know what happened. Catholicism went down the drain & in came Henry as head of the Church of England (still the prevalent church today). Henry called for the destruction of all churches related to the pope, but he saved Tintern because 3 of his family members were buried within the church.

In the 18th century, Tintern became popular again, particularly with William Wordsworth who loved the romantic, picturesque site covered in ivy.

So a busy day with really cool old buildings ... & a chance to FINALLY see some leaves changing colors.

Do It!

Just Do It!

That's the motto of today ... and the rest of our stay in Swansea.

As I type this, Shanu is making pancakes for us (chocolate ones of course)! And then he is making omlettes & Michelle is making French toast. It's super exciting. It's also 9:30pm!

We are eating so late because we went to Cardiff today - the day that Wales played Australia in rugby. So Cardiff was crazy packed with people! But it was fun.

Michelle, Shanu, & I caught the bus 10:15am bus to Cardiff from Swansea & was there by 11:30. From there, we wandered around the city until we found Cardiff Castle. This is the Keep of the Castle that we walked to the top of. It was really cool. We also took the house tour which was GORGEOUS! The guy that owned the place was the 2nd Marquis of something from Scotland. Now the 7th Marquis later & they're still around. They were REALLY rich - i.e. they had 22 carat gold all over the house! It was crazy. And the woodworking was FABULOUS (Mom, think better than the Orsay.) And the paintings & artwork - AAHH! I want it! So yes, Cardiff Castle was awesome & I want to move into it. Oh, & the 5th Marquis sold the Castle & all the grounds to the people of Cardiff for 1 GBP, so it is goverened by the city & it can never be taken away from the people, which I think is very admirable.


We also went shopping today in Cardiff. Found a store called Lush which is like Bath & Body, but they carry only natural, organic products. We actually bought stuff in H&M - I bought 2 belts because I didn't bring any with me & my pants are falling down!!!

When we get the bus to come back, we ran into one of Michelle's friends who is in the MA History program with her. Mike, & his wife Lindy, are from the US - Mike from CA & Lindy from UT. So we sat on the bus together & chatted. Lindy, hopefully, we'll hang out with Michelle & me often since she is not going to school currently & is looking for things to do. (She's still trying to find a job here!) So it was tons of fun at the castle & Cardiff was actually pretty cool & nice. Michelle & I are talking about going back to shop at some point.

Oh, so the story behind "Just Do It." Sure it's the Nike slogan, but according to Shanu, I am a bad influence on Michelle because I make her buy stuff all the time & often say "Just do it!" So when we were shopping in H&M, I told Michelle to "just do it" in regards to buying this scarf she kept carrying around the store, but couldn't decide whether or not to buy it. So she did. And I'm a bad influence. So "Just Do It" or "Do It" became the motto for the day in regards to EVERYTHING we did. It was fabulous!

Now dinner is ready, I think ... hope. And we're going to watch a movie.

Just Do It!

Been busy

I know! I know! I haven't written in awhile & my only excuse is that I have been busy. What has happened lately?

Well ... nothing much really other than classes. And shopping. Classes are going well, though my Wednesday one is pointless, but we have to go anyway. Luckily Chris, Lucy, & I often convene to the pub between the 12-2 & 4-5 classes & enjoy a pint. Plus Chris always buys, so you can't turn it down!

Last night, Michelle & I went out with some of her friends - Rachel, the Sams (2), & Mel. We went for pizza which was SO good & then we went 2 different bars for drinks. For those of you who know how much I love Fat Frogs, well, I got one! I made Michelle drink the other pint because it's a large drink (2 pints worth) & she really liked it. So I have her hooked on the Irish beverages now!

Today we went shopping. I bought this gorgeous long white sweater for 12 GBP. Oh, and we did some grocery shopping which is always super exciting.

Tomorrow, Shanu, Michelle, & I (& maybe Taran if we can convince him) are going to Cardiff. We're leaving early in the am & hopefully coming back around 5ish. We're going shopping (poor Shanu, but he asked for it) & to see the castle & who knows what else.

OH! I have to tell you all this! I am corrupting the French, one Frenchman at a time! It's great! I have Alice hooked on the TV show WHAT ABOUT BRIAN. And of course Michelle & I were already hooked. But still! She loves it! So every time I get a package in the mail, we all sit down at a laptop & watch the episode. She is also enjoying Dancing with the Stars which Michelle & I, of course, already loved. So yes, I'm slowly conquering the French, one at a time. Jeremy, Alice's boyfriend, flies in from Dublin tomorrow. Can't wait to meet him & I know Alice is excited!

So yeah, that's all the excitement so far. I am going to classes & studying hard, of course. :-) I'll write tomorrow after we get back from Cardiff to let you know the excitement we find there.

Weather is very chilly here. We had a fairly full moon tonight. And the sunset over the ocean was gorgeous as well.

Oh! Michelle & I joined the gym today & we are going EVERY day because there are some CUTE guys there! Cynda, I may have some hope for us 'cause yeah ... they're nice. ;-) We are going to try & work out on the weekdays & motivate one another. And Shanu joined last week so we're going to help him out. And Michelle's German housemate Stefan already works out, so he can be my spotter when I bench press, if I ever decide to work on that again.

So yeah, fun times!