Yesterday, Andy and I had a little bit of a rough commute. Our first train hung out in the station for a while as more and more people jammed into the car. It’s funny to watch people tear down the steps at full speed to run onto the waiting train (assuming that it will leave quickly, as they normally do) only to wait on the train for 5 minutes while the train people sort out the signaling problems wherever the signaling problems are. HA. I’ve done it many times, but somehow I think that makes it funnier.

Then we transferred to our next train, which - according to the sign - was only going to Baker Street (we go further). When we got most of the way to Baker Street, the train operator/ announcer guy came on and said, “Sorry about this, but I’ve just been told that this train will not go on past Baker Street.” That was funny, because we already knew that - I guess nobody told the driver.

Then at Baker Street, the next train on the line we usually take would have been another 6 minutes away, so we decided to take one of the other lines. The other platform was quite crowded, but when the train came, we found space, and again, we waited on the train for a long time. After about 4 or 5 minutes, the announcer lady came on and said (in a thick, Cockney-like accent), “Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologise for the delay; the line manager has decided to let all of the trains on the other lines out before us. Again, please do not have a go at the staff - it’s the line manager’s fault.” That was funny all by itself, but we found it extra funny, because we might have left earlier if we had waited for one of those trains that the line manager decided to let out on the other line, where we were in the first place.

THEN, when we finally arrived at our destination station, we stumbled upon a Canadian couple who made us laugh again, because we had recently been discussing the ways to tell Americans and Canadians apart, and we said that one easy way is that Canadians don’t want people to think they’re American, so they tend to wear Canadian flags all over themselves. This man had on a Canadian flag scarf and had Canadian flag patches on his bags, and the lady with him had a Canadian flag hat (complete with pompom and hangy-down tassle thingies) and Canadian flag gloves. I can understand why they don’t want people to think they’re Yanks (lots of people don’t like Americans - how can you not like a Canadian?), but it’s still funny.

So that’s how our day started yesterday, and when I was walking home, it snowed. It was WONDerful. Little boys jumped around and tried to catch it on their tongues, and I grinned my way back home from the tube stop. It reminded me of home.

Today the sun came out, and it was GLORIOUS. Cold, but lovely. Everyone was MUCH more cheerful, and I saw a glimpse of what spring will bring. Also, I’m hoping spring will help clear up the dry skin on my arms that I am calling eczema despite Justine’s caution regarding self-diagnosis. Well, the spring and the Eucerin shower gel and the baby oil. Maybe between them it’ll clear up.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed how comfortable Aerobeds are? We have resolved to sleep on our Aerobed on the weekends, because it’s just that comfortable. Plus it feels like a little sleepover, which is kind of fun. I LOVE being a grownup!

Incidentally I think I should get donations from Eucerin and Aero for mentioning their products in such a favourable light and to such a MASSIVE audience. Of 7-10 people.

Ok so maybe I’m a little random tonight. You’ll manage.

In England, it can be extraordinarily dark in the winter, and I think it’s finally getting to me a little bit.

Today the sun rose at 7:51 am and set at 4:34 pm. As a point of comparison, in New York today, the sun rose at 7:13 am and set at 5:02 pm. You guys have an entire hour and 6 minutes on us. Geesh. At least it was light out while I walked from the tube to work, but I’m about done with this. I am trying to be pleasant, but really I feel pretty grumpy, and to make matters worse, so does EVVVVVeryone else. Miserable so-and-sos - all of ‘em. The GOOD news, however, is two-fold.

1. It will be daylight savings time before I know it. March 26th is a mere two months away, and between now and then Todd is coming to visit and we’re going to Greece! Not bad, really.
2. Because it gets so dark in the winter and so light in the summer, the change seems to happen faster, so when we came back from the States on the 5th of January, the sun rose at 8:05 am and set at 4:07 pm. That means that we have already gained 14 minutes in the morning and 27 minutes in the eve- ok, maybe in the afternoon. But still - that is a noticeable change! Once it gets past the time I leave work, I think I’ll really start to notice.

Anyway, how do I know that it’s getting to me? Well, I yelled at a lady I don’t know. BUT she was being horrible. I was trying to wheel Melinda’s suitcase through the little tube doors, and I bumped into this lady, because she was trying to get past me (presumably thinking that I would be slow thanks to the suitcase). So I very sincerely said, “Oh I’m sorry!,” and then she huffed and puffed and took the Lord’s name in vain, which -admittedly - isn’t as great an offence here as it is in America, but still - I said I was sorry. So I really yelled at her, “I SAID I was SORRY!” She walked off saying, “Take it easy” and looking embarrassed.

For a second, I felt a little bad. The poor lady was probably having a bad day, and I’m sure if I were having a miserable day I might huff and puff if someone got in my way. But then, I decided that no - she was being nasty, and if I were - on my miserable day - being nasty to someone, I would absolutely deserve to get yelled at. So now I’m OK with it, but goodness it surprised me when it came out of my mouth!

The point of this whole story is that the sun needs to come back out, and also, everyone else needs to stop being grumpy so that I don’t have to be grumpy back. No worries - only 2 measly little months to go.

Before we begin our second and final blog, we’d like to give thanks to our loyal fans, Patrick and Whitey. Now, on to what we’ve been doing for the past five days. We’ll keep it short and sweet, highlighting the funniest stuff.

We spent Monday through Wednesday in Paris doing the typical touristy stuff and here is what we learned about the French:
1. They LOVE assigned seating- On the Eurostar train to Paris we were kicked out of our seats THREE times because we didn’t know that there even was assigned seating.
2. Much like the English, they hate doorknobs.
3. Paris is the sleeping capital of the world- We slept 14 hours in one night
4. They hate sneakers- We were literally the only ones wearing sneakers in Paris
5. They make excellent croissants and the same goes for all their pastries.
6. La Bon Marche- maybe the best thing Parisians have to offer. They were having a huge sale, we spent 2 out of 3 days in the department store and got GREAT deals on purses.
7. They have more cafes than ATMs.

Since we’ve been back in London we’ve eaten leftover croissants, shopped “in” Oxford Street, discovered Bershka (great store), saw Tiffany’s office, went to Windsor, ate some Indian food and enjoyed a fabulous Quiz night at a pub.

Quiz night was so great that it deserves a small explanation. We showed up late to Quiz night, but only missed one round. We were quite surprised to see how old some of the people there were, because we thought it would be a bunch of young drunk people, but it was a mix of young and old drunk people. Quite a few of the questions were specifically related to the U.K., so with the exception of one that Tiff could answer we struggled with those. Then, along came the Family Fortune question (much like Family Feud) and the category was “five other words for cry”, well we got four out of five and since a few other teams also got four out of five, we elected Andy to answer the tie breaker question. He of course answered it correct and our team, the High-5ers, (named that because Tiffany’s co-workers seem to think American’s high 5 a lot) won a bottle of wine! Quiz night was so much fun and we are trying to bring quiz night to America.

Our flight leaves tomorrow and we are not ready to leave. According to the law, we can stay in the U.K. up to six months and we are not allowed to work, so that sounds pretty good to us… look forward to our blogs from London in the months to come!

Cheers! The long awaited blog from Melinda and Brooke is finally here! We have arrived in London! After less than 24 hours with the McNeil’s, we have been declared their Favoritest Guests Ever (and forever and ever) and no one will ever compare. We won’t bore you with the details, but we’ll briefly tell you about our trip thus far.

Our flight from Newark (shout out to Dirrrty Jerz) to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic (the best airline ever) was excellent, partly due to the OREO CHEESECAKE we were served for dessert. This was a fantastic start to our carbo-loading vacation! Upon arrival, we went though customs where we were threatened to be “sent back to the States this afternoon” for not knowing Tiffany and Andy’s address and/or phone number. Relieved at the fact that our trip could continue, we went on our merry way to meet the McNeil’s.

We went back to their flat for some delicious breaky made by Andrew McNeil (almond brioche, if you want the recipe we’ll be happy to email it to you) and a shower! Then, we were on our way to Camden Market. It pretty much looked like the East Village- complete with Mohawk wearing Punkers and a giant flea market, which was overwhelmed by the smell of incense. Realizing how overly tired we were, we decided to go to Kensington for tea and scones at The Muffin Man (thanks to Sharon Light’s brother for the suggestion). After a delightful snack, we decided to head home for some celebrating. With the Celebration Light illuminated and matching champagne glasses, we toasted to our trip and our friendship. It’s time for dinner (Tiff is making Chicken Divan- yum) so we’ll write later.

Another highlight from our holiday was our evening out with Patrick, of the McNeilorama Comments Hall of Fame.

We went to a bar down town. It’s the kind of bar in which one might run into miscellaneous high school acquaintances and in which one may drink 60 different types of beer in order to earn a metal stein which than hangs conveniently from the ceiling for one’s future drinking pleasure.

We sat in the bar, had a couple of tasty beverages, and watched the bowl game over the bartender’s shoulder while chatting about various topics, primarily the many antics of Andy and Patrick’s high school and college days. When we were nearing the end of round 2, the man next to Andy tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, are you guys planning to leave soon? I don’t want to rush you, but we would like your seats.”

What? Uhh. . . we don’t really know umm. . . do you guys want to . . . uh. . .

At around the same time, open mic night commenced. We talked to the “I don’t want to rush you but” guy for a few minutes - mostly because he was insistently offering us a round on him for being so rude (it really was rude, but he clearly didn’t mean it that way - he felt REALLY bad). Then we decided that our time had come and perhaps we could find a cup of coffee somewhere.

We went to the coffee shop. It looked open, so we went in, and it was open - they were selling t-shirts and mugs and whatnot, but as it turns out, they were closing, and open mic night had just ended. The owner advised us that while they were indeed closing, she knew that some people were heading over to the bar (from whence we came), because they have an open mic night over there. That’s right – the open mic participants were headed down town to open mic participate again. How about that? Apparently Andy’s home town has an artists’ community of roving open micers. We wondered if Thursday was open mic night throughout the town and if so, when and where does it start, what stops does it make, and does it ever end?

Without a coffee shop to turn to, we went to another bar and spent the next half hour or so trying to figure out how best to steal the Christmas tree (which was full-sized, fully decorated, lit, and plugged in - and which, of course, we had no intention of stealing). I thought I could unplug it, lay it down, and then slide it out somehow. Pat & Andy suggested that I quickly hurl it through the window when no one was looking. Too bad the open mic tour wasn’t there yet (or had already been there?) - a little entertainment would have been just the distraction I needed to pull it off.

For New Year’s Eve, Andy and I met up with our former neighbors from Jersey. There were three apartments in our old place, and all three couples moved out at around the same time, so we decided to meet up for New Year’s. A brewery in Pennsylvania (which is conveniently located to a few parental residences) hosted a big New Year’s Eve-ent, complete with huge meal, open bar, and band.

So about the band. How do I say. . . . um. . . well, they were called Middle-Aged Mitch and the Moodswings.

Yup.

Mitch, sporting a grey, tightly-curled old-school (meaning pre-Achy Breaky Heart) mullet, burst energetically onto the stage and announced that, while many bands consider themselves to be oldies bands, be not confused. The MOODSwings, said Mitch, “prefer to think of ourselves as a ROCK ‘n ROLL band . . . that likes to play old music.” While perhaps not the most talented rock ‘n roll band that plays old music in the world, Mitch & Co. were also not the worst, and at the very least, they were tremendously entertaining.

The former residents of #134 (apartments 1, 2, and 3) and friends were some of the youngest folks at the Eve-ent, and we joined a large group of middle-aged, Central Pennsylvanians and shook our booties to Mitch’s killer tunes.

Incidentally, we attended the party with some folks in the beer industry and ended up having a nice chat with the owners of the brewery. We learned a lot about beer. Most of all, we learned that beers tasting of green apple have been rushed through the brewing process, which means the brewers didn’t leave enough time for the acetaldehyde to do. . . um. . . whatever it does when it goes away.

So about New Year’s Efforts. I think that New Year’s Resolutions are a bad idea. I won’t pretend that I’m the first person to think of this, but the thing is, most people don’t keep their resolutions, and then they feel bad about themselves. That is just silly. I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for deciding that an occasional M&M won’t kill me or that I don’t need to exercise 5 times in every single week. Nonsense, I tell ya. I do think, however, that setting goals and making concerted efforts toward self-improvement are generally positive steps toward a more fulfilling life, and the New Year is as good a time as any to think about the aspects of your life that might need re-evaluation. AND SO, I have decided that from now on I will have New Year’s Efforts. Down with resolutions.

Here’s my effort this year: I am going to try to be a more sincere person. I realised (or remembered, rather) that I am not quite funny enough to be a sarcastic person, so I tend to offend people. Therefore, sincere is probably a better way to go for me. We’ll see how it goes.

By the way, two days after our beerducation, Andy joined our friend Chris in a home-brewed beer that one of Chris’s buddies’ dads made. Green apple, all the way. That guy needs to brew his beer longer. That acetaldehydle’ll get you every time.

PS. We’ll try to post pictures soon. . .

Our Holiday Holiday is almost complete, and before I left England, I sort of hinted that I maybe might post while in the USofA, so anyway I thought I’d make an honest woman outa me. Why haven’t we posted? Well, I could type out a long list of our travels, but I would probably be bored writing it, so I can’t imagine how bored you might be to read it. Instead, I offer these quick highlights:

We saw Andy’s entire immediate family and all of their friends, Tiffany’s entire immediate family and much of the extended family, Caton, Mark, Anna and THEIR family and friends, loads of Andy’s college friends (aka.the peeps), Tiffany’s old work friends with Melissa & Lee, our neighbors from Jersey City and their family, Jenn, Griff, Hadley & Scarlett, and Fyl & Meghan. If I left you out, well, I’m sure I’ll hear about.
We went to 1 graduation, 1 birthday party, three Christmas parties, a New Year’s party, and a Barbie Monster Truck Rally Wedding.
We met two babies, one boyfriend, and one USDA veterinarian, saw one new house and watched at least 4 or 5 football games.

Tomorrow, we have to take the cats to the vet for their last check-up before their big move, and then we have a very important football game to watch, and Wednesday will undoubtedly be consumed by packing and preparing for our afternoon flight back. I feel tired just from writing about all of that.

I will try to write more and potentially post some pictures when we get back, but for now I’ll just say that we are having a wonderful time visiting everyone, and we feel lucky to have enough vacation time to see everyone and hang out. NOW it’s your turn. Brooke & Melinda are coming in a few weeks, Todd’s coming in February, and Melissa’s talking big about May, but there are quite a few others who we would REALLY love to have over. Let us know when you’re coming!!

Also, GO PENN STATE!