Did I mention that our vacation was beyond fantastic?

One week ago tonight (plus 5 hours), John and I were in the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon watching a Shakespeare play performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.  (That should probably be Royal Shakespeare Theatre…)  It was a last-minute decision.  Mom and Dad spent the day in the cottage and around the village.  John and I took the car to see the ruins of Hailes Abbey (beautiful), and when we realized it was a little too late (nearing 5pm) to see anything else, we decided to head to Stratford-upon-Avon.  We knew we’d get there too late to get into any of the touristy stuff, but we could still go see stuff.  And have tea.  I love having afternoon tea.  We got there right at 5pm (when the attractions were closing), so aside from a quick glance into a gift shop, we only got to see the outside of the birthplace of Shakespeare and that stuff.  We had our tea (a light cream tea – we planned to find dinner somewhere before we headed back to Chipping Campden and Mom and Dad), and we took a walk down Henley Street (with all its closed shops) and eventually found the Avon.  We dawdled there for a while and then noticed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as we walked by.  The doors were open, we saw books on shelves, and all of a sudden we found ourselves in the gift shop.  Amazing how that works.  We browsed for 20 minutes or so and were on our way out when I suggested we check the box office.  What’s on tonight?  Who cares?  If there are seats available and they’re somewhat reasonably priced, we should stay, right?  Of course right.  So we asked.  Hey, it’s King John.  How much are the tickets?  Only £16 each?  Hey, it starts at 7:30.  What time is it now?  Oh, 7:06?  And we have to move the car?  We can get the car moved in time if we run.  So we ran.  Well, we walked really fast.  Turns out we didn’t have to move the car (just put more money in), so we rushed back, bought our tickets, and sat down just in time for the play to start.

It was really good.  Really good.  And interestingly staged, if that’s the word.  Shakespearean language, contemporary costumes and setting.  And music.  The wedding scene made my whole week.  (“I Say A Little Prayer For You” segued into “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” with the choreography from the end of Dirty Dancing.  SO.  MUCH.  FUN.)

One of many pictures of Hailes Abbey. Also, proof of the beautiful weather we had most of the week.

Hamlet says hello. Or, you know, "Alas, poor Yorick."

I didn't have the foresight to get a picture of the whole building...

...but I did get a shot of the books that lured us in.

Why did it have to end?

We’re home, and it was wonderful, and can I please please please go back?  The last couple of days at home were so peaceful and restful.  I avoided my work email and managed to wake up this morning still feeling somewhat serene and would you believe it?  A day at work with lots of catching up to do and one crisis (that I couldn’t get resolved today) did NOT get to me.  I still feel pretty good and not at all stressed.  Except for the headache.  It’ll go away.

Bicycles in Oxford - Everywhere I turned, there were people riding bikes. Some with robes flapping behind them, some in skirts, some in casual clothes. Then there was the one guy riding down the street on a unicycle, but I didn't get my camera out in time to catch him.

Here’s a video I took today of Roxy eating peanut butter. Because you’re worth it, and gosh darn it, I like you.

Chipping Campden – what a wonderful name

I’m not going to turn this into a full travel write-up (she says in the first sentence of what will probably turn into a travelogue), but I’ll hit the highlights:

Second day in London – totally awesome.  We had breakfast near the hotel and then walked all of 50 steps over to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  So very impressive.  (Sadly, there was no bird lady and there were only a few birds.  I didn’t do any singing there.)  We decided not to go in and do the whole cathedral, though.  £15 apiece seemed a little steep, and we knew we’d be seeing plenty of churches and cathedrals during the week.  From there, we walked across the Millenium Bridge (where I did do some singing – we saw a guy selling the world’s smallest kites, so I sang “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”) and over to the Globe Theatre.  Signed up for a tour, watched a Brazilian troupe rehearsing for a matinee of Romeo and Juliet (in Portuguese, and the play had been interpreted for Brazilian culture – lots of singing, some dancing, and a station wagon as part of the set.  It was crazy.).

From there, we crossed back over the Thames on the Tower Bridge, walked around the Tower of London (we visited during our honeymoon eleven and a half years ago – no time on Saturday), got some ice cream, and headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and head back to Heathrow to meet Mom and Dad.  We got there right on time and drove to Chipping Campden to settle in to our cottage for the rest of the week.

The cottage is adorable.  Two rooms on the main floor (sitting room with a fireplace, kitchen in the back), one bedroom and bathroom on the first floor, and another bedroom and bathroom on the second floor (where John and I are staying).  Very cozy.  So cozy, in fact, that we can hear every word spoken in the house from anywhere in the house.  We didn’t realize that until around midnight Saturday night, when John and I found we were listening to Mom talk to Corey on the phone.  We found out the next morning that she’d been on the ground floor, not the first floor, the whole time.  So we’ve instituted a whisper rule for bedtime (barring phone calls home, of course, because whispering on the phone is kind of stupid).  Actually, we have yet to try out this whisper rule, since this is only our second night and we haven’t gone to bed yet.  I’ve instituted it – it remains to be seen if anyone else has.  Best part about the cottage?  The internet.  It’s reliable.  Unbelievable.

This morning (Sunday for those keeping track) – no, it wasn’t morning.  We had a hard time getting moving today.  In the early afternoon, we went to Hidcote, which has a wonderfully long rambling garden.  It was chilly, so we came back to the cottage for lunch/afternoon tea, and then we went out to check out the church.  St. James’ Church is a real medieval church, and, since we have perfect timing, we stayed for the Evensong service this evening.  That was a) my first Church of England service, and b) a real church service in a medieval church.  The priest was charming and old (and spoke with a pronounced lisp), and the 10 other members of the congregation (we all sat in the choir – the church itself was empty) were all friendly.  The priest was thrilled to see new faces.  There was more singing than I expected during the service – I didn’t think the Anglicans did that much singing.

Tomorrow, John and I are planning a trip to Oxford.  It’s late (last night it was midnight (close to 1?  I don’t remember) before we went to bed, and it’s already after eleven now), and we’re getting up early.

One of the many different views at Hidcote

If only this being in the future thing could work out financially

Wanna know something crazy?  I’ve got TWO things for you:

  1. I’m still awake and coherent.  (Fine – you can be the judge of my coherence.)
  2. It’s still the middle of the afternoon for you guys.

Insane.  Yes, my mind is easily boggled by time zones.  Get your giggling out of the way, please.

Our flight left at 10pm last night, and since neither of us slept well the night before and we both struggled through a full workday, we weren’t too concerned about not sleeping on the plane.  I mean, we both knew we’d be exhausted and jet-lagged once we arrived regardless of how well-rested we were on the way over.  Since we flew economy (naturally – we drooled over the business and first class seats on our way to the back with the rest of the cattle), our seats were uncomfortable and they didn’t recline far enough.  As expected.  So, even though we both slept some, it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t good sleep.  Actually, I guess it was enough, because we have managed to power through the entire day.  We checked in to our hotel around noon or 12:30, dropped off our stuff, and went right back out for lunch (our first meal back in the UK was fish and chips, of course).  Then we walked all over central London, mostly drinking in the atmosphere and taking pictures.  We didn’t really do anything or see anything – we had vague ideas of visiting the National Gallery, but we kind of looped around Trafalgar Square instead of actually going.

Our wandering was pretty awesome, actually.  We haven’t been to London since our honeymoon 11 and a half years ago, but I remember that we didn’t make it to Covent Garden (for no particular reason – there are a lot of places we didn’t make it to).  Our wandering today took us straight there (somewhat accidentally), so we did a little shopping, watched a few street performers (including an opera singer – she made my whole day), and didn’t dive head first into the biggest fry-up of paella I have ever seen.

From there, we walked to Leicester Square, through Piccadilly Circus, and on to St. James’s Park.  It was too late in the day to go into Westminster Abbey, so we walked around it, took a couple of pictures of Big Ben and the Parliament buildings, and hopped on the tube to come back to the hotel and eat nearby.  We’ve been fighting exhausted for a couple of hours now, and I think it’s time to give in.  It’s been almost 36 hours since I got out of my own bed Thursday morning, and I think we’ve put in enough effort to beat the jet-lag problem.  We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

Some pictures:

Check out the guy in the bottom right corner for perspective. You could go swimming in this paella.

Mallards swimming in St. James's...pond? I don't know if it has a name, but it's in the middle of the park.

A tree-lined lanes (I love tree-line lanes) down one side of St. James's Park.

Big Ben! Hey, it's Big Ben! Look! Now wave hello!

Park.  It was too late in the day to go into Westminster Abbey, so we walked around it, took a couple of pictures of Big Ben and the Parliament buildings, and hopped on the tube to come back to the hotel and eat nearby.  We’ve been fighting exhausted for a couple of hours now, and I think it’s time to give in.  It’s been almost 36 hours since I got out of my own bed Thursday morning, and I think we’ve put in enough effort to beat the jet-lag problem.  We’ll see how tomorrow goes.
Some pictures:


Check out the guy in the bottom right corner for perspective. You could go swimming in this paella.

Count to ten and breathe deeply

Statistics is over and John’s thesis has been turned in (his defense is Friday evening).  I should be able to relax a little now, right?  Why don’t I feel relaxed?  Relax, dammit!

Okay, yelling may not be the right approach.

Let’s blame it on work and leave it at that.  Actually, let’s blame it on getting up at 5 in the morning three days a week to get to work.  I can’t handle 5am.  6am is fine.  Maybe it’s a mental block, but it’s one I can’t (and don’t want to, to be perfectly frank) get past.

(I have one thing to say to all of you who are just itching to tell me what to do about it: I KNOW.  I will do something about it.  I have a plan.  You don’t have to tell me again.  So shush now and let me vent.  Thank you for your time.)

In other news, I got to hang out with a most adorable puppy (and Jess and Chuck, but let’s get our priorities straight here).  See?

His name is Rashi and he is the snuggliest puppy ever.

You want one, don’t you?  (I do.)

Somebody lives here!

We hung pictures today and for the first time in probably 4 years (since the downstairs walls were repainted), it looks like people live here.  The books and the food might have been a clue, but pictures hanging on the walls (that we took our very own selves) means grown-ups live here.  (It’s not very grown-up to call yourself a grown-up, but we can all get over that, right?  Baby steps.)  Someday we’ll get around to painting our bedroom and rearranging the furniture.  But first I have to pick a color.  And a new duvet cover.  Hard decisions are hard.

Ideas wanted

This (from Catalog Living) is almost as hilarious as the llama picture.

A couple of weeks ago, John and I hung a shelf above the couch in the family room.  Now I don’t know what to put on it.  The studs aren’t spaced right, so we reinforced the bottom, but I still don’t think it’s sturdy enough to pack it full of books.   We were going to hang a second one above the TV, but we’ll have the same weight distribution problem.  So what do we do?

It looks a little ridiculous empty, but I’m afraid it’ll come crashing down if we put anything heavy on it.

That’s where the sea monsters live

I like how the internet is like magic on TV.  Anyone can find out anything in one quick search.  And don’t get me started on the police and the FBI.  All of their databases are connected, all the time, and the TV character doing the search has the right access to pull information from any legal database in the world.  Wouldn’t it be nice if it really worked that way?

Have a pretty picture.

I want to go to there. But only in daylight. That cave would creep me out at night.

Every time I see a great house on the water somewhere, I think how great it would be to live there.  But then I remember two things about me and water:

  1. If it’s still, it will have mosquitoes and I will be eaten alive.
  2. If it’s running, I will have to pee ALL the time.

So maybe I shouldn’t go live in a house on the water.

Anger and flowers

You want to know how to make my blood boil?  Close a help desk ticket of mine without resolving it.  I don’t care what company it is, what the service is that you’re supposed to be providing me, or how big or small the issue I reported was.  If you haven’t resolved it or are still waiting to get some information from me, DON’T CLOSE THE TICKET.  Morons.

Have some pretty to end your day.  These are our anniversary flowers.

Isn’t that always the way?

The Bloggess recently discovered Doctor Who.  She pinned this…

…on her Pinterest page.  It came from here and here, and since I’m not caught up (and I’m putting off being caught up because who wants to wait a year?), I’m not looking too closely at those.

But I’m SO happy she’s hooked.  I’m a new convert, and I want to convert EVERYBODY ELSE.  Because that’s how it works.

I need to take better notes

There was something I was going to write about, something John said or did, but I don’t remember what it is.  I had a very frustrating day that went straight into an online midterm review.  That went pretty well.  I feel better about the exam, at least.  So instead of whatever it was I was thinking about earlier, you can have these instead.

1. Look!  An adorable baby goat playing king of the mountain and being adorable!

And 2.  This (from reddit) makes me laugh every time I look at it.

I think I need to see Madagascar.  Jungle animals doing hilarious things sounds really appealing at the moment.

October is the prettiest month

When it’s sunny.  I like the color of the sky.  And the leaves.  And we’ve had so much rain that the grass is still green everywhere.  I should take a picture.

Taken from my car window on the way home from work. I could crop the road out, but you get the idea.

Enough with the pretty – prepare for meanness ahead.

Here’s a tip you’ve heard a million times, but it’s important: If you want a job, PROOFREAD YOUR RESUME.  I read a pretty bad one recently.  If you’re not very good with that sort of thing, find a friend who is.  I don’t have high expectations for this person because she apparently can’t punctuate her way out of kindergarten.  Oh, let’s be generous.  Elementary school.  Also, she listed “Blackberry (Curve)” as one of her skills.  I don’t even know what that means.  Maybe she can program for that platform?  Impressive!  Then say so.  She’s not a programmer, though, unless she REALLY doesn’t know how to present herself in her resume, so I’m assuming she means she knows how to use a Blackberry.  That’s not a skill.  My 6-year-old niece can find her way around a smart phone.

I’m not trying to say that I punctuate everything correctly all the time.  (For instance, is it resume, resumé, or résumé?  Does the accent depend on something or are there just multiple acceptable forms?)  I do, however, tailor my writing style to my audience, and my resumé (I like this one best) is flawless.  (I know.  Arrogant, much?)  It might not get me hired, but it won’t get me dismissed out of hand.  Grammar is important, people!

/rant

Now, watch me post this with some hugely embarrassing typo I didn’t notice.

Wasted day

My brain left.  Packed a suitcase.  Bought a train ticket.  Said goodbye to the dogs.  Walked out the door.  (Sounds like a country song.)  I have been completely useless all day.

Want to see the cutest puppy paw ever?

Side A

Side B: Teddy bear paw!

This is what happens when my brain skips town.  I go through my camera and look for cute pictures.  I can’t even complete this thought.  Going to the gym.  Might clear my head.  My empty head.  If you’ve seen my brain, please give me a call.  I’d like it back.

Compromised

Hmmph.  That title didn’t come out the way I meant it.  Anyway, here is a picture of the wall of books in the dining room (that used to be the family room) with all of the books lined up at the front of the shelves.

We bought two more bookshelves last weekend (the two in the middle, not that it matters) and brought down the two that were in our bedroom.  Those two are on the opposite wall from these.  They’re all 100% full and I’m using three shelves of the bookshelf to the right of the TV in the other room (that used to be the living room).  The four bookshelves in the library (which used to be the dining room) have been emptied of fiction and are slowly being filled with non-fiction books from upstairs.  I moved my little desk (which used to be Dad’s little desk) into the bay window in the library so there would be room for another shelf in the dining room.  Got all that?  There might be a quiz.

Now for the compromise, since as I mentioned the other day, I’m not completely sure I like having all the books forced into a line.  (Where are their souls?  Down with conformity!)  Tell me what you think.

If I had another wine rack, I wouldn't need to do this. But I kinda like it.

They’re not the greatest pictures (I’m not the greatest photographer, to say the least), but you get the idea.  The only thing I’m not crazy about is how the books behind the vases and the pictures and the bottles of wine are hidden.   I know they’re there, but the casual browser (because so many of those come waltzing through my home – this is somehow not a real concern now that I’m writing it down) does not.

Do you like it?  Do you hate it?  Indifferent?  That seems most likely.

The duplicates. All 54 of them. Anyone craving a copy of The Mote in God's Eye?

It’s no secret – the dogs run this house

Roxy is mad at me because I’m making her wear a sock again.  I noticed last night that she was obsessively licking one of her rear paws, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it when I checked it out, and it didn’t seem to be hurting her, so I left it alone.  Then this morning I heard the licking noise again (horrible noise), and when I got her head away from the paw, I could see that she’d managed to lick ALL OF THE FUR off two of her toes.  It’s kind of gross.  And again, except for the hairless part, nothing looks weird, nothing looks irritated, there’s nothing stuck in her paw….her nails could use a trim, but I’m fairly certain that’s not what’s bothering her.  So I wrestled her into a sock and used electrical tape to hold it on.  Now she’s pouting.

Riley is jealous because Roxy got to sit in my lap while I put the sock on her.  All Riley has ever wanted is to be a lap dog.  All 80 pounds of him.