Yeah, so if you haven’t heard, I’m back at school!
Nothing major, just one class at City College – Child Growth and Development. So far, it’s been pretty interesting. Even if I don’t follow the teaching path, I’m sure this information will come in handy with our future peanuts. It’s all truly fascinating! Also, helps explain why I am the way I am. ;o)
Towards the end of class, the teacher reads to us. Yes, she reads to us! The first week, it was Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are. (Two of my personal favorites!) If anything, I’ll be leaving this class with a wonderful selection of children’s books.
It’s been birthday central around here – my sister-in-law celebrated her 30th on the 16th; my brother and my friend’s birthdays were/are on the 20th; and my belle-mere, celebrates her birthday today!
For my brother’s birthday we had a nice quiet dinner at Miss Millie’s in Noe Valley.
Sarah, on the other hand, celebrated her big 4-0 with the girls (me, included) at Teatro Zinzanni. It was wacky and wild fun and the food wasn’t too bad, either. If you ever have a chance, you should check it out!
So, after that weekend with the Mini, we finally decided that it’s not for us. It’s a super fun car to drive, but the sport suspension doesn’t really make things any better. I guess when you get older, comfort becomes more and more important to you. We felt every little bump on the road. We’re still unsure what car to buy, so the Golf has been outfitted with new tires to keep it going until we make a decision.
We finally (!) bought new light fixtures for the foyer, hall and master bedroom – it’s much brighter now! Only to discover that the master bedroom was once painted pink! Yah, we’ll be touching that up this weekend!
Adding to his home entertainment collection, Sylvain purchased a Tivo! At first, I was a bit skeptical – why do we really need one? It still doesn’t allow me to watch another channel when recording, etc. It wasn’t until last week that I was really thankful for it. Wednesday nights I have class from 6.00p to 8.30p. And we all know that Lost is on Wednesdays from 8 – 9p. Thankfully, Tivo records the episodes for me and I can watch them whenever. (I’m home in plenty of time for Alias, though.) And now that the Tivo is connected to Sylvain’s computer, we can play music and watch photo slide shows on our tv. Times like these I’m grateful that my husband is a gadget geek. I love you! ;o)
There’s been quite a buzz around this group, Interpol, and their track *Evil*.
This was forwarded to me today. I thought it was quite funny. ;o)
Sylvain and I have been car shopping for a while now. At first, we were going to sell the Montero Sport because it loses it value quickly and keep the Golf since it was completely paid for. Now that Sylvain has been commuting farther than me, he’s been driving the Golf and has quickly realized that it’s time to replace it.
So, we had scheduled an appointment this past Sunday to test drive a Mini Cooper S. Sylvain drove first, then I took the wheel. I was a bit nervous to drive since I had been wearing my heeled boots and would somehow slip up on the clutch or grind the gears or do something equally as embarassing. (The Cooper S only comes with a manual transmission.)
Silly me for being so nervous, because once I got behind the wheel and onto the freeway, it’s like I had owned this car forever! It was so fun to drive! I mean, really fun! I was trying really hard not to smile and laugh while I was driving to avoid scaring the “automotive advisor†that took us out. Well, according to Sylvain, the guy was already nervous since I was already up to 60mph on the 280N on-ramp and was going fast enough on 101N to shift up to 6th gear. Whoops!
We’re still not sure if the Mini is a practical buy for us – so I think that we’re going to try and rent one and test it out for the commute.
I know I skipped out on the details of our London trip – but, honestly, I wasn’t up to it once we got back. So here are the highlights:
*The holiday lights on Regent Street, between Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus (see links to photos on previous entry)
*Yummy Indian food at Britain’s oldest Indian resto – the vindaloo is a lot spicier there
*Visiting the Science Museum in South Kensington (yes, it really was quite fascinating)
*Manicures and Manlycures at Bliss London
*Climbing the 193 stairs at the Covent Garden underground station (always always take the elevator!!! It’s equivalent to climbing 5 stories of stairs – or so the sign says)
*Dinner at the OXO Tower Brasserie
*Aladdin, a holiday panto, starring Sir Ian McKellen as Widow Twanky at the Old Vic
*Shopping at Harrod’s
*New Year’s Eve dinner and celebration at Mirabelle
*Eating fish and chips and drinking a beer at a London pub with Adam
*The luxury movie experience in London with reserved seating, spa-like waiting areas, sweet (kettle) corn and a full bar
*Making the day trip to Brighton to visit Sarah: another pub for a shandy (sp?; beer + 7up), bangers and mash, sticky toffee pudding with devon cream, visiting the Royal Pavilion
*Making the day trip to Cambridge to visit Adam: embarked on a lovely and most informative tour of The Backs, beers and ciders at pubs, watching the punters on the river Cam
*Maltesers: “Honeycombed malt biscuit balls coated in milk chocolate (more biscuit than chocolate) hence they’re ‘The lighter way to enjoy chocolate’…”
Here’s the link to the photos of our visit to France as well as the link to our week in England.
France was wonderfully cold – it didn’t snow, however. It was somewhat close to snowing the day we were leaving for London, but we left with only ice on the streets, cars, etc.
London was great fun! We battled crowds wherever we went due to the holidays and the holiday sales that went along with it. We ate plenty (delicious Indian food and full English breakfasts), drank plenty, and shopped little (the exchange rate is abhorrent).
We were able to escape from the city and visit friends in Brighton and Cambridge.
(I’ll post photos later today…)
We’re happy to be home and look forward to what the new year has in store for us!
Remember, if you haven’t done so already, check out the organizations I posted yesterday and give a little.
It’s funny how slanted the news is. You never really realize it until you’re in another country. While in London, CNN World Edition and BBC were constantly reporting on how the UK and other various countries were aiding those countries affected by the Tsunami. No mention of what America was doing / wasn’t doing. I started to resent my country even more – America is one of the richest nations in the world, and we can’t even help these folks out a little? I finally caught a clip of an American helicopter dropping off supplies in Sri Lanka…then they mentioned that a carrier had reached the Indian Ocean to aid in the relief effort. I felt a bit better, but kinda laughed when I realized what picture the British media was painting.
Hope y’all had a lovely and safe New Year’s. I’ll fill you in on the Londres trip when I have more time…
Below are links to humanitarian orgs that have set up relief programs in Southeast Asia:
Oxfam America is sending food, water, hygiene kits, and plastic sheeting for temporary housing to Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Operation USA, an L.A.-based disaster-relief organization, will be airlifting medical, nutritional, and shelter supplies into Sri Lanka and India.
Doctors Without Borders and International Medical Corps are sending medical and health-care relief to the entire region.
NetAid, a nonprofit that empowers the poor through educational initiatives, will use donations for emergency services and counseling and for rebuilding schoolhouses in Southern India.
Save the Children is mobilizing resources for families of survivors.
The American Red Cross is gathering support for its International Response Fund.
Lanka Academic Network, a Sri Lankan nonprofit, is dispatching a team of local university volunteers to aid the reconstruction. Additionally, it has set up a website where people can post information about missing loved ones.
USAID can direct donations of bulk commodities or volunteers with special disaster relief skills.
The SEA-EAT bloggers are compiling exhaustive information (helplines, charities, photos, statistics).
Give a little bit
Give a little bit of your love to me
Give a little bit
I’ll give a little bit of my love to you
There’s so much that we need to share
So send a smile and show you care – Supertramp