Everyday, etc.

Hello, friends. Yes, in his most recent comment, Josh correctly spotted the status of my neck; sadly the back of my neck and shoulders were worse. At the start of the concert I realized that the front of me was burning, so I put on my hoodie backwards…which obviously left the back of me vulnerable. Didn’t so much think about that. Anyway, I have been applying lotion and aloe constantly since, and I was able to take a real shower today and only grimaced once. I think we’re almost out of the woods. Plus, it should be noted that I’ve been putting on SUNSCREEN before my walk to/from work.

Next comes the peeling though, and that will be unfortunate. Leprosy, anyone?

So now to pick up where we left off – Sunday! It was a chill day. I managed to sleep until 10am, which I was happy about. I was quite lethargic out all day, which I’m sure was leftover from Saturday’s festivities. Anyway, I went grocery shopping Sunday afternoon, and around 6ish Laura, Liz, Billy, Traci and I left to go to meet up with Ellen at her flat. Then we went to Earl’s Court to get dinner and watch the EuroCup final at a pub. We went to the Prince of Teck for dinner and the first half, then over to Earl’s Court Tavern for the second half. I was rooting for Germany, but that didn’t really work out to well for me. I kept it under wraps because almost everyone in both places was very pro-Spain. I didn’t want to get stabbed. Speaking of which, knives are a HUGE problem over here, I had no idea.

*Fun thing about Monday: I saw John Oliver, the British correspondent on the Daily Show! It was right outside of Oxford Circus tube station, by my work. He was just casually walking, wearing a hoodie (and the rest of an outfit, obviously) and carrying a messenger bag. I didn’t say anything; just stared at him, open-mouthed, as we passed each other. I’m pretty smooth. But the sighting was enough; it made me smile for the rest of the day. I heart him.

Not much else to report, so I will go through with you my routine day. See, that way, we can just do this post once so you know what I’m doing (or not doing) between weekends and return to posts with decent content!

*6:30-7am – Wake up, grumble.

*7-7:45am – Check computer, make tea or coffee, make lunch for the day, eat breakfast

*7:45-8am – Realize I goofed off all morning, say “Agh, shit” and jump in the shower and start getting ready.

*8-8:30am – Make my hair/face/outfit look presentable, pack work bag which will inevitably weigh 300 pounds. (This morning, Traci asked me if I was going somewhere after work because it looked like I was packing for an overnight trip. Sigh.)

*8:30am – Put on my tennis shoes and we’re out the door! Walk to Angel station (about .5 mile)

*9-9:30am – Arrive at work after a somewhat hellish and sauna-tastic tube ride!

*9:30am-5:30/6pm – Work! I do the little stuff like getting the mail, occasionally make coffee/tea for everyone (if you get some for yourself the general rule of kindness is to ask everyone else in the office if they want some. You might not think about this, but there is a LOT of pressure for an American to prepare a British person’s tea. Just saying) checking government web sites for news, and I also work on various writing assignments. I get an hour for lunch which I usually try and take later in the day, around 1:30 or so. Sometimes I’ll walk up to Regent’s Park, or just walk a different direction that I haven’t gone yet, or sometimes I’ll just sit on the couch in the back of the office. And you never know how long work will go, it depends on what you get done, or what time I decide to give up.

*5:30/6pm-6:30/7 pm – Walk from work to the King’s Cross stop (it’s about 2 miles), take tube from King’s Cross to Angel. Walk the .5 mile home. Sometimes, like today, I’ll walk the whole way home. That brings the total walk home tally to 3.5 miles.

*6:30/7pm to 10-11pm – Check computer, make dinner, sing 80s and 90s songs with Laura, Ellen, Liz and Traci, maybe write in personal journal, get ready for bed! And PS at 10pm, it’s still somewhat light out.

Shoutout to Ro: if you’ve been keeping count of the miles I walk, it’s roughly 3 (sometimes 4) a day. So I have a constant reminder of you and our Saturday morning walks – 3 miles in London is pretty cool, but it’s no 3 miles butt-early on a Saturday morning with you and Helen :-) Just saying.

Aaaaaand that’s my day! My super thrilling day. Sometimes we’ll do stuff after work, but I’m usually worn out. Though last night I did go over to the Offside (pub across the street from our apt) and met up with Laura and Liz for a bit. Tonight they’re going to a movie, but I don’t think I can justify spending the money, nor does the activity seem London-ish enough for me to really commit to. Though arguably, neither is sitting at your computer. I hate when I call myself out.

After this week, I’ll only have 3 weeks left. Where did the time go!?!!?!!??!?!?!!!?!??!?!