Fun in Guildford
Hi all, just back from a day in Guildford. Saw a castle, went to the mall, looked at an old clock and goofed around in a medieval Guildhall. I suspect that there may be photos of our adventure soon enough...

(Unfortunaely there won't be any pictures of the bearded lady we saw. That's right - A BEARDED LADY!!! Right in the middle of Guildford, sitting on a bench outside a church with a skirt, lipstick and a long, white, wispy, Amish beard! [I swear I'm not making this up] E and I were too nervous to try and sneakily take a picture - she looked pretty surly.)

And that's about it. We're off to Karaoke tonight (Every Monday night). I'm going to wear my snazzy new Converse high tops and maybe some of my new shirts - After a year of not being able to afford a single new vestment, yes, I'm actually buying clothes. And shoes. Check the temperature in hell - it may have frozen over.

And probably sent all the heat to England. It's a bloody sauna over here!

S.

Word of the Day
'Maritable':
Derrived from 'married' and 'irritable.'
Refers to addressing a subject with your spouse which you know will render them irritable. Used in such situations as: "I don't want you to get maritable but I want to discuss our finances" and "Not tonight honey, all this talk about family has made me maritable."

...and the hot new hairstyle for young British men this season is
The mullet.
'nuff said.

Saturday Morning
A quick note because our breakfast potatos are almost ready and I'm pretty spaced out this morning and the coffee isn't really doing anything and I don't have my glasses on and I shudder to think how many typos there's going to be in this update but there's a new photo gallery of Elisabeth's 23rd Brithday up and I've gotta go and eat spicy potatos with too much mayonnaise on them. Yummy yum yum!

S.

I'm in Love: With Woking!
Wow. Yesterday I went swimming (nice pool), and today I went jogging. There is a beautiful park not far from where we live that is just ideal: a fitness and leisure centre, water slides, pools, ponds, ducks, fields, shady groves, large sweeping willow trees, lots of tennis courts, nice paths, flat fields, and not very many people. It's such a pleasure to have free access to something of value for once!

So yes, I am on a fitness kick. And I think we all know the reason why!

Other good news is that I did manage to play the piano this morning for the first time in over a year! The church in the town square was happy to let me walk in and play their grand piano. It felt so good, but I was extremely rusty. The real drawback was that the back of the church is open to a cafe for old dears who eat lunch there. I mostly played depressing nocturnes which made me self conscious because I hope it didn't remind them of their impending death...hey, I can't help what my though process was! I've been watching The Sopranos! (Thank you VERY much SEAN--it's all YOUR FAULT!)

This afternoon Stephen and I went to a used furniture store close by and picked up a small side table and a beautiful stained glass vase--all for 6 pounds!

So yes, Woking is really woking out nicely ;)

E-

Busy, busy, busy
Hi folks, a busy day over here at 31 Dorchester Court. E and I have been roaring around town getting our new lives in Woking in order. I've found out that any part-time jobs aren't going to be very available to me but as soon as I'm done my dissertation, I'll be able to leap into work no problem. Mind you, I'm still hoping this thing in Chertsy works out...

Right now Elisabeth's at the pool swimming laps and getting into shape. She's also picked up a volunteering pamphlet and we're looking at getting involved volunteering in the area. Should I be unable to find part-time work, this is what I'll do for the next little while to keep me out of trouble. She's also arranged with a local church to let her play the piano there - she'll be heading over tomorrow morning to tickle the old ivories once again.

What else? Elisabeth's participation with the Woking amature opera society is getting nearer and nearer and (Thank you very much, Sean!) we're utterly addicted to the Sopranos. Last night wrapped up season two and we've just rented the complete season three so guess what we'll be doing every single night for the next week.

Albums of the moment
The Essential Barbara Streisand
Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet

23 Years Old Today
It is still early morning, and I can say that being 23 is already much better for me than being 22. I actually feel content and happy this fine day.

My co-worker Jane left me with a couple of mystery packages last week, one which Stephen was to open the day before my birthday. It turned out to be a Betty Crocker Chocolate cake mix, which Stephen promptly turned into a scrumptuous snack...half gone by last night...

There were a couple of presents and cards to start the day off with (thank you--you know who you are) and Stephen and I will soon be setting off to London to see a Caryl Churchill play at LAMDA, the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Tate, and finally enjoy a nice curry dinner in the East End.

In addition to making me breakfast, Stephen has agreed to let me sign us up as members of the Canada Network, a social club for ex-pat Canadians living in the UK. We will hopfully soon meet other Canucks, and have a bit more of an interesting social calander.

Anyway, I think 23 will be a fun year.

E-

New Gallery
The Tower of London

New Gallery
We LOVE Don Benis

New Gallery
A visit from Susannah