Saturday, February 14, 2009

What's This?

So I'm currently chillin' in St Neots with Alex and Marylyn, my parents-away-from-parents that spoil me rotten with good food and great french wine, and I've hijacked their computer for a few minutes to get a post out and respond to some reader comments (which you guys must keep coming, I adore them!) This weekend has been wonderful so far, I headed out Friday after my class and got here shortly before dinner, and for the first time all term, got a full night's sleep. Actually it was more like 2 full night's sleeps in one go, which made up for spending Thursday night in a club and not in my bed, which made my 9 am Friday class quite rough...
But by the time I got back from class on Friday, I had an e-mail from the Essex post office saying I had a large package that I needed to pick up....hmm...perhaps my Single Knitters Valentine's Dat Swap Package? Only one way to find out! So I ran back to my flat to open it...here's about how it went:

It's a truly perfect Valentine's Day gift. It's amazing how a perfect stranger could get everything so right! There were chocolates, body butter from The Body Shop, a card, little stuffed animals (one of which is holding my keys, having broken my keychain opening the door of my flat to hurry up and open this package- perfect timing, eh?) and my favourite thing ever: sock yarn. It's Lana Grossa something or other (I was about to miss the bus so I had to open it quickly, snap a few pictures and run to catch the train, so no specifics- sorry!) and the colours are perfect; I would have probably picked the exact same skien had I been given the choice! It's Valentine-y, but not nausiatingly so. I adore it. In your next swap, pray to get "Itsgoodtoknit" as your partner. She truly made my V-day.

So...today I went out and did the rounds with Marylyn, which included a quick trip to Tesco for dinner, picking up some lottery tickets (If I win 7 million pounds, I'm turning in a bank note with my name on it and calling it a term paper) and then visiting Jerry and Jeane, people I used to know when I lived in France and England when I was wayyyyy younger. I've been wanting to see them since I came to England, but I wasn't sure if they'd even remember me, and I haven't spoken to them in 10 years, so I didn't think it would happen. They have the most awesome house ever- it's 400 years old and has a most permanent resident- a nurse that died during WWI. Apprently her ghost lives upstairs and creates all sort of havoc for anyone staying in the guest room- HER room. Pretty much every woman that has stayed in that room (not knowing it's supposedly haunted) has told them about someone pushing on their stomach in the middle of the night- as if someone was trying to deliver a baby...spooky. Jeane said there was also a time where she filled a doorway with books so they couldn't get into the den....since the door opens inward, there was no way a person could have done it and then left. Since the house is so old, they can't do any modifications to it, so it's very...wonky. The floors and walls are all crooked and the ceiling is so low at points you have to duck (and I'm on 5 feet tall). It's an awesome house, and Jerry and Jeane are awesome people. Jerry had been a Major during WWII and told me all about D-Day and even cried a bit at the end. I can't imagine living through something like that, especially knowing that some of your closest friends didn't. The best part of it all? Jerry and Jeane were the first people from my past that haven't told me exactly how much I look like my mother. It was awesome. After that we headed to shop to see if the blankets Marylyn liked were still on sale...they weren't...but I found a really cute bag that was (as if I needed another one) and the most perfect summer dress....which didn't come in my size. They told me to come back March 1st -that's when they get a new shipment in. That's a good enough reason for me to come back and see Alex and Marylyn, so it looks like I'll be getting that dress after all! Besides, I'm going to a wedding this summer- I totally need something to wear to it! Well I guess that's about it. Enjoy the rest of your Valentine's Day- I'm going to go have a romantic snuggle up with a hoodie that I had to partially frog and am just now getting around to working on it again. Bye!

2 comments:

paisley penguin said...

That house sounds so fun! BTW - I made your red velvet cake recipe for V-Day. I did cupcakes and cooked them for 20 minutes, did cream cheese frosting with red sprinkles. Perfecto! Thanks so much for your recipe!

Unknown said...

Yay! I am glad that your swap went so great! Sounds like you are having a great weekend!