My England Adventure: Part Two

I’ve just been told that it’s funny that I described “Chinese Water torture” as “setting the tone for the rest of my week.”  Scott said, “You know, you didn’t HAVE to come.”  That’s NOT what I meant.  But I think he knows that.

On Saturday we got up lazily and then started on getting ready for the party that would follow that evening.  Cori and Scott have made amazing friends here in England and they were having them all over for a Thanksgiving feast. 

I was surprised at how chill Cori was, I have a tendency to freak out before a big party, but Cori must do it a lot (or she’s not “type A” like I am) and was just in a great mood about everything all day.

We did haircuts for everyone in the afternoon, and a highlight for Cori.  I had brought *almost* everything that I needed, but in trying to conserve weight had not brought foil.  Doing a highlight with kitchen foil was not something I had tried before, but it worked.  I also had only one brush for color, so I had to use a tiny paintbrush for the other.  This is only going to be hilarious to other hairstylists, but suffice it to say; my skills at improv should be duly noted.  It made me feel like I could be the hairstylist on a survivor type show and no one would have to go with their roots grown out.

The Thanksgiving celebration was a lot of fun.  They have made amazing friends over here.  I really enjoyed all of them.  It’s hard to put into words what a relief it is to me that the Anderbergs are no longer alone here. 

The group clearly enjoys each other and likes to laugh.  A LOT.  I love people that love to laugh.  I find myself, in situations like these, though, where I meet people for the first time, feeling lonesome for my other half, and also regretting so much that they didn’t meet me before.  Being funny is such a high value to me, and I was so much funnier before.  I feel like I need to explain myself:  “You see, I’m kind of a drag now.  But I USED to be really fun.  Promise.”

Saturday night I went to bed and woke up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night.  I’m not sure why I didn’t start writing posts then, but I didn’t. 

When we got up on Sunday morning, we decided to go to the Hundred Acre Wood.  That’s right.  The very same one where Christopher Robin played.  It’s about a 45-minute drive from here.  There’s Pooh’s Bridge, where we played a very rousing round of Pooh Sticks, and I didn’t win once.  Piglet’s house was a very cute and tiny door on a hollowed out tree.   You have to hike in your “Pooh Sticks” because the whole path has been cleared of them for about ¼ mile before the bridge.

Cori, Caid and I playing Pooh Sticks.

Caid and Bridger in front of Piglet's house.

The ride through the countryside on the way there was truly beautiful, and included a great, not quite uncomfortable (and very "try-hard not to guffaw" when you're the aunt) conversation with the eight year old about where babies come from.

That night we got curry take-away (that’s British for carry-out), and opened Christmas presents.  Mine were all on a theme…for keeping me warm.  It included a really cool blanket, gloves, leg warmers, and my so far favorite thing, a hot water bottle.  This should be something that every widow has.  One of the hardest parts about going to bed in the winter months is having cold feet but no husband to put them on (He would always let me).  Having a warm water bottle is no substitute, but it at least solves the cold feet issue, and takes some of the pain away.  I highly recommend them to all widows!

So that’s the end of the weekend, next up…the CITY!