Day 21

Christmas party at the in-laws' then off to see some holiday lights.

Day 20

I saw and enjoyed The Nutcracker tonight.

Day 19

My friend Jill gave me her pumpkin macaroni and cheese recipe.  I made it earlier in the week and finally finished it today. I cut the recipe in half and still had a lot of leftovers because it makes so much and my husband didn't want it.

Day 18

I went out to dinner with a friend tonight (sushi, yum!) and she gave me a birthday present. Here is part of it:

Day 14

Holiday Party

Day 16

Festive Nails (painted them earlier for a party I had on day 14)

Day 15

The baking continues

Day 13

Baking up a storm for co-worker gifts and holiday parties.

Day 11

A friend and I have an inside joke (not even so much as a joke as a long story that I don't feel like typing right now) about peeling potatoes so I often send her a message when I peel potatoes like today.  Today's message included this pic.

Day 10

The Christmas baking begins...

Day 6

Here is the other wreath.  I gave it to my mom on Nov. 30th, day 6.

Day 9

I was excited to have a few minutes to read this today.  I'm enjoying it!

Day 8

The obligatory Christmas tree picture and on day 7, I put up the stockings too.

Day 12

I've had my ballet shoes forever.  I bought a new pair last year and they seemed a little tight, but I figured that was just because they were new. I tried and tried to break them in and no luck. I finally gave up and got another pair because I think I had the wrong size and they weren't just tight because I needed to be broken in here is the new pair they fit so much better! I wore them to ballet tonight.

Day 7 Dec. 1st

Went out to dinner and drinks with a bunch of friends to celebrate my and my husband's birthday on day 6.  Didn't manage to get a picture of everyone, but here are a few of us. Had a great time!

Day 5

Yes, I really posted a picture of Mucinex.  Last night--well, technically, it wasn't last night right now, but it was the night of day four, I had such a huge coughing fit that I woke my poor husband up and eventually, I just gave up got out of bed and took some Mucinex and attempted to stop the coughing.  I did not have a major cold, but around the time I got conjunctivitis I also had I had a long lasting sore throat and some crazy coughing fits.

2018 Pics Day 4

The annual Christmas village pic

Day 3

Saw (and enjoyed) this with a friend on day 3.

2018 Pics Day 2

My co-workers gave me flowers for my birthday. 

Pictures 2018 Day 1

I stink at blogging again.  I had two great summer trips that I never wrote about.  I even took some pics for the blog.  I suppose I could always do it later.  We will see.  Anyway, as usual 30 days of pictures is back.  I started it on Nov. 25th, but waited a few days to start posting.  Here is day 1, a friend of mine taught me how to make wreaths.  I kept one, gave one to my mother-in-law, and gave one to my mother. You will have to wait until a later blog to see the missing third one.

Last Day in London

We only had one thing planned for our last day in London and that was a tour of Parliament.  We got down there a little early so we could take some pictures and so the hubs could see that area of the city (The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben--they were doing construction, etc). You were only allowed to take pictures in two places in Parliament, hence the lack of pics.   The tour was really interesting.  Then it was back to the hotel to get our stuff, check out, and head to the airport.  We had several hours at the airport before our flight left so we wandered around a lot, had dinner, and were randomly selected for extra security--not enjoyable!  And they moved our seats!   Also not enjoyable!  Our new seats also meant we were one of the last to get fed and they were out of the edible food so I was cranky about that.  Why is it so hard to get decent food on a plane?  I did finish watching "Downsizing" and do some reading.  Hubs was kind and took the middle seat and let me have the aisle since we were both supposed to have aisle seats.
Aside from the airport/plane drama, we had a really nice trip.  I was so glad the hubs liked London because it is one of my favorite cities and I enjoy going when I can.  We also both liked Brussels a lot too.

Bath

Friday it was off to Bath to visit my friend Am toy.  We were supposed to take the 10:00 trian and get in at 11:28, but it got delayed twice so we didn't get in until after noon and had plans to meet Amy at 1.  That didn't give us enough time to do the hop on hop off tour and it was now pouring so we didn't wat to wander around outside very long.  Instead we went to the abbey for a little while, then poked into a few shops.  We met Amy for a delicious lunch and then she showed us around a few places.  We didn't go into the Jane Austen center because I didn't think the hubs really wanted to do it, but we stopped by for a photo op.  Then it was off to the Roman Baths to tour aroud there until it was time to catch the train back to London.  That train was on time.  Dinner that night was Italian, followed by a trip to the hotel gym (for me), and packing as we were leaving the next day.

Eating and Sightseeing In London

On Thursday in London, we had plans to start the day with a food tour.  I read several reviews about the tour and one common piece of advice was do NOT eat before the tour.  So we got ready, skipped breakfast, and headed off to the tube.  Unfortunately, when it was time to switch lines, the line we needed was broken so we had to detour and we were freaking out because now we were cutting it really close.  Thankfully, we just made it--though it took us a minute to find the meeting spot--it was literally across the street, but the map made it look further away.   We enjoyed the food.  Some of the things we tried were:  a bap, fish and chips (honestly, some of the best fish I've ever had),  sausage roll (I don't like sausage, but I liked the breading), a donut (voted the best in London), mead, tea, cider, and more.  The tour included stops in a food market, a church, outdoor picture stops, and a bar.

After that it was off to the Tower of London via Tower Bridge for a couple of hours.  I ran into someone I knew--what are the odds?!  We couldn't decide what to do next so we started walking along the Thames.  We ended up walking all the way down to St. Paul's Cathedral, took pics (didn't go in, I've been there before, the hubs has not), then took the subway back to the hotel.  We had dinner there (the fish and chips was okay, but not as good as the one on the food tour). And that was the end of a mostly lovely London day.

 (Bridget Jones' Diary was filmed here.)

(Trying tea)