And Spring is Back!

For those who were worried about me, I'm feeling much better now. I worked from home on Friday and tried to take it easy over the weekend. The pain slowly went away. So that's good!

Last night, I attended a live TV show at the studio where it is produced. It is called The Underdog Show, and has celebrities (pretty Z-list ones; I had never heard of any of them) each picking a dog from the Dogs Trust, which is the largest dog shelter in the UK. They then work with a professional trainer to train the dog in obedience and agility. Every week there is a different agility course and obedience components that they have to do with their dog. There are professional judges, and every week one of the celebrity/dog teams gets eliminated. This is based 50% on the judges marks and 50% on phone-in votes. It was long but fun, and interesting to see how they put the show together. The presenter was Julian Clary, who is very camp but quite amusing. The show is great to really highlight the value of rescued and shelter dogs and dispel some common misconceptions, such as that they are hard to train or have all sorts of problems. Anyway, it was great fun! Unfortunately it wasn't over until 10:30 and then I had to take the tube home from the east side, so I didn't get home until midnight! I slept in this morning!

Saturday morning I have someone coming in to measure up for new flooring. My landlord has agreed to replace the flooring in my flat, if I pay for the install (which is the cheap bit). The carpet is really bad, and the lino in the kitchen is on it's last legs as well. There's carpet in the bathroom, too, which I think is just disgusting! So he's coming to measure and get an exact quote on the costs and whatnot. I think I'm going to paint my bedroom, too. I should really paint it before we put in the new carpet, because then it doesn't matter if I drip on the old carpet, and I'm not the cleanest painter (no smart remarks from you, Linda!). Anyway, I'm going to go get the paint on Thursday.

I can't go to get the paint on Friday because I'm going to attend another live TV show! I got on the site looking for The Underdog Show and found some more that I registered for, never dreaming I'd actually get tickets! It's a brand new show called Zane's World, presented by Alex Zane. It's described as "the perfect mix of mocking celebrities, up to the minute gags and biting satire for anyone who likes their humour with a topical bite". It looks cute and will be a laugh. I'm going with Nikki. I also registered for tickets to the Charlotte Church show, but I haven't heard anything yet.

Well, that's me up to date! Just over a week until Wales!

Wow, that was fast...

And winter came back! The weekend was cold and windy and it's been miserable and snowy and rainy all week. Kind of like me! lol

I had a health scare yesterday. Tuesday evening I started getting mild pains on the left side of my chest. I've had this before, and it's just muscle spasms. But it didn't go away. By noon on Wednesday I decided to pop into a walk-in clinic and get it checked. They sent me to the emergency department of the nearest hospital (they call it A&E here, Accident & Emergency) for an EKG, given that it was in the region of where my heart is located. I was getting a bit worried as I have a lot of heart disease in my family history.

It's amazing how they will fast-track you through the system when you complain of chest pain on the left side! I was hustled in, put on a bed, blood pressure cuff on, fingertip pulse thingy on and hooked up to the EKG! Long story short, after 4 hours, an EKG, multiple blood pressures taken and a chest x-ray, they decided I was disgustingly healthy and it was just protracted muscle spasms and send me away with some ibuprofen. Whew!

It still hurts, but they said it might take weeks to go away and I just have to live on painkillers. Sigh. I hate taking painkillers, but I hate pain even worse! I think it's from stress - we're in a busy time and there's a lot of tension in the office.

I had the twins with me last weekend - it was pretty low key since I was tired. But we had fun, doing crafts and shopping. A friend of mine from Calgary, Allison, came to London on business and stayed with us on Saturday night. She is in Edinburgh this week, back tonight and hanging with me for the weekend. We're going to see Avenue Q on Friday night and then out to the Embassy afterwards for dinner and maybe a bit of dancing in the club. Embassy is well-known as a hangout for the famous, rich and/or beautiful.

Other than that, we don't have tons of plans. I want to take it easy because I really think I need to destress somehow, and I can't do anything too physical as it makes my chest hurt.

We didn't do anything wonderful on St. Paddy's day this year, but here is a picture of me last year on St. Paddy's day. I was in Banff with my friend Alanna for it. We had SO much fun!

Spring iz sprung

Well it has in London, anyway! Sorry for you Calgarians!

It was such a stunning day today when I walked out the door to go to work that I decided to take the long way to work - the one where I stay on the District line train until the St. James Park stop and then walk up to the office through St. James Park and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace. It was a wonderful way to start the day - very therapeutic! The crocuses were mostly finished, but the daffys were in full bloom, as was the apple or cherry tree. Not sure which, it had pink flowers anyway. I saw pelicans hanging out right by the pathway, posing for photos. So I obliged. Are they ever huge! It's the first time I've seen them that close up.

And then I saw a carriage go by on Pall Mall! Seriously - a carriage drawn by four chestnut horses, burgundy lacquer and brass fittings gleaming in the sunlight. I couldn't get a proper picture of it because I was too far away, but it was quite cool.

Today, I love living in London!

The River

I rode my bike along the river on Sunday. It was a beautiful day - the sun was shining, the birds were singing, etc., etc. I snapped some photos of a few stately homes that I saw on my journey. Ok, admittedly they are probably flats or condos, and I know for a fact there is a pub in the bottom of at least one of those buildings, but they were probably houses at one time! Or maybe not. Anyway, they look cool. You'll notice the river is very low, but that's just because the tide was going out. There were some scullers (rowers) on the river and they were going upriver and fighting the outgoing tide. It looked like way too much work! Riding my bike was hard enough work, especially as the path was shared with pedestrians and it wasn't all that wide, with a steep slide into the river with one false move! So it wasn't a particularly fast ride as it was such a stunning day that lots of people were out.

Anyway, then I crossed the river and rode beside the "old cemetery" and stopped at the church attached to it. I have heard that Oliver Cromwell is buried there, so I was going to look for his tomb. I didn't find it, but I did find William Hogarth's. This is a picture of it, with part of the church in the background. The church is beautiful and the cemetery is huge and old - most are from the 1800s. Huge tombs and small tombstones and everything in between. I find cemeteries fascinating - I know it sounds macabre. It's my mom's fault. She reads the obituaries all the time!

Oh yeah, and here is a picture of my guinea pigs, Ant and Dec. Ant is the big one with the white stripe on his back. Dec is the little runty guy.

Spamalot

Funny, funny, funny!!!

Spamalot was a fantastic show, from the opening scene with the Finnish dancers (if you want to know why, you'll have to go!) to the "ending that goes like this" and the audience sing-a-long to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"! I am not the world's biggest Monty Python fan, although I do like their stuff. But this was hysterically funny, silly and intelligent all at the same time. I would highly recommend this show, even at full price. It is well worth the money.

We had great seats, thanks to my friend, Carole, who has a son-in-law in the cast (understudy to King Arthur and several of the knights), but they weren't cheap! The Palace Theatre is a gorgeous example of Victorian architecture and the sets were great.

We went to eat at a restaurant called Sugar Reef on a special dinner deal and it was great! The food was lovely, the waiter was delightfully Irish and mildly camp, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant. The service was slow, but that was because they were short-handed, apparently. This meant that we had to run for the theatre to make the 8:00 show and just made it in time.

So, there's my review of Spamalot. Look for upcoming reviews of "Sing-a-long Sound of Music" and "Avenue Q".

Paris again...

Well, I've just come back from Paris again! Third time in less than a year!

A friend that I used to work with at Gentry in Calgary, Jane, came out on Friday morning for about 10 days. I had to go back to work on Friday afternoon so she did some sightseeing downtown and then we went to my favourite little curry house just off Piccadilly Circus for supper. £7.50 (approx. $16 CAD) for a three course set menu - can't beat it! I know you Canadians are thinking that's expensives, but not for London!

The next day we met up with the twins (it was so great to see them!) and their mom, Sharon, and her fiance, Jeff, at Hampton Court Palace. It was Sharon's idea to have a day out together. I love Hampton Court Palace and Jane was enthralled. The girls were great, but a bit hyper because I was there. We had a great time! Then Jeff drove us all in his people carrier (mini-van in Canadian) to the Chiselhurst Caves, over west of Bromley. They are a series of chalk caves that were mined hundreds of years ago. In WWII, they were used as alternative living quarters during the London Blitz. Up to 15,000 people lived there at a time. It must have been awful. A great day had by all, and then I went and spoiled it by getting car sick on the way home! First time ever. Not sure why, but there it is!

Early Sunday morning, Jane and I headed out to Paris on the Eurostar. I love taking the train - it's so much easier! We stayed at my favourite hotel - Roma Sacre Coeur. It's in the heart of Montmartre (think Moulin Rouge and Picasso), and right beside a Metro underground station that has two lines stopping there. We wondered through a district called Le Marais, which was very intriguing, and then across to Notre Dame. Jane was blown away by the sheer magnitude of it! We walked down to the Latin Quarter and came across a church called St. Severin, where mass was just starting. Jane is Catholic and wanted to attend, so I took her pack and amused myself for an hour (not hard for me in Paris!). I would have gone, but of course it's all in French, so I wouldn't have understood a word. She know the mass, so it was at least familiar for her. Anyway, we went for supper then in the Latin Quarter and then jumped on the Metro to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. It is quite spectacular and pictures just don't do it justice. Then we jumped back on the Metro, went a couple stops to l'Arc de Triomphe, which is also lit up at night, as is the Champs Elysees. Then back to the hotel and bed!

On Monday, we slept in a bit as neither of us had a good night (not the beds, they were comfortable, we just couldn't get to sleep!) and went to the Eiffel Tower. Jane went up by herself as I've already done that twice! She walked up, too! I went back to the Champs Elysees as my camera battery had died and I needed to get a charger (left mine at home...doh!). Couldn't buy one for love nor money! So, no pictures! Met her back at the Tower and we headed back to the Champs Elysees via the Pont Alexandre III. Up the Champs Elysees to the Arc, pictures and then down on the Metro to Montmartre. Toured around there some - Basilica de Sacre Coeur, Place du Tertre (artists market), windmills, hilly windy streets, Place des Abbesses, and ending up on the Avenue de Clichy, which is the red light district in the area (tons of sex shops, etc.) and also where Moulin Rouge is. We had supper down there waiting for it to get dark so the neon looks cooler and then walked along the street. Back to the hotel and bed early because we had an early train back. Which we missed because yours truly set the alarm wrong! So, we didn't get back into London until 11 am yesterday and I had to get to work! Jane went to the Tower of London for the rest of the day.

My friend Nicole came over last night for supper and we yacked. I discovered that Dec, one of my guinea pigs, has some sort of skin thing going one - lots of scabs and dry skin - so I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow morning. That's one thing cheaper here - it's only going to cost me about $28 CAD! In Calgary you paid $50 just to walk into the vet's office!

Anyway, I really have to get back to work! Just wanted to update everyone! Jane and I are going to Spamalot tonight, so I'll post a review tomorrow!!