Killing time before the weekend

It is Friday and the weekend is almost here! I have lost all motivation to produce actual work and since surfing the internet in an open plan office is not as easy as it was back in the days of my cozy office in the US- I decided it would be good to blog.

This is all randomness but I’ll take after my oddball husband who aims to produce the obscure for his blog and is successful 9 times out of 10.

So, this week- first off is fantasy baseball. You are looking at the number one team in the London Expat league- presenting the Swing Bunts! If you are curious, the name is the nickname JP had affectionately given me after seeing my dazzling offensive skills on the softball field. Anyhoo- after 2 weeks of regular play my team is doing surprisingly well. I don’t know if I have the energy to see this to completion, there is way too much research and activity that goes into this- so while I’m hot I’ll take the opportunity to brag even though the draft is basically automatic so I can’t take much credit. I can however talk smack to the other guys in the league about my skillz….

This week I did my first Kangoo class. Ever heard of it? Let’s just say my favourite thing to do at the gym is to take some sort of class and I consider myself coordinated and in good shape and this class knocked down those illusions pretty fast. I scanned the internet for a site to help explain but came up with random bits. Instead you can click here to see what shoes I wore to participate in the class. http://www.bossbi.com/skate/kangoojumps/kangoojumps.php The basics are that it is a high impact aerobics class (wearing said boots) with some choreography, loads of running and jumping and such that keeps you moving for a solid 60 minutes. It was tough but I had fun. I was one of the only new comers to this type of workout, which made it tough to keep up. I will probably try again in the future when the memory of how hard it was fades.

Just a note on the US presidential election. You have no idea how much people here are into our election! I mean, it makes sense right- our policies and leaders have a large impact on the rest of the world. However what I find funny is that when the subject comes up, I am asked “Clinton or Obama?” There is not even the question of Republican or Democrat. People are much more apt to ask more informed questions which makes for good debate. A lot of people really like Obama – they like him because they think of him as the least political of them all and come across as presenting a chance to make a change. I won’t share my opinions but will just say that it has been eye opening to see the importance people place on the leaders we chose. They even know things about our Senators, governors, etc. It has made me better read on the subject to participate in the conversations. That and my little sister has dove off the deep end of right sided politics (she has been over there for years, now she lives in D.C. and is suitably immersed) so I have to have some ground to stand on when I debate with her.

This weekend we have some plans and have identified Sunday as “put our lives back together” day. We have not cleaned, done laundry, or grocery shopped in over a week so we need a day to just get things back together. Tonight we are heading to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Vanity Fair photography exhibition http://www.npg.org.uk/vanityfair/index.htm and then having dinner with some friends in Covent Garden at this little spot called Da Mario http://www.london-eating.co.uk/3275.htm . Tomorrow we are doing to a surprise baby shower that was never really a surprise in the first place but we are still treating as a surprise…. This one will have a twist as it will be co-ed and since there will be no old grannies or acquaintances there we’ll have no games and just a get together that includes opening up some baby gifts. It will be fun.

And in closing… a few things to leave you with:

When writing a list here, they do not use the “Oxford comma” For example- I went to the store today and bought apples, oranges and pears. In the US I would use a comma after oranges. Here there is no comma. It really throws me off.

Finally- some more translations:
UK word/expression US translation
Annual leave/holiday Vacation
Jumper Sweater
Half Seven (as in, the meeting starts at half seven) 7:30
Full stop Period (the type that ends a sentence)
Precious Serious or taking very personal
Fringe bangs
Keen Interested (they are quite keen to meet with you)
Damp Mold (the flat has damp in the walls)
Whilst While
Learnt Learned