Melyssa-with-a-Y

Thursday's first order of business was to go to Leicester Square to the half-price ticket booth, to see what was available for last night. We got tickets to Blood Brothers, which has been here for ... 20 years, but we'd never seen it. Then Mom wanted to go to the Wallace Collection at Hertford House, which she had been to once before. To get there, we had to go through Oxford Street (the big shopping street). It's clear that the after-Xmas sales here are as good as the ones at home, if not better. Oxford Street was packed with people yesterday, just like Fifth Avenue in NYC around Xmas. (I took a picture of how crowded it was). Everyone we saw was carrying at least one shopping bag. We had a yummy lunch at a little mediterranean place behind Selfridge's, and then went to seek out the museum. Unfortunately, we didn't get there until 4 (after our great late lunch) so we only had an hour to run through and see everything. :( We'll have to go back -- something ...

Yesterday (Weds) we didn't have time to come to the Internet cafe, we were too busy being tourists. :) First we went to the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace , where they were showing the Royal collection of Canaletto's paintings of Venice. The Gallery also displays some of the Royal collections of other things - paintings, sculpture, furniture, jewels, etc. - and a wonderful gift shop (or 2!). When we stopped for lunch before the gallery, we met a family from Fairfax, VA! I swear I don't know how these things happen to us... But anyway, they are here for the week and my parents recommended some shows for them to see, and things to do. After the Queen's Gallery, we went over to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms . The Museum part has only been open since February. It's all dedicated to Churchill's life, although it's not in chronological order... it goes from 1940 through to his death (which I suppose are the important years, WWII and afte...

Was awakened this morning (even with the earplugs in) to what I thought was the sound of heavy rain. They had predicted snow for London, but nobody really believed it. So I thought it was the sound of heavy rain... Anyway, mom jumped out of the bed (we are sharing the big bed becase 1) dad still can't sleep lying down, and 2) there aren't any sheets on the other beds, and we can't seem to find the linen closet!) and ran to the window (this is beginning to sound like the Xmas story...) and looked out and apparently there were two rows of horses being led down the cobblestone street in front of the house! We are still trying to figure out where they came from or where they were going... there aren't any riding academies in the neighborhood as far as we can tell. Anyway. We went to a Boxing Day party yesterday, given by a friend of my Uncle's (a New Yorker, natch) who lives in the renovated warehouse apartments over by Tower Bridge. (Here's a pic of Dad and Betty)...

So, here I am at an Internet cafe near Covent Garden in London. Cold, grey, everything-closed-for-Boxing-Day London. But, I'm here! My parents seem to have survived. The house we're in is a little bit out of the way (not right in the city like we're used to) but it's a VERY nice house. HUGE. Big marble bathrooms, three kids rooms (of course, the one I napped in had no heat, so I won't be sleeping there any more...) a large kitchen, gorgeous sun room, and a big backyard, complete with wooden deck and basketball hoop. Thanks to my cold medicine and antibiotics and nasal spray, the sinuses didn't have any issues with the plane ride... but even with the cold medicine, I didn't sleep much either -- between the guy snoring on my left, kid crying on my right and kid puking behind him. That poor mom -the whole plane was virtually silent when the kid coughed it up... we all woke up super-fast after that. Fortunately, it was also 5:30am UK time, and time for brea...

Today, we embark on a journey to another continent! (ok, there's no WE, it's just me.) I slept late today but now it's time to actually buckle down and pack before I have to leave for the airport in a few hours. I just hope the rain stops. Blech. And mom says it's gonna be super-duper cold in London this week. goody gumdrops. Yesterday was Xmas Eve dinner at Kelly&Jeff's. I have been going to Xmas eve dinner there for at least the past 6 or 7 years. The group changes, but it's always around 10-12 people. And Kelly always makes lasagna - excellent, spicy, meaty lasagna. And after we're all stuffed to the gills, we trade Chanuka presents. Hannah loves opening presents, but with her cousin Eric there, she wanted his matchbox cars (and really cool 18-wheel trailer) more than her My Little Pony or Dora's Greenhouse. And she couldn't understand why we weren't opening ALL of the big wrapped presents under the tree (not really *under* the tree,...

Bryan is enjoying the holiday traditions "down-undah", which apparently has him pondering whether he should convert (yeah, mom wouldn't have a cow about THAT!). I wonder if he even remembered to bring a menorah with him in his luggage? ;) But really, how can you argue with Santa on a surfboard?! Too funny. I am aleady done with my holiday shopping (with one or two notable exceptions) and wrapping. I guess I shouldn't say 'already' since tomorrow is Xmas eve! The only thing I absolutely had to buy today was a bundt pan, because I am making chocolate-chip bundt cake for Kelly's xmas dinner tomorrow... [Hee hee, every time I say the word "bundt" I think of the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when the WASPy family brings a bundt cake to dinner at the Greek family's house, and Mama can't pronounce the word bundt. :) ] I would have borrowed mom's bundt pan, but hers was ... just plain scary. I think it's at least 40 years old! N...

Dani and I spent a few hours last night at the venerable 9:30 club (only my second trip there, but her third in a year) to see the Carbon Leaf "Winter acoustics" tour. I [heart] Carbon Leaf. They're so cool. I saw them on a morning show in the airport when I was on my way out of Birmingham, AL last summer, and I've been hooked on them ever since! :) This was the only show I've heard of where they put chairs down at 9:30... they generally make you stand up for the concert(s). So it was very intimate with us all sitting there, more like a VH1 Storytellers or something. The first five songs were brand new - they were mostly about the band's trips back and forth across the US while touring for the past two years. They were... interesting. There was a very country-western-y song (that made some of us want to go Yeee-ha!), a song about Native Americans (which was very good) and a nice love song called "unknown bride." Here's hoping they put these on an...

I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. John Spencer, who has played Leo McGarry on West Wing for seven years, died of a heart attack . (Which is rather ironic, because his character had to retire from being the Chief of Staff because he had a heart attack on the show!) ... He was 58. I have been so involved with "WW" since the beginning, I feel like they're my family. and I loved John Spencer all the way back to 'L.A. Law.' I don't know what they're going to do for the rest of this season - his character was running for Vice President with Jimmy Smits' Matt Santos for President. I even have "Santos-McGarry" buttons! (no surprise there, I know) Sad, sad, sad. I watch the "in memory" segments on the Oscars and the Emmys every year, and some years I really bawl and some years it doesn't affect me that much. I often wonder what will happen when the stars of today pass on, like Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, John Travo...

Ok, so in the list of oddball things to blog, this is probably the oddest so far. (Yes, I'm home on a Friday night...) I'm watching Numb3rs on CBS. They're doing an experiment in a lab to learn about arson. The "scientist" (guest star) who is helping with the experiment is ... Bill Nye the Science Guy! I wonder how many other people know who he is. Bryan and I went to a presentation that he did in the IMAX theater at the Air & Space Museum a long time ago, and I also saw him on Capitol Hill at CNSF's "Hill Day" once. So, no, this was not a brush with a famous person, but he did used to -- wait, he still does! -- have a fun show on PBS that tries to get kids interested in science (which we really need in this country!). See, he even has a website! http://www.billnye.com/ ok, back to your regularly scheduled lives....

In case you're wondering, the kid emails me multiple times a day. He's trying to get a job (or two) -- one with a computer company, and maybe also a gig as a tennis coach. He can't be down there for the summer and not spend time outside, after all! He hasn't found his own place yet, but he's staying with friends of my mom's. He's also thinking of going to Surf Camp. heh. And he has a cell phone, but I haven't tried calling it yet. Here's a pic... Dad's ok. Mom just told me that it turns out he cracked SIX ribs, not two, which is why he's been in so much pain. But he's healing pretty well, and taking the pain medication regularly, now that the doctor told him he HAS to take them whether he likes it or not, because otherwise he won't heal.

Sometimes I forget to blog the best stuff!! Friday night, Gigi, Shelley, Valerie and I went to see The Bravery and Depeche Mode out at the Patriot Center. Fortunately, the snow that was predicted didn't really appear... the ice was by far more dangerous. So the concert went on. (YAY!) The Bravery is a band from NYC with members who are from Bethesda and Falls Church, so they had a lot of local groupies up at the stage. The Patriot Center is really small. We were about halfway back up on the left (looking out from the stage) but we still felt really close. It was packed, and the crowd was mostly our age or older (except for the Bravery fans). Depeche played a lot of the new stuff (which I'm not really super-hot about... I actually like The Bravery's CD much better -- it sounds more like the old Depeche!) and then they moved into songs from Violator, which was THE Depeche album from my senior year in high school. (They posted the setlist so you can see for yourself - we got...

Reggie Bush! Here he is jumping over one of the UCLA guys in the big win last weekend. Here's the link to the Sports Illustrated article Can't wait to see what Reggie is going to do to those Longhorns on January 4th! :D

Got a voicemail from the kid on my cell phone, and an email, too. It seems he has arrived safely on the other side of the world. He didn't say anything about being upside-down, though. ;)

... to Australia! Actually, he lands in about 20 minutes in Sydney... that'll be 9:15am on Friday morning, Australia time. They're on Daylight Savings, so they're 16 hours ahead. Weird, huh? He missed Thursday altogether. (I guess he didn't miss much.) He was really nervous right before he left, but I think anybody would have jitters like that. He has some people to stay with, and has signed up with an organization called BUNAC that might be able to help him find a job... We'll know when he sends us an email (or calls, but that's expensive!) that he has arrived. In the meantime, I hope he has a good time! It's already 90 degrees down there, while we're sitting here waiting for 3-6" of snow. Not fair.

As you have read here recently, "There's Always Drama in Fratkinville!" Dani said that to me tonight when I was on my way home from mom & dad's, and it just rang true. Tonight, I had to call our neighbor, Bruce, to come over and help me change the lightbulb in the kitchen ceiling fan. Yes, I ought to be able to change a light bulb on my own... but a) it's a high ceiling, b) the fixture wasn't budging when I tried to turn it, and c) as it turned out, we didn't have a spare bulb! So, Bruce (my hero :) ) came over to help me unscrew the fixture, and brought his own spare lightbulb to put in. Now I have to go to Lowe's to buy spare bulbs for both our kitchen light and his! I have really had enough drama for one month. Really.

They originally predicted up to 4" of snow, but the storm has now been downgraded to 1" to 2".... and so far it's been snowing since 1pm and it isn't sticking to the ground (except the grass and the cars). But that hasn't stopped the people around here from panicking! No sir! Everyone had to run to the grocery store yesterday and buy up all the milk and bread, and then off to the home stores to buy shovels and salt. It's crazy! You'd think we were going to have the blizzard of the century. I myself am camped out at mom & dad's... had to turn on the heat for the first time this year. I love the smell of the radiators heating up. At least the house will be warm enough for me to sleep in! If the snow actually starts sticking, the Federal Government will likely shut down. (They're very nervous about all of their employees getting to work safely. Probably because nobody in this town knows how to drive in the snow, but they all have SUVs so...

Mom and Dad went out yesterday with Mehreen, one of the English interns who came to DC last summer. Mehreen brought her camera, so we have actual photographic evidence that Dad is alive and doing reasonably well (as evidenced by the beer!). :) Here's mom and Mehreen. Maybe they should start giving mom some of the drugs that dad's been taking? ;)

'nuff said. :) On to Rose Bowl, January 4!

Here's a link to Adam Sandler's Chanuka song - Version 3! http://www.moviewavs.com/cgi-bin/mp3s.cgi?Eight_Crazy_Nights=chanukah.mp3

OK, it's officially the "holiday season" -- they played Adam Sandler's Chanuka Song on my radio station this morning. :) I had to stop everything and sing along. Here are the lyrics (and guitar chords) -- of course, on my ABC/Disney radio station, they don't play the part about "marijuanicah" So Happy Chanuka! (Don't quibble with me about the spelling. That's how I spell it, other people spell it plenty of other ways) ;) First candle is lit on Christmas Day this year. (I think)