It's been a hectic few weeks in the Gabs household. We had the Texan Infestation (just kidding, One and Four) for a week, and four days later was our third wedding anniversary.
The sisterly visit was lovely. I so rarely get to fly home, twice a year if I'm lucky, it was great to have family over here. We did all the touristy stuff, the bus tour, caught a show, bought Build-a-Bear in Hamleys, ate fish and chips (with which Four became promptly and overwhelmingly obsessed)... a good time was had by all. We did, however, shop rather more than I'm accustomed to, and I had never before spent three consecutive hours in Primark in my life... *lol* To be fair, dressing Four is like having a real life Barbie to play with, so that aspect of it was fun. She was a good sport, tried on everything One and I forced upon her (including some fairly ridiculous jeans at Desigual) and let me take pictures throughout.
Pictures... I think I took a thousand. I doubt that's much of an overestimate, actually. Poor kids, every time they turned around, I was snapping away. My approach is "take a thousand, get a hundred good ones" and I think I managed it rather well. I got some truly beautiful shots of Himself and of both girls, and some not completely hideous ones of myself.
We got them back to the airport in the car we rented to go to Stonehenge and Brighton (left at quarter to six or some other godforsaken hour of the morning) in the hopes that they'd have an easy straightforward journey home. Our hopes were unfortunately in vain, as they were forced to route through NYC, take a bus from JFK to LaGuardia, spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in the airport, and then finally hopped a flight back to Dallas. Just over 24 hours of travel later, they were home. The next morning saw them at IHOP, which made me see green for a little while... I miss American breakfasts. *sigh* Oh well, at least they made it home in time for One to get back to work and Four to start school on time.
The anniversary warrants a little spinning out of its own... The weekend the girls left, I started asking Himself what he might like to have for dinner on our anniversary (as we'd decided to stay in). He said he'd let me know... Monday night, when I'd still heard nothing, I asked him again. He said he'd been to the store and bought food for the anniversary dinner...!? I went straight to the fridge to check the contents, and what did I find? Fresh fish, fresh asparagus, new potatoes, carrots, camembert to bake for a starter, and a VERY expensive bottle of white wine! Colour me impressed. When I was on my way home on Wednesday (the anniversary) I asked if I could start dinner, to which I received a resounding "no". Not only did he choose and pay for the groceries, he cooked the meal as well! Dessert, you ask? Why yes, there was, and it took the shape of iced berries with melted white chocolate poured over the top. *drooling slightly*
We also exchanged gifts, of course. Third year traditional anniversary gifts are meant to be leather, which stumped me initially. The man only has one pair of leather shoes, his dress pair, which he only wears when his suit sees the light of day (read: not often). He wouldn't wear a leather jacket, and he's already got a bag and wouldn't use a briefcase. I've given him a wallet in the last year, he doesn't need a belt, and has a watch he loves. I don't even really know how I came upon the idea of a toiletry bag, but the one I eventually found is beautiful and big enough to fit all his kit into when we travel. I also went out and bought his favourite bits with which to fill it. He ended up buying me a Radley bag (!!!), along with a limited edition copy of Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal", which we watched the first half of last night after the feast he concocted. Colour me spoiled rotten. *smug face*
I've been dealing with the mundanity of catching up with projects/emails after a week away from the office, as well as the business of becoming permanent here at HEx. I had a drugs/alcohol test out at Heathrow, and have loads of paperwork to get Himself to cast an eye over before I sign my life away and enter a life of permanent drudgery to The Man. In all seriousness, I haven't been this happy in a job in I don't know how long, so everybody stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW and knock some wood that it stays that way.
So, that pretty much constitutes a full brain dump/catch up on everything since the last installment of "Gabs: The Musical". Stay tuned for the next edition.
The sisterly visit was lovely. I so rarely get to fly home, twice a year if I'm lucky, it was great to have family over here. We did all the touristy stuff, the bus tour, caught a show, bought Build-a-Bear in Hamleys, ate fish and chips (with which Four became promptly and overwhelmingly obsessed)... a good time was had by all. We did, however, shop rather more than I'm accustomed to, and I had never before spent three consecutive hours in Primark in my life... *lol* To be fair, dressing Four is like having a real life Barbie to play with, so that aspect of it was fun. She was a good sport, tried on everything One and I forced upon her (including some fairly ridiculous jeans at Desigual) and let me take pictures throughout.
Pictures... I think I took a thousand. I doubt that's much of an overestimate, actually. Poor kids, every time they turned around, I was snapping away. My approach is "take a thousand, get a hundred good ones" and I think I managed it rather well. I got some truly beautiful shots of Himself and of both girls, and some not completely hideous ones of myself.
We got them back to the airport in the car we rented to go to Stonehenge and Brighton (left at quarter to six or some other godforsaken hour of the morning) in the hopes that they'd have an easy straightforward journey home. Our hopes were unfortunately in vain, as they were forced to route through NYC, take a bus from JFK to LaGuardia, spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in the airport, and then finally hopped a flight back to Dallas. Just over 24 hours of travel later, they were home. The next morning saw them at IHOP, which made me see green for a little while... I miss American breakfasts. *sigh* Oh well, at least they made it home in time for One to get back to work and Four to start school on time.
The anniversary warrants a little spinning out of its own... The weekend the girls left, I started asking Himself what he might like to have for dinner on our anniversary (as we'd decided to stay in). He said he'd let me know... Monday night, when I'd still heard nothing, I asked him again. He said he'd been to the store and bought food for the anniversary dinner...!? I went straight to the fridge to check the contents, and what did I find? Fresh fish, fresh asparagus, new potatoes, carrots, camembert to bake for a starter, and a VERY expensive bottle of white wine! Colour me impressed. When I was on my way home on Wednesday (the anniversary) I asked if I could start dinner, to which I received a resounding "no". Not only did he choose and pay for the groceries, he cooked the meal as well! Dessert, you ask? Why yes, there was, and it took the shape of iced berries with melted white chocolate poured over the top. *drooling slightly*
We also exchanged gifts, of course. Third year traditional anniversary gifts are meant to be leather, which stumped me initially. The man only has one pair of leather shoes, his dress pair, which he only wears when his suit sees the light of day (read: not often). He wouldn't wear a leather jacket, and he's already got a bag and wouldn't use a briefcase. I've given him a wallet in the last year, he doesn't need a belt, and has a watch he loves. I don't even really know how I came upon the idea of a toiletry bag, but the one I eventually found is beautiful and big enough to fit all his kit into when we travel. I also went out and bought his favourite bits with which to fill it. He ended up buying me a Radley bag (!!!), along with a limited edition copy of Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal", which we watched the first half of last night after the feast he concocted. Colour me spoiled rotten. *smug face*
I've been dealing with the mundanity of catching up with projects/emails after a week away from the office, as well as the business of becoming permanent here at HEx. I had a drugs/alcohol test out at Heathrow, and have loads of paperwork to get Himself to cast an eye over before I sign my life away and enter a life of permanent drudgery to The Man. In all seriousness, I haven't been this happy in a job in I don't know how long, so everybody stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW and knock some wood that it stays that way.
So, that pretty much constitutes a full brain dump/catch up on everything since the last installment of "Gabs: The Musical". Stay tuned for the next edition.
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