UK Eagles 2: Putt-putt and Curling

Alrighty, now that I've got an episode of Trueblood done, I am ready to write.  I'm hoping I can get this post done, so that I'll be completely up to date and can just do posts every couple of days (or a shorter one each day depending on my mood).  Also, I'll need to get all my censorship-free posting crazies out f my system in the next two days since once Monday rolls around there are apparently a lot of media rules that we have to abide by in our use of social media in terms of what we can write and what pictures we can post and how we can portray the team and the tourney.  I guess I should read the document Ginger sent out so I can make sure I don't break any of the rules.

I left off my last post with Wednesday night.  The night I had just started this whole thing up again.  Like I said, I had  a really hard time sleeping.  Because it took me so long to fall asleep, I slept in forever.  Let me remind you we had Thursday off so I was okay with it.  When I woke up, the family was all sitting around drinking coffee and eating breakfast - I think it might have been 11am.  I guess everyone else was tired too because they all looked pretty groggy as well.

After spending a little bit of time working on editing an article that I had to submit back to a journal editor (like I said, being a PhD student can put a bit of a damper on things sometimes), Kitt and I decided to go do laundry and go explore Guildford (the town we are in).  After a bit of an adventure finding an ATM where we could get cash (note to those traveling over from the States: if you have BofA, you don't pay any ATM fees (normally $5) if you use Barclays ATMs) we got our flat's laundry in and were off to walk in to town.

One thing I do love about the UK is the fact that they don't mince words when it comes to signs.  For example, when near a seniors home you will see a sign which says "elderly people".   If there are speed bumps near by, well they tell you that there are "humps for 430 yards".  There's no room for error... well, maybe there is a little, but at least it makes me laugh.

Kitt and I eventually found our way in to town and somehow as if by pure magnetic forces beyond our control found ourselves in a sports and shoe store.  After looking at a number of cleats and other shoes, Kitt settled on a pair of white, European, 'I am going dancing at a gay-boy club' pair of shoes.  By that point we were starting to get hungry so we wandered out to find food, only to find ourselves standing in another shoe store.  I don't know how it happened.

In the store, we ran in to Lara and Lynelle so all of us decided to go get food and wander around a little more.  We ate at a cute little restaurant and then perused more stores before deciding that we needed to get back and get some more rest.  So Kitt and I went and picked up our laundry and headed back to the flat.



When we got back I spent more time working on my article.  It took a lot of time to get it done because I kept getting distracted.  First it was the hall-way putt-putt. Vanesha brought a whiffle ball set with her to the UK.  We decided that a great way to use it would be to work on our short-game, so we put a measuring cup in the hallway and worked on our putting.  That was less than successful so we moved on to curling.  We used two hand brooms and the whiffle balls again.  Still not particularly successful, but really funny.  My next distraction came in the form of dinner both the preparing of it, but also the eating of it.  Half-way through dinner we could hear the pod below us laughing, so we needed to get involved.  We took the whiffle ball bat and attached Kitt's belt to it so we could dangle it out the window with notes attached to it.  We thought we were very clever.  Next thing you know a broom appeared outside our window with a return message.  This went on for quite some time and we all had stomach-aches by the end because we were laughing so hard.   But alas, eventually it too was abandoned for the next distraction, Trueblood.

Last night we got a craving for two episodes, so we watched one on my computer and then borrowed Kitt's to watch another.  I wonder if there is a 12-step program for this type of thing?  Finally, I was able to finish my article and get it submitted... but it took a bit of time.

Then today we were back out practicing.  We had a morning core session for the forwards before heading to the field.  We had one morning session, which was held under an ominous sky and we just finished practicing when the skies opened up.  It was a gross day all afternoon.  Just a constant gray rain.  Ashley, Beckett, and I had to go over to the Sports Park with Kathy to do an interview with TotalRugby Radio, but the perk was we got to enjoy a nice hot cocoa at Starbucks, which was great given the gray conditions.

After the interview it was an afternoon spent hanging with the 'family', reading, relaxing, and getting this all caught up.  We had a great dinner together and ended it with an episode of Trueblood - like I said, we have a problem.  All in all, it was a good day.  Lucky (or not) for me, I finished Push this afternoon and haven't started a new book, so perhaps I can go to sleep tonight without too much issue.