Updates

So it's been a busy few weeks. Tom has been working hard to finish up this semester, he stayed up until 4 am the other day to finish a paper, but just a few more weeks and he's there!

We're both excited that we get to go 'Home for the Holidays'. We'll be in Oregon from Dec 20 until Dec 26...just time enough to see everyone and celebrate Christmas. We'll head back to DC for a few days, then take off to England from Dec 30 until Jan 8th. It'll be nice to not only see Tom's family, but have a look around at our new 'home'. We're planning to spend a day in Watford, where we'll most likely be living, and look around at the area. We're both definitely looking forward to a break and seeing our families. It's hard being so far away, but thankfully they're just a plane-ride away!

We've managed also to finish our Christmas shopping which is a relief. Tom actually spent a whole day shopping with me, including a trip to Michael's craft store and the mall (with a stop for a root beer float and another for a hot dog). He did it mostly with a 'happy heart' and it was nice to not do it all alone!

I saw my first Christmas lights of the season tonight on the way home, along with the cold weather that blew in, it all feel quite Christmas-y now. Just a few more weeks and we'll be on our way! We'll be going to the National Cathedral on the 4th of December for Handel's Messiah, a youth choir that is meant to be great. That'll definitely put us in the spirit!

Colin and Basil are mostly sorted now for the big move. They understand and absolutely hate their crate now, which left me in tears last vet visit as I wrestled and chased Basil for 20 minutes and finally got him in...only to have Colin escape! Oh well, only 1-2 more trips to the vet and we will be on our way.

So our apts have sold-out to a new company and have turned into condos-so basically we have the option to buy if we want. So we went to just get the info about it, not really thinking we would buy it, but can you believe that they want to charge $410,000 for our 2 bed/2 bath apt!!!! We are absolutely shocked and cannot believe that people are actually willing to spend that much. Good grief, how would a young family ever get started here? Well, I guess we don't have to worry about that, but almost 1/2 milllion dollars for an apt??!!

Thanksgiving will be at our place this year with Dennis and Abby and Colin and Basil. I'm using Rachel Ray's turkey breast recipe, so hopefully it'll work out. Tom has decided he needs to do another marathon, so Saturday at 9:30 he'll start yet another one, called the North Central Trail Marathon. We're going to head up and stay the night on Friday and thankfully it's a later-in-the-morning start to the race, so definitely liking that! On the other hand, I'll be competing in a big time 5K with my friend Pamela's daughter, Sebastian. It's with a young girl's running club and I'll be Sebastian's 'Buddy' runner, but am honestly worried that she'll beat me! I know, it's no marathon, but it'll still be fun.

So that's our latest update, lots going on, lots to finish up before the end of semester, and loads of plans to make for the future!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.