tonight's viewing

watching celebrity x-factor tonight. once again, i have no idea who the celebs are. the problem with this version (apart from bad singing, but having to put up with it because they're celebs) is that simon doesn't bother to be that mean. it's really annoying. everyone knows these people don't have great voices, so there's no point.

work was really a let down today. i feel like i have no responsibilties at all. i'm bored. i still feel like i don't fit in. i hardly talk with anyone and when i do, i feel like an idiot. i decided to listen to pandora today. pandora is great. it's like a radio but better because you don't have to listen to adverts and you can skip crap songs (if you get them) and you still get to hear new music. it's lovely, so check in to it.

oh happy day...i've recently watched sister act 2...

good news! good news! my mom received my MA certificate in the mail today. you wouldn't think that it's such a big deal BUT i'm pleased because it means that i never have to deal with that university again AND i didn't have to pay the extra housing fees they said i owed. as if i didn't give that place enough money. they actually thought i owed them an additional £35. it was for painting the kitchen and for a huge spot on my threadbare carpet. firstly, that spot was there when i moved in. i wrote it down on my inventory form thingy when i moved in and i purchased a rug from ikea specifically to cover the ugly spot while i lived there. and as far as the kitchen goes....that place was digusting when i moved in. i don't think they painted the walls then, why would they now?

toby's been at me for months to "sort my MA out". i tried. i called and explained to them and asked to speak with more important people and the best response i got was "well, why don't you pay the money and then we'll look into it and reimburse you" HELL NO. like i really believed they were going to reimburse me. that's a joke. so, i never bothered to "sort it out" and now the phone call from my mom. hurrah! yea! hurrah! woooohooo :) i'm really pleased.

oh....and just because i've been wanting to put up this picture and tell you about the eurovision song contest. quickly, it's a crap pop song contest for all european countries to enter. it is held once a year and is the source for a LOT of jokes. last year's winner was from greece with a song called 'your my lover, uncover'. lordi from finland are this year's winners. their song? rock halleujah! for once a quality contestant.....

destroy

i just forgot the lovely things i was going to post about. i hate when that happens.

i did something really fun at work today. we published a book that we've now found out to be plagarized and so all copies were taken back and pulped. well, someone gave me 4 copies that were in the office today and i was told to destroy them. what fun! i took to it with a scapel and a skissors :) i quite like books, but i really enjoyed cutting them up.

toby's off to luton for band practice tonight. he's sacrificing the watching of the championship league final. it proves his committment to the band. i, on the other hand, will be going to see the film transamerica at the swiss cottage cinema. i've been wanting to see it for awhile and this is a good chance. i'm not going to promise that i'll let you know how it is because i probably won't. but i'll say now that should probably go see it because it is probably a good movie.

still lazy

well, i'm still feeling lazy. seems like whenever i get on this darn internet, i get lazy. today's excuse is also because i did my first yoga class today and i'm feeling achy. muscles hurt. it seems that every damn pose in yoga involves having both of your arms held out from the sides of your body. well, i haven't the strength to keep my arms up for an hour. i guess it'll do me good though.

i have another picture for you (the all inclusive you of the internet). our hood has a lot of people that can somehow manage to buy fancy cars. we see the nicest cars daily. there are even 2 yellow lambourghi(es?) parked in the valet parking lot area of an apartment building around here. a lot of these people care about the environment too and so, as this picture will show...they buy two cars. it's just the funniest thing...



these GWIZ cars are even SMALLER (ha, that's funny, small but it's in caps) than smart cars. TOBY COMMENT! I just wanted to emphasise the virtual contradiction in terms here. This family has bought a gwiz car to be kind to the environment (they are electric) and parked it up next to their Ferrari, that does about 8 miles to the gallon. How environmentally friendly.

laziness, but picture enjoyment

i'm too lazy right now to write about these pictures. i've just ate a pizza and have been reading (peyton place by grace metalious) and zoning out since toby is away visiting bath press. i'll try to get to it this weekend. in the meantime, you can (for the most part) figure these out for yourself. enjoy.



















those last ones were a bit more confusing, weren't they ...

Support Pete and MS research

hi there,

a buddy from minnesota is racing in the MS 150 ride. it's a cycling race from the twin cities to duluth, minnesota (150 miles!) and raises money for MS research. it would be great if you could support him...he's going to be putting 15% of what he raises, so the more you put in, the more he puts in :)

go to this link:

https://www.nationalmssociety.org//MNM/personal/default.asp?pa=45867136&pd=MNM0EMS120060610150

or check out his blog at www.peterchurch.com and donate some money!!

suck it up

i've recently discovered that our "hoover" or vacuum is one of those types that spits stuff out rather than sucks it up. it is only my third time vacuuming, which is why it has taken me so long. i should have figured, since it was covered in dust and left here from the previous renter. maybe the bag just needs changing, but i'm not touching that. i'm married now and i'm leaving that as a "husband duty." he's out at a pub quiz tonight with co-workers. i've left the vacuum in our bedroom, so he'll be sure to ask me about it and either he'll have to put it away or put in a new bag. clever i am.

i've also re-discovered my old "wallflowers" cd. not bad to have on while tidying up around the house and occasionally dropping by the old internet.

crazy

toby and i very much approve of this, i don't what you call it, band i guess. gnarls barkley. coming to the states soon if you haven't heard it already. this picture was found on their website. nice.

Bank Holiday Monday

I like having four days off of work. Why not always work a week on and then a week off. Not like the firefighters though that do that 24 hour type of thing, but just the normal 35 hour work week on and then an entire week off.

We tried to start the day off early-ish and go visit a park. We went a little further out from our comfort zone, which was nice. Instead of Regent's Park, we headed off to Hype Park. Though we only really got to walk around the Kensington Gardens side.

First off...a view of our Easter basket. Those giant eggs are made of lovely chocolate. It's really slow going on the eating of them though. There IS such a thing as too much chocolate.



This one is taken at the building right next to ours. It seems we have a neighborhood cat. Normally comes out at night to scare the crap out of you. I'd say it looks like my mom's cat, dinah, but let's be honest. My mom's cat is the size of a small pig.



You can't see it too well on the photo, but the headline on the back page of the newspaper says "Wham, Bam, Thank you Glam". He was a pretty groovy guy.



Does this look like some kind of a parrot? We couldn't figure out why there were about 5 of these birds in the trees at the park. Okay, maybe a pet parrot got lose, but that many and all hanging out in the same trees?



And finally, a picture of one of many lovely trees we saw on Monday. This one has a cool face with a long nose. Yea :)

The Marshalls

This is my new last name (or surname as you say it). I wasn't going to do another post, since the last one was so interesting, but I was dinking around on the internet (Toby's watching Match of the Day 2...football) and so, I'm, as I was saying, dinking around on the internet.

Did you know that the people of the Marshall Islands speak a special language? It's called Marshallese. There is a language with my new last name. It's great. Looks incredibly hard to learn though. I found a Peace Corps guide, not that I'd have a clue on how to pronounce anything.

Here's a link the the Marshallese people.

my 100th post

had a lovely easter with toby's family. i hear there's a bit of lovely weather in the midwest right now. enjoy that over your holiday weekend!

the hokey pokey

i think i discovered another cultural difference today. the hokey pokey. the words are different over here in england AND toby swears it's called the "okey cokey".

lyrics for the HOKEY pokey:
you put your left hand in,
you take your left hand out,
you put your left hand in,
and you shake it all about,
you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around,
that's what it's all ABOUT HEY!

lyrics for the OKEY COKEY:
you put your left hand in,
your left hand out,
in out, in out,
shake it all about,
you do the hokey cokey
and you turn around,
that's what it's all ABOUT YEAH!
oh, okey-cokey-cokey, oh, okey-cokey, oh, okey-cokey,
knees bend, arms stretch , rah-rah-rah

now, what's THAT all about?

bits

toby's back at work meaning he's less bored during the day and bugging me with emails at work more. just kidding toby, i don't mind the emailing. i missed it while you were gone.

i made banana bread the other night. toby calls it banana cake. yet another cultural difference as been discovered.

the plumber was supposed to come by at noon today. toby had to call him after work to find out that the plumber was not going to come by today.

office space came in the mail today. toby's first viewing of this classic film. i can't wait until i watch the gang beating of the fax machine. i do enjoy that film.

Cheri brought the funk...

...and the funk is saltine crackers. these are the tasty crackers ever because you get to suck the salt off before you eat them. thank you VERY much to cheri paul for the lovely birthday package. the neighbors brought it round tonight after dinner. i was able to enjoy a lovely pepperidge farm milano cookie. that farm makes really good cookies.

i've decided to do a little importing today and so, you get a picture treat! yea for you!

firstly, a mold update



i mentioned that toby's been couped up in the flat. well, he found something new to occupy his time. his brand new rickenbacker bass. notice the track pants...he's been wearing them since last thursday. without a wash *sigh*



next up is a picture of me making some cornbread muffins. we're talking the jiffy mix folks. good old mom sent over two packages. such good stuff!



notice the water coming out of the tap? yeah, it's not supposed to but it WON'T TURN OFF. a major grr there.



have i mentioned the kite? oh dear, the kite. toby's discovered that he loves kite flying. i've discovered that it's not a winter time activity. we had to climb all the way up primrose hill to get it going, but it did fly. look at that grin on toby. he loves it :)



and finally...a look out the window at night. that's what i've been looking at as i've been typing this. well, it's completely dark now (8.34pm...and it's just dark now) so, goodnight all. i'll chat with you laters...abs

music for the masses

i think i'm one of those people. you know, the people wearing headphones but everyone else has to listen to the music too? the thing is, with the noise of the bus and the traffic i just can't hear the music without turning it up to full volume. so what if i get a few nasty looks? it's the only way i can keep a little bit sane on the way to and from work.

keep up the happy faces people.

legoland

the road out front is colorful and looks like someone threw confetti all over it. actually, a box of legos was left out and spread everything. crushed legos everywhere in the pavement. it's pretty though....

Poor sport

being forced to watch curling everyday for two weeks, i was happy to see the olympics end. unfortunately, england is involved in something called the commonwealth games. this event takes place every four years and is exactly like the olympics except only countries that are in the commonwealth compete. this allows the crap countries to have a chance at winning medals. i know that sounds horrible of me to say, but i got SOOO sick of turning on one of our five channels and having to watch these events. it got really boring, that is until sunday when they showed the closing ceremony. that was the coolest thing ever. the games were held in melbourne and so the ceremony celebrated famous people from the area. dame edna being one of them. she sang a song about melbourne and there were about 100 people dressed up as her dancing around and then they all formed the classic dame edna glasses. it was pretty darn cool.

Living in the City

Living in a city where I use public transportation can be great but a little crappy at times.

Today is an example where I just wanted to get in my car and make a Target run. Instead I did something I've never done before. I grabbed my big ol' travelling backpack (you know the one, the huge motherload you where you carry everything on your back) and I hopped on the bus and headed to Sainsbury's to buy groceries. Toby wasn't able to go with because he a little unable to move about at the moment and we really needed some groceries. I stuck the bag in the shopping cart and went to it. I thought people would think this was a little odd, but I didn't get any weird looks. People don't always use a car to get around here, so I guess it's exceptable. Anyay, I spent more than we ever have before and packed up the pack. It was SOOO heavy. The backpack really helped and now we aren't stuck with a bunch of plastic bags. Yea! Still need a Target run though....

Conclusion: I'm just not a healthy person

i'm ill again. this time, it's more of a cough along with the congested sinuses, but still, i'm not well. so i took off of work today and went to the doctor. he asks what's wrong and then checks my ears, my throat and my breathing. all clear he says. ALL CLEAR?? then why, i ask, am i coughing up dark green ickiness? oh, well you must have some sort of viral thing. that's going around right now. you let me know if it hasn't stopped by the end of the week. sooooooOOOOOOO frustrating to be told you're fine when you don't feel it. i've come to the conclusion that i'm just basically an unhealthly person who is suspectible to whatever sort of thing is "going around".

when i cam home from the doctor i called up work (which i've forgotten the reception number for, i couldn't call my boss because he's in norway today and tomorrow). once i finally got through i found out that basically the whole design department is out sick too. i sit next to them. so, obviously something IS going round. any suggestions for a nice multivitamin i should be taking? i've been eating up oranges and stuff....anyway. that's the lovely news from here.

friday was nice though. toby wanted to take me out for my birthday a little early, so we went out after work. he had a nice suprise for me. some friends were at the big chill (a bar near brick lane i've been saying we should go to at some point) waiting to have a drink with us. that was very nice and then we went out for a curry on brick lane. i've discovered that when people here say "go for a curry" they actually just mean...go eat some indian food. you walk down brick lane and hope for the best deal. there are always men outside the restaurants saying they'll give you a 10% 20% discount, first drinks free!...etc..etc...finally you get sick of wondering what the deals are and you go wherever you feel...normally NOT getting the best discount, but there you go :)

one month

i was just thinking the other day....yes the blog's still abby jo dennis, but yes, i have changed my name. it's official/unofficial. meaning that i've been using it at work and stuff, but i haven't changed my passport or my bank details yet and i still have a minnesota (i never even changed it back to wisconsin) drivers license. it's all a matter of getting around to dealing with it.

a quick hello to mr. charlie hobart. thanks for the comments! always a pleasure to know someone's reading. i hope you're doing well despite your hectic life. i can't wait to hear your opinions of the english ladies when you make a trip across the pond.

as for the title of this post, toby and i have now been married for a whole month! and people said it wouldn't last. i'll admit, we've had our disagreements (why did you have to buy another video game?), but the majority of the time things have been really great and smiley. we enjoy the really boring things like grocery shopping on a friday night (there's hardly anyone around!) and putting toothpaste on one another toothbrushes. i don't really know if it feels different to be "married" but knowing that he'll be around for awhile makes me feel great. so, yea! for toby :)

now....down here you'll see a lovely photo of some mold. this particular mold can be found above our tv in the corner of our living room. this flat is a haven for mold, i just don't understand. anyway, i thought we have a fun game of "watch the mold grow". this picture is from....i think the 3rd of march. be on the lookout for more mold pics......!!



keep well y'all,
abs