Sorry this picture is sideways. Thanks mom for the origami kit. i am folding while listening to Rhandi. There is a strike planned for Sunday to Monday. This will make my commute pure hell. And there is no way I am going to walk. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hey all! I went to a Democrats Abroad meeting and it was really fun. But speaking of dems, did you see Bill O' Reilly on Davis Letterman? Here is a link and you can stream Dave digging into Bill saying he is full of crap and should respect Cindy Sheehan. I couldn't believe it, it was so great!

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/ls_dtv_big_show_highlights.shtml

Ok I am going to bed.

Someone arrived as Cpt. Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean! Coolest whole costume!

You can see big Ben in the corner.

Here are some pics I took in Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve.

Here is James and me at the Wig party. Yay Coke Zero!

These people had the coolest wigs ever.

Hey Jan! I finally got your present today! It was delivered on Christmas eve but I was in Canterbury already. So they didn't totally lie to you. Thanks for the great book! I heard all about it on the Al Franken show. James can't wait to read it too. Also the penguin is so cute and the cookies/fudge are great! Thank you!

Here is a pic of the streets of Canterbury on christmas eve. In the way back was the cathedral but it didn't show up in this pic.

Here are the presents I got on Christmas day. Father Christmas found me a quarter way round the world. :)

Hey all, here is the Eagle family christmas tree!

Merry Christmas! I am back in London now after a 4 hour late trip from Canterbury. It was snowing there and the trains just couldn't handle it. I guess it snowed a bit in London but nothing remains now. I got some nice gifts from James' family like socks and slippers and loads of chocolates and some books. I will eventually post some pics. We ate huge meals on Christmas eve, christmas and boxing day. We had a pork roast, roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, parsnips and carrots, and peas. We also had a christmas pudding like the one I sent.

James' mom took us to a Christmas pantomime on boxing day and it was the play of Cinderella. It is mainly for kids but it was fun with lots of shouting and dancing and audience participation.

I do not work this week which is a nice break but I won't get paid either. I'll be fine. I am looking forward to the Christmas sales around London. it's a big deal here kinda like Black Friday. Also I will do lots of reading and soduku playing. Can't wait!

Take a look at the err candy ornaments. This picture doesn't do them justice. Thank you all! Janice, I'll open yours when I get back. I'll miss you all on Sunday!! Love Kim

Here is me modeling the purse.

Cool, John and April! A recycled CT licence plate purse! Ya know, I have always wanted one of these but never got around to getting one. I also appreciate the CT touch. A very earth friendly gift! Thanks!

Lots of useful goodies from mum. Loads of Astrology calendars and mini toys like a magnetic desk toy and mini oragami set! Also lots of ERRR ornaments in my stocking!

Here we go! Getting ready to open my presents.

Hey all! Thanks for the cards Celeste, Jeff, Ab and Chris and Lorraine! And thanks for the money. I will try to see if I can deposit it here, which I am unsure about.

I will keep and eye out for the package from Jan and Keith too. but it might be nice to come back to a present :)

I have been getting into a game called soduku which is popular here. It's like a number game that usually is in the papers with the crosswords. It is highly addictive and I bought some books of it for the trainride to Canterbury. They are showing National Lampoon's christmas vacation on TV and I can't wait to watch it!

I will post pics of me opening presents later on today.

Here is Liz skating. Thank Celeste, Jeff and Ab for the amazon.co.uk gift certificate! And thanks Sylvia and Co. for the christmas card!

Here is the tube station. Above is a scene from Ice Age that leads down Regent Street towards Picadilly Circus.

Here is famous Oxford Street, the best shopping hub in London. You can see he lights strung across the road for many blocks. It is getting impossible to walk around though on weekends leading up to Christmas.

Here are two coworkers Gayle and Liz showing off their ice skates!

I tried to smile but got off balance so this is the picture that resulted.

Here is a relief scuplture on the side of the building where I work. It is a tribute to Dickens who apparently lived around here.

Looks like part of the crust fell over but it looks and smells great! I am bringing this into work for our Christmas party in the office.

I made a sweet potato pie from scratch!

Here is a pic of the Christmas dinner James and I went to on Sunday. It was a great time with a handful of people. We had a roast, ham, stuffing, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, parsnips, gravy, and yorkshire puddings! It was absolutely delicious and there was plenty of mulled wine and some singing aroud the piano of random showtunes.

This is the small christmas tree we have in our office. Below are the secret santa gifts we got for each other along with the Christmas dog puppet one of us brought in.

Here is a pic from my office's christmas party . We went to the Texas Embassy tex-mex resteraunt. It was OK food, not as good as chili's.

Here is a long shot of my mantle and christmas decorations. Yay! And my christmas do at work is tomorrow so we can open our secret santa gifts! Thanks for the popcorn balls, mom. I opened them like I was a starving armenian!

Here is my fireplace all decorated with the decorations from my box. My fireplace looks so christmasy with a stocking and trimming!

Woo early Christmas! Thanks formy christmas package, mama! Came just in time as I ran out of chex mix last week!

Hi folks,

This weekend, I made peanut butter cookies from a recipe I found online using my stockpile of PB. James and I also made pizza from scratch which was really really good!

This upcoming week is my offices Christmas "do" on Tuesday. We are going out for tex mex and exchanging secret santa gifts! woo!

Oxford street is gross now it's the countdown to christmas. Everyone is slightly crazed in the stores these days. Hope it goes away for the January sales!

Here is a pic of a christmas tree in the middle of Trafalgar Square. It's tall and skinny and next to Nelson's column which looks cool. All through december there will be carolers scheduled each night so I hope to see some soon. The edward scissorhands thing ended up being a ballet so it was all dancing. It was really cool but not too true to the film. I highly approved of it though. coolest ballet i've ever seen!

Thanks, April for my Christmas gift! I got it in the post today and have put it next to my fireplace in my room. I'll open it somewhere around christmas eve even though I already know what it is from the customs label :)

I hope to take pics of my room once I decorate it. I am off to see the Edward Scissorhands play soon and to a club.

here is a longer shot of the coat. I feel like J Lo in it.

Merry early-Christmas to me! Thanks mom for my faux fur jacket! Faux fur is all the rage here and I got mine from Marks and Spencer (or Marks and Sparks as it's known to Britons). I look really gross in this pic because I had just returned from finishing my holiday shopping! I am sending a box home for you guys. I just hope it gets there in time for Christmas!

Plans for Cambridge fell through for this weekend, but luckily I got tickets for a play on Saturday night. The Edward Scissorhands play!!! www.salderswells.com

I can't wait! I am going for proper fish and chips tomorrow with coworkers. I will need to take those who are coming to visit there because they are so good.

Will report back on this play. I really am looking forward to it!

Hey all,

This weekend I went to Greenwich market which was fun. I bought some christmas presents to ship home and a new bag! This weekend I might be going to cambridge to visit James' little brother which will be fun. In the meantime it's the same ol same ol here.

Here's me at the Hard Rock eating the thanksgiving dinner. Lots of Americans were there too. The veggies weren't cooked and they gave you a spoonful of stuffing. What a gyp!! Over all it was alright, but it's just not the same ;)

Here's me cutting into the first piece! For her first try, it was pretty authentic to me!

Vikki holds up her homemade pumpkin pie that she made for the office. Poor thing had to lug it on the tube during rush hour.

I turn on my computer and to my surprise they changed my wallpaper to a Thanksgiving montage!

Well, we don't really do balloons on Thanksgiving, but it was a good try!

This is what I came into work too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So just as the day started off on the wrong foot (as in the Tube was extra slow AND I had to work on Thanksgiving Day) I come into work and it's decorated for Thanksgiving just for me!

After I left last night, my coworkers blew up balloons and decorated my computer station with cut outs of the Stars and Stripes and turkeys!

Then one brought in a homemade pumpkin pie and we all ate it with our coffee in the morning. It was an extremely sweet gesture and I'll post pics when I get home after dinner!

I'll miss you all at the dinner table!

Thanks Mum for the comfort food! Cornbread yum! Floss, hooray! Tonight the new 24 hour drinking law goes into place in London. Police fear a rise in drunken arrests all over the city. Should be interesting to see how the weekend goes! Tomorrow we go to the Hard Rock Cafe London for Thanksgiving dinner. I'll miss you all! I can't believe I have to work on Thanksgiving day!

This thanksgiving thing is not so bad....

My plate is heaped full of Thanksgiving goodness.

Stove top, yaaay!

Sorry but the Spurkey was AWFUL! Here is james cooking some turkey chops we got from the store...

Sunday afternoon I prepared the cheesecakes first. Yum!

April to the rescue! Thank you April and John and boys for providing Instant Thanksgiving. I know for fact you would never find SPAM turkey (shouldn;t it be SPURKEY?) in all of the UK. I can't wait to break into these packs and make my own dinner! Thanks guys! I really appreiciate it!

Hey all,
Tonight James and I are going to a Democrats Abroad event where they will show the Documentary 'the End of Suburbia' and then have some kind of discussion afterwards. Should be a good time. I hope to go to Camden on Saturday where lots of punk hipsters and hippies hang out. But there are good shops there so it will be fun.

I look a bit drunk, though I only drank soda all night. The party went on until 7am but I went to bed at 3. So nice not to have to travel back anywhere!

Our friend steve contemplates eating the worm..

James singing to my DJ playlist of wonders.

My housemate Denise marvelling at the sweet corn pancakes she is making for guests. They were great!

pics from my mexican party! here are some starters. I made the fresh guac and a 5 layer dip!

Tomorrow is my Mexican Housewarming party! I will def have pics to post of that. should be interesting to make mexican food with british resources.

I think we'll have about 25 people, 5 of which are there for me.

Hey all,
yesterday was James' bday so I got him tickets to a lecture his favourite author was giving in London and then I treated to a meal in Chinatown! It was a really fun time.

I think we are finally going to a disco on friday!

Politically, looks like Blair is in big trouble and the news is reporting on the notion that he may be booted from power any day now.

These past few days I have been getting desperate to find a place in London that does a Thanksgiving dinner. Obviously they don't have our pilgrim holiday here and the ones I am finding are all fancy pants ones. I just want your basic stuff yourself silly meal with tinny cranberry sauce with can indentations on the side!!!


I will let you know how my search goes as I join fellow expats in the search for a turkey dinner.

Last night I went out with coworkers because one is ending work tomorrow. We went to a really nice place that over looks the Thames and I got a free glass of champagne. Then I went to a play in South london that one of James' friends was in. It was great, a bit of a downer, but I almost needed subtitles because the English accents were so thick!

Happy Halloween, all!

You would think it wasn't a holiday at all cause there's nothing festive in London. I wanted some crappy orange stop and shop cupcakes but was too tired to go to the store for some.

No trick or treaters are coming buy but then again they are mostly muslim around here. Enjoy!