so much to write about...i have been on the go literally every night and will continue to do so until the day i leave. luckily, today was arranged as a work from home day because DHL came to pick up my boxes that i want to ship home. it also happens to be a sick day!
it had been a long time since i went to a play that involved thinking. i'm not dissing the west end, far from it! they provide so much entertainment. but every once in a while its nice to go to a piece of work that doesn't quite hand everything to you on a silver platter. in fact, it makes you have to figure out what exactly is going on. and i got that with or you could kiss me.
the story is set in the 2030s with an aging gay couple (in their 80s). one of the characters has emphysema and is living out his last days...but in denial. he ignores the phone messages (a bed has opened in the hospice...the lawyer, to sign over his wealth to his partner). he's pushing away death, and denying the 50+ year relationship with the only person he's ever loved. and the characters are (almost) life sized puppets. stunning. from handspring puppet company - the puppeteers responsible for the horses in war horse. and of course, my fave character, the goose.
i also helped my friend lynne celebrate her 40th birthday party. one of the come dine with me gals, she and jo and avril are sisters...i'm sure i've blogged about this before. gina (my sister) is friends with avril, and all the sisters are now friends. in fact, i talked about them when we all went to dublin (except for lynne unfortunately). anyhoo, it was fun to be there and be a part of it. they've become lovely friends and i will miss them dearly.
on saturday night i head over to wimbledon to spend some time with avril. she's recently moved to london from aberdeen (poor gina) and has moved into my old 'hood. it gave me the excuse to have one final pizza at al forno (pepperoni of course) and then we head up the hill to the village for some pints at the dog and fox. on our way up the hill we met one ian swan from newcastle (he showed us his passport to prove he was newcastle because there was nothing geordie about him). what an elequant man...but shocking to find out he was only 43. he has lived a hard life it appears, but a full one as well. admittedly a homeless person, ian talked to us about his troubled girlfriend, the many travel experiences he has had (his fave place is greece), and his love of arsenal. he rotates nights outside and also books hotels in advance when he can.
he's had a problem with the bottle you see, and it was not hard to deduce that he drank his fortunes away. but he now lives much more simply, and is trying desperately to get his girlfriend on the wagon as well. we watched some fireworks with him (it was to celebrate guy fawkes day) and as we made our farewells, we were both glad to have met him.
on sunday i head out to rickmansworth (yes indeed, where is that exactly? near watford! super duper north and west of london) to have a farewell lunch and walk around the aquadrome with larissa and avery. i will miss larissa dearly! she was one of the few people i knew before i moved to london (via the theatre industry) and one of the first people i went out with socially. like, one week in. she's so warm, accepting, lovely and she makes me laugh. i have indicated to her that avery needs a better education and therefore must grow up in canada. we'll see if that works. :)
i also enjoyed my last monday wing night madness with the crazy canadians at the maple leaf pub. i brought along pam nichol, another old friend from my theatre days in calgary. i was feeling sad that she just moved here and then here i go, leaving london! but funnily enough, whilst sitting and noshing on wings, and she runs into someone she used to work with at MCT. AMAZING! they barely recognized each other at first since according to them, between the 2 of them they lost a whole bunch of pounds, and well, pam had eye surgery and when i first ran into her, i barely recognized her without glasses! so glad to have engineered, albeit unknowingly, a reunion of sorts.
tuesday was back with the morrice sisters and karen as lynne hosted the final come dine with me for season two. the food was yum and a collaborative effort. we were running out of dates and hastily chose a tuesday and its virtually impossible to throw together a 4 course meal on a work night! so, jo brought the appetizers (falafel, home made pita bread and condiments), av brought the chilli, lynne made the potatoe wedges and supplied all the condiments), karen made profiteroles, and i was responsible for the cheese board. YUM!
and last night was fab...i squeezed in one final chelsea game and i'm officially 5 for 5. i have yet to see them lose. although there was no super frank playing last night, i got to see drogba (malaria infested apparently), JT and essien. essien was our star with the game winner...and a red card. i still have no idea what for. perhaps i should google.
so, i'm down to my final 9 sleeps...yes, single digits. on the docket - a crazy weekend with friends and family. gina is in town, so is dee, and 8 of us will nosh tomorrow night at aurora (where it all began), then the next day hopefully at camden market, then the goat and cucarachas, and then sunday, lunch at the ivy. how posh!
i wish i was feeling much better today though. aside from working from home to ship my stuff, tonight is the harry potter red carpet in leicester square. although i'm pretty sure its already booked up for tonight's extravaganza. part of me wants to go and the other part of me wants to nap.
but today is thursday the 11th, and in all honesty...my thoughts are for our war vetrans
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