Visitor Count 2009: Low

When I first moved here, I had 5 sets of visitors in under 5 months! How exciting that in 2008 I was able to have some friends and family visit me so soon? Since then, the attendance at Tucker House/Wolverine House/Mutt House (still working on the name) has dropped off precipitously. In 2009, I had a total of 3 visitors - and they were all here at the same time! (Non work related visitors technically)

Now people, how many of you have these views on your morning walks? Huh? Book your spaces now for 2010. I want to squeeze you in amidst all my travels.

Weights and Measures

I've said this to quite a few people so my apologies if you have heard me say it before: I drink a lot of beer now that I've moved to the UK (as opposed to wine or spirits. Not that I've increased my drinking. Oh no. That would be wrong). I've increased my consumption for many reasons, but mainly because when you go to the local pub, it's pretty fun to try the different beers on tap. I'm always ordering a pint and often I'll even order a bitter. (pronounced Bit-tah)

What I find so intriguing about ordering in the UK is I'm often asked the question 'a pint or a half pint?' Huh? What the heck is a half pint? It's almost as confusing as when you order wine, they ask 'small or large?' Huh again? You definitely don't get that in the United States. We've got a one size fits all motto there. I have to say, I really like it though. Sometimes, you just want just a taste of beer without the volume so you order a half pint. Even more fun, when you order a beer, it is usually served in the glass of the vendor. You buy a pint of Stella Artois, it comes in a glass shaped and labeled for Stella. Order a pint of Kroeneburg and you get a tall pint of 1667. I once had a guy limp all the way down and back behind a bar on his broken leg just to make sure I had an Amstel glass for my beer (and no, there is NO SUCH thing as light beer in this country)

So the measures are cool, the weight --- not so much. Even though I might appear skinny, I've gained my fair share of weight with my expanded consumption of hoppy beverages. And as mentioned before, light beers? Never heard of 'em......

My Favorite Stalker

There has been a bit of rain lately so Tucker has the luxury of spending some time in the flat. I even had to buy a new hoover (vacuum cleaner) to deal with the additional hair. Due to the fact that I've reverted to being a big wuss (I swear I was Alpha Dog at one time), Tucker enjoys free reign while I'm out at work slaving away.

The other evening when I came home, Tucker decided that the couch and the blanket just didn't smell enough like me. Therefore, he went on quite the scavenger hunt to surround himself with a few items from my daily routine. The picture is a little dark but hopefully you can see

1. Next to the couch, my rather large purse/bag (from a basket in the hallway)

2. My adidas flip flop (from the ground floor bike/office room)

3. My dalmation slipper (from downstairs bedroom)

4. Two of my running shoes (from the ground floor bike/office room)

5. On the couch my sunglasses and glasses (from the purse)

I had to take a close up of the running shoe and sunglasses/eyeglass case. Just try to picture him going through my purse, picking these up with his teeth and dropping them on the couch. Then going back for the purse and dragging the whole thing into the room? What a goober.

It's flattering to be loved so much. I just wish my stalker wouldn't shed so much.

Ballbuster

Quite the title, isn't it? So once again I don't have much to report. I'm starting to crack under the pressure of trying to continue to be entertaining! The good news is that I have trips planned to India, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and France next year so the blog might liven up again after all. Even better, not all of those trips involve exercise. Shocker!

This weekend I did a race called the Ballbuster. Needless to say, not many girls sign up for it. We are missing a few essential bits you see.....any who, the race is a duathlon that consists of five 8 mile loops. And there is this big hill at the end called Box Hill. So you run 8 miles, then hop on your bike for 3 laps (24 miles) and then it's back to the running shoes for 8 miles. You'll have to wait for pictures from the race photographer as I don't have any of my own, so here's a picture of my back during another race just for kicks. (I think it is quite artistic AND it saves me from having to post dorky photo #198).

Overall, I did rather well but screwed up the race at the end. Another woman passed me with about 50 yards to go and I didn't think anything of it. (I tend to get passed at the end you see, I'm not a sprinter). Well, turns out that woman took 5th place leaving me with 6th place, which is one place out of the prizes. Note to self: no more getting passed at the very end of the race. Final time 3:30:56. Now I just need to figure out how to walk normally again.....

Long Live the Queen!

I was fortunate this week to catch the state visit of the president of India to greet the queen in Windsor. They had big procession through the streets up to the castle.

The castle is decked out with flags for India, Britain and the queen.



For this occassion, every bear hat in the country must have been out. Here the band hangs out and then shortly started playing Star Wars music, I kid you not. I laughed really hard when I heard the Darth Vader march. I'm not sure how many of the Brits really got that....

This is the first time I've seen the furry hat guys with guys. An assault rifle none the less.

Then all the furry hat guns came marching down the road!

There were even snipers on the rooftops. Well, maybe not a sniper since he was police. But I bet he had a gun. Safety first!

The procession starts with the two scouts in the front, leading the charge. I thought to myself, 'they seem to be moving pretty fast' and they were. The procession came charging by - I was quite impressed.

Now, I know this was a show event and these are not battle horses and the polished silver battle axes were ceremonial only, but I have to admit, it was quite daunting have these guys come by as if ready for war. If this was real, I most certainly would have cowered and begged for mercy or just wet my pants.

Here she is! The Queen! Um.. yeah. Not the best photo. She's the blue shoulder at the left of the carriage. I did actually see her face though.



Then came more horsemen. (The battle axes are in the last row)

Prince Charles doesn't get to ride in a bullet proof carriage. Do you think that says something? Can Camilla's purple hat be any bigger?

I didn't get a good picture of the Indian President (also in a bullet proof carriage) but here is the VP I think. All in all, very cool.

All Smiles

Saturday night was the triathlon club's end of season awards banquet. Yes, again with the triathlon. I promise I am diligently trying to get myself out of the country. Really.

The boys are all dressed up.

The girls too! Gemma is wearing a rockin' red dress but not looking at the camera. C'mon Gemma!

At the awards dinner - we have quite the dapper table.

Chris Harris and I are co-winners for the Smiley-est Triathlete award. We won dental floss and bottles of Listerine. I do question the wisdom of the voting public on this one. They obviously voted for Pre-Race Lynda as Post-Race Lynda is never quite that happy.

In any event, a fun night all around. Tall Jerry says something extremely witty - either that or the bubbles in my glass just make everything funny. The rest of the pictures tend to get more blurry and random as the night wore on so I'll leave it at that. No need for y'all to stare at the same people you see in lycra and neoprene all the time all dressed up and boozing it up. Yep, no need. And for the record, this is the most I've ever inserted myself in the photos so I think my quota for the year is done. I can stop with the dorky photos for a while. Thank goodness.

Random

So..... didn't go out of town again this weekend. Still working on getting my life in order. Translation: Boring. Therefore, here are random photos. Note to self: pace blog site better....

I was trying to take a photo of one of my morning walks. I love the leaves on the ground and the fall colors. Instead it looks like I'm on qualudes.

My wonderful friend Holly doing yoga in Times Square

The usual photo of Tucker. He's in serious mode. He seriously wanted my brother to throw the ball.

And my brother got a new dog. Well, my sister-in-law got a new dog. My brother just gets to live with the dog. :o) My brother has now turned into quite the pet photographer. Here are a few photos of Tucker's cousin, Winnie.

And let's see, it wouldn't be a post for me without some mention of alcohol or biking. So, here's one of my favorite pictures that combines both....

And to close with the usual dorky of photo of myself, here I am showing off my camera skills. I'm frowning and Julia has her eyes closed. Story of my life....

I really need to get some travel booked, eh?