I wrote this e-mail to my mom and was told it would make a good blog entry... so here it is! Sorry for the language, and the lateness of this update!!!!!! Hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all terribly!!!

Hello!!! Yes, I’ve been thinking recently that I haven’t been in touch lately and was actually going to e-mail you today as well! You beat me to it.

Everything here is fine – I’ve pretty much just been completely immersed in this book I’m reading, The Time Traveler’s Wife. It’s fantastic and I can’t put it down – I highly recommend it!!! Yesterday I had it sitting on my desk and people kept coming by saying ‘Oh, that’s such an amazing book, one of my favourites!!!’ This came from 45 year old men and 30 year old women – all sorts! Get it now!! It’s by Audrey Niffenegger.

I’ve just been laying low really the past couple of weeks so there isn’t much news to report. I’m trying to save my time and energy for the insanity that will ensue in December – we’ve got lunches/dinners/drinks galore, birthdays, Christmas parties, a skating event, etc etc. I’m getting incredibly excited about our company Christmas party on the 18th – there are going to be over 1000 people there on the grounds of the Tower of London and it’s all fancy schmancy black tie and gowns and everything. I bought a dress at Debenham’s last weekend – it’s black and strapless and has a gorgeous skirt with taffeta underneath – it’s not too puffy but just right! I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.

I had a rather interesting run in with a crazy old man at Caffe Nero on Sunday!!! I was sitting in a comfy chair, about to eat and start reading my book, when this crazy old bat comes up and asks if the seat next to me is free. I said yes, and he comes right up into my face and yells ‘Don’t F*CKING talk to me like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ I was completely taken aback and said ‘Excuse me?!’ He yells ‘Shut UP!!!! SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!’ At that point I stood up and the Londoner in me came out and I said harshly ‘Do NOT speak to me like that, you are incredibly rude!!!!’ And he kept yelling at me to shut up so I said ‘I’m moving, I don’t need to take this. You have absolutely no right to speak to me that way.’ Meanwhile everyone is watching and I picked up my food and things and moved to another table, where I sat down to read quietly. He then starts spewing profanities across the restaurant at me and yells to the manager, ‘Get this little bitch out of here!!!!!!!!! She’s disrupting me!!!! If she’s still here by the time I get my coffee I’m going to call the cop!!!!!!!!’ At this point I was on the verge of tears and the manager comes over and says to me, ‘Sorry, he’s crazy.’ Then goes over to him and yells ‘GET OUT OF MY RESTAURANT, STOP HARASSING MY CUSTOMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS!!! GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ It was absolutely mad!!!!!!!!! He ended up quieting down, but not before he sauntered up to two old ladies and asked them ‘what the f*ck they’re doing there’. He then came up behind me, leaned over to look at my book and muttered ‘You’re a lot less of a bitch when you’re reading that book.’ Unbelievable!!!!!!! The old Irish ladies got up and went over to him and yelled ‘You are the most IGNORANT man I have EVER encountered in my life!!! You need help!!!!!’ and other such things. It was absolutely bizarre!!!! When I finally left he said to everyone, ‘THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

Anyway, after that I spent a very lovely Sunday with myself. I went to the British Museum where I saw the mummies and some spectacular ancient Egyptian art/architecture. I wandered around for a couple of hours then went to the café in the museum and read for another couple of hours. It was lovely!!! Monday night I went to a concert in King’s Cross with Nicola. It was an artist I’d never heard of before, an English singer-songwriter, very indie, and she was fabulous!!!! Other than that I’ve just been laying low. We’re all going out on Friday night for drinks so I’m saving up my energy for that!!! Work is all good, I’m still enjoying working here immensely.

What else… Not a whole going on at home. I’m hoping to move in the new year but need to save up for the massive deposit. I’ve also been looking into flights to come home in March for Kristine’s wedding, and I’m afraid that I might have to sacrifice one for the other – it’s moving flat vs. coming home for the wedding. I’d really love to be at the wedding but I simply don’t have enough money for both. I’ll sort it out over Christmas I think.

I suppose I should get back to work – I was a bit late coming in this morning because the current was shut off on one of the tracks on the District line (where I was on the train), so we were stuck at a platform for about 15 minutes before they announced that the other train across the platform would be leaving soon, so there was a mad elephant stampede for that train and I actually thought that I was going to kill someone.

That’s about it for me!!! I hope everything is going well at home!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your trip out west – are you going to see Nana et. al.?

Talk to you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Emily