Dec 2007 a

Sat 1 Dec 2007
Steve, Clancy and Wulfgar had stayed up to 5am chatting and drinking (except Clancy who was dragged to bed at 4) The boys are feeling really seedy this morning!!!

Arrived at Yule Ball (Cambridge group) about 11am. Steve wins the non-shielded tournament (fight with any weapon combo so long as no shield is used) and because of this Jen got a sash to wear for the next year! Lots of food and dancing. The food started rolling out at 5pm. The final remove (dessert) served about 8:30pm. The dancing was fun and lively. Stayed overnight with Deb and Clancy.

Sun 2 Dec 2007
After a big sleep-in and hearty breakfast, we went shopping "on base" (US military base). This is just like visiting USA! Checked out the prices for various things. Steve bought more Magic cards and some Starbucks double-shot expresso's in cans!

Driving home, unfortunately we broke down :-(
Thankfully we weren't in a hurry to be anywhere :-)
We have top breakdown cover and were happy to find it was a split radiator pipe that was repairable on the spot (we'll need to get the hose replaced later). Got home about 3 hours later than we had planned to.

Steve orders a new computer, courtesy of Deb and Clancy and the weaker American dollar.

Thu 6 Dec 2007
Terry stays overnight and we have a late night together watching movies.

Fri 7 Dec 2007
Finally an early night!

Sat 8 Dec 2007
Sleep in. Yay!!!
Buy Christmas tree, decorations, and stock up on food since the fridge has been basically bare with all the recent, consecutive, weekends away from home.
Here's a bit of time-lapse photography of the tree going up....

(Actually no, it didn't take a whole 3 hours)
In the evening we enjoyed a really lovely dinner at Jenny and Nick's. Their DVD player was playing up, and to our good fortune, Nick got our his guitar and sung us some songs. It was just lovely - what with the miserably cold weather outside and the warmth of their Christmas lights + mellow pub atmosphere in the living room.

Sun 9 Dec 2007
Another nice long lie-in. Out of bed after 9.
Steve helps his line manager move house all day, and Jen plays catch up doing the housework and Blog (Nov b).

Wed 12
Frost!

It looks almost like it's snowed - everything is covered in half an inch of Frost. Pot holes in the road appear to be rimmed in thick broken glass but it's just shattered ice.

Thu 13
Received our first of many Christmas cards ... from Australia! Thanks Hilary and Robyn.

Fri 14
Steve has his work Christmas party, and Jen's team have their Christmas lunch with afternoon off work, ending up in a bar.

Above: Some of Jen's work mates at the lunch.
Below: In the bar

Steve got home at the respectable time of 7:30 after a pint. Jen got home somewhat sloshed at about 10pm.

Sat 15
Wrecked but not hung over, Jen slept in to 10am. She was still tipsy when she awoke at 4am though. Together we went to Oxford Street, and found Steve some new clothes at M&S. Then we nipped in to Liberty's to check out the fabric floor.

Above: Liberty's is an amazing tudor-style complex.
Below: Inside Liberty's.

Finally, to top off a wonderful shopping experience, we went and collected our latest ebay purchase, and Xmas present for Jen - a new A2 drafting table.