Ridiculous Facebook About Me- 2

  This ridiculous Facebook 'about me' is for my dear sister-in-law Sara.

    I have 6 boys and 1 girl who's due to make her appearance in January. Sometimes I wonder why I haven't started my children's Olympian training. I need those boys to be in tip top shape, so that they can beat Michael Phelps in the 2016 Olympics.
My life goal is to be the best monkfish fisher in the whole world. Those little fish are so cute! Here's a picture:

   Aren't they beauties? My other life goal is to be a sea monkey farmer. I loved my son Benny's so much that I've found my true life calling. Those little creatures are the best things ever!
  In my free time, I like to look for antique linens. I'm not sure when that started. I also enjoy being a lady who lunches. I especially like to eat dessert. It's the greatest part of a meal.
   I also like to fall asleep on the couch about 9pm. But it's ok to do that, because I get up early and do mommy stuff all day.
   One day, I hope to learn all there is to know about legos, pokemon, and excel.

One Week Left in England

   I have one week left of my extended stay in England. I want to say it seems like just yesterday that I got here, but honestly I think that time only goes as fast as you think and I want to think that time passes slowly. That and it feels like it's been ages since I hugged my sweet puppy Stella.

Stella is always happy. And lazy.

   And then when I think of Stella, I think about how she ate one of my sandals one time, and then I think about my shoes that I miss. Ahh shoes, that I haven't worn in months! It'll be like getting a whole new shoe closet! And then there's all those clothes I haven't worn in months. A whole new closet! Yes!

   So what will I do with this week left here? I'll eat British food--mainly clotted cream--cuddle my nephews, and hang out with my people. And then be sad on Thursday night, because getting on planes makes me sad. I love to pack and travel, but I hate to go. Hopefully August will be here in no time so I can see all my people soon!

York. The Old One.

   This past weekend, the boys had several days off from school, so Sara and I decided that a trip was just what we needed. Of course, we decided this while Robby was away. We have some entertaining ideas. If I were to list them, you might start to think that we need psychological assistance. We like to think that we have brilliant plans that should be put into immediate use. Sadly, we aren't in charge anywhere.
   On to our actual trip! We decided on Wednesday that we'd go to York and leave on Thursday. This is how all vacation planning should be done. Right before you want to leave, especially if when you want to leave is on a weekend that's also a federal holiday. I'll be a travel agent one day, and also a life coach (because my brilliant ideas should help you make your life better, and it'll be better when you do things the Sarah-Way.). So Sara called and made us a hotel reservation. This is no small feat considering there's 9 in our party. The 6 boys and the 3 grown ups. Though, I'm quite certain that the grown up title isn't really a good match for me. Maybe it's because I still live at home and such. Anyway, we had a hotel and were ready for travel.

Because of Doctor Who, I am now wary of any and all angel statues. 

A coffee shop that was right on the river. It was precious.

York Minster

I felt that the shop owner must be a good person. That means that she or he likes Harry Potter.

My first Christmas lights sighting!

Walking the Roman Wall.

A weeping statue! Scary! 

Shambles. It was adorable! 

The thing to gain from this. York is amazing! If you find yourself in England, make it up to York.

A proper British night.

Oh Guy Fawkes, everyone always thinks of the 5th of November as anything from V for Vendetta. Wrong people! Wrong!! It's about the real person Guy Fawkes who plotted to blow up Parliament. Nowadays, the people of Britain celebrate his infamous plot by burning his effigy and setting off fireworks. It's all good fun, and the twirly whirly curly whirly fireworks are the best! I did manage to take some pictures before I put my camera in my bag, and when I realised that there was an amazing photograph moment I yanked my camera out and lost half my batteries. Really, I wouldn't expect anything less from myself.

I was there, and I'm even in this picture. But sadly, the flash wasn't flashing properly. 

The fireworks guys setting them off. 

Someone else's sparkler. 

Pumpkin Time! It's only a week late.

We carved pumpkins here last week, and I scooped out pumpkin guts and cut the tops off and drew the intended design on them with sharpie. Not in that order, but we still managed to cut out some legit pumpkins.

Pumpkin guts. Delicious. 

Pumpkins with plans. Yes, that's my Deathly Hallows one.

Snaggle tooth and Scary Face.

Our other pumpkins by Benny and Isaac.

Harry Potter!! Win!

Television. It would be books, but I've been sucked in.

If you're into things like aliens, time travel, David Tennant, robots, space travel, and Time Lords, than Doctor Who is the show for you. I'd seen all the pins on Pintrest about Doctor Who and figured it'd be great. It is. There's history, the Doctor visited Shakespeare in an episode, evil-doers, and general nerdiness. I love it! Now, all I have to do is make it through the episode Blink. It's about weeping angel statues. It's creeping me out to think about it, and I haven't been able to finish it. I did read about it though, so I know what's going to happen. I could go on and on about how amazing this show is. In fact, I do go on and on about it to Sara. Poor girl. Time to man-up and finish that crazy episode so I can move on!
    I do have some fall-esque photos to post, but with class registering, book reading, and Doctor Who watching my time is spent.

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Book. It would be books, but it's only about one.

   So my time this week has been taken up with lots of reading. Not reading lots of books, but that's ok. The book I read was so spectacular! It was like reading Harry Potter for the first time. When I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time back in 1998, I was mesmerized. I thought that surely the book itself was magical. I looked the book over, trying to find out why such a plain paperback was so magical. I know now, that it wasn't the book that was magical, it was the story and the characters and being able to so easily imagine that I was a part of Harry Potter's world. Ever since reading that first book, I've felt that way about every other Harry Potter book. I always feel whenever I pick one up to read that something magical is about to happen. It makes a small town life exciting, and it always makes me wonder. So to get that kind of feeling with a new book as an almost adult was a big deal to me. I read this book slowly, well, slowly for me anyway, to savor that feeling for as long as possible. I don't know what it is about a great story, but I'm rather confident that I'd be happy to earn a degree in reading. Sadly, you can't earn a living by reading alone.
   The book that gave me such a feeling is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It's about witches, daemons, and vampires, all very exciting things to me. The story starts in the nearby Oxford at the Bodelian  Library with a witch named Diana Bishop. She unknowingly calls up lost manuscript, which sets off a reaction in the creature world. Soon, she meets Matthew de Clairmont, a vampire, and their adventure starts.
   I'd love to just write out an account of the story, but then the fun of reading the gigantic book would be gone. Read it, love it.

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Days in Pictures and Books 3

Thursday:

Only .5% alcohol, 100% delicious

   Lunch at Limes Farm. Rose lemonade is delicious!

Friday:

A pumpkin tray with leaf dip dish.

    Bunco. I won this easy to pack pumpkin tray. Sara's getting it for Christmas.

Saturday:
  I don't have a picture for Saturday, don't be sad, I lounged.

Sunday:

An empty coconut shell. 

   Sunday is always Mass, and then out. We went to Aston (sadly they don't build Aston Martins there.) for lunch, and came home to make horse hoof coconut shells. At least, that's what Robby did. Now, I can be King Arthur!


Books
   
     Over the past week, I've read 4 books, but I only took pictures of 3.

The first book I read was Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie. She's brilliant. I would never have guessed who killed who. If you want to read about deaths at Petra, read this book. Then watch Indian Jones and the Last Crusade to see Petra.

The second book I read was another Agatha Christie. It too was set in the Middle East, only this time the murder wasn't in Petra, it was in Iraq. I won't go into detail about the story because if I do, then you might guess who did it, and that's no fun.

I'm the next big book photographer.     

  The third book I started and finished was the second book in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, it's called Throne of Fire. And boy what a book! There's ancient Egyptian gods roaming around in the duat, magicians, and an almost missable mention of the Greek gods. If you've read all the Percy Jackson books then you'll get it. I loved this one! It picked up a few months where the first book left off, but it kept up the story line and added a new one. I'm excited for the third one!

The book photography just gets better and better!

   The fourth book was absolutely astounding! I had heard nothing but good things about this book, and I was not disappointed! I could continue to gush about this book, but I'll stop. Now, I do hope that the world never gets ugly enough to come to anything like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Read this book, you will not regret this. Unless you're a stick in the mud and don't want to be my friend.
 

I feel like I have a whole book photo career in front of me!

Running!

   Thanks to the influence of my sister-in-law Sara, I've taken up running. It's a slow start, but fun nonetheless. I'm thinking that by posting my schedule to the public, I'll have more encouragement to get out the door. So here it is!

Sorry for the quality sucking. Time to be better at this. 

   So far I'm still in the stage of adding more and more running, so I only run 3 days a week and walk 3 miles in the early morning (that would be 6am) with Sara. Hopefully in about 3 weeks I should be up to 30 minutes out, and running for the majority of the time!

Real Life Willy Wonka

   I celebrated Columbus Day weekend with a trip to Apple Day, and I finished it off with a trip to Cadbury World. Robby said that it was Cad World and that the tour would be narrated by Hugh Grant. I told him that he hasn't been caught soliciting a lady of the night in ages. Our talks in the car are excellent. 

   Cadbury World is like real life Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory without Oompa Loompas. If there were Oompa Loompas I wouldn't have stayed, because that would have creeped me out. People just shouldn't be orange, I'm talking to you Jersey Shore cast. Sadly, you can't take pictures inside of Cadbury World, but I did manage to get some pictures. These are pictures of things that they won't mind getting out.

Technically this didn't have a sign that said no pictures, the factory room next to this did so I didn't take pictures of that. Plus, I though this was awesome. 

Inside the pretend candy shop.

My bounty. As you go in, they give you 2 full size chocolate bars (I ate one, so there's only 3), and then they give you another one halfway through. I did cough up the money for the Starbar though. 

   If you're ever in England and can get to Birmingham to go to Cadbury World, do it. And be sure you have a drink, because they give you 2 cups of melted chocolate. While it is delicious, it's very rich and milk is the only thing to cut down on the richness. Sadly, I only had Diet Coke, but it still worked. Now to finish my last chocolate bar. 

Apple Day at Sulgrave Manor

Here's my pictures of my lovely fall day out at Sulgrave Manor ("The home of George Washington's ancestors.")

A hedgehog. Rex's dream pet.

Pressing the apples.

My first cup of hot apple cider of the season!

Checking out the ferret race.

Ferret race!

A British flag and an American flag. Awesome. 

Me and Isaac, my nephew, with the huge bust of George Washington. It was donated by George Washington University in DC.

I had a fabulous day! Sadly I won't be here for the Apple day next year, but I'm sure someone in Georgia has an apple day thing.