Week 49 - London and Home

We had two days in London before travelling home on Wednesday and while we were tired and ready to be home, we made the best of being in London at Christmas.

I woke up feeling like I needed to eat something so we went to a little cafe by the hotel and I had an egg, a piece of bacon, a piece of sausage and toast. Tiny amount but just what I needed. It was a dreary day with misty rain but we walked all the way through Hyde Park, taking pics and enjoying nature, then up to Oxford Street. We went to Marks & Spencers and Selfridges then got a latte and took a break to warm up. Anne suggested we go to a museum (!) so we went to the Wallace Collection, which was in an old mansion and only took an hour or so to go through. It was mid-afternoon so with some time to kill before evensong at St. Paul's (my choice) we headed to Burrough Market. We had hoped it would have some Christmas stalls, which it didn't, but it was interesting to see nonetheless. We walked across the Thames and to St. Paul's, where evensong was lovely. We took the tube back to the hotel, stopping for a sandwich and chips in a convenience store, which we split before getting into our jammies for a bit of streaming before bed. We had walked 20,000 steps!

I slept badly but we were going to Kew Gardens so after stopping at the same cafe for the same breakfast, we took the tube to Richmond. We spent all day at Kew, which still had plenty of things in bloom and the glass houses were toasty warm. We had tea and a treat in the cafe then headed out to catch a bus to Hammersmith, which is where Maria grew up. Hammersmith Mall was our destination for our last shopping. I found the advent candle and Christmas mug I was looking for and we hit Sainsbury's for treats to take home. After 23,000 steps, we took the tube back to the hotel to pack. We'd be flying home the next day.

We took the Elizabeth line to Heathrow and boarded our LONG flight to Denver. We had a layover there before our final flight to Lincoln. Andrea was supposed to be picking me up in my car, which had been in the body shop while I was gone, but arrived late with her boyfriend. She had neglected to confirm when she'd pick up the car and and when she arrived after they'd closed, it was locked inside the shop. Oh well. After waiting on the curb for 30 minutes, I was wide awake so didn't fall right into bed when I got home. I let cats out, unpacked and started laundry before shower and bed.

I slept until 5:15 after reading in wee hours so didn't get much sleep. Regardless, I started work at 6:15 and found almost 500 unread emails, which took me most of the day to get through. I had asked a few friends if they were going to Lincoln and ended up bumming a ride with my friend's grandson, who was heading back there after visiting her. I picked up my car, which was not only fixed but detailed so looked like the day I bought it. Nice. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home, where I bumped into an old water aerobics friends. We chatted for an hour and then I got a steak dinner to go along with a few groceries. I ate half of it when I got home and went to bed right at 9:00.

I woke up congested on Friday so not only didn't have my full appetite back yet but now I had a cold. Damn! I had my orientation call with the surgical center and when they found out I had never met the surgeon (I always saw the PA), I got a call that I needed to be at his office at 8:00 on Wednesday (the day before my surgery) to meet Dr. Swanson. I worked on space data all afternoon and even worked a bit late. Two work days and it was already the weekend.

Being my only chance to get all things Christmas done, I put up my deck tree, wrapped everything that was going out and had 2 packages shipped on Saturday and the final 2 scheduled for pick up on Monday. I also did some cleaning and chores. When you have 4 cats in the house for 2 weeks, things get dirty and messy. By Sunday night, I had gotten most everything done and so was feeling good about my progress. 

Just 3 more days until my surgery on Thursday. I'd be working all 3 days and would be flat out getting things done but my productive weekend had set me up for success. Wish me luck with my hammer toe.