Week in Review Part 2 - The rest of the story...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond after another GREAT DAY in the Mother Country. Okay, so first off – ANNOUNCEMENT: there will be NO blog after tonight until Tuesday, 7 September. Why you ask? Because Team Taylor is heading to the Med for some fun in the sun in…wait for it…wait for it…CROATIA, BABY!!!!! We’ve got stops in Bosnia and Montenegro as well, but Croatia is the primary destination. We are SO excited!

But enough of that, I owe you the rest of the week in review, and so let’s kick that off:

Wednesday: The triumphant return of the AFD

So Wednesday was a GREAT day in the office – steadily productive, with plenty crossed off the list. Also, I finished another book – “The Junior Officer’s Reading Club.” I must confess that, for the first 200 or so pages, I was not terribly impressed. Some of his insights were well written, and his obscure references to various works of literature were sharp as well (he is an Oxford man, after all). But in truth, there just wasn’t much substance to the book. The last half of it, however, was blisteringly well paced, very introspective, and provided amazing insights into life on the front line of Afghanistan. Hitman – this guy might not be Marcus Luttrell, but he’s pretty bad ass.

Regardless, after 2 straight books about war in Afghanistan (and 3 of the last five largely focused on Afghanistan -= The Kite Runner), I was in DESPERATE need of something light and fluffy. I found that in the form of “A Land of 2 Halves – An accidental tour of New Zealand.” T-bone and Wild Wallaby – you simply HAVE to read this. You will CACKLE on every page.

The workout that day was great – 45 minutes on the bike, followed by a solid 5K. My legs weren’t as tired as Tuesday, so I was quite pleased.

Jenny and I had a salad at home, digging into cheese from the Garlic festival (the Pickled Cheese and the Blueberry Cheese – that stuff should be illegal) and managing the first AFD in awhile. All in all, a very good night.

Thursday: Normalcy – a rare concept

Again, another great and productive day at work, but Muffin Puffin and I were starting to show signs of being on the go too much. For starters, the last 2 weekends have been conducted at LIGHT SPEED, and the last 2 weeks of work for Muffin Puffin have been simply OUT OF CONTROL. That girl has worked NON-STOP, grinding away on the trains, at home during dinner, and then well into the night. I think it was only the thought of vacation (and my undying love and devotion, of course) that kept her going.

I logged 45 on the bike that night, digging into the new book and trying to burn calories in advance of the eating that I knew was imminent. Something tells me that, if history’s any indicator, I should have biked for another 13 hours straight…

The evening was good, as I finally got to Skype with MOMMA!!!!!! We chatted for about 45 minutes, and it was great. Mum – it had been TOO LONG. In addition, we started packing and JT got her UK taxes submitted, something else that had been hanging over her head and felt GUUUUUUUUUUUD to get rid of. We tackled a final salad (AFD included) before calling it a night around 12:30. And whilst that bed time is pretty normal for us, the start time on Friday – 6 AM – was NOT typically.

Friday: O, Happy Day

So today’s been great – my to-do list for the day and the week is scratched out, the things to look out for next week are noted, and I am FINALLY ready for vacation (Insert everyone I work with, the Granville 6, and the Hairless Wonder all saying in unison “You are ALWAYS on vacation”).

The workout was good - 35 minutes on the bike (23.5 km) and then 3km on the treadmill in about 17 minutes. I think I could have done more, but I was bloody EXHAUSTED from the 5+ hours of sleep. And considering that we have a 3:15 AM WAKE UP CALL TOMORROW for a 4:40 train to the airport, I think you can appreciate how guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud tomorrow night's sleep is going to be...

Oh, and one last thing - new GREATEST SONG EVER in the gym today. I'm pretty sure it's called "Put your hands up for Detroit" because, well, here are the words:

"Put your hands up"

(wait 5 seconds)

"Put your hands up"

(wait another 5 seconds)

"Put your hands up"

(yep...got another 5 seconds here)

"Put your hands up for Detroit"

THAT'S IT. NOTHING MORE. DONEZO. Really? REALLY? At least the "Do I look like a slut" song rhymed and had more than ONE PHRASE. I mean, to be fair, at the end he says, "I love this city" (which, incidentally, is a sure fire sign that he's never actually BEEN to Detroit -sorry Pooh, Smith, and Nicole). WHO SIGNS THESE PEOPLE TO A RECORD DEAL?

As I type this, my bags are packed and we are about to order Indian (From the DOOT, baby!!!). I mean, come on - nothing says go to bed early and rest easy like a pound of lamb covered in curry with enough chili pepper to melt lead. Best of all, when we hit the sack tonight, the third AFD in a row will be realized. However, that is all the quarter I can give my body as VACATION IS HERE, BABY!!!!!!!

Okay, that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Chat with you in just over a week!

Love,

Sam and Jenny