Stand UP!!!! For the Saracens...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond (well, except for Tom Price and his nastygrams about my slackness). I realize I have left you high and dry for the last two nights, and I have no excuse save it was after midnight when I made it home on both occasions. I no longer have the stamina I used to (let's keep the jokes to a minimum, please).

So Monday night was great - I met VA and Muffin Puffin at the Bear and Staff, where I'm happy to report the bar redeemed itself by having Timmy Taylor! The girls beat me there, although not by much since they searched for each other in the bar for about 20 minutes. You can only appreciate the humor in this if you've been there, as it's about the size of a Junior Crackerjack box. I love you, pumpkin!!!!!

So I showed up to find that they had asked for two beers but been served three. When I asked where the third one was, they said "Still at the bar." Sure enough, standing like a lone guardian of the taps, was the missing Timmy. Despite sitting for 30 minutes, it was still guuuuuuuud (and turned out to be free). I also tried a Pure Ubu (Sit, Ubu, sit - good dog), which was fresh and very tasty.

Dinner that night was at Zizzi, where JT magically pulled out another 50% off coupon - way to go, puffin! I had a GREAT pizza, and we ate like kings whilst polishing off a bottle of Montepulciano - SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD.

After that, it was back home, where we hung out for a bit before calling it a night. VA, we had so much fun!!!!! Thank you so much for making the trip - here's hoping it was one of the most memorable birthdays ever.

On Tuesday, I said bye and Happy Birthday (the official day) to VA before rolling to work. The highlight of Tuesday was DEFINITELY in the evening, as me, JT, Lord, and his friend Nikki rolled up to Wembley Park for a GREAT night out - Saracens vs. Springboks!

So, this match was a friendly (aka exhibition) between the current Guinness Premiership Champions (the English league) known as the Saracens and the current Tri-nations and World Cup Champions, the Springboks of South Africa.

Also, Wembley is a WICKED AWESOME venue - talk about gorgeous. Built in 2006, it has AMAZING views and great seats, and the arch over the stadium is REALLY cool.

This game was GREAT. Tons of tries (what they call touchdowns), lots of great hits, good action, and fantastic seats (for only 10 quid!). We had a blast. The best part was when the Saracens scored, as we were treated to this fabulous little ditty called "Stand Up for the Saracens." Jenny and I made it a point to always rise and dance with the flags we found at Will Call. I mean, check out our passion for Rugby!

In a shocker, the Saracens won 24-23. It was easily the most exciting game we've watched live in the UK. The only downside? A CLASSIC halftime blunder.

So we wait on getting beers at the break until the lines die down. However, given that the servers are all 13 years old and don't apprciate HOW QUICKLY WE NEED BEER TO STAY HYDRATED AND HAPPY, the lines go slow. That meant that we would miss the last 5 minutes of halftime. As we get in line, Goodyer says, "Yeah, every halftime they let 3 guys kick a conversion (their equivalent of a field goal). If he its the post, he gets 250,000 sterling." We are both laughing about it when the crowd ERUPTS in the stadium. That's right, boys and girls, we'd missed the first successful kick in YEARS. Well played. But hey, at least I got an overpriced and exceptionally flat beer out of it...

After that, the lines for the metro were insane, so we ended up getting a curry at Wembley and taking the late train home. Hence, no blog last night. But now I'm back and better than ever!

Okay, time for dinner and an AFD. My muffin has a great spread of food and cheese for us!

That's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny