Home alone...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond after a great (even if incredibly quiet) day in the Mother Country. So as you all know from the earlier post today, my muffin puffin and her family went to Paris this morning. That left Samwise home alone, and I gotta tell you - it's a weird experience.

After spending every single moment of my last six months with JT, being completely alone today was surreal. However, in an effort to be productive, I tried to cross a few items off the "to-do" list, and as I type this at 8:46 PM, I am resting soundly in the knowledge that it was a productive day.

The weather was simply GORGEOUS, so I headed out to Oxford Street, determined to get myself the lunch I'd been dreaming of - a pasty from the Cornish Bakehouse. However, as fate would have it, in the last week they've decided to turn THE ENTIRE BUILDING where it's located into a completely restricted construction zone, meaning the bake house is shut down until further notice (yeah, didn't see that one coming). All was not lost, however, as I found another one (I didn't even know that it was a chain) about 10 minutes down the way on Tottenham Court Road. 3 minutes later, I had a fresh beef and stilton pasty in my hand, and I could taste the intersection of fat, cheese, and butter - it was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Next up was the British Museum. Yes, yes - I know I go there all the time with guests. However, as I whipped Sara and Steve through it last night, it occurred to me that I never really take the time to enjoy it myself or explore the new areas, something that I always said I would do if I ever lived her (just take a section a day and enjoy it). Consequently, I spent about 90 minutes tooling around, exploring sections that I hadn't seen before, and spending some time reading in greater detail in some of the rooms I had been in previously. I must confess that it was immensely satisfying, and I left there quite proud of my labors.

On the walk home, I happened by "Mr. Topper's Hair Cuttery - home of the 7 pound haircut." And 20 minutes later, I was a NEW MAN! Sorry there are no photos to show tonight, but muffin has the camera with her in Paris, meaning you'll have to wait a couple of days for the new and improved Sam 6.0. I can't WAIT to see the look on Jenny' face when she sees it, as she's been less than happy with it for the last, oh....SIX WEEKS. Mom - the stylist found it quite amusing that I was "getting my hair cut for my mother," but I told him I hadn't seen you in 3 months and had to be presentable!

After that, the wind kicked up, and I rolled home and worked on some personal stuff before ducking out to Sainsburys and picking up a pizza. Now, first off, the sad thing - last night it took 5 of us to kill 2 pizza smaller than this, and tonight I took down a whole one on my own. The sadder thing? The fact that it had ham, mushrooms, and cheese wasn't enough - I had to add an entire slab of pepperoni to it in order to really "lock in flavor." Yep, pretty pathetic...BUT SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD. As was the 3 pound wine I had to wash it down. I mean hey - how can you eat "Italian" without some vino?

I also caught Rice on Skype - they are going to the hospital at Midnight tonight!!! I can't believe it!!!!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow! Muffin and family - I hope you're having a BLAST in Paris!!!! Eat some cheese and drink some wine for me...oh, wait...

Love,

Sam and (somewhere near the Eiffel Tower) Jenny