Showered with gifts from the colonies!!!

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond after another GREAT DAY in the Mother Country. Granted, the weather is ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS right now, but no complaints, as the weekend was definitely drier (and warmer) than expected.

So yesterday was another great one. We rolled BACK to De Hem's, where JT and I spent the second day in a row drinking beer strong enough to use in your gas tank. I started with the Mardesous 6 this go-around before moving to the (pitch black) Mardesous 8 - The Brun. It was guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud, but HEAVY. I then had a Karmeleit Triple, at which point I was in trouble. Hitman, however, had a different idea.

We had work peeps in town (Brother Bruce and Brother Chris), and so we rolled over to the Salisbury, where I promptly took down another 2 Timmy Taylors. I will say that, whilst I remember the day, the memories get fuzzier. The language filter ALSO experienced diminished functionality and capacity, until I sounded like a sailor from World War II. Luckily Sean was smart enough to keep his kids away from the loud southerner at the end of the table.

However, not believing the end was yet in sight, we rolled over to an Indian joint, where we consumed mass quanities of spice, heat, and Cobra. I will confess that I got the first Cobra down, but the second one was a struggle. I think I left some of it at the restaurant - a terrible, unforgivable shame, I know.

We then rolled home, where I caught the last 10 minutes of the Vols and then all of the DOOK game. UT - no reason to hang your heads - that was a GREAT season, and you should be proud of what you accomplished. Personally, I would say that this season's team overachieved in the tournament, and I'm certainly good with a Regional Final. Now all I can say is ANYBODY BUT DUKE!

Today started with a BANG. First off, I had an hour on the bike and then ran 1.5 km's - still no pain! I will just cycle tomorrow, and then I'll run again on Wednesday. Honestly, I'm really getting optimistic that I am FINALLY healing. It's still touch and go (and I know that I'm still WAY hyper-sensitive about it), but so far all is well (knock on wood).

In the office, coffee in hand, I rounded the corner to my desk. What was there greeting me? Encircling my blue water bottle, calling out to me like Stonehenge beckoning to the Druids, was a treasure of GALCIAN propotions. Long sought after, IMPOSSIBLE to find in the Mother Country, and no longer a draft selection in Conference Room C, I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever taste this nectar of the gods again. Yet there it was before me - Abita's Restoration Pale Ale.

Backstory on this: Abita is a Louisiana brewery, and they were WIPED OUT during Katrina. They are famous for lots of great beers (the most famous being Turbo Dog), and they were off production for a while after the storm. When they got back on line, they created a new beer called Restoration Pale Ale, and it is EXTRA AWESOME.

Thanks to Brother Bruce Townsend who carried these puppies in his luggage all the way from Frugal McDougal's. You're the best, man! I am SO EXCITED!!!! Jeebs - FYI that when you visit - those six soldiers are off limits. Sorry, brother - they are just too precious to share.

But the gifts weren't done! Just a scant two minutes later, brother Dunphey walks over with THE GREATEST OFFICE GIFT OF ALL TIME. That's right, ladies and gentlemen - who needs a Mont Blanc when you can write with a wooden pen carved in the shape of a DONKEY!!!! I mean, could this day GET any better?

In fact it did, as it was a) super productive and b) WE HIT NANDO'S, BABY. I rocked 8 extra hot wings (Fizzy - I am ALL about the extra hot now - only way to roll) with creamy mash and spicy rice. All in all - it was a WICKED GOOD start to the week.

So now I'm back at the flat, excited about the prospect of an AFD and some salad. I am going to tuck into my book while I wait for muffin puffin to finish swimming (I'm on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown - very entertaining at 168 pages in).

Also, as I didn't bring my camera today, all colonial gift photo credits go to Lovely Lynda Grimshaw, bearer of meat sticks and SAP payroll guru extraordinaire. However, you'll have to wait another day on those, as she'll send them to me tonight for posting tomorrow.

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

Love,

Sam and Jenny