1. We still have no shower. It has now been 40 days that we have not had access to our en suite. We are super lucky that we have a second bathroom (which has a tub only). However, it has effectively now been 7 weeks out of the 8 weeks we have lived in this flat that we have been shower-less. In the last 7 weeks, I've taken three showers, which were in Rome. I recognize that we are very lucky overall and that this whole ordeal is a real first world problem, but it's also really stressful, obnoxious, and driving me crazy.
2. My ugly feelings toward plumbers has reached an all-time unfathomed high.
3. I am still working! In fact, on Friday, I worked an 11 hour day and won my first court case. Well, the barrister "won" it, but I did a lot of work with my colleagues and I was present at the hearing, so it felt very satisfying. Its good to feel like a real lawyer.
4. Our obsession with the International Street food fair on Sundays has plateaued. We still love it, but it has been kicked from being the highlight of the week.
5. We managed to find Americans to share Thanksgiving with us. On Thursday, we hit up Pepperdine's group and had a lovely Thanksgiving meal with our fellow law students. It was really nice. On Saturday, I baked three pies and a sweet potato casserole. The store only had pink and white marshmallows. We made it work. The pies turned out excellent. We took the sweets to a feast with our new British/American friends that we met in September. They've turned out to be lovely friends, and they introduced us to even more really lovely people. It was a great day.
6. My two new favorite phrases that will forever be incorporated into my verbiage:
"cant be bothered" = cannot bring myself to do that
Example, "I cannot be bothered to do the dishes right now."
"muppet" = a person who is worthless
Example, "Those plumbers are a buncha muppets!"7. Brian and I shared the one year of our engagement last Friday. We were in Rome and it was a lovely day. Brian had never been to Italy, so we had a great time. I met a colleague from working in Madrid and spent wonderful quality time with her. On Saturday, we were filled with sentimental thoughts about where we were one year ago and how much has happened since then. I look back on that weekend with the fondest of memories with our closest friends and family. I was filled with warmth all weekend, still reeling from the event even if it was one year ago.
8. Grey doesn't bark like a Brit. Not yet, at least. But she has learned to pee on concrete. And she actually likes the cobble stone. Great success!
9. I think that Starbucks holiday cup "scandal" was one of the stupidest things in the 21st century.
10. Brian and I will be in Cincinnati and Chicago for about one week around Christmas. I will be eat Chic-Fil-A at least ten times, Brian will demand Skyline at least fifteen times, and I will spend over two hours frolicking the aisles of Target.
