Mis padres and garbage bag bats

        My parents are visiting this week! They arrived on Saturday last, and I, like a dutiful daughter, met them at Heathrow at 8am - and the Tube ride there takes about two hours. That's what I call responsibility.
        Tomorrow night, we're going to go see a show. This past week, we've gone to Covent Garden, taken a boat ride on the Thames, browsed Oxford Street, and eaten at a lot of pubs.

        It's been a pretty full week.

        Strangely enough, I've been thinking about things I'll be doing once I get home. It's not that I don't want to be here. I'll be quite loathe to leave the city. But ... at home, there's the holiday season waiting. There's Caroling for Cans 2007 and the annual New Year's party (this year's theme is a masquerade ball). There's my friends, and my sewing machine, and my piano (!), and mom-cooked meals.
        You don't really realize how easy a fully-equipped kitchen makes things until you've got a frying pan and one bowl to work with. No cupcake or loaf pans, no blender, no ice (except in ice cube trays ... inadequate), no toaster oven, no crock pot! It's debilitating. I'm going to cook a lot over Christmas.

        I'm getting hugely excited for Becky and Meghan to visit. I think once my parents take their leave back to the US of A, I'll miss home a little bit more. You know. It's like when you're hungry, and nibbling on something only makes you hungrier? So it'll be good to have Becky and Meg here so soon. I miss everyone something dreadful!

        I realize that this entry isn't up to my usual writing par. I think I'm trying to get into the bland, brief, postcard-writing mindset. I've been extremely lax in my off-line communication; apologies. Hopefully I will write some letters and postcards this weekend ... ? Hopefully.

        Here's an interesting fact: Apparently in London, people don't dress up and go out to party it up on Halloween. They do it the day before, on the 30th. Which would make sense if the 30th were a Saturday. But this year it was on Tuesday. So I'm not quite certain as to the logic behind this. However, they do also dress up on the 31st, and, apparently, the 1st. I think the Halloween thing acts as an excuse to be as festive as possible, for as long as possible. It's like the way we Americans are with Christmas. You know. Holly and tinsel up in stores in mid-October.
        My American friends and I didn't join in the Tuesday night festivities, to the mild consternation of our flatmates. We did, however, dress up last night.
        Brittany was a witch, Gonzo a pirate, Nick as a low-key version of Larry the Monster, and myself as a bat, with wings and ears hastily cut out of black garbage bags.
        Pretty much, we hung out in Brittany's room with our costumes and listened to her "Dance Party Goodness" mix and danced around a little bit. Then we watched The Wicker Man, which is a very strangely and quietly disturbing movie. Also, Christopher Lee's voice was about five octaves higher back then.

        Tomorrow: Class, going to Sainsbury's for to buy the post-Halloween bargain candy, hanging out with mis padres, and then seeing a musical. Should be a good start to the weekend.