Less than a week...Ahhhhhh!!!

I cannot believe that I will be leaving here on Friday. Six weeks has really flown by. I am not going to lie, I miss America and what it holds. I am ready to see family and friends. We have talked about all the things we miss and here are a few: Ha..

Regular movie theaters
American TV
Air conditioning
Chick Fil A
Manners
The US Dollar
Regular keys
Our cars
Laying out
Beaches with sand
American products, ie groceries, cleaning stuff, etc
Our families
Our friends
Our own beds!
People who actually wear deodorant

I'm sure I will think of more later...but I tell you, I am not looking forward to the humid heat in GA! Yuck!

Okay, so...now, I will update you on the past week.

Sunday:
After much (and I mean a lot) of convincing, Liz persuaded me to go to the dang Burberry outlet with her. Mrs. Selma had been after her to go there. Problem was, it is pretty far from where we live so it would definitely would be a half-day kind of deal. Anyway, I really didn't want to go, but I gave in. Tori decided to go, as well.
We got onto the tube and rode the Jubilee (I think) line all the way to the end, which took about 40 minutes. From there, we tried to get on an overground train, but the freakin' line was shut down for repairs for the weekend. Plan B: We figured out what bus to get on to take us to Hackney Central. We weren't prepared for what followed. Ha. We rode that dang bus for over an hour. Ridic. Thennn--- about half-way through, we noticed that we were beginning to become the minority, if you know what I mean. By the time we got there, we were the only white people on the bus. We rode through some skeetttchhhyyy areas, let me tell you. I was literally tripping out the entire time because we were not expecting such an adventure. We finally figured out how to get to the warehouse. Liz racked up. I didn't buy anything (Mom and Dad should be proud) but helped Liz try on things inside of the store because they didn't have dressing rooms. Straaanngge. After about an hour there, we figured out that there was a bus that would take us straight to Baker Street. Geniuses, I say. We were all tired and hungry and ill by the time we got back. We ate at Zizi's Pizza because that was one place on our list of places to go before we leave London. After that, we went back to the flat. Mind you, after all of our traveling and such, it was already like 4 or 5pm!
Macon got back from Spain sometime that evening. We were all in our rooms on the computers or reading and we heard Macon yell from the kitchen. You see, we have had this dang mouse in the flat. We called our landlord about it a few times...I had never seen it, but Macon saw it once right when we got back from Paris. Anyway, she yelled that she saw it, and I ran to the rescue. Haha. The night before, Liz had seen it and screamed bloody murder. We had kept the doors closed and were hoping that the dang thing would get caught in the mouse trap and be done with. Oh, I should mention here that the genius maintenance man put a tortellini on the mousetrap. Now, please tell me, what mouse is going to go for a big hunk of pasta? I realize there is cheese in the middle, but the mouse doesn't know that! I put peanut butter on top of it hoping that would do the trick, but it really just ended up being a joke. That thing wasn't about to catch the mouse.
Anyway, moving on...I ran down to the kitchen and Liz, Macon, and Tori stood at the door watching it all go down. I saw the idiot thing on the counter and its little face was poking out from behind the cutting board that was leaning up against the wall. I tip-toed over and WHAM!!!-- pushed the cutting board up against the wall and trapped the little booger behind it. I was getting ready to squash him to death, but of course, the three Muskateers were screaming behind me not to kill him! Hahah..puhh--lease. So, instead, I asked what they propose I do with him. Nature lovers had no answer, so I grabbed a paper towel and picked the little nasty thing up by its foot. Lovely, I know. I was going to just throw him out in our courtyard but we decided he probably would find a way back in that way. Sooooo...after all of that, I chunked him in a pot, put the cutting board on top of it, and tramped upstairs to let him go in the street. By the way, I had on PJs at this point and probably looked like a freak to the passerby. I scanned the street and waited for a few people to walk by before I literally dumped him right in front of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. haha... he looked a little stunned for a minute but then scrambled off. What a way to end the day. I probably should get a trophy for that. Just saying.

Monday:
I went to work on Monday and we had appointments, as usual. Even though much of it is similar day in and day out, I love getting to see the excitement on the families faces as they see the screen. Oh, and, a lady came in with her husband, sister, nephew, mother, and grandmother. They all sat down in our relatively small room and watched as Dr. Gibb made a 3D video for them of the baby. This lady had had a miscarriage previously and this was her first viable pregnancy! All of the family was there for the big SEX reveal! ha...They all had bets going on what it would be. It was quite comical, but great to see how supported she was. Anyway, after work on Monday, I can't really remember what we did, soooo..I assume it wasn't that exciting.

Tuesday:
Dr. Gibb had another lady that needed to be induced. Again, we were back and forth from the hospital all day. We also had many appointments that day. I got to see two more CVS procedures. They are so awesome. I am lucky to get to see these things up close! I got back from work around 4 because Dr. Gibb was planning to call me when the lady went into labor. Of course, he called me around 11 to tell me that once she was ready, it came out in a matter of minutes and he didn't have time to call me. GRRRR...Oh well, I am hoping I will get to see one this week. If not, off with his head! Just kidding, but seriously.

Wednesday:
I had a terrible, never-ending headache and thought Liz had passed on her cold. Fortunately, I think it passed me for the most part, but I had one day of feeling quite terrible with the symptoms. Maybe my immune system is stronger than I think!

Thursay:
We had class all day..blah blah. In the afternoon, though, we went to the Imperial War Museum. At first, I dreaded this like the plague. I am not a big history buff, as I've previously mentioned, but this place was truly incredible. We went through an exhibit called The Children's War which detailed how children were affected in England during WWII. It even had a house (literally) set up inside of the exhibit which showed exactly what a home would feel like at that time. It was so neat. I literally felt like I was in a different decade. We also walked through the WWII exhibit and the way the had it set up was so engaging. Lastly, went into the Holocaust exhibit. It was quite extensive. I have been to the one in DC, but this was much more detailed. It also helps that I am 7 years older now and am much more able to appreciate it. Anyway, I am very, very interested in the Holocaust and took my time as I walked through and read, watched commentary, looked at pictures, etc. I was only about halfway through when the alarm sounded at the museum. Apparently, someone had tripped the fire alarm by leaving through a fire exit door but we all had to make our way down three flights of stairs to the outside before they would let anyone back in. After all of that fiasco, we decided to just go on home. Liz and I watched Notting Hill that night..I had never seen it before, but it was cute!

Friday:
Friday morning, we had to watch a movie for class. It was terrible. I forgot what it was even called. It was made in the 60's, but was long and hard to get in to. Instead, I read my book. I think we all have read probably about six books each since we've been here because we have no TV and its nice to have something to occupy our time when we are traveling, in class, bored, etc. No complaining, though. I love to read! That night, they finally gave in. I had been hollering about going to smoke hookah ever since I got to London. I have only done it a few times before, but there are lots of hookah places around, so I figured it would be a fun experience! Liz, Tori, Macon, Savannah, and I all went over to an area around Marble Arch. If I had to give it a name though, I would call it MiddleEastern Town. haha. There are tons and tons of Indian, Lebanese, and Mediterranean places there and people to match. We went to this place called "Salt" and sat outside while we had appetizers and I smoked watermelon hookah! Yummmm. Liz went ahead and ate dinner there because it was "normal" food and she had no desire to eat Middle Eastern food. We had great conversation and it was definitely a good time. After that, we walked down a bit to find somewhere authentic to eat. We found a Mediterranean place and had lamb, falafel, rice, etc, etc. It was good! The waiters were skeetttccchhhyyy, though, and after a little fiasco with Savannah and one of the waiters, we were QUITE keen on getting the heck out of there.

Saturday:
Liz and Tori left early on Saturday morning for Scotland. I didn't go because I am trying to save money for dresses for Recruitment and figured I would have some time to do some shopping while they were gone. Boy, was I right! I went to Primark and found six dresses, one shirt, and a pair of shoes! It is an experience in itself because it is HUGE and extremely crowded. You can only take 8 items in at a time so I was certain to pick those wisely because after waiting in line for thirty minutes, you have to rejoin the queue if you want to try on more than 8 things. It is quite a pain in the rear. Anyway, almost everything fit (amazingly) and I waited in the queue for about thirty more minutes to pay. I bought more dresses than I need because I need second and third opinions as to what I should keep. I will take the rest back before I leave London this week.
Anyway, last night, Macon and I went to see The Proposal. It was soooo cute! I loved it! I was worried that it might be a bit cheesy, but I didn't think it was at all! By the way, at the theatres here, you have assigned seats. Isn't that strange???? Even in a huge movie theatre! I couldn't believe it! It was just like going to see a play, but not! Ha!

Sunday:
So, currently, nothing to report. I stayed up until 4:30am last night after talking to Mama and Shellie and Josh and so I slept reaaally late. I didn't wake up until like 1pm! Ahh! I am still in my PJs and am trying to muster up some energy to do something. Haha..pathetic, I know.

I VOW to do better this week. Since I have less than a week left, I promise to update everyday.

I can't wait to see everyone!!!!!! Yay!

Kisses and hugs,
Abbie