A long-overdue update.

Hey there!

Wow, it's really hard to start a blog posting updating y'all on the last month and a half.  Maybe I should blog more often so I don't run into this problem again ;)
The weather the past week and a half here has been absolutely breathtaking.  Blue skies, warm spring days, cocktail hour on the swing in our back garden, overlooking the city and hot air balloons, chilly evenings in front of the fireplace with a good film...I can't find much to complain about there.
Chad's been working working working, getting ready for a dissertation meeting with his advisor and keeping up with his classwork.  I'll let him update you on his coursework this semester and tell you about the social side of things :)
Kate is one of Chad's professors, and she had a bunch of us over for drinks on Saturday evening.  It was a small but fun group, and I wasn't the only non-death scholar in the room, so the conversation didn't stray toward the morbid as often as I'm sure it usually does ;).  Kate introduced the two of us to a couple of British TV shows from the past few years which we're eager to check out as she seems to have fairly similar tastes in films to us.  On Sunday evening, Tony (another of Chad's professors; we've talked about him before) came over for dinner with Tara and Bas, with whom we spent New Years Eve.  Tara is a PhD student in CDAS and Bas is a psychology professor at the university.  Chad made one heck of a lasagna, and it was a great way to christen our conservatory - hurrah for dinner parties!!
I've been having fun with the Stockingtops (the singing group I joined back in Feb).  We're singing some great songs and learning super cheesy dance moves (you KNOW how much I love super cheesy dance moves ;), and going out for pizza and Prosecco.  It's good to be involved with a group of girls again, and they're all so welcoming.  One of the girls, Vanessa, actually lives about a five minutes walk from us and is Canadian.  We may be buying a car from her (!!!), and she and her partner, Rich, have invited us over for a barbeque and to get to know some other couples in the neighborhood.  I like to think that I'd be like her if I was settled in a place after moving there a few years ago and met someone who was new.  A small group of the Stockingtops are performing at "Bath's Top Talent" at a venue in town on Friday, so Chad and I are going to have a little date night starting with half priced burgers at Market, and finishing up with the show at Komedia.  Yay for date nights!
Chad is going in tomorrow to get fitted for a tux (must not squeal with glee, must not squeal with glee...) for the ball we're going to on the 8th of May.  It is a benefit for the Dorothy House Hospice, and we're going with a bunch of folks to celebrate our landlord, Gillian's, birthday.  We've met quite a few of the characters who we'll be sitting with - Gillian's brother and his girlfriend, a few people from the church she introduced us to (yes, we're sort of going to church), and our handyman, Simon.  I'm feeling a bit smug that I brought a dress with me that is appropriate for a ball, even though the reason I brought it is because I heard the English like to dress up in "fancy dress".  Little did I know, this does not mean ball gowns and tuxes, but costumes like sailors and drag queens (believe me, a Saturday night is something to see in Bath, especially if there's a stag party - or a hen do /bachelorette party - going on).
I must say, I cannot wait for the ball weekend to get here. Not only will it be AWESOME to see Chad in a tux for the first time, but it'll be the first time in a while that I get more than one day off at a time - three days in a row....mmm, shudder of excitement.  WHY will it be the first time in over a month that I get more than one day off, you ask? Well, because I have been hired as the manager of Demuths, a very sweet vegetarian restaurant in a sweet little cobblestoned pedestrian walkway right near Bath Abbey.  It's a hugely popular restaurant (they already have bookings for Christmastime), and has been around for about 25 years.  The owner, Rachel Demuth, was the cook for about ten of those years but has handed over the reins to various chefs over the years.  Now, she's trying to recreate Demuths, make it a bit more posh (as opposed to hippy food)...the food is outstanding, and she's hired me to make sure the front of the house is polished up a bit.  Considering the TWELVE years of restaurant work I have under my belt in a variety of eating establishments, I think I can rise to the challenge.  My first official full-time day there will be on the 10th of May, so I'm fitting in shifts now and then while still working at Sweaty Betty's (hence the exhaustion).  I'll definitely miss the girls, but they'll be right down the street, and the manager, Rachel,  (too many Rachels!) lives just around the corner.  I just hope I can keep up the fitness I've gained whilst working there! 
I think that's about the extent of things for the mo.  Stay tuned for a full update of Dad and Elaine's visit with photos, and hopefully I'll upload some Rome pics one of these days as well.  I promise to update at least once a week from now on...and of course, there will be Chad-in-a-tux photos to post on the 9th!
131 days til we land in Boston!!!!!!!
Love,
s