Carolyn

I was looking for a picture of a C road today for amand_r when I stumbled upon the perfect one, which happened to be located in the Brecon Beacons. That's when I realized that I had never finished posting these pictures, and that really, though I remember the day very well, and the adventure of driving up up up into the hills, and over rugged roads, down and across and in circles of C roads, passing sheep, scaring sheep, finding hidden pathways and big streams, etc. etc., I can't recall any little details. Other than, of course, it was beautiful, the day was slightly cool and rainy, and we were both just so WOW over the gorgeous countryside.

I want to go back. NEED to go back. While our trip this time did include a day of driving, we headed West, not North, and North is what draws me back. Next trip, by golly, we are headed NORTH.

Am back home from Topeka, full of lots of career-type thoughts about GIS and my company and the expansion plans and demands to come--it is all very exciting and going to be difficult and awesome, and I'm glad to be a part of it, yet there will never not be a part of me that doesn't want to just pack up my dogs, clothes, and my elephant and head permanently out of here. Smile--to Wales, that is where I would go. Cardiff attracted my attention because of Torchwood, but the city itself, and Wales, snagged me forever.

Nick is going back soon, and I am happy he gets to. In June! That's next month! (I just screeched that in realization). That is London. And then in October, a return to Cardiff.

Dammit, why can't I be a European? Grumble grumble. *kicks wall* OUCH!


( looky looky and be sure to clicky clicky to make the pictures bigger )

And I miss Nick terribly. I mean, deep-down, completely missing him so bad I want to bite my pillow. I couldn't bear to look at that little flight thing on the airplane, couldn't bear to watch it go further and further away from where I want to be. I would start to tear up and want to scream that I couldn't hold him, be with him, right then. That so many miles separate us, miles that we ARE fortunate to be able to traverse, but just not often enough. Not often enough at all. It always sucks so bad after we've been together for awhile...but I am already planning to go to Germany sometime in the fall (if I can--not much vacation time left, so may LOL be January--brrr?). LOL can't afford to go to the UK again any time soon...but I'll be back. I want to see more shows! I want to see Billy Elliot, and whatever else!

The house is a wreck--there will be massive cleaning done on my day off, it looks like. And the a/c is messed up because the filter disintegrated, and I am too tired to run get another one tonight. And yeah, unreal, I come home from being chilled in London all the time (I also froze on the plane), wearing two sweaters and a jacket--hit Houston and oh my LORD, hello Heat and Sunshine!!!! UGH!!!! I went to a restroom and yanked most of that off (not all, did not want to get arrested) and felt better. After our long wet winter here, and then being in Wales and London, getting blasted by the muggy heat of Houston made me feel sick. Weird. Got home to a hot house--the son tried to turn the a/c on and didn't know how to do it, and with the filter needing replacement (guess I should've done that before I left, but it SNOWED the day before I left, so...) so he froze up the a/c.

I have TWO blisters. Right foot's pinky toe, left foot's somehow between big and next big toe. Weird. HURTS.

Maddox has been blowing his coat. He looks like crap and there is fur everywhere. I TOLD THEM BOTH to brush the hell out of him--when a Husky starts to blow its coat, it is pure hell, fur everywhere, he looks like he is molting as great clumps of fur loosen and eventually fall off. Bedraggled pup, and without a doubt he did indeed stop eating while I was gone. He looks like he's lost a good 4 lbs. ARGH. Mental! But there is fur on my bed, fur on the floor, fur on the walls probably, and not much fur on him, dammit. Oh Huskies! Fortunately the red and whites don't blow as crazily.

Shelby is outside. The daughter said, "She stayed out ALL THE TIME." She won't come in for the night either, so may end up sleeping out there tonight, the silly.

Also, the daughter failed to check the mail. Great. The mailbox is no doubt stuffed to the gills with mail. GREAT.

I'll make a post tomorrow, I guess, on some of the things we did, but frankly...not in the mood to share much. Sorry. There are some pictures though that I can share, and general impressions of London. So, tomorrow. I am cranky right now so don't want to right now.

I am, however, reading a fascinating book about (more or less about) writing. Might just share some bits and pieces I especially love...it's not a how-to-write type of book, but rather a this-is-how-I-write book. So much of what this particular writer throws out makes bells go off in my head, hell CHIMES go off in my head (WOW, he is like that? and WOW I am not completely weird after all!), and I'm finding a surge of excitement and inspiration, coupled with becoming rather entranced by a few ideas that burst out of being in London this week, that need addressing.

I am home, and I don't want to be here...think it will take a few days to get back into the swing of regular life.

As I whined this weekend, I accidentally killed my beloved layout that Nick made for me. kel_reiley leaped to the rescue, offering her services in creating a new layout for me.

This coincided with Nick asking me to write another Wales Travel Post...and feeling the love for that land myself (and our trip coming up in just a few weeks) I sent a few pictures I loved that might work for a new LJ header. We decided on this one.

Nick took the picture during our scant hour or so in Gwbert. I absolutely fell in love with this place--little as I saw of it--as it was, for me, as I stood there on those cliffs and looked out on Cardigan Bay and the Atlantic beyond, an absolute moment of awe. I felt very small, and yet amazing, watching those waves crash, the seagulls swoop about, standing their with Nick as he took photographs. I couldn't believe where my life had taken me over the previous 4.5 (then) years, and I realized how happy and glad I was to be able to stand where I never thought I'd ever be. Man oh man, how amazing that was.

So having this as my header is extra-special for those reasons.

Thank you Kel for making my beautiful new layout! I love it, so does Nick. It is wonderful, and I'll enjoy it for a long time to come.

C

Everything is better today.

( better despite a few annoyances, but nothing that I let get me down )

OMG, two weeks with at least two more days or so at the Railroad has really left me starved for contact with my peeps, and writing time. If not for Nick and those four kind souls willing to let me rant at them via my BNSF email, and my beloved ipod, I would be DYING!!!

So much going on work-wise that I get all worn-out brain-wise by the time I can leave, and evenings are spent recovering, doing general chores, feeding puppies, feeding self, cleaning up, talking with Nick (who at 9:48 p.m. on this night, is still up and yes it is almost 5 a.m. in Germany...slightly screwed up is his schedule, yes? Okay, he just went to bed. Good boy, even though I know he'll be dreaming of GDL and not CER, lol).

Nick made me read a 'chapter' (rolls eyes) of a Gwen-bashing fic after we discussed Amandr's post about that horrid community created by those creatures. It made me nauseous. Seriously. Such hate, such bad writing, such... I just don't get it. I don't, I don't.

One good thing has come of me going over to the railroad to work...I grabbed my old thumb drive to transport my files and spreadsheets back and forth and was shocked and delighted to realize that all the fics and pictures and research stuff I thought I'd lost to that little bastard thief who broke into our house, was actually on there. I discovered another thing--I have alot of first chapters to books. Like, 6-7... Hmmm. Two or three of them I was thrilled to see again, however. A couple dating back 6 or so years ago. Huh. Hmmm.

We'll see what if anything I do about those fics. Mystery and fantasy mostly. It has my original copy of my published mystery, but not the second book I wrote in the series, sad to say. Too bad as I was going to offer it to gypsylady since she was kind enough to say nice things about HOME after snagging it from her library. But alas, that book is gone, which really really makes me sad.

Nick and I want to go back to Wales. Sooner rather than later, but too much is up in the air re: his uni for us to be able to settle on exact plans. We'll get there though. So much more to see. And...we just miss it.

It is all smirnoffmule's fault, and probably amand_r's, but I signed up for the hp_darkfest fest. Also to blame was running across the start to a Draco fic from two years ago that was hidden away in my BNSF email--THAT is how long it has been since I've done a project there. Wowzer. Anyway, a whole fic burst into my head, and then Smirnoff posted about that fest, and then I started to read Amandr's Snarry fic (still enjoying it, it is long and funny and entertaining and I love how she handles the characterization of her characters...Jenny is awesome lol and FRED LIVES!)...and next thing I knew? Signed up. Crazy.

Porn battle this weekend being hosted by Foxy and Nick, over at cyus. I'll be working on my other stuff but will be reading what I can.

writerinadrawer also continues. Now that Nick got booted so untimely (sigh, grrr) I am voting. I enjoyed it last round, but am less excited about it this week mostly because I have had so little time (aka none)for my own writing, I really don't feel very enthusiastic about taking the time to read other writing when I am aching so deeply to work on my own.

Ballet boy--I finally figured out what the hell to do with my oops, I-wrote-myself into-a-wall problem. Not that I have the brain to address it. Without having lunchtime to write right now, nothing is going to happen. Hopefully, I'll be done with this project by, sigh, next Wednesday.

And travel posts. OMG, that is another thing I want to work on this weekend, truly badly...the next travel post. I want to work on them every evening but there is just no time, no way to do it all, and I am frankly feeling like bawling over that in frustration. Maybe this weekend, along with everything else I want to do. Yeah, sorry folks, I just don't see wiad happening for me this week.

And while I am looking forward to being back in my cube, WITH INTERNET THANK THE STARS, I am not looking so forward to having to deal with our admin again. She has been annoying me highly...no reason to get into that but frankly? The chick is downright weird, and I've made the effort for a long time to get along with her, because that is easier than not, but it is wearing me down. She wants to talk at me, and I don't want to. I AM BUSY!!!!

What else? Guess that is it for the moment, other than thanks to copperbadge I want one of these:




Should be able to find bento boxes locally, as we have a huge Asian population in this area. Daughter wants one, has seen those around, so we'll take a look.

That is all--kids start back to school next week, son a senior in high school, daughter a junior at TCU. Have to go buy son pants tomorrow night--they wear uniforms and we have everything else but those, and socks.

Too much to do, and not enough me. I shall go to bed now I suppose--I need to recharge!

It's been a few days since the last travel post, WIAD entries are up and read and judged (for those who can) and so I thought now would be a good time for another N and C in Cardiff post. Sound good to you? To me too!

Be sure to click the pictures to make them bigger. Not sure I am completely in love with LJ's gallery, but it worked well enough.

( walking down Lloyd George Avenue to Cardiff Bay )

Hey guys...this was written yesterday off and on during 16 hours of travel (a wee bit of a long day) so bear with me re: the opening, okay? LOL.

Here you go! ( the best beach in the world )

Ha! Not a word about Torchwood in this post...

So it is short.

We kinda got our Leaving Wales dates mixed up but fortunately, our B&B hosts had not given away our room yet... *head desk*

But at least that gave us another day in Wales! No reason to post more on our adventures until after the TW Madness has calmed, though. So, maybe next week! And finally, with pictures--because we have ALOT of amazingly beautiful, stunning, awe-inspiring pictures of this remarkable, delightful, wonderful, friendly, amusing and fantastic country. OMG, we both love it here. Could live here. Seriously...it is just that wonderful. (If only I were rich!)

So I'll live you with this--

*points to user pic*

That sheep STARED and STARED at Nick...scary things, sheep. They are nuts. That was in Gwbert, where I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the very first time.

This country, this trip, has given me lots of firsts. :)

More in a few days...

Okay since our busy-ness is catching up with us, this is going to be a quick recap of yesterday and the night before. Numbered, amand_r-style!

1. Once we discovered no luggage, and figured out that the people in front of us in Hamburg who had put in that they had 4 bags and only turned in 2 so the British Airways worker thought our bags were their's, and filled out the appropriate claim forms, sigh, we took our little overnight rescue kits and headed for our hotel. Our first impression after getting off the train was one of crazy hustle and bustle, a gazillion taxis zooming about, people walking and talking and I mean people of all sorts of nationalities and colors, striding about, seemingly in fine moods. Lots of trees, an immediate impression of cool buildings, houses smashed together as city houses are (and not at all like in Texas so to my eyes? Very cool, very different. Noisy and colorful and exciting...

[Bad username or site: the saga of life with no luggage continues @ livejournal.com]

WE WERE IN LONDON AT LAST!!!!

WITH NO LUGGAGE!

2. Nick, excellent navigator that he is, got us to our hotel the Royal Lancaster. Excellent! We got...um...room 1313 on the 13th floor. LOL. After talking with the ever-helpful concierge, we knew how to get to the Adelphi theatre, complete with map and whatnot. The London underground is an experience, just for the tightness of the tunnels and the busy-ness, the quick but not frantic pace. The underground is an alien world to me (not so much maybe to Nick) but I loved the flavor of it, the decidedly old brickwork, tunnels, arches, the general dirtiness which comes with things of a great age.

We snagged our tickets after speaking with a super-helpful ticket guy (and, I swear, every single Londoner was awesome, interested in helping us--which we both LOVED!) we hopped on board and took off.

It didn't take long for us to get the hang of the tunnels, directions, etc. Nick of course is used to dealing with trains and such but I am not--except for the times I've been with him.

We zoomed to our station we had to get off on, then hopped onto the Covent Garden tube, and got out to a fascinatingly vibrant area of London. Being a Friday night (and Nick operating on no sleep due to the desocking and me, much to my relief, on my five hours I snagged so that despite the time change it was me, not Nick, who was the perky one) we headed with tickets in hand for the Adelphi to see Derren Brown.

Because we were sworn to absolute secrecy which forbids us to share any detail about the show, other than we loved it (though it had one part that slowed down a bit, and beer and tiredness got to us both) it was great fun. Brown is a definite showman, having the time of his life out there. The crowd? Rambunctious, enthusiastic, and without doubt, sold out. Next to us with a seat between us were a really funny couple--the girl reminded Nick of Claire so that meant she was great fun and...okay she was pretty loud but she was also really cute. LOL. Her boyfriend too was funny. Then this reeaaalllly big guy came and smashed himself inbetween us. He was very nice, no one would go with him to see the show so he bought a single ticket. These were tiny seats, so he wasn't too comfy I think, and...very warm. LOL!! Nice guy though and it was loads of fun.

Intermission--everyone bought ice cream. (notice I fail at writing short like amand_r).

ANYWAY! Show over! We were stunned with his brilliance at show's end, as he knew we would be! I sure hope that girl who unknowingly drank the vinegar wasn't sick later...

3. We had a blast, and walking back through this part of London? We loved it. The vibes were so good, there was no sense of imminent danger (like in San Francisco) nor fear that my purse would be lifted, Nick's wallet snatched. No fear, no fear or worry at all. It felt GOOD in London. Hope we weren't being naive, but we were loving it, and wished, wished mightily, we had more time.

We could not return the way we'd come as it was Friday night and each train that showed up was PACKED and I mean it, those people? They PACKED themselves inside! No way! Nick whipped it out I mean whipped his map out again, and figured out an alternate route. I tell ya, if you ever need a navigator on a trip, hire Nick. Srsly. He is excellent at it. Finally, he got us back to the hotel. We were dead by then, starved too--no food. None. There were cookies in the room at least...

London--we will be back to see you again.

Oh, and got back to the hotel--no luggage.

4. We slept fiercely well that night. FIERCELY! So FIERCELY well that we, uh, forgot to set our alarms...and overslept the next day until 10:30.

No luggage, no breakfast. Oh, and the night before? No time for dinner either!

5. We checked out, and still needing a map on how to get to Cardiff (seriously, we failed in this area--srsly failed) we decided, since we didn't have our luggage, and yes we still had the same clothes on, eek, we decided to walk along Oxford Street to find a bookstore the conceirge recommended to us.

So, our backs slightly aching for some reason(?) we headed down Oxford and were soon finding ourselves smiling and enjoying ourselves, the return of the fast pace, the hustle and bustle as people headed to their own appointments, or shopping as we were very much in the shoppy district. Vendors were handing out tea samples (TEA! I MISS YOU SO, COLD ICE TEA!) and we once again were surrounded by people from all over, all ages, a real mixing-pot of races, cultures, languages. Not what we expected, honestly. We kinda failed at finding the bookstore and just decided to head back to the airport, but we were glad we took the walk.

Oh, we saw a wedding in Hyde Park--carriages! Prancy horses! MONEY! LOL. We also realized a Gay Pride march was happening when police started to put barricades up. Dang it, we missed that! We really had to go! We were sad!

We took a dive back down to the tube and this area? AWESOME OLD! Just...character character character, just wanted to film it, remember it, reexperience it later. We had to wait for the traintubething we needed and sat down on a bench, ended up talking to a lovely (and I really mean, lovely) black woman with an undefined accent. (So many accents, so much cool). We talked with strangers ALOT! Normal for me, not so much for Nick, but I think he can't claim the "I'm Shy" mantel any longer. It is over, baby--you are not shy. You are AWESOME!

We had to hop on then, and head back for Heathrow to get the car (I was getting pretty nervous by then, you know). We ended back at the main train station (or whatever it is called--it is hard not to think of things like we're in Germany) and we grabbed a Starbucks because remember, no food since our bagel the day before. At lunch.

That is when Nick discovered something. He'd, uh, thrown away the return tickets we'd bought.

Thankfully, the gentleman who was to check our tickets was the one we talked to about it, and he could tell by the ol' deer-in-the-headlights look we had that yes, we really weren't fibbing. He let us anyway, but had a bit of fun teasing us about it. LOL. We didn't care, we were grateful!

See, that is the way Londoners are. They are NICE! Every single person we encountered was like this. NICE! Is that not awesome?

For me, this was especially wonderful. I love going to Germany. LOVE LOVE LOVE Berlin, really like Hamburg a lot, and Kiel? Well, Nick is there so I can deal with it. But this was so wonderful for us both, to be in another country where though we were facing differences that neither of us had encountered, were in a place where it was absolutely okay to ask questions, our questions were cheerfully answered, every person was just so NICE!

From the train guy to later that day, the people at Heathrow who took us through security and tried to help, again, with finding our freaking luggage (which, yes, had indeed been sent to Phoenix, AZ!), to the girl at Pizza Hut in Cardiff with whom we enjoyed talking about tipping differences between the three countries, to our amazing, wonderful hosts Paul and lol especially Stuart, who is ADORABLE! the people of London and of Wales who we have talked to and dealt with have been phenomenal.

We've both had to train our ears a bit to get used to the variety of accents--it is very clear there are differences. I can understand Stuart a little more easily than Nick...in fact there are some accents I can handle more easily, others that neither of us have a problem with. And if we don't understand? We can ask, and the person addressing us cheerfully repeats themselves. No snarls, no fuss, no growls. I'm used to that to a degree as Texans are generally like this, but honestly, no other place we've been together, US or Germany, has been as friendly and NICE!

We are quickly falling for this place, for the people, and for many other reasons are feeling very, very glad we decided to come on this trip.

Driving here? A little scary. LOVE the car, diesel-fueled Skoda. it is comfortable, very very comfortable, and nope, I have not wrecked it at all. Driving on the left-hand side is weird at first, but with Nick's help (seriously) it is getting easier. It is kind of taking both of us to do this--him to navigate with maps in hand and trying to figure out street names--TRYING because the darn Welsh do not believe in street names! Or maybe all of the UK, I do not know! But...there are some street signs...and mostly none! But little by little, I'm getting the hang of it. Taking it slow and easy, and following others helps. Learning all the different road signs, and the paths the cars have to take? Even those that make no real sense (like roundabouts) are a real trip, but we're getting there. Mostly.

Roundabouts. OMG.

I leave you guys with this, as it is getting late and we want to turn in early to get a good head start tomorrow. I give you Exhibit A: Proof that the Welsh (will pick on the Welsh for this, though the English have these too and okay Nick tells me the Germans like them also, and those damn narrow streets! OMG! So narrow!) are crazy about roundabouts. We found this one by some apartments on our walk to Cardiff Bay the first time today...OMG! I mean come on, WHY IS A ROUNDABOUT NEEDED HERE?



Seriously. Is this just not taking it a little too far? What is funny is, while we were shaking our heads at it, a car drove around it. Perfectly. Just like one is supposed to.

Crazy.

That pretty much takes us up to today's adventures. We have alot of pictures that need to be resized that we took today on our long walks before we can get them posted, but y'all should come back tomorrow or possibly Monday (as we are planning a six hour road trip tomorrow around Western Cardiff, seeing some of the coastal cities like Swansee to the south and Cardigan and other areas to the North) to see those. I hope. Unsure when we will get back, much less the condition of the driver--me--after all those hours of driving against-the-ingrained-instincts. LOL. Meep.

Know what would be really awesome though? Is if we got back tomorrow and our freaking luggage was here! OMG! We still don't have it though it is with the courier now! *thunk*

Later kids, and be thinking of us tomorrow!

C, and of course N

(and if there any typos in this? I don't care, too tired to care! Too nervous about tomorrow to care! AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!) Oh and laverbread is truly strange. But I liked the little cockles.