Local farmer's market, Christmas shopping, and feeling dreadful

On Friday, the last day of term, Michael got an unexpected snow day. We went down to the local farmer's market (which was scaled back a bit due to the snow). It was a bit of a treat! We bought fresh eggs, three different types of sausage (some which we had for dinner that night with some mash), two types of cheese (some with black pepper and some with mustard, which will go great with some sausages), Christmas chutney (I've never had chutney before), an elderberry and sloe drink that's like a squash (for the Americans: you dilute a bit in water to drink it), as well as some honey fudge that was lovely. I can't wait to see what they have next month!

We both started feeling a bit ill on that night, but went down to the pub with Michael's coworkers anyway. We had an okay time, but ended up ducking out after just a few drinks. The next day, we didn't feel much better. Michael was feeling especially rough. But we somehow insanely braved the crowds in town to pick up our Christmas presents for each other. Not really a surprising Christmas this year, as I didn't have my own money to spend since I'm still working on getting the shop off of the ground. In fact, all my presents from Michael (per my request) were art supplies to make more stuff for the shop! But keeping busy with that the past few weeks has really made me happy.

That night, though, I experienced the worst bout of insomnia I've had since I've been here. I was up until about 6:30 in the morning. I ended up watching the Hollyoaks Omnibus just because it was on. I used to be on medication for it before I came over, but my doctor here wanted to get me off of it. And I wanted that too... so I decided to try Nytol (as it's herbal) and chamomile tea and the like. None of it works. I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow anyway (for other ongoing problems), so I'm planning to bring it up and see if I can get something so that I can avoid nights like last night.

Today we were both still feeling terrible. I made Michael go back to bed for a bit, since he was sleepy and needed it. As for me... well, once I'm up, I'm up. I don't nap unless I'm seriously ill, and this flu thing isn't that bad at the moment. I wish I could say I'd gotten some work done, but mostly it's just been TV and a little bit of gaming. I feel like a bit of a failure in that regard, but oh well.

Tomorrow will be more productive, if just out of necessity. I have the aforementioned doctor appointment, I need to run down to the post office to sign for a package (and get a Thank You card for my aunt who sent us a big box of food from back home), as well as finally get some painting done. I need to start pushing myself a bit more, and making myself work even when I feel like crap.

Time for bed soon, as it's a little after midnight. Here's hoping I'll be able to fall asleep and not end up back here on the couch in a couple hours...

It's been one week

I've been in the UK for a little over a week now. I'm not sure why I waited this long to put a post up here.

It's been a bit of a tough week. I've felt overwhelmed. I didn't think I'd have such a hard time with everything, but I have. There's just so much that's different. And mainly it's the little things that have gotten to me over the week:

- Still getting used to the money; I'm not sure what expensive is anymore, and I'm still getting used to the change. I'm trying not to constantly convert pounds to dollars in my head.

- I haven't found brown sugar yet. "Brown sugar" here is the stuff like Sugar in the Raw in the States; it's unrefined natural sugar. Michael thinks US brown sugar IS available here, though, so we'll check when we make a trip into town (Milton Keynes) sometime.

- The roads are smaller, and the buildings (for the most part) are all butted up against each other, which in comparison to sprawling San Diego can feel a bit claustrophobic at times.

- This may be a bit odd, but it's a little disconcerting to not be surrounded by Hispanic people and a constant flurry of Spanish after being in the thick of it for a good chunk of my life.

There are a few more things, but really they'll all just take getting used to. I do love it here, despite my whinging and homesickness.

Michael and I did have a couple of fun nights out last week. Thursday was a games night, and I played a lot of board games I'd never played before. It reminded me a bit of when Greg (a roommate from years past) was a game reviewer and roped all the housemates into playing random games.

Friday was a twofer. We first headed into town to see The Rocky Horror Show with a few of his friends. I'd never seen the stage show before, and it was excellent. Steve Pemberton of League of Gentlemen fame was fabulous as the narrator. After the show, we headed back home to Newport Pagnell to meet a bunch of Michael's coworkers in the pub. Well, two pubs. The first one closed after our first drink because the till was broken. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday I got to experience X-Factor live for the first time. I was never a habitual viewer of American Idol back home, but it's kind of fascinating how X-Factor is such a nationwide phenomenon over here. But then again, there seems to be a bit of a pop obsession over here, more so than in the States. That said, I'm hooked and am looking forward to the show next weekend.

My plan this week is to get out of the flat more, and go on more walks. I'd also like to take some pictures of Newport Pagnell and post them up here.

But for now, there are a few more dishes waiting to be washed. So I'm off for now!