so i was going to make a huge post about Thanksgiving and how wonderful it was however, i'm a bit sideblinded right now by the fact that THE CEILING IN FRONT OF MY ROOM JUST FELL APART! It literally just scared the crap out of me as i was at the bottom of the stairs when it happend. Now there's dust, dirt and a 3 foot long piece of plaster out in front of my room. I've seriously had it up to here with this flat. Thank god i got my deposit back from my landlord on Thursday night. I think this was one of the last straws. I'm ready to get out of here. I suppose a lot of this is a learning experience as this is only the 2nd time that i've rented a room on my own and had to deal with a landlord (i never met my last one, but things went great!). Lessons learned---If renting, get a contract and a landlord is never really a friend.

Aside from being freaked out. Things here are well, about as they were before. I'm done with Euroffice in 2 weeks. Something that i'm bitter sweet about. I love my collegues for the most part and the job itself isn't too bad. But i'm done with being treated like a second class citizen for being a temp. And i'm glad to be less stressed. It was definetly a good experience although i'm not sure i'm cut out for office work.

Thanksgiving went quite well and there are photos up at http://photos.yahoo.com/lindsaybeaninlondon and tons of left over food which is always nice. It was still kind of hard being away from my family. There was one point in the evening where i was kind of like, i like the people who i'm with but they aren't the people i want to be with. I guess that's life though.

Well now i'm going go crawl back under my covers and stay away from the dust in the hallway (just what someone like me who constant has bronchitis needs). My love to all!

So two weeks later i'm posting. Better than my usual once a month thing. Winter is finally creeping into London. It rains and is cold. I leave work at 6pm (sometimes) and its a pitch black velvet night. In the crap weather i get a sense of sheer sympathy and pity for all the bums across from where i work as i see them settle in for the night under a pee stained blanket with a sad looking dog next to them. Definetly helps to give you a sense of just how lucky you can be. Which is good considering a little reminder here and there never hurts. I put the love of my life on a plane last night which was a rather difficult thing to do. The next month in London will be the hardest. I'm thinking of looking for a 2nd job as i don't really feel like i have any money saved up and Ireland is really just around the corner (for that matter, so's Christmas!). I guess it comes down to kicking my ass in gear. No different than any other time really. Last night was also Guy Fawkes day (wierdly pronounced "forks") where they celebrate a guy who tried to blow up Parliment. I heard recently that Catholics here weren't happy about it because they said it seemed like a holiday to celebrate terrorism. All the fireworks going off tho were amazing and driving to Heathrow it was like you needed to have 360 vision to really see them all. A nice temporary distraction from why i was actually going to the airport yesterday. The loudness was definetly too much although gave me an appreciation for what it must be like to live in a war zone. And while Brixton and Herne Hill are hardly a war zone, my flatmate Jack was robbed at gunpoint on our street the other night. He got away with 5 pounds and my flatmates cellphone (somehow he totally missed that my flatmate had been listening to music on an ipod and took the advice of Jack and didn't take his wallet since Jack just said he was going to cancel his cards first thing). Not that i have any misconceptions about where i live but it definetly shakes a person. Although while walking to the train the other night with Matt i found a cellphone on the ground that was partly broken. Being the good samaritan i am, i brought it home got it back together and tried to find its owner only to discover that the SIM card (all phones here have these little removalable chips in the back which store the information of the user as well as state what company they use) was locked. Oh well, interestingly enough the phone was unlocked which means that i got a new free Nokia phone (not a camera one but doesn't ever hurt to have spare technology laying around).

We're planning on having a big thanksgiving dinner. We tried a Halloween party which ended up being my flatmates and i, our significant others, and like 2 other people just sitting around all dressed up. Due to poor planning i wrapped some white material around myself and called myself a goddess. My lovely boyfriend on the other hand got far more creative and put a star on his head and some Christmas tree lights and called himself a Christmas tree. He even sparkled. Halloween is still rather anticlimatic here. I saw 2 sets of trick or treaters on my way to Matt's flat that night. In the US i'd have seen LOADS! Funny how a country that LOVES it's candy and sweets would shun a holiday where you go and beg for it. It's slightly disturbing though how London has already gone full swing into Christmas. The stores have had music on for about a week now. Regents street and Oxford street are both already covered in decorations. I'm somehow not ready for it yet. I mean i'd love it to be Christmas but am finding it to really be a big disappointment that it's just the beginning of November. So much time to go still. I am really looking forward to going home and seeing the family and everyone. But for now i'll stay warm in bed while its dark, grey and rainy outside (ok so it is really not as bad as i'm making it out to be, i'm just a still bit emotional from last night....)

Love and Hugs (dry ones),
Lindsay