sniff. cough cough.

Today I have a cold. My throat is scratchy and my nose is stuffy and I have the chills in this already freezing city. I hate being sick. Especially when I can't drive home and bundle up on the couch in my "sick sweatshirt" (a wonderful, oversized, embroidered, Winnie the Pooh number that I've had since about age eleven). Since it's Friday, that means my mom and dad will be home. He'll make a fire and she'll make blueberry muffins and then they'll read the newspaper. My mom always makes really good tea when I'm sick. And then she pampers me - tucking the blankets in around me and fluffing my pillows while I watch movies all day. I have a really great mom. I do not, however, have really great coworkers. When I told them I was sick, they said it was all in my head, and then went back to their computers. Ugh. Men.

Being sick makes me cynical, and so I have to tell you about this absolutely moronical (did I just make that word up?) lecture that my boss just gave our office about Starbucks coffee. Apparently, he's been to the states a couple of times, so he IS the resident expert on how the Sbux works. The fact that I worked there for the better part of a year doesn't matter. Did you know that when you walk down the street in America you will sometimes see eight Starbucks in a row? And each of those cafes caters to a different crowd... you have all the bikers that go to one, all the theatre people that go to another, etc. And this extreme segregation of social crowds is all due to their marketing! Brilliant people, those Starbucks execs. But according to him they don't even serve coffee- it's just this acidic brown stuff made by incapable baristas. Can you see the smoke coming out of my ears? Sometimes I just can't believe how stupid people actually are.

I got my absentee ballot in the mail a couple of days ago, and I am SO excited to vote. I love America... voting for my leaders and being part of a democratic nation. The Brits have such a funny perspective on our election. They just hate John McCain... they make fun of him for blinking so much, and they find the most unflattering pictures possible to put into the newspapers. Obama, on the other hand, nears the holiness of David Beckham. I hear from home that it's a close race, but you'd never guess it from what I read over here.

I bought the ugliest sweater in the entire world a couple of days ago for only £5. It's army green, a men's medium, bulky, and lumpy. But it's deliciously warm and cuddly. When I put it on, it sort of resembles a giant burlap sack, but I'm already fiercely in love with it. It's a cozy sweater that I promised myself I would never wear in public... only in the comfort of my own flat with the accompaniment of tea and a journal. But, here I am at work... with the ugly sweater. Oh dear.

I need to make myself some tea... owowow my scratchy throat! But before I do, I have to tell you about this fabulous Bible study I went to on Tuesday. It's comprised of people like me... graduated folk living in the quasi-adult-quasi-adolescent world. I've only met the girls, and they were great. I'll meet the guys next week, and I'm so looking forward to that. I miss having male friendships so much... Lisa does a great job filling the role of family and friend, but there's not much she can do to fill the steps of my guys. :) It'll be nice to bring a bit of balance back into my life with a small group of London friends.

Okay, tea time. I am going to go through withdrawls when I leave English tea. Seriously... at least four or five cups a day. It's a beautiful addiction. Love from here!