A Time to Think....And A Time to Drink

My walk yesterday went well. It stopped raining when I went out...only a few sprinkles here and there.I walked along the road past Ben's neighbors...about 15-20minutes down the right side of the street, then walked back left towards Home Farm again. Nothing too much to see. I saw more hills and a few cars passed me(that was scary). I did see this too....
I know that it's there for when the roads get iced up, but I found it interesting that it's there all year round. *shrugs* dunno....

After that I came home, looked up some news stories about Michael Jackson's death, watched some TV and waiting for Ben to come home. The day went by rather quick...which is actually really good for me because it's less time that I have sitting around being bored and missing Ben. It's kinda sad, but interesting to think of at the same time, that I've become sort of dependent upon Ben for levels of happiness. I'm not saying I'm MISERABLE when he's not around and that I need to be with him ALL the time, but it's nice to know that when he's around, I'm happier.

I'm especially happy when he is how he was last night. Lately he's been showing more affection towards me and I likes it ^^. He'll give me kisses sporadically (where as he didn't at all and I was the only one giving kisses on the cheek every now and again), and cuddle me and whatnot. I like it. It helps me cope with the fact that he's not very communicative and doesn't say bluntly what he feels...with him showing affection I at least get an idea that he doesn't hate me or I'm bugging him.

I have a theory....Ben said to me the other day that he's afraid of getting in too deep with me and get all romantic because I have to leave sooner or later. --Well, why did I even come here in the first place if my own boyfriend wasn't going to be all lovey-dovey with me? :( Well since that 'talk' he's been showing more affection so I'm guessing he's let up on that idea. My point is....yes, i'm only here for a short while, but why not make the most of it instead of fighting against it and being miserable in the mean time?

-Jenny Mac

BY THE WAY! These photos are late, but its me after my first drinking endeavor....

hehehe Jenny likes her Perry.


I look evil XD

FINALLY!

So yesterday I slept in til about noon....yeah, finally got up, got dressed and sat down to lunch at around 1pm with Ben. Ben kept making fun of me saying that he'd been in to town TWICE before I even got up. ....I was tiiiired :(

So anyways, I watched some TV and he mowed the lawns after lunch. Then we both sat down to watch some TV when DMAN rang Ben. DMAN and Issy were coming over.

When DMAN and Issy came over we got into DMAN's car, went to the grocery store for a bit(cause Ben's mum asked him to pick up for stuff for dinner that night) and then we went to some park. It was fun just chilling out with them. I like Issy--she's nice. For some reason I thought that meeting any of Ben's friends that are girls would be awkward because they already have their place among 'the guys' in the group....just like I have a place amongst the guys in my group of friends at home.

To be honest, it wasn't that bad. Issy was nice and talked to me. We laughed at the boys and how clueless they could be sometimes and generally it was alright. There were of course times where inside jokes came up where I don't really know what they're talking about so I just stay quite, smile and chuckle when something that sounds funny came up.

So, that's another friend down to meet...I think I've got about 4 more major ones to go.

We got home, watched some more TV, then Ben started grilling. It was a nice day so we had a barbecue and sat outside on the deck for dinner. It was bright and sunny, way too California. haha.

Then Ben took a shower and got ready to go out for a party whilest I talked to mum on AIM. ^^ ben's friend Kirsty was having a party for her birthday and Ben asked a few days ago if it would be alright for him to go out for a bit that night. I didn't know how long 'a bit' would be in his standards, but I figured it wouldn't be too long because he has work today(aka: the next morning). So I stayed up talking to mum for a few hours, watched some TV, chatted with some other peeps back home again until it became about 11:30pm.

Considering that Ben left at 7:30pm and the party started at 8pm and he probably wouldn't stay long or have drinks because he had to drive home and go to work....I started to worry a little. Not too much, just a little. Come around midnight I started thinking, 'oh shit, what if he drank and drove? no no no if he got too smashed he would sleep at someone's house...but what if he did only have the one drink and drove home and he or some idiot wrecked his car and there was a accident?' And the cycle continued. I sat up in bed until about 15 after and I became too tired to listen for a car to pull up and just fell asleep.

This morning I woke up at 6:30am because I forgot I left my window open(to listen for Ben's car) and a bird flew in. It scared me a bit cause I heard flapping noises and didn't know what it was until I opened my eyes and saw a bird flying around. It tried to fly back out but the window was cracked just a little, so it crashed into the window glass instead. I got up, opened the window FULL out and waited for about 10-15 minutes for the damn bird to get smart and fly out the window again (gentle coaxing it along at some points when it just clung still to the ceiling beams.
it FINALLY flew out, I shut the window and began to wonder if Ben ever made it home.

I went downstairs, out of the house and just peaked inside the garage where Ben normally parks his car--it was there. Sometime between 12:15am and about 7am he FINALLY got home safe and sound. With my mind at ease that he didn't crash the car and die...I wandered back inside and fell asleep for several more hours.

I woke up again at about noon this morning/afternoon but to a very nice surprise....RAIN. FINALLY some decent rain! It's chilled out by now, but it was nice to see full on rain pissing down and to hear the roar of thunder in the distance. *hopes for a storm*
Well, that's all my news for now. I think I might go for a walk in the rain.
More updates tomorrow,
-Jenny Mac

Ah, The Joys of Different Countries

Yesterday was an interesting day, but first...a disclaimer:

Mother...Father...Siblings...Other tight-wads concerned for my well being.....I. AM. AN. ADULT. I know the consequences of my actions and I accept them. Let me live my life how I choose without lectures.

Now that THAT is out of the way, let me tell you about my day.

I woke up early, about 3am and just looked out the window to find this pretty picture:
I tell you it's better in person. The sun rise was gorgeous to wake up to, even for a moment(and yes the sun rises THAT early here. I'm surprised at home much day light there is. It's kinda cool). Then I rolled over and went to bed for a few more hours.

Ben took me someplace local yesterday. ^^ Westons. Westons Cider and Perry Factory. He paid for my ticket (sweetie ^^) and we went on the tour there at Westons. There were only about 6 other people in our tour group but it was alright. ^^ I learned how Cider and Perry was made...every step of the process...and I took a few pictures of things. Funny things, interesting things, etc. Here are a few:

(The original way of crushing apples)

(Cider Kegs)

(Guy working on top of the fermenting tanks)

After the tour...there was a cider tasting, which I took part in. Cider was interesting. I think that if I was a drinker, I'd be a stereotypical girl that wants the fruitier type of drinks because the Cider wasn't half bad. I tried some Perry and Raspberry Cider that I really liked so I bought a bottle of each to take back to Home Farm. Ben got 4 bottles, one for himself, one for his dad(late fathers day gift--such a guy), and the other 2 for his family to share.

Now let me tell you...I thought I was pretty fun just being sleep deprived but alcohol made me more fun. I was sipping on the Perry on the drive back to Ben's house. I started getting giggly and I mean REALLY GIGGLY. It was quite fun. Ben eventually handed me his phone and said 'call Adam'. I guess he wanted me to show Adam how tipsy I was so far. hehe It was quite fun though.

Overall...My first alcohol experience: Cider n Perry are good. I don't plan on making drinking a habit, but it's good for the ocassional 'fun Jenny' time. ^^

When we got back to the farm I made sure to level out the alcohol in my body by drinking loads of water and snacking on carbs--chips and biscuts. Then we had some dinner....and then watched some TV, Ben went to bed but I stayed up to watch About A Boy and talk with some of you back home.

A very interesting day and morning as it were....especially after having such a crappy day in Cardiff. ^^ Happiness is restored 100%.
-JM

When life gives you Cardiff, ask for a sodding refund

Yesterday was the big trip to Cardiff.....Yeaaaah, Cardiff is a shithole just like LA, except a tad cleaner. Here's how the day went:

Got up late (bad Jenny). Ben seemed grumpy and stressed (still). Some idiot lorry driver almost flattened us (Ben was overtaking and the guy tries moving into that lane almost crashing into us in the process). Ben wasn't too thrilled about this trip because A) it's Cardiff--bad city B) Dr. Who isn't his thing and I wanted to go to the Exhibit in Cardiff and C)Just another trip he doesn't want to take basically(petrol expenses, tour tickets, driving, etc). We got lost on our way into Cardiff because Ben's Sat Nav doesn't work without a Sat signal and we kept losing signal in Cardiff cause it's a shitty city.

We finally find out way around and go to the Doctor Who Exhibit. I paid for both mine and Ben's tickets (I figured I'd pay for his tickets since he wouldn't let me pay for petrol when we stopped for it on the way to Cardiff). We wandered around, I took pictures and video. There were a bunch of little kids there and I could tell Ben felt uncomfortable for the fact that it's Doctor Who and for the fact that you really couldn't tell the difference between the kids' excitement and mine. :P The exhibit was REALLY short. And we only went through it once so Ben wouldn't suffer TOO much. So, that was a bit disappointing but at least I got some pictures out of it.
After that we went to the Bay Area. I took pictures and filmed this plaza thing right by the bay. This location was used several times in Torchwood and Doctor Who and I could tell which bits were filmed where,....hence why I took picture and video.
Then we went down to the actual bay....yeah nothing really too exciting or beautiful to comment on there. it was just ordinary. There weren't even lots of boats or anything like a Harbor to keep my interest for very long. But I took a picture anyway. It was really bright out there so I'm not sure if the pictures will register well.
We went to a Japanese resturant in the bay after that. Ben had a 2 for 1 meal ticket from when he went to Birmingham for a gig or something. At that point (walking and talking from the bay to the resturaunt) I got a little fed up with Ben. Because he was grumpy, I got grumpy amoong other things (sometimes I wonder if he's emotionally retarded and just can't show emotion and be normal like most other guys are. He just kinda pulls faces and that it...urg anyway, that's a story for another time).

The food was good and nice sized portions as well. we could also see the bay from outside the window because we were on the second floor.
After lunch we walked about 2 miles up to through Cardiff's City Centre to go to Cardiff Castle. Now take into consideration it got to Hot California type weather so we were dying while walking in the hot sun, but finally we made it.

Again I paid for Ben's ticket as well as mine into the Castle.....but unfortunately the Castle was the crappest Castle. It didn't even LOOK real. It looked like a Sodding THEME PARK of a castle. I decided to give it a chance, but after about 20 minutes of walking along the battlements and underground in the 'halls' of the 'castle' I decided I had enough. The only REAL Castle bits of the 'castle', ya know the one's the looked authentic, we couldn't even enjoy because they were blocked off. DUDE! I understand that castles are rooting and unsafe because they thousands of years old but, COME ON! Castles should look like Castles, not plastered walls painted to look like castle -colbestone-esque. It was complete bullshit and I felt ripped off.

(Jenny Cries cause she can't get into the real castle which is bared off)

And on some of the grounds there was still construction going on, like MAJOR work. That this bit for example:
Ben did make me laugh though...he said something along the lines of 'They had to upgrade the horses into Quads'. hehe that bit made me smile, but still. Shitty Castle. So we walked 10 minutes back to the entrance where we bought the tickets, filled out the survey they gave us when we entered. Gave our honest opinion about how we 'enjoined' our visit to the Castle and went to the ticket booth lady.

I asked if there was any kind of refund policy because we hadn't been in there an hour and we were completely unsatisfied. She took a look at our tickets and said 'no, you're been in there half an hour. if you were in there 5 minutes took one look and said you didn't like it, then maybe. But since you were in there 30 minutes, no'. I said 'okay' and just walked away muttering profanities.

Honestly it's bullshit. Honestly, we had to walk a ways to get inside that place to find out it was shit and then you have to walk about a ways to get OUT of it again....so as far as I could tell I was there 5 minutes(of actually seeing it) and I deserve a refund. Fuck Cardiff Castle. It's a blatant bullshit ripoff. (Sorry for the excessive swearing mother). Overall, as Ben put it, Cardiff Castle is a pile of wank.

Needless to say, we left. Then we went into the shopping part of the Center of the City because Ben had to find a birthday shop to buy a friend of his a birthday card cause he's ditching me for a party Thursday night. I feel kind of jealous that he has a party to go to and I'm missing out on all the wonderful bashes at home, but he has a life and I have respect that. Part of me thinks he's ashamed of me too, but again that's another story.

We walked through the City Centre and I found this store:
I didn't go in but I found it interesting so I took a picture of it. I would assume it's like the Santa Clarita's Dollar Tree...except it's British so Pounds, yeah....*shrugs* i don't know. it seemed cool.

After we got the card we wanted to go straight back to the car and get the hell out of crappy Cardiff. But we got lost. It was already a long way to walk, but we ended up walking in circles

(with lovely scenary like this to cheer us up:)

until we FINALLY found our way back to the parking lot by the Doctor Who Exhibit that we parked at.

About the only good thing that happened perfectly today was free parking. You have to pay for parking EVERYWHERE in the UK, so when we found out that the Doctor Who Exhibit gave all their customers free parking for the WHOLE day (validated when you paid for entry ticket, but lasts all day) it was a sodding miracle.

Drove back to Hennor(no idiots--well MAJOR idiots--on the road), then jumped in the pool to cool off. Overall the day was disappointing, but another adventure for JMAC.....

x

Quick Update then we're OFF the Cardiff!

So, me being me I told Ben that we should leave here by 9 to go to Cardiff, but I slept in until 8:50am. oy vey. So I'm gonna make this short.

Ben took my shopping yesterday in a proper shopping district in Wo'ster (as they pronounce it here). Shopping was fun. We went into a Music and Movie store called HMF I think...I don't remember it's some acronym thingy. I wanted to buy seriously about 6 DVDs there but knowing the whole region code difference on DVDs...it wouldn't do me any good if I brought home british DVDs.

I did however go into another store and buy a beanie/hat just like Ben's. I REALLY like his hat so I got myself a black one. ^^ You're probably be seeing me in that a whole lot in future days(or at least back home...I probably won't wear it when he's wearing it--too cutesy matchy matchy URG! *sicks*).

Then we went grocery shopping. He shopped. I paid. ^^ I got stuff to make s'mores too...sort of. I had to get some OTHER chocolate and the marshmellows were interestingly thicker than ours. But the Rich TEa Biscuts I used were pretty close to graham crackers. ^^ Ben tried one and just went 'it was okay'. That's alright with me--I still LOVE SMORES! ^^

That's all for yesterday's update. I'm late to get on the road! Tell you all about Cardiff tomorrow!
-JM

Today...Cardiff!...wait, nevermind....

Not much to report...I promise later in the week there will be pictures and tales of fun places. Yesterday was father's day, but it didn't feel like it here in England. There were adverts on TV all week about fathers day but in the Russell household it was just another Sunday.....

So Dad, thank your lucky stars people acknowledge you...at home, at church, even on the phone or through internet when us kids are away.

About the only thing special was that they ordered take away from a Oriental place. That was yum yum grub. ^^

Ben was grumpy last night and this morning. He didn't sleep well either. I found out that all of that was because of his ex, Kayleigh, texting him 'hey can we talk?' or something to that effect last night. This is the girl that REALLY hurt him--on again, off again, on again, off again, etc. Right now I feel like ripping her limbs apart, chopping them into tiny pieces, blending them then chuckin' the remaining liquid into some lake....cause that's what she deserves for stressing out Ben like this.

I can kinda relate...with the whole Troy thing. There was a point where if I ever thought one thing associated with him I'd tense up and get stressed. I don't want Ben feeling like that. I care about him too much. So...this morning I made an american style breakfast (that Ben keeps yum yumming about)--Pancakes. I think he enjoyed his pancakes. I hope so. He looked a bit more normal after breakfast, but I think deep down it's still bugging him.

One thing I can say about cooking in another house...in another country....I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! With Ben's help and a little investigation I figured things out eventually. I FINALLY FOUND teaspoons which helped alot. Ben got out the mixing bowl and scale for me. Scale...and actual proper scale. Not too hard to figure out but when Ben put it on the table I was like..."oookkkkay? And this is used for wha--?OH! Right meauring" I'm just used to Cups and Teaspoons and tablespoons...not scales to weight oz and the like. It was an interesting experience.

Ben found lots of missing topping for his pancakes like bananas and golden syrup, so I decided to hang around here and go shopping (for groceries) for his mum instead of going to Cardiff. Ben suggested going shopping (clothes, etc) today and then hit a grocery store on the way back. ^^ Even though it doesn't seem like much to him, I really like getting out and just puttering around town. It's just another adventure for little old me. :P

-Jenny Mac

We've got an awful lot of planning to do

Let me just clear up something about my last blog....I wasn't bummed/upset/etc. I was just pointing out cruel irony. I'm fine honestly.I just felt bad that I didn't have anything new and exciting to report....much like today.

After Ben got home from work yesterday we ate dinner and watched TV afterwards, as per usual. Wedding Crashers was on so we watched that. Good flick. Ben was cuddly again which makes me happy. ^^ I like cuddling and watching TV; it's a good pasttime.

Ben and I both slept in today. We're gonna plan more trips later. I think besides London there's only about 4 places (towns really) I want to Visit: Brum(Birmingham), Cardiff, Notttingham and Wessex. And then there's a Cathedral close to Ben's house that I wanna see...and go into town and find some old 2nd hand shops. ^^

Other than that all I really want to do is hang out with Ben and his friends (meet the rest of them...and hang out with Adam some more) and go clubbing, pubbing and just plain hang out like a local. I can do that.


More British-isms/news/discoveries:
-What we call Hot Chocolate then call Drinking Chocolate
-I had to explain what a S'more is...and upon explaining it I discovered they don't have graham crackers here. So now I'm on a mission to discover the equvilant of a graham cracker in the UK
-Soccer Cleats are called Football BOOTS. Ben laughed at me when I said Cleat.
-It doesn't rain as much as it drizzles here. :(
-I didn't realize until it was in the paper but a few days ago there was a big fire in Herefordshire. If Ben had work that day....yeah he wouldn't have been able to go because the street where he works was blocked or something.