Chris & Maria's Blog

In what can only be the cheesiest thought I’ve had in months, I have the song “The Final Countdown” by (strangely enough) Europe, running through my head as I write this.  So to share, I went to YouTube and found the music video for your enjoyment.  Here you go. To get the full effect, play that in the background as you read this.  While they are heading to Venus, we are adding those last minute things to our bags and going over and over the house for anything we think we might need that’s not already in our bags for our trip to England.

The Retro-Moderns are taking care of the dogs.  We’ll say goodbye to the dogs later today (Maria would like to take them with us, but Ginny would certainly get us thrown out of the country and banned for life… regardless of the fact that Maria is English).  I’ve got to run around town and collect some last minute things, but there isn’t a whole lot left to do today.

We will certainly blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr all of the excitement that is England and Ireland.  You just never know what kind of trouble we will get into while we’re over there, so if this is your first time to this blog then bookmark it or add the RSS to your feed.  “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K”.   😉

The clever countdown thingy that Chris put up over there  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  is down to seven and that means we only have just over a week ’til we leave for the UK. We’re both very excited and as I’m at the stage of starting to make lists and packing I thought I would list the things that I’m most looking forward to about the trip:

• Seeing and spending time with our family and friends. Although it will be a squash, we can’t wait to see our parents, sisters, brothers, nephews, granny, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and a couple of new babies!
• A week in Ireland; it’s been at least 6 years since I last went and I’m looking forward to going back, but more importantly, to Chris’s first visit there – hope he likes it!
• A day in Paris for our 1.5 year ‘anniversary’. Although neither of us has been there before, we’re not going to exhaust ourselves by trying to see everything but will just have fun wandering, taking pictures, and taking in the atmosphere (and the pain au chocolat!)
• Which brings me to chocolate – sad that it’s on this list but it is.  American chocolate just isn’t the same for me and my mouth is watering thinking of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Galaxy Ripple, Yorkies, Boosts, Toffee Crisp, Lion Bars etc etc. I just hope we’ve got enough room in the suitcase to bring it all back.
• Bringing back some more of my clothes and shoes! I’m slowly getting my wardrobe back – yay!
• Spending time in London – I miss it, and again we haven’t made that many specific plans, we just want to relax and wander and see where the wind (or, more likely, rain) takes us.
• Fish and chips – I was craving this so badly the other day that we went to Long John Silver’s. You would have to pay me a LOT to eat there again. I want the traditional stuff,  wrapped in paper, smothered in salt and vinegar, and preferably eaten on the seafront.
• Hopefully seeing the coast for a day. I’d like Chris to see where my dad grew up and to experience the weird mixture of eerie desolation and faded grandeur that is the Kent coast.

Also, this is a general call out for anyone who would like us to bring them back something specific from England or Ireland to please let us know, and we’ll do our best to get it. Although you should know that space in the suitcases will be given to chocolate as a first priority. 😛