I'm using that same sneaky little trick again--lumping three days into one entry in order to shamelessly make my life seem more exciting.  ;-)   Let me know if it works!

Day 48:  Jeanette had to leave early Sunday morning to take Nicole to the airport (where she'll fly to Washington DC, stay with some friends, and then fly to Utah for classes at BYU), so it was just Richard, Michelle, and I in church that day.  (Did I ever mention that Corri is in Shropshire for a few days, horseback riding with some friends?)  Because their ward is so small, poor Richard got to give a sacrament meeting talk, teach the Sunday School lesson, and present the topic in Priesthood as well!  He was one busy man.  I was one busy girl, too.  Everyone is thrilled to have another pianist in the ward (they're few and far between), so I'm often at the piano.  I've decided that this ward has the two cutest babies I've ever seen, and I got to hold one of them after church and chat with the mama a bit.  I also got to play a few pieces on the piano for her (she's the choir director), and her little son added his two cents from my lap now and then! 

After church, Jeanette--now home from the airport--cooked us a rice-and-chicken dinner.  (Richard asked me to play some serenading piano music beforehand.  I gladly complied, throwing in a few peppier pieces from time to time to liven things up!)  Dinner was delicious. The chicken was drenched in a pineapple sauce, but I didn't mind the flavor at all.  Maybe one of these days I'll become brave enough to try actual pineapple!   For dessert, we indulged in Aunt Jenny's hot sticky toffee pudding.  I thought it was scrumptious--a heck of a lot better than the stuff Dylan and I were served at Pizza Hut!--but although Jeanette proclaimed the overall flavor and moisture levels to be passable, she said it was definitely lacking in sauce.  The very next day, she hunted up a sticky toffee pudding recipe, and she's now determined to figure out how to make a perfect batch herself!  Soon after dinner, two of Michelle's LDS friends showed up for a slumber party, and I disappeared into the piano room to call my family. 

After a wonderful chat with my mom and dad, Richard and Jeanette invited me to go on a Sunday evening stroll with them.  It was a lovely walk; the sun hadn't quite set and the air was crisp and clear.  We walked past rows of quaint Tudor homes and into the forest a bit.  Everything was so lovely and green, and the only features that could've possibly improved the landscape are mountains.  I'm trying to become a healthier person, and Richard and Jeanette are helping me by encouraging exercise (hence the walk!) and trying to tempt me less with goodies.  :-) Aunt Jenny's hot sticky toffee pudding, I decided, would be my last indulgence for a long while.  I ended the day (as is quickly becoming the tradition) with an MSN chat with Kati.

Day 49:   Day 49 began with waffles for breakfast which Jeanette cooked for Michelle and her sleepover friends.  I ate an apple and one itty-bitty waffle with strawberry jam instead of syrup, and pretended I'd eaten a healthy breakfast.  Then I headed upstairs for an important meeting with Kathy What's-Her-Face--the exercise lady.  I popped her DVD into my computer, and the two of us worked hard for a half hour or so.  Then I jogged in place for awhile and did some sit ups and toning exercises.  I was so proud of myself!  After that, the events of the day kind of blur into one another.  I answered e-mails, did research for my quickly-approaching tour of Europe, and chatted a bit with Kati on MSN.  Then, at 6:00, I wandered downstairs to find something to eat and found Richard involved in a discussion with the parents of one of Michelle's sleepover friends.  I felt a little awkward just standing there, so I grabbed a quick piece of wheat bread and then headed back upstairs again.  Apparently, Michelle's friend's mom (whew!) had disagreed with Richard on one of the major points in his sacrament meeting talk the day before, and the two of them ended up discussing the matter from 5:00 to 9:00.  Dinner, consequently, was very late.  :-)  We all pitched in to throw together a quick meal of veggies and pasta which actually ended up being quite tasty.  After dinner, everyone but me ate a chocolate pudding dessert (aren't you proud of my self control?), and then we all went to bed.

Day 50:  Any way you look at it, Day 50 was rather mundane and boring.  After breakfast and an appointment with Kathy What's-Her-Face, I spent most of my time working out last-minute details for Michelle and I (transportation to/from airports, train stations, and hostels, cost estimates, sightseeing priorities, etc.), answering e-mails, and reading funny children's novels. 

Let me explain that last item quickly:  I was sitting on the toilet with nothing to do (besides my "business," of course) when I noticed a bin of books.  One little paperback novel with the picture of a proper-looking girl on the cover caught my eye.  I won't give away the title of the book in case one of my readers is a die-hard fan.  That way, I'm free to make fun of it all I like (the book, of course--not the reader!).  I didn't realize that books like this actually existed in the world, and I was tickled pink to find that such silly, stilted sappiness not only exists but takes itself very seriously!  This charming little novel is like a very bad Babysitter's Club book set in the year 1900.  The book was so awful that I couldn't put it down!  The descriptions were very Nancy Drew-ish, and the character dialogue was absurd:  "Oh Fru-Fru (names have been changed), I'm so glad that the flu epidemic has passed and that grandmother and our Negro man have brought us back to Miss Hildegopper's Academy for Young Ladies where we can be proper and stitch samplers and blush at the thought of boys."  (Note:  I am not exaggerating. This is exactly how the dialogue runs.)  Thoroughly and delightfully despicable, isn't it? 

I also watched "Seabuscuit" for the first time and enjoyed it very much.  What a sad movie, but what an inspiring ending!  Dinner was, as always, delicious, but this time it was dessert-less.  Jeanette is trying hard to tempt me less.  :-)  After dinner, I watched a 70's film about a group of con men with Jeanette and Michelle, and then the day ended with--you guessed it--an MSN chat with Kati Morton.  ("Oh Kati, I'm so glad that I forewent dessert so that you and I could converse via the worldwide web whilst twirling our shiny curls 'round our fingers and discussing all that is proper and right.")