4 more days...

A week ago I was wheeling a TV around town in a suitcase, so it shouldn't surprise you to learn that the next day I carried a barbecue two miles across town.
It looked shorter on the map.
The guy who gave it to me was moving back to Texas, and he gave me very specific instructions on how to smoke meats and grill steaks. I just let him talk, figuring if he knew I was vegetarian, he wouldn't let me have the barbecue. But I've already got a bag of charcoal and I'll be grilling asparagus, corn, veggie kabobs, and mangoes on my little patio this summer. :-)
What else have I done this week:

• I planted four tomato plants that I got from a neighbor. I am also going to plant some ivy in large pots (to try and cover the wooden fence), a few herbs, and maybe a deck chair. (The fence isn't strong enough for a hammock.)
  
• I stained and varnished the TV stand as Jessica suggested, and it now looks like a piece of furniture instead of Ikea junk.
  
• I went to a Passover dinner (Seder) with another 20 or so of Jessica's family. (This is on top of the 40 I met in Israel.) It was like Thanksgiving except with some reading, a few rituals, and followed by singing (mostly in Hebrew, plus Bohemian Rhapsody).
  
• On Good Friday I took Jessica to hear "Messiah" at the Royal Albert Hall. (Interestingly, it's tradition here to stand during the "Hallelujah Chorus," apparently started by King George II.)
  
• I watched the "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," which was just unflinching in its story of the holocaust. Highly recommended.
  
• I went to three yoga classes. (I planned on going to six, but I caught a cold and was just miserable for several days. Some of the classes are not much more than "stretching for seniors," but a few are quite challenging.)
  
• I bought tickets to see Chris Barber's jazz band next month. My uncle told me how he had invited the band back to his house after a gig one night, some 50 years ago, so I googled them and found they were still touring! (I also planned to see Dave Brubeck at the Barbican in June, but unfortunately he withdrew for health reasons.)

And a few things coming up:

• I am (hopefully) going to hook up with a new tennis partner next Sunday. (My old tennis partner got a job. How rude was that?)
  
• I should recieve my bike lock tomorrow, so I can go riding. (And you do want to watch this video all the way to the end.)
  
• I should also get my ZipCar membership card, so I can go driving again. (I'd looked them up when I first got here--because I'd been a member in Los Angeles--but they wanted £50 to join! Now you can join for £25 and get £25 in driving credit, so its effectively free.)
  
• I was going to see Lord of the Rings with live musical accompaniment (by the London Philharmonic Orchestra!) at Royal Albert Hall, but it's standing room only and the movie is 3 hours long.
  
• I'm getting cable TV + broadband in 4 days. In 5 days I'll be complaining there's nothing on TV.
  
• The British Film Institute is doing a James Bond program on IMAX, including an all-nighter with 4 movies starting at 11:30pm. (It costs £26, too rich for my blood-shot eyes.)
  
• Saturday is the "Incredible Veggie Show" and Sunday is Shakespeare's 444th birthday.
  
• I'm having lunch with Sue, whose flat I rented while she was in Africa. (Apparently she sold the flat just after I moved out!)
  
• Jessica's birthday is also coming up, and in spite of my fear of heights I've offered to take her to Go Ape.
  
• I have an interview tomorrow with a small consulting firm. Wish me luck.

Hope everyone had a good Easter. (And in case you ever wondered, Easter is the first Sunday at least 13 days after the first new moon after the vernal equinox, and it has absolutely everything to do with Passover.)