We drove to Barnes so that my mum could catch up with an old friend. As Carolyn has just passed her UK driving test we left them to it and took the MINI out for a spin. Carolyn drove around Richmond for a while before taking the leap and venturing out onto the M4. There isn't a much better test than driving around central London and then out to Heathrow - I guess I trust Carolyn with the MINI now ;-)
My mum came to stay with us for Christmas. Carolyn loved her new camera, mum couldn't stop playing Brain Training on her Nintendo DS Lite and I couldn't stop hoovering up everything in sight with the Dyson D16 Handheld. Carolyn also gave me an Archos 5 media player which will be great when I'm working away from home. We spent most of the day battling it out playing Monopoly, needless to say the capitalist American won.
Carolyn's cousin Joey and his wife Erica came to stay with us on the first leg of their European tour. We made sure Joey and Erica enjoyed a wide variety of pubs on their visit including: Blackfriars Pub, Most Cafe Bar, Waxy O’Connor’s, George Inn, The Coal Hole, Market Porter, Browns at Butlers Wharf, Ten Bells and the 99 club.
For the last couple of years our filing system has involved some shoe boxes, a broken security box and some old plastic pockets. I couldn't take it anymore and 'persuaded' Carolyn that we needed a proper filing cabinet and here it is in all its glory. 
I also ordered a shredder which was so much fun there wasn't much left to file once I had finished playing with it. The comfy theme comes from our latest purchases - a Union Jack pillow from Karen Hilton and an RAF themed bean bag from CoolBeanBags.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, Oxford Street and Regent Street are pedestrianised to help solve the problem of a million people trying to walk along a narrow foot path. It's a good day for shopping as there are lots of street entertainers and Christmas bargains. Carolyn and I usually go and knockout as much Christmas shopping as we can in one hit.
