pancakes and copy machines and really bad colds

Today (well, technically tomorrow) is Pancake Day in England, and it is officially my new favorite English tradition ever.  Instead of celebrating Mardi Gras, Brits celebrate by making LOTS of pancakes and eating them.  Best idea ever, right?!

English pancakes, which we had at BBDO during our "Pancake Party" today, are really thin and bubbly like crépes but have lots of little tiny holes in them.  One eats them by squeezing lemon juice all over them, then absolutely covering them in sugar, rolling them up, and then putting more lemon juice and sugar on top.  It's delicious and addictive and totally unlike anything I ever thought a pancake was.  Such fun.

On another note, BBDO's copy machine is my bitch.  It's approaching tax season at work, which means lots and lots of international taxation headaches.  Because BBDO is a company that has branches in almost every European country plus the Middle East and Africa, it's taxed in every country and that means the accountants at the headquarters (the team I work for, and me) have to do absolute loads of work.  Today I calculated VAT rebates (their equivalent of corporate sales tax) for every employee at the headquarters for all of the tax year thus far...doing this for the rest of the branches is going to be my new big project.  It involves A LOT of using the copy machine to record receipts, invoices and VAT...I went through an entire ream (500 sheets) of paper today alone.  Aaah, killing trees=guilty conscience.

I also have a nastily raging cold, as do the rest of my flatmates and it seems the majority of the London Program.  Spring colds are the worst.  Hate it.  Thank goodness for Twinings peppermint tea.

Okay, done now.  Happy Pancake Day, y'all, I've got to go figure out what to give up for Lent!