So, I'm going to go ahead and blame my severe lack of posting over the last few months on being pregnant. We are expecting a baby at the end of May. May 30 according to our first ultrasound. We are all really excited.
We waited until we got confirmation that everything was okay at the ultrasound before explaining to Viv what she was looking at on the screen. As she was looking at the baby wiggling all around, Mark said, "Vivian, that is a picture of the baby in Mama's belly. Right now it is really tiny, but it will get bigger and then you will have a baby brother or sister to play with." She loved that. She said, "Look at that teeeenny, tiny baby in Mama's belly." She's been giving me kisses on my belly and rubbing and patting it. Every night she says goodnight to the baby. She thinks it is a girl and hopes it is a girl.
I had a dream that it was a boy right after I found out I was pregnant. Of course, I also had a dream it was twins but it's not, so who knows about dreams.
I am planning and hoping to go into quite a bit of detail on the blog about the experience of having this baby through the NHS. It is pretty cool to me that I already had the experience in the US and then now get to see how it goes here.
Also, I want to apologize again for my lack of posts on this blog. I got extremely sick at about 6 weeks and did almost nothing but survive and maintain and very light semblance of order in this house. I did almost no cooking, very little cleaning and only the laundry that needed to be done... it's been rough around here. Mark's been a real trooper! I have a lot of things that I want to write about though, so I'm going to do it as I have the chance.
08 December 2012
12 November 2012
FRIENDS!
This has been the best week! I got to have two nights out for dinner with friends, I got to meet up with my old playgroup and see how much all of the babes have grown, I got to see my old ING DIRECT friends and received a visit from several friends who drove hours to come see us. It has been so wonderful!
I wish we had more time to spend with everyone individually to hear about their life and how they're doing and what they've been up to. As I have mentioned before, I would be perfectly happy just staying here and calling it a day in London. But, I have been reminded that I can't think that way. We've got a long way to go, and honestly, I know there will be lots of great things that happen there in the next few years. It's just hard to be reminded of how many people we love here and know that we are going to have to leave again.
I wish we had more time to spend with everyone individually to hear about their life and how they're doing and what they've been up to. As I have mentioned before, I would be perfectly happy just staying here and calling it a day in London. But, I have been reminded that I can't think that way. We've got a long way to go, and honestly, I know there will be lots of great things that happen there in the next few years. It's just hard to be reminded of how many people we love here and know that we are going to have to leave again.
06 November 2012
Trader Joe's
This might seem ridiculous, but I honestly think that the thing that I've missed most in London is Trader Joe's. (This is not equivalent to missing people.) It is such a wonderful store.
Viv and I went there this morning to buy groceries for the week. The cereals are delicious, the hummus is delicious, the salsas are delicious, the trail mixes are second to none and the wasabi roasted seaweed is out of this world.
I'm a happy camper with a kitchen full of food that I've missed so much!
Viv and I went there this morning to buy groceries for the week. The cereals are delicious, the hummus is delicious, the salsas are delicious, the trail mixes are second to none and the wasabi roasted seaweed is out of this world.
I'm a happy camper with a kitchen full of food that I've missed so much!
04 November 2012
Oh, America!
This morning I woke up very early and laid in bed watching the room get gradually lighter waiting for Mark and Vivian to wake up. (Viv woke up around 2:30 in the morning and stayed awake for a few hours. I woke up around 1:30 a.m. and am pretty sure I never really went back to sleep. I'm usually pretty good at adjusting to jet-lag. We'll see if this trip is different.) Viv started whispering first. As she lay in her room whispering about who knows what I laid in bed dreaming about what I would order at Butterfield's for breakfast. As soon as Mark woke up I said, "Ready to go to breakfast?" He was a bit taken aback, but after a few minutes we were all up and on our way. I was SO excited.
I expected to be a bit disgusted and ashamed by the portion sizes here after living in London. The breakfast places we go to serve you a very reasonable sized breakfast that you don't feel bad about finishing in one sitting. At Butterfields I was thrilled by the portion sizes. So much food and it still costs less than our meals in London. We took two boxes home with leftovers and will have another full family breakfast tomorrow! It was also really fun to order a coffee and have them come continue refilling it. What a luxury. Bottomless drip coffee!
We also headed over to Oak Brook Center to pick up a few items that I have been waiting to buy once we came back: like a winter coat. Things here are just so much less expensive! Once again, I expected to think that Oak Brook was ridiculous, but it was wonderful. A bunch of stores in one place with really wide walkways that Viv could run through to her little heart's content! It was fantastic!
Occasionally I would hear someone speaking with an American accent and turn quickly to see who it was. Then I remembered that most of the people here sound like that. In London I find it really exciting to meet other Americans. Not because they're really that hard to find, but because I wonder what they're doing here and what we must have in common.
This afternoon Mark and I sat in the basement and watched the Bears game. Oh, how I've missed lazy Sundays watching football (American football that is). It's familiar, I know the names of the players and I like hearing the commentators talk about past seasons that I remember watching. It didn't hurt that the Bears absolutely CRUSHED the Titans. Always a fun viewing experience in that case. Mark and I were almost giddy as we sat on the couch soaking up the American-ness of the afternoon.
We do like London. We may even love London. We have been there 6 months and really have come a long way. We will enjoy the time that we live there. By the time we come back (and we will definitely come back) we will probably be very sad to leave all of the people that we've grown to love there, but I am already looking forward to the day that we come home.
I expected to be a bit disgusted and ashamed by the portion sizes here after living in London. The breakfast places we go to serve you a very reasonable sized breakfast that you don't feel bad about finishing in one sitting. At Butterfields I was thrilled by the portion sizes. So much food and it still costs less than our meals in London. We took two boxes home with leftovers and will have another full family breakfast tomorrow! It was also really fun to order a coffee and have them come continue refilling it. What a luxury. Bottomless drip coffee!
We also headed over to Oak Brook Center to pick up a few items that I have been waiting to buy once we came back: like a winter coat. Things here are just so much less expensive! Once again, I expected to think that Oak Brook was ridiculous, but it was wonderful. A bunch of stores in one place with really wide walkways that Viv could run through to her little heart's content! It was fantastic!
Occasionally I would hear someone speaking with an American accent and turn quickly to see who it was. Then I remembered that most of the people here sound like that. In London I find it really exciting to meet other Americans. Not because they're really that hard to find, but because I wonder what they're doing here and what we must have in common.
This afternoon Mark and I sat in the basement and watched the Bears game. Oh, how I've missed lazy Sundays watching football (American football that is). It's familiar, I know the names of the players and I like hearing the commentators talk about past seasons that I remember watching. It didn't hurt that the Bears absolutely CRUSHED the Titans. Always a fun viewing experience in that case. Mark and I were almost giddy as we sat on the couch soaking up the American-ness of the afternoon.
We do like London. We may even love London. We have been there 6 months and really have come a long way. We will enjoy the time that we live there. By the time we come back (and we will definitely come back) we will probably be very sad to leave all of the people that we've grown to love there, but I am already looking forward to the day that we come home.
03 November 2012
We're back!
We have arrived back in Chicago safe and sound (for the most part).
The journey went really well aside from the last hour which involved an overly tired toddler screaming, getting flagged at customs for having apples and not having our pre-arranged cab waiting for us (I was REALLY tired).
Vivian did really well on the plane. We brought lots of activities to do but when it was about her nap time I decided to let her watch Mary Poppins. Our philosophy on planes is: just give her what she wants. We worry about health, discipline and being a good person when we're not trapped in the air with hundreds of people just waiting for her to act out so that they can tell their friends about the screaming kid on the plane.
So, after Mary Poppins she watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over and over and over again. It's possible that the girl watched close to 6 hours of tv. Her poor little brain must just be fried! Now we need to be sure to do lots of active, fun, enriching activities while we're here to make up for that.
Viv fell asleep in her carseat within 10 minutes of being in the car. So, I started looking around and evaluating my "reverse culture shock." There wasn't much. People here are fatter, but I expected that. Roads here are wider and things are more spread out, but I expected that too. The thing that I had kind of forgotten was how things aren't quite as beautiful here. That sounds weird, and driving from O'Hare to the western suburbs probably isn't a fair comparison, but I consistently notice in London how effort is put into little details to make things aesthetically pleasing. Not to the same extent here (in general). On the drive I saw what seemed like hundreds of boxy warehouses. Efficient, I'm sure. Necessary, I'm sure. Just not very pretty. I haven't yet been downtown, and it's been long enough since I've lived there that I'm probably going to be surprised by what I see. I'm heading down on Tuesday to meet a friend for dinner, so I'll let you know.
We got home, put Viv to bed, marveled at how happy we are to be back and then went to bed ourselves. Long day, but we are SO happy to be "home."
The journey went really well aside from the last hour which involved an overly tired toddler screaming, getting flagged at customs for having apples and not having our pre-arranged cab waiting for us (I was REALLY tired).
Vivian did really well on the plane. We brought lots of activities to do but when it was about her nap time I decided to let her watch Mary Poppins. Our philosophy on planes is: just give her what she wants. We worry about health, discipline and being a good person when we're not trapped in the air with hundreds of people just waiting for her to act out so that they can tell their friends about the screaming kid on the plane.
So, after Mary Poppins she watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over and over and over again. It's possible that the girl watched close to 6 hours of tv. Her poor little brain must just be fried! Now we need to be sure to do lots of active, fun, enriching activities while we're here to make up for that.
Viv fell asleep in her carseat within 10 minutes of being in the car. So, I started looking around and evaluating my "reverse culture shock." There wasn't much. People here are fatter, but I expected that. Roads here are wider and things are more spread out, but I expected that too. The thing that I had kind of forgotten was how things aren't quite as beautiful here. That sounds weird, and driving from O'Hare to the western suburbs probably isn't a fair comparison, but I consistently notice in London how effort is put into little details to make things aesthetically pleasing. Not to the same extent here (in general). On the drive I saw what seemed like hundreds of boxy warehouses. Efficient, I'm sure. Necessary, I'm sure. Just not very pretty. I haven't yet been downtown, and it's been long enough since I've lived there that I'm probably going to be surprised by what I see. I'm heading down on Tuesday to meet a friend for dinner, so I'll let you know.
We got home, put Viv to bed, marveled at how happy we are to be back and then went to bed ourselves. Long day, but we are SO happy to be "home."
24 October 2012
Don and Marianne's Visit
We had our first visitors to our new house! Mark's parents arrived on Friday morning and we were all so excited to see them. I had been looking forward to their visit for months. It was so fun to be able to share our new life with them!
The first day they got adjusted to the new time zone and we took them out to a chain restaurant for pizza. We had never been there, so we experimented on them. My neighbour had recommended Pizza Express and said that they get takeaway from there every Friday night (they do Friday night pizza too!). We tried it out and it was a bit underwhelming. I wished that we had checked to be sure it was good before taking Mark's parents, but they were sweet about it. To be fair, the food was delicious, but the whole restaurant experience just left a little to be desired. I can't even really explain why. Part of it was because I had to take Vivian to the toilet about 12 times during the course of an hour. Now that I think of it perhaps everyone had a good time but me!
Saturday we woke them up early to take them to breakfast at our favourite little breakfast nook called Milk and then we took the overground into Victoria Station to do some touristy stuff. We saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the changing of the horse guard (which Vivi adores), walked through St. James Park (where Vivi dumped her little potty full of pee down my leg in the bathroom), past Buckhingham Palace and back to Victoria Station. It was a whirlwind day, but the weather was decent and we had a great time. That night we had dinner at home and relaxed and talked about lovely things like flowers, puppies and politics.
Sunday was my first day singing in the choir so I left early and made everyone fend for themselves for breakfast. It was a weird experience with choir, but I'll write about that separately. We were really bummed because there was almost no one at church that we knew. Normally we have a bunch of people that we talk to afterwards and this week there was no one. I think Don and Marianne thought that we were lying about having friends (just kidding, of course).
Monday they left for a couple of days in Manchester with some old friends. While they were gone I did some laundry and tried to get the house back into guests-are-about-to-arrive shape. Mark was also in Amsterdam at the same time so Viv and I had some time to ourselves. We have fun together so we weren't too lonely.
On Thursday we booked a babysitter so that we could take them out for a nice dinner. It was really wonderful! We went to a local place that does seasonal British cuisine. I had no idea what to expect but was delighted with what we got. I ordered a chicken liver parfait to start and it was the absolute best I've ever had. I ended up not eating all of it, but wish I would have. My main course was a courgette flower (squash blossom) battered and fried with a beet, rocket (arugula) and goat cheese salad. I also tried everyone else's food and it was delicious. It's a pretty nice place, so not one that we would go to every week, but we'll definitely be back for special occasions!
Friday morning we got up and drove to the Cotswolds for an overnight visit. This was the first overnight that we've done since we've moved to London and I discovered that I'm a bit out of practice. I used to have almost a kit prepared... Time to get back on that.
Rather than using ZipCar, which is how we usually drive around, we hired (rented) a car from a proper car rental place. It was a bit cheaper, but the extra effort required to pick up the car was a bit of a bummer. Mark and his dad got up and walked 45 minutes to pick up the car and then drove over to load everything up. By the time we got out of here we were about an hour and half behind schedule and that always puts me on edge (I think I inherited that from my dad), but I quickly relaxed and we had a lovely drive through London and Oxford and out into the countryside.
Vivian now loves going to the countryside. She gets excited about looking for sheep and says she wants to find a baby sheep. While we're driving if we every drive over a hill and have a view of some fields she yells out, "Look at the countryside." It's super cute.
Our time in the Cotswolds was fantastic! We arrived, had lunch, checked in and put Vivian down for a nap and decided that we were all going to lay low for a while. This meant reading in our room until we realized that we could go downstairs to the pub and bring our monitor... BRILLIANT! So, Mark and I went downstairs for a pint and had a great conversation for an hour or so while Vivi snoozed and Don and Marianne chilled out. It was a great start to the weekend!
After nap time we went for a drive to see some more little towns and countryside. I honestly just don't get sick of the beauty of English countryside. It is so picturesque and quaint and exactly the kind of landscape that I think most beautiful. If we ever leave, I think I will miss a lot. We stopped at a little pub for some snacks and Vivi's dinner and had some of the best fish and chips that I've had since we've been here. Kind of surprising in a town that I don't remember the name of and probably could never find again.
Viv took a long time to get down to sleep that night. Don, Marianne and Mark were downstairs in the restaurant waiting for me for a long time, but eventually I made it and we had a delicious meal in a restaurant that was perfect! I don't know what makes a restaurant have that perfect quality in their atmosphere but this place had it. It was just the right level of fanciness, just the right level of casualness. Good noise levels, good menu, good drinks, good food, good waitstaff, great company... it was such a fantastic time. By the time we were done eating it was 10:30 and we realized that our card game would have to wait or else we would be exhausted (Hand and Foot takes a LONG time to play). Little did I know that I would be up most of the night with Vivian.
So, Viv is teething big-time. I think she might be cutting three of her 2-year old molars at the same time. Poor thing! That means that she's sick. She's got a runny nose and cough and this happens every time she cuts teeth. It also means that she doesn't sleep as well, especially in a room above a pub. I think she woke up at 2:30 a.m. and was wide awake. I calmed her down several times and then went back to bed unsuccessfully. Eventually I had to get up and lay on the couch with her on my belly until we both fell asleep. I have no concept of how long this lasted, but it was enough to make me pretty tired the next day!
(I saved this as a draft for MONTHS and now I'm publishing it just the way it was when I wrote it. I'm sure I intended to write more, but I don't remember it now... which I why I write it down!)
(I saved this as a draft for MONTHS and now I'm publishing it just the way it was when I wrote it. I'm sure I intended to write more, but I don't remember it now... which I why I write it down!)
23 October 2012
Long time, no blog
If anyone is still out there sticking with me even though it's been so long, Thank you! I'm sorry that I haven't been consistent. I've been feeling a bit under the weather physically.
Mentally and emotionally, however, I wanted to make sure to let you know that I'm doing much better. I have come through my latest bit of gloominess about living in London and being so far away from everyone that I know and love. The past couple of weeks I have had some really great conversations with new friends and have felt some solid connections forming with people that I've met here. I'm optimistic about being able to live in the moment while we're here and enjoy what there is to enjoy about living in this amazing city.
I'm sure I'm going to have some gloomy times ahead, but it's nice to have some positive times too.
We're beginning the preparations for our trip back to the US. We leave in a week and a half. I am so excited to see and hug everyone that I've been missing so much. I can't wait to reconnect with friends and family. It's been a long time that we've been away. I hope it's not weird!
One of the things that I have been wondering about is reverse culture shock. It's always interesting to see what stands out about "home" when you return from another country. I've been wondering what I will notice most: wide streets? huge parking lots? obesity? I'll definitely keep you posted about my findings.
Mentally and emotionally, however, I wanted to make sure to let you know that I'm doing much better. I have come through my latest bit of gloominess about living in London and being so far away from everyone that I know and love. The past couple of weeks I have had some really great conversations with new friends and have felt some solid connections forming with people that I've met here. I'm optimistic about being able to live in the moment while we're here and enjoy what there is to enjoy about living in this amazing city.
I'm sure I'm going to have some gloomy times ahead, but it's nice to have some positive times too.
We're beginning the preparations for our trip back to the US. We leave in a week and a half. I am so excited to see and hug everyone that I've been missing so much. I can't wait to reconnect with friends and family. It's been a long time that we've been away. I hope it's not weird!
One of the things that I have been wondering about is reverse culture shock. It's always interesting to see what stands out about "home" when you return from another country. I've been wondering what I will notice most: wide streets? huge parking lots? obesity? I'll definitely keep you posted about my findings.
04 October 2012
I'm ready...
When we moved here we kept an open mind because we know of so many people that have come here and loved it so much that they've elected to stay. I knew that it would have to be amazing, but I have really considered it. There really is SO MUCH to love about living here.
However, I've decided that I don't want to stay. Since reaching this conclusion the only thing I can think is: If we know we're not staying then when can we leave? It's a terrible perspective and I know that. I need to stop thinking about this. I need to stop focusing on it. There's absolutely nothing that we can do right now. We're probably here for at least 2 more years, so we need to take advantage of what we can while we can. I just can't help but think that I'm investing in relationships and communities that I'll just leave again. It's hard.
I had to say something. I needed to kind of get it off my chest. I'll now let go of it and start moving forward again. Perhaps a visit to the Tower of London will cheer me up. We still haven't been and I'd really love to go.
However, I've decided that I don't want to stay. Since reaching this conclusion the only thing I can think is: If we know we're not staying then when can we leave? It's a terrible perspective and I know that. I need to stop thinking about this. I need to stop focusing on it. There's absolutely nothing that we can do right now. We're probably here for at least 2 more years, so we need to take advantage of what we can while we can. I just can't help but think that I'm investing in relationships and communities that I'll just leave again. It's hard.
I had to say something. I needed to kind of get it off my chest. I'll now let go of it and start moving forward again. Perhaps a visit to the Tower of London will cheer me up. We still haven't been and I'd really love to go.
02 October 2012
Book Club Session 2
I just got home from book club and had the most wonderful time. We read a book by Rose Tremain called Music and Silence which I loved. Actually I loved it but the ending was a bit disappointing. I still recommend the book, though, so I won't go into detail about the ending.
Synopsis: Basically about the court of King Christian IV of Denmark in about 1630. There is much more to it than that since it's historical fiction, but that's not really what this post is about.
So, in the meeting tonight I started several completely unrelated strings of conversation that I found very interesting. One was the issue of formality. My friend Kathy had made a comment to me once that Americans are just much more formal than the English. I was shocked when she said it. I could not figure out how she would come to that conclusion. She said that perhaps she was thinking of the South. Ok... I guess I could see that. (This topic of conversation came up because I asked her how she was teaching Fran to address adults. Was she teaching her to say "Miss Darcy" or just Darcy? She said, just Darcy, we're not that formal here.) I brought this conversation up tonight at book club and received a similar response. People said that in America we say "sir" and "ma'am" far more often than in England. And, in addition to that, there is this indescribable formality in America that they all pretty much agreed with but couldn't really describe. Once again, really surprised.
As I have reflected back on our conversation I've realized a few things that I may have mentioned in previous posts, but might not have.
1) Most of the mums that I come across here, whether stay at home or full-time workers, are quite scattered. By that I mean that many of them are disheveled and don't really apologize for it. The TV shows that we've watched since being here portray women as mothers in an pretty unflattering way. They are completely overrun by their kids and they have no control over anything in their lives. Now, this characterization may be true of most moms with young children in the world, but they're not necessarily characterized that way on TV, and many real-life moms try to fake it at least some of the time around other people. I am not a fancy dresser or a formal person, but often times I'm one of the more "put-together" moms at the library for story time. (It's all a fake of course, as most of the time my hair hasn't been washed in days!)
2) I've realized slowly over the last few years but obviously most drastically in the past 4 months how much of my perception of England is based on fictional period dramas about England. Downton Abbey of course comes to mind, but also Pride and Prejudice or other such stories. Even though I've watched more recent tv shows I still view so much through a historical lens. Perhaps my perspective of England's formality is based on those shows and movies where the upper classes are dressing up for dinner or only speaking to a member of the opposite sex in witty one-liners. Of course it may also be based on how properly English people speak.
This topic of formality is one that I will continue asking about. Perhaps one of these days I will come across someone who can actually give me some details.
Synopsis: Basically about the court of King Christian IV of Denmark in about 1630. There is much more to it than that since it's historical fiction, but that's not really what this post is about.
So, in the meeting tonight I started several completely unrelated strings of conversation that I found very interesting. One was the issue of formality. My friend Kathy had made a comment to me once that Americans are just much more formal than the English. I was shocked when she said it. I could not figure out how she would come to that conclusion. She said that perhaps she was thinking of the South. Ok... I guess I could see that. (This topic of conversation came up because I asked her how she was teaching Fran to address adults. Was she teaching her to say "Miss Darcy" or just Darcy? She said, just Darcy, we're not that formal here.) I brought this conversation up tonight at book club and received a similar response. People said that in America we say "sir" and "ma'am" far more often than in England. And, in addition to that, there is this indescribable formality in America that they all pretty much agreed with but couldn't really describe. Once again, really surprised.
As I have reflected back on our conversation I've realized a few things that I may have mentioned in previous posts, but might not have.
1) Most of the mums that I come across here, whether stay at home or full-time workers, are quite scattered. By that I mean that many of them are disheveled and don't really apologize for it. The TV shows that we've watched since being here portray women as mothers in an pretty unflattering way. They are completely overrun by their kids and they have no control over anything in their lives. Now, this characterization may be true of most moms with young children in the world, but they're not necessarily characterized that way on TV, and many real-life moms try to fake it at least some of the time around other people. I am not a fancy dresser or a formal person, but often times I'm one of the more "put-together" moms at the library for story time. (It's all a fake of course, as most of the time my hair hasn't been washed in days!)
2) I've realized slowly over the last few years but obviously most drastically in the past 4 months how much of my perception of England is based on fictional period dramas about England. Downton Abbey of course comes to mind, but also Pride and Prejudice or other such stories. Even though I've watched more recent tv shows I still view so much through a historical lens. Perhaps my perspective of England's formality is based on those shows and movies where the upper classes are dressing up for dinner or only speaking to a member of the opposite sex in witty one-liners. Of course it may also be based on how properly English people speak.
This topic of formality is one that I will continue asking about. Perhaps one of these days I will come across someone who can actually give me some details.
29 September 2012
Anniversary Plans
We just booked a two night stay in Bath for our anniversary! I am SO excited.
We are staying at a hotel with a restaurant downstairs so that we can have dinner together after Vivian goes to bed. I looked at "What's On" in Bath and found out that it's National Apple Day on Saturday so we are going out to an apple farm for fun, games and cider pressing tours. There's a beer festival going on in Bath as well that day, so I guess I know what we're doing after Apple Day.
On Sunday we're taking a drive up to Tetbury to visit the Westonbrit Arboretum. It's the largest arboretum in England (or maybe the UK) and is the Number 1 place to visit in England to see fall colours.
This is my dream weekend. Fall colours, apples, probably pumpkins. Fun for Vivian and fun for us. Now I just need to spend the next couple of weeks thinking about all of the reasons it's going to end up being terrible so that I end up having at least a decent time. These expectations of mine are a real liability!
We are staying at a hotel with a restaurant downstairs so that we can have dinner together after Vivian goes to bed. I looked at "What's On" in Bath and found out that it's National Apple Day on Saturday so we are going out to an apple farm for fun, games and cider pressing tours. There's a beer festival going on in Bath as well that day, so I guess I know what we're doing after Apple Day.
On Sunday we're taking a drive up to Tetbury to visit the Westonbrit Arboretum. It's the largest arboretum in England (or maybe the UK) and is the Number 1 place to visit in England to see fall colours.
This is my dream weekend. Fall colours, apples, probably pumpkins. Fun for Vivian and fun for us. Now I just need to spend the next couple of weeks thinking about all of the reasons it's going to end up being terrible so that I end up having at least a decent time. These expectations of mine are a real liability!
27 September 2012
Chili Powder
I realized today, after 4 months of living here and countless batches of chili being made, that chili powder here is in fact quite different from "American chili powder." Chili powder here is basically crushed chilies or cayenne-like pepper! No wonder Vivian hasn't liked one batch of chili since we've been here. I thought that it was just that I was using a new recipe, but nope! So, if anyone wants to send us chili powder, we'd be happy to accept it! Otherwise we'll wait until November and load up!
On a completely different note, I just saw this article on the BBC and thought it was amusing. ENJOY.
(PS... I have a backlog of blogs that I'm planning to catch up on as soon as I can.)
On a completely different note, I just saw this article on the BBC and thought it was amusing. ENJOY.
(PS... I have a backlog of blogs that I'm planning to catch up on as soon as I can.)
19 September 2012
But we all speak English!
I just realized that since we have lived here (4 months now) I have been using fabric softener instead of soap to wash our clothes! How embarrassing! How did this happen? We all speak English, don't we? What is my problem?
Tomorrow I will begin the process of rewashing every single thing we own - especially all of the kitchen towels which have been growing increasing disgusting every week.
AH!
Tomorrow I will begin the process of rewashing every single thing we own - especially all of the kitchen towels which have been growing increasing disgusting every week.
AH!
18 September 2012
Now don't start that again...
Today was a great day! We went to Little Kickers in the morning with Vivian. She is so cute "playing football." It's interesting to see her little character come out in these types of situations. She always hangs back at first - she seems a bit shy. When there are directions to do something, she doesn't obey them right away but if I repeat them she usually follows my direction. When they tell all the kids to do something the kids will all take off and Vivian will be hanging back spinning in circles looking at the ceiling or something. She seems to be a bit of a dreamer.
The mum that I ran into on the bus, Jenny, invited us to join her, Logan, her friend Kara, and her son, also Logan, for a takeaway coffee and playtime at the sandpit. It was nice. The boys weren't quite as enamored with the sandpit as Viv so they kept running off causing their mums to chase them, but we still talked a bit and had a nice time.
When Viv woke up we went for an hour-long bike ride in Wandsworth Common and around the bordering neighbourhoods. It was quite a nice ride and Vivian loved it. She even peeped in the forest for the first time without a potty. Quite a milestone! She's a true "mountain woman" now! :)
So, why after a day like today, do I feel bummed out? Well, I have heard from several sources that British people don't really talk about their feelings much. They don't let on that they have any problems. I found out on Sunday at church that a woman who is 39 weeks pregnant had a baby who died two weeks later last year, so I "shouldn't ask her about her pregnancy." That warning made me want to ask her even more. She probably doesn't have anyone to talk to about how hard that was and everyone just ignores that it happened. When things are hard for me will people around here think I'm just a whiner if I ask for advice or input? Will I ever really be able to make good friends here? Am I destined to have the kind of surface level friendships that I am so excited to have now but which will grow quite boring if they never move on past this stage?
The whole setup of tiny family units where one person works and the other stays home is actually quite unhealthy I think. Within a supportive and family-like community where you have other moms, dads, friends, sisters, parents, aunts, uncles to support you and share in your ups and downs it makes sense, but in our situation - completely isolated from everyone on the planet that we know - it seems completely insane to me. Even though I have been hard at work recruiting friends, it's not really enough right now. I crave the closeness of the friends and family that I left behind!
08 September 2012
While Mark is in Chicago
The expectations game continues to surprise me although I should know how it works by now. I have been absolutely dreading this week that Mark is in Chicago. It's one of the reasons I was so incredibly bummed out last Friday at the company Christmas party... I knew that Mark was leaving and I would be all alone with no friends and nothing to do.
But... this week has been so much fun. First of all, the weather has been outstanding which, I have come to realize, makes a HUGE difference. When the sun shines here it is like everything is okay. People are happy, everyone is outside wearing summer dresses and sandals and birds are singing.
Yesterday our next door neighbour invited us over to her house while she was feeding her 8 month old son. (I had invited them earlier in the day but they were napping so she invited us once she woke up.) We had a glass of wine while she fed Oscar and Vivi played in the garden with their bubble machine. She was really fun to talk to and very sweet with Vivian. I'm so thankful to have nice neighbours. (The ones on the other side are quite unfriendly, but I don't care... we have so many really nice neighbours that it doesn't bother me at all.)
Viv and I have been so busy this week that I cancelled something on Friday afternoon and was relieved that someone cancelled on me this morning. We have gone to the Olympics, I went to my first book club, we met an old friend and played in the park with her puppy, we walked barefoot in the grass in Wandsworth Common, we went to the sandbox twice (and this morning I took a book and laid in the sun and read while Viv played happily), we had a mini impromptu playdate with the next-door neighbour and we worked in the garden for hours this afternoon.
I miss Mark but I have to admit that I am really happy right now. I feel so encouraged by the past week. Mark was out of town, the one friend that I first made was out of town and we still stayed quite busy, were social and had a ton of fun! Now I'm looking forward to the first night that I'm going to sit on the couch and watch a movie by myself. Up until now I've been reading every chance I got and have finished We Bought a Zoo. It was a great book. Very engaging and fun. I look forward to going to Devon County to visit sometime.
I know that I promised to be honest in my blogs, and this is how I truly feel right now. If things were always like this, I would never want to move. We worked in the garden this afternoon and could hear neighbours next door and two doors down playing with their kids and having a blast in the sunshine. We saw snails, worms and a frog while we worked and played and Vivi was in heaven. Granted some of that is the magic of her age - everything is either exciting and amazing or absolutely terrible and today it happened to be amazing. As I was putting Viv to bed I looked out and saw the clouds turning pink as the sun went down. I went to open the window in my bedroom and looked out over this luscious garden area and these typical London terrace houses and saw a woman picking fruit off of the tree in her tiny garden. It was just idyllic.
I know that things will get hard again... I've learned that many times over. The good news is that the good times are getting better and more social and the bad times, while still excruciating, I know will pass. One of the reasons I'm probably okay is that it's been so long since we've seen anyone we really know. Mark's parents come this week. I am so excited to see them! Hopefully when they leave I'm not terribly sad again. Perhaps I'll just schedule another really busy and social week for right after they leave! For now I'm going to clean up the dishes, pour myself a glass of wine, crack open my dark chocolate with mint and watch my lovely British film.
But... this week has been so much fun. First of all, the weather has been outstanding which, I have come to realize, makes a HUGE difference. When the sun shines here it is like everything is okay. People are happy, everyone is outside wearing summer dresses and sandals and birds are singing.
Yesterday our next door neighbour invited us over to her house while she was feeding her 8 month old son. (I had invited them earlier in the day but they were napping so she invited us once she woke up.) We had a glass of wine while she fed Oscar and Vivi played in the garden with their bubble machine. She was really fun to talk to and very sweet with Vivian. I'm so thankful to have nice neighbours. (The ones on the other side are quite unfriendly, but I don't care... we have so many really nice neighbours that it doesn't bother me at all.)
Viv and I have been so busy this week that I cancelled something on Friday afternoon and was relieved that someone cancelled on me this morning. We have gone to the Olympics, I went to my first book club, we met an old friend and played in the park with her puppy, we walked barefoot in the grass in Wandsworth Common, we went to the sandbox twice (and this morning I took a book and laid in the sun and read while Viv played happily), we had a mini impromptu playdate with the next-door neighbour and we worked in the garden for hours this afternoon.
I miss Mark but I have to admit that I am really happy right now. I feel so encouraged by the past week. Mark was out of town, the one friend that I first made was out of town and we still stayed quite busy, were social and had a ton of fun! Now I'm looking forward to the first night that I'm going to sit on the couch and watch a movie by myself. Up until now I've been reading every chance I got and have finished We Bought a Zoo. It was a great book. Very engaging and fun. I look forward to going to Devon County to visit sometime.
I know that I promised to be honest in my blogs, and this is how I truly feel right now. If things were always like this, I would never want to move. We worked in the garden this afternoon and could hear neighbours next door and two doors down playing with their kids and having a blast in the sunshine. We saw snails, worms and a frog while we worked and played and Vivi was in heaven. Granted some of that is the magic of her age - everything is either exciting and amazing or absolutely terrible and today it happened to be amazing. As I was putting Viv to bed I looked out and saw the clouds turning pink as the sun went down. I went to open the window in my bedroom and looked out over this luscious garden area and these typical London terrace houses and saw a woman picking fruit off of the tree in her tiny garden. It was just idyllic.
I know that things will get hard again... I've learned that many times over. The good news is that the good times are getting better and more social and the bad times, while still excruciating, I know will pass. One of the reasons I'm probably okay is that it's been so long since we've seen anyone we really know. Mark's parents come this week. I am so excited to see them! Hopefully when they leave I'm not terribly sad again. Perhaps I'll just schedule another really busy and social week for right after they leave! For now I'm going to clean up the dishes, pour myself a glass of wine, crack open my dark chocolate with mint and watch my lovely British film.
06 September 2012
An American Friend
An old friend of mine (well, she was mostly Kristin's friend, but I knew her and liked her) recently got married and moved to London. Lacey arrived about two weeks ago and we went up to see her at her new place in Chelsea. It was so much fun. I was really excited to see a familiar face and we just had a great time with her and her adorable dog, Chloe. Vivian absolutely LOVED Chloe and Chloe was really sweet with her. Viv was in heaven!
It was so wonderful to talk to Lacey. I could have stayed all day and chatted. We haven't seen each other in about 15 years but we know the same people, we know each other's families and it was just so nice to spend time with someone who knew about me and my life. I have missed that. It was nice not to have to start from scratch, and not to have to think about what I was saying and whether or not I sounded like a stupid American.
I am really looking forward to spending more time with Lacey! And I'm sure Vivi is really looking forward to spending more time with Chloe!
It was so wonderful to talk to Lacey. I could have stayed all day and chatted. We haven't seen each other in about 15 years but we know the same people, we know each other's families and it was just so nice to spend time with someone who knew about me and my life. I have missed that. It was nice not to have to start from scratch, and not to have to think about what I was saying and whether or not I sounded like a stupid American.
I am really looking forward to spending more time with Lacey! And I'm sure Vivi is really looking forward to spending more time with Chloe!
05 September 2012
Honesty
I realized that in reading my blog you might not actually get a feel for how things really are for me here. Since there are people who read the blog who I know really care about us I think I try to be honest, but not too honest so that anyone is alarmed. All in all we are doing really well, but there are definitely many more hard days than I have indicated.
I was talking to Sara and telling her about some of these hard days and she encouraged me to write about them. Perhaps now is the time to do that. I can assure you that we are doing really really well right now, but you can go back and read through what it was like in the past couple of weeks (once I actually type them all up).
It's not completely altruistic, however, this silence about struggling. Sometimes I just don't want people (you) to think that I can't hang or that I'm a whiner or that I think my life is so hard when in reality we are full to the brim with blessings, advantages and opportunities. This blog isn't about what you think though, is it? It's about our reality. I realized that my whole life I have kept a journal that has the nitty gritty about my life in poorly written, tear-stained paper journals. Now I have decided to open myself up and have ended up editing out some of the really important parts. I realized just after college that my journals were a valuable source of reality/history for me. I found myself doing research on myself to help me understand why I was in the 'same' dysfunctional relationship again or struggling with the same issues. There were definitely patterns and I was so thankful that I had hard evidence to prove that. It helped me make necessary changes and get to a better place.
So, although the posts that I plan to write about times or events have already happened, I will try my best to write what I was actually feeling. I don't think it will be that difficult. These are consistently recurring emotions and thoughts, so I'm quite familiar with them.
I also plan to write more often about the good things. Just because we're more settled and aren't having as many exciting adventures doing touristy things doesn't mean that these aren't important events for me or my family. So... if things start to get more boring to read or if it seems like things are getting harder rather than easier, I think it's probably because I'm being more honest.
I was talking to Sara and telling her about some of these hard days and she encouraged me to write about them. Perhaps now is the time to do that. I can assure you that we are doing really really well right now, but you can go back and read through what it was like in the past couple of weeks (once I actually type them all up).
It's not completely altruistic, however, this silence about struggling. Sometimes I just don't want people (you) to think that I can't hang or that I'm a whiner or that I think my life is so hard when in reality we are full to the brim with blessings, advantages and opportunities. This blog isn't about what you think though, is it? It's about our reality. I realized that my whole life I have kept a journal that has the nitty gritty about my life in poorly written, tear-stained paper journals. Now I have decided to open myself up and have ended up editing out some of the really important parts. I realized just after college that my journals were a valuable source of reality/history for me. I found myself doing research on myself to help me understand why I was in the 'same' dysfunctional relationship again or struggling with the same issues. There were definitely patterns and I was so thankful that I had hard evidence to prove that. It helped me make necessary changes and get to a better place.
So, although the posts that I plan to write about times or events have already happened, I will try my best to write what I was actually feeling. I don't think it will be that difficult. These are consistently recurring emotions and thoughts, so I'm quite familiar with them.
I also plan to write more often about the good things. Just because we're more settled and aren't having as many exciting adventures doing touristy things doesn't mean that these aren't important events for me or my family. So... if things start to get more boring to read or if it seems like things are getting harder rather than easier, I think it's probably because I'm being more honest.
04 September 2012
Book Club
When our neighbour girl, Sophia, put the flyer through our mail slot to advertise her babysitting it was probably one of the best things to happen to us since moving to London. She has been absolutely fantastic for Vivian and we've also been introduced to her whole family who are very sweet. Her mother invited me to a book club which is for just the people on our street.
I found out about it about a week ago and went to buy The Great Gatsby to make sure that I had time to read through the whole thing by the time we got to Tuesday night. I succeeded!
Sarah came to pick me up (Sophia was watching Vivian since Mark was out of town) and we walked down the block. I could not believe it, but I actually knew 2 other women there because they go to our church and are extremely friendly. It was so nice going somewhere that you expect to know no one and end up knowing 3 people!
I have never been in a book club but this one is great. I was kind of surprised by how little depth we really got into about the book but it was really fun to talk about it. The host and I actually had almost 100% opposite perspectives about the book but I don't think there was any ill will (at least I hope not - I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut sometimes). Since the book is considered a great American novel, she themed the food for the evening as American. She served a pizza and a pie that I had never even heard of (Befanti? Bunofi?) that was banana and toffee and absolutely delicious.
I was really impressed by what books they've already read (Anna Karenina, Wolf Hall) and what's on the list to come. It was wonderful to be with adults having adult conversations with no kids around screaming and distracting us. I can't wait until next month. The book this time is Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. I've never heard of it but it's quite long and I don't even have it yet. Better get cracking!
I found out about it about a week ago and went to buy The Great Gatsby to make sure that I had time to read through the whole thing by the time we got to Tuesday night. I succeeded!
Sarah came to pick me up (Sophia was watching Vivian since Mark was out of town) and we walked down the block. I could not believe it, but I actually knew 2 other women there because they go to our church and are extremely friendly. It was so nice going somewhere that you expect to know no one and end up knowing 3 people!
I have never been in a book club but this one is great. I was kind of surprised by how little depth we really got into about the book but it was really fun to talk about it. The host and I actually had almost 100% opposite perspectives about the book but I don't think there was any ill will (at least I hope not - I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut sometimes). Since the book is considered a great American novel, she themed the food for the evening as American. She served a pizza and a pie that I had never even heard of (Befanti? Bunofi?) that was banana and toffee and absolutely delicious.
I was really impressed by what books they've already read (Anna Karenina, Wolf Hall) and what's on the list to come. It was wonderful to be with adults having adult conversations with no kids around screaming and distracting us. I can't wait until next month. The book this time is Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. I've never heard of it but it's quite long and I don't even have it yet. Better get cracking!
Paralympic Swimming / Olympic Park
On Sunday night out of the blue I got a text from a woman I had just exchanged numbers with at church that morning. She said she had two extra tickets for Paralympic Swimming on Tuesday morning and I could have them if I wanted them. Wow! I couldn't believe it. We had been trying to get tickets to anything we could find but everything was sold out... what a stroke of luck! (Mark was going to be in Chicago so he wouldn't have been able to go even if there was a ticket for him.)
We got up early this morning and left the house by 7:30. It took quite a while to get there because it was rush hour on the tube (which was a first for me... wow is it hot in there!) but we still got into our seats just a bit after 9:30. I knew that there would be a lot of walking, but the stairs... oh my! We checked our buggy outside the area and Vivian proceeded to walk up 2 flights of stairs to get into the stadium, 4 flights to get up to our section and then probably the equivalent of 2 or 3 more to get up to our seats 5 rows from the very top. It was crazy and I couldn't believe that she did all that stair climbing herself!
I was a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived. We were watching people with no arms swim faster in the pool than I ever have with all of my full functioning limbs. A guy with no arms and only one leg took second place in one of the first events we saw. I was teared up for the first 20 - 30 minutes we were there. It was incredible. I have heard that the US is only airing 4 30 minute episodes of the paralympics and that's a shame. The people here are crazy over it. The stars of the paralympics are household names. At book club later in the evening we actually interrupted the conversation to watch a race because everyone was so into it.
So, we had a great time watching the events. I taught Viv to chant "USA USA" without any shame because we were at the Olympics for the love. She did great almost the whole time. She loved sitting on the steps (although it was kind of terrifying for me - I kept my arms in front of her most of the time) and then sitting on her chair that folded down. She had several different snacks to keep her busy and then right at the end I brought out the iPad to help her last to the end (of course she couldn't hear it so she was frustrated).
Once we got out into Olympic Park the real fun began. I had no idea where anything was a she decided it was a good time to start arching her back and screaming as though someone was trying to kill her. I ignored it and just pushed the buggy through the busiest picnic area I've ever seen. I was getting all kinds of stares and glares, but what am I supposed to do? She was out of control and there was nothing I could do. Finally she calmed down and we proceeded directly out of the park. It's kind of a shame. I know there were amazing things to see in there but I just could not do it. It wasn't enjoyable for me, it was about 100 degrees (ok probably about 70 but it seemed ridiculously hot) and she was on her last leg.
I decided to take the route that didn't require me to walk all the way back to the front entrance. It was the recommended route ... but it was probably 2.5 - 3 miles away! If I'd have know that I definitely would not have taken it. By the time we got to the train I was exhausted, sweaty and wished we'd never gone to the event. Of course I'm very glad that we went... it just makes me realize that when you go to something like that with a 2 year old it better be amazing! It was - I will never forget it, and I'll make sure that she's reminded of it regularly throughout her life! :)
We got up early this morning and left the house by 7:30. It took quite a while to get there because it was rush hour on the tube (which was a first for me... wow is it hot in there!) but we still got into our seats just a bit after 9:30. I knew that there would be a lot of walking, but the stairs... oh my! We checked our buggy outside the area and Vivian proceeded to walk up 2 flights of stairs to get into the stadium, 4 flights to get up to our section and then probably the equivalent of 2 or 3 more to get up to our seats 5 rows from the very top. It was crazy and I couldn't believe that she did all that stair climbing herself!
I was a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived. We were watching people with no arms swim faster in the pool than I ever have with all of my full functioning limbs. A guy with no arms and only one leg took second place in one of the first events we saw. I was teared up for the first 20 - 30 minutes we were there. It was incredible. I have heard that the US is only airing 4 30 minute episodes of the paralympics and that's a shame. The people here are crazy over it. The stars of the paralympics are household names. At book club later in the evening we actually interrupted the conversation to watch a race because everyone was so into it.
So, we had a great time watching the events. I taught Viv to chant "USA USA" without any shame because we were at the Olympics for the love. She did great almost the whole time. She loved sitting on the steps (although it was kind of terrifying for me - I kept my arms in front of her most of the time) and then sitting on her chair that folded down. She had several different snacks to keep her busy and then right at the end I brought out the iPad to help her last to the end (of course she couldn't hear it so she was frustrated).
Once we got out into Olympic Park the real fun began. I had no idea where anything was a she decided it was a good time to start arching her back and screaming as though someone was trying to kill her. I ignored it and just pushed the buggy through the busiest picnic area I've ever seen. I was getting all kinds of stares and glares, but what am I supposed to do? She was out of control and there was nothing I could do. Finally she calmed down and we proceeded directly out of the park. It's kind of a shame. I know there were amazing things to see in there but I just could not do it. It wasn't enjoyable for me, it was about 100 degrees (ok probably about 70 but it seemed ridiculously hot) and she was on her last leg.
I decided to take the route that didn't require me to walk all the way back to the front entrance. It was the recommended route ... but it was probably 2.5 - 3 miles away! If I'd have know that I definitely would not have taken it. By the time we got to the train I was exhausted, sweaty and wished we'd never gone to the event. Of course I'm very glad that we went... it just makes me realize that when you go to something like that with a 2 year old it better be amazing! It was - I will never forget it, and I'll make sure that she's reminded of it regularly throughout her life! :)
31 August 2012
Company BBQ
Mark's company has had a Family Fun Day on the calendar for about 2 months. We were so excited to go to this event that Mark planned travel around it to be sure that we could attend. I looked forward to it because I would finally get to meet his coworkers and their families and get to know everyone. I thought we might even plan some dinners or events outside of work after meeting.
When it finally came I wasn't in the best mood - Vivian has been quite moody lately and I've been anticipating Mark's 8 day trip to Chicago. Viv and I jumped on the train and made it out to the party only about 30 minutes late even though it started right during her nap.
It's funny because in retrospect I wonder what I thought was going to happen. People who don't know me, or even Mark very well, were going to run up to me, hug me, tell me that they can't wait to hear everything about our lives and our transition to London and then invite us to vacation with them in Portugal? Ridiculous.
What did happen was very predictable to anyone who is actually thinking clearly. We arrived, were introduced to a few people, had a few short, polite conversations and then drifted apart. I kept asking Mark if there were more people we should talk to. The thing is that these people have all worked with each other for years. They've been hanging out at these parties together for years and they have years of history and stories to discuss and laugh about. They know each other's families and they've probably been invited to each other's baby showers. Here we come expecting to be welcomed into this group without having any history with them whatsoever.
They were very polite. I had several lovely conversations with people, but they just didn't feel like conversations that would lead to lasting friendship, which is all I really want.
On the tube on the way home I barely made eye contact with Mark because I was on the verge of tears. We got home and put Viv to bed and then I broke down and sobbed for what Mark described later as "an hour or two." It wasn't just air-clearing sobbing - I felt like I was heart-broken. It was like the party confirmed all of the doubts that I have had about moving to London. There are tons of really nice people in this city, but they don't need more friends. They've got their own lives and their own circles and we are just outsiders who will never actually fit in. Not only will we not fit in with the people who are from here, we won't fit in with anyone because we've been so actively opposed to living in American neighbourhoods.
I kept saying that no matter how hard we try, or how excited we get about new friends or new activities we will never actually be settled here... it's just not going to happen.
When it finally came I wasn't in the best mood - Vivian has been quite moody lately and I've been anticipating Mark's 8 day trip to Chicago. Viv and I jumped on the train and made it out to the party only about 30 minutes late even though it started right during her nap.
It's funny because in retrospect I wonder what I thought was going to happen. People who don't know me, or even Mark very well, were going to run up to me, hug me, tell me that they can't wait to hear everything about our lives and our transition to London and then invite us to vacation with them in Portugal? Ridiculous.
What did happen was very predictable to anyone who is actually thinking clearly. We arrived, were introduced to a few people, had a few short, polite conversations and then drifted apart. I kept asking Mark if there were more people we should talk to. The thing is that these people have all worked with each other for years. They've been hanging out at these parties together for years and they have years of history and stories to discuss and laugh about. They know each other's families and they've probably been invited to each other's baby showers. Here we come expecting to be welcomed into this group without having any history with them whatsoever.
They were very polite. I had several lovely conversations with people, but they just didn't feel like conversations that would lead to lasting friendship, which is all I really want.
On the tube on the way home I barely made eye contact with Mark because I was on the verge of tears. We got home and put Viv to bed and then I broke down and sobbed for what Mark described later as "an hour or two." It wasn't just air-clearing sobbing - I felt like I was heart-broken. It was like the party confirmed all of the doubts that I have had about moving to London. There are tons of really nice people in this city, but they don't need more friends. They've got their own lives and their own circles and we are just outsiders who will never actually fit in. Not only will we not fit in with the people who are from here, we won't fit in with anyone because we've been so actively opposed to living in American neighbourhoods.
I kept saying that no matter how hard we try, or how excited we get about new friends or new activities we will never actually be settled here... it's just not going to happen.
25 August 2012
Battersea Children's Zoo
There is an amazing little zoo / petting zoo / playground mecca in Battersea Park. It costs £8 for each adult to get in so it's a bit pricey but it was really fun.
They have donkeys, goats, bunnies, a pony and some other animals to pet and then they have a zoo area with birds, meerkats, otters, snakes, and other animals to watch. There was also an amazing assortment of playground centers that Vivian just LOVED. We had a great time there and once again wished that we didn't have to leave for nap time. To be honest it's probably good. Her attention span is great but even with so many things to do she needs some down time.
Right as we were leaving a goat just walked from across the field over to us and stood next to the fence for Viv to pet. It was kind of amazing. We were even trying to get his attention. I think that made Vivi's day!
I took a bunch of pictures and will post them later.
They have donkeys, goats, bunnies, a pony and some other animals to pet and then they have a zoo area with birds, meerkats, otters, snakes, and other animals to watch. There was also an amazing assortment of playground centers that Vivian just LOVED. We had a great time there and once again wished that we didn't have to leave for nap time. To be honest it's probably good. Her attention span is great but even with so many things to do she needs some down time.
Right as we were leaving a goat just walked from across the field over to us and stood next to the fence for Viv to pet. It was kind of amazing. We were even trying to get his attention. I think that made Vivi's day!
I took a bunch of pictures and will post them later.
23 August 2012
Another Playdate
Today we met with another mum and her two girls for a playdate at a local playground. I was excited to meet with them because I had such luck with the playdate with Kathy and Fran.
I knew that Rosie was going through a remodel in her home and I have heard from people who've been through it that it's terribly stressful, so I expected a bit of stress, but nothing compared to what I got. Rosie began by telling me that she'd been out the night before and was really annoyed because her friend had dared to tell her that she was stressed because her daughter had smeared blackberries on the carpet. Rosie rolled her eyes and said, "Seriously. That's your big problem? Last week Bea peed on the carpet and I didn't even bother to clean it up... that's how stressful my life is right now." Um... I didn't quite see the connection there, but ok... I get it, she's stressed.
She went onto say throughout the conversation all of the things that her husband "doesn't allow." Damien doesn't allow tv, Damien doesn't allow biscuits, Damien doesn't allow chocolate, Damien doesn't allow skipped naps. Then, Damien is making me handle all of this stuff with the builders blah blah blah. The more I talked to her the more I realized that I think I probably would like her husband better than her.
She did give me some really good ideas for activities both in and just outside of London. And, she's lived in Balham for a long time so she knows some great shortcuts on paths through buildings that you'd never find unless you knew what you were doing.
After we said goodbye I felt like I needed to go home and take a shower. It was stressful to just be near her.
One of the benefits of moving somewhere completely new, not knowing anyone and having absolutely no attachments is that you can be picky about who you spend your time with. If I meet someone and don't like them, then I will not spend more time with them. I am going to be very careful about the people I invest in while we're here... and unless things drastically change once her house is all finished, she is not one of those people!
I knew that Rosie was going through a remodel in her home and I have heard from people who've been through it that it's terribly stressful, so I expected a bit of stress, but nothing compared to what I got. Rosie began by telling me that she'd been out the night before and was really annoyed because her friend had dared to tell her that she was stressed because her daughter had smeared blackberries on the carpet. Rosie rolled her eyes and said, "Seriously. That's your big problem? Last week Bea peed on the carpet and I didn't even bother to clean it up... that's how stressful my life is right now." Um... I didn't quite see the connection there, but ok... I get it, she's stressed.
She went onto say throughout the conversation all of the things that her husband "doesn't allow." Damien doesn't allow tv, Damien doesn't allow biscuits, Damien doesn't allow chocolate, Damien doesn't allow skipped naps. Then, Damien is making me handle all of this stuff with the builders blah blah blah. The more I talked to her the more I realized that I think I probably would like her husband better than her.
She did give me some really good ideas for activities both in and just outside of London. And, she's lived in Balham for a long time so she knows some great shortcuts on paths through buildings that you'd never find unless you knew what you were doing.
After we said goodbye I felt like I needed to go home and take a shower. It was stressful to just be near her.
One of the benefits of moving somewhere completely new, not knowing anyone and having absolutely no attachments is that you can be picky about who you spend your time with. If I meet someone and don't like them, then I will not spend more time with them. I am going to be very careful about the people I invest in while we're here... and unless things drastically change once her house is all finished, she is not one of those people!
22 August 2012
Downton Abbey
We went to Highclere Castle today - the home/set of Downton Abbey. It was a great day, but not without it's little conflicts which arise so consistently for me when I have high expectations.
The drive to Highclere was really fast and easy. It's quite nice that you can get out of London into bonafide country in just a little over 30 minutes by car or train. Living in a city can be totally exhausting after a while. I mean there are absolutely wonderful things about living in a city (for example, the sushi being delivered within the next few minutes to my door), but sometimes you just want to be away from the noise and the people and sirens and near grass, trees, animals, sky and country.
The drive into the castle once you get on the grounds is fantastic. There are sheep everywhere. And pulling up to the castle is great too aside from the carpark right out front that fits hundreds of cars. As we walked in it was a bit disorienting if you watch the show because I didn't really know where we were. They have everything blocked off for traffic flow but it kind of messed with my mental picture. The library was amazing and there was an actual desk that had been Napoleon's. The drawing room looked identical to the one in the show and there were a couple rooms that I didn't really recognize but I want to go back and look for when I watch through Downton Abbey the third time.
Upstairs the bedrooms looked very similar to the set aside from the modern books and magazines laid out on the tables. There was also a hair dryer on a dresser and a stereo in the hall - what are those doing there? Not all of the bedrooms were open for viewing - we never got to see Mary's room - but we got the idea and it really was spectacular.
The thing I noticed most of all was that there were all of these old portraits of old men from way back in the 1700 - 1800s. How weird would it be to marry a guy with a house and family like that and not be able to do anything to change the house. You will always have a smoking room full of pictures of old men riding horses and Italian landscapes and you'll have to like it!
The grounds and gardens were beautiful. There was a rose garden/greenhouse that had the most beautiful roses I have ever seen. My mom would have loved it (although you can't get in to smell the roses, so that was a bummer). It would be very fun to spend the entire day roaming around the country side and taking walks through the landscape.
After we left I was very glad that we went but felt a bit silly because I realized that although the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon obviously have played a part in the history of England this house really wasn't that historically significant. It was famous because of a fictional show on the BBC. Next time I want to go to Hampton Court or someplace where real history has been happening.
Oh, I did forget to mention: One thing that we didn't know (before we found out on the website) was that the 5th Earl of Carnarvon was one of the two men that discovered the tomb of King Tut. So, that was a big deal historically... There was an exhibit in the basement that contained copies of a lot of the stuff that they pulled out of the tomb. It was interesting to read some of the snippets of news surrounding that discovery. I didn't get to read much because Viv was antsy and hungry, but it was unexpectedly cool.
The drive to Highclere was really fast and easy. It's quite nice that you can get out of London into bonafide country in just a little over 30 minutes by car or train. Living in a city can be totally exhausting after a while. I mean there are absolutely wonderful things about living in a city (for example, the sushi being delivered within the next few minutes to my door), but sometimes you just want to be away from the noise and the people and sirens and near grass, trees, animals, sky and country.
The drive into the castle once you get on the grounds is fantastic. There are sheep everywhere. And pulling up to the castle is great too aside from the carpark right out front that fits hundreds of cars. As we walked in it was a bit disorienting if you watch the show because I didn't really know where we were. They have everything blocked off for traffic flow but it kind of messed with my mental picture. The library was amazing and there was an actual desk that had been Napoleon's. The drawing room looked identical to the one in the show and there were a couple rooms that I didn't really recognize but I want to go back and look for when I watch through Downton Abbey the third time.
Upstairs the bedrooms looked very similar to the set aside from the modern books and magazines laid out on the tables. There was also a hair dryer on a dresser and a stereo in the hall - what are those doing there? Not all of the bedrooms were open for viewing - we never got to see Mary's room - but we got the idea and it really was spectacular.
The thing I noticed most of all was that there were all of these old portraits of old men from way back in the 1700 - 1800s. How weird would it be to marry a guy with a house and family like that and not be able to do anything to change the house. You will always have a smoking room full of pictures of old men riding horses and Italian landscapes and you'll have to like it!
The grounds and gardens were beautiful. There was a rose garden/greenhouse that had the most beautiful roses I have ever seen. My mom would have loved it (although you can't get in to smell the roses, so that was a bummer). It would be very fun to spend the entire day roaming around the country side and taking walks through the landscape.
After we left I was very glad that we went but felt a bit silly because I realized that although the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon obviously have played a part in the history of England this house really wasn't that historically significant. It was famous because of a fictional show on the BBC. Next time I want to go to Hampton Court or someplace where real history has been happening.
Oh, I did forget to mention: One thing that we didn't know (before we found out on the website) was that the 5th Earl of Carnarvon was one of the two men that discovered the tomb of King Tut. So, that was a big deal historically... There was an exhibit in the basement that contained copies of a lot of the stuff that they pulled out of the tomb. It was interesting to read some of the snippets of news surrounding that discovery. I didn't get to read much because Viv was antsy and hungry, but it was unexpectedly cool.
20 August 2012
Normal?
Sorry that I've been pretty terrible at writing in the blog for the past few weeks. I realized that I think the reason for my lack of communication is that life here might possibly be starting to feel a bit normal. This is FANTASTIC for me. It's not without mini roller coasters (which I believe will probably continue for the next few months - I have heard it takes 9 months to adjust to a new culture/country), but there are a lot of really good things happening and good people that I'm meeting so I'm feeling like I might actually be getting involved in a community.
It's funny because I'm actually already more involved in this community than I ever was in Oak Park. I mean I had my playgroup which I LOVED (still do) and Viv and I went to music and My Gym, but I didn't really have anything that I did for myself. Now I'm joining 2 choirs and may even start taking a class! We've had one successful play date and have 2 more scheduled for this week. We have a babysitter who Vivian loves and I found a place to go get a massage.
Being a social person it makes a huge difference to me to have things to look forward to that involve people. We went to church for the third time on Sunday and once again talked to so many extremely nice people that live really close to us. Being open and honest about being new and not knowing anyone makes church people kind of want to take you under their wing... which I LOVE. I want to be one of those people!
Once school starts again our playgroup will get ramped up and we can begin going to other playgroups. There are a few that I've heard very good things about that I'm looking forward to checking out. It's all so different here in that regard, but I think that it's great.
Right now, Mark is in Germany. It makes me think about the last time that he was out of town while we were potty training. That trip of his to Italy will forever live in my memory because it was so horrible. I was so worn out and bummed that I was trapped. Now I feel fantastic. I roasted a chicken this afternoon mostly to make chicken stock from the bones, but I experimented by putting veggies underneath. When I pulled it out the veggies look charred to an inedible crisp but I tasted them anyways... They were DELICIOUS. I proceeded to eat every last bit of the veggies and tons of the meat and Viv enjoyed quite a chunk of it as well. Eating that food was one of the more amazing experiences I've had lately... and I made it myself!
Vivian and I also walked all the way down to this great playground in Tooting this afternoon and I met a really nice mum who talked with me for quite a long time. We ended up leaving and walking home together. Unfortunately she is moving to Surrey but she gave me some great tips for places to go to meet people and further encouraged me about how super sweet and welcoming everyone is around here (well, maybe not everyone, but enough people).
Mark surprised me last week by planning a trip to go visit the castle from Downton Abbey. He even took the day off work on Wednesday so that we can go. I am SO excited. I might actually have a hard time sleeping the night before. I'll take what pictures I can and do a post about that for sure. (I'm also going to write about our trip to the Cotswolds this past Saturday.)
Thanks so much to everyone for your love and support and prayers. Maybe I'm still glowing from that chicken experience earlier, but I really feel like we're coming out of the woods and really making a home for ourselves in this community!
It's funny because I'm actually already more involved in this community than I ever was in Oak Park. I mean I had my playgroup which I LOVED (still do) and Viv and I went to music and My Gym, but I didn't really have anything that I did for myself. Now I'm joining 2 choirs and may even start taking a class! We've had one successful play date and have 2 more scheduled for this week. We have a babysitter who Vivian loves and I found a place to go get a massage.
Being a social person it makes a huge difference to me to have things to look forward to that involve people. We went to church for the third time on Sunday and once again talked to so many extremely nice people that live really close to us. Being open and honest about being new and not knowing anyone makes church people kind of want to take you under their wing... which I LOVE. I want to be one of those people!
Once school starts again our playgroup will get ramped up and we can begin going to other playgroups. There are a few that I've heard very good things about that I'm looking forward to checking out. It's all so different here in that regard, but I think that it's great.
Right now, Mark is in Germany. It makes me think about the last time that he was out of town while we were potty training. That trip of his to Italy will forever live in my memory because it was so horrible. I was so worn out and bummed that I was trapped. Now I feel fantastic. I roasted a chicken this afternoon mostly to make chicken stock from the bones, but I experimented by putting veggies underneath. When I pulled it out the veggies look charred to an inedible crisp but I tasted them anyways... They were DELICIOUS. I proceeded to eat every last bit of the veggies and tons of the meat and Viv enjoyed quite a chunk of it as well. Eating that food was one of the more amazing experiences I've had lately... and I made it myself!
Vivian and I also walked all the way down to this great playground in Tooting this afternoon and I met a really nice mum who talked with me for quite a long time. We ended up leaving and walking home together. Unfortunately she is moving to Surrey but she gave me some great tips for places to go to meet people and further encouraged me about how super sweet and welcoming everyone is around here (well, maybe not everyone, but enough people).
Mark surprised me last week by planning a trip to go visit the castle from Downton Abbey. He even took the day off work on Wednesday so that we can go. I am SO excited. I might actually have a hard time sleeping the night before. I'll take what pictures I can and do a post about that for sure. (I'm also going to write about our trip to the Cotswolds this past Saturday.)
Thanks so much to everyone for your love and support and prayers. Maybe I'm still glowing from that chicken experience earlier, but I really feel like we're coming out of the woods and really making a home for ourselves in this community!
18 August 2012
The Cotswolds
Mark and I moved to London thinking that we would use our proximity to Europe to travel all over the place. Well, so far that has been limited to our time in Paris, despite several planned and then cancelled trips coordinated with business trips. After our several failed attempts we decided that perhaps we should just stay close to home, rent a car and go to the countryside. SO... Mark asked his friends at work, made all of the arrangements and we went today.
It was FANTASTIC! I had wanted to get up and leave as soon as we woke up but it didn't really work out so we ended up finally leaving at 10 am. Mark's phone wasn't working for Google Maps so we printed out where to go through Google maps and he also downloaded a great map of the whole of the UK on his iPad. That saved us. A trip that is supposed to take an hour and a half ended up taking 3 hours and not because Vivi needed to keep stopping to go potty... in fact she was great. She just went with the flow and went every time we stopped for other reasons... pretty impressive.
By the time we got to where we were headed it was already past Vivi's nap time and none of us had eaten so we were making a beeline toward the nearest food source. We found a pub with a huge garden full of people and babies. The food was actually really good and it was nice to just be sitting outside on what was probably the most beautiful day that we can remember since we have lived here. Viv did great. We just kept her busy, fed her and then walked around as much as possible before getting back in the car. After getting in the car she knocked out for a while we just drove around exploring the area. We turned down tiny roads to see how people lived out in the countryside. It's funny because there will be all of this country and then a little town with houses jam-packed together like in London. I guess considering the history here of landowners and 'commoners' it makes sense.
One interesting and unexpected but not surprising lesson that we learned on our trip is that a trip to the 'countryside' does not necessarily mean that you get to gaze at fields all day. Every road is lined by a significant hedgerow that blocks out all scenery but the sky. Some of the hedgerows were beautiful, but only when there was a break or a cliff with a view of a valley or something did we see farther than 6 feet to the side.
As we wandered we came upon Sudeley Castle which has a long and rich history dating back to the Anglo-Saxons in the 500s. It is most famous for housing Kathryn Parr after the death of Henry VIII (she was his last wife). We arrived there around 4:54 p.m. and they closed at 5. Bummer, but we will definitely back. I may have mentioned that I'm kind of obsessed with Henry VIII and his wives, and it's only gotten worse since living here. English history in general is fascinating and widely available so I'm gobbling it up.
All told, our day in the Cotswolds was great. We're already planning a longer English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh holiday in October to celebrate our anniversary. It will be colder then, but that's how it is most of the time, so it will just be very normal.
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| First stop - check out those horses! |
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| Bourton on the Water |
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| Bourton on the Water (she was SO tired) |
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| Conked in the car with her new dog Spot |
By the time we got to where we were headed it was already past Vivi's nap time and none of us had eaten so we were making a beeline toward the nearest food source. We found a pub with a huge garden full of people and babies. The food was actually really good and it was nice to just be sitting outside on what was probably the most beautiful day that we can remember since we have lived here. Viv did great. We just kept her busy, fed her and then walked around as much as possible before getting back in the car. After getting in the car she knocked out for a while we just drove around exploring the area. We turned down tiny roads to see how people lived out in the countryside. It's funny because there will be all of this country and then a little town with houses jam-packed together like in London. I guess considering the history here of landowners and 'commoners' it makes sense.
One interesting and unexpected but not surprising lesson that we learned on our trip is that a trip to the 'countryside' does not necessarily mean that you get to gaze at fields all day. Every road is lined by a significant hedgerow that blocks out all scenery but the sky. Some of the hedgerows were beautiful, but only when there was a break or a cliff with a view of a valley or something did we see farther than 6 feet to the side.
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| These hedgerows are effective! |
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| Pretty greenery along the road |
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| Beautiful view |
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| Seriously, this is the cutest place on the planet. We would never be able to find it again, but when we past it I freaked out a little. How adorable! |
11 August 2012
Gold Medal Match
Mark and I went to the gold medal match for football today. We were expecting it to be completely insane with Mexico vs. Brazil. We decided ahead of time that we were rooting for Mexico since we have both been there and know people from there, and like the food!
Well, when we arrived we were blown away by how many people get from the train to the stadium in a steady sea of bodies. Apparently there is only one entrance/exit (or so it seems) and the stadium seats 90,000 people so stepping off the train and looking down onto a huge crowd trying to get into the stadium was daunting. We thought that it would take forever and we would miss the start of the match. Not so! The flow of people moved at a normal walking pace, we got through security with no issues and had time to get a bite to eat before it began. It was very impressive.
The match itself was really exciting at the beginning with the goal scored within the first 30 seconds, but the crowd disappointed a bit in it's craziness. I think because this isn't a home stadium there were no sections entirely devoted to one side or another. They also didn't air the fouls on the big screen so we couldn't get all fired up about how much one guy had fouled another. It was fun and exciting, but not the crazy spectacle that we expected.
Afterward we marveled at the flow of traffic, once again, and the lack of wait for trains and made our way toward home to have dinner out before coming home and paying our babysitter. It was a fun day. It was fantastic to have a date day with Mark and great to be at least part of the Olympics! We're hoping to get to one of the paralympic events although we don't have tickets and we've heard they're flying.
In retrospect I probably would have watched the Olympics or at least paid a little more attention to them to get in the spirit and waited to potty train Vivian until later, but ... hindsight. The good thing is, that Vivi's all trained up now and we're no longer trapped at home!
Well, when we arrived we were blown away by how many people get from the train to the stadium in a steady sea of bodies. Apparently there is only one entrance/exit (or so it seems) and the stadium seats 90,000 people so stepping off the train and looking down onto a huge crowd trying to get into the stadium was daunting. We thought that it would take forever and we would miss the start of the match. Not so! The flow of people moved at a normal walking pace, we got through security with no issues and had time to get a bite to eat before it began. It was very impressive.
The match itself was really exciting at the beginning with the goal scored within the first 30 seconds, but the crowd disappointed a bit in it's craziness. I think because this isn't a home stadium there were no sections entirely devoted to one side or another. They also didn't air the fouls on the big screen so we couldn't get all fired up about how much one guy had fouled another. It was fun and exciting, but not the crazy spectacle that we expected.
Afterward we marveled at the flow of traffic, once again, and the lack of wait for trains and made our way toward home to have dinner out before coming home and paying our babysitter. It was a fun day. It was fantastic to have a date day with Mark and great to be at least part of the Olympics! We're hoping to get to one of the paralympic events although we don't have tickets and we've heard they're flying.
In retrospect I probably would have watched the Olympics or at least paid a little more attention to them to get in the spirit and waited to potty train Vivian until later, but ... hindsight. The good thing is, that Vivi's all trained up now and we're no longer trapped at home!
10 August 2012
London Live
We ventured over to Hyde Park this afternoon to check out London Live. It's a free entertainment venue sponsored by BT and it was great. There were a bunch of big screens showing events as well as a big stage for a band and a couple of smaller stages for smaller bands. On the big stage was Temper Trap and they put on a good show. It was fantastic... I like them and had no idea they were playing.
It was more appropriate for people without kids, but wasn't unfriendly for kids. We even were able to find some discreet places for Vivi to use her travel potty.
Tomorrow we get to go to Wembley Stadium to see the Gold Medal match for Men's Football. We have our babysitter reserved for 8 hours, so that should be a fun day for us. We're finally getting into the Olympics and they're over on Sunday. Boo Hoo. But... YAY Paralympics!
It was more appropriate for people without kids, but wasn't unfriendly for kids. We even were able to find some discreet places for Vivi to use her travel potty.
Tomorrow we get to go to Wembley Stadium to see the Gold Medal match for Men's Football. We have our babysitter reserved for 8 hours, so that should be a fun day for us. We're finally getting into the Olympics and they're over on Sunday. Boo Hoo. But... YAY Paralympics! |
09 August 2012
Goldilocks and Just the One Bear
It's hard to convey the little differences in life here. To help me do it I am typing out the words to a book that Vivi LOVES called Goldilocks and Just the One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson. We have to return it to the library today, but I'm sure we'll check it out again soon.
Once upon a time, there was this bear.
One minute, he was lolloping about in the wood all happy-go-lucky...
The next minute, he hadn't a crumb-of-a-clue where he was.
He was one COMPLETELY lost bear.
The bear didn't much like this place.
Too many bright lights and not enough twigs.
Too much loud honking and beeping and not NEARLY enough owl-hooting.
The bear was also a teeny bit scared and his furry legs had gone slightly WOBBLY.
"Maybe the thing to do," said the bear looking round, "is to nip into 'Snooty Towers' here, and get away from this TERRIBLE racket."
But the spinny 'Snooty Towers' door made the bear feel dizzy and being dizzy with wobbly legs was bad news.
What the bear needed was a little sit-down.
A little sit-down somewhere would DEFINITELY see him tickety-boo.
The bear peeked through a door and thought how very pleasant it was up here.
"Not nasty and noisy like down there," thought the bear. "Just the place for a little sit-down."
All that whooshy travelling was certainly a hungry business so, before his little sit-down, a spot of porridge seemed a good idea...
"THIS porridge is too SOGGY," said the bear.
"THIS porridge is too CRUNCHY," said the bear.
"THIS porridge is a little bit on the DRY side," said the bear, "but it is better than nothing."
Now the bear was ready for his little sit-down.
"THIS chair is too OUCHY," said the bear.
"THIS chair is too NOISY," said the bear.
"THIS chair is JUST right!" said the bear.
A little sit-down is all very well, but what the bear needed to feel really tickety-boo was a good old-fashioned lie-down in a comfy bed...
"...THIS bed is too FROTHY," said the bear.
"THIS bed is too PINK," said the bear.
"THIS bed is JUST right," yawned the bear.
And soon he nodded off.
The bear dreamt of...
...CRUNCHING through leaves.
The bear dreamt of pottering about in his slippers.
The bear dreamt of...
...a voice shouting very, VERY LOUDLY.
"SOMEBODY has been eating from MY fish bowl!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has been eating MY dear little Pumpkin's kittynibbles!" said the mummy person.
"And SOMEBODY has been eating MY toast," said the little person. "And they've eaten it all up!"
Unfortunately, the bear was not dreaming at all. He was WIDE-AWAKE and back in real life again.
"SOMEBODY has SQUISHED MY cactus!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has UPSET MY dear little Pumpkin!" said the mummy person.
"And SOMEBODY has POPPED MY bean bag!" said the little person.
"SOMEBODY has been sleeping in MY bath!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has been sleeping in MY bed!" said the mummy person.
"SHHHH!" whispered the little person. "I think that SOMEBODY is sleeping in MY bed right now!"
The bear peeked from under the duvet to see a daddy person, a mummy person and a little person standing right there.
The bear thought that the mummy person looked ever-so slightly familiar. And the mummy person thought that...
SCOFFING other people's breakfast,
BREAKING other people's stuff, and
SNOOZING in other people's beds...
seemed ever-so slightly familiar too. Then, the penny dropped...
"Little Bear?" said the mummy person.
"Goldilocks?" said the bear.
"Porridge?" asked Goldilocks.
The bear nodded.
So Goldilocks cooked up a BIG bowl and plonked it in front of him.
It was not too HOT.
It was not too COLD.
It was JUST right.
It made the bear almost forget about that once-upon-a-time when Goldilocks had behaved so badly.
THIS little bear would never DREAM of doing ANYTHING like that.
And although it had been good to see Goldilocks living so happily ever after with those CHARMING people, the bear decided it was time to go back home to the woods.
Once upon a time, there was this bear.
One minute, he was lolloping about in the wood all happy-go-lucky...
The next minute, he hadn't a crumb-of-a-clue where he was.
He was one COMPLETELY lost bear.
The bear didn't much like this place.
Too many bright lights and not enough twigs.
Too much loud honking and beeping and not NEARLY enough owl-hooting.
The bear was also a teeny bit scared and his furry legs had gone slightly WOBBLY.
"Maybe the thing to do," said the bear looking round, "is to nip into 'Snooty Towers' here, and get away from this TERRIBLE racket."
But the spinny 'Snooty Towers' door made the bear feel dizzy and being dizzy with wobbly legs was bad news.
What the bear needed was a little sit-down.
A little sit-down somewhere would DEFINITELY see him tickety-boo.
The bear peeked through a door and thought how very pleasant it was up here.
"Not nasty and noisy like down there," thought the bear. "Just the place for a little sit-down."
All that whooshy travelling was certainly a hungry business so, before his little sit-down, a spot of porridge seemed a good idea...
"THIS porridge is too SOGGY," said the bear.
"THIS porridge is too CRUNCHY," said the bear.
"THIS porridge is a little bit on the DRY side," said the bear, "but it is better than nothing."
Now the bear was ready for his little sit-down.
"THIS chair is too OUCHY," said the bear.
"THIS chair is too NOISY," said the bear.
"THIS chair is JUST right!" said the bear.
A little sit-down is all very well, but what the bear needed to feel really tickety-boo was a good old-fashioned lie-down in a comfy bed...
"...THIS bed is too FROTHY," said the bear.
"THIS bed is too PINK," said the bear.
"THIS bed is JUST right," yawned the bear.
And soon he nodded off.
The bear dreamt of...
...CRUNCHING through leaves.
The bear dreamt of pottering about in his slippers.
The bear dreamt of...
...a voice shouting very, VERY LOUDLY.
"SOMEBODY has been eating from MY fish bowl!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has been eating MY dear little Pumpkin's kittynibbles!" said the mummy person.
"And SOMEBODY has been eating MY toast," said the little person. "And they've eaten it all up!"
Unfortunately, the bear was not dreaming at all. He was WIDE-AWAKE and back in real life again.
"SOMEBODY has SQUISHED MY cactus!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has UPSET MY dear little Pumpkin!" said the mummy person.
"And SOMEBODY has POPPED MY bean bag!" said the little person.
"SOMEBODY has been sleeping in MY bath!" said the daddy person.
"SOMEBODY has been sleeping in MY bed!" said the mummy person.
"SHHHH!" whispered the little person. "I think that SOMEBODY is sleeping in MY bed right now!"
The bear peeked from under the duvet to see a daddy person, a mummy person and a little person standing right there.
The bear thought that the mummy person looked ever-so slightly familiar. And the mummy person thought that...
SCOFFING other people's breakfast,
BREAKING other people's stuff, and
SNOOZING in other people's beds...
seemed ever-so slightly familiar too. Then, the penny dropped...
"Little Bear?" said the mummy person.
"Goldilocks?" said the bear.
"Porridge?" asked Goldilocks.
The bear nodded.
So Goldilocks cooked up a BIG bowl and plonked it in front of him.
It was not too HOT.
It was not too COLD.
It was JUST right.
It made the bear almost forget about that once-upon-a-time when Goldilocks had behaved so badly.
THIS little bear would never DREAM of doing ANYTHING like that.
And although it had been good to see Goldilocks living so happily ever after with those CHARMING people, the bear decided it was time to go back home to the woods.
08 August 2012
Another Olympic Bust
We bought tickets a few weeks ago for the Bronze football (soccer) match on Friday night and the Gold Medal match on Saturday afternoon. Today when Mark was making arrangements for how to get there and where we'd have dinner he realized that the Bronze medal match is in Cardiff! That's a three hour drive. How did we miss that? How embarrassing! So, we won't be seeing that on Friday. The amount of time it would take to get there and the cost of renting the car and paying the babysitter is just not worth it. We're hoping to either sell the tickets or give them to a neighbour to create some good will. :) What a bummer.
My First Playdate
I guess I should say "our" first playdate or Vivi's first playdate, but it meant much more to me than to her.
Kathy and her daughter Francesca "Fran" came over to our house today and we sat on the new patio furniture in our garden while the girls played. Well, Fran played... Vivi sat on my lap and ate the little snacks that Kathy brought.
Kathy is awesome! She is one of the mums from the playgroup planning meeting that I met a couple weeks ago. She likes healthy food and has all kinds of terrific sources for organic produce and meats to tell me about. She gave me an overview of how schooling works, health care works, playgroups etc. She's smart (I guess I should say clever now... smart means that she's well-dressed), fun, easy to talk to and I like the type of mom she is. It's always nice to connect with moms who you agree with their approach. We didn't discuss our approach, I was just observing.
She might actually be my first friend. I'm so excited. She's got a lot of friends so it's not like we'll be besties or anything, but it's just really fun to have someone that you like to tag along with from time to time.
On another very celebratory note, Vivi pooped in the potty this afternoon. That's a first ever since the first day we started when it was a bit traumatic for her. She was so proud and so was I. Motherhood is weird like that. Sometimes I marvel at the things I do all day these days.
The kitchen is clean, Vivi is in bed and I'm WIPED OUT from cleaning the house all day and then having them over and then making dinner and taking Viv to the potty all day. I feel like it doesn't sound like anything, but man am I exhausted. Time to chill with Mark on the couch and watch Misfits.
Kathy and her daughter Francesca "Fran" came over to our house today and we sat on the new patio furniture in our garden while the girls played. Well, Fran played... Vivi sat on my lap and ate the little snacks that Kathy brought.
Kathy is awesome! She is one of the mums from the playgroup planning meeting that I met a couple weeks ago. She likes healthy food and has all kinds of terrific sources for organic produce and meats to tell me about. She gave me an overview of how schooling works, health care works, playgroups etc. She's smart (I guess I should say clever now... smart means that she's well-dressed), fun, easy to talk to and I like the type of mom she is. It's always nice to connect with moms who you agree with their approach. We didn't discuss our approach, I was just observing.
She might actually be my first friend. I'm so excited. She's got a lot of friends so it's not like we'll be besties or anything, but it's just really fun to have someone that you like to tag along with from time to time.
On another very celebratory note, Vivi pooped in the potty this afternoon. That's a first ever since the first day we started when it was a bit traumatic for her. She was so proud and so was I. Motherhood is weird like that. Sometimes I marvel at the things I do all day these days.
The kitchen is clean, Vivi is in bed and I'm WIPED OUT from cleaning the house all day and then having them over and then making dinner and taking Viv to the potty all day. I feel like it doesn't sound like anything, but man am I exhausted. Time to chill with Mark on the couch and watch Misfits.
05 August 2012
Commenting
I have had a few people ask me to send them invites to comment on the blog. Those invites that I sent out at the very beginning of the blog are no longer valid. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry.) I sent those out before I opened the blog up to public viewing. That means that if you want to comment you need to set up a Google account.
I just did this myself as a test. Here's what you do:
- When you read a post that you'd like to comment on, hit the orangeish colored "comments" link underneath the post. If there are not comments it will say "No comments." If there are comments it will say "3 comments" (or however many there have been).
- Once you click on the comments link it will take you to a white box to enter your comments. Once you enter that comment and hit "Publish" it will take you to a page where you either sign in or create a new account. If you already have a gmail account then just sign in with that account. If not then create a gmail/google account.
- It will ask you if you want to sign up for Google+ or just a Blogger profile. I'm not on Google+ so I can't comment on how it is. For those of you who are, perhaps you can shed some light.
I hope this helps. I have now created a new profile and successfully commented and signed in with an account that I had already set up, so I know it works. If you have any more issues, let me know.
I just did this myself as a test. Here's what you do:
- When you read a post that you'd like to comment on, hit the orangeish colored "comments" link underneath the post. If there are not comments it will say "No comments." If there are comments it will say "3 comments" (or however many there have been).
- Once you click on the comments link it will take you to a white box to enter your comments. Once you enter that comment and hit "Publish" it will take you to a page where you either sign in or create a new account. If you already have a gmail account then just sign in with that account. If not then create a gmail/google account.
- It will ask you if you want to sign up for Google+ or just a Blogger profile. I'm not on Google+ so I can't comment on how it is. For those of you who are, perhaps you can shed some light.
I hope this helps. I have now created a new profile and successfully commented and signed in with an account that I had already set up, so I know it works. If you have any more issues, let me know.
Olympic Village or Bust...
This morning we got up and moving early so that we could get out to the Olympic Village and have plenty of time to walk around. The trains weren't that crowded and when we got there things were just ramping up. We were happy upon arrival... until we found out that you can't get into the Village... you can't even walk through a heavily guarded gate unless you have tickets that you purchased online ahead of time. None are available onsite and also, they're sold out for today.
BUST!
It takes over an hour to get there so we decided that we might as well walk around the outskirts for a while before heading home. We ended up having a great time. The entrance to the village is right in the middle of this Westfield shopping town, but it's more like a South Coast Plaza (So Cal) or Oak Brook (Chicago) than any of the Westfield's I've ever been to. We were laughing at ourselves that we tried to go to the Olympic Village and ended up walking around a mall but it was probably about the same. There were athletes in there and families with kids and just lots of people. There was a little playground and some amazing "Chinese street food" in the food court. Overall we had a great time.
The highlight of our time there was going into the Marmot store. They have this HUGE marmot (which is actually much more like a beaver, but who cares) that Vivi could not get enough of. I was looking at rain coats and Vivi was happy the entire time we were there because they lady gave her a smaller version of what Vivi began calling "Mama Marmot." I swear she made it up herself with no coaching from either of us.
Aside from being bummed that we couldn't get into the official village, we were impressed by how well run everything was. There were way more information-providing volunteers than necessary, they were well dressed so that you could find them easily and they had crowd management pretty well under control (it was packed by the time we were leaving).
We plan to go back to the village during the Paralympic Games because apparently it will be free to get in at that point - plus I really want to get tickets for wheelchair rugby... those guys are tough (anyone who's seen Friday Night Lights would know that)!
Quick potty training note in case I don't go back and write something from a few days ago: Vivi is doing GREAT! She hasn't had an accident in about four days, she's woken up from naps dry two days in a row and this morning she woke up dry too! She's been waking up in the middle of the night to go potty (which I can't believe) and she's done well on 3 trips out of the house that we've done now. This morning going on the train for over an hour I thought might present a problem, but no. The girl is a pro now. I know that I need to be prepared for her to revert at some point, but I must admit to feeling relieved and actually surprised that it's gone so well. I guess I didn't need to feel so sorry for myself for a week. :)
BUST!
It takes over an hour to get there so we decided that we might as well walk around the outskirts for a while before heading home. We ended up having a great time. The entrance to the village is right in the middle of this Westfield shopping town, but it's more like a South Coast Plaza (So Cal) or Oak Brook (Chicago) than any of the Westfield's I've ever been to. We were laughing at ourselves that we tried to go to the Olympic Village and ended up walking around a mall but it was probably about the same. There were athletes in there and families with kids and just lots of people. There was a little playground and some amazing "Chinese street food" in the food court. Overall we had a great time.
The highlight of our time there was going into the Marmot store. They have this HUGE marmot (which is actually much more like a beaver, but who cares) that Vivi could not get enough of. I was looking at rain coats and Vivi was happy the entire time we were there because they lady gave her a smaller version of what Vivi began calling "Mama Marmot." I swear she made it up herself with no coaching from either of us.
Aside from being bummed that we couldn't get into the official village, we were impressed by how well run everything was. There were way more information-providing volunteers than necessary, they were well dressed so that you could find them easily and they had crowd management pretty well under control (it was packed by the time we were leaving).
We plan to go back to the village during the Paralympic Games because apparently it will be free to get in at that point - plus I really want to get tickets for wheelchair rugby... those guys are tough (anyone who's seen Friday Night Lights would know that)!
Quick potty training note in case I don't go back and write something from a few days ago: Vivi is doing GREAT! She hasn't had an accident in about four days, she's woken up from naps dry two days in a row and this morning she woke up dry too! She's been waking up in the middle of the night to go potty (which I can't believe) and she's done well on 3 trips out of the house that we've done now. This morning going on the train for over an hour I thought might present a problem, but no. The girl is a pro now. I know that I need to be prepared for her to revert at some point, but I must admit to feeling relieved and actually surprised that it's gone so well. I guess I didn't need to feel so sorry for myself for a week. :)
01 August 2012
Potty Training vs. Olympics
I have been home alone for a few days now and I must admit that my patience is wearing a bit thin. There were times today when I turned my back on Vivian to let out a silent scream after what seemed like an eternity of whining "Up Mama." As I silently scream I realized that the muscles in my neck were very sore when I did that... perhaps I was doing that motion a lot during the day (or perhaps in my sleep) without realizing it.
Vivi has gone two days with almost not issues related to potty training. Today there was a half accident (basically just a little dribble) and aside from that has been right on track. We even went to the library to see how that went. We got a new potty that is like a tiny suitcase that seals up so that we can travel if we need to. We got to the library with no problem and read books and then when the time came, she went in our little travel potty and then we walked home. It was just a test, so it wouldn't have been bad had she had an accident, but it gave me a bit of hope that I might be out of the house within the next few days. Maybe tomorrow we'll try going to the park or something. I don't want to get ahead of myself but this might be just really good timing for her. I think she likes the independence and seems to get it regarding the sensations and what to do.
I'm also getting a bit closer to having our house set up. I've gotten a lot done the past couple of days because we've been trapped at home and Vivian hasn't needed me to follow her around with a potty asking her if she needs to go. Once we get some pictures on the wall and the huge pile of mail sorted, we might be able to say that we're done. When that happens, break out the champagne!
Once we are able to get out of the house again, this blog will get much more interesting. I'm boring myself with all of this talk of human excrement, but potty training is one of the relentless joys of motherhood.
I'm looking forward to Mark coming home tomorrow night... and then I'm looking forward to the weekend. I might actually go out by myself this time. I need a haircut (actually I need a hair transplant, but a new style that does not require a headband and ponytail every day might help with the self-esteem). I may also sit in a coffee shop alone and read for an hour or 5. We'll see which way the wind is blowing that day.
Also... sorry I haven't mentioned much about the Olympics. I literally have not watched any events. I've been home working on the house and ensuring that our carpet doesn't get destroyed by our potty-training toddler. At night I have been re-watching Downton Abbey with Mark. To be honest I've never really been all that interested in the sports of the Olympics... but I really appreciate how amazing they are politically. Seeing all of those war-torn countries represented during the Opening Ceremonies was really impressive. Maybe after we finish the Downton Abbey Christmas Special we'll get really into the events... We'll see,
Vivi has gone two days with almost not issues related to potty training. Today there was a half accident (basically just a little dribble) and aside from that has been right on track. We even went to the library to see how that went. We got a new potty that is like a tiny suitcase that seals up so that we can travel if we need to. We got to the library with no problem and read books and then when the time came, she went in our little travel potty and then we walked home. It was just a test, so it wouldn't have been bad had she had an accident, but it gave me a bit of hope that I might be out of the house within the next few days. Maybe tomorrow we'll try going to the park or something. I don't want to get ahead of myself but this might be just really good timing for her. I think she likes the independence and seems to get it regarding the sensations and what to do.
I'm also getting a bit closer to having our house set up. I've gotten a lot done the past couple of days because we've been trapped at home and Vivian hasn't needed me to follow her around with a potty asking her if she needs to go. Once we get some pictures on the wall and the huge pile of mail sorted, we might be able to say that we're done. When that happens, break out the champagne!
Once we are able to get out of the house again, this blog will get much more interesting. I'm boring myself with all of this talk of human excrement, but potty training is one of the relentless joys of motherhood.
I'm looking forward to Mark coming home tomorrow night... and then I'm looking forward to the weekend. I might actually go out by myself this time. I need a haircut (actually I need a hair transplant, but a new style that does not require a headband and ponytail every day might help with the self-esteem). I may also sit in a coffee shop alone and read for an hour or 5. We'll see which way the wind is blowing that day.
Also... sorry I haven't mentioned much about the Olympics. I literally have not watched any events. I've been home working on the house and ensuring that our carpet doesn't get destroyed by our potty-training toddler. At night I have been re-watching Downton Abbey with Mark. To be honest I've never really been all that interested in the sports of the Olympics... but I really appreciate how amazing they are politically. Seeing all of those war-torn countries represented during the Opening Ceremonies was really impressive. Maybe after we finish the Downton Abbey Christmas Special we'll get really into the events... We'll see,
30 July 2012
Potty Training Continued
Not a lot to report over here, unless you're interested in the ins and outs, ups and downs of potty training. If you are, just email me and I'll talk your ear off.
Probably won't be much to talk about this week as I'm home alone (Mark's in Italy) with a potty training toddler. If you're available, feel free to give me a call... I'll probably talk your ear off because I'll be pretty lonely.
Probably won't be much to talk about this week as I'm home alone (Mark's in Italy) with a potty training toddler. If you're available, feel free to give me a call... I'll probably talk your ear off because I'll be pretty lonely.
27 July 2012
Let the Games Begin!
SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't already watched the opening ceremonies and want to be surprised then don't read this yet. If you're debating whether to watch or not... DO IT. They were fantastic...
We are sitting here watching the countries parade around the stadium in the opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: one of the most striking and surprising things about my experience here in London is how overwhelmed I am by the beauty surrounding us. These opening ceremonies perfectly exemplified what I mean. They started out with pictures and music of rural England and moved to the Industrial Revolution and the lighting of the 5 rings. When the rings lit and showered sparks down I was totally crying. Not just a tear... full on crying. It was just so beautiful to me!
They went on to honour the NHS, which I thought was awesome, and children's literature whcih was also wonderful. In honouring children's literature I feel like they honoured children which I, of course, loved. Then the London Symphony Orchestra played Chariots of Fire and after that they went through a musical celebration of pop culture and the digital age. They basically ended the main ceremony with a focus of attention on a guy I have never heard of but who apparently invented the world wide web.
It's probably going to be after midnight before the torch is lit, but I am going to power through. I don't want to miss anything and I don't want to watch it tomorrow. This is really exciting!
Did I mention that we saw the torch run by near our house? I don't think I wrote a post about it... I will go back and do that. Also, did I mention that we have tickets to see two football matches? We're going to see the Bronze match and the Gold/Silver match. We're so excited!
We are sitting here watching the countries parade around the stadium in the opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: one of the most striking and surprising things about my experience here in London is how overwhelmed I am by the beauty surrounding us. These opening ceremonies perfectly exemplified what I mean. They started out with pictures and music of rural England and moved to the Industrial Revolution and the lighting of the 5 rings. When the rings lit and showered sparks down I was totally crying. Not just a tear... full on crying. It was just so beautiful to me!
They went on to honour the NHS, which I thought was awesome, and children's literature whcih was also wonderful. In honouring children's literature I feel like they honoured children which I, of course, loved. Then the London Symphony Orchestra played Chariots of Fire and after that they went through a musical celebration of pop culture and the digital age. They basically ended the main ceremony with a focus of attention on a guy I have never heard of but who apparently invented the world wide web.
It's probably going to be after midnight before the torch is lit, but I am going to power through. I don't want to miss anything and I don't want to watch it tomorrow. This is really exciting!
Did I mention that we saw the torch run by near our house? I don't think I wrote a post about it... I will go back and do that. Also, did I mention that we have tickets to see two football matches? We're going to see the Bronze match and the Gold/Silver match. We're so excited!
Potty Training Day 1 (and Health Visitor)
I am so exhausted! This morning Vivi woke up interested in reading our potty training book called "Princess Polly's Potty" so I decided to jump in and see how it went. I think it went pretty well.
At 9:30 a.m. our health visitor arrived (more about that below) so I was a bit distracted and Vivi had two accidents in a row, but after that there were only two more during the day (not including her wet nappy when she woke up from her nap). She went peep in the potty at least 4 times and pooped too! I couldn't believe how well she did. I think she's ready for it.
It's not like I ignore her on normal days, but today I was constantly following her around and giving her my undivided attention. I only accomplished a little bit during her nap and that was only ironing which I never used to do, so it feels like I got nothing done. I think it's funny that I actually brought with me projects because I thought I would have all of this free time to sit on the couch during Vivi's naps. Seriously? Now I'm doing laundry, hanging it out, taking it down or ironing it on top of ordering groceries, cooking dinner and keeping a general semblance of order and sanitation. I'm not saying this because I have such a hard life, but it's just funny to me that I thought things would be so much easier since we were renting instead of owning this house.
Tomorrow we have a trip to IKEA all scheduled (we have to book the ZipCar in advance) so we're planning to bring our little pink potty because I haven't purchased the My Carry Potty yet. It should be interesting. I don't have any idea what to expect. She'll be wearing her nappy so perhaps she won't think twice about just going... we'll see. I hope I don't undo everything that we worked on today. I don't think we will..........
OK, Health Visitor. So, the NHS has a service called Health Visitor. When you first have your baby your midwife comes to your house afterwards to check on you (and might during your prenatal appointments too, but I'm not sure about that) and so does a Health Visitor. A Health Visitor is a registered nurse who is an expert in early childhood development, pediatrics, breastfeeding, potty training and all things related to children's health up to age 5. Since we're new to the country they were alerted that we registered with a GP and called us to schedule a visit. Basically all she did was come over to talk through the system and ask to see our medical records. Then she filled in what was necessary to the "red book" that every child gets at birth. It's an incredibly comprehensive medical record that you keep with you rather than the doctor keeping all of your information. It's a bit antiquated with all of the handwriting and carbon copies, but nice to have control over your information (and scary that you're responsible for it).
She gave me some information about local Children's Centres that are government run centres that provide support and resources for parents of young children. They have "Stay and Play" which are playtimes for kids and break times for parents, "Breakfast with Dad," "1 o'clock clubs" which are playtimes at 1 o'clock and other activities. All of this stuff is free of charge. I've not attended anything, so I can't account for the quality, but I think it's amazing that it even exists. If anything like this is provided in the US it's at least not marketed well.
The health visitor also asked me questions about how I'm settling in, how our diet is and whether or not I have met any other mums. Amazing. It's almost like they know what's important and hold people accountable for taking care of themselves holistically. What a novel idea!
Once I check out the services that she mentioned for mums locally I will let you know how they are. I'm impressed by how this all works.
At 9:30 a.m. our health visitor arrived (more about that below) so I was a bit distracted and Vivi had two accidents in a row, but after that there were only two more during the day (not including her wet nappy when she woke up from her nap). She went peep in the potty at least 4 times and pooped too! I couldn't believe how well she did. I think she's ready for it.
It's not like I ignore her on normal days, but today I was constantly following her around and giving her my undivided attention. I only accomplished a little bit during her nap and that was only ironing which I never used to do, so it feels like I got nothing done. I think it's funny that I actually brought with me projects because I thought I would have all of this free time to sit on the couch during Vivi's naps. Seriously? Now I'm doing laundry, hanging it out, taking it down or ironing it on top of ordering groceries, cooking dinner and keeping a general semblance of order and sanitation. I'm not saying this because I have such a hard life, but it's just funny to me that I thought things would be so much easier since we were renting instead of owning this house.
Tomorrow we have a trip to IKEA all scheduled (we have to book the ZipCar in advance) so we're planning to bring our little pink potty because I haven't purchased the My Carry Potty yet. It should be interesting. I don't have any idea what to expect. She'll be wearing her nappy so perhaps she won't think twice about just going... we'll see. I hope I don't undo everything that we worked on today. I don't think we will..........
OK, Health Visitor. So, the NHS has a service called Health Visitor. When you first have your baby your midwife comes to your house afterwards to check on you (and might during your prenatal appointments too, but I'm not sure about that) and so does a Health Visitor. A Health Visitor is a registered nurse who is an expert in early childhood development, pediatrics, breastfeeding, potty training and all things related to children's health up to age 5. Since we're new to the country they were alerted that we registered with a GP and called us to schedule a visit. Basically all she did was come over to talk through the system and ask to see our medical records. Then she filled in what was necessary to the "red book" that every child gets at birth. It's an incredibly comprehensive medical record that you keep with you rather than the doctor keeping all of your information. It's a bit antiquated with all of the handwriting and carbon copies, but nice to have control over your information (and scary that you're responsible for it).
She gave me some information about local Children's Centres that are government run centres that provide support and resources for parents of young children. They have "Stay and Play" which are playtimes for kids and break times for parents, "Breakfast with Dad," "1 o'clock clubs" which are playtimes at 1 o'clock and other activities. All of this stuff is free of charge. I've not attended anything, so I can't account for the quality, but I think it's amazing that it even exists. If anything like this is provided in the US it's at least not marketed well.
The health visitor also asked me questions about how I'm settling in, how our diet is and whether or not I have met any other mums. Amazing. It's almost like they know what's important and hold people accountable for taking care of themselves holistically. What a novel idea!
Once I check out the services that she mentioned for mums locally I will let you know how they are. I'm impressed by how this all works.
25 July 2012
Playgroup Meeting
When we went to church on Sunday there was an announcement in the bulletin that there would be a playgroup planning meeting on Wednesday morning at 10. I told the vicar (I learned that's what you call them) that I planned to attend. This morning we showed up about 5 minutes early and the vicar was so happy to see us. She had apparently hand invited the other 3 mums and I was the only one who showed up just because I read the bulletin. I am SO glad that I went.
Now I am one of the founding members of a new playgroup that will be incredibly close to our house. I get to have input on what the playgroup will be like and how it will run. I get to help decide about toys, crafts and rules. I am so excited.
The absolute best part about the meeting, though, was meeting the other mums and hearing all about how playgroups usually work here. It is so different than anything I'm used to. So, for those of you who have any interest in this topic, here it is:
Playgroups are usually run by churches or community organizations like Salvation Army. They cost between 50p and £2.50 for about 2 hours of playtime. The "good ones," and good is described differently by different mums, are heavily oversubscribed and it's very difficult to get in. There is one located at the Baptist Church that is so popular that it takes a while to even get your name on the waiting list. That is crazy to me.
There is one playgroup that was mentioned several times called Cheeky Monkeys at the Salvation Army. This is run by an older woman who doesn't bring her own children (most are run by mums with toddlers that they bring) named Viola. She runs her playgroup like a nursery school. It is very structured and very strict. That is fantastic for some mums who like the structure because they're able to relax a bit more, but bad for others whose kids don't do well within structured environments.
I definitely want to check out some other playgroups now that I've heard about how they work, but it turns out that most of them close for the holiday so they won't reopen until September. It's a bummer to just be getting settled when everything shuts down, but there are other areas that ramp up their offerings during the holiday (one of which I'm visiting tomorrow, so you'll get a full report). It's all very interesting. I guess there is a bit of a different mentality when all of the schools have the exact same schedules. It's easier to schedule this type of thing.
The 3 mums that I met during the meeting were so nice. I mentioned some things that I had heard and apologized if I got the names wrong or mispronounced words like "leisure." They said it was refreshing. How wonderful! They also said that they only thing they don't like about Americans is the way we spell. HA! I keep thinking that I'm doing my best to fit in by using words like buggy, nappy and mum, but in reality I should be trying harder to spell neighbourhood, favourite and colour "correctly." Well, now I know! (I guess that's something for you to look forward to.)
When we walked home from the meeting this morning (actually we ran because we were doing Super Speedy) I felt like I was on top of the world. I was laughing to myself because I feel like a ping pong ball. I hope I don't mention this too much and become boring, but it is absolutely amazing how drastically emotional this experience has been for me. I don't consider myself to be an emotional flat-liner by any means, but I'm not a basket case either (most of the time). Since we've been here, Balham particularly, I feel like I'm being tossed around emotionally. Not ping pong so much as when you put the balls on top of a parachute and then wave it really hard. It's just that I haven't ever really felt like I'm on solid ground. There are moments of complete excitement and hope and happiness and then moments of almost despair and darkness and hopelessness. The sunshine definitely helps, but I believe that a lot of it is a function of "culture shock." I don't know if it's the culture though. I think it's just the starting over with no network. I probably would have experienced the same amount of culture shock if we moved to New York or San Francisco... actually, nevermind. It is culture shock.
It's funny to write things out like this... I have written an entire page about how I'm learning and getting used to how things work here and how different it is from what I'm used to and then I say in the next paragraph that I don't believe the change in culture is affecting me. I don't know how people work through this type of thing without writing it out and then re-reading it. I would be lost without it... I'm an addict.
Now I am one of the founding members of a new playgroup that will be incredibly close to our house. I get to have input on what the playgroup will be like and how it will run. I get to help decide about toys, crafts and rules. I am so excited.
The absolute best part about the meeting, though, was meeting the other mums and hearing all about how playgroups usually work here. It is so different than anything I'm used to. So, for those of you who have any interest in this topic, here it is:
Playgroups are usually run by churches or community organizations like Salvation Army. They cost between 50p and £2.50 for about 2 hours of playtime. The "good ones," and good is described differently by different mums, are heavily oversubscribed and it's very difficult to get in. There is one located at the Baptist Church that is so popular that it takes a while to even get your name on the waiting list. That is crazy to me.
There is one playgroup that was mentioned several times called Cheeky Monkeys at the Salvation Army. This is run by an older woman who doesn't bring her own children (most are run by mums with toddlers that they bring) named Viola. She runs her playgroup like a nursery school. It is very structured and very strict. That is fantastic for some mums who like the structure because they're able to relax a bit more, but bad for others whose kids don't do well within structured environments.
I definitely want to check out some other playgroups now that I've heard about how they work, but it turns out that most of them close for the holiday so they won't reopen until September. It's a bummer to just be getting settled when everything shuts down, but there are other areas that ramp up their offerings during the holiday (one of which I'm visiting tomorrow, so you'll get a full report). It's all very interesting. I guess there is a bit of a different mentality when all of the schools have the exact same schedules. It's easier to schedule this type of thing.
The 3 mums that I met during the meeting were so nice. I mentioned some things that I had heard and apologized if I got the names wrong or mispronounced words like "leisure." They said it was refreshing. How wonderful! They also said that they only thing they don't like about Americans is the way we spell. HA! I keep thinking that I'm doing my best to fit in by using words like buggy, nappy and mum, but in reality I should be trying harder to spell neighbourhood, favourite and colour "correctly." Well, now I know! (I guess that's something for you to look forward to.)
When we walked home from the meeting this morning (actually we ran because we were doing Super Speedy) I felt like I was on top of the world. I was laughing to myself because I feel like a ping pong ball. I hope I don't mention this too much and become boring, but it is absolutely amazing how drastically emotional this experience has been for me. I don't consider myself to be an emotional flat-liner by any means, but I'm not a basket case either (most of the time). Since we've been here, Balham particularly, I feel like I'm being tossed around emotionally. Not ping pong so much as when you put the balls on top of a parachute and then wave it really hard. It's just that I haven't ever really felt like I'm on solid ground. There are moments of complete excitement and hope and happiness and then moments of almost despair and darkness and hopelessness. The sunshine definitely helps, but I believe that a lot of it is a function of "culture shock." I don't know if it's the culture though. I think it's just the starting over with no network. I probably would have experienced the same amount of culture shock if we moved to New York or San Francisco... actually, nevermind. It is culture shock.
It's funny to write things out like this... I have written an entire page about how I'm learning and getting used to how things work here and how different it is from what I'm used to and then I say in the next paragraph that I don't believe the change in culture is affecting me. I don't know how people work through this type of thing without writing it out and then re-reading it. I would be lost without it... I'm an addict.
22 July 2012
SUNSHINE!
It is now Sunday evening. Mark is finishing getting Vivi down for the night and I'm sitting on the couch waiting for him to come down so that we can begin Disc 2 of the first season of Downton Abbey.
Yesterday during Vivi's nap I thought I would never feel better. I thought that I was in a funk that I would never recover from. I didn't know how to recharge. Mark listened to and totally heard me and this weekend has turned out to be FANTASTIC.
I had a few chunks of time to myself without feeling like I was totally alone. One was to talk to my dear friend Sara (thanks SO much for calling Sara... it was perfect timing) and one was to lay in bed this morning to write in my journal. I must seem like an incredibly self-reflective person to be blogging to this extent and writing in a journal. Well, I guess it is quite a bit of self-focus, but I don't know that it's a good thing. Perhaps I should just cut this out and go work in a soup kitchen. That would put things into perspective!
Which reminds me, my Aunt Bonnie wrote me an email a few days ago that had a lot of really good points which did help me keep things in perspective (things fell out of perspective a bit later, but it planted a seed!). She is an anthropologist and mentioned that I am some experiencing classic culture shock. It doesn't feel very shocking, but I'm definitely not feeling normal. She also brought up another perspective... and I quote:
"Imagine the immigrant experience -- what if you did not know the language, were discriminated against at every turn once you left the house where you landed, perhaps were exploited for labor (cleaning, housekeeping and worse) with people you were totally dependent on, could not afford any alternative? This is what many people face when they arrive in a new place trying to escape persecution or crisis. We look at the statistics, but none of them has enough education or access to technology to communicate what their lives are like and how they manage to attain their goals, find friends let alone pursue their dreams."
Here I am in a beautiful house with the means to be a stay at home mom and take advantage of all of the educational and cultural things I want to while we're here. I am in an absolutely amazing situation. I get jealous of my friends in Oak Park who are getting together for playgroups every month and watching each other's kids grow up, but I know there are also people who are envious of my chance to travel. The grass is always greener, right? I really do try to keep my eye on the big picture. It helps to have friends and family to gently remind me! Thanks Aunt Bonnie!
After my afternoon blog was written in the garden today I stayed outside and read for about an hour. We are so far north that I've not experienced even the slightest bit of sunburn since we've lived here...until today. Mamacita! I'm a lobster. I have become one of those people I described when we first came to visit London in March. It was a sunny day and people were littered all over Clapham Common just soaking up the sun. Now I completely understand why. It has been raining every single day since May and having two full days of sun, especially during the weekend, was incredible. I stayed out way longer than I should and loved every minute of it. Hopefully I don't peel, but I wouldn't take it back. It was extremely healing. Maybe next time I could just wear sunscreen.
We went to Clapham Common this afternoon when Viv got up from her nap. As we were sitting on the bus I was reflecting about how awesome it is that we were doing that. We decided when we moved here that we wanted to change some habits. One of the habits we wanted to change was that we wanted to do more things. Another was that we wanted to watch less tv. Well, since we moved to Balham we haven't done all that much because we've been really trying to get our house in order, but this weekend we had a lot of fun doing some easy, local, fun things. We also didn't even get cable or a DVR. (We did, but we have decided to send it back.) I'm so proud of us. We're following though! It feels good to follow through!
When we returned from the Common there was a flyer on the floor that had been stuck through our mail slot. It was a home-made ad from our 17 year old neighbor who is looking for babysitting jobs. I told Mark I was going to call her tomorrow. I went upstairs to open our window and she was walking by and looked up at me. So, I asked her if she was the one who gave us the flyer. She was so embarrassed. She said she felt so awkward doing that. She was so cute and seemed so sweet. She's going to come over this week sometime to meet Vivian. I'm going to call her references and check her out. Then... I'm going to recharge myself to full capacity. That flyer on the floor of the entry way was a total answer to my prayers! ...at least I hope so!
Yesterday during Vivi's nap I thought I would never feel better. I thought that I was in a funk that I would never recover from. I didn't know how to recharge. Mark listened to and totally heard me and this weekend has turned out to be FANTASTIC.
I had a few chunks of time to myself without feeling like I was totally alone. One was to talk to my dear friend Sara (thanks SO much for calling Sara... it was perfect timing) and one was to lay in bed this morning to write in my journal. I must seem like an incredibly self-reflective person to be blogging to this extent and writing in a journal. Well, I guess it is quite a bit of self-focus, but I don't know that it's a good thing. Perhaps I should just cut this out and go work in a soup kitchen. That would put things into perspective!
Which reminds me, my Aunt Bonnie wrote me an email a few days ago that had a lot of really good points which did help me keep things in perspective (things fell out of perspective a bit later, but it planted a seed!). She is an anthropologist and mentioned that I am some experiencing classic culture shock. It doesn't feel very shocking, but I'm definitely not feeling normal. She also brought up another perspective... and I quote:
"Imagine the immigrant experience -- what if you did not know the language, were discriminated against at every turn once you left the house where you landed, perhaps were exploited for labor (cleaning, housekeeping and worse) with people you were totally dependent on, could not afford any alternative? This is what many people face when they arrive in a new place trying to escape persecution or crisis. We look at the statistics, but none of them has enough education or access to technology to communicate what their lives are like and how they manage to attain their goals, find friends let alone pursue their dreams."
Here I am in a beautiful house with the means to be a stay at home mom and take advantage of all of the educational and cultural things I want to while we're here. I am in an absolutely amazing situation. I get jealous of my friends in Oak Park who are getting together for playgroups every month and watching each other's kids grow up, but I know there are also people who are envious of my chance to travel. The grass is always greener, right? I really do try to keep my eye on the big picture. It helps to have friends and family to gently remind me! Thanks Aunt Bonnie!
After my afternoon blog was written in the garden today I stayed outside and read for about an hour. We are so far north that I've not experienced even the slightest bit of sunburn since we've lived here...until today. Mamacita! I'm a lobster. I have become one of those people I described when we first came to visit London in March. It was a sunny day and people were littered all over Clapham Common just soaking up the sun. Now I completely understand why. It has been raining every single day since May and having two full days of sun, especially during the weekend, was incredible. I stayed out way longer than I should and loved every minute of it. Hopefully I don't peel, but I wouldn't take it back. It was extremely healing. Maybe next time I could just wear sunscreen.
We went to Clapham Common this afternoon when Viv got up from her nap. As we were sitting on the bus I was reflecting about how awesome it is that we were doing that. We decided when we moved here that we wanted to change some habits. One of the habits we wanted to change was that we wanted to do more things. Another was that we wanted to watch less tv. Well, since we moved to Balham we haven't done all that much because we've been really trying to get our house in order, but this weekend we had a lot of fun doing some easy, local, fun things. We also didn't even get cable or a DVR. (We did, but we have decided to send it back.) I'm so proud of us. We're following though! It feels good to follow through!
When we returned from the Common there was a flyer on the floor that had been stuck through our mail slot. It was a home-made ad from our 17 year old neighbor who is looking for babysitting jobs. I told Mark I was going to call her tomorrow. I went upstairs to open our window and she was walking by and looked up at me. So, I asked her if she was the one who gave us the flyer. She was so embarrassed. She said she felt so awkward doing that. She was so cute and seemed so sweet. She's going to come over this week sometime to meet Vivian. I'm going to call her references and check her out. Then... I'm going to recharge myself to full capacity. That flyer on the floor of the entry way was a total answer to my prayers! ...at least I hope so!
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