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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

Church

We went to church this morning.  I didn’t have high expectations.  I have heard that this is not a very church-going country, so I thought there might not be many people there.  I was absolutely right.  The pews were maybe 25% full and we were the only people in the entire church with a child under 4 years old.  The reason I know that is because the crèche (nursery) was right inside the sanctuary.  It was a blanket on the floor to the left of the congregation with some toys.  There was a sign that said, St. Mary’s Creche: Parents are responsible for their own children. 

Weird, and definitely not what I was expecting.  Vivi sat with us for about 7 minutes until she noticed the toys and then she was off.  I sat over there with her constantly trying to get her to whisper to no avail.  It was a bit stressful for me.  Since she was the only child playing in this area I had no idea what level of noise was appropriate.  Vivi kept almost shouting, “I LOVE this puppy SO much” (there was a small stuffed puppy there) and “This pink puppy is wet” (I don’t know why it was wet if it was… also concerning) and “What’s this?” (every time she found a new toy). 

Afterwards the main pastor? Priest? Minister?  (I don’t know what you call them in the Church of England) came up to talk to us as we were darting out the door.  She welcomed us and asked if we lived nearby.  They are starting a playgroup on Wednesday so I’m planning to attend so that I can meet other moms (I guess I should start saying mums, but that one is really hard for me to latch onto).  I told her I would do anything I could to help with the playgroup, but between us I don’t think we’ll be back to the church on a Sunday.  My two goals for church are: 1) to experience beauty both visually and through the music and 2) to perhaps meet people and get plugged into the community.  This church has neither beauty nor community even if the head of the church is quite nice.  I think we’ll keep looking for the time being.  If they’re all like this, we might end up taking the train up to Southwark Cathedral every Sunday so that we can experience beauty and then eat lunch afterwards at the Borough Market.  That would not be a terrible way to spend a Sunday!

The sun is shining today and it’s gorgeous outside, so for lunch we ate in the garden on our brand new patio furniture!  I’m out here now typing away and it’s absolutely lovely.  I can hear my neighbors on each side puttering away in their own gardens.  It’s weird to hear them but not see them.  In Oak Park we always stood and talked to our neighbors in the backyard if we were out at the same time.  I do miss that but I’m quite contented sitting back here by myself in the “peace and quiet” with the sounds of trains, planes, sirens and neighbors to keep me company. 

This has been quite a difficult weekend for me actually. I didn’t write because I honestly didn’t have anything nice to say and wasn’t really willing to be that vulnerable.  Now I’m out from under the storm cloud. 

I have been feeling like I really need to recharge but don’t know how.  My patience and my creativity as a mother have all but disappeared and I’ve really needed a break.  The problem is that I don’t want to be alone if I get the chance to recharge.  I would love to go shopping or get my haircut or something, but if Mark is around I’d rather be with him.  If only I could recharge with Mark but without Vivian and we didn’t have to leave our child with a complete stranger with shifty eyes.  I know this is a temporary problem, but it often feels like things will never change or improve. 

Right now, though, as I sit in the garden with the wind blowing through the leaves of the cherry tree and the sun shining down on me, things seem pretty good.  I think we’re going to be ok.

Frustration!

I should not be allowed to be a mom today.  My patience is at an all-time low and I'm about to flip out.

Almsot every night for the past couple of weeks when Mark gets home and asks Vivian what she did today she says, "horses."  Every night I shake my head and look at her wondering how she consistently has horses on the brain.  After enough instances I decided that perhaps we should go back up to Hyde Park to see the horses again.  Now that I've discovered how quick the train ride is it's really easy to get up there.

So, this morning we went.  The train ride out was great.  We were happy and having a great time.  We got there early and walked to the Serpentine to watch the ducks, geese and swans and then played on the playground for a few minutes before going to see the horses walk by on their way to the changing of the guard.  It was so fun in fact that we decided we should race to the bus and rush over to St. James Park to see the actual changing of the guard.  If we played our cards right we could absolutely make it in time.

Well, we missed two buses in a row on our sprint down to catch the bus.  We waited for another and when I swiped my Oyster card I realized that I was now had exactly 0 pence left to get us to our destination.  No problem.  We'll just get off at Victoria Station and top-up there and then catch another bus over to the park.  This is where things fell apart.

Victoria station was an absolute madhouse.  Apparently the Olympic torch arrives in London today and people want to see that.  The guy standing behind me in the endless line to top-up my card is in from Manchester (originally from "Philly") to get all set up for the games.  He says it usually takes about 7 days to get all set up before the events begin.  Seven days seemed extreme.  I asked him what he does in Manchester.  Now it all makes sense... he's a street performer.  He's getting set up so that he can find a good place to set up his act to make the most money.  What kind of street performer you ask?  A statue that scares people.  OK... That was a first for me.

Once I got to the front of the line my 20 pound note would not go into the machine, Vivi was screaming on the floor next to me (I had given her a plastic cup that I found in the pocket of the buggy and she wanted water in it) and people were staring at us.  I picked her up and carried her up the stairs while giving her a stern talking to and also trying to calm her down for the sake of my poor abused eardrums.

Our trip to see the changing of the guard was not going to happen so we went to the market nearby (our main grocery store while we lived in Westminster) to buy some canned pumpkin and anything else I saw that looked good.  No such luck.  Apparently canned pumpkin isn't a thing here.  Maybe they have it in the fall, but we'll have to wait and find out.  I ended up consoling myself with some veggie crisps (like those ones in the black shiny bags that you can buy in the impulse section at Bed Bath and Beyond - I can't remember the name).  They were delicious but I ended up eating the whole bag and now I wish I hadn't.

I finally got Vivian down for my nap and am getting ready to make regular chili instead of pumpkin chili for dinner, but before beginning I thought I should get this all down in order to let go of it.

It's funny.  Reading through this progression of events I'm realizing that perhaps I've over-reacted a bit. Frustrating, yes, but not worthy of the incredibly funk that I'm in and the death glares I've been giving everyone who crosses my path.  Perhaps next time Mark offers to watch Viv so that I can get out of the house by myself I should take him up on it - even if I don't know where I would go or what I would do.

A bit about Vivian

Vivian is at such a fun age right now.  She's a total handful sometimes, but a lot of the time she is very pleasant and chatting constantly about things that she's doing, books that she's read, or experiences that she's recently had.

She says so many fun things.  This morning she said, "I want to go art something."  It's great that she's started to put concepts together herself rather than just repeating what she's already heard.

When Mark had his appendix out one of his coworkers gave him a little orange stuffed appendix with a smiley face on the front.  Vivian has found it and has been carrying it around all day.  She's been going on and on about how much she loves this orangey worm.  She said, "This orangey worm is my favorite toy." First time she ever said something was her favorite!  "I love worms in the morning.  I love orangey worms in the morning."  Then she held the worms head up so that he could see the lights that were flashing on a little alphabet drum toy that she has.  She has been cracking me up all day.

This afternoon we tried something new.  I was talking to my mom yesterday about how hard it is to get Vivian to sit in her buggy because she'd always rather be walking.  Usually I can accomplish this by bribing her with a snack, but I don't want to rely on that.  My mom suggested making it fun by having it be really fast.  So, I tried that today.  We weren't really in a hurry so I wasn't stressed out about it and was able to lay a pretty good foundation for doing it again in the future.  I told Vivian when she got up from her nap that we were going to go on a Super Speedy walk.  I got really excited, talked fast and did this fast breathing thing that she does when something is really fast.  She got all excited about it.  We got her in her buggy and I ran "all the way to the store." (I realized after making this promise that I'm not quite prepared to maintain the starting speed all the way to the store.  I kept making excuses for why we had to slow down... Super Speedy might be the way that I whip myself into shape!)

It was raining when we left and I just assumed it would rain the entire time.  It did rain the entire time until the very end when I was running home.  The sun peaked out briefly and everything lit up and it was amazingly gorgeous.  I wish I had taken pictures.  When the sun shines here it's like a miracle.  I want to run around singing and twirling like what's her name in The Sound of Music.

After I stopped briefly at a drugstore to top-up my prepaid phone (add money to it) we crossed the street and went to Wandsworth Common to wander.  I let Vivi choose the pace and just followed her around.  It was a blast!  We found the most amazing pockets of what seems like wild, beautiful nature.  If I haven't gushed about Wandsworth Common yet, allow me to do so now in the form of pictures.

Huge fields where she can just take off and run 

Captivated by the swans.  "Those swans are shy."

I think they might be used to getting food from people.

Just so beautiful.

Chillin'

Next time I'm going to see where that path leads.

Wide open space.

Two playgrounds: one of big kids and one for little kids.

She's a happy camper.

 I have tried in the past to make the words that I write go in between the pictures and it ends up taking forever and getting super annoying.  After waiting for over 30 minutes for these pictures to upload I did not have the patience for it tonight.  Maybe in the future I will spend some time to figure out how to make it prettier.  

I made a friend today...

But there was a lot more to my day than that.  I don’t really even know what chronology to use to tell this story.  Maybe I’ll follow my old pattern of telling the story from morning to night (I’m getting a bit bored with that, though, so after this I’m going to switch it up).

On Saturday I ordered sheets, towels and a mattress pad from John Lewis, which is a local department store that delivers anything you order to a local grocery store and you can pick it up the next day.  The only reason I can think of that I did that rather than just have it delivered to my house is novelty.  I was excited that I could get something so quickly and pick it up just “down the street.”  I will never do that again.

This morning I thought that Vivi and I could leave early enough to make it to the post office and Waitrose (the local grocery store where my John Lewis goods were delivered) and home for me to throw our new sheets in the wash so that we could leave again to be back to the library by story time at 11.  I was wrong.  We started on our journey just after 9 a.m. and got to the library (which is literally next door to Waitrose) at 10:55 without going home in between.  The amount of time it takes to do anything right now is just bewildering.  Part of it is my attempt to not relegate Viv to her buggy every time we need to walk anywhere, but part is also just that things take a long time here and places are much farther apart than they seem. 

We had to stop by Royal Mail to pick up a parcel that was unsuccessfully delivered on Saturday.  Then we went to Waitrose to pick up our John Lewis order and a few groceries that I needed for dinner tonight.  When I saw the bags that were waiting for me from John Lewis I thought to myself, “well, this will be interesting.”  There were three huge bags.  I completely underestimated how enormous a mattress pad would be (I guess I ordered a particularly fluffy one). 

So, we arrived at story time with a buggy so weighed down with bags and groceries that I kept getting stares from people we passed on the way in.  Story time was a great success in that I made a friend, but weird in that the librarian insists on reading books about monsters scaring the crap out of little kids.  The books actually all ended with the monsters being real and the kids in the books being terrified.  Why, oh why, would you read books like that at a story time?  Vivi doesn’t know what monsters are yet, but all of 4 year olds did and I felt so bad for their parents!

Anyways…

Adults aren’t supposed to talk during story time but I broke the rules today.  The woman next to me had cute boots so I gave her a compliment and then we chatted periodically when there were breaks between books.  Afterwards we talked for about an hour while Vivian sat looking at books and her little boy ran around the library like a wild animal. Once a dad actually walked up to her and asked her if this little chap was hers because he had stolen his daughters drawing and was running around and wouldn’t give it back. Pretty funny and also not that cool, but we’ll deal with that later when I’m not so desperate for a human connection.

She gave me all kinds of advice about finding schools and why that’s important, which toddler/preschool activities are good and bad and what it’s been like for her since she’s moved to London (she’s also an expat – from Poland). 

After our conversation we said that we hoped we would see each other at another story time and then awkwardly said goodbye while we rounded up our stuff and kids.  I kind of just got brave and asked her if she would ever like to come over to our house and play.  I said that I don’t know if people do that here, but I would love to have them come over some time.  She got all smiley and said she would love it.  We exchanged numbers and then went our separate ways.  I was so excited! 

It made the incredibly uncomfortable walk home bearable.  Vivian had to walk and hold my hand, despite being hungry and exhausted, because the buggy was full of our recent acquisitions.  She was so tired that she kept falling down and hurting her knees.  It was raining that really misty kind of rain that gets in your face no matter which direction you face.  By the time we got to our street muscles in my arm that I’d never felt before were cramping up from trying to steer the heavy-laden buggy one-handed while steering Vivian with the other. 

I got home and felt frustrated but laughed it off because that seems to be my most familiar emotion these days. 

As soon as Vivi was in bed I sat down to eat the rest of her lunch and read a deliciously long email from one of my best friends.  I spent the next hour or so sobbing.  I don’t know that I’ve cried that thoroughly in 3 years.  Cheryl lived overseas for 7 or 8 years so she has lots of experience with international adjustments and the emotional roller coaster involved.  Her email detailed some of the things that I’ve been mentioning in my blog and how she can relate or appreciate where I’m coming from.  She told me about what’s going on in her life.  It was wonderful.  It made me feel understood.  It made me feel loved.  It made me feel desperately lonely. 

I sat at the table in our kitchen shaking with sobs during almost all of Vivi’s nap.  When she woke up I had done nothing on my to do list.  I have always hated when people say that there are just not enough hours in a day.  It makes me think that they a) manage their time poorly b) take on too much or c) just say that to get attention.  Well, I said that today.  I’m really trying to be a good mom in the midst of all of this too.  It’s hard.  My mom encouraged me and gave me some ideas of what to do with Viv, so this afternoon we made a cardboard house/fort (we have an overwhelming plethora of cardboard).  She loved it!  I am really going to try to do activities like this every day.  I at least want to try to make the tasks that I’m doing fun for her. 

The dinner I made tonight was supposed to be quick and easy but ended up taking forever.  At one point I spilled garlic powder into the new dish that I was trying.  I had thought that after having a good cry this afternoon I would feel all of the frustration and anger about little things lift or even evaporate.  Not so.  It's still very frustrating trying to dry King Sized (Queen in the US is called King here) sheets on a drying rack.  It's also still frustrating to cook dinner with a 2-year-old begging to be picked up and sticking her head in between your legs.  

I keep saying this type of thing, but maybe, just maybe things will get easier when... 

Our First Date!

Mark and I went on a date last night!  It was fantastic.  We actually used an internet babysitting service that was recommended by a few people to find a sitter.  She was ok.  Nothing fantastic, but what was fantastic was going out with Mark.

We walked through Wandsworth Common and found a cute little cafe that I am planning to try out with Vivian as soon as possible.  The Common itself is breathtaking.  Mark said that someone he was talking to said that Wandsworth is the best common in London.  I don't know if that's true, but it's definitely amazing.  There are wide open grassy spaces, a fishing pond, cricket fields, a bowling green, tennis courts, a huge playground, some of those exercise centres spread throughout the park and on top of it all just tons of wild nature.  It's enormous.  When we were walking around I just kept taking deep breaths and soaking it all in.  It's so nice to have access to nature like that living in the middle of a huge city.

After our stroll we went to a pub right across from the common called The Hope.  It was nothing special, but we weren't looking for anything special.  We were just dying to go to a regular old pub and have a conversation with each other.  Success!  We had so much fun that we're thinking of trying to go out again next weekend.  It's a bit lavish to go out two weekends in a row, but we might splurge anyways.

We're Back!

The internet was just installed!  I can't believe how excited I am.

More to come soon.  I have two weeks of posts in Word that I will put up once the novelty of the internet wears off.

Story-time at the Library

Tonight is our last day with no real internet connection.  I thought I might regret getting it after doing without for so long.  Not the case.  I’m thrilled to be reconnected!

Viv and I had a good day today.  We went to the library this morning for story time.  I was thinking it would be a good place to meet other moms, but I didn’t have any conversations.  It’s okay.  I know it takes time.  What I noticed in Oak Park is that you see the same people around town at different events if your kids are the same age.  After a while something will click.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll run into the lady from the bus again. 

Story time was great.  It’s really funny to read kids books here.  They’re written differently.  They use different words and speak in a bit of a different order.  Every time I read a book from here I feel like I should read it in a British accent.  I actually do use an accent every time someone talks.  It just makes more sense that way.

We finally placed our order for our bedroom furniture so it should be here next week.  Seems like an eternity.  At least we get our sofa bed from IKEA on Saturday so we can sleep on something besides an air mattress (and our guests should be happy about that too… I think it’s going to be pretty comfortable). 

This afternoon I was planning to take Vivian to Wandsworth Common to do jumping jacks in the grass and chase dogs, but it was raining and I wasn’t up for doing that in the rain.  We stayed home and had a lot of fun.  Since Mark wasn’t home for dinner (they had a trivia night event at work tonight) I didn’t cook so I had more time to play with her.   We read a book that we checked out from the library probably 17 times in a row and then we “played” in her playroom (I organized things while she pulled toys out and played with them).  We had popcorn for dinner (she had vegetable curry first).  I was hoping to watch Bridget Jones Diary on my laptop tonight but I can’t find it.  No problemo.  I’ll keep reading my book about Thomas Cromwell. 

No drama today.  Tomorrow our internet gets hooked up and our new smaller tv should arrive.  Tomorrow night I might be so busy being entertained that I won’t have time to write!

Roller Coaster

I almost didn’t write tonight.  It felt too much like an emotional roller coaster if I was honest, so I thought maybe I would write later and present a smoother picture of how I’m doing. 

But, the whole point of this blog is to record for myself, and for people who care about my family and me, what my reactions are to things.  Cheryl told me that she really wants to hear about my reactions to what I do and see and experience.  It’s not so much about what we do as how we feel about it (or I guess just me since I’m the only one writing).  So…

Today was mostly good.  Viv and I went to the library this morning and checked out the scene.  The library was a joke compared to the Oak Park library but, honestly, the library in Oak Park is ridiculous.  The library has what it’s supposed to have: books and storytimes.  We need to bring proof of our address in to get a library card and I’m really struggling to find proof of my address.  I hope my NHS (National Health Service) card will suffice.  Tomorrow there is a storytime at 11 so Viv and I are planning to go.  Maybe I’ll make a friend!

I was kind of expecting Viv to sleep at least 3 hours today.  Big mistake!  I should never EXPECT a nap to be long or I just create an impossible list of things to do and will never be satisfied with what I’m able to get done while she’s awake.  Today I even made the mistake of taking a shower during her nap with the plan of blow-drying and straightening my hair and maybe even putting on makeup.  Of course, I ended up clean with wet hair and no makeup.  I guess I just need to be thankful that I’m clean. 

She woke up happy but the rest of the afternoon was a bust.  I made vegetable curry for dinner for the first time and realized halfway through that I was missing two key ingredients.  “Running out to the store” is no longer an option so Vivi and I spent 45 minutes getting to and from the store (including gearing up in raincoats and umbrellas because it was raining of course).  As we were leaving I informed her that she needed to ride in the buggy because we were in a hurry.  She seemed to cooperate until I actually put her in the buggy and then it was shrieking, back-arching and kicking.  As I was fighting my screaming daughter into her buggy I noticed that one of her molars was actually poking through.  OK, I can be sympathetic to that.  I went and got her a little homeopathic thing that supposed to make her feel better and told her that if she was calm and quiet to the corner she could have a “crunchy ball.”  That quieted her down and she did okay until we got home from the store. 

So, this blog is supposed to be about my experiences in London, but right now my experiences are mostly just being a mom to a teething two-year-old who has been through a lot in the past few months.  Hopefully it’s not boring you to tears to read about all of this toddler drama, but this is the bulk of what I deal with daily. 

Ok, so when we got back she threw about 3 more screaming fits and then someone knocked on the door.  He was a charming young man trying to get me to support Save the Children.  I’m sure it’s a good cause, but mostly I just wanted to talk to someone, so I talked to him for quite a while.  It’s amazing the things that are highlights of my day now when before they would have been a nuisance.  At one point he said hi to Viv and she just laid her head on my shoulder and cried.  Poor thing is obviously struggling.  I know she’s struggling and I would love to just sit and cuddle her and calm her down but I have to finish my curry (which is not turning out well).  My phone has absolutely no network connectivity for some reason tonight so I’m in a black hole of communication.  Mark ended up being half and hour late so I was just here stirring my curry and trying to placate my screaming toddler. 

Not a great night.  I know it’s going to keep being a roller coaster but I keep thinking, “OK, I’m out of the woods now.  It’s all going to be good from here on.”  Maybe I should just stop saying that to myself.  And, also, maybe I should get some sleep.  I’m tired.  …But I am eating fruits and vegetables and exercising (walking), Mom…

Back to our old stomping grounds

Another wildly productive day!  Vivi took a 4-hour nap today, which is probably why she is in her bed jabbering to herself at 9:15 pm.  I got almost all of the stuff on my list done (I still have to file all of the papers and mail that we’ve gotten since our move).  I’m feeling better every day about the prospect of living in this house for a long time.  We’re getting routines down, and things that we ordered to make life a little easier are starting to come in.  I also realized that I was using our washing machine incorrectly so I think the next load of laundry I do may not be sopping wet when I pull it out (it has been taking our clothes 2 days to dry!!!).  We’ll see how that goes.

Viv and I took the train to go to our old flat in corporate housing because we got a parcel delivered.  It was a fun quick trip.  Vivi loved seeing some of her favorite landmarks like the golden ballerina on top of the Victoria Palace and of course the gate outside of Home Office. 

On the way home I didn’t realize that you have to push the button to open the doors on the train so I kept waiting for them to open, and by the time I realized what was going on the train was moving again.  Bummer.  It wasn’t a big deal though because the next stop is also really close to our house.  Honestly, this location is amazing!

Have I mentioned anything about sleep lately?  Since we’ve lived in London I feel like I don’t need as much sleep.  It’s really weird.  I wake up really early because the sun is up so early and then I don’t go back to sleep.  All day I feel generally pretty good and then at night I’m not that tired.  There might be some explanation but I don’t know what it is.  One of these days it will probably catch up with me and then I’ll be exhausted for days.  Maybe London just agrees with me.

Northcote Road

I am feeling really good right now.  I actually finished everything on my to do list today.  I honestly don’t know if that has ever happened.  Obviously I did not make my to do list the way that I normally do, and if you came to my house right now you’d know that my to do list for today did not include everything that needs to be done, but still.  Part of the reason I was able to accomplish so much was that Vivi slept for 3.5 hours!  It was amazing.  During her nap I made a menu for the week, ordered groceries (which took me about an hour… online grocery shopping is weird and not as convenient as I thought, but I’m guessing it gets easier), made lentil soup, cleaned the kitchen, and took care of some administrative stuff (emails etc).  That was after a fantastic morning with Vivian.

So, this morning I decided it would be a good day to go up to Northcote Road since our attempts to do so yesterday were thwarted by the lockout.  I killed two birds with one stone by going up to HomeBase to return an iron that we bought before we realized that we got a used iron from someone else.  The bus up to HomeBase goes right up Northcote Road so we got a preview on our way up.  At the bus stop I met a woman with an 18-month-old son.  She was very nice.  We talked about our kids, sat/stood near each other on the bus and talked about where we lived.  We were even chatting so much that I almost missed my stop.  When I got off the bus she said, “Nice to see you.  Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”  It was so sweet.  It kind of made me want to rip the doors of the bus open and ask her for her name and phone number so that we could meet up sometime.  In the split second I had to make the decision I decided against it.  It might be romantic in the movies if I was a dude, but in this situation would definitely just be really weird and desperate.  Bummer.  Maybe I will see her around.

On our way back from returning the iron we got off at Clapham Junction and just walked all the way home.  It was probably a long walk, but I don’t even know because I was so happy the whole time. 

The first thing I noticed when I got off the bus was Whole Foods.  Now, I’m not going to shop there because there is a great independent health food store much closer to my house that I’d rather support, but I must admit that it felt quite comforting to see.  I’m surprised that it made me feel that way.  Normally I really hate seeing chains from the US out here.  This was different.  It felt like home (I have spent a lot of time, and money of course, in Whole Foods).  As we walked south I also saw “TKMaxx.”  Yes.  Just like TJMaxx except with a K.  It was funny, but also comforting.  I have not shopped for clothes at all since we moved here because I don’t even know what to buy.  I’m still trying to figure out my London style. 

All along Northcote Road there are shops that interest me: shoes, clothes (cute clothes), kids everything, health food, honey and charity shops galore.  I absolutely love how many charity shops there are.  I haven’t even tried to shop for myself in one of these shops because the shops are just too small for me, Vivian, the buggy and anyone else that may be inside.  On my first free afternoon I will be there!

We ended up walking all the way home in the rain (it wasn’t supposed to rain, but of course it did).  Vivi got a bit discontented toward the end because she had jumped in so many puddles that she was soaked and muddy from the knees down.  Say what you will about me as a parent that I let her jump in puddles with a runny nose and cough.  One of these days I’ll know better.

Tonight we had our first family dinner in our new house.  Last week I only cooked once and we didn’t even eat together.  We would feed Viv, put her down and order food.  Terrible, but I just wasn’t prioritizing that over everything else that needed to be done.  Family dinner was great.  Vivi ate more lentil soup than I thought she could physically fit into her body and chatted the whole time about experiences that she’s had over the past week or so.  It is so amusing to notice which experiences stick in her memory. 

Now, I’m sitting in the little eating area at the farmhouse table that we paid the previous tenants far too much for, drinking cinnamon tea from a teacup with a saucer, listening to the dishwasher running and watching it get slowly (very slowly) dark outside in our garden.  I’m happy.

A productive Sunday

It’s an interesting thing about blogging the way that I am.  I have started to think through my experiences during the day in terms of how I’ll characterize them in my blog.  The characterization of the experience changes depending on the minute that I record it.  Not that it changes so drastically that it would be unrecognizable moment to moment, but it does make me realize how much emotion goes into the processing of these experiences.  I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly stable and logical person.  Now that I’m writing a blog, which people beside myself read, it makes me feel like an emotional roller coaster.  One day I’m ecstatic, the next I’m in the depths of despair (little Anne of Green Gables reference there for you). 

Today was just one of those days.  We didn’t go to church.  We have so much to do and since we’re not in the habit it becomes very difficult to make the decision to go to church rather than do all of the things you have to get done.  I’m serious about wanting to go and once we’re a bit more settled. I really look forward to going!

We got a lot done today.  Mark let me sleep in which was amazing.  I was getting sick but it’s not manifesting into a full-blown cold so I might escape it.  We rearranged some furniture so that now Vivi can actually play in her playroom without us fearing that an 8-foot bookcase will fall on her.  Mark switched the refrigerator door for me - that is just one of those things that makes life seem to make more sense.  We also ordered tons of stuff.  A sofa bed for the guest room, bathroom storage so that we can unpack the bazillion boxes of bathroom stuff that is currently in the guest room (why do we have so much bathroom stuff? Seriously it’s out of control).  We ordered a vacuum, a tv, an electric kettle, a Brita water filter and some patio furniture.  Once we get the bedroom furniture ordered and delivered we might actually start feeling like we live here. 

It is amazing to me how exciting these things are.  It signifies to me the possibility of feeling settled and normal enough to start going out and making friends.  That will be a very happy day… when I make a friend.  I know it sounds like kindergarten or something, but it’s true.  Having someone to talk to besides Mark will be a very good thing!

This afternoon we decided we would go up to Northcote Road to check out what everyone is talking about (apparently it's a hopping place).  As we were loading up I assured Mark that he didn't need his wallet or keys because I had mine... Only I didn't.  My purse wasn't on the buggy where it usually is and I closed the door right as I realized I didn't have keys.  So, we were locked out.  That definitely ruined our evening plans.

Mark ended up staying home waiting outside the door for a locksmith while Vivi and I walked over to the Common to play on the grass.  We actually had a great time. Vivi chased dogs all over the place and we tried to do some jumping jacks together.  It was fantastic.  I'm looking forward to playing with her in the common again!

A Lovely Saturday

We have been here a week and things have definitely improved.  Today we got the bikes outside and covered with a tarp so I don’t have bikes in the kitchen/eating area anymore.  Our clothes are on very narrow bookshelves and our hanging clothes are all over the place, but we’ve narrowed down what furniture we’re buying and just have to wait until Monday to place the order.  It should be in our room full of clothes by Wednesday. 

We went tv shopping tonight so Mark is feeling good about that aspect of things.  To be honest I’m perfectly happy watching movies on the computer monitor that Mark hooked up to the xbox.  I don’t need a 40 inch flat screen, but they are quite pretty.  Sometime around the 18^th of July we’re picking up our couch, Vivi’s chest of drawers and two blanket chests to be used in the living room.  Right about the beginning of August we should start to feel pretty settled.  I am feeling much better, but I think that will feel fantastic.  I should check my expectations again, though.  I keep getting burned by getting too excited about stuff. 

This morning we were walking around and found this amazing charity shop (thrift store) with only kids stuff.  We bought all of these great clothes for Vivian and almost bought a bunch of toys but decided that she’s doing okay for now especially with her kitchen sitting in a box waiting to be put together (we decided to wait until the novelty of her old toys reappearing wears off before we introduce that awesome new toy). 

This afternoon we took the overland train into Victoria station, which is really close to where we lived in corporate housing.  It took 5 minutes to walk to the train station and 12 minutes to get to Victoria from there.  That is really fast.  I was taking the bus down here from there and it took an hour.  Good to know!  We can get to a lot of stuff pretty quickly that way and it is just around the corner (but far enough that we don’t hear it). 

We’ve been vegan for almost 3 weeks now (well, technically probably not because we ordered some “vegan” Indian dishes, but I’m pretty sure they had ghee in them).  Today I decided I really wanted to eat some eggs, so I did and I felt fantastic!  I have been a bit on the grumpy side since we moved here and after I ate those eggs I was in the best mood.  I think my body was pretty happy with me about that.  We’re going to slowly transition back to eating more animal products, but to be honest we’ve been enjoying this quite a bit.  Mark has had some quite positive things to say about it, but I don’t want to speak for him.  If he is interested in writing about his experience, you can hear it straight from him.

Walk-In Centre

This morning I woke up with a sore throat.  Great!  I’m going to be sick all weekend.  I think I have what Vivi has.  It doesn’t affect adults as intensely, but it’s still going to be unpleasant I’m sure. 

I went in for my blood test at a walk-in center not too far away.  It was one of our options for our GP but the ratings for the one I chose were slightly higher and it’s closer to our house so I went with that.  I’m happy with my choice.  Not because my experience today was terrible, but because I like our place a bit better.  It’s slightly smaller and warmer. 

When I arrived at the walk-in center (I think I should say centre… I think that’s what they do here, but I’m not 100% sure) I was told to take a number and wait for my number to be called.  In this place there is a number screen next to the screen that shows the names of people and which rooms they should go to.  I was number 93.  Shortly after I sat down 92 flashed on the screen and a few minutes later I was up.  I went into the room, handed the guy my paperwork (which had been given me by my doctor the day before) and sat down to get my blood taken.  We were probably there less than 20 minutes total.  Not a bad experience at all.  My results will be available in 5 days.  Not too shabby. 

After the trip to the walk-in centre, Viv and I walked home and the rest of the day she was on a rampage.  I think she woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something.  I realized there are a few areas where I allow there to be a power struggle with her when there doesn’t need to be one.  I am struggling with the balance between letting her have some control and not letting her control me.  I’m afraid this is only going to get harder…

We're alive

I'm sorry that I wrote such a bummer of a post and the disappeared for a week.  We have moved into our new house and don't have wifi set up.  We didn't realize that it takes at least two weeks to get someone to come to your house just to reconnect a service that the previous tenants were using.  Our property manager said that's just the way things work here. 

I have been blogging daily in a word document and will post them once we get wifi.  I am currently huddled in a corner of our upstairs bedroom with one of those cell phone USB sticks connected to Mark's old work laptop so that I can check my email and assure my mom that I'm okay. 

We have had lots of great new experiences that I will be writing about: first doctor's visit, driving in London for the first time, buying furniture, customer service.  It's been "fun."

Thanks for all of the emails that I've gotten from concerned friends and family.  It means so much to me that you are reading and staying in touch.  It makes me feel so loved!

At the doctor

Today was a great day.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping.  Several people came over to the house to fix things that were broken and we went to the doctor.  I had quite a bit of contact with the outside world!

The plumber and handyman were quite pleasant.  They were helpful in explaining some of the things that I didn’t quite understand about how things work here.  The plumber explained a bit but I kind of glazed over.  It was really weird.  The handyman didn’t really educate me about anything in particular.  We talked about the weather and I learned that this is actually a terrible summer weather-wise.  It’s been rainy and cold and usually it’s a bit drier.  It’s not been too terrible in my mind, so I guess it’s a good way to start out. 

Vivi is doing much better.  She slept straight through the night and woke up with not too much of a cough. 

This afternoon we went to the doctor.  We had back-to-back appointments with the same doctor and were allotted 10 minutes each.  It sounded crazy to me.  How could you get done everything that needed to be done in 10 minutes?  I came organized.  I had my medical records for Vivian, her vaccination records, my most recent blood tests explaining that I was malnourished and our NHS numbers. 

We didn’t need to bring our NHS numbers.  They already had them.  I may have already explained this, but I’m going to go through it again, because I know a lot of people are interested in this particular aspect of our life here. 

When I arrived I checked in at a self-serve computer.  I entered my day and month of birth and that I was female and the computer told me to sit in the waiting room until I was called.  The waiting room was pretty big but not insane.  There was a large screen tv playing videos of people explaining how they knew they had diabetes.  They also had one about contraception but I could barely hear it.  Above the tv was a sign that would flash the name of the patient and which room they should go to when it was their turn.  It also showed a message stating that if you do not want your name on the sign to inform the receptionist.  No one here knows me so I didn’t care. 

My name flashed up on the sign and told me to go to Room 11.  When I walked down the hall the doctor was standing at the door waiting for me.  It was nice.  She was very friendly and we got right to business.  She asked me my issues and I explained them and we just started going down the list.  She gave me a prescription for Vivian’s skin rash and an order for two blood tests for me.  The nurse could tell me what to do from here.  It all took almost exactly 20 minutes.  She was very nice with Vivian, very thorough in addressing my needs but nothing more.  I asked about well-child visits or pediatrician visits in the UK.  They don’t do them.  They have appointments for shots and then you come in whenever there is a problem. 

To be honest, I was really impressed.  Everything was efficient and thorough and I wasn’t kept waiting at all.  I told the doctor that I thought it was efficient and thorough compared to my experiences in the US and she said, “maybe…sometimes” with a smile.  Maybe if I have a real serious health problem my perspective will change.

After we left we went to the chemist (pharmacist) down the street to get Vivi’s prescription filled.  We paid nothing.  Apparently you don’t pay anything for children.  That’s nice!  The chemist was very nice and explained how to use the prescriptions and answered all of my questions quite patiently.  Once again, I was impressed.  Tomorrow I go for my blood tests.  We’ll see if my perspective changes.

After leaving the chemist we took a leisurely stroll home and passed a store that had little potties in the window.  Vivi freaked out.  She is dying to get potty-trained.  I know I should just jump on it and start the process, but it’s quite isolating for at least a week and really puts a damper on your mobility for even longer.  I wish I was more excited about her excitement, I just feel like it’s yet another obstacle in the way of me meeting people and getting settled.  I know I just need to suck it up and train the girl.  Maybe we’ll start next week.  I need to mentally prepare first (and get my phone working so I can call my mom). J  She’s a potty training expert!

Happy Fourth of July!

Vivi had croup last night so we were up almost all night long trying to keep her calm and breathing.  We succeeded!  As a result Mark stayed home from work today which is good because our property manager dropped by for a bit to check into the things that we had asked about.  It was really nice of her to come over and we’re so glad she did!  Tomorrow we now have a plumber coming to fix the heater (since it’s hot water heat the plumber has to take care of it) and a handyman coming to re-grout the tub, fix the tiles on the front porch, and fix a bunch of other little problems.  It pays to be the squeaky wheel sometimes!

Yesterday I had internet access for a bit because Mark was home.  The IT guys at work gave him a little device which connects your laptop to the cell phone waves.  It worked okay for a little while it one corner of our bedroom right near the windows.  I used that time to assure my mom that I was okay, order groceries and do limited research on Amazon about what we needed to buy.  Then it stopped working.  Luckily the grocery order is placed though!  With a sick girl, constant rain and no internet having groceries and cleaning supplies will be a plus!

Today is the Fourth of July.  I have thought about it a few times but haven’t wanted to dwell.  It’s my favorite holiday hands-down.  I love grilling and staying up late to watch the fireworks.  I love the picnics on blankets in the grass with my family and friends.  I love the celebration of summer and the fireflies (in the Midwest).  I love the excuse to spend the time with the people you love. 

Nobody here mentioned it today.  In fact, Mark and I only mentioned as we were saying goodnight.  We did get a call from Mark’s parents saying Happy Fourth of July but couldn’t actually talk because our phone is not connected to the internet.  I just know they called because I was able to check my email and see the transcript of their voicemail. 

A few times today I’ve had mild waves of panic about living here and longing for the day when we can move back, but I also just started to feel today that I might really love living in this house.  I’m an emotional roller coaster.  I hope there is someone out there who can confirm that I’m not crazy… this is all normal. 

Tomorrow Vivi and I have our first appointments with our doctors.  They are just initial examinations and are scheduled for 10 minutes each so I’m not sure that they’ll be at all thorough, but at least we’re getting started.  I’ll have a health-care dedicated post tomorrow.

Productivity with no internet

I have gotten so much done today.  Mark went back to work this morning and it rained all day long so Viv and I just stayed home and played and worked.  I was able to get our bedroom reasonably ordered by putting clothes onto bookshelves.  It made me feel SO much better.  I broke down all of the boxes and stuffed the leftover packing material into one huge box.  I cleaned and organized the second reception room (which we don’t know what to do with yet… playroom? Library? Dining room?) I took loads of stuff down to the cellar.  I did two loads of laundry (this machine is really bad about getting the clothes dry enough to air dry at a reasonable rate).  I took a shower.  Vivian and I went for a walk.  We played with play-dough.  I caught up on my blogs for the past few days. 

I would have not gotten any of this done if I had internet access because I would have been placing orders for all of the stuff we “need.”  It’s funny because there is a lot of stuff that we need to buy, but I also realized how much stuff we put on a ship to move across the ocean to our new home that is just ridiculous.  We have WAY more clothes than we need or will wear.  We have the most astounding amount of bathroom stuff that I don’t even know how to respond to it. We have no bathroom storage so I think we’ll probably just throw stuff away.   It’s funny to me that I’m one minute moaning because we don’t have everything purchased that we need and the next minute lamenting how much we have.  Oh the irony. 

A fortuitous thing happened today.  The postman knocked and asked if he could leave a package because our next-door neighbors weren’t home.  I said I didn’t know them, but wouldn’t mind.  When I went over to drop if off the woman who answered appeared to be my age.  Her name is Kat and she has a baby boy 6 months old.  She said she would knock on my door sometime to have me come for coffee.  I’m not getting my hopes up because those kinds of things rarely actually happen, but it does make me believe that it might not be quite as difficult as I’ve been told to make friends.  Even if she doesn’t invite me, I will probably invite her.  At least I know she’s up for it.  Now I just need to get a coffee maker, coffee, cream, sugar… Lots of work to do.

Mark is on his way home and I’ve done nothing to prepare for dinner so I need to run.  

Getting Settled

Today we rented a ZipCar again to go up to Hampstead to pick up the first load of stuff that I have bought from people who are moving (through friends of friends).  When we mapped it out in the morning we realized it was going to take us at least an hour to get up there and they had us going through Trafalgar Square!  That was insane.  So, we took a chance and went out and around central London and hoped we made it.  We did!  I think we did quite well. 

I wasn’t so scared today and did a pretty good job navigating, although on the way back I kept getting turned around because we were going south.  It was really frustrating.  I think I was in my own head over-thinking what was happening.  I can do that from time to time.  

We picked up our stuff and on the way home went past a Homebase (kind of like Home Depot plus housewares).  There is so much stuff that we have to buy but now that I know that you can go on Amazon and read reviews I have a hard time just buying something based on the way it looks at the store.  I’m a review addict!  So once again, we got home and don’t actually have the stuff we need or a connection to the internet and a way to order it.  AH!!!

When we got back we had to head over to the furniture store in Balham to order the stuff we decided we were going to buy.  When we got there we opened the doors and drawers again and realized it’s not only inexpensive… it’s really cheap.  It was way worse quality than IKEA.  The problem is that it’s so much cuter than the stuff from IKEA.  Ever since being in London I have really noticed the attention to aesthetics that are generally paid here.  I love it.  I want to be surrounded by beauty all the time.  I want to sit in my bedroom in a little reading nook that I’m dying to create and feel like I’m in a calm, serene and beautiful place.  Our bedroom in Oak Park was the last place we needed to decorate so I never really wanted to hang out in there.  This place is already beautiful and I want to enjoy it.  So, we didn’t buy anything… again.  We went shopping all weekend and ended up with a toy kitchen, two lamps, some laundry baskets and an ironing board.  Mark felt like it was a very successful weekend because we got so much done.  I feel the opposite.  If I can’t check it off my list I feel like we didn’t get anything done. 

When we left the furniture store I was super bummed out.  I really wanted to get something done and feel settled.  I really want to feel settled.  We have been unsettled for so long.  I long for routine and simplicity.  I long to feel like my life is boring.  When we were leaving Chicago I told my friends to keep me posted on how they’re doing and a few of them said something about their boring lives.  That is not at all how I see it.  Normal life is awesome.  I am not complaining about my life.  I am very thankful that we have this opportunity.  I am glad that we’re here and I feel very fortunate to have this experience.  I just recognize the beauty in a bit of predictability in life.  Having a home that’s in order, a schedule that you know and understand and especially a community of people around you to spend time with is amazing.  It’s something to be appreciated and treasured.