Learning to Drive Again

Driving on the wrong side of the road is very disconcerting. Americans tend to knock off the passenger side mirrors on cars and that's exactly what I did first chance I got. We borrowed T's car and on the way back to the apartment, I knocked the side mirror. Fortunately, they are collapsible. Unfortunately, they don't like to be collapsed hard and fast. So we are currently bidding on one on EBay. Otherwise it's going well. I've gotten used to driving on the other side of the road and don't nearly make as many cringing faces while driving down congested streets.

Yup, that's what I'm driving. It's insane I know, but that's why I said T is very very nice and it has been a great help not to have to ride the bus. Especially on days like today when I forgot to bring Little Man's gym clothes and have to run back to the school. Very nice car. Mercedes C200 Sports Coupe 2002.

School Days

Here's Little Man's first day at school.

And Lady Jane's first day at nursery.

These were two different days. After Little Man had been going to school for about a week and talking to T that weekend at Millhouses Park, I took Lady Jane to visit the nursery class on Monday of last week. She enjoyed it and it gives her some time to make new friends. We decided to have her go for a half day and a full day. Really, England is made for stay at home moms. They now get 9 months maternity leave and are able to go back to their jobs. The amount of Toddler groups is astonishing. You can go to a different one everyday of the week. Lady Jane and I have been to 2 different ones and they're very nice but they are mostly younger children who aren't going into Reception in the fall and are likely to be in Nursery for a year prior to Reception. Translation, the kids aren't exactly Lady Jane's age. Also it tends to be random play and Lady Jane is quite happy to play alone. She's got Phil and my introvert gene.

Add to Lady Jane's lack of playmates, mommy's feeling of being constantly stuck with a little monster (she's going through a "phase" and she better get over it soon), we decided that instead of tossing her in the deep end in the fall that we'd start her in the wading pool this spring. Besides the fact that she was insanely displeased that she wasn't getting her uniform dress until the fall. Fortunately they have some they lend out, so as the weed will probably grow a few more inches over the summer, we will still only have to buy one dress.

We did have to buy some shoes and one word ouch. The shoes were all about 26 - 28 pounds. Note the conversion rate is $2 for 1 GBP. Yeah, 50 bucks for kids shoes. She does have room to grow and we didn't have a lot of choice in the matter as she needed them immediately. They are really nice shoes and quality made and will last for at least a few decades. Of course she'll grow out of them within the year but hey who's counting.

Lady Jane's Flirtation

Everyday we would get to the school early to pick up Little Man (about 40 minutes early, bus is every 30 minutes). I'd let Lady Jane go wild on the school play equipment. At about 3:15 we move to the courtyard to wait for Little Man. Starting on Monday, a little boy, Louis, has been getting there at the same time. Louis asks his mummy if he can play with Lady Jane. She says he'll have to ask Lady Jane. Lady Jane is completely oblivious and doesn't hear Louis ask her to play. I tell Lady Jane that the little boy would like to play with her. They look at each other and decide to play hide and seek in a small courtyard with benches and cloakrooms off to the side. They take turns beautifully with Lady Jane running and hiding behind a bench while Louis watches. Then Louis turns hides his eyes and counts to ten. He turns around looks directly at Lady Jane and then heads in the opposite direction to look behind a different bench and says "Not here." After looking around, knowing all along where she is, he wonders over and says "Found you." Then it's her turn to count and his turn to hide. He hides in the same spot she does while she looks on. She runs to some random point, hides her eyes and begins to count. They continue in this fashion for the entire 15 minutes.

This has happened everyday for the past three days. They don't seem to get board of playing this game. Today they were actually looking forward to seeing each other. We drove (YEAH! More on that later) and so I made sure we would get there at about quarter past three. Gotta go, Lady Jane wants to play Cooties (apparently a veneral disease here similar to Crabs). Guess we won't be asking people to come over and play Cooties.

Weekend Update

Alright, so we had a slightly problematic day at school on Friday. Little Man got a bit overwhelmed when 4 girls started asking him questions all at the same time. On top of that he hadn't been getting good sleep. So he had a bit of a breakdown where he wanted to be left alone. So I got in a cab and went to school. He was doing better when I got there so he stayed, no other problems.

Saturday, we met with Little Miss's mother, T, and went over to Millhouses Park. The kids had a lot of fun though they barely played with each other. It was great talking with T, she is super nice. So nice in fact that when I mentioned I didn't have a car, she said she had one that they were thinking of selling and that I could use it (more on that later). The park is huge and has a cafe where the kids got ice creams. Phil lost his wallet. We figured he'd left it at home when he laid down for a bit. He had a bit of a scare with Lady Jane, who has gotten wholey unruly and disobediant. I'll leave that to him if he wants to talk on it. We had a great time playing and then headed home. Phil couldn't find his wallet at home either and headed back to the park. I ended up looking again for it and found it in the closet on the shelf.

Sunday, we headed out to the peak district with Phil's co-worker and his wife, J&R, and R's brother and their daughter, O. We played at a park in Hathersage and then went on a walk through the hill side.

Don't you wish you were here.

We'll gladly take you all around the hillsides if you want to visit.

Little Man and Lady Jane passed the time by collecting wild flowers.

Sorry not forgetful scientist, absent minded professor syndrome. Thanks, Mom.

Casanova in the Making

On Tuesday, Little Man started school. He was very excited about starting and had no qualms about going at all. So Lady Jane and I headed over to the Tuesday Toddler group. Lady Jane played with the toys around all the other kids and I talked with the other mothers. It was really nice. There's also swimming which we might do in a few weeks. We both had fun and got a few numbers of some people to play with. We rode the bus home and then turned around about 2:30 and rode the bus back to collect Little Man. While we were at home we walked to the Children's Resource Center in City Centre and got some info. Little Man had a great day. He brought home a picture of his first day. Apparently he's been partnered with a girl for most the day. He said he kinda liked her but couldn't remember her name. He has problems with people's names. So we read his books that he brought home and went to bed.

Yesterday was the first morning we rode the bus to school. No problems getting there. Though it's not much fun trying to get two kids and a stroller on the bus at the stop. While dropping off Little Man I mentioned to the teacher that we weren't able to find the shoes at Woolworth's. She asked Christopher's mother where she had got them. I told her I was staying near City Centre and didn't have a car. She said she had to go to Meadowhall anyway and that she would be willing to pick up some. Excellent. So we head back uphill to the bus stop and wait again. We then turn around and wait at the bus stop in the afternoon. Lady Jane fell asleep on the bus again. Try carrying a sleeping almost 4 year old and a stroller off a bus. Not fun. This was the second time she did this to me. The first time I didn't get a good hold on her and she was falling out of my grip all the way down the aisle. This time I picked her up a few stops before our stop and settled her against me before picking up the stroller. We arrive a bit early to pick up Little Man, so we went up to the front of the school and played on the equipment up there for a while. I met up with a few of the other parents who have been friendly. I got a listing of all the children in Little Man's class and their phone numbers from one mom (mum here). And I got the shoes for Little Man. Oh, and the little girl stopped by to ask if Little Man can come over and play this weekend. I said that should be fine, but forgot to ask her name. I asked Little Man and he'd forgotten again, so I told him to go ask. Go Casanova. He's in England for almost two weeks and he's already smitten. Of course I had to keep reminding him of her name. Hmmm. Let's call her Little Miss. Forgetful scientist syndrome runs in Phil's family.

By the time we make it up the hill, the bus is pulling away. It's an every 30 minute route so we headed over to Ecclesall Library for a bit to wait for the next one. We head over to Tesco when we get home which is always so much fun. NOT! We take the stroller because God forbid Lady Jane actually walk anywhere. However, in this case it's actually nice because the bags go on the handles to head home. But all they have are baskets and very small aisles. Little Man has to push Lady Jane while I carry a basket that gets awful heavy, awful fast.

This morning Lady Jane spent 10 minutes screaming and crying at the bus stop. Oh, and hitting me because she couldn't get her way. Isn't that fabulous behavior for the middle of a busy street? We finally arrive at the school and we got to meet the Little Miss's mother who mentioned that Little Miss would like to have Little Man over this weekend. Apparently she's fairly smitten as well. I think he might have met his match. Her mom said that Little Man smiles at her when they are in line for lunch. It's so cute.

This isn't his first crush. He liked a couple of girls at home as well.

I still haven't found the card reader for the pictures. I swear I'll look harder today.

The Blackhole of Apartments

Apparently, this apartment has an appetite for small useful things. Thus far we've lost the garage fob for the apartment building and now my compact flash reader. So all the photos I took of Chatsworth House are currently stuck on the card. As soon as I find that blasted cf reader I'll post pictures.

This is one photo from Phil's camera. I think I took it, but I have tons from inside on my camera. If I could only get them onto the computer . . . We got Little Man's school uniform this morning and he starts tomorrow. He has swimming tomorrow. The lady that showed us around is going to get me some information for either dance or gymnastics class for Lady Jane. We'll see if the bus gets us there on time tomorrow.

On Square Bowls, Tiny Washer/Dryers and Annoying Makka Pakka

I had thought to get some new dishes for Christmas, but could never find a pattern I was happy with. Corelle had a nice dark blue stoneware with square plates and square bowls. I could only find them online and wanted to see them in person before committing. I am so glad I didn't get them! We have square bowls and square plates here in our temporary apartment. 4 large plates, 4 small plates and 4 bowls. I have to do dishes daily. On to the square bowls. The plates aren't really an issue, but the bowls don't load well into the dishwasher. AT ALL! If I were to have a set of eight and had used them all there wouldn't be enough room for all of them. They just don't fit well.

It's 2:30 pm and I've been working on laundry since before 11:00 am. I have a total of one load done and just started load 2. No I didn't leave and go shopping or something. As soon as the load was done I started the next. I have no idea if I've ruined the kids clothes (meaning shrunk) until they try them on. I got about a third of the clothes I normally get in my Duet and that only takes 30-40 minutes to complete the wash and then an additional 30-40 for the dryer. But while your drying the first load, you get to wash the second load. I miss my Duet. Sigh.

Ah, Makka Pakka. And you thought the Tella Tubbies were annoying. Welcome to In the Night Garden. A place where the creepy Makka Pakka, the long lost Tella Tubbie, annoys the crap out of the narrator, three style challenged dolls, another doll resembling medusa (only not so pretty) and what appears to be a blue gumby. Freaky Cbeebies. I keep expecting to come back and find my kids staring raptly at the screen in a coma like that episode in Angel where he becomes a puppet. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/inthenightgarden/ Where we have a lot of cartoon characters, Cbeebies tends to have more adults and puppets.

Another Day

The kids and I rode the bus down to the apartment we're looking at tomorrow. It's right next to the library, so we went in and read a few books. Then we walked down to the private school Little Man will start at next week. It took about 10 minutes to walk from the bus stop which is right next to the apartment. I'll have more on the apartment tomorrow after viewing it.

Tonight is generally our gaming night. We get together with a group of friends and play ...hmmm... should I admit it in writing?..... okay ..... D&D. This is one of the things we will miss most. Not only was it a night away from the kids (which would be nice right about now) but it was time to spend with friends and try to make them spew various things out their noses. The last couple of sessions have been giggle fests. Have fun without us guys. Blow some chili out your nose for us.

Supertram

So today we got an all day pass on the Supertram and went out to the mall after having chocolate muffins from Greggs in City Centre. We ate outside and the shop with what started out as 5 pigeons. The kids didn't think anything of the birds. But after I tossed a bit of muffin to the pigeons, we soon had a following. We attracted two more before we were done and I had to insist to the kids to not feed the birds right after I would throw a small chunk. Hypocrite, I know. We got on the Supertram and headed out to the mall. We walked around and finally bought a Tomtom One Great Britain. We also had lunch at Burger King. Did I mention that today was a holiday in England.

We headed back to the apartment where Phil worked for a while and the kids watched some TV. We decided to head out to Phil's work to grab some stuff that we brought over in January. However, we couldn't find the garage key. We've been here a total of three days and haven't left the parking garage, but somehow we managed to lose the garage key. We looked for well over an hour before I called the office and they brought the spare. We have yet to locate the blasted thing.

So after that we headed down to City Centre again to have dinner at Pizza Hut. Yup, tastes the same. Though when I asked for some tomato sauce with my pizza, they brought out Ketchup. I had to explain that I wanted pizza sauce and they brought some cold. Oh, well. We took the Tram back to the apartment, loaded up the Mini-van and headed to Phil's work with the help of our Tomtom guide Jane. Not to be confused with Lady Jane who fell asleep in the back. We managed to get our stuff out of storage and then tried to go to Morrisons and Woolworth, but both were closed. So tomorrow, I get to try to locate the missing garage key, take my two ornery kids to Boots and Tesco and we'll still need to run to Woolworth and Morrisons. Right now, I need to get my kids to sleep. It's an hour past bed time. Brats.

Jetlag, What Jetlag
Fun with Appliances

It's 7:30 pm. We just finished our Easter dinner of chicken breasts and green beans. Of course, before we could cook the chicken we had to figure out the oven. Turns out it's a convection oven and we found the instruction manual on the internet (Thank goodness for free wi-fi, it costs 20 pounds a day at the Hilton). I mean look at these controls.

Sorry for the tilt but this is the washer/dryer. It fits four towels. We have Whirlpool Duets at home. Extra large capacity. Oh, and there are drying racks too since the dryer isn't that great. Again the controls require reading the manual.

It's been insane. We went for a walk around city centre this afternoon. It's been pretty good weather here. Warm enough for a light jacket. Most of the shops were closed except for the video game store and the electronics store. Heathens. So we went in and looked around. We picked up Monster House for the kids and looked at the Sat Nav systems. Then we spent some time this afternoon looking on the internet for comparisons of the systems we saw. Tomorrow we're thinking of taking the Tram out to the mall to look at the systems out there. We also need to go to Woolworth's and pick up some stuff.

Still Learning Please forgive me. Here are the photos of our "hotel-like" apartment.

No Sleep for the Weary

It is 2:15 pm here in Sheffield and Phil and I have yet to sleep. We widdled our checked baggage down to 11 bags and after two very embarrassing spills in the Yellow P section of the airport parking garage in St Louis, made it through the airports with little to no issues at least on the baggage end. BTW, I always park in Yellow P. It's a little disgusting but you always remember where you parked. Besides I get to chuckle when I tell people that I parked in Yellow P. Anywho, so, we check in early and find out that all flights to Chicago are delayed by a few hours. We had a 2 hour layover in Chicago to make our flight to Manchester. So the delay really could have screwed us over. We got on Standby for the flight right before ours and got on and it ended up leaving a bit after when our flight should have took off. So instead of having time to get the kids food at the airport we boarded our flight. Cool thing about BMI airline is they had a chef on board. He personally comes around to ask the Business and First Class what they would like off the menu. They were able to cook the chicken without the mushrooms for Little Man and grilled cheese for Lady Jane.

The kids slept well on the flight and surprisingly Phil and I got a good bit of rest as well, which we would need to get through customs and immigration and beyond. We had very little trouble getting through immigration and claimed our 11 bags and with Little Man wheeling Lady Jane's stroller while carrying a barf bag (just in case) we made it to National rental. We were relying on National to have Sat Nav systems which are essential in England. Well, they stopped doing that. So after getting our Zafira (Yes, it's a minivan. We had ELEVEN bags. It was forced upon us.), Phil loaded it and stuffed it and then we had to figure out how to get to Sheffield. Phil wondered back into the Airport to find maps. It's a pretty straight shot to Sheffield and we made it, but we didn't have a detailed Sheffield map and got lost trying to find the apartment building.

Currently, Phil is off hunting and gathering and the kids are watching CeeBeeBee's which is kinda freaky and playing the new DS game. Of course not together. Yeah, wireless internet connection for free, kitchen and washing machine. We're across the street from a really cool old building. Lots of detail in what looks like tile. I need a nap, man. I'm tyred. Freaky CeeBeebee's, freaky.

Two More Days, Someone hand me the barf bag

I feel like you do right before you have to get up in front of a large audience and give a prepared speech without notes. Seriously this sucks. I'm freaking out about everything. I'm too nervous for words though the above statement should give you a clue. We are moving to an entirely different country!!!! We're leaving everything we've ever known!!!! Somebody (okay I was about to say "slap me" but given that I'm likely to see someone who reads this blog I'll think better of it) ummm......not slap me.......? I'm a little anxious. The movers come tomorrow. I've got laundry in the washer and dryer. I need to finish packing up everyone. I need to write the labels for the bag. (I got ladybugs and teddybear labels for our TWELVE bags). I've got to put away everything that isn't going with us. AHHHHHHH! I got our mobile phone topped up. There's the apartment that looks promising that we can't see until the 12th which is fine. Little Man needs uniforms for his school. I'm so going to hurl. I'm going to a hair appointment this afternoon. I've got a hundred things to do and I'm sitting writing on my blog!?!?! What am I thinking.......