On Cameras and Actual Pictures

Okay, so maybe I'm not as organized as I need to be. This morning I packed Little Man's outfit for his dance performance in his bag and set it next to the door. Once the kids and I got into the hallway and I was locking the door, I realized I'd forgotten something. So I unlocked the door and went back inside for the check I'd written for after school care. We got down the elevator and out the front door before I realized I'd forgotten his outfit. Nevermind we'll get it later.

Got down to school dropped Little Man off at his class and came back outside. There was something I had wanted to check when I got to school. What was it again? Oh, yeah, when was the school uniform shop open? This morning, fantastic. I was headed that way when Helen caught up with me. She was going to check it out as well since Vincent was starting with Lady Jane in Reception in the fall. I got everything Lady Jane will need (will take pictures in the fall. The hat is so cute!) for the fall. And got Little Man the overcoat he'll need for winter. Okay, just make sure you are sitting for this and consider that the average child will outgrow the uniform every one or two years. I paid a grand total of 296 pounds for Lady Jane's uniform and Little Man's coat. Converted to dollars that's $591.

Okay, now that you've recovered and closed your mouth. That is nonreimbursable from Phil's company. Out of our pockets, yuck. Private school's not looking so hot, but for the education my kids are getting it really is worth it. Okay, back to my day. So then Helen and I took the kids to Millhouses Park. Remember this is the park that was flooded on Monday and where an older boy died. The water had risen all the way up to the swings which are several yards away from the backs of the almost creek like river. The swings were all taken down and the kids spent their time playing on the wooden sets on the other side of the park.

We went to the cafe at the park (most parks in England have a cafe which has tea, cakes and ice cream). The kids had ice cream. Helen then dropped us off at home. We watched Quantum Leap (it's on at 11 or 12 everyday), had lunch and then ran Little Man's outfit down to the cloak room. We came home and tidied up.

At 2:45 we headed down to Little Man's dance & drama recital sans camera. Yeah, I didn't even think of it until I'd been sitting down for 10 minutes and saw someone else's. Fortunately, Flo's mom's mom had hers and Flo's mom took a few pictures of Little Man. I'm crossing my fingers they come out. I blame everything on lack of sleep, which combined with a poor memory in the first place are not a good combination. I'm tired. The kids are tired. And I'm the one who has to be creative with dinner and be pestered about playing Lego's Star Wars or watching a movie or playing a game. I wish I had something I could pester them about.

Oh, and Lady Jane fell on the sidewalk on the way home and scraped her knees badly. So that made the day extra special.

On another note, Little Man looked so cool for his dance to the song "Boy from New York City" in his black jeans (rolled up several times this morning for fit) and black t-shirt and the red Cards hat that I bought for him at his first baseball game when he was a toddler (it was the smallest size they had at the time). He likes to perform and during his parent teacher conference, his teacher mentioned that he loves that class. I had thought about getting him into tap class at home, but stalled when I found out we might be going to England. Phil gets home tonight. Yeah.

I Survived City Centre and All I Got was This T-Shirt

Little Man has a dance performance through school on Thursday. They require him to have black jeans and a black t-shirt. Since the major supermarkets carried clothes I figured Sainsbury would have the basics. Of course, as history dictates I will be proven wrong. So this morning I went over to Matalan's (no easy feat to find this store from where I am) and they had black jeans but no black t-shirts and I looked hard. None in the little boy section, none in the little girl section, none in the men's section and none in the women's section (side note: there were some in the plus size women's section, but I didn't think they would shrink correctly). So I went next door to Next, no black t-shirts.

Now when I say black t-shirt, I mean one that has no print or cartoon character on it. Plain old t-shirt. Now yesterday while waiting for Little Man to get out of school. I was talking to another mother and she said that she had picked up the t-shirt at the Gap. Now, there are two Gaps in Sheffield. One is in Meadowhall which is severely damaged by the flooding and the other in smack dab in the middle of city centre.

I didn't mind going to city centre when we lived a couple of blocks outside of it and didn't have to worry about parking a car. Also, Phil took the SatNav with him to Cardiff. So I pulled up the city centre map and tried to figure out how to get to a parking lot close to the Gap. There are a lot of closed off pedestrian or bus only lanes in city centre. Add to that construction that has blocked off some routes. Then sprinkle on the fact that streets are very rarely labeled by street signs and if they are they are high up on the side of some building and when you're close enough to read them it's too late.

So Lady Jane and I hopped into the car and drove the route I thought I'd take. Damn history. The way I wanted to go was blocked so I circled around and found a parking lot. I took my time in memorizing where the heck I left my car since Lady Jane wouldn't be any help in finding it. I walked up the Moors (a shopping district within city centre) and walked and walked until on the very farthest corner was the Gap. I had called ahead to make sure they still had the shirts and asked them to pull aside 2 of them. One of Little Man's friend's mother hadn't had a chance to find one either. She checked at Tesco so I knew not to go there. I offered to grab one for her while I was out since she works today and this week has been crazy with school. Anyway, back to the story. We arrived and got the 2 black shirts and a white one for 10 gbp. For dragging the girl around to various stores I got her a new summer dress. We paid, found the car lot, and realized that to pay I needed 2.10 pounds. Which I had. I needed them in pound, 50p, 20p or 10p pieces. I had exactly 1.90 pound in those denominations and a handful of 5p pieces. This is a machine. There's no one around and I'm standing there 20p short. Shortly a gentleman walked up and I asked if he had a 20p piece which he did thank goodness.

We got into the car and then I had to figure out how to get home from where we ended up. Thank goodness no one was behind me down the street I was shunted down out of the car park. I stopped at every intersection to try to figure out where I was on the map and how I could get back to Ecclesall Road. Needless to say, but I'm going to anyway, I made it home alright.

Now watch as history unfolds and Little Man won't fit a darn thing I have for him and tomorrow morning will be a mad dash back through the various stores to find the correct size. Of course, I think everything will be just fine.

Damn, Damn, Damn

I hate the washer/dryer here. I miss my Whirlpool Duet separate extra large capacity washer and dryer at home. I went out and bought a second aerator (drying rack), so I could do two loads at least a day. It takes 3-4 hours to go through a complete cycle. I threw in my wool sweaters on low and came out with smaller sweaters. These were my favorite sweaters that I just bought in the fall and winter. I was bummed so I did a search on Google to help. I'm going to try the add conditioner to warm water and stretch the sweater while drying on one of them. Afterall, what more damage can I do?

I did make provisions though. I found a different colored sweater in the same style on e-Bay and ordered it and I treated myself to a new sweater (on sale) through Banana Republic. So at least I feel a little better. Of course, I have to wait until the towels are washed and hung to dry before I can try fixing the sweater. You try keeping up with this family and laundry. I swear I do laundry all week long and never catch up. At home, Monday was laundry day. I did all the laundry and folded it and put it away all on Monday. Did I mention I miss my washer and dryer? I think I'd be happier with a separate dryer.

Oh, and guess where I have space for my two drying racks? Can you guess? My dining room, which is right off the kitchen. That's the only space unless I want to block the TV in the living room which probably wouldn't work.

The rain finally stopped and Phil made his way down to Derby to catch a train to Cardiff. The train station here flooded yesterday. I found out about the death of the little boy at Millhouses today at playgroup. The river was swollen. We've been to Millhouses park where the river runs by. Very odd weather here. The report indicates that we got 1/6th of the Annual rainfall for the area in 12 hours. I guess my sweater issue isn't the most important thing going on today.

Rain, Rain Everywhere

Lady Jane's field trip got cancelled, road's are flooded. The place we were going was outdoors. Phil's train got cancelled and we had one heck of a time getting him to and from the train station. Little Man had it right when he woke up grumpy. Hopefully he's made the best of his day. I think I'm going for shortest post here.

Busy Week Ahead

We've spent the weekend looking at a few cars. We also went to see Shrek 3 last night at the movie theatre. A family ticket for 4 was 20.20 pounds or roughly $40. Ouch. But it was good and the kids loved it. We've spent a pretty lazy Sunday at home doing pretty much nothing. It rained most of the day. Next weekend we will definitely get off our butts and go somewhere between birthday parties.

Next week will prove to be most difficult. Phil is going to Cardiff for part of the week. Monday is a school trip with Lady Jane's class. Tuesday is parent's evening at the school. Wednesday is a meeting for parents of children starting reception in the fall. Thursday Little Man's class is throwing a performance. Friday is a camping thing at the school. Saturday Lady Jane's friend has a birthday. Sunday Little Man's friend has a birthday. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Maybe that's why we didn't do anything today. Or maybe we're just lazy.

Anyway, things continue to look good over here. We need to find a babysitter for the following Saturday as it's the school ball for the parents. They're serving duck and sole and there will be dancing. We'll be walking to the school and hopefully we'll make it home without falling down drunk in a gutter somewhere. It is a large hill.

Little Man finally got his hair cut so that it will stand up like Harry's. Not Potter, a boy in his class. Not much else to report on this side of the ocean. Just killing time while Phil makes dinner.

Lady Jane and Her Boys

Lady Jane has three boys, Louis, Vincent and Samuel. Vincent is telling everyone that she's his new girlfriend. Lady Jane finds every reason to be next to Samuel in school and after school. And Louis is her hide and seek guy. This is fine and reasonable for a four year old, but what if this continues?

When she becomes a preteen can I expect to find droves of young men hanging about my house all viaing for a bit of her attention? This is a problem I do not look forward to and have no experience in dealing with. I fear Phil will have to invest in a shot gun and sit on the porch polishing it whenever would be suitors appear. Or maybe I should be the one with the shot gun. I could probably be more convincing.

Right now Lady Jane seems oblivious to her charms and ways with the boys. To her they are her friends. I hope.

He Was Gone, Now He's Back

Phil went home for a few days last week. He took my kitty to the vet and got him hooked up with some medicine. He got to visit with our friends and his family. Meanwhile, I got to have a really horrible cold, complete with horrid coughs and too much snot. So I went to bed late and woke up too early hacking and coughing and drug the kids to school in the rain. Overall it didn't go too bad, but I'm glad Phil's here again. I missed having family and friends around who can help out when I'm sick and Phil's out of town.

Four more weeks until the kid's are out of school for the summer. I'm going to miss school. We should have a busy summer and hopefully we can keep in touch with some of their friends from school. We'll have some family visiting and hopefully we'll take some vacation. We didn't do anything exciting this weekend. I'll have to fix that next weekend.

My Favorite

I have three cats. Each has it's own story of how they came into my life. My orange tabby had me at hello. At the time, I was 20 years old and in what happened to be a short term relationship. I already had my white cat. She moved with me from a farm in Illinois to my first apartment in June 1995. In October, I was dating Mr. Short term. I wanted to have two cats. Mr. Short term said that the coolest cat he'd ever had was an orange tabby who talked to him. I had originally wanted a calico, but decided an orange might do the trick.

I called around and found from Passport Pets that they had two orange tabbies. We headed out, way out, to the pet store. These were rescued pets that the cost of adoption was $100 and included the cat's spaying and initial follow up care as long as you went to a vet on their list. The litter the two oranges were from the Ozarks. Mr. Short term and I played with the kittens for a while and even thought about getting both of them. My lease stated I could only have 2 and there was the whole cost issue. They had very different personalities. One was very hyper and running all over the place and also a little skittish. The other sat regally and was calm. We chose the calm one and headed back to my apartment. I believe he rode home in Mr. Short term's leather jacket.

Within the first few days, the orange showed his three trademark traits right away. He had a voice that sounded like he'd been smoking for 50 years. It creaked and he never really has belted out a meow. He has the loudest purring motor you've ever heard. Or maybe you have heard it and didn't know what it was at the time, now you know. And this little kitten, who I was holding on my lap petting his soft coat, rolled over to his back to get his belly rubbed. This is generally not normal behavior for cats. Ask the white one, she thought it might be fun to try since the orange was getting so much attention for it, but as soon as you touch her belly she tries to rip your hand off.

Over time it was apparent that the orange cat was too cool for most people and if he deigned to give you attention, you, by association, were cool too. He talks to me to and I know what he means when he does. He meets me at the gate in the mornings and waits for me to come down. I love my orange cat and would have gladly smuggled him into England leaving the other two to fend for themselves, but I was afraid of what the travel would have done to him and finding a place that allows pets is hard over here.

So, why all of a sudden a post about my favorite cat? Well, he's sick. He has some infections in his claws which will be treated with an antibiotic, but that's not the reason my big boy of 13 pounds is now 9 pounds. Apparently he has hyperthyroidism, common in older cats. It is treatable with medicine or surgery. Right now, it will probably have to be the medicine course until we're home. If I didn't think it would stress the poor fellow out more, I'd bring him here for me to personally take care of him. My orange cat loves me and I love him. He will be there when I get home and I will shower him with the love he's missing right now.

Talk About Distracting

I'm sitting here writing on the computer and just getting involved in what I was writing, when in through the door flies a bird and sits next to me on the chair. The bird looks at me. I look at the bird. Neither of us are truly panicked by this. The bird acts like it does this everyday. Wondering how long it's going to take to get the bird out of the house, I ease out of the chair. The bird turns and flies back out the door. Pretty bird.

I guess that will teach me to open the window instead of the door in the study. Not that it really matters, since there isn't a screen on the window either. That was just plain weird.

Are ya fittin' in?

This was asked by the repairman this morning. Blank stare. Basically it means are you doing alright. It got me thinking though. Everyone asks if you've settled in and such which I think we have. We're starting to develop routines and have been doing pretty well. But are we "fittin' in." Phil, of course, works all day with other engineers. His element. I, on the other hand, am forced into the "mommy" role which means you have to put yourself out there and call other people. I think the only time I was truly outgoing was my Freshman year in college. If you ask me about it, you will either get a blank stare or maybe I'll tell you about the time when two men fought with fencing foils in a parking lot to see who would drive me home or maybe about the time when I was sung to during a performance by the a cappella men's group during "You Can Call Me Al" or maybe about the time I was voted the "Entertainment Center" piece of furniture in the suite or maybe you'll just get a blank stare.

Anyway, so that being one extreme of my personality, I'm not really outgoing now. It's hard to make friends when you know in 10 months you probably won't see them anymore. It's hard to put yourself out there. I see the same people at Lady Jane's playgroups and talk to them at playgroups, but during the other days, it's just me. Of course, soon there won't be playgroups, so it will just be me. To a point I'm okay with this. But I miss having dinners with friends and having people over. Getting together with groups for parties which are few and far between with our group at home, but they do happen.

I would like to make friends, but it's hard to find the time to really click with someone. The other thing is they already have established groups and friends and may not have time for new friends. Ah, well, keep plugging away. Before we know it, it will be time to go home and then maybe I'll miss having alone time (probably not).

Camping - Another Perspective

If you've had a chance to read Phil's blog entry, you know we went camping for the past three days. "Neither night was cold enough to be bothersome..." This said by the man who wears shorts in winter in the snow. The first night because it had rained it was definitely chilly. Fortunately we had good sleeping bags. A group of children were outside the tent during the rain chanting "Rain stop. Rain stop." They also were singing a song to the tune of "Are you sleeping?" that went like this "I hear thunder, I hear thunder, hah don't you, hah don't you, pitter patter rain drops, pitter patter rain drops, I'm soaked through, so are you." (Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Brother John, Brother John, morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing, ding ding dong, ding ding dong) Now, imagine it sung with an English accent. Very cute.

"Amanda was wearing out, and the girl was being stubborn." Mainly Lady Jane was being stubborn which was making it hard to keep going. I packed too much in my pack. Phil had a bit of an unreasonable expectation of how far we could go each hour. He based it on the amount of time it took us unburdened across Castleton. Oh, well, I would have continued on. Phil made the executive decision based off his frustration with the girl.

While he trekked up a mountain, I sat in the sun and watched the kids play with a couple of kids that were back early as well. They ran around for quite some time. Eventually we went to get ice cream at the little store when it opened for the evening. Phil had said he would be back by 6 and to worry if he wasn't. He made it back at 5:59. I would have given him 15 minutes. Though we may not have made it much past six with all the food locked in the car and Phil with the keys. We did alright eating food cooked on the fire. Phil's a good cook.

I think we all would go camping again. I think backpacking camping is out for a while. Maybe after a few years, we could build up to it. But Lady Jane is still too young. We're still good for walks in the moors though and some short hikes.

I've spent most of today planning a trip to Scotland for when my in-laws come over and planning a trip to Ireland for after they are gone. I need a Rand McNally store to find some cool maps and other books. I have plenty of books on Ireland, but I need a decent map to physically hold. Besides Phil has an obsession for maps that rivals mine for books. I don't get his obsession but he doesn't get mine either. I'm looking forward to Phil's trip home for the fact that he can pick me up things from the store that I can't get here and take back some things that we really don't need here. I need to pack his extra suitcase for him some time this week.