Do not try this at home

Yesterday morning I was getting ready in the bathroom. It was Boxing Day and manic as usual in our house. Jason was trying to brush his teeth, the children were running around arguing and I was trying to put my make up on. I put on hand cream a few minutes beforehand (big mistake) went to curl my eyelashes, wasn't concentrating, my hand slipped and I ripped the eyelashes out of my right eye.

The initial pain and shock were bad but there was no blood, just an eyelash curler with what looked like a set of false eyelashes caught in it. Now I'm rocking a Clockwork Orange kind of look. God, I hope these lashes grow back quickly.

We had a fantastic Christmas, apart from the eye balding incident, and I'll post details and pics soon. Still coming down from it all.

Bring it on

OK, the bed is fixed. The turkey is brining in a bucket in the garden covered with foil and a tray weighed down with bricks so the foxes can't get to it. The house is tidy. The loft is reasonably sorted, the laundry is drying and the fridge is full. I think we're ready for Christmas.

Last Saturday we had a lunch here with some of Toby's friends from school and their families. I really like both families and we had a great time. Another family around the corner was having drinks at 6pm so we opened a couple more bottles of wine and our lunch stretched into the evening then we all staggered over to Candy's for drinks and canapes. I love our new neighborhood. The children had a brilliant time playing all day at our place then running around Solar's garden in the dark while we talked and laughed. It reminded me of times I spent with my cousins.

New Year's eve will be similiar. Jenny & Kieran are coming down from Cambridge with Jack & Kate and Pete & Philippa are coming all the way from three doors down with Joey. Jason has aleady stocked up on champagne and I'm thinking of doing lobster. We've decided to dress up, because we never get to do that, and I'm going to get all kinds of finger food for the children. I don't think we'll even try to get them to bed. Not sure Rosie will make it to midnight but I bet Toby does.

Almost Christmas

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and even though we've been thinking about it for ages, somehow it's creeped up on us. I waited too long to do my online Christmas grocery order and had to brave the crowds today. I bought a positively obscene amount of food but hopefully it'll see us through the next four days or so.

Jason's parents are coming down from Skegness tomorrow and J spent the morning sorting out the loft so that they don't have to sleep surrounded by boxes. He discovered that the hinges on the sofabed have been bent. The bed would not lay flat. At all. Oh. Bugger. J rang to tell me the situation as I was fighting a woman for the last few pomegranates in Sainsburys. Not good. In the end he rang Ikea in Thurrock and when I got home he went out to buy new hinges and discovered that someone had nicked the registration plates off his Mini. He had to take my car to brave the traffic on the M25. Not a nice trip out the day before Christmas Eve but absolutely necessary.

I've spent the afternoon unpacking groceries and try to encourage the children into TV comas so that I can get on with things. I thought children these days watched too much TV, played video games and vegged out on the sofa. Why do mine keep following me around asking me to actually interact with them?! There's a mountain of laundry to do, rooms to be cleaned, food to be cooked, beds to be made and presents still to buy. Now I understand why my mother seemed to have a nervous breakdown around Christmas every year. It's times like this I wish I was a smoker or an alcoholic. It would be so nice to do something as simple as have a smoke or a drink and let the stress just melt away.

No phone

Our phones have been out for over a week. I think the supplier, Virgin, is doing some kind of upgrade. Anyway, if anyone has been trying to call us try us on the mobiles. We haven't been screening calls, promise!

NYC

Had a fantastic time in New York with Nikki. The best thing was just hanging out, wandering around the city then eating what and when we wanted. The first night we went to a great place called The Coffee Shop in Union Square and stopped in a few stores. Everything is open so late.

On Saturday we walked down Broadway, around the edge of Central Park to the Frick Collection. It was amazing. Beautiful building and extraordinary collection. I've wanted to see their Vermeers for at least ten years. Afterwards we went to a luncheonette for lunch. I love the soup, salad, sandwich thing. We don't really have that in England. Saturday night we went to the New York State Theatre to see The Nutcracker. It was really lovely. When I got back I wanted to take the children to see The Nutcracker here in London but it's already sold out. Definitely exciting enough to hold the children's attention though so I'll try to book early next year.

On Sunday we had a late breakfast, walked around the shops, went into Cartier and Tiffany's and a fabulous homestore called Gracious Home. They have the most amazing selection of hardware. They blow Restoration Hardware right out of the water. If you're into knobs and knockers like I am then it's sheer heaven. They even have a guy making coffees so you can browse with a cappucino.

Sunday night we went out to Astoria to have dinner with Nikki's roommates. Nikki's neighborhood is a nice Greek community full of families and there were lots of Christmas lights. It made me very nostalgic for American Christmases gone by. We had some New York pizza and cupcakes from the bakery on the corner. Delicious. Nik's room mates are really nice, funny and talented people so we ate and laughed a lot.

Monday was my last day in NY. Nikki and I had a room service breakfast and then she had to go to work. We had a tearful goodbye at the taxi then I spent the day wandering around the city, spending a fortune in the M&M store (three floors dedicated to M&Ms!), sitting in various coffee shops and reading my book. I walked around the MOMA shop and bought a few stocking stuffers but didn't have the energy to walk around the galleries. My mind was turning back to London and the things I would need to do over the next few days.

I've arrived back and jumped right into Christmas celebrations and preparations for the various parties and events we have coming up. It was really nice to get away for a while and spend some time with Nikki. Now that she's in NY I hope it'll happen more often.

Overheard...

Toby: Today at school it was like Primary School Musical because the whole class started singing when Mr Wilson left the room.

Me: Oh, that's lovely. What did you all sing?

Toby: "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin ran away. Uncle Billy tossed his willy on the motorway!"

Me: Ah.

Ready to fly

The car will be here to take me to the airport soon and I'm really looking forward to the trip. However, me being me, I'm convinced that the plane will crash, I'll be shot or fall down a manhole and will never see the children grow up.

I made a special meal last night and gave them extra hugs and kisses so hopefully their final memories of me will be good ones. I know they won't grow up motherless because some gold digging cow will distract and exhaust Jason with the sexual techniques she picked up on her gap year in Thailand and he'll be married before he knows it. So, though Jason might be happier, the children will grow up feeling neglected and bitter and will be unfulfilled, disatisfied adults. They'll forget all about me and all about being half American and end their days wondering about the mother who selfishly ran off to New York and left them behind.

Whew! I feel so much better getting that out of my head. Now I can go off and have a nice little break. Nikki, here I come!

Wintery weekend

We had a really lovely weekend. Saturday wasn't much fun but we ticked a major job off our list - we bought a new car. We drove out to Croydon with Toby getting carsick about halfway there. We traded in our car and Jason and I kept joking about "oh yea, the radio isn't working and you can't open the trunk... that vomit will wash right out though... so... what'll you give us?" We were very happy with the deal and the new car will be delivered this week and they'll drive our old car away.

I ended up with another Renault Scenic. This one is a Grande Scenic which means it has seven seats instead of five. I am so cool.

Yesterday Jenny, Kieran, Jack, Kate and Jen's mum came down for Jack's birthday. We went to Cafe Sol in Greenwich for Mexican food then walked through the park. Jason and Kieran played chase with the children (Jason was alseep on the couch within an hour of getting home) and we walked up to the top of the hill right at sunset. It was freezing but beautiful.

Unfortunately Toby refused to wear his scarf yesterday, was up coughing all night and is home from school today. I'm off to New York on Friday so I'm trying to get him well before I go. I've been trying to get my head around packing and preparing for the trip but there's so much going on here at the moment. We've had the builders in to do odd jobs and replace some bookshelves. We've got loads of Christmas activities and I have the Christmas shopping to finish. This week we also have Toby's school nativity play. Because Tobes is in Year 2 they're doing the play with the Juniors rather than the Infants so it's an evening show at the church. Busy times!

Toby helps set a new world record

From the local newspaper.

Thanksgiving

This will be brief because I'm so full that I need to go lay down...

We had a great afternoon. The spread included turkey, little sausages, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, peas, Elizabeth's green bean casserole, Sarah's salad with creamy dressing, Elizabeth's pumpkin pies and my pecan pies plus ice cream sundaes for the children. We managed to get all fourteen people around our new table and I'm thinking that if we do a children's table next year we could easily accomodate twenty or more.

It was a new experience having three Americans in the house. We talked a lot about growing up in the South and I got out my senior yearbook and we laughed over the hairstyles and fashions. Eric and I compared notes on living in Austin and going to UT, the classes we took, where we lived, where we went for pancakes at 3am. After everyone left Jason and I tidied up then I made some Kraft Mac & Cheese for the children to round off our American day and we all stuffed ourselves with leftovers. Now I'm going to joyfully slip into a turkey induced coma while planning my menu for next year. Definitely more cornbread dressing next time.

From Elizabeth

I'm hoping this will relieve some of my pre-Thanksgiving stress... New pecan pie recipe and it just doesn't seem to be working and Tobes just pooed on the bathroom rug (don't ask).



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper. If I have time I really enjoy wrapping the presents.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I prefer artificial, Jason likes real. This year we're getting a fake one because we have Indy and it's going to be a nightmare anyway. Don't need needles all over the place too.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving but I think we'll wait until next weekend this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? Isn't it bad luck to leave it up until New Year... or maybe it's Twelfth Night. We take it down pretty quickly.

5. Do you like eggnog? I do but it's been a very long time since I had any.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmm, probably my Huffy Pink Thunder bike.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Jason

8. Easiest person to buy for? The children

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, we don't.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? A mix. I tend to email but send cards to my aunts and uncles who don't use email.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Best not say in case they read this!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story and of course It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October or November

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Of course

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I love the whole meal and eat my bodyweight in Ferrero Rocher and Matchmakers leading up to the big day.

16. Lights on the tree? White

17. Favorite Christmas song? Nat King Cole singing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Stay at home. We talk about going to the States one year but I know I would miss all of our traditions here. I need to get Mom and Dad to come here.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Of course

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning. Santa comes in the night and we open those about 4am and then open the ones to and frome each other before or after lunch.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds and my inability to be in two countries at once.

23. What theme or color are you using? We don't really have a theme though I generally stick to red and white.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I usually do the same meal every year - turkey, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, brussels sprouts, red cabbage, gravy and cranberry sauce. Then on Boxing Day it's bubble & squeak with the leftovers.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Jason asked me yesterday and I haven't really thought about it. Maybe that Hermes scarf I've wanted for years. Or just a happy peaceful time with my family is enough.

Recession? What recession?

I thought everyone was supposed to be broke? Why then was there a line at the mall on a Wednesday morning? Rosie and I trooped off to Bluewater today and it was heaving. Unpleasantly busy. And it's not even December yet!

In preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas I had to get some new dishes and cutlery. Embarrassingly, considering we're catching up on 40, we didn't have enough of either to handle the big meals this year. I decided it was time to be all grown up and get proper bone china so off to the shops we went. When I was little we had a set of cutlery that Dad brought back from Japan. It was a kind of brushed stainless steel and very strong. I remember it was the preferred spoon for scooping out ice cream because they would never bend. I loved that cutlery and managed to find something similiar today. Of course, once I got started I had to have some nice serving spoons and other bits and pieces including the teeniest, tiniest little spoon that's used for English mustard. It really was necessary.

Then it was off to another shop to get some winter clothes for the children. Our drop in temperature seems to have coincided with growth spurts for both of them. Hat and gloves for Rosie. Warm slippers and long sleeve tops for both of them. Then lunch.

Once you start spending it gets easier and easier so when we got home I called the dealer about a new car. Mine is on its last legs and we'd really like to replace it before I leave for NY on the 12th. Jason is taking the children up to Skegness to see his parents while I'm away and it would be nice for them to go in a reliable car. We never buy new cars, except for Jason's mid-life folly with the Mini, but the dealer has three cars that fit my spec. I've decided to get another Renault Scenic which will be my third. This time I'm getting the 7-seater though. It's just getting to the point where those extra seats would come in handy from time to time. Jenny and I have been talking about going away with all of the children one halfterm and this way we can all go in one car. See, it's not extravagance. It just makes sense.

Finally back!

We were offline for over a week and all because of a slightly loose cable. The tech guy came in, looked at the system, turned a little knob about half a turn and everything was up and running again. I felt so silly.

Anyway, it's great to be back online though it was nice in a way to be a bit disconnected. I think my bum is slightly less pancake shaped after a week of not sitting here sorting things out and instead having to actually go out and do things like buy groceries. Something to remember.

Since we went offline winter has well and truly arrived. We even woke up Sunday morning to snow! It was falling pretty hard but didn't stick around for long. Long enough to make a few snowballs though. Long enough for Jason and Toby to throw said snowballs at me and Rosie who were standing at the bedroom window. Only one of them made it inside the house.

At the moment we're getting ready for Thanksgiving which we'll be celebrating on Sunday here. It's not a holiday in England but we're having friends over for the traditional feast. I've been collecting the ingredients over the last few months like cornbread mix and Libby's pumpkin. Elizabeth is making the green bean casserole. We're obviously going totally Southern! I'm getting craft stuff together so the children can make hand turkeys and Native American head dresses (still called Indians here). We'll have fourteen all together - 7 adults and 7 children. Can't wait!

Marginally better

Rosie seems a bit better today. She's still coughing like a lifelong smoker and running a fever but the rash is starting to fade and she seems happier in herself. At least now she has the energy to bark orders at me from the sofa. "More Smarties!" "Where's my juice!" "What's that smell?!"

One very unfortunate side effect of the IV antibiotics that Rosie had over the weekend is raging diarrhea. It's her first bout of diarrhea since we got rid of the nappies and the first time it happened Rosie shouted from the bathroom "Mommy, brown water is coming out of my BOTTOM!" The poor thing has it so bad that I had to dig out an old pack of Pull-Ups for her. She ruined two pairs of pants and a pair of PJs (I'm sorry but I'm not the kind of mom who washes diarrhea out, it goes in the bin) and since she's sleeping in our bed while she's ill I started to fear for our bedding.

The rash has faded to a mottled purple colour. Annelouise has assured me that this is a good sign because it means that the rash isn't getting fresh blood. It does make her arms look an awful lot like a corpse but I'm trying not to think about that. She's happier overall and seems to have more energy though everytime she gets a bit excited it kicks off a coughing fit.

I've cleared the calendar for the next few days and we're sitting at home pottering around. I've managed to do some mending that's been waiting for weeks and I'm slowly catching up on the laundry. In a way, it's nice to just be here for a change. I was supposed to be taking the minutes of a PTA meeting tonight but with Jason away it just wasn't possible. Philippa was all set to babysit but I hate to think of Joe catching whatever it is that Rosie has. Oh well, an early night for all of us tonight.

Bad weekend

Yesterday morning, after a rough night with Rosie, we woke up to find that the rash on her arms had turned into a blood rash. The kind that fails the 'glass test'. The kind that is a symptom of meningitis. We phoned the weekend doctor and they came to the house. Yes, apparently house calls still happen here. The doctor took one look at Rosie and told us to get her straight to the emergency room.

Jason and Toby had gone out to get coffee but luckily they took Jason's car so mine was still parked out front. The doctor was going to call an ambulance if I couldn't get her to A&E immediately. The doc rang the hospital to tell them we were coming, wrote a note for me so we would be seen urgently and Rosie and I set off.

They soon ruled out meningitis but they did put a shunt on the back of her hand and gave her antibiotics through an IV. We were there all day and in the end they said they thought it was an allergic reaction but it might be something viral. They wrapped up her arm and sent us home with the shunt and told us to come back today.

We had another rough night with lots of fever and coughing and went back to the hospital. They looked at Rosie again and the rash looks less angry today. They gave her some more antibiotics through the shunt then removed it. Rosie threw up during the removal so they kept us a bit longer to watch her. Her fever was going up again so they gave her some ibuprofen and after ten minutes sent us home.

Now we're back in the care of our GP, none the wiser about what's actually causing Rosie to be ill. I asked about allergy scratch testing but they said that NHS doesn't do that except in severe cases. This is one of those times when I would like to punch the NHS in the face. My baby has a horrible itchy blood rash that was mistaken for meningitis. If that's not severe then what is?!

I did ask if we could have the testing done privately and they said yes but we would need to be referred by our GP. We're going to have to do that. We need to find out what's making Rosie ill and soon. We also need to know if it's Indy or not. At the moment a dark cloud is hanging over Indy and I can already tell that Jason is seeing him in a more negative light. If the poor cat is innocent then he needs to be cleared.

Most of the time I love NHS but it's times like this that they drive me crazy. They've ruled out that Rosie isn't dying but they haven't worked out what's making her ill and they haven't made her better. Managing the rash is as far as they seem prepared to go and the rest is left to us to ascertain through trial and error. That is shocking to me.

What's been going on

Life has been bumping along since I last wrote. The good news is that I finally found my camera cables. They were in a basket on the shelf in the bathroom of course. Isn't that where everyone keeps their camera cables? I think we'll be living with the repercussions of the bad packing and moving company we used for months to come.

The latest project is the stair runner. I'm getting two quotes and visited two big chain carpet dealers. The big dealers don't carry what we want which is the stripey carpet in the image so we're going to have to go with the department store or local business and sell one of the children to pay for it. Or maybe I can sell a kidney instead. I've gotten pretty attached to the children.

But, speaking of family, I'm afraid that Rosie is allergic to the cat! She's come out in a terrible eczema rash. It started on her hands and has worked its way up her arms and now she has it on her stomach and thighs too. The doctor prescribed a steroid cream which has helped with the itching and inflammation (so we're all getting a little more sleep) but it's not getting rid of it. I'm putting a special emollient on a dozen times a day and trying to work out what else might be causing it. It could be anything, the new upholstery, the floor varnish, something she's eating. She's off dairy again because she has a history of cow's milk allergy anyway. She hasn't had any (or at least much) milk this week but the rash continues to progress. Poor Indy. And poor Toby and Rosie if we have to give him away. They'll be heartbroken.

The next step is to remove Indy from the house for a few days and see if the rash gets better then bring him back and see if it gets worse. I've been looking into it today and I need to buy a special HEPA vaccuum cleaner too which can remove cat dander from the surfaces. Goodness, just when I thought Rosie's allergies were all under control.

I've also been busy with my PTA work. We've got loads of Christmas fundraising events coming up including a Christmas Fair and Raffle (Jason is going to play Santa again), carol singing and the panto. We're also making plans for the school's 175th anniversary celebrations next year and a leaving party for the Headmistress who's retiring in the spring. So much to do.

I'm also in the process of buying a new car. The Renault I've been driving for the last three years is starting to fall apart and it's time to replace it. A few days ago we had a big rain and the passenger footwell flooded! This is after having the keyhole in the trunk knocked out a few months ago and having trouble starting it since the summer. I'm planning to get the same again, which will be my third Renault Scenic, but we're going to get the 7-seater model this time. I just have to find the time to sort it out.

With so much going on I've felt a little overwhelmed... well, to be honest I've felt like I was losing my mind at times. Jason very kindly suggested I get away for a few days and booked flights and a hotel so I can go see Nikki in New York next month! I'm really excited and just having something to look forward to has made everything else easier to deal with. Now I can't wait to see Nik and do a little Christmas shopping.

House pics

These were taken a few weeks ago so the place is a bit organised though no more tidy now. In the photo of the kitchen you can see why we plan to rip it all out and start again next year. There was a wall between the kitchen and dining room when we bought the house but we had it removed to make the house more open plan or what they call here 'American style'.

Bleary-eyed but happy

I ended up sleeping about three hours last night. I tried to go to bed with the children at 7.00pm in order to get up around 2am and check the election results but I couldn't get to sleep. In the end I sat up, watched crap TV, played with our amazing farting cat and painted my nails until the fun began at 11.00pm here. I called Nikki and Kellie and then settled in for a long night.

At about 1.30am Toby woke up and came downstairs. I decided to let him stay up for a bit and watch history being made. I tried to explain what it all meant and I think he took some of it in. At 2am we went up to bed optimistic.

Rosie woke up at 4.30am scratching her rash. She's come out in what looks like eczema on her hands and forearms. The doctor thinks it's an allergic reaction to something and I'm trying to work out what it is she's touching. Poor little thing. It doesn't bother her except for the night time itching. I got up and put cream on her hands then went downstairs to check the results. A few minutes later I was crying ecstatic tears on the keyboard.

I turned on the TV just in time to see the speeches and cried again. I thought Obama was so eloquent and honest. He said there was a lot of hard work and sacrifice ahead and he didn't sugarcoat it but he also made me feel proud to be an American again.

I went to bed at 5.45am tired but happy. Jason called about five minutes later. He was in California talking politics and watching it all happen. We said good night and just as I dozed off Rosie wet the bed. The children like to sleep with me when Jason is away so Rosie actually wet MY bed. Oh joy. I had to carry a sleeping Toby to his room so I could strip and clean the bed. Then I cleaned up Rosie, made the bed again, transferred Tobes back to our room (he would not be happy if he woke up in his room while Rosie was in bed with me) and got us all settled back in by 6.15am. The alarm went off at 7.00am and the first thing Toby said was "Did Obama win, Mommy?"

Everyone I talked to today... the mums at school, the usual crowd at Costa, the nannies in Rosie's music class... everyone was jubilant and for the first time in a long time I felt really proud to be American.

I was not paid for this advertisement...

If you live in the UK and grocery shop online you have got to check out mysupermarket.co.uk. I usually shop at Tesco but I've been thinking about swithcing to Ocado because they have shorter delivery slots. Tesco gives you a two hour slot but it's actually a challenge for me to find two hours at home when we're awake and not trying to get out the door.

Mysupermarket takes your order and compares it across online shops to show you the cheapest option. They even show you ways to save money within each store AND calculate the number of calories in your shop and show your lower calorie alternatives. Fantastic!

I ended up sticking with Tesco this time because Ocado was almost twenty pounds more expensive! Tesco even beat Asda, which is owned by Walmart. It'll be interesting to see how it works for things like the big Christmas shop.

OK people, get out there and VOTE

I sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago. No surprises about who I voted for. I'm so jealous that Jason is in the States tonight and will be there to watch it all unfold.

Rosie and I went to Costa this morning and while she played with her paperdolls I was able to read some editorials about the election. I was almost in tears with the excitement and emotion of it all. Marion came in (she's English but lived in the States for 20 years and has citizenship) and we talked politics. We both agreed that it would be nice to feel proud of America again and it's amazing to actually be optimistic at all. The last eight years have been a dark time.

My plan is to stay up as late as I can and see at least some of the first results come in. I went by our village grocery store this morning. They stock a few American products for the expats in Blackheath. I got some Reese's Pieces, some Oreos and some Kraft Mac & Cheese to make the evening authentic. One of the papers actually ran a recipe section for anyone having election parties. Their list of American foods included BBQ chicken and pecan pie!

Getting back to normal

Today is the last day of Toby's half-term. St Margaret's took an extra day for teacher training and I'm so glad they did. I really needed today to recuperate before getting back into our routine. We've been so busy the last few days.

Jason took Thursday and Friday off work. On Thursday we went to the Body Works exhibition. It was extraordinary. Highly educational and only slightly revolting. All of the pieces are real people who donated their bodies to the 'artist'. The exhibition focused on aging and progressed from conception to old age. There were preserved fetuses (fetii?) from 4 weeks after conception all the way through to birth. There was even a pregnant woman with a wedge cut out of her stomach to show how the baby fit inside her. I couldn't help but wonder how all of the babies had died and especially how the pregnant woman died. They don't put any of that information out there because they want for the focus to be on the educational element rather than the personal tragedies. Still, you can't help but wonder.

The children were fine with it all though some of it was a little creepy. They had one guy who had all of his skin removed but was holding it over his arm like a suit jacket. That verged into Silence of the Lambs freakshow territory but mostly it was just very informative.

Friday was, of course, Halloween. The children were invited to three different parties and managed to go to two of them. One was held in our local park Manor House Gardens. It's a gated park and is locked up at dusk every evening so it was a real treat just to be there after dark. They had all of the traditional things like apple bobbing and a scary story told by a wizard in a tent in the middle of the parkland. We met some of the children's friends and families there and had a brilliant time.

Saturday was Rosie's party and it went very well. It seemed much more calm than Toby's parties but everyone said that's just the difference between boys and girls. Rosie did have some boy friends there but it was mostly little girls in various types of costumes involving pink. Rosie was dressed as Stephanie from Lazytown of course. Toby went as young Indiana Jones, which is basically Indiana Jones without a hat. We also had a pirate, quite a few fairies, a cowgirl, a gypsy, a ballerina, a vampire and two Power Rangers.

Jenny & Kieran came down for the party with their children and spent the night. I pulled out Toby's trundle bed, pushed Rosie's up next to it and put a king size sheet across it so the four children had a 9ft wide bed to sleep in together. Jason and Kieran went off to the pub to watch football and Jenny and I fielded children back to bed when they came down to tell on each other. "Rosie and Kate are jumping up and down!" "Jack and Toby are play fighting and I can't sleep!" Once they finally all passed out and the guys came back we ordered a curry and the guys watched Match of the Day while Jenny and I looked at magazines, trashed the celebs and made plans for a spa day. A typical Saturday night when the four of us get together.

On Sunday morning Jason had to leave for California. Jen, Kieran and I took the kids over to the park for a while then ran back just as it started to rain. I made my famous ham in Coca Cola and we had a nice lunch before they left that afternoon. Since then the kids and I have been hanging out, playing with Rosie's birthday presents and talking about Guy Fawke's Night which is 5 November. Then it's Thanksgiving... and then Christmas!

[NOTE: Don't I look frighteningly like Mom in that photo?!]

I wish I had written this...

Excerpted from India Knight's article on being thrifty in the Sunday Times today. I especially love the last two paragraphs. I could've written the words myself, especially the bit about sniffing the babies' heads:

I believe that part of the reason so many of us feel obscurely dissatisfied in some way is to do with our strange, deluded (and very unthrifty) expectations. I also believe that these are a direct consequence of two things: a) celebrity culture, in which everyone always seems beautiful, rich, happy and fulfilled, and we, by comparison, seem plain, poor, beset with small miseries and chronically unfulfilled/frustrated; and b) the sneaky influence, and legacy, of all those thousands of self-help books, which have now been around for a couple of decades, and which all contain the same message: you’re super-special and deserve everything, and if you’re not getting it, it’s because you’re a victim.

Point a) is easily dismissed: it’s called PR and I sincerely hope that the lovely readers of this publication have enough gumption to see the smoke and mirrors for what they are. (It’s also called airbrushing, and sometimes eating disorder, and often drug habit.)

Point b) is more prevalent and more damaging. You don’t even have to have read the self-help books for their message to have trickled through, as though by osmosis. We’re all fluent in psychobabble and we all love to emote — both of which aptitudes would have our grandparents spinning in their graves. We seem to have lost any idea of the merits of self-control or even piping down occasionally.

This isn’t (quite) a plea for all of our human transactions to have a tragically repressed Brief Encounter vibe about them. But it is a plea for a return to a stiffening of upper lips. We’re all damaged to some extent, and we all carry around our emotional burdens. They’re not that interesting. I liked it better when the answer to “How are you?” was inevitably “Fine, thank you”, even if the person in question only had moments to live. Instead, what you now often get in response to your polite inquiry is a detailed catalogue of grievances and perceived injuries. But being free with personal information in this way doesn’t make you an “open” or “emotionally in tune” person. It just makes you sound really needy, like you’re the only thing that matters.

Going on and on about yourself, or about a thing that has happened to you, is incredibly bad manners — it makes any conversational exchange about you and you only. I wish people would desist — not just because it would make me happy, but because I genuinely think it would make them happier too. If you are what you eat, you are also what you think, and if what you think out loud is relentlessly self-centred and negative, it kind of follows that you’re unlikely to be especially chipper.

What you need to do with a bad thing is get over it. Your boyfriend has dumped you: it’s very sad, but there you go. It doesn’t get any less sad if you discuss it solidly for three weeks (or three months) and turn every single conversation round to the subject of your deep and unique unhappiness. Be adult: shoulder your burden, process it and move on. We’d all like to marry incredibly studly millionaires with PhDs and well-developed social consciences, but I suspect they’re probably a bit thin on the ground. We’d all like to be promoted into the stratosphere, but it’s unlikely to happen if we insist on leaving at 5.30pm on the dot and are intent on our “right” to every single holiday. And anyway, sometimes what you have under your nose is exactly right for you, even if it (or he) doesn’t quite match the fantasy version.

It seems to me that too many of us believe so much in fantasies that we waste all the goodness of what is real and tangible. Appreciate what you’ve got, even the really small things. For me, those are often domestic. Everyday happiness, as opposed to one-off great bursts of pure ecstasy, is intricately tied in with tiny everyday events: the jaunty-looking teapot that pours without dribbling, the children’s bath time, an especially good book. These things aren’t sexy or envy-making, but they are the fabric of all our days. Concentrating on them, and on all the small joys they provide, can be intensely fulfilling. Moaning because you can’t afford a £300 pair of shoes is not. Neither is moaning tout court.

Be happy. We are all blessed, in thousands of different ways. So we’re not a size 6, cavorting on a yacht with George Clooney. So what? I’d rather be sniffing my babies’ heads. There is enormous beauty in everyday life, and it doesn’t cost any money to look at it and feel glad to be alive.

This is painful. How could she not know the name of the Prime Minister of Canada?? You can tell that she's just flattered to be speaking to "Sarkozy", knows nothing about his politics and probably got all of her info from OK Magazine. Scary.

Surviving half-term

We're over halfway through half-term and we're all still alive. Yesterday was a close call whether we would all make it to today or not. I took the kids to the mall to get some things for the house and for Rosie's party on Saturday. Bad idea. They were bored and cranky, the mall was packed and after five hours we came away with nothing but a small pot of yellow glass paint. The children played up so much that I didn't have a chance to have my morning coffee so I had a stinking headache by the afternoon. We had pizza delivered and then all went to bed at 6.00 and have woken in much better spirits today.

Jason has taken the next two days off and we're all going to the Body Worlds exhibition at the O2 today. I've wanted to go since it first started years ago and I'm hoping it will be an educational rather than terrifying experience for the children. I think the thing I find the most frightening about it is the creator of the works. Look at his photo. Something about that hat is so sinister. Maybe it's a Freddy Kruger connection.

Anyway, tomorrow the children both have Halloween parties to go to and I'll be getting things ready for Rosie's party. One of the things we were looking for at the mall yesterday was party favours. Rosie decided that she wanted to give all twenty children new scooters. When I explained that it would cost more than the rest of the party put together Rosie threw a little fit. Luckily there were tired children having meltdowns throughout the store so we just blended in to the general roar.

Still haven't located my camera cables though we did find the one for my old camera. Not really helpful but at least we're getting warm.

Stephanie at home

I'm going to be finding strands of pink plastic hair all over the house for weeks...

Credit crunch

Of course the news here is full of stories of doom about the current economic situation. So far, with Jason's careful planning and a bit of luck, we've been OK. I have to say that, apart from one friend who had invested 1/3 of their savings in IceSave, we don't even know anyone who's suffering. And the friend who invested in IceSave is pissed off but not seriously affected.

The interesting thing is that amongst the mums there's lots of talk about saving money, recycling and cutting back. We had a whole conversation earlier this week about the pros and cons of the various 99p shops in the area (the one in New Cross got top marks in the end). I think a lot of people actually feel relieved to be allowed to be thrifty. In my experience the English are very laid back people. The culture of materialism and strident ambition just don't sit comfortably here. Now there's an excuse to relax a little, to not buy the latest whatever, to stay home and cook instead of going out, to vacation in England instead of going abroad, to keep wearing that much loved but slightly holey cardigan instead of buying a new one and generally get rid of a lot of pressure. People are embracing it and I don't blame them.

One of the things I loved about England when I first came here was this relaxed approach to life. It was all about each individual creating their own happiness rather than trying to keep up with everyone else. Somehow over the years the country got caught up in the rat race but now it seems things are changing and reverting back to the easy, comfortable approach I love. Nothing fancy, just simple contentment and a nice cup of tea.

this and that

Not much going on this week besides the usual. I did lose another stroller. I know, how does that happen?! This time I can't even remember where I left it and had to go buy another one today. They've gotten progressively cheaper each time I lose one. The current stroller is a Chicco bright yellow monstrosity. I'm definitely going to miss the zippy little Quinny Zapp.

I know that Rosie is almost three and won't need a stroller much longer, but the distance to school is too long for her to walk. I do really need one. I just need to stop losing them.

The house is coming together though very, very slowly. I still haven't found my camera cables so no photos to post yet.

Toby had his first Year 2 assembly last week. It's when the class does a little show and presentation about the topics they've been studying. They've been learning about electricity and made electrical circuits to light tiny ligtbulbs in dioramas of London. The main topics this term have been 'Who am I?' and the great fire of London. Mr Wilson put together a slide show of the children with photos taken when they first came to London, all to the song Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner. Of course, Toby was born here so his was a baby picture. Tobes wouldn't let me send in any of the naked photos but we found a cute one for the show. They finished up with an interpretive dance/gymnastic routine of the great fire of London set to Prodigy's Firestarter. Mr Wilson is a very cool teacher.

I was having a bad day last week and decided to treat myself to the most gorgey gorgeous boots ever. I've had my eye on them for months and finally, after a day of trials and tribulations, I happily gave in to temptation. One reason that I love them so much is that they remind me of some boots I had as a child. They were red patent too and, when I outgrew them, my cousin Tammy wore them and thankfully saved them. I was thrilled when Tammy sent them back to me when Rosie was born. Unfortunately, even at just one year old Rosie's chubby feet wouldn't fit into them but the little boots sit on our bookshelf now. I'm so excited that I've finally found a pair I can wear again!

Rosie's first joke - taught to her by Tobes

Rosie's first joke

Blessed

I can't stop thinking about a mum that I spoke to at playgroup this morning. She has a daughter the same age as Rosie. In fact, we first met at Sing & Sign classes when the girls were about a year old and have bumped into each other off and on. She lives in our new neighborhood and I've thought it would be nice to get the girls together to play sometime. English girls take a long time to befriend but we've been on the road to becoming friends.

We bumped into each other when her daughter started at Rosie's playgroup last month and have chatted every week. She was heavily pregnant with her second baby and today she brought him to playgroup for the first time. I was so excited to see a newborn. There's nothing like that warm, tiny bundle of baby. Her little boy is three weeks old and as she breastfed him we talked and she told me that they've recently discovered that the baby is blind. This in itself is a horrible blow but they are afraid that he might have a serious degenerative disease that would affect his brain. He would slowly slip into a vegetative state and wouldn't live for very long.

I looked at this tiny, perfect boy and couldn't believe that anything could be wrong with him. His poor mother is obviously torn up but also numb with shock and grief and pain. I know that their first child had a serious problem with her heart but has now, after treatment and operations, made a full recovery. I cannot imagine what they have been through and what they're going through now. I feel so incredibly lucky to have two healthy children. These kinds of things are a coin toss. There's no fault, no reason, just bloody awful bad luck. It could have just as easily been us going through it.

The baby is having an MRI tomorrow and they should have some answers then. As if this wasn't hard enough already they're up against the clock. If the baby doesn't have the degenerative disease it means that he'll need to have an operation on his retinas that can only be performed before the age of six weeks. NHS is usually wonderful in such a drastic situation. I hope they live up that reputation now.

Birthday girl

This is the invite for Rosie's birthday bash in a couple of weeks. It's obviously a Lazytown theme. This is our second Lazytown party. Toby had one for his fourth birthday two years ago.. That was back when Lazytown first came out so we had to make all of the stuff for his party. Luckily, Nikki was staying with us at the time and we put her to work. Toby still has the big number four that Nik made for the party on his bedroom wall.

It's easier this time around. The big commercial money-making machine is churning out Lazytown party stuff so I was able to buy napkins and cups and everything else we needed. I even bought invitations and got them all written out and sealed up... then realised I had put the wrong times on them! Being the thrifty girl I am (most of the time) I refused to pay for more invites and decided to make them instead. For Toby's party I put his face on Sportacus so it seemed only fitting that I do the same for Rosie, but with Stephanie this time.

The only drawback of this birthday is that it's at the end of half-term so quite a few friends will be away. We've hired a great entertainer though and I'm planning the usual party spread so I'm sure it'll be fun. As long as Rosie has a memorable good time I'll be happy.

Quiet week

It's been a very subdued week. We all have colds so we've been trying to take it easy. The house is still full of boxes and, though I've taken photos, I can't post them because I can't find the cables. All of the disorder has been getting me down. I absorb my surroundings and the current situation has made me very tired.

However, now that Jason has run the marathon it feels like we can focus on the house again and this weekend we're off to Ikea to buy a few things. One thing holding us up is that we don't have great storage space in this house so we need to go buy a sideboard and a wardrobe for the loft room and a few other things that will make it easier to unpack. It's coming together but it's happening very slowly.

I'm sure it's affecting the children too because they've been quite cranky lately. Our lives are very full without moving house. Rosie is doing ballet, music and two different playgroups. Toby has school and drama. Jason works all the hours God sends and I have plenty to do with the children, the house, the cat and the PTA. Last night I was up at midnight making Halloween cupcakes for the school bake sale today and typing the minutes from the last PTA meeting. I do not want to turn into a 'martyr mom'. Just need to get this house sorted and I can go back to sipping gin & tonics and eating bon bons... ha ha!

I recently read a book that I do NOT recommend. I overheard some moms talking about it and thought I would give it a go. I'd never heard of the author and didn't know what to expect, but that can be nice. The book is Nights in Rodanthe and it's basically a romance novel, which is not my thing. First, because I find it all so cheesy and unbelievable and second, because I'm such a sucker for a little emotional manipulation. I finished it on Wednesday night and then sat in bed and cried for the next two hours. It was a very sad story but I think it started me off and then all the stress of the move came pouring out. Poor Jason didn't know what to do.

It was ridiculous. I would finally stop crying then think about some other part of the book and start up again. I was irritated too because it wasn't even a very good book! I must avoid that sentimental stuff from now on. The last time I was taken in was The Bridges of Madison County in 1993. I spent HOURS crying when I finished the book. Before that it was the movie Beaches in 1990. I was crying so hard in the cinema that everyone around me was laughing and I still couldn't see through my tears on the way out and tore the handle off my purse on the exit door then stayed up until 4am weeping. I am such a sucker.

He did it!

Jason finished the marathon in about five and a half hours. In the end, Kellie passed him and she finished in five hours and ten minutes. I talked to J about half an hour after he finished and he sounded good. He said his thighs were killing him and he was afraid to take off his shoes. I asked if he was on a high and he said it was good to do it but he can't imagine ever doing it again.

It was a hot day in Chicago and I wanted to know if J did that marathon thing of dumping a cup of water over his head while he was running. He said he did but he didn't want to get his shirt wet so he poured it very carefully over his head. That's my Englishman!

What we're doing right now...

It's an amzingly summery day. The children are in the garden playing. We've let Indy out for the first time and the one of the first things he did was try to jump on a waterlily and got soaking wet in the frog pond. Now he's sitting on the garden path trying to lick himself clean.

I'm making dinner - mushroom stroganoff, sausages (because I know the children won't eat much stroganoff), broccoli and rice. I'm also trying not to worry about Jason who is now over halfway through the marathon in Chicago. I watched the live coverage online until it ended when the male and female winners finished the race. They kept talking about the heat and the toll it takes on the body, the risk of heat exhaustion, etc, etc. Not really what I wanted to hear.

Jason and Kellie are wearing microchips so I'm getting email updates as the pass certain milestones in the race. They're both doing really well so far. I see that Jason has a slower pace than on his 10ks but the heat doesn't help and I'm sure he's pacing himself. Kellie is only three minutes behind him so she's doing really well. Hopefully training in the Texas heat is helping her today.

So, that's what we're doing. Playing, cooking and worrying a little bit.

New table!

The new dining table was delivered this morning and it looks great. I did a lot of looking before we settled on this one. We wanted something that could extend to seat 10-12 people and the thing I like about the one we got is that it doesn't have the issue of someone having to straddle a table leg. It's called "The Cross" because of the way the legs are constructed. The only drawback, they don't do it any other colour and I really wanted a dark brown table. Oh well, it's still lovely. Can't wait to have a big Sunday lunch and see lots of friends sitting around it.

We're in!

We've been here exactly one week today. It's actually starting to look like a house now and not a storage facility. So many freakin' boxes! Where did all of this stuff come from and who does it belong to?

One set-back - the sofabed doesn't fit into the attic bedroom which is going to be the guestroom so it's sitting in the living room hogging space right now. I did find someone to buy it through craigslist.com but they're not coming until Tuesday next week. The new dining table is being delivered tomorrow so it's going to be a bit of a squeeze for a few days.

Also, the kitchen is tiny and badly planned so I'm really struggling to fit everything in. In fact, it's impossible and we're looking for a nice big sideboard to fill. Other than that it's a lovely house and I'm trying to visualise what it will look like when everything has a place.

The floors are really nice. They're all the original wooden floorboards and we had them varnished a dark cocoa brown. They look great but last night I was coming down the stairs in the dark, couldn't see the steps very well because they just blended into the darkness and ended up on my back at the foot of the stairs. I took the skin off both my knees, banged up my right hip and severely bruised my pride. One redeeming factor is that when J ran down in the dark to see what had happened he stumbled too, though his reflexes are obviously better than mine because he didn't actually fall (well, I was carrying the cat which must make a difference, right?). The stair runner has just moved up the priority list.

So it's all good, just tiring. Jason is off to Chicago on Friday for the marathon on Sunday. I'm starting to get nervous about it and asked Jim and Kellie to look out for him. My current fear is that he finishes the race, goes to his hotel room to shower and take a nap and never wakes up. He has been training hard but we've all got colds at the moment. Hopefully he'll have some time to rest and recuperate in Chicago before the race. I'm sure just getting away from a house full of boxes, energetic children, a stressed out wife and a hyperactive cat will make a difference.

And we're off...

Sitting here surrounded by boxes and utterly exhausted. Still on Quentin Road tonight but we move into Chalcroft tomorrow. It's all gone smoothly so far. The decorators finished today and the cleaners came in. Still some bits and pieces to do like touching up the varnish on the stairs where some tape took it off, putting some shelves in the kitchen back up and stuff like that, but mostly it's done.

Jason stayed at the house today to oversee the packing. I took Rosie to playgroup, went over to Chalcroft to deal with decorators and cleaners, hit the home stores for bits and pieces like light shades and a new toilet seat, then bought food, plates and cutlery for dinner. Everything was packed.

While I was at Sainsbury's Jason and the children took Indy for his first vet appointment. He was looked over, given some flea drops and his first innoculation. The vet says that he's a very healthy kitten. But judging from his energy and appetite, we knew that already.

So tomorrow is the big day! The house looks great. I can't wait to see it with all of our stuff in it. Pics soon!

Overheard

Rosie playing with the kitten...

Rosie: Smell it... smell it... now you take it!

Kitten: MEOOOOOW!

[If you don't understand this then watch this clip. No, Rosie hasn't seen the movie but she saw the preview at another film... an age appropriate child's film.]

Love this!

I wanted something Texan for the landing leading up to the loft in the new house. I was thinking maybe a vintage Texas travel poster or something like that. Then I found this poster on Ebay. Love it! I might have to put it in the kitchen just so more people will see it. So funny!

What's been going on

So much going on here. My 'To Do' lists have been amended and extended so many times that I need a list of my lists just to keep up with it all.

Let's see... cut my hair... got a cat... potty trained Rosie (she's been clean and dry for over a week)... got Rosie started at preschool... got Rosie started in ballet (sooo cute)... working on Toby's times tables and handwriting... builders finished their work in the house and the decorators have moved in... had the car broken into (all fine, they tried to hot wire it but obviously didn't know how)... booked movers for Tuesday 30 September (woohoo, one more week!)... couch being reupholstered and delivered to the new house on Saturday (can't wait to see how it turned out)... J's in Edinborough this week with work... I've booked a spa day with Philippa on Saturday at The Sanctuary in Covent Garden (can't wait!)... the children have three birthday parties this weekend (their social lives are far more active than mine)... and that's all I can think of right now!

Indian Summer

A rare photo of me and Jason together. It's usually me and the children or Jason and the children. Toby took this one today on the heath. We've had an unusually sunny spell the last couple of days and everyone has been out enjoying the sunshine. It's probably the last we'll have for a while.

So much is happening!

Crazy busy at the moment and it's all change. Rosie started her first playgroup on her own this morning. She was fine though I cried after I left. We got a kitten, a tiny tomcat that the children have named Indy. School is in full swing as well as my PTA work and we're moving to the new house on 30 September. I'm sure there are a dozen other things going on but my head is spinning!

Yes, I've cut my hair off again

I'll p ost some pics as soon as I get my camera recharged but in the meantime let me say that I took in a photo of Claudia Schiffer in the new Chanel ads for my haircut. She looks so chic, flirty and elegant. Ray, my hairdresser, did a great job copying the cut but somehow on me it's more Volvo driving soccer mom. Either that or Dora Carrington. Not quite the look I was going for but hopefully it'll grow on me.

A couple of interesting articles

This one clarifies some of the lies and exagerations in the McPalin campaign. This bit particularly caught eye:

McCain Myth: Palin Traveled Abroad to Ireland

FACT: Palin Stopped In Ireland To Refuel Plane.

Palin’s Ireland Trip Was A Refueling Stop. Politico’s Ben Smith reported, “I wrote the other day that a Palin spokeswoman said trips to Germany, Kuwait and Ireland made up her foreign travel. Two details worth clarifying: The Ireland trip was a refueling stop on her trip to military installations in Germany and Kuwait, spokeswoman Maria Comella said. And she’s also visited Canada, another spokesman, Ben Porritt, says.” [Politico , 9/2/08]

As an American living abroad foreign policy is particularly important to me. I think being outside the country allows, in some ways, a clearer view of America's place in the world and it's definitely something we need to work on. I'm not saying making nice with everyone is the most important thing but I do think a bit more sensitivity and diplomacy would make things better for everyone.

I think the scariest thing about the "I can see Russia from my house" comment is that even though it was so close Palin has never visited Russia. That is mind-boggling. A country with an important role in world matters, so close to her home state and she obviously has national political aspirations and yet she's never been there.

A more uplifting and positive editorial is here. It's about the fuel crisis and how America and the American gung-ho attitude can make a difference.

The lives of books

I had some time to myself Saturday morning and went into the village for a quiet coffee. I decided to take a look in the Bookshop on the Heath. It's a wonderful old bookstore crammed with second-hand books, vintage posters and postcards and lots of other beautiful things. Not a great place to take children though as there are lots of fragile and very expensive books so it was a treat to get to browse around at my leisure.

There was a beautiful miniature collection of the complete works of Shakespeare bound in leather. I didn't even bother to look at the price. I also found some old maps of Blackheath from the 18th and 19th centuries. Our neighborhood appears at the very beginning of the 19th century but the new house wasn't built until a few years later. On the map I saw that area was still part of the orchards of the old Manor House, which is now a library. That explains why there are so many fruit trees around there!

In the end I bought three Penguin books of detective stories. My much loved Agatha Christie, a collection of Sherlock Holmes and Ngaio Marsh's Vintage Murder. On the inside cover of the last book there's an inscription that reads "Minnie Hood, Buenos Aires, 1951". There's also a sticker for Mitchell's English Book-store, Cangallo 570, Buenos Aires. I love the idea that 20 years before I was born someone was reading this book on the other side of the world and thought enough of it to bring it all the way back to England. Now, 57 years later it will be read by an American expat in London. What an interesting life this little book has had.

Fun stuff

Loved this article in the Sunday Times magazine:

50 Things Every British Girl Should Have

Does anyone know which magazine the American list is in? They don't say in this article but I'd love to read it. The British list is so very British - eccentric, practical, sexy, funny. I'm curious to see what appears on the list in the States. I read a quote recently that said "American women are glamourous, British women are elegant and French women are chic." I can see some truth in that.

Terrifying

I just watched Sarah Palin's interview on ABC. It literally sent a chill down my spine. She's in way over her head. One trip out of North America in her lifetime?! Never dealt with foreign heads of state?! Full of mumbo jumbo and with obviously very little understanding of world issues. She just doesn't have the scope of experience needed to be Vice President.

Some of her points about making the US less dependant on foreign countries for power and teaching creationism in schools I can see. (Though I only support creationsism if taught equally alongside evolution and examples of other belief systems.) There are some interesting ideas under all of the ranting about God and war and family values. She may be able to make some positive changes in the country but not as the VP. Run for Congress.

Something finally clicked...

Rosie has been clean and dry for two days! In the last couple of days she's had a bunch of potty training milestones:

Her first poo in the potty

Telling me that she needs to use the potty

Sitting on the big toilet

I'm so excited. She's even kept her Pull-Up dry overnight so it won't be long before we have no more nappies in the house. Now that makes me so sad! No more babies in diapers. No more little babies. I've made a conscious effort to savour every moment but it still seems like this baby time has just slipped through my fingers.

And now I'm crying.

Ups and downs of potty training

Still struggling with the potty training. It's not that Rosie can't do, it's that she won't. She wakes up every morning with a dry Pull-Up and then does a massive wee in it. In the last week or so it's gotten to the point where her Pull-Up can't cope with the deluge and leaks all over her pajamas and usually the bed. Rosie hates this so I've started keeping a potty by the bed and as soon as she wakes up I plonk her on it.

The first morning she did a wee in the potty and it was a decent one, though not as much as I expected. We did the potty dance and clapped hands and Rosie was very proud of herself. As I went downstairs to get her some underwear I heard her start crying. She was standing at the top of the stairs finishing her wee. It was unbelievable. Like something out of The Exorcist. Rosie was standing their weeping her heart out completely unable to control it. The top three steps were soaked.

I promised to buy her a pink potty (which is our third potty) if she would put all of her wees and poos in it. Rosie said she would so we went off to Bluewater and looked at every potty known to mankind. She chose a pretty little pink one and I put it by the bed that night. Next morning we talked about making sure she was totally empty and she did a great job. I started to see a small light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I took Rosie out of the house in underwear for the first time. She did her morning wee and then tried again before we went out. All on the pink potty of course. I cleaned the potty, put it in a grocery bag and took it out with us along with a change of clothes, potty wipes, Pull-Ups just in case and Dettol wipes. Have potty, will travel.

When we got to the cafe I saw that Rosie was doing the wee wee dance so I took her to the loo along with her potty and she did a wee! In a public loo! Breakthrough!! Unfortunately half an hour later I caught a whiff of a very distinct aroma. Rosie had pooed in her pants. Oh my God it was not a pretty site and she was completely unphased and unrepentant. I just threw the underpants away, cleaned her up and changed her clothes. Two steps forward and one step back.

Then to top things off this morning while my friend Poppy and I were talking Rosie and Poppy's daughter Eva wandered into the loo, put the plug in the sink and turned the tap on! Poppy and I ended up on our hands and knees mopping the floor with paper towels, gulping down our coffees and exiting the cafe as quickly as possible. It's a tiny place run by a grumpy lady. I'm sure we just made her Shit List. If we didn't make it for the water then we will when she finds what I left in the bin. Yet another place I'll need to avoid in future.

ADDENDUM:

Just picked Toby up from school. Rosie sat on her potty for 20 minutes with no success before going out. Once we reached the school she wet her pants. We collected Toby and Finn, who came home for dinner, and as we walked back they noticed Rosie's wet bottom. I thought I would let the boys tease her a little bit in the hope that shame might succeed where bribery, threats and pleading had failed. Was Rosie embarrassed? No she was not. When the boys started to tease her she shook her wet bottom at them and then laughed when they ran away.

I see a long road ahead.

Conversations with the kiddos

Toby, after overhearing a conversation about Sarah Palin:

Toby: What's wrong with that lady's baby?

Me: He has a condition called Downs Syndrome that makes him a little different to most people. Like Archie at school.

T: Oh yea, he's wierd. Have you seen his face?! [I brace myself for a long discussion about accepting others, how people are all different, etc, etc] He has these little brown dots on it. Is that Downs Syndrome?

Me: Um... no that's freckles. Lots of people have freckles.

T: Oh. Can I have a cookie?

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Rosie after seeing a big spider in the cellar:

"That 'pider weally fweaked me out, Mommy."

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I had to balance on a chair to shut the hundred year old kitchen window which is falling apart and the lock came off of it:

Me: Oh shoot!

Rosie: Oh shit!

Me: No, I didn't say shit. I said shoot.

Rosie: I know but I said shit.

****************************

Rosie at top volume after shaking hands with a customer at Costa:

"Mommy, that man is WEALLY, WEALLY black."

My husband

This is Jason's new work portrait. Doesn't he look handsome.

First day of Year 2

Overheard

Rosie singing the children's song that goes "There's a worm at the bottom of my garden and his name is Wiggly Woo" but in her own inimitable way:

"There's a worm coming out of my bottom and his name is Wiggly Woo..."

The new neighborhood

Here are some links to info about our new neighborhood, Hither Green.

Time Out article

Wikipedia entry

I think the Time Out article gives a good sense of what it's like. Quiet, good park, community library, lots of families with young children and a quick train ride into town.

We closed on the house yesterday and it's all happening now. The children and I picked up the keys at lunchtime and spent an hour or so just walking around the house, looking in cupboards and making plans. It's an Edwardian terraced house and we met our neighbor on the left, an elderly lady named Mrs Fitzgibon, and our neighbor on the right came out and gave us a card and a box of chocolates.

We met Jason at the house after work and Pete, Philippa and Joe came over to check it out. The children ran rampant through the empty rooms and terrorised the frogs in the frog pond while we talked about the renovations. Our builder, Mick, came round to pick up the keys and as we were leaving I saw my friend Sarah who lives three doors down the opposite side to Philippa. Sarah gave me a big hug and welcomed us to the neighborhood. It all feels really good and we can't wait to get there.

At midnight last night I suddenly changed my mind about bricking up one of the doorways in the house and we texted Mick to tell him. We met him there this morning and talked over the change and he agreed that it sounded like a better plan. Whew! I'm so glad we sorted that out before they started working! Now we're keeping the doorway to the kitchen and bricking up the door to the dining room instead. I'll post photos soon and it'll all make sense.

Anyway, all going well. Now I just need to sort out a decorator. Once the house was empty we realised it needs more painting to freshen it up than we thought. Anyone know a good decorator in London??

Slebs

Took the kids to Costa for lunch today and bumped into my friend Marion there. She spent the summer travelling around the States and visiting old friends and just got back. She's English but was a school teacher in Connecticut for 20 years so we understand each other well since we're both trans-Atlantic at heart.

Marion is in her 60s and has struck up a friendship with one of the local celebrities, Paul Sculfor. He lives in Blackheath and is a regular at Costa. Marion is the Grande Dame of Costa and knows everyone who comes in so she struck up a conversation with him one day and we've been teasing her about her toyboy ever since. After I updated her on her current competition for Paul (Cameron Diaz) we started talking about the other celebs in Blackheath. Dominic Cooper worked in Costa a few years ago when he was at acting school. Terry Waite lives in the village and Jools Holland lives in Blackheath Standard.

I knew that Marion had a sister who's an actress and I've met her a couple of times in Costa. While we were talking today Marion mentioned that her sister is going to be in a play at the National Theatre this autumn with Helen Mirren. I was really impressed and Marion said "oh yes, she's very good. She's won a Tony and all that kind of thing." Wow! I had no idea. A Tony award winning actress! I've been talking to Marion for almost three years and she's never mentioned that before.

Overheard...

Toby talking to Rosie: Just get Mommy to do it. She's our servant.

Busy, busy, busy

This week is going to be a big one. We close on the house on Tuesday which means that it's finally ours and we get the keys and everything! I'm sure we'll spend the afternoon there exploring every nook and cranny and making plans. On Wednesday the builders start. I assume they'll begin by knocking down the kitchen wall. It's going to be a messy job and I'm so glad we don't have to live there at the same time.

One of the things I've missed about homes in Texas is the open-ness. English homes are built to be easy to heat with each room separated from the other with four walls and a door. Some modern homes are built in what they call "American style" but we've always liked living in old houses. It can be cosy with lots of small rooms but I'm looking forward to our big open plan living/dining/kitchen ground floor in the new house. The house itself is about a hundred years old so it'll still have all of the character details that I love (including 5 fireplaces!) but it'll have a lovely flow of space too.

On Thursday Toby starts Year 2. I can't believe my baby boy is going to be in the second grade already. I still remember being in the second grade! It should be an easy transition back because he has Mr Wilson again this year. Year 2 is a big year though because the children take their first SATs. It will be nice to get back into a routine and to see all of Toby's school friends. I'm planning lots of coffee mornings at the new house.

I still need to find a decorator and sort out a carpet runner for the stairs. That's something else Jason and I have always wanted - stripped wood stairs with a stripey carpet runner and proper stair rods. I think it'll look really nice when it's all done.

We hope to move in at the end of September. Then Jason is running the Chicago marathon in October. We had planned for all of us to go but I think it'll just be too stressful to try and take the children so close to the move. Tobes is going back to school, Rosie is potty training and starting a new playgroup and we're moving house... they're little heads might explode with all the upheaval. Even if they were OK I think my head might explode!

Once we move we've got Halloween to look forward to, which is a big deal in the new neighborhood. Then Rosie's birthday party which looks like it will be a ballerina or princess themed bash. Whatever the theme there will undoubtedly be lots of pink. Then Bonfire Night and Thanksgiving with our neighbors. Very wierdly the Dad and I were at UT at the same time and he grew up in Fort Worth. Now we'll live three doors apart. What are the odds!

Back from the beach

Jason just rang and he's on his way home from Heathrow. His trip went well and now he's home for a week before flying off again. I think it's Monte Carlo next time, though I could be wrong.

The children and I got back from Skegness Wednesday night and we're still recovering. Rosie slept 13 hours last night. She and Tobes were worn out. We had a great time. We went to the beach every day, went to the nature centre to see the seals and other animals, played arcade games on the pier, walked around the pleasure beach, ate a lot of ice cream and had a lot of fun. On Tuesday Barry had to go up to Sawtry to see Nana, who wasn't very well. He stayed overnight and then came back Wednesday morning and brought Nana with him. Nana is 93 now. It was good to see her and I was glad she got to see the children. They change so quickly.

While we were away the children both stayed up later than usual. They were so excited to be on holiday and staying in a hotel. One night we ordered hot chocolates and chocolate cake on room service which didn't really help them get to sleep but it was a nice treat. They loved seeing Barry and Brenda and would wake up every morning asking when we were going round to their house. We'll have to go back soon and next time we'll take Jason along.

Now we're back in London and it's hit me that Toby starts school in less than two weeks. At the same time we close on the house and start the renovations. I have a feeling September is going to be a busy, stressful month. I'm meeting with the builders this afternoon at the house to discuss the changes we want made and to get a schedule of works together so we can give our notice on this house and so I can book the removal company. I also need to hire a skip and have a big clear-out here before we move. I do not want to move rubbish from one house to the other.

In the meantime I've ordered Toby's school uniforms and some new name tapes. I decided to order the tapes with just our surname this time and hopefully Tobes can hand down some of his uniforms to Rosie. I won't hold my breath though. He tends to wear them out!

When Toby starts school Rosie starts ballet and a new playgroup. I need to get some ballet shoes and really focus on the potty training (which has been slow to say the least). Ho hum, I can feel the gears of life starting to turn again after a pretty laid back summer break. Walking back from the village today I could feel autumn on the air. In a few more weeks we'll be wearing sweaters and thinking about Christmas. Another cycle starts again...