Tales of an Unexpected Expatriate

Chachi Turns Two!

2011-02-15T07:11:00.001-08:00

Balloons everywhere!!

Were we drunk when we decorated this cake?!?

It tasted good and that's all that matters

Ang and Big Charlie

Charlie's friend Leo, also enjoying the ugly cake

Rarely caught on film, here you see Paul's real smile

And here you see the much more common fake smile

Laura and Ewan got Chachi this guitar which he loves but makes me want to super glue my ears closed.

Prezzies from Grandpa and Grandma

Charlie's first bike, complete with bell!

Best Buddies

Pops Send Some Bubbles So...

2011-02-15T06:53:00.000-08:00

We popped em!

Summer Photo Recap! Part 2

2010-10-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

Camping in Wales with Maria

Chachi had taken a big spill a few days before leaving, so he's covered in scabs and ointment

Charlie's Great Aunt Mary knitted him this blanket, he's very attached to it

Trial run with our enormous tent

Charlie helping Daddy with the poles

This was back in June and he looks so different now!

Day trip to the seaside complete with newspaper hats...

sweaty babies and

and sandy moustaches.

Summer Photo Recap! Part 1

2010-09-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

The brutal reality of dino life seen on our visit to The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

The Transport Museum! Nerdy fun at it's best.

Chachi is a big fan of trains, we rode on this one twice

But not without the proper eye protection

Just another day at the office.

We took an hour long bus journey on an old double decker to Henley In Arden

Cousin Jazzy, Charlie's second most favorite person in the world.

Our trip to the Umberslade Children's farm with Penny and Ernie

Look! A freakin' duck!

He sat here like this for so long! Just looking at the water and thinking about stuff.

Farm cat stretching in the sun

Teepees for rent in the field. Lets go!

Givin' a buddy a helpin' hand

Hmm...what's going on in here?

Ahh, I see...

Peek-A-Boo!

More photos to come of our eventful summer. But my computer has been at the doctors and I wanted to get this out into cyber world so you didn't think I dropped off the face of the planet.

Our Weekend In London

2010-08-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

We drove to Crouch End in North London last weekend to stay with Paul's brother Mike and his family. It's so amazing around there, the architecture is stunning. I would have taken more pictures to show you but I'm hating on my camera right now and I refuse to give it the satisfaction.

We had some lunch then went for a walk to Alexandra Palace, or "Ali Pali" as it's known to the locals. Mike lives at the top of a hill and can see it from his from front garden.

Clearly I did not take this photo, but I wanted to show you how cool it is. First opened as “The People’s Palace” in 1873, Alexandra Palace provided the Victorians with a great environment and recreation centre. Just sixteen days after it’s opening, the Palace, which had already attracted over 120,000 visitors, was destroyed by a fire in the dome.

In 1935, the BBC leased the eastern part of the building from which the first public television transmissions were made in 1936. That's the transmitter on the right.

Paul reading to Cousin "Jazzy" and Chachi

Uncle Mike and Chachi in Waterlow Park

Aunt Pippa and Chachi

Now for my favorite bit! Highgate Cemetery was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. The cemetery in its original form — the northwestern wooded area — opened in 1839, as part of a plan to provide seven large, modern cemeteries (known as the "Magnificent Seven") around the outside of London. The inner-city cemeteries, mostly the graveyards attached to individual churches, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead.

This is the front building where the funeral procession would end. Through that iron gate and across Swain's Lane is the East side of the cemetery. Karl Marx and Douglas Adams are buried there.

Paul and I took the guided tour of the West cemetery. This is the grave of a small child, you can tell from the small chair.

This is the entrance to the Egyptian Avenue. Gorgeous. The gateway of which is a large Pharoanic arch, flanked either side by two columns with closed lotus buds as capitals. The whole is then guarded by two oblisks, with one still reaching its full heights whilst the other is missing its top half.

Inside the Egyptian Avenue. This was spendy property indeed. Only the towns most prominent could afford these tombs.

Looking back at the entrance.

Spooky, huh?

Nero the Lion, protecting owner George Wombwell who was the English forerunner of Barnum and Bailey. His collection of exotic animals became a highlight of British town fairs in Victorian times.

The ivy is everywhere. It actually gets into the stone and slowly tears it apart. Many of the headstones have been destroyed. Although some wealthy families continued to purchase rights of burial during the 30's, Highgate was passing into a long, slow decline. Greater and greater numbers of graves became abandoned and maintenance became minimal. The chapels were closed in 1956. In 1960 the London Cemetery Company, facing bankruptcy, was absorbed into the larger United Cemetery Company, which struggled to keep the cemetery afloat until funds ran out in 1975. The cemetery was taken over by vandals who destroyed so much of the Victorian beauty.

Here lies bare knuckle prize fighter, World Heavyweight Champion Tom Sayers, watched over by his faithful dog "Lion".

This wonderfully carved sleeping angel is my favorite. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery was launched to secure access to the cemetery for public benefit and future generations. Over the last 30 years much restoration and conservation work has been carried out on buildings, boundary walls, architectural features and the landscape. Several features and monuments have been listed as of special importance by English Heritage.

Surgery Update For Those Who Give A Crap

2010-08-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

I went to the new QE, Queen Elizabeth of course, Hospital on August 3rd for an ear grommet. I figured it would be local anesthesia but turns out it's actually general. I was told to be there at seven thirty in the morning. When I got there I was stuck in a waiting hall with a load of other people having minor surgery that day. I got called in around 8:00am and was shown to bed number 33. And there Paul and I waited until 11:30am!! We talked, read and I snoozed for an hour. Finally they marked a big black X on my left ear, slapped an identification band on my wrist, taped my wedding ring to my finger and wheeled me into theater. I got a cannula put in my wrist and an oxygen mask placed over my mouth. Then my wrist started to ache. Then my body got all relaxed and then...lights out.

I came to in the recovery room after sleeping off the drugs for half an hour. I felt fine. Actually really fine. They wheeled me back to Paul who planted a big kiss on my dry lips. Then they brought me a ham sandwich and a cuppa. I was famished after having fasted for almost 18 hours, so that thin little sandwich tasted like the best thing in the world.

They like to see you chill out for an hour or two after surgery and keep an eye on you. I was doing great and didn't need any pain medication. So we left around 3:30pm to scoop up Chachi from Eve's house.

All in all it was a big success! And it was free! My hearing is slowly returning to normal as the swelling goes down. It's fantastic to be hearing things again! I was dreading being put under again. It's really creepy, knowing they turned you over, threw a tube down your throat and God knows what else, all while you were passed out with some dumb look on your face. But it's totallty worth it to be normal again.

I Broke Up With My Television

2010-07-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

And we have been seeing each other for many, many years. We go way back. TV has always been a part of my life. When I was a latch key kid back in the 80's I used to come home to Gilligan's Island everyday. Which was the second best part about being a L.K.K. I wore my house key on a piece of string around my neck. Every morning my Mom would warm the key in her hands before carefully dropping it down the front of my t-shirt, that was the best part. On my own I also used to do science experiments, eat lots of saltines and draw hearts around the faces of the boys I liked on our class photo. But I was never really alone, Gilligan was always there..."the Skipper too." Comforting me in the background.

At one point I had my Mom's little, old black and white TV in my bedroom. I used to stay up late and sneak episodes of the Benny Hill show. With the occasional flash of knickers this seemed so naughty. My Mom doesn't watch TV at all now, however I always thought it was so cool that she's seen every episode of Perry Mason, on that old black and white TV. Of course now I have too.

After I moved in with my Dad, in fifth grade, and his comprehensive cable package, I truly fell in love with TV. We had HBO and Cinamax. I remember when they first started a comedy channel. It was called "HA!" This has since morphed into Comedy Central. But when it began they would have tons of stand up comedy, which I would devour. Even though I was still just a kid and a lot of it was aimed at adults I would sit for hours laughing til I cried.

Even with our fancy cable my Dad still watched PBS religiously. There's even a story about him not wanting to go to the hospital with my Step mom, who was in labor, until Dr. Who had finished. I used to curl up next to my Pops on the couch to help him watch Dr. Who and Saturday night BritComs like "The Young Ones". This began my lifelong obsession Britain. And, in essence, is how I ended up where I am today. I was an anglophile from a young age with more than a passing fondness for a British accent as an adult. I was a goner from the very first second I met Paul.

As an adult I've watched more than my fair share of TV. I can watch just about anything. I like stupid reality shows, old crap movies and I even got drawn into a soap opera in high school. I'd be hard pressed to make a list of my top five shows, as I love so many. I've used TV as a companion in an empty, lonely house. As a window into another culture. As a hangover cure. As a boredom cure. As an excuse to avoid work/friends/school. Even as a teacher when I took a math class that was televised. I love watching television. With that said, here's why we broke up...I'm a mom now. And I have big responsibility to another human.

I was hesitant to write about giving up TV, for fear of being seen as a radical or extremist. I am, however, extremely radical :) I haven't given it up to get on some high horse spouting about the evils of television and commercials. And generally I do follow the mantra of: everything in moderation. However my love of TV makes it hard for me to only watch the good, educational programs. If it's there, and I'm bored or sick, I'll turn it on and flip happily through the channels until I find something good or not too shit to watch. And then I see an advert for something else! Oooo, that looks good! Must watch that. I spose it's a bit like an alcoholic giving up drinking but then living next door to the bar. Too much temptation and the moderation is a distant memory.

I came up with this wacky plan awhile ago and started reading this:

It was just wishful thinking for the first few months. After a long session in front of the tube, with a sore butt and neck I would casually say "We should just get rid of the TV." and Paul would mutter a "Yeah, maybe." But then I would always think to myself: no way can I not watch any TV, ever! That's just crazy talk! What do you do on rainy days, when you have the flu, when CSI is on??? So I was happy with just the fantasy of no TV, listening to music all day, reading or playing games. But in reality it seemed like an absurd, impractical thing to do.

Then I went to Portland and experienced a lot of TV free days with Chachi, my Mom and sisters. And Chachi started talking and almost walking and becoming this little person who changes, learns and grows bigger everyday. And I thought about missing out on a new word or cute expression. And I finished my "Living Outside The Box" book. Which was jammed full of reasons to be a TV free family and ideas on how to do it. And I made my mind up to stop thinking about it and just give it a try. Whats the worst that could happen? I can't hack it and the TV comes back? So what. At least I tried. But whats the best that could happen? I kick my TV addiction, raise a creative, smart kid and pick up some new hobbies.

So me, the last person in the world that would ever stop watching TV, decided to do just that. But wait, it's not just me in this plan. Before making such a big lifestyle change I needed to get Paul's approval...

Stay tuned for part 2! Same bat time, same bat channel!

What next...scurvy?!?

2010-07-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

For some reason my weak Oregonian immune system has trouble fighting off English illnesses. I seem to acquire a new one each time I move here. The first trip saw me swollen, unhappy and in pain with shingles. Which has left me with a nasty scar on my nose that Charlie likes to point at. He's also real handy when you have a zit.

I fell victim to "Glue Ear" a year ago. I'm sure you have all heard me moaning on and on about it for the last year. But it really is a most annoying condition. I was at my worst last Christmas time. I remember sitting in the dining room with Paul and our friend Marcus not being able to participate in the conversation whatsoever. I could not understand a thing that Marcus said. This situation was made worse by his deep voice, Brummie accent and the copious amounts of Christmas cheer they were consuming. I quietly retired to the living room to watch TV turned up to the max.

I've been on an NHS waiting list for 6 months now for an operation to get grommets inserted which will help the fluid drain and therefore restore my hearing. And just yesterday I finally got my long awaited for letter in the mail! I have a pre-admission session on July 26th and my surgery on August 3. They have included the visiting hours and a warning about no longer allowing flowers to be brought onto the wards. Does this mean I have to stay in the hospital over night?? I hope not, we all know I've spent more than enough time on shared hospital wards.

I'm nervous about the operation but very excited to get back to normal. This condition has impacted my life in so many negative ways and put a halt to any socializing for months. But it's not all bad. Here are a few good things about being deaf:
~I can't hear Paul snoring at night.
~My ears don't pop on car journeys over hills.
~If I'm asked to do something I don't wanna do I just pretend I didn't hear the request.
~It's a great excuse for not answering the door/phone to someone I don't wanna see/talk to.

Yay deaf! I'll keep y'all posted on these upcoming events.

First Haircut

2010-07-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

The boy got his first haircut last week at Declan's salon Curl Up and Dye. And judging from the length of that bathhawk in the last post, which was the clear winner by an overwhelming majority...thank you Ri-Ri, not a minute too soon. He was very good and still for the first 10 minutes but then got a bit squirmy when Daddy walked in.

Here the basic hair cutting technique is being described to Chachi.

"Short back and sides please, love."

Taking the new haircut for a spin at Phoebe's birthday party (Yeah, we're still waiting for some side hair to start growin').

And introducing the new and improved bathhawk!

BathHawk vs. BedHead

2010-06-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Who will win? You decide...

"Put down that box of broken glass Charlie!"

2010-06-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

As a Mom you do everything you can to protect your children, unless you are trying to cook dinner and your child is tugging on your pant leg while you carry a pot of boiling water to the sink. In that case you will do anything to keep that child entertained and away from your generally klutzy legs. Short of playing with rat poison, an actual rat or sharp knives the boy can entertain himself with anything that will keep him out of my hair for at least 10 minutes.

The other night he played in the freezer. Not so great for the electric bill or the planet, but damnit, I got dinner finished without a single pot of boiling water being spilled on anyone.

As I write this he's bringing me all the contents of the food cabinet. I'm surrounded by custard powder, peanut butter, coffee and taco shells. But hey, I got to post something finally! Totally worth the clean up. Who wants tacos?!

By Popular Demand: The Walking Video

2010-06-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the horrible noise I managed to create at the end. Utterly ear shattering.

Train Wrecks Are Funny!!

2010-03-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

Daddy, this blogs for you. We miss you like crazy!

My Son Is One!

2010-02-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

Name: Charles Allan Dooney

Nicknames: Chachi, Charlie, Chacharelli, Babykins, Chimps, Cha Cha

Age: One year old today!

Occupation: Full time baby

Hobbies: Being naked, pushing buttons, chasing Bean around the house, playing in the ball pit, turning pages of books, trying to eat Bean's food, pulling hair, having his picture taken, taking walks in the park, biting noses, giving love slaps to loved ones, opening prezzies, feeding Bean his food and having a good nursing session

Likes: Pointing, music, clean laundry, Pee-Wee Herman, standing up, paper, stripy socks and cars

Dislikes: Getting dressed, having his hair washed, being told "No", when Mommy goes upstairs without him and when Daddy leaves

Best Mates: Ernie and Leo

Favorite Foods: Spaghetti, fish, cookies of any kind, scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt, cheese and Mango Chicken sandwiches from Gregg's

Favorite Song: The music to the end credits of Gilmore Girls

Favorite Person In The World (besides Mom & Dad): Big sister Maria

Best Features: Big green eyes and long legs

Best Attribute: Amazing sense of humor

Worst Habit: Farting in the bathtub

Perfect Day: Pancakes and scrambled eggs for brekkie then a super long nap in between Mommy and Daddy in their bed. Then off to Hickory Dickory Playhouse for fun on cushy mats followed by another nap with Harvey the rabbit in my crib. And after my nap a full evening of climbing on Mommy and Daddy while eating cookies. And to top it all off absolutely no bath but lots of nursing, my "Night, Night Baby" book and then off to sleep!

Two Most Favorite Things In The World: Boobs and butterflies

From This...

To This...

Charlie laughed so hard in the bath this night that he pooped in the tub! You can sorta make it out under his left elbow.

Crawling Video

2010-01-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Best Photos EVER!

2010-01-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing photo session in Portland with Xea! She's a great photographer and mother, not to mention the fact that she played a big part in who I am as a person.
Charlie was very well behaved and had a good time hammin' it up for the camera. Check em out...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittyyum/

As I've reached my upload limit on Flickr (what? why a limit?) my next blog will be a picture post of Chachi's christening right here on blogger. His head's all wet and he's in his Sunday best! God said he was the cutest baby in the church...or was it in the world? Either way God was totally high fiving him all day.

I'm Back!

2010-01-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

Damn! It has been forever since I've written anything on my blog! I blame the many illnesses that plagued our house. Chachi was sick for a month with some horrible high fever-throw up thing. And then Christmas came and blah, blah, blah. But no more blog neglection, I promise. It's time to get back to it and I mean proper. To make it easier on myself I will upload my photos (if there's loads) onto Flickr because Blogger takes for-freakin-ever!

So to wet your whistle, the first of many photo installments: Our trip to Portland 2009!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittyyum/sets/72157623139527122/

And coming up next week...our professional family photo shoot with my oldest friend in the world Xea! These photos will make you want to roll Chachi up into a little ball and put him in your pocket.

Have Baby Will Travel

2009-10-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

We're off in 5 hours!! Yikes! I'm terrified. My hands are shaking. I can't eat. The cabs gonna be here at 2am. Paul and I just got colds yesterday. Is this going to be the worst 24 hours of my life? Perhaps. But Portland, you are so worth it. I can't wait to be back in the warm bosom of the Pacific Northwest.
If you wanna hang with us and the Doonlet please email me at: sherriedooney@yahoo.co.uk.
We leave for the UK on November 6th. Love you all! And please send me good travel vibes!

8 Months

2009-10-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

The boy loves his strawberries! And he loves to laugh! Sometimes I start laughing at him and then he starts laughing at me laughing and then we just laugh and laugh together. It's awesome.

We visited Terry and Stu at their allotment the other day. They were working hard on all their veg while we took it easy in the shade and had some lunch. We have our names on a waiting list for a plot in the same allotment as them, we're number 5. So right around the time Charlie is old enough to put to work diggin' and plantin' our turn should come up!

Charlie got his first cold a few weeks ago. You may be able to spot the snot in this shot. It was horrible! I felt so bad for him, he was obviously confused as to what was happening to him and why he couldn't breath. It lasted a full week and it was hell. But he's all better now.

This photo is deceiving, Charlie could never manage a piece of food that big. He hasn't mastered the skill of chewing yet and chokes on anything bigger than a pea. But he's still eating everything we give him and I'm slowly introducing more chunks. He loves toast, ice cream, spaghetti, sweet potatoes, semolina, yogurt, fish and bananas.

Oh and apples!

We ate these for dinner that night. They were delicious!

He can sit up all on his own now! He can roll over from back to front but not front to back. He gets stuck on his tummy in his crib all the time. Arrggg!

Here he is with our friend Tay. He's not exactly into other people yet. Other babies? Yes! But strangers are a drag.

We take him and Beans to the park all the time and he loves it. He touches the trees, watches Bean run up ahead, is mesmerized by the ducks and likes walking through the row of Oregon trees.

He's a big fan of Daddy's. When he comes home from work Charlie is all smiles.

He's just learned how to clap! I'm amazed. How can something so simple bring me so much joy?

No One Likes A Lonely Yank

2009-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's September?? Where did the summer go? I think I say that every year. I'm really looking forward to fall however. I absolutely love fall. It brings thunder, rain, cold snaps, hot water bottles, color, Halloween, the smell of burning leaves and wedding anniversaries. It's my favorite season. It will also bring us back to Portland! It's been a whole year since our last visit and I promised my Pops I'd come back home once a year. So it's a good thing Jenn's getting married in October, that's the main thing that brings us back.

I'm dead nervous to fly with the baby. Will his ears be hurting? Will he cry the whole way there? Will I get mad stink eye from the other passengers? Will he be getting over the jet lag just as we have to come back? Will all my hard work establishing a sleep schedule to ruined? But I know it will all be worth it to see him in his grandparents arms. No one tells you this but after you have a baby you get super sappy and cry at anything.

Things around here are okay. Charlie is doing great! He can rollover now and he can sit up for short periods of time. He's eating, smiling, pooping, playing and nursing everyday. But believe it or not this blog is not about Charlie.

I need some Sherrie time, some bitchin' and moanin' Sherrie time. I'm homesick...again. Probably just because I know I'm visiting soon so Portland is really on my mind. But it's more than just that. Being a mom and not having my friends or family here is turning out to be harder than I thought it would be.

I'm finally coming out of the baby fog. The first few months are so full on, the baby is all you can think about! All your energy is spent keeping the baby alive and happy. Faces come and go and somehow the groceries get bought and the garbage gets taken out, but really you are nothing more than a mothering machine. You run on empty with your foot on the gas pedal all day and all night.

But now things are calming down and Charlie and I are in a groove. We understand each other. I can distinguish between his cries and he gets my jokes. I'm no longer being milked every hour so I can think about life again. Or rather trying to have a life again.

Being here with a baby has been very isolating. So I thought I'd join as many mommy groups as I can. I started with the one at the Health Center up the street. It's a post natal support group where you learn about weaning, baby sign language and things like that. I met a gal and we exchanged numbers. Oh how excited I was! I came home and told Paul and Maria "I got a girls number!" But it was not to be. Unfortunately I didn't make the cut into the cool gang. "Thanks for applying Sherrie, but you're just not what we're looking for". Which is a middle class, white, English woman. I met the cool moms in the park last week and they walked two by two leaving me in the back...alone...twice. Whatever. I took note of the other mom's on the outside of the clique: the black mom, the Asian mom and me, the American mom. Whatever.

I went to the Tots club today for the first time. I didn't talk to a single person and not a single person talked to me. And all the kids were way older than Charlie. But it was pretty laid back and he got to play with new toys and watch other kids interact. They have a sing along at the end and he dug that. So it's good for him. And it seems like the kind of place I might meet someone at some point so I'm gonna keep going. We also start Music Shakers next week. It's a babies only group that does sing alongs. Fingers crossed for that one.

I've never been in a position where I had to make a certain type of friend. It's odd. I really need to communicate with someone who is going through the same thing I am. But also someone who gets me. I really, really miss my friends back in Portland right now. I really miss Americans in general. We may speak the same language here, but a lot gets lost in the translation.

I'm gonna keep trying. There are millions of mommy groups here, it's like nappy valley! My special someone is out there right now, perhaps looking for me :)

We took a drive through the country side to Henley in Arden last week. Just for ice cream. Which we ate in a graveyard.

My wedding bouquet got destroyed somewhere in the two transcontinental moves I've taken since being married. So Paul, the old romantic, had another one made for me. He was keeping it a secret but I saw him disappear with one of our wedding photos and he wouldn't tell me where he went. I was pretty sure he was putting a hit out on me.

Fun with plums! Which by the way, stain like a mofo.

6 Months

2009-08-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

The boy is 6 months old today. No way is that possible! It really seems like just yesterday that he was born. Parents always say time goes by so fast with your children and now I know why.
Charlie's an amazing person already. He laughs all the time even though he can be a bit moody. He smiles whenever Paul or I walk into the room but often cries huge crocodile tears when the checkout lady smiles at him.
He can't roll over yet, still working on that one, but he can suck on his toes all day long. He's in the 99th percentile for his length (71.5 cm) which means he's a tall boy. If you can describe someone who can't yet stand up as "tall". He's outgrown lots of his 6-9 month clothes and wears onesies for 12 month olds!
He has one dimple on his left cheek, in the exact same place as Paul. When he gets excited about anything he throws his hands out, then back in, clasping his hands together under his chin. It's so cute and so very coy.
He loves to play hide-n-seek! But not your average game of hide-n-seek where you just hide behind your hands. He loves it when you stand behind a wall and then jump out.
Whenever we pass a mirror he likes to stop and flirt unabashedly with himself. When we nurse he prods my nostrils and tugs at my lip.
He's interested in anything we're eating or drinking and will eat anything I put on a spoon. The other day he had pureed zucchini, he wasn't too sure about it and even gagged a few times but then he ate it all up. He's learning how to use his pink sippy cup, he never really did the whole bottle thing.
He still loves being outside and giggles when he sees any other babies or kids. Next month we can start "Tots Club". It's a Mom and baby playgroup just down the road at one of the old churches. It's only two quid in, but tea will cost you 60p and toast will set you back 25p.

Picture Post

2009-07-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Legwarmers aren't just for ladies!

Charlie has just started weaning and he loves eating new food

And by new food, I mean my face

Charlie having a particularly good mohawk day

If Charlie had a myspace page this would be his profile picture!

Here is my beautiful new niece Kayla, born July 14th -7lbs 6oz
Congratulations to my sister Rose!

2009-07-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

"I was Cesarean born. Can’t really tell. Although, whenever I leave a house I got out through the window." ~Steven Wright

Summer Has Begun!

2009-06-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

We took Charlie to his first summer "fete" (a posh English word for fair) at St Anne's Church, just a few blocks from our house. They had a raffle, cream tea and lots of stalls selling brick-a-brack. We were checking out some ceramic cooking pots when a man came up to me and said "Those are a bargain at just five pounds and they're quite heavy." I picked one up and said "Oh GOD! It is heavy, you could really kill a man with that!"
Then I realized I was talking to the vicar. Nice one, Sher.

The good weather has finally reached Great Britain! We spend all day out in the backyard taking advantage of it while it's here.

Check the new hairdo!

4 Months Old

2009-06-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's only been 4 months since Charlie was born. It feels like he's been a part of our family forever. He's grown so much in just these few months. Its amazing to watch him change, grow and learn.

He wakes up smiling every single morning. He'll happily kick and coo on the bed with us all morning long. Then we go downstairs and he sits in the nursing chair, watching as I make tea and breakfast.

He's mesmerized by our dog Beanie. He watches her no matter what she's doing and laughs. He recognizes his sister Maria and laughs when he sees her.

Charlie and I take a bath together every night before bed. He loves to stomp his feet and grab the washcloth. He practices his floating but isn't so keen on it. He loves nothing more than having a bit of naked time. Even if he's in a bad mood, if you take off all his clothes he will laugh and kick with delight.

He can stand on his own (with me being his balance) for ages. Which makes it easier to put his trousers on. He drools...a lot. He blows spit bubbles like a champ. He makes the cutest noises when he talks to us and hearing them makes me want to cry.

He's still rocking a mohawk but also has lovely soft hair coming in. His eyes are an amazing shade of green. His fingernails are shaped just like mine and my Dad's.

He's really starting to get good at grasping whatever he fancies, usually this is my hair. He loves to ride in the Baby Bjorn and almost always falls asleep. When the weather gets nice I lie him on a blanket outside and he spends all day looking at the sky and trees. If he's crying Paul takes him out front and walks him up and down the street, and he'll calm right down. He sleeps through most of the night, most of the time. When he wakes up (around 4:00am or 5:00am) each night I bring him into our bed to nurse and sleep with us for another few hours. This is when I am happiest.

Holiday In North Wales

2009-05-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's our cottage

And our crazy good view

Naked baby! Check that belly!

Beans loves the beach

Watching some telly with Daddy

Beanie has a bit of lap jealousy going on

BWWWAAHHHHH!!!

Charlie's first train trip, on the Snowdon Mountain Railway

We had a great time in Barmouth! We just took it easy, walking to the beach everyday, flying kites, collecting rocks, playing games and seriously relaxing. It was amazing.

The Saga Continues

2009-05-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was once again wheeled, bed and all, onto the post natal ward. Ward 3 to be exact. It was about 4:30am on Monday morning. I was in a big room with three other new moms and their babies, each person's area separated by a yucky blue curtain. There are no men allowed on the ward outside of visiting hours, so Paul had to go home. It was just me and Charlie, who was asleep in his aquarium. I quickly learned that sleeping on my back was not going to work and instead fell asleep sitting up.

The next day I was told that women who have had cesareans are to stay in hospital for three days not counting the day you gave birth. So I was due to leave on Thursday. Paul visited me everyday and everyday my blood pressure was still high.

It was so awful on the ward! Sharing a room with three other people sucked! Their babies would cry in the middle of the night and set off the other babies. They had loud visitors. They didn't turn off their lights at night. One gal was only 17 and her baby was going into foster care in a few days while she sorted out some legal issue (I eventually heard the whole story as she shouted down the phone at all hours, something to do with a fist fight over some guy) and she was in tears day after day. I hated every minute of being there and just wanted to go home.

So when Thursday rolled around, at last, I was outta there! Or that's what I thought. But my blood pressure readings were still high and the doctors "strongly recommended" that I not leave. The thing with high blood pressure is that you feel totally fine, there's nothing wrong with you that you can see or feel. It's frustrating. I was in tears. I wanted to start my life with my family, I didn't want to spend one more night without Paul.

But I agreed to spend another night in hospital prison on the condition that no matter what I was leaving by noon the next day. We packed everything up on Friday and got ready to leave. I got my blood pressure checked one more time. It had sky rocketed to a dangerously high level. Even I knew that leaving was out of the question. I had to take some strong medication and lay down for an hour. I knew then that I was in for the long haul. The next day I spoke to one of the midwives about Charlie's umbilical cord, which had not fallen off yet and was looking pretty sore and inflamed.

We were told to go immediately to the pediatrician. Where they drew his blood and inserted a cannula. He was to start antibiotics that day. We had to walk down to the neonatal unit three times a day to receive his medication. He never got sick other than that belly button. He ate like a bear and slept all the time.

One good thing that happened after Charlie got sick was that we finally got our own room. After a week of watching other women come and go with their babies, not sleeping at night, listening to other people's conversations, and whispering my own so as not to be over heard we finally had some privacy. It was great!

A few days later we found out Charlie had MRSA. I didn't really know what that meant at the time, of course now I'm an expert.

When they found out it was MRSA we got a room with our very own bathroom! And all my crappy hospital meals were brought to me! And everyone who came into our new room had to wear a disposable apron and wash their hands! I knew it was worse than they were letting on.

I have been sitting on this blog written to this point for weeks now, unable to finish. I kept telling myself it was because I had no time. But really I think it's because the time spent in the hospital when Charlie was sick was the worst few weeks of my life. It was so painful to watch him go through everything that he did. And I think reliving it all by dragging up the details for my blog is proving to be too hard for me. So I've been putting it off. What I'm going to do, so that I can end this drama and start posting about all the cool new stuff we're doing, is wrap it up in a few sentences. So to make a long story short (too late)...

Charlie was getting his medication in our room now instead of going down to the neonatal unit and it sucked!! They came in at all times during the day and night. 2:00pm, 4:00pm, 6:00pm, 10:00pm, midnight, 2:00am, 6:00am. They put powerful medication into his cannula and it stung him and he cried. They drew loads of his blood every night to check the levels of meds and he cried. They hooked a "syringe driver" to his arm every night which is a machine from hell that slowly (over an hour) drives the medication into his little arm. It had a big battery in it and it weighed a ton. But it kept breaking and it would take more than a hour. The cannulas kept coming out so I would have to get a paediatrician to come and find a different place to insert a new one and he cried. But getting the paediatrician to come in the middle of the night took hours sometimes and then his medication schedule would be off. It was a horrific experience. But he was such a trooper through it all.

I was a wreck. Paul was visiting whenever he could but for the most part we were all on our own. The midwives were wonderful and gave me hugs when it all got to be to much. Eventually he had taken his 10 day course of medication and we had waited the 24 hours under observation afterwards. We were finally discharged after almost three weeks on Ward 3. Going outside was weird but I was so happy to finally be taking Charlie to get his first breath of fresh air and have his first look at the sky.

My best friend Jenn had arrived in Birmingham half way through the ordeal so I only got to spend a week with her. I was gutted. It was so hard to have her here but be stuck in the hospital and unable to do all the things we had planned. And she had to see me at my lowest. But Paul took her to a few fun places and out to a few pubs.

So that's it. That's the whole horrible story. But now I have an incredible, healthy and adorable baby and it was totally worth it!

Whew! Now on to the good stuff. We're going on holiday to Wales on Monday. So lots and lots of pictures to come of the past few weeks and Wales, as soon as I get my laptop fixed.

Love you all!!

Sidetrack #2-Charlie's First Laugh Caught On Film!

2009-04-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

This video is only for the serious Charlie fans. But if you do sit through it, I promise you will laugh. (his laugh is right around 02:32) Makes my heart smile big time

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born it's first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be." --James Matthew Barrie

Sidetrack

2009-04-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

We now get the milk delivered by a milkman. A freaking milkman!! How great is that?!? He leaves it right outside the front door, hidden behind a flower pot. Two bottles each day, four on Saturday. It's cold, fresh and the most delicious milk I've ever tasted. It definitely tickles my pickle.

So There I Am...

2009-03-30T01:52:00.001-07:00

in utter pain and total confusion, being asked to sign a piece of paper saying that if it all went horribly wrong the NHS was not to blame. I laid back on the bed and was then wheeled, bed and all, in to the operating theater. Wow, what a shock this was! I have never seen such a well lit room in my life! I just kept thinking why am I here? And why is it so damn bright? The people in the theater were clearly not there to hold your hand, wipe your brow or make your experience pleasant. These people meant business. They sent Paul off to get changed so he could be in the theater with me during the surgery. It was so bad being without him. Mainly because I had no idea what was happening. I was so scared.

My sister Rose gave me some advice shortly before I went into labor: Prepare for a cesarean even if you don't think you'll have one. Because there are decisions to make. Best advice I ever ignored.

They set me up on the side of the bed and started poking holes in my wrists. Three times it took them to find a suitable place for the IV! Meanwhile I'm still having contractions one after another. But now I was without my gas and air. They had gas but no air so I was sucking on pure gas with each contraction. Wondering why they keep taking it away from me after just a few breaths. There's a lady in front of me doing something operationy and I beg her to sit with me and hold my hand as I'm getting poked and contracting at the same time.

Then they start poking my back with needles preparing me for a "spinal". And, of course, I have the terrifying thought that I will have a contraction as they are sticking me with the needle, start thrashing about and I'll be paralyzed for life. That didn't happen.

And then the best thing that's ever happened to me happened...I couldn't feel any more contractions!!! Oh sweet relief.

I laid back on the table and they blasted various parts of me with something cold to make sure the spinal was taking effect in all the right places. Then they put the sheet up in front of me so I wouldn't be able to see the hideous things they would be doing to me in the very near future. That's when it hit me. I was having a c-section! Wait! This was not in the game plan!

I turned to Paul and told him how scared I was. Mainly scared that I could see a reflection of the surgery in the over head lights, I never looked up.

And just as quick as it had started, it was over. And I could hear Charlie screaming somewhere in the room. They wrapped him up and gave him to Paul. I couldn't hold him so Paul let me smell his head and put his feet on my face. I really wanted to see what he looked like! But in the position I was in I could only see a bit of his face. Paul took him into another room while they sewed me up. I was still so out of it it only seemed to take a minute.

I think I must have drifted off because the next thing I know I'm in the recovery room with my whole body shaking and a serious case of the dry heaves. I thought perhaps I was just really cold and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't control the shaking. There were midwives everywhere but none of them told me what was happening. I wasn't coherent enough to ask. I later found out that I was in shock due to the medication.

But that wasn't the worst part. I was unable to hold Charlie due to the shaking and it just broke my heart. After awhile the shakes eased up and Paul put Charlie next to me, which really calmed me down. I kept trying to turn on my side but my legs still didn't work. Very weird sensation.

Then after 16 hours of hard labor and an emergency c-section later I was finally where I wanted to be:

Next time...how the hospital almost killed us both. Love you guys!! Here's some more unbearable cuteness.

Charlie Bear one day old

Looking just like Daddy

The boy has massive feet and prize hams for hands!

This Blog Is Not For The Spoon Fed

2009-03-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you familiar with my blog you know I tell it like it is. So this post won't be any different. I won't fanny about and blow sunshine up your ass about my labor or being a new mom. So if you're pregnant or wish not to hear the grody details pass on this and the next few installments (I'm sure it will take more than one post to catch up).

Charlie is asleep and I should really be taking a much needed shower, as I'm covered in baby barf, but you dear reader come first. Now where was I...

As yes, walking around the house with mild contractions. I was timing them and they were about 5 minutes apart. Paul called the Birth Center to let them know we were coming in soon. Since it was snowing, the contractions were getting a bit closer and I was sort of in pain we decided to start heading to the hospital. It's now 7:00am Sunday morning. The drive there sucked! Contractions on bumps are no good. When you first arrive they take you to triage to get you booked in and assess your situation. So we were put into this little room and that's when I was told that I had high blood pressure. They wanted to wait to see if it would go down on it's own so Paul and I spent the first three hours, yes THREE hours, in labor in this tiny room. Only to be told that my blood pressure is not going down and I will not be having this baby in the Birthing Center due to that fact. Dream one dashed. Also I find out it's the busiest morning they have ever had and the birth center and delivery suite are totally full of other ladies having other babies.

Now at this point my contractions are getting pretty bad. I'm at the crying out loud stage and I'm only 2 centimeters dilated. They have to get us out of triage but have no where for me to go since you can't even step foot on the delivery suite until you are at least 3 centimeters. So I get put in a wheelchair and taken onto the postnatal ward! Here I am in full on labor and I'm surrounded by new moms and their sleeping babies. It was like trying to give birth in the library. And to make matters worse it was visiting time so there were loads of dudes there too! I was trying to be as quiet as possible when the contractions hit but it was nearly impossible to keep from at least moaning loudly. I was so self conscience of being too loud it was horrible!!! I was starting to get pretty out of it and could not figure out why they had put me in such an unkind, quiet place full of so many other people staring at me.

Paul got a midwife to take my blood pressure again and it was even higher (yeah, big shock! I'm trying to stifle contractions!!!!) so they put me in another wheelchair and I was finally taken onto the delivery suite and put in my own room. It was a big room and the first thing I remember seeing was a little cot being prepared for the baby. And I thought "Oh wow! I'm actually going to have my baby in here, I'm so close to meeting him!"

From here on out the story gets pretty hazy for me. I remember some of it and some was recounted to me by Paul and some was probably just a hallucination. The contractions are really getting strong and I'm only having gas and air (which by the way was fantastic, I would highly recommend it). I'm not dilating very fast and I'm only 3 centimeters. They offer me some pethidine and like a teenage kid lookin' for kicks I jump at the chance to get some drugs.

Now I know I was all about the natural childbirth and going drug free. But then I went into labor. And let me tell you, that shit is no joke. It hurts just as much...no make that MORE, than everyone tells you. They say "it's like really bad period pain." What?!!? It's more like being stabbed over and over and over again in your stomach. I swear labor must feel different for different women. Cause there was no freaking way a massage, smelly candles or a warm bath were ever gonna touch the sides of what hellish pain I was feeling. No way. So a big sorry to anyone I may have disappointed but I was out of my mind with pain. Self preservation took over and spoke for me.

So they stick me with a needle in my thigh and then the world gets drunk. Really drunk. I would not recommend pethidine. It made me feel tired but unable to sleep, out of control and caused me to speak in tongues. It didn't really help with the pain even. I was still on the gas and air and still suffering big time.

Now let's take a moment to look at Paul's role in all this. I have come to a few stead fast decisions since my hard labour began and one of them was that I could not and would not have a contraction without Paul being right in front of me. Another was that I could not and would not hold the mouth piece for the gas and air, it had to be held for me by Paul. So the contrations are coming hard and fast at this point and with each one I scream for the mouth piece, throw my right arm around Paul's neck, grab and rip his sweater with my other hand, stomp on his feet and scream to high heaven. I mean really scream!!! Which is the wrong thing to do, I know. But I can't tell you how much it hurts.

The only thing I could do sometimes was just let it all out. Other times I was able to mentally control the pain and didn't scream at all. Just sucked on the gas and air and visualized walking the outer line of the contractions and not letting them take over me. But only after the pethidine wore off could I do that. Back to Paul...he's been getting me through each contraction for hours now and he has to wee and needs to eat. Both of which are long gone for me, I tried to wee into a bed pan but there was no way. So Paul takes a break and I had to make it through contractions on my own. That sucked! His break didn't last long since I was screaming his name to get him back in front of me.

So we're hours and hours into this nightmare and I have just enough brain power to notice that the sun has gone down. So I know I must be at the worst part of first stage labor. Paul and the midwife were trying to get me to labor in other positions but I threw such a fit that it never worked. I would try to lay down but when the next one hit me I would cry and yell "Get me up!!! get me up!!!" There were also a lot of these: "I can't do this anymore!!" "I need a break!!! Just give me a break!!!" "Why are the coming so close together? This isn't fair!"

Now we're really into the fuzzy zone for me. I remember Paul asking the doctor who came to check on me (due to all the yelling I'm sure) if it was normal for me to be staring at one spot for so long. I was concentrating and my pupils were seriously dialated so I looked like a freak.

I remember someone breaking my waters cause I wasn't really getting anywhere. It was like a big pool of warm water spilling out. That helped labor speed up for sure!

I rememeber a doctor having to put a catheter in cause I hadn't had a wee in so long. Not nice.

Then I got to the point where the contrastions still hurt like hell but they made me feel like I had to have a big poo. I really wanted to push! So I got into a pushing position on all fours and I thought "This is it! I made it through all that and now I get to push him out and forget all about this awfulness." Then my contractions slowed way down. And there I am, ass in the air with a midwife lookin' at my bits for any sign of a head (worst job ever!). And Pauls there giving me loads of encouragement and I have nothing to push. More than a little frustrating. When I did get one it hurt so much to push that sometimes I would fake it! It just seemed like I had nothign to push out, there was nothing there. And I was right. Charlie decided to get his head stuck before moving into the final stage.

A doctor came in and tried to examine me but I was totally biligerant, shieking and acting like a child by throwing myself all over the bed and yelling "No! It hurts! Stop It!" A low point in the whole experience to be honest.

Next thing I know there are all these people in the room and a very serious looking doctor comes and tries to talk to me between contractions. She gives me the bad news about the baby being stuck. She says one of two things will now happen. Neither of which are having my baby natrually. Dream number two dashed. I will be wheeled into the theater and she will stick her hand up my hoo-ha and feel the baby's head and:

A: if it's in a good position, give me an episiotomy (the worst thing known to woman kind) and try the ventouse (baby vacuum) and if it doesn't work after three tries I have a c-section.

B: if it's in a bad position I have a c-section.

What will happen next? Will I have a cone head baby? Will I punch a nurse? Will Paul's sweater ever look the same again? Tune in next time to find out...

Charlie Bear in his handmade hat from his wonderful Aunties

Personal Note To My Cousin Amy: Oh my gawd!! Hi!! So great to know you are out there and reading this! Love you so much! Hope you are well!

In My Blogging Absence...

2009-03-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

a video featuring Sir Charles of Dooneyton. Born February 9th at 1:33am.
Weighing in at 8 lbs. 10 oz.

I promise to tell you guys the whole (gruesome) birth story as soon as I can get this kid to stop nursing for more than two minutes. Just know that we are both healthy and happy. Thanks for staying tuned to the blog, I'm so sorry I've been gone so long! I love you all!!

I'm Home

2009-02-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

I JUST got home from the hospital TODAY! I'll fill everyone one in as soon as possible, but for now baby and I are just fine after a horrific experience.

I can't even tell you how good it feels to be home after nearly three weeks. It's incredible.

CODE RED PEOPLE!!

2009-02-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

This is it. I'm in labor...and online, how weird. It all kicked off on Friday night really. I started getting what I was pretty sure were contractions but they were fairly mild. I went to bed and had them through out the night, but still managed to sleep. In the morning they subsided and I was bummed. But I took it easy and only popped out to the store with Paul for provisions. When I got home I found my "show"! If you don't know what that is DON"T LOOK IT UP, trust me! If you do then you know how excited I was.

If you want the rest of the story then you will just have to check back later cause it's 4:37am and I'M IN LABOR AND IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!! So I must go and walk around the house some more and then hopefully head to the Birthing Center in a few hours and then come back with a baby. That's the plan anyhow.

Love to you all!

P.S. Leah, this blogs for you.

The Big Day Has Come And Gone Noticably Baby Free

2009-01-31T09:07:00.000-08:00

Oh well, only 5% of babies are born on their due date so I ain't sweatin' it. I just really liked the day itself January 31st...a Saturday. Sounds like a good day to be born. But February is a great month as well. Just ask my brother, sister and Uncle.

I had my last prenatal midwife appointment yesterday, sad. I loved going in to the doctors surgery to have the belly measured, listen to the baby's heartbeat and be reassured by my midwife about all my fears. But I won't see her again until the day after the we take baby home. Then she'll come round every week or so to check on us both.

So today I'm feeling crampy, tight, unable to move much and uncomfortable in a new way. But I think it's mostly psychosomatic to be honest. Just knowing that I'm officially "overdue" starting tomorrow is making my body go all funny.

I have an induction appointment on February 12th, but I really don't want to go down that road. So let's all be thinking good labor starting thoughts in the next few days and see what happens. I'll continue to drink the raspberry leaf tea, go for walks and bounce on the birthing ball. Together we shall will this baby to come out of his cozy little nest.

13 More Days Till Possible Baby Droppage!

2009-01-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

The official count down has begun! But mark my words, this child will be born in February. My moneys on one week late, so around February 7th. However I swear I'm going into labour every night at about 2:00am when I'm awoken by horrible cramps in my belly region. But it always turns out that I just have to pee like a ninja.

Can I just take this opportunity to do a bit of bitchun? K, thanks...

Dude, this part of pregnancy is soooooo hard! It's way more uncomfortable than I thought it would be! For example: I can now only sleep on my left hand side (which is like prison in your own bed), I have to take a breather on the middle of the stairs, I need help getting out of the bathtub, I can't tie my own shoes, shaving my "side burns" has jumped up the danger scale to that of angry bear wrestling due to the fact that I can't actually see down there AT ALL, getting off the couch should be considered an Olympic event, I can only eat very small meals or my stomach feels like it's going to burst open, I walk like a toddler in five inch platforms and I'm farting constantly.

Yay pregnant!

In other news...we had a smashing party at ours last weekend for my birthday. Loads of people came over and I got lots of great gifts and cards! Since it was relatively alcohol free we made a big effort with the food. Paul made a great spinach and coconut curry, we had a cheese board, veggie tray and I made my mom's most amazing zucchini bread.

One of my favorite gifts was this box of delicious home made chocolates from Terry and Stu. Needless to say it's already gone.

This baby is like 90% zucchini bread, cause I've made it so many times. It's one of my main cravings. Over here they don't use the word zucchini, it's "courgette" (oh la,la!)

So far the Doonlet is still head down (yess!!) but we are back to back (nooooooo!!!!) which means a longer and more painful labour. Oh god no. But it's better than breech which means a c-section. He still has ample time to change position so all is not lost. I can tell that he's running out of room in there as his movements get stronger but smaller and he always kicks and pushes in the same spots on both sides.

Interesting fact I learned from the BBC recently, babies are born preferring the accent of their mothers. Ha! Score one for the American half of this Brit baby!! Sorry Paul, you'll just have to put on your crap American accent if you want any attention from your son.

I've had the funniest reactions from the black and white belly shots I posted! Mainly "Jesus Christ!" and "Whoa!" and my personal favorite "Belly-Yes. Button-No" (Pants, you so funny!). I spose I did forget to mention the fact that my belly button is gone. And here I always thought they got bigger! But mines gone on walkabout.

My beautiful and good friend Leah has suggested I post a blog when I go into labour. Which I have now taken as a challenge. I plan on labouring at home as long as possible so I'm gonna try my hardest to let everyone know when it all kicks off.

And the best news of all...my best friend Jenn has officially bought her tickets to Birmingham!!!! I can't believe someone is actually visiting us!!! She gets here on February 20th and leaves much too soon after that. She's coming to help with the baby. So lets all hope that there's a baby to help with by that time.

Belly At 37 Weeks

2009-01-12T13:11:00.001-08:00

50% More Artsy, 100% More Fartsy!

Christmas Review

2009-01-03T02:00:00.000-08:00

Beanie got a new outfit for Christmas

One of my favorite British holiday traditions: Christmas crackers!

One person grabs one end and another person grabs the other and you both pull. There's a little bang and one of you is left with the big end where all the goodies are and the other person is left with nothing, fun! Inside every one you get a hat, joke and small toy.

Grape juice in a wine glass. Pathetic. Oh Merlot, how I miss thee!

Paul made a fantastic Christmas turkey with all the trimmin's. Please note the stockings hung by the chimney with care.

Well another holiday season is over, which means two things. One, I'll be another year older very soon (tomorrow the 5th in fact!) And two I really have to start thinking about how I'm gonna get this kid out.

We got to tour the Birth Center at the women's hospital a few weeks early cause we were there for a scan to check on my low laying placenta (which has moved up now BTW). We had a tour of the delivery suite during our antenatal classes but the Birth Center (or should I say "centre"?) is totally different. They are literally right next door to to each other but couldn't be more opposite.

The Birth Center is completely midwife led and focuses on natural childbirth. The only real pain relief they offer is gas and air. But they also have all that stuff I mentioned before (the birth pool, birth balls, labor slings and the like). The ladies that work there are very laid back and nice. They have all the scary equipment tucked out of sight into the walls. You can bring your ipod player. They have multiple rooms for husbands to chill out in, should they need a small break. And a kitchen stocked with tea, sandwiches and snacks. And if at any point you decide to partake in some of the stronger stuff you just walk down the hall into the delivery suite and wham! hello epidural!

Just as we were ending our tour and I was feeling all warm, fuzzy and confident about this natural childbirth thing I heard it. It was gutteral, primitive, loud and it scared the shit out of me. It was a woman giving birth the oh-isn't-it-just-so-great natural way. In other words she was screaming her face off behind a closed door down the hall and it sounded like she was right next to me. Oh. My. God. That's it...I'm out. I changed my mind. I don't know who this kid is comin' out of but it ain't me.

An Open Letter To My Unborn Son,

Please be kind to mommy. Have a small, moldable cranium. Come into this world with the quickness. And don't forget mommy can make or break you. I'm not someone you want to mess with.

Kisses, Mom

Does this Belly Make Me Look Pregnant?

2008-12-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here we are at 34 weeks. Wow, how weird. It has really flown by. And yet when I think about last June 11th, when I found out I was pregnant, it seems like a lifetime ago. Now that I'm in the home stretch I can already tell I will miss being pregnant. It's a most magical time, you feel vulnerable yet stronger than ever before. People treat you so differently and you feel like you're doing something amazing...which you are! But I'm also incredibly anxious to meet this wonderful new person we have created, who got the hiccups 5 times yesterday.

I've started putting everything together for my hospital bag. Man, there's a lot you need! Or perhaps I'm over packing.

Everyone in England gets these little Christmas trees and puts them in the front window

Paulie cooking up some grub

I can tour the birth center in a few more weeks, they make you wait until you're 37 weeks along. I'm really hoping to give birth there as they have all the cool stuff like the birthing balls, slings, birthing pool and private en suite rooms. Paul and I have finished our antenatal classes, they were great. And the teacher was American so I caught every word. The nursery is coming together with just a few more things to do.

I've read about pregnant women going into "nesting mode" as they near the due date. And it's started happening to me. Basically you get this over whelming urge to clean everything from the gutters to the dogs butt. I found myself outside on my hands and knees scrubbing the bricks on the front walkway. A futile effort as they're covered in leaves and mud. I may as well have been trying to clean the dirt itself. After I had shampooed the carpet, washed the dog and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen from top to bottom (no, seriously) I felt a bit better but I still kept a basin with soapy water and a sponge in the bathtub just in case I found something else that needed my special attention. I'm very excited for tomorrow cause I'm gonna make Paul take the carpet shampooer upstairs so I can do the carpets up there! Oh happy day!

I have a question for all my yummy mummy gurus: are electric breast pumps worth the extra money? In the beginning I plan on expressing a bit so Paul can help me with feeding and then possibly more in six months time if I have to go back to work. Any tips? Seriously I need some advice *cough, cough...Gretchen*

Picture Post!!!

2008-12-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

Belly Shot at 30 weeks

Beanie having a sulk. She got spayed and then just to add insult to injury the vet recommended we put a onesie on her after she got a hold of her stitches. Poor cone head.

Happier times with all her bits in her new Halloween costume

Me and my beautiful sisters (isn't black supposed to be slimming?)

Blarrrggg!!!

Halloween with Jenn and Lee

Halloween with Uncle DuWayne, Aunt Sharon, Jenn and Pops in the Pumpkin Patch

Feeling the alien inside move

Four year wedding anniversary with my "special" guy

Baby shower goodness

"Welcome back, Your dreams were your ticket out."

2008-11-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

We're home, safe and sound if not somewhat disorientated. The first week was full of jet lag and hours and hours spent in the fracture clinic. My ankle is officially broken.

When I was about 15 or so I broke my ankle while walking down the max stairs. Ever since then I had a split in the middle of the ankle bone itself, you could feel where it broke and never healed properly. I found this to be the source of many heebie-jeebies when I forced people to touch the break.

They showed me the x-ray at the hospital and it was the exact same break as years before. Damn you, skankles! Just for this you'll be wearing those orange leg warmers ALL WINTER!!

They put a temporary plaster cast on it at the ER. That night I slept with a chopstick at my side for all those painfully urgent itches you get when you're wearing a cast, which I believe are like, 90% psychological. It's like having leg claustrophobia. After much waiting, bitching and moaning at the fracture clinic the next day, I got an aircast. Thank gawd!!! It's all plastic, Velcro and air bags. And it comes with a hand pump!

Whenever I get to leave the house, which isn't often, I have to use the aircast and the crutches. I look a mess. All big bump and hobbles. But it also gives me a one way ticket to sympathy town on the pity express.

Work called right after we got back and had a fantastic position to offer me at the same hospital I was working at before we left. I was temped to leave out the fact that I have a cyber foot but figured it might come up after it takes me 45 minutes to get to the bathroom and back. So I filled them in on the ankle situation and they kindly told me to piss off until after it's all healed. So I'm out of work for at least 3 more weeks.

Out of work, stuck in the house, and told to stay off my feet. This sucks! I feel so useless, lethargic and bloated. I can't wait to get back to normal. I did get a new haircut though and that helped.

After we got back I was on an emotional roller coaster. I miss everyone from home, I'm not sleeping very well, I'm temporarily disabled and I don't know where I belong. I feel like I don't belong in either place. Portland isn't my home right now and England isn't my home yet. I have important pieces of who I am spread over two countries. With the most important piece about to be born. I feel like I must come to terms with where I am and who I am in this place very soon. Because the time to think of myself is almost over and I need to be strong now more than ever before.

So it's the dawn of a new era! No more moaning about missing Portland. I can't feel guilty about living here anymore. I love all my family and friends so much and I'm sorry I'm so far away from them. But we'll move back some day for sure. In the meantime this is home and we'll visit Portland as often as possible. End of story.

I will post loads of pictures from the trip soon. I must get another belly shot up cause it's ever growing and it gives me a different perspective on how big it is. Baby boy is doing fine and kicked happily through out the flights home.

My friend Amy just had a little girl a few weeks ago (congratulations Ames!!!!) and I remember reading in her blog about how she was getting kicked in the ribs and I thought "Oh wow! I can't wait for that to happen to me!" Well now it's happening to me all the bloody time and it's no picnic. But I love to feel him moving around no matter what part of my insides he's pummeling.

Good News Comes In Twos!

2008-09-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

So I’m three weeks in with the NHS and everything is going great! I’m meeting new people everyday and getting to know the people I work with even better. I’ve been able to help almost every department in the hospital; doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and social workers. It’s amazing how down to earth they all are. Sometimes I don’t have anything to do and I get really bored, but I just go for a walk around the hospital, have a chat with the front desk staff or tease the head wound victims.

As you all know we had our 20 week scan last week. (Side note: I use to hate it when my pregnant friends would speak in weeks and not months! But now I get why, it’s the only way your doctors, midwives and the books talk about pregnancy. You get used to it. So in layman’s terms I’m 4 months pregnant, or half way through). The sonographer started by pointing out all the major bones: legs, feet, arms, hands, spine, skull and ribs. Then all the major organs: heart, brain, bladder, and kidneys. Baby is healthy and all parts are accounted for. She measured things and took some screen shots for us to take home. Then it was time to look for the really important bits. And even before she said “It’s a boy!” it was clear to see that it was definitely a boy! There was this little willy sticking straight up! (Is this going to be one of those things that when he grows up he’ll say “Mom! I can’t believe you put that online!! I’m so embarrassed!”?)

Of course I started crying, I always do when we get to hear or see the baby. The picture was so clear! You could see everything! What surprised me the most was how much he was moving around. I can’t really feel all his movements yet, he’s so protected in there, and I always picture him sleeping soundly. But actually he’s dancing around all over the place! I was so impressed with the first scan but this one was way better. He was just a little bug before. But now, only half way, and he’s so fully formed. I guess since all his bits are made we just have to work on growing him bigger now. That’s why I eat a Snickers bar after lunch everyday.

As most of you know I was totally preparing for a girl, I even had the name picked out. I thought I was born to look after girls; after all I have 4 younger sisters and a step daughter. So I just assumed it would be a girl. How daft. So I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’ll be raising a boy. And thinking about what kind of boy I want to raise. Paul can teach him to cook and how to play guitar. I can teach him about insects and Dr. Who. That way he'll be a good mix of cool and nerdy.

We have a few boys names on the shortlist, but nothing’s grabbed us so far. It’s really hard to pick out baby names! I thought it would be fun, but there’s so much to it. You don’t want it to be something you just found on the internet, it must have meaning. I like names with a good story behind them. And I don’t like super common names. Of course there are boys names we like but it always turns out that either I know someone with that name (“Oh not that one! I knew a Patrick in high school who was a real prat!”) Or Paul just doesn’t like it, or one of our friends has a baby with that name already (“Isn’t Angela’s son named Charlie?”) So we’re really no closer to naming this kid. But I’ll let you guys know as soon as we agree on something.

We’ve got a lot of work to do on the baby’s room. Actually its Maria’s room as well, which adds to the work. I want to make it comfortable for them both. We bought Maria a new bed on ebay. It’s one of those high beds with space underneath for drawers or a desk. The only problem is we had to totally dismantle the bed to get it in the car. And it didn’t come with directions. So I think we’re in for quite a puzzle. I also bought a ton of boys clothes on ebay. Mostly 3-6 months. We got 80 items for £30 and they’re all in great condition! I’ve been doing laundry for three days straight.

Now if you’ve made it this far through all that rambling you deserve to know the rest of our great news. We’re coming home for a visit!!! Paul and I will be in Portland from October 22 until November 7. We have a few things planned but I’d like to use this opportunity to organize a few other events.

1. Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze- Let’s get the old gang together for one last trip through the haunted corn maze. Who’s in? Rene? I know you’re down. Leah?

2. Dinner at Spag Fac- Baby wants some pesto dressing (and for Mommy to get better taste in restaurants) Cheesy, yes. But you can’t knock free bread. And it’s a bit of a tradition for Jenn and I. Everyone is invited! Just tell me if you wanna join us and I’ll let you know when we go.

Thank you so much for all your comments on my last post! It was so great to hear from you! And I had a good laugh reading them all. I'm so please that everyone is just as excited that it's a boy as I am!

Here's The Latest Picture Of My...

2008-09-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Son!!!

I can't believe I'm having a boy! I'm so happy I must have cried 14 times, just on the way home! I never in a million years thought it was a boy. Now that I know it is I'm so proud! I can't wait! Even though Paul and I have no experience raising boys, we can work it out. I know you have to be careful when diaper changing, but that's the extend of my knowledge. I'm really looking forward to the new experience! Well, I'm still in shock and I'm really hungry, so I will catch up with everyone real soon, as we have some more exciting news...stay tuned.

A boy! Wow!

Pregnant Temp...isn't that an oxymoron?

2008-09-17T08:00:00.001-07:00

I’ve started my second week with the In-patient Neuro Rehabilitation Unit. And things are going great! I share an office with 1-6 people, depending on the day. I sit at a massive U shaped desk that wraps around the room. I mainly work with Julie who is a PA to a few of the doctors and a real kick in the pants. I do paperwork, filing, email checking, calendar fiddling and whatever else floats my way. I eat lunch with “the girls” everyday in the canteen. I leave happy at 4:30 every afternoon. Everyone is helpful and genuinely friendly.

The only problem is getting used to the fact that I this isn’t actually my job. I’m making phone lists for myself and personalizing my desktop, but why? I might only be here until the end of October. I’ve never temped before so I spose it’s all a force of habit. Get a job, make friends, settle in and start marking your territory with Post-It reminders, family photographs and Far Side comics, right? But I can’t do that this time. It's weird.

Things are going real good with the "scone in the oven" as my wonder twin Matt says. I've been feeling what I was pretty sure were kicks for the past few weeks. And then a few days ago I SAW a kick! That's never happened to me before, I thought. It must be baby and not just windy-pops! So I laid really still and waited for another. It was small but it moved! Of course I was alone and had no one to scream with delight to. But all the same, it was magical. These sudden dance moves were brought on by Lucozade, a fizzy sports drink. I must try that again when Paul is here.

I totally scored on ebay again. I got a practically new pram (stroller) & travel system. All for 25 pounds! Bargain! Oh and we picked up a posh changing table/bath for only 11! My god, I should go pro ebay shopper. I'll post a picture of the baby's room as soon as it's finished.

We have a big day tomorrow, hopefully. It's my 20 week scan and we might be able to find out if this is a girl bump or a boy bump. I can't wait! And of course I will tell you guys immediately! So watch this space!

And now for the Belly Shot! So forget all about my going on and on about looking fat. I'm way past that now. I look amazing! It's a proper bump now! I'm so proud.

Still no ass.

See ya tomorrow!!!

You know you're pregnant when...

2008-09-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

you keep putting your underwear on inside out, but you don't bother fixing it right away cause that would involve bending over.

Bump and Batman

2008-09-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, it's September. When did that happen? I'm feeling really good and all is well. I had a little probelm a few days ago and had to go to the hospital. I wasn't panicing until I did some self diagnosis online, always a bad idea. And then I had a bit of a cry and called the midwife the next day. It was just a girlie problem, pretty common, nothing everyone wants to hear about. Just know (Mom & Pops) that bump and I are happy and healthy.

I finally got in with NHS! I'm officially a Grade 3 temp now. My first assignment will be at the Moseley Hall Hospital starting next Tuesday. Which is a beautiful campus very near our house. I'll be doing your average admin work and getting paid weekly...very weakly. (Ha!) But it's all worth it for the incredible flexibility and various job opportunities. I'm really looking forward to starting! I'm just not sure how much longer my work trousers will fit. I may have to invest in some maternity clothes soon. But I have to wait until that first check.

Mainly because I blew all our money buying baby things on ebay. I was left home alone last week and went ebay mad! Ya know how it is when you snag one thing last minute style and then you just want more? I spent like 100 pounds (I still have no pound sign on my laptop) and had to make a full confession to Paul the next day. But after the buyers remorse it was like Christmas!!! Waiting everyday to see what the post man would bring, I'd open up my package with glee and say "Oh I forgot I even bought this!". I got a baby bjorn, external frame backpack type carrier, the cutest newborn sweater ever, a little white robe, a tooth pot, fetal heart monitor, a nighttime bottle warming system, loads of newborn clothes, a pair of Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls (because what kid doesn't look absolutlety adorable in those??), a cot bed that turns into a toddler bed and a playmat. Personally I think I did very well for my hundred quid. There are a few things I want to get new, for instance the breast pump, but I don't mind lots of used stuff cause it's so cheap!

Side Note: Dontcha just hate it when you're alone in the house and you've got a bad case of the windy-pops, and since you're all alone you crack one off and fill the room with death. Then the doorbell rings. Oh no! It's the handy man to repair the oven! Shit! And since our front door opens right into our small reception room (the scene of the incident) he's forced into the gas chamber of doom. And try as you might to rush him straight through to the kitchen, he's not having any of it and taking off his shoes at the door! I'd watch it mate, those might be melted by the time you get back.

My new craving this week is Salt & Vinegar Hula Hoops:

These are a British classic. They fit perfectly around your finger tips (like an olive).

I haven't had any comments on here in ages. So I think it's just you and me blog. And I gotta say, I watched the original Batman last night, the one with Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Now Michael Keaton in this film certainly isn't what I would call "sexy", what with the jeans pulled up to 1989 and the fuzzy hair. But something happens to his mouth when he puts the Batman mask on. All I can say is MEE-OOW! I may be pregnant and married but could someone please break me off a piece of that?

Belly-Week 17

2008-08-25T05:05:00.000-07:00

So remember how I thought I was oh so fat before? Yeah, well I think I might have overreacted a bit cause now I'm REALLY fat!!! But, like, for reals this time! Check it out...

Pay no attention to the underwear on the radiator. From this picture it looks like this baby is taking everything it needs from my bottom, cause my ass is gone! Or is it that it just pales in comparison to the belly?

So I'm 17 weeks now, hooray! Almost half way there! I'm feeling really good, tired but good. I'm showing so much that I can finally wear my belly as a badge of honor. I can't wait till I start getting the good seat on the bus. I certainly get the good seat in the house. It's my new (to me) pregnancy chair! I love it! It's only for pregnant ladies, no puppies or husbands are allowed. Not even guests can sit here. Most of them don't want to after I tell them how I got pregnancy all over it and they might catch it.

I have my 20 week scan on September 15th. I can't wait! Hopefully we will find out the sex then. I should start feeling the baby move soon as well. I'm even more anxious for that. But this is the earliest I should feel it, and first time moms usually have to wait longer.

I made my first big baby purchase. I bought a moses basket at Babies R Us. It's terribly unisex and oh so cute! Seeing it every time I go in that room is getting me all excited and nervous about having a baby in the house. It's going to be so weird. It's hard to imagine what it will be like. It's easy to get carried away with worries and anxiety. But I'm really looking forward to the addition to our family.

I had my interview with the NHS and it went very well! It was an easy interview even though I had two tests at the end. I had 20 minutes to put loads of note cards in order of reference number or name and then type out a hand written letter in the correct format. Pshh...piece of cake. I noticed that on the back of all the note cards were little numbers lightly written in the corner, so the person checking how you did only had to see if the numbers were in order. Did I cheat? Nope. What kind of behavior is that for a mom?? So I'm just waiting on my references to go through and then I should be able to start.

I'm looking forward to getting back to work (WTF? Never thought I'd hear myself say that!) It will be nice to have some extra income for all the baby crap we gotta buy. And we're looking to move house before the baby comes. This place is great for just us, but not appropriate for a baby. The stairs are super steep, rickety and loud enough to wake a sleeping infant. The boiler is in Maria and the baby's room and is really loud when it's on, which it will be all winter. The bathroom is pretty trashed with a few safety concerns, such as wall tiles on the floor which are cracked and could really cut your foot up. The carpet is so cheap and not even installed properly. And the backyard is just not big enough. So we're keeping our eyes peeled for a new place to rent around this same area.

Paul, Maria and I went to Warwick Castle the other day. It's an 11th century medieval castle on the river Avon. It's been repaired many times and is in great condition. It's a very popular tourist attraction in Britain and it's said to be haunted!

This is only one half of it!

Top Ten Things I Miss About Portland

2008-08-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

(besides my friends and family, cause that's a given really)

1. Drinking beers with my friends on a porch in summertime, just shootin' the breeze for hours.
2. Getting Stumptown coffee on a Sunday morning, then crawling back in bed to read the Sunday comics.
3. Spag Fac dates with Jenn.
4. Getting lost in the corn maze & picking berries on Sauvie Island.
5. Sleepovers at my Mom's with my sisters.
6. Making movies with Rene.
7. Eating sushi and drinking sake at Kappaya.
8. Rollerskating at Oaks Park.
9. Driving over the bridges and taking in the view that never gets old.
10. Bloody Marys at The Space Room.

All you Portlanders know what I'm talking about. Enjoy what you have there, it's a lot. And don't you think for one second that we're not moving back someday. Cause we are.

Damn, now I'm super homesick! I miss you all so much! Love you too!

Looking, Learning, Moving On

2008-07-31T03:15:00.000-07:00

I've never really been self conscience of the way I look, well not since I've been an adult anyway. I can usually pass by people without getting much of a second glance. I might get the occasional cat call from some slimy guy in a Trans-Am. And yeah, I'm slightly tall but not freaky tall. And the odd pimple will make me hide my face in shame. But basically I'm just your average brunette blessed with legs for days, petite feet and natural red high lights :)

So it's been a new experience for me being scrutinized by strangers in the street. They look at my belly as if to say "So what's the deal here? Are you, like, fat but only in the stomach area? Or are you pregnant? Cause you look like an orange between two toothpicks"

I always figured there must be an awkward middle stage of pregnancy where you're showing but only a little and you just look really bloated. Well, I was right. So my answer to this problem is to walk like what I think pregnant women walk like. I stick my belly out as far as it will go. I waddle a little and swing my arms. I hold my back and look put out. I think it's working.

I've been buying a few things here and there for the baby. It's hard trying to buy for both a girl and a boy. I've ended up with lots of white and yellow items. Here's what I've got so far:

My friend Erin was kind enough to give me her old maternity pants. I don't think I'm quite ready for them yet.

"I lost 46 pounds in three days!"

Here's your latest belly shot. Let's all compare it to last weeks, shall we?

Yeah, no doubt, it's bigger. But I did eat half a carton of ice cream last night. And not to be cliche either. I really and truly wanted ice cream. And Paul had to go to the store specifically to get it. Oh gawd...I'm in a sitcom.

Side Note to all my yummy mummies out there: I am having the most vivid dreams lately. And many in one night. Is this a common side effect to being pregnant?

I got two really terrific books in the mail this week. The first one is from my oldest friend in the whole wide world. It's awesome so far!

I'm scared. Very scared.

The second is a baby book from Ebay. It was only 7 pounds, which is about $3.50. What a bargain. And it's got bears in it (yes Rene, it's neither boy nor girl but bear)

This is definitely a book from Britain!
-"What's a Prime Minister, mommy?"
-"I have no freaking idea, sweetheart"

But really I bought it for the illustrations and the pockets it has for keepsakes. They are really cute and include little insects. I'm a sucker for anything with a dragonfly!

But not everything we buy these days is for baby. Just yesterday Paul bought himself a new shirt! Unfortunately it was this one.

And anyone who knows him can see that he's wearing it in an ironical way. But everyone else thinks he's an idiot.

In other news...We planted some old potatoes in a chest of drawers we found in the street. And we harvested the first one last week! I was so excited that they actually grew. Here's the first and only potato to come out so far:

Paul took this blurry photo. Let's just say that empty bottle of Becks was not alone.

We went to Liverpool again for a few shows (Jules Holland & The Australian Pink Floyd). Paul's work put us up at a really shwanky hotel, in a great suite. We took some photos but they don't really show you how cool the room was (kitchenette, big bathroom, recliner couch). But there are loads of orbs in the photos! I counted 15 in one of the shots. Ya gotta click on the pic and make it big to really see them all. Weird....

Keep feeling fascination!

Love, Sher

I'm Back And I'm Bloated!

2008-07-22T04:41:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for the less than brief hiatus! Please forgive me. I hope I haven't lost you all for good! But I return with lots of news, photos and happiness! For those of you who haven't heard yet, I'm pregnant! And I couldn't be more excited! I'm 12 weeks and three days today!

Now I'm fully aware that turning this into an "Everything Baby Blog" won't be all that exciting for some of you. And filling posts with stories of sore boobs, a growing belly and hospital visits isn't going to contribute much to the greater online community as a whole. But TOO BAD!!! Cause this blog is about to get babyfied and that's not even a word! I will still tell you all about our cool trips, new recipes, Beans, job hunting and all that crap, I promise. But due to popular demand I will also be sharing all the grody details of my pregnancy with you! So here's a recap of the last month and how this whole baby thing got started.

Since I have three years to wait until I can start school, Paul and I thought it would be a good time to try for a baby. I began to research fertility online and kept running into this statistic: "90% of all couples will try for a year to conceive. Only a very small percentage will conceive on their first try." So I stopped drinking caffeine, kept up with all my vitamins, watched my diet very closely and took careful note of when I was ovulating (yeah, you're gonna get all the nitty gritty details...well, not all of them!) And when the calendar had a big red heart on it we knew it was baby making time! Then whamo! It happened the first time we tried! Much to Paul's surprise I'm sure, as I've been filling his head with drastic (and probably made up) online statistics! But I think this baby was just waiting to appear and of course Paul's got some strong swimmers! He made me write that :)

So Paul leaves town for awhile for work and I'm playing with the puppy and noticing that every time she runs across my boobs it kills!! A few weeks later we go camping and I'm about three or four days late. Which isn't that uncommon for me especially during times of stress and I had just gone through that grueling interview for the science museum. As we're packing up our stuff on the last day of camping I told Paul that I was late and he was so excited! I told him it might just be a fluke and not to get his hopes up, but after seeing how happy he was I really wanted it to be more than a fluke! The next day I went to the doctors office and picked up a pregnancy test, cause they're free there! I wanted to take it right then! But knew I had to wait until the next day for the morning wee with all the hormones in it. I hardly slept all night, I was so excited and I just knew it would be positive! So I got up really early and peed on the stick and then burst into happy tears and woke up Paul with the good news.

I told my Mom and Pops the same day cause I was too fired up and had to share the good news with the people I knew would be most excited. But I had to wait a few weeks before I told anyone else. I couldn't wait the three months most people do. I hated making up stories about phantom cramps that kept me from parties. I hated lying to my friends at the bar "Oh yeah, this is totally a vodka tonic. NO!! You can't have a drink of it!" But we had to find the right time to tell the appropriate people here in England before we could broadcast it to everyone else, hence the absence from my blog. So the word is out now and I'm so relieved to be able to discuss everything with my friends.

If you have heard any of my stories about the bizarre things Paul's mom says to me then this will sound familiar. Paul told his mom over the phone a few weeks ago about the baby. I assumed the next time she saw me she might say congratulations or something similar. Oh no. The next time she came over to our house she said nothing about the baby except: "You'd better be careful that the dog doesn't get into the cot and eat the baby." WHAT!?!?!?!?!? Oh. My. Gawd. The woman is bat shit crazy and probably should not be allowed to wonder freely on the streets. In all seriousness though, I did get my feelings hurt. I wanted her to show me some sign of warmth or happiness. When I pictured what it would be like telling my family that I was pregnant I didn't really imagine warnings of possible baby consumption by Yorkshire Terriers. Now you have a little more insight into the twaddle that I have to deal with here.

But demented and unbalanced mother-in-laws aside I'm doing very well. The first 10 weeks were full of nausea and naps. Now I've dialed into my body a bit more and I know not to go more than four hours without eating or I turn into the pregnant bitch from hell. I try to lay down each afternoon for an hour or two just to recharge. My stomach is already big! Which really freaked me out until my Mom told me she was showing by three months as well. Just see for yourself!

Jeez! I've seen smaller stomachs on pot bellied pigs!

But the real star of the show of course is what's inside the belly! Here's the Doonlet (thanks Xea!)

Hi Baby!! For those of you who can't tell the brain from the butt: the baby's on it's right hand side, spine at the top, head on the right, hand in the middle, knee bend and leg under bum on the left hand side. Seeing the baby for the first time was indescribable. I can only call it amazing and the best day of my life so far. To me it already looks perfect and oh so cute! And thank god there's only one! All the bits are in the right places and my new due date is January 31st. But I have a feeling she/he will wait until February to make an appearance.

Other things have been happening. I did some work with Paul in Liverpool, a great city! So clean with a lovely cathedral. I worked all last week at the University of Birmingham, here in our city:
I was dressing the graduates in their caps, gowns and hoods for the ceremonies. It was hard work being on my feet all day, but I made some good money. The campus was beautiful!

We went camping in Wales recently and it was so much fun! The Welsh landscape is entirely different to England. More mountains, different plants, architecture and language. All the signs are in Welsh and English.

I found this beautiful working farm which also had camping pitches and horse trekking. It's called Bwlchgwyn Farm. Seriously. I have no idea how to pronounce it but it was lovely. And there was no one else there! Click on the pics to super size 'em!

Here's the view from our campsite

Maria and I went on a fantastic two hour horse trek down to the beach

What AM I doing with my ass here???

Safety first!

Here's some artsy-fartsy shots

Another view from our campsite

On our last day in Wales we took a trip to Portmeirion, an Italianate resort village, which is where The Prisoner was filmed back in the 60's. If you're not familiar with The Prisoner you suck, get off my blog! No, I kid. It was a great program and you should get it from Netflix. Unfortunately no doggies are allowed in Portmeirion, so these shots are noticeably Bean-free.

This is the village center

This is the best looking man in the village

What's with the little sperms on the gate?

Paul in the Dog Cemetery

I get the oddest looks in these wellies, don't know why

Trying to escape the imaginary "Rover"

Well, that's all for now but I promise to update my blog regularly with loads of baby news and belly photos. Love and Kisses to all!

2008-06-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.”

Feeling Awesome

2008-06-13T03:06:00.000-07:00

Just when you're feeling low, your oldest friend in the whole wide world sends you this:

It really made my day! I love Valley Girls! (right Jenn?!) And it has to be one of the best books ever written. Okay, that may be a bit of an over statement but just check out this passage and decide for yourself:

"Barf me out: interj. to respond negatively to a highly unsavory situation; nauseating, too skanky for words, quite putrid. Syn. gag me with a spoon. 'Sheryl's mom, like she's a total space cadet, like barf me out, she like made Sheryl throw her dead beta fish down the garbage disposal, right?'"

Dead beta fish...pure gold! So I'm happy and ever so content these days. We bought a new car (well, new to us)! It's an estate car called a Vauxhall Astra. This is what it looks like, but in green:

We bought it at the car auction. Which is quite a surreal experience. They just sell cars one after the other, like every four minutes. And some go for stupid cheap but the popular ones can go for about what their worth. The catch is that you don't really know if there's anything wrong with it. You can look under the hood and see the mileage before it goes through, but thats all really. So it's a bit of a gamble. We went on a recon mission to the auction before so we knew the score. The trick is to get there early. So we got there before it started and then bid on the very first car through. People don't bid too aggressively on the first 20 or so cars. So we got our new family wagon for 240 pounds! A bargain! So far the only thing wrong with it is that it has a slightly leaky gas tank. Not good. But we bought a new one and it will be installed next week. We're really pleased!

Paul is starting up a new gardening business and has already got some clients. He's doing CMI still in the meantime, but hopes to quit soon. He always impresses me with how much he believes in himself. I'd be scared to start up my own business, but he has every confidence that it will work out. So do I. He inspires me to start doing photography for a living. I will go to school in 2011 and get all my formal training, can I do it without the degree? Yikes. It's all so scary. Something to think about.

I got offered a position at the science museum here in Birmingham, but it was only part time, working every Saturday and Sunday. I'm not taking it. I really thought with my museum background and skills I would be perfect for the full time position they had on offer. Clearly they're illiterate and like so totally lame.

So my next adventure will be trying to get a position with the University of Birmingham. I've always wanted to work at a university. And if I have to do admin work, at least it's in a good environment that will motivate me.

Sometimes it's just all too much, ya know?

2008-05-26T07:59:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I just really want to throw in the towel. Not forever, just for like a week or two. Just a break from everything. Jump into a different life for awhile. A little vacation from my own life. And perhaps get a temp in while I'm away. And when I return my life will be more organized then when I left it. Thanks Janet! Thanks for all your hard work while I was gone. I can see that you really made an effort to keep up with everything.

I know I can deal with it all, but there are times when I just don't fucking want to. It's not easy trying to be "strong" all the time. Things could be worse, I realize that. And I do have the power to change my attitude, and make it easier on myself. But I don't want to. So there. Neener-Neener! Go ahead, try to make me a better person, I dare you! Cause it ain't happenin', at least not this week.

I'm enjoying myself in self pity land. It's quite nice here. Pictures of me in happier times all over the walls. Tissues and cigarettes to calm the beast. Grumpy voices repeating the same thing over and over in my head: "This is hard. You can't handle all this. Just give up." But instead of giving up, I'm giving in. For now. Giving in to the fact that I am in desperate need of a life.

Something to live for besides Paul. My time is spend either with him or waiting for him to come home. How sad is that? You don't know how tempted I am to delete that sentence. It's a pathetic thing to say. But it's the truth.

With school out of the picture and nothing but shitty office jobs in my near future, I'm feeling aimless. I consider myself to be a goal orientated person. And I'm goalless now. Except for the fact that I have to find a job very soon, as we're running out of money. But what kind of a goal is answering phones? Or filing? Depressing, that's what it is. Down right depressing.

Maybe it's the weather making me feel this way. It's yet another cold and rainy English day. I'm alone, as usual. Stuck in the house. I took the dog for a walk, but she wouldn't budge. It was either drag her through the streets or carry her. Perhaps she's in a bad mood as well.

If I watch another episode of Scrubs I'm going to shoot myself in the face. TV is of no comfort. Not even cable TV. If I have another cup of coffee my head will explode. What I wouldn't give to be playing Clue with my sisters, or out shopping with Jenn.

For an anglophile such as myself, living in England is a bit like working in Disneyland. You think "Oh boy! I work at Disneyland! This great!" But after awhile you just want to punch Mickey in the neck. Because even though I'm in this amazing country, which I've dreamt of living in ever since my Pops and I watched The Young Ones when I was like 10, I still have all the problems of everyday life. Its not like I walk out the door and think "I can't believe I'm here!", at least not any more. I walk out the door and think "Fantastic, the dog just took a crap on the side walk and I don't have a baggie, and oh look I just missed my bus." I tend to forget about the fact that I'm living in Europe and that's pretty freakin' cool. But life goes on no matter where you are. You own your problems even in Europe.

I miss everyone so much. I love being here, but I have so much heavy shit I have to deal with, which I won't go into cause you never know who's reading...

So to make me feel better I'm going to post pictures of my stubborn ass dog. Who, by the way is teething. WTF? How did I go my whole life not knowing that dogs lose their baby (puppy?) teeth? I keep looking for them in the carpet, but so far I can't find even one. Where are they? And since she's lost her two front bottom teeth, her tongue hangs out all the time. It's crazy cute. Check out the middle picture, and if that ain't the cutest thing you've ever seen then you have no soul.

Oh Bee-Bee! I swear she keeps me from going crackers. If I didn't have her I would feel a thousand times more lonely. She gets me out of the house and makes me laugh everyday. She wants nothing more than to sit in my lap and chew on my hoodie.

I know things will get better and I'll look back and think about what a sad sack of shit I was being, but until then I will blog my blues away.

Here's some random shots from random English towns we have visited. This is Stratford-Upon-Avon. Home of William Shakespeare and one of my all time favorite place to visit by train:

Bean has what we refer to as a "hair willy", which you will notice is quite prominent in this photo

Beanie's first boat ride, you can tell how excited she is

Beanie's first train ride, she looks like she might wee herself

I just love mega old English churches! The smell is incredible!

Apparently the cushions are for kneeling. I thought they would be for sitting on to save your ass from those wooden seats.

This is the roller coaster we went on at Drayton Manor theme park. We were there for Maria's birthday.

This is how we felt afterwards

No matter which theme park or fair ground you go to, they always have one of these boat rides.

The nauseated couple

Maria and I got soaked on this one! But I just love a good water ride

This one was called The Apocalypse. If you look close you see a few feets danglin'. It's one of those rides where they take straight up, like 20 stories and then drop you. It took me about 3 hours to convince Maria to go on it. But after she did, we went on it 4 times. I couldn't keep my eyes open until the fourth time. It was intense.

Ya know what? I'm feeling so much better! I posted those photos and it really put things in perspective for me. I blogged my way to happiness!

I truly rock.

2008-05-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

Why, you may ask. For the simple fact that I got into school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited about the whole thing my head feels like it may explode. I can't tell you how long I've fantasised about going to a real university (sorry P.C.C.) to study photography. No, wait. I can. Since I was 17. I never really thought it would happen, there just aren't that many places in Oregon you can get a degree in photography. I must admit, it does take the sting out of moving so far away.

But there's a catch. There is absolutely no way in hell I can pay for it. I mean not a chance, no way, no how. In order to hold my place they need £1,000 in the next 14 days. Which we don't have. We could borrow it, but then what do we do when December rolls around and they want the rest of their £9,00o?

I've been looking into funding but, of course, there's a catch there too. As an international student you have to apply for funding from your home country and at least one year in advance of your start date. Shit! I can feel the dream slipping away. So I went to the school yesterday and talked with many folks about my situation. I can get on their "Fund Finder" computer and look to see if any money is left anywhere for people like me. But a lot of the money out there for 2008 has been scooped up already, as I have left it a bit late.

So now what do I do? You can defer your position for a year, but that won't really help me. I could get a loan from the bank but would only end up spending more money, and I'm already uncomfortable dealing with the amount of money I would be spending. If you add everything up (materials, equipment, etc.) It would be closer to £10,000 (or $20,000) and that's a down payment on a house, every year! I can't tax us financially to that degree. We both have other things we want to accomplish. Paul wants to start a business, we want to buy a house, have a kid or two. I'm the poster child for going to college when your young!

But all hope is not lost. I always have the option of waiting for 3 years and then I would qualify for home fees. Not only would I be spending a mere £3,000 a year on college, I would also qualify for all the amazing grants, scholarships, charitable trusts and "Aw hell, just take the money!" that they have here in the UK. I would also have plenty of time to save up money, look into funding and totally prepare myself and Paul for me to go back to school. I just hope they like me in three years as much as they like me now and let me in again!

If I'm being honest, I am gutted. I'm crushed that I can't start in September. But I am so very proud of myself for getting in. That's the prevailing feeling. I'm lucky to have so many friends and family that supported me through this process. Let's do it all again in a few years!

In the meantime I will deliver some photographic essays about life in England, just to keep my skills sharp.

As most of you know, Paul does 90% of the cooking in our house and I do most of the cleaning. But I've been looking for excuses to get that man in the bathroom to clean up his own bad aim. So with no job and tons of free time, I've been trying to teach myself how to cook. One of my first projects was onion soup. The recipe looked dead easy and I was excited to get started.

Any cook will tell you that preparation is key

Step one: Cut up all the onions you have in the house. I used one red onion, one small yellow onion, one massive yellow onion and one spring onion.

Step two: add one washed and chopped leek

Step three: in a thick bottomed pan add butter, olive oil, sage and garlic. Then add your onions and leeks. And cook the shit outta them, for like an hour. After that add your chicken stock (which I must point out was home made by Mr. Paul himself)

Step four: with a crusty baguette and some sharp cheddar make a few pieces of cheesy toast.

We sat down with our big bowls of onion soup and I was so excited! And then I took a bite and remembered...I hate onions. But if you like onions, here's the real recipe.

My Latest Progress Report

2008-04-25T03:03:00.000-07:00

I've got loads of boring school talk ahead, so you can skip to pictures of a puppy and what's tickling my pickle if you want. I won't mind.

I've gotten so much done, I must say I'm quite proud of myself! I completed my UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) application. I wrote my personal statement, which is basically why you want to do what you want to do. My good friend Kori wrote me a glowing reference. Leggo and I have been emailing back and forth. I sent him some scans of my black and white photos from my portfolio and some of my digital photos. He liked my work and said that if my application landed on his desk he would certainly consider it. He doesn't actually teach the course I was interested in, he teaches a Media & Communication course at the same university but at a different campus. He thought his course might suit my needs and asked if I wanted to apply. So I checked it out and it looks even better than the one I was going for. It includes more chemical photography and portraiture, which is right up my alley.

Leggo put me in touch with the admissions officer for BIAD. I called her yesterday and got some good news and some bad. What do you want first? I always like the bad news first so I can end on a good note. The bad news is since I've only just moved to the UK I might be considered an international student. That's pretty much the worst thing that could happen for two reasons. Mostly because the fees go from £3,000 a year to almost £9,000. That's a lot of money, that's like $18,000 a year. I might as well go to school in the states for that! And secondly there is little funding for international students. I would have to look for funding from America and that's harder to do from here. But the good news is I'm not too late to apply. In fact it's a good time since I've missed the initial rush, my application won't be in a big pile of other, lesser applications.

So my next step is to gather all the evidence I can to prove that I'm settled here and not just talking with this British twang so I can get cheap schooling. But at the end of the day (side note: I swear to god, the older you get the more crap clichés you come out with. Like "I'm busier than a ten peckered dog in a hydrant factory" or "same shit, different day". I think I'm turning into my dad) it depends on the rules. If anyone out there knows anything about college funding, share your wealth of knowledge with me, please!

Then as soon as I get my confirmation number from UCAS I'll know that my application is on it's way to Leggo and then he will make me an official offer, fingers crossed. I still have to get my college transcripts sent here and she told my to get my high school ones as well. WTF?? That was nearly 15 years ago!! They don't know exactly what high school is here, I think. But I'll still try.

I've been told that as a mature student I should have no problem getting a place in the program, and that I should be most concerned about funding. But I'm a "don't put the cart before the horse" sort of gal (there I go again) and can only put all my good worrying skills to one matter at a time. So I'm focused on getting in right now and then I'll fret over how I'm gonna pay for it all. Paul and I talked about the very real possibility that my schooling is going to cost an arm and a leg (okay, I'll stop). He was supportive and just wants me to exhaust every possibility for funding before we go into panic mode, but that no matter what it costs us, we can do it. Awww...ain't that sweet? So I'm starting to look on line and getting a rough idea of what's out there.

Everything else is going really good. We still have no car but Paul's boss Ewan let's us borrow his a lot, which really helps. Bean is well but has to go to the vet on Monday for some Frontline and to have her itchy ear checked out. The weather has improved a bit. It's your typical spring time stuff, sunny one minute and hailing the next. We've planted some potatoes, garlic, wild flowers and strawberries in the backyard. The neighbourhood cats have planted some poop trees and Bean has been kind enough to harvest them.

Bean's looking very Yorkieish these days

She enjoys a good trash mag every now and again

Here are a few examples of the photos I put in my portfolio. Please overlook the shitty black & white scan job. I'm open to any comments...as long as they're good :)

What Tickles My Pickle about England is L plates! You put these on the front and back of your car if you're just learning how to drive. L stands for learner. It's the equivalent of having a huge bumper sticker that reads "I'm Still Learning, So Back Off, Jack Off!" As a new driver myself I think these are the greatest idea and wish they were used in the states. Even after you pass your drivers test you have to have P plates put on your car for awhile, so people know that you just passed. The only experience I had with L plates was on my "Hen Night", or bachelorette party, when it's tradition to make the bride wear a big paper L on her shirt, but it really complimented my penis earrings.

Personal Note To Sam: Hi Sammy!!! So happy to see you on my blog!! Thanks for the comment, would you believe I'm still using that same ol' SLR? My plan is to take incriminating photos of someone for blackmail money and upgrade. I miss all my bugs so much, but I really miss Dave the super millipede.

College: Stage One-Complete

2008-04-08T09:28:00.001-07:00

I don't want to get too excited (in case I don't get in) but I found the perfect place to study photography! It's the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, or BIAD for short, check that link. It's a part of the Birmingham City University, they call any university "Uni" over here. I went there for an open day today. I took a tour of the campus and then had a short presentation about the school and department. I was with a group of very young, pimply faced art students feeling quite old and out of place. It's a very well known school that has cutting edge technology and it's just downtown, practically right across the street from where I was meant to be working. I got a good feeling from the place.

So the next step is to fill in the application, which won't be easy since the school system here is completely different from in the states. Then try to get an interview. Then sort out my funding. But I have two important people on my side. My friend Ang works in college administration helping students find funding and grants. I will be meeting with her next week to get some help with all that. Also Paul has a friend named Leggo and he's (get this!) the main photography lecturer at BIAD. How great is that?!? I haven't actually met him, but hope to very soon so I can get some advice on my portfolio. And perhaps even a recommendation. Which would practically put my name on a seat and order my lunch for me.

In some ways I hate to even write stuff like this down because I'm a big believer in jinxes, but I'm so excited I just had to share. Who knows where I'll end up, but as my Mom always says "Everything happens for a reason". I hope this will work out and unfortunately it's not one of those things you can just leave to fate, I will have to work my bollocks off to make this a reality. But at this point there's nothing holding me back from doing everything I have to do. It ain't like I got a job or anything.

Speaking of the job, the pain is wearing off more each day. I think it was so upsetting because I hate to let people down. It's just not my style. I have limited time to get all my paperwork in and meet with the appropriate people, so not having to go to work each day makes that much easier. And of course a big shout out to my fantastic husband who is behind me 100% and doesn't mind eating Top Ramon for the next few years.

In other news....

Bean is doing really good. She's learned to walk up the stairs but can not physically get back down them, which has lead to multiple "accidents" in our bedroom. She's getting used to her red sweater, walking in the park and being bullied by all the other, bigger dogs. I've had a few questions regarding the Beanster. First off she's a GIRL, which will warrant the bows I'll be putting in her hair in a few more months. She's a Yorkshire Terrier with a bit of Jack Russell throw in for good measure. She turned three months old April 4th, which makes her birthday January 4th, the day before mine. Cute, innit?

Paul is rocking steady. The powers that be are working on getting him a full time position with CMI. It's by no means in the bag yet but it would mean more money, a company car (aww yeah!) and steady work. Again, I go back to the jinxing thing, so act like I didn't even bring it up. But one good thing that has already happened is they helped pay for a new laptop! I think we'll still repair our old one, that "someone" stepped on, and it will be mine for school. Ya know, I think my Mom was right.

The weather here has been crazy! It snowed a few days ago. And not like a little snow either, a lot! Of course it was all melted by dusk. Bean was a bit freaked at first but after awhile she was diggin' it with two shovels!

Thankfully, the largest underwear in the world was saved from the snow storm

Our backyard was not

Moms love this sort of thing

The great Gaddesby Road

"Don't you eat that yellow snow"

Oh Bean, why you so cute?

Okay, Deep Breath...

2008-04-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

I have a much better prospective on things today. I'm feeling more confident in my decision. I'm looking at it like this: Yeah, it could have been a great opportunity. But no matter what they would have offered me, school will always be the better opportunity. So really, I can't be missing out anything as good as what's in store for me.

I can't thank everyone enought for their supportive comments. I'm not exaggerating when I say they got my through this. I wrote Rene's zen saying ("Leap and the net will appear") on the corner of a piece of paper right before I called the job. After I hung up I had a bit of a cry and then read and reread the quote. I can feel that net forming below me right now.

I love you guys so much!!! Thanks for supporting me, I needed it!

2008-03-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

I did it. I told my job I wasn't going to start. I feel far more upset than I thought I would. God I hope I'm making the right decision. I'm so scared I just want to crawl up in a big ball and hide. It was a last minute decsion and they were understading but not happy. They took it better than I thought they would. He told me to keep in touch and I think I will.

Should I have just taken the job and looked for school in the meantime? But then what do I do after two months when they want me full time? Do I quit then and make them train someone else? That doesn't seem fair. Or do I work full time and try to fit in all the things I need to do to prepare for school (i.e. grants, essays, interviews, visits) after work? And then when school starts quit? Should I have tried to work it all out with them?

I thought I knew what my heart was telling me to do, not get involved with something I won't be able to really commit to, but I'm feeling uneasy now. I hope this feeling passes.

I can work with Paul at CMI in the meantime, so I can still be bringing in money. And most of the shows are on the weekends or at night. It's not ideal, but it will do until September when hopefully I will be starting. What if I don't get in anywhere??? Shit, the questions just keep coming.

Bitch Fest 2008

2008-03-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

I stood on our laptop. Yeah, I'm just that retarded sometimes. I was hanging my X-Rays in the bay window and lost my balance. I stepped right on the pad. It's gone, much like the car. It's under warranty but in the states. I'm gutted. I'll be honest, I didn't cry about the car but I did cry about the laptop. It happened the day after the car so emotions were already high. Its just more money down the drain that we can't afford.
I feel yuck. Shouldn't really be blogging about more bad times, but while I'm on the subject...I'm not sure about the job now. My gut is telling me to get my ass in school and not to get tied down to yet another "Front Desk" position. I really am capable of so much more. I don't want to waste more time (my life) on a job that can literally go nowhere. But I'm scared. We need the money. What to do??? If you have ever been or are in school please share your thoughts on the subject. Should I just suck it up and take the job or should I take my chances and try my hand at college again? I'll go with the majority. It's like choose your own adventure!
Well, this sulking is not going to do itself, I'd better get grumpy. I'll try to get online as much as possible but with our lack of functioning laptop it will be hard. I'm on a loaner at the moment, not sure how long we can keep it though. Obviously I can't share any pictures for awhile. But I will as soon as I can. We got loads of new furniture and I want to show you how much better everything looks.

Personal Note to my sister Jina: Cheers for all your comments! Keep em' coming. I love you and think about you everyday! We'll talk soon.

Warning: This Blog Contains Many Expletives

2008-03-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

I try to keep it clean but this is too much. Our fucking car has been nicked! Some bastard stole our fucking car last night from right outside our house! Fucking wankers! So there's 700 pounds ($1,400) down the drain. Fantastic. We got everything ready (i.e. the dog and all her gear) to go to Paul's mom's house, went outside to get in the car and it was gone. And of course it happens the night before we're meant to go pick up our box of stuff that just arrived from the states.

The only good news is that our box of stuff arrived from the states!! And all in good condition. We got a taxi to Paul's mom's and loaded some of it up in her car and made one trip to the house. Having all our belongings from the old apartment in the new house is making me really homesick. Everywhere are smells of my parents basement, our old place, our old life. But it is nice to have our personalities injected into the house finally. It was so lifeless before, just borrowed furniture and a new TV. Now I have my pictures, dishes, knick-knacks, photo albums, treasure boxes, games, insects, movies, books and the small piece of my soul that goes along with all my tangibles.

It's been a bitter sweet day. Excuse me while I go make myself a vodka tonic.

What Tickled My Pickle About England was my bloody car!! Bloody thieving English bastards!

A Day In The Life

2008-03-05T02:28:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been doing this entire last week:

6:30am-Wake up with Bean, go outside for a potty break
7:00am-Play “please don't bite my face off”
8:00am-Eat breakfast
8:15am-Potty break
8:30am-Nap time for us both
9:30am-Potty break
9:45am-Play “kill the blanket!”
10:15am-Nap time
11:15am-Potty break
11:30am-Play “please don't eat the carpet”
12:00pm-Eat lunch
12:15pm-Potty break
12:30pm-Nap time
1:30pm-Potty break
1:45pm-Play “on the couch, off the couch, on the couch, off the couch”
2:00pm-Nap time
3:00pm-Potty break
3:15pm-Play “hop on pop”
3:30pm-Nap time
4:00pm-Potty break
4:10pm-Eat second lunch
4:25pm Potty break
4:30pm-Nap time
5:30pm-Potty break
5:40pm-Play “my fingers are not sausages”
6:00pm-Potty break
6:10pm-Nap Time
7:00pm-Potty break
7:10pm-Play “I hate my collar and want it dead ”
8:00pm-Eat dinner
8:15pm-Potty break
8:25pm-Watch Bean totally spaz out and some Law & Order
9:00pm-Potty break
9:10pm-Put Bean to bed for the night
2:00am-Potty break
2:10am-Clean pee or poo out of crate
2:20am-Back to bed
4:00am-Potty break
4:10am-Back to bed
6:30am-Start all over again!

That is literally all I've been up to, with the exception of a few trips out with Bean in my handbag. Did you know that puppies need 16 to 18 hours of sleep everyday? And double the number of trips outside! Or that their bladders are the last thing to develop? It hasn't been easy being a full time puppy butler. It's a lot like having a baby in the house. And those late night/early morning potty breaks can be excruciating and involve me following her ass around with a flashlight. But she's learned her name and that makes it all worth it!

She's got an appointment to get her second set of shots next week and then a week after that she can go out into the real world. I can't wait to get outside and go to the park (or anywhere for that matter). But by that time I'll be starting work! Yikes! My life, and therefore blog, will get more interesting in the very near future! I promise! But for the time being I'm pretty much stuck in the house. Paul's away in Newcastle running a show for a few days, so I have no back up. But soon things will change and to be honest it can't happen soon enough. I can feel the cabin fever coming on, I've been chatting to the dog a lot and believe she can understand me, I've been stealing flowers from the neighbors yard and rearranging the furniture nearly everyday. Must...get...out...

What Tickles My Pickle About England is old British people (commonly referred to as "pensioners"). They're all over the place here! And I'm not talking young 60 year olds, I'm talking 80 year old people! You see them riding bicycles, walking everywhere, shopping in the shops, riding on the bus, smoking cigarettes in the laundrette and roaming around freely at any given time. Old British people love to make their daily rounds to the "charity shops". They walk along the high street and shuffle in, just to see if any new jumpers or puzzles have arrived. Old British people love to gather in small groups on the sidewalk (preferably right in front of the doors to the grocery store) and have a good chat. They love to talk about what they watched on telly the previous night, rude bus drivers and the rising cost of baked beans. There's just something different and fantastic about old people in Britain. It's like no one has ever told them they're old and should stay inside all day. They're independent, social, funny and even nice! They truly give me hope for my future.

Picture Post!

2008-02-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

As promised, some pictures of Bean and the new house. I'm not exactly house proud at this stage, we have no furniture and it's quite messy, but it's a work in progress. I wanted to make a movie but we had Maria all weekend. So with a kid and a new pup I was on the run the entire time.

I will bring everyone up to date verbally this week. Enjoy! (Remember kids, just click on a photo to see it way too big!)

Have Internet, Will Blog

2008-02-20T02:59:00.001-08:00

Yay! I'm back online, finally. My new hero, the cable guy from Virgin Media came yesterday and installed our phone/internet/cable package. So I have a land line now and cable television. Ahh, the telly. How I've missed your comforting glow and mindless entertainment. There are many American shows they play all day here in the UK. For example, you can't turn the damn thing on without seeing Friends (a given, really), The Wonder Years (yesss!), Cagney & Lacey (what? why?), Judge Judy (my own person crack), Grounded For Life (remember that one? Yeah, me neither), and some old classics like Dukes Of Hazzard, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek (niiiice). I'm happy.

I don't know if it's kosher to post your address online, but just in case you wanted to send us some late valentines cards or early birthday cards, our new one is:
7 Gaddesby Road
Birmingham
B14 7EX

We are settling into the new house nicely so far. We got our mattress up the stairs, no small feat. Our friends have given us a dining room table, chairs, telephone, futon for the spare room, kettle, fridge and a washing machine. Having a dryer is practically unheard of here. Everyone uses the radiators or a clothes lie outside, if it's sunny, to dry their clothes. Which is time consuming but keeps your clothes in good "nick" as they say. I am still going to make a movie of the house so I won't post many pictures just yet. But I figure I'll wait until the puppy is here so you can see her in all her puppy perfection. But just to get you through the next few days, here's a recent photo of the Beanster having a wittle nappy-poo (okay, I'll stop):

(Oh my gosh, she's so freaking cute I want to throw up!)

Here's a photo of our first dinner in the new house. We had no silverware, only a knife and plate, so what could be more perfect than pizza? We had no corkscrew either, but that's never stopped me from getting a glass of wine.

We took a quick trip to Tamworth-In-Arden the other day. It's a really nice little village just outside of the city. It's also where Nick Drake grew up and is buried. Here's his grave (it's hard to read, but I swear it says Nick Drake!) and the graveyard

We walked to a farm for some fresh eggs, and they had this amazing road that lead to the farm with all these trees planted along side it.

We passed these horses on our way there. I wanted to take a picture of them but the boy horse (this is disgusting, but I want to share it all with you guys) was a bit...shall we say "excited" about the girl horse so I had to put a tree between the camera and the "excited" part of the horse. You learn so much on a farm, things you never, ever wanted to know

Luckily on our way back, things had calmed down and the horses were ready to say hi

Here's a few more snaps from the trip

This is my first attempt at putting a movie on here so let me know if it doesn't work. But be warned: it's not for the easily queasy!

In other good news, I got the job! I'm actually really proud of myself, not only for nailing the job, but also for working with them to make it possible for me take the job. It was starting at six pounds an hour, but after talking to a few people and figuring out my cost of living and wage here vs. the states, I just didn't think that would be enough. Because after you take out taxes (which are very high in the UK, for the NHS) and bus fair (which is incredibly high just to piss me off, about $3 per ride with NO transfer ticket so if you get on another bus right away or ride again a little while later you pay the same fair all over again!! Crazy!) it wouldn't add up to much per week. So they bumped up the starting wage to 7.50. Awesome! And they promised a substantial wage increase after the three month probationary period. Fantastic! Also I told them I needed to wait a week or two after their projected start date in order to properly get my puppy potty trained and do some solid bonding. They said "Okay!" Terrific!

I'm so happy to be working for a company that understands that people have priorities beyond work and a company that is willing to hear me out and respect my needs. I got very spoiled at Coldstream, it's going to be hard to replace the kindness and respect I was shown there. But I also learned so much about my own worth as an employee and hope to bring in the same sort of ethics in the new job. But so far they have shown me that they listen, understand and can compromise. I feel like I'm off to a great start. Hopefully they see it that way to and don't think I'm a cranky, demanding yank. I'm shooting for a March 10th start date, but may move that to March 17th, depending on Bean, and how she's doing with her training. I can't wait to start making some money and some new friends! I know it will do wonders for my mental state.

That's all for now. I promise to get a video, or at least some pics, up of the house and pup this weekend. So do check back soon! I miss you all so much! More than I could ever say in words. But knowing that you keep up with the blog and reading your comments makes me feel so wonderfully connected to everyone. Thank you! (enough sap already, Sher!)

What Tickles My Pickle About England is cups of tea! One thing I've learned from living here is to offer anyone (and I mean anyone) who comes into the house a cup of tea straight away. It's considered rude to not offer tea, especially if you're American, you will get called out on it. So I gave the cable guy some tea, "Milk, one sugar, love." Awhile later the guy says "I have to use your loo, or I'll piss me pants." You gotta love the British sense of humor! I must say that I have become very dependent on my daily "cuppas" as well. When you come in from the cold how 'bout a cuppa!? When you sit down for some telly or a good read, cuppa! When you've been round at the pub, cuppa! Has it been 15 minutes since you last had a cup of tea, cuppa!

Personal Note To Ri-Ri: Ha! Thanks for the suggestions! Thundermuffin and Taxi being my personal favs. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you rock Ri. Give a kiss to Alex and Henri for me!

Happiness is a warm puppy

2008-02-09T10:58:00.001-08:00

So much has happened today! But I'll get into all the boring stuff later. More importantly I GOT A PUPPY!!! A squishy, small, wonderful, "just what I always wanted. My own little puppy! I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him" puppy!!! Well, I got her but I don't have her just yet, cause she's too small to leave home. But I will have her to rub on my face, talk nonsense to, put in my handbag and kiss to death on February 22nd. Ah jeez! That's ages away!! How can I wait that long?? But I have a lot to do between now and then, seeing as how I have absolutely no idea how to look after a puppy. But it can't be that hard, right? RIGHT?

We went to the pound shop (the equivalent of the dollar tree) and I got a leash, food bowl, poop bags and one of those things that looks like a big cork screw that go in the ground, nothing is too good for my new dog! Not that I will keep her tied up in the backyard, oh no! This dog is going everywhere with me! Yup, I'm gonna be one of those crazy ladies that take their dog into the grocery store and the pub and the bookies. And of course I plan on using her to make Maria like me more than Paul. See how great puppies are?!

The woman who had the pups needed a name to put a hold on her so it's Biddy Beans Dam Dooney for now, we'll see if it sticks. I am open to suggestions for names, so please comment if you have a great idea or even a crap idea that will make me laugh. Here she is in all her cuteness. Try not to kiss your screen.

No, I don't know which one she is, but does it really matter? She's one of those and I'm totally in love. She's a Yorkie with a bit of Jack Russell mixed in.

What's that you say? You want another picture of puppies? I just might happen to have one here...let me see...oh yes, heres another:

So in other good news...we got our house!! It took a lot longer than it was supposed to for the bank drafts to clear. I hate banks. But they finally did today and we took the money straight to the estate agents and got the keys. It's not the biggest house in the world but would probably give the smallest house in the world a run for it's money. When we got there (I got a puppy!) the builders were still there doing some last minute painting and repairs. They installed new carpet and painted the whole place white. Its in the perfect location, walking distance to friends, pubs, step daughters and the bus. It's across the street from a golf course, has French doors to the back yard and gets loads of light. We have our new mattress being delivered (I got a puppy!) on Monday, so we will be staying there from then on.

Our friend Paul C. is letting us use his car "for as long as we want it", and I'm holding him to that. It's a Saab 900 that is in need of some work. It's been in the shop since Monday and should be ready soon. So some of the money we saved for a car went towards the repairs. But when we give it back to him he'll sell it and we'll get our money back! It's win win!

I have a job interview on Tuesday for Blaz Media. It's the perfect office job for me right now. Part time, four days a week from 10am to 2pm (now that's what I call working hours!) but it will move to full time later. I'm so freaking nervous! I don't really know why. I guess I feel like I have more to prove being an American. Perhaps I should try out my fake accent. So send me your good interview thoughts on Tuesday around 6:00 in the morning, if you happen to think of it.

School is not out of the picture, I really want to check into it and see if I qualify to start on a Visual Communication B.A., concentrating on photography. Paul has a friend who works in the photography department at Birmingham City University and can hopefully give me some good advice, or perhaps even just let me skip all the school shit and put my name on the one of them there diplomas they got lying around.

I will give you a virtual tour of the new house as soon as possible (if I can figure out how to add a movie to my blog). Check back around February 23rd and you just might see some photos of a puppy. Cause I got one.

A sudden, often repetitive, spasmodic contraction of the thoracic cavity.

2008-01-31T08:26:00.000-08:00

Oh for fucks sake. I'm sick again. Same cold, but now with more mucus! I've got one of those really nasty coughs that comes from deep down in your chest and when you start hacking people back away from you. Which can be handy on the bus.

So I've been taking it easy on the couch, trying not to touch anything in case I make anyone else sick. I think it's all these British germs, that are new to my fragile American immune system, which have made me sick. I will be back in good form very soon because I have a supply of liquid antibiotics in the fridge. Yay! Tastes like chalk!

Which leads me nicely into...

What Tickles My Pickle About England is the NHS! The National Health Service is the publicly funded health care system in Britain and it cares not where your sick ass is from or how you got so damn sick in the first place. Get this, I'm lying in bed (again) feeling like a cat turd that's been run over (again) and don't want to talk on the phone. So Paul calls the "doctors surgery" for me and explains whats going on. They write me out a prescription, I go pick it up, I take it to the pharmacy and I get some drugs, which cost me next to nothing! I even got them to give me a new inhaler cause my other one is expired! What could be easier? No questions asked, no insurance to haggle with, no co-pays and no over priced drugs. Brilliant. I shall fear no illness again!

Personal Note to my sister Malia: It's like crack and it's here too: Britain's Next Top Model, but with lots more sass and ass.

First Week (I think)

2008-01-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

We just got here really, but it feels like we've been here for weeks. We have packed a lot in since January 15. We stayed at Paul's mom's house the first few days, which of course was a nightmare of mother-in-law proportions. Which is why we were quick to impose on our friends Terry and Stu. They have a seriously large Edwardian terrace house on the high street, it's beautiful and we are barely in the way. We have our own room, the internet, on demand cable and Stu is a fantastic cook.

Our new room

Our new roommates

A fine example of the typical English back garden also the view from our room

Just two days after setting up house at Terry & Stu's we were off to Newcastle so Paul could earn some money and I could convalesce after catching a nasty cold. I didn't get out much because it was snowing but I did manage to get myself to the window for a few photos. They don't do any justice to how beautiful Newcastle is, as we were staying in a more industrial area right by the arena.

This isn't a good shot but you can see the Metro Radio Arena (with the green roof) where Paul was working for the "Strictly Come Dancing" show. I had a peek at the show itself and I can only describe it as very cheesy and glittery. They should have called it "Strictly Come If You're Really Old And Like To Clap". I think it's like America's "Dancing With The Stars".

After all that work we figured we really deserved a break and some fun. We went into town where our friends were playing at St. Anne's Church. They reformed their band from college and played some of their old tunes. Just cause it was in a church doesn't mean there wasn't a bar opposite the stage.

We had wine and cheesecake with our friends Penny, Chris and their cat Lydia

It's so great to be staying at Terry and Stu's. I feel really grounded and secure here, which is the most important thing for my sanity right now. And Terry has a fantastic hairdryer for me to borrow. We can walk to Maria's house from here which will save us lot in taxi and bus fare. And it's also within walking distance of the local Sainsbury's (the grocery store) and some good pubs like the Prince Of Wales.
All in all we landed in the best situation we could ask for. I just hope Paul and I can find a place soon so we don't out stay our welcome. We have a viewing scheduled tomorrow for a house in Kings Heath .Yeah, it's not much to look at but you never know what lies behind the doors of terraced houses, they often surprise me. But since Kings Heath is such a popular area I reckon this one is so cheap (if you can call the equivalent of $1100 dollars per month "cheap") because the inside matches the outside. I'll keep you posted.

What Tickles My Pickle About England Is The BBC! The TV viewing here is amazing, especially for only having 5 channels. I could list off loads of great shows on offer here but instead I will share one random nights viewing that really stuck in my head. I was sick in the hotel in Newcastle with a runny nose, stuffy head and sore throat. All I wanted was to tuck into some crap telly. Now, I'm used to the states where even the no tell motels have free cable. But that's not really done here. So as soon as I was able to hunker down in bed and relax, I turned on the TV and quickly found that only 5 channels were available. Shit! How will I ever get over this cold with no cable TV?? But to my surprise I found not only one great thing to watch but three!! I was torn between "The Super Skinny & Super Sized" (a fascinating program about a really, really thin girl and a really, really fat woman who have to swap diets for a week. They cook the meals they normally would for themselves but then hand it over to the other person. The skinny girl had to eat 4-5 dinners through out the night), "Total Isolation" (I know! Let's see what happens when you put people in a totally dark room and not talk to them at all for 2 days! Brilliant! They all went crazy by the end), "Ladette To Lady" (this show is pure crap but that's exactly why you watch, they take a group of boozy, rude sluts and send them to finishing school at Eggleston Hall.) The only problem was that all these shows were on at once! What would you have picked?

Your mission, should you choose to accept...

2008-01-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

I've been working on what I like to call replacement thinking. So when I start thinking of something that depresses me about England, I immediately replace the thought with something positive. Or if I find myself thinking about what I hated the last time I moved here, or some awful experienced I had last time, I stop myself and think instead about how much different this time will be. Not a revolutionary idea, but it seems to be working. It's difficult to always think positively. And it would be so easy to fall into a big pit of self pity. Sometimes self pity can be so rewarding. But it never gets me far for long.

I'm also trying my damnedest to make this move totally different from the last move. It's the same town, same people, same problems as last time. But last time it got the best of me. So I really am trying to, not only think of things differently, but also trying to be a different person. I want to be stronger and more open minded, more tolerant and clear headed.

In some ways I'm looking at this as a mission. I more or less had to make this move (it really was the right thing to do), Paul would have suffered greatly if I had put my foot down about staying in Portland. So I pretend I'm a secret agent sent here for a purpose, and must complete my mission. In real life my mission is to keep my head together and my purpose is to become a better person. But in my imagination I'm a super sexy secret agent sent to England to infiltrate the British people, become one of them and perhaps take down the monarchy.

Even if I wanted to leave I couldn't, so I just have to make sure I don't get myself in a state where I want to get the fuck outta dodge.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all stiff upper lip and emotional suppression for me. There are so many wonderful things about living here. Which is why I'm starting "What Tickles My Pickle About England". A quick little addition at the end of each blog entry about all the great things that make living in England really fucking cool and just that much more tolerable. I really do plan on getting at least one blog entry completed each week as long as I have internet access. And even if I don't have tons of great photos to post.

What Tickles My Pickle About England is Branston's Pickle! It's this fantastic "sauce" I guess you'd call it. It squeezes out of the bottle looking like a dark, small dog turd and tasting like heaven. And you would be sorely mistaken if you think its just a bunch of mashed up pickles. Oh no! This stuff is absolutely chock full of goodness and strange ingredients, such as: swede, onions, cauliflower, vinegar, tomato, apple, dates, mustard, cilantro, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and of course a few pickles thrown in for good measure. I'm pretty sure it's a super food so I eat as much of it as I can.

Portland Recap (This Blogs For You Ri-Ri)

2008-01-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

The last month or so has blasted by and I have fully neglected my blog. Such great plans I had for my blog, oh the laughs we were going to have. But I found myself internetless and therefore blogless. I will bring you up to date with a quick run down of the last month and a half's events.

We moved out of the basement and into Jenn's townhouse on December 1st. Where we engaged in activities such as this:

And this:

We stayed in Jenn's luxurious spare room

We had a fantastic time, all the time. We played Clue and Rummikub for hours, ate dinner together, drank many bottles of wine, had friends over and tried to force them to play Clue. Jenn and I put on makeup together, did each others hair and traded clothes. We also found time to celebrate Jesus with naughty Christmas cookies:

Then Christmas came and we did Christmasy things like this:

And it snowed! It freakin snowed on Christmas day! We ran outside and our hair looked like this:

Of course after Christmas comes New Years! We played Clue at Jenn's, went to the B.O.G. and then ended up at Jackey's house where we spoke of nonsense and smoked ciggies around the fire place. If you had been there you would have seen this:

Then I turned 32 in January and the tomfoolery began at the Glowing Greens mini golf course. I highly recommend it for all ages and abilities.

After the shark attack we had a party at Jackey and Faye's house. Fun was had by all and I can prove it (click on any picture to enlarge, but do so at your own risk)

Clearly these people are having a good time. Alcohol may have been involved, but who can tell? They're pretty much always like that.

I have the best friends and family in the world. I hope they never lose me.

Three Years Down, Forever To Go!

2007-11-06T19:38:00.001-08:00

Paul and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary last week with lots of good food and drink. We went to Il Piatto for dinner and then to Greater Trumps for things with vodka.

Kisses stolen by candle light

Big hands is in love with...

big boobies.

I had the chicken with beets and some corn stuff. It was much tastier than it looks.

Paul had the chicken linguine with caramelized walnuts and pears in a white wine sauce.

All in all the evening was smashing! I bought Paul a book called "The Intellectual Devotional". So he can roam confidently with the cultured class. I also got him the Love Forever Changes CD. I can't tell you what Paul bought me, but I will give you a hint...the third anniversary is leather. I'll just let your mind wonder on that one. Okay, that's enough, reel it in sicko.

An ode to #309

2007-11-06T14:57:00.001-08:00

It's goodbye apartment of my dreams and hello basement of doom. The first time I walked into our old apartment I knew it would be ours, because I had seen a vision. Many months before we moved I had seen us in an apartment with a view of downtown, hardwood floors and jazz playing on the radio. And this apartment matched exactly. We lived at 910 S.E. 37th Ave. #309 for over two years and loved nearly every minute. From this lovely apartment I could see miles of Forest park. I could behold my building, "Big Pink", in all it's glowing glory. I gawked at the drunks outside the Triple Nipple. I watched the trees grow around Laurelhurst park. I spied on the coffee shop across the street. I sat transfixed while thunder storms rolled over the west hills.

We now reside in my parents basement. I can see miles of cobwebs. I can behold the washing machine in all it's sudsy splendor. I watch the mildew grow around the cracks in the walls. I spy on the cat. I sit transfixed as spiders walk over my shoes.

I'm very grateful that my parents have taken us into a house already full with two adults and two teenagers. I'm lucky to have a family that doesn't think twice about letting us live with them rent free. But the spiders are a bit creepy.

Here's some snaps of our old apartment, it will truly be missed. (click on any picture to enlarge)