Getting Settled

We moved into our more permanent housing last Wednesday. We are really enjoying the flat itself and the St John's Wood area. Our belongings and furniture pieces are trickling in over time. Every other day, or so, another item arrives from either our shipments from Utah or from online orders we have been making. Life gets easier and better with each thing. Ady was so happy to get her bed back. She has been a much happier and better behaved little girl than she had been in our other place. Despite my efforts to keep her entertained at our temporary housing, I think she was bored and cooped up & thus sought entertainment by being a naughty baby. That was pretty tough for all of us involved. We are happier now in our new place. It feels home-ey and welcoming and Ady has room to run and play and be a happy little girl. She is going to be in pure bliss when her toys arrive in the next week. ...And I may faint from pure joy myself. More to come on our place soon.

Tyler's work is going pretty good, although he has had quite a few late nights. He is meeting lots of people and experiencing a lot of new and great things. He is currently in Amsterdam for a training conference. I regret that Ady and I didn't tag along. His hotel is in the countryside and right on the coast. It sounds very beautiful. He took good care of me before he left. He made extra sure that I felt oriented and comfortable in our new place- and that I had a plan of action for the next 4 days. I have been struggling a bit feeling isolated & overwhelmed with all the things that come with moving to a new place- and suffering from major mom guilt. All will be good again soon, I have no doubt. We just need to get all settled in and start exploring places & things, and all will be good.

Escaping the Rat Race

On another free Saturday, we met up with Vinz again. He invited us over to his place for a most amazing Swiss breakfast, complete with bacon, 2 types of sausages, eggs, nutella & banana filled crepes, croissants, 2 types of juice, a variety of cereals... I'm probably forgetting some other items, but the point has been made. It was delicious and very, very filling. He even had special big chocolate muffins on Ady's & my plate as gifts for the ladies. So sweet.

Despite that we could barely walk after all that food, we managed to make it to Westfield Cemetery, which Vinz had been told to check out. The cemetery looked very very old and overgrown with vegetation... but apparently, it has just not been well maintained because the oldest graves we saw were from the early 1800s. And come to find out, once we paid our entrance fee (Yep, we had to pay a fee to enter a mismanaged cemetery), the cemetery with all the really old graves was across the road. He he. Oh well. Some of the grave stones had actually come out of the ground so you could see down into the hollow vault- and of course, we had to look.. but no skeleton sightings occurred. Some of the grave stones were actually cracked completely in half, & some had a big ol' tree growing right out the top of the burial- apparently some good fertile ground there. He he. British humor has apparently made its way into me. Oh, and in our wanderings, we discovered that Karl Marx was buried there, so we stopped and gave him a visit.

Then it was off to another big park called Hamstead Heath. It is a huge park with some areas left in a more natural state. The view of the city was stunning from on top of the hill. People were flying their kites, walking their dogs & children and enjoying a little breathing space out of the hustle bustle of the big city. It was a nice break for us.

Dress Code

When in Great Britain, do as the British do. Wear a wool coat. ...And so we shall.

Tower of Terror

One Saturday with not much to do... we decided to check out the Tower of London. We started out on a guided tour, but I was quickly overcome with way too many details of beheadings and executions that we decided to go our own way. I hate when you are told something and you cannot unthink it. Absolutely terrible images in my poor, innocent, non-murderous brain. There was so much death associated with the castle that it felt eerie and unsettling. It was very common that a King would have his wife put to death. One King had been married to his wife for only 11 days, I think it was, before the wife was sentenced to death. And to think we modern people consider that first year of marriage rough! Good thing we didn't live back then, & Tyler wasn't a King. He may not have put up too long with my "marriage is good, but it is an adjustment" statement I liked to make in our first year married. Anyway... enough about that. Lucky for me, we decided to skip the torture chambers. Thank goodness. I'm starting to learn that that is a part of British humor. There is this darkness about it. Here is an example: While at the gift shop, you could buy your child a pop-up book that pictured a beheading- & the head would actually come off! Oh so terrible! We saw the Crown Jewels while there, which was very interesting to see. We also saw centuries old knight's armor and battle weapons. There was also a great exhibit of royal coins through time. These latter things were more my cup of tea.

Speaking of tea... have you ever wondered what a crumpet is? While at the dreaded grocery store one day, I came across some & could not resist buying them. To prepare them, you put them in the toaster and then spread butter and jam on top. They tasted like an english muffin and a pancake mixed together. It wasn't too good, if you ask me. But maybe store-bought crumpets are like store-bought sushi- BAD! Next time I get the gumption, I will get a crumpet at a quaint English restaurant and pair it with a cup of tea (instead of ice cream). Cheers!

Little Zombies

Ady has been busy drawing pictures and learning how to write letters. These are a few of my favorite pictures. According to the artist herself, the first zombie is a picture of me. I can definitely see the resemblance. I'm pretty sure she was drawing her impression of me during our little grocery store nightmare last week. In the second picture, I have been told that the blob above the eyes is hair, and the squiggly scribble on the one leg is a bandaid. The third picture is of the ocean.

It was cute to watch her draw these. I think she even surprised herself that she could draw something that had order and represented something, instead of chaotic scribbles. She focused so hard to draw them, and took her time to draw each feature in places that made sense.

Economic Inequality: Occupy Protests

These protests are going on just down the road from us. It has been a peaceful demonstration here, unlike some other places, but police teams are everywhere monitoring the situation to assure that it remains tame. We have not felt threatened or afraid by the protests. It is actually a little thrilling to see.

Here is a link to an article that tells more info.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/18/world/europe/occupy-london-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

"We are part of a global movement of people who are fed up with the current system."

Good Friends. Good Times. Good Food.

Last week we had a truly multi-cultural/international day. Saturday morning we met up with a guy that Tyler met at work who had also just moved here. His name was Vinz & was from Switzerland. Vinz invited another girl who had also just moved here from Brazil. Her name was Tatiana. We were like a bunch of peas in a pod out looking for good neighborhoods to live in. For fun, we checked out a place called Camden Town, which was far from a good place to live- but definitely an interesting and crazy place to shop. Camden Town is marketplace central if you want anything from anywhere else around the world. You could find everything from 18 century style clothing to trench coats adorned with metal thorns, boots with 8 inch soles, furniture, jewelry... you name it, it was there. There was also an international food market. We decided to go for West African food- which was flavorful, but not spicy. We had chicken, lamb & rice with plantains & some kind of bread on the side. It was alright, kind of greasy. I might try something different next time.

After Camden Town, we walked through several different parts of London. We ended up in Mayfield and walked past the U.S. Embassy. We know where to run now if we are seeking a safe haven. We continued on through two great parks and checked out the ducks there. Vinz fed the squirrels. Next was the Horse Guard Parade, but the horses were nowhere to be seen- only guards in uniform standing around the outside of the building- so we snapped a few pictures with them. We finished the day at this amazing restaurant/pub where we enjoyed some delicious cheeses, prosciutto, & wine. The restaurant was so interesting. It was a small underground building in this dark dug out tunnel, lit only by a few candles. Pretty awesome. It was a good day- and we all became good friends. Tatiana & Vinz may or may not have become a little more than good friends. :)

A Place to Call Home

We spent all day Wednesday and Thursday looking for that perfect flat we could call "home"... and we found one we love!  Here she is...

... And you will never believe where it is located.  Do you recognize this album cover?

Here is our attempt at recreating the scene

Yep.  We will be living on Abbey Road.  It is just down the street from Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles recorded their final album in 1969.  This crosswalk is just 5 minutes from our place.  Pretty cool, eh?  Abbey Road is located in a place called St. John's Wood.  It is a beautiful and charming area that is not so busy and crowded as some areas of London, but close enough that we can easily get in on the London scene.  We are so very excited!  It has 2 bedrooms + 1 little office room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen (with a big fridge & freezer!), & a living room/dining room.  Despite the fact that I will almost exclusively be doing online grocery shopping, as was stated previously :),  when we were looking at the place, it warmed my heart that just across the street is a cute little store that reminds me a little bit of Ken's Kash in Oakley (minus the world famous hotdogs).  The flat has decent tube access & is close to several parks, namely Regents Park, which is a very large and beautiful place that you MUST see if you visit.  We are set to move in Tuesday October 25th.  Visitors are welcome!

If at First You Don't Succeed, CRY, then try again

OH boy! Did I ever learn a lesson the hard way.  If you have ever thought shopping at Walmart was a terrible shopping experience, OH HONEY do I have news for you... IT CAN BE MUCH MUCH MUCH WORSE!!!  The other day Tyler showed me where a big grocery store is that is pretty close to our house.  I thought I was in paradise when I checked out the inside!  It actually had more than 4 isles!  What a luxury that would be! We are used to these gas station size grocery stores.  I decided right then and there that I would be willing to walk the extra 10 minutes to go to the bigger grocery store for our food from then on.  So yesterday was the big day.  It was time to go for a refill on groceries.  Ady decided to take a nap (for the first time since we moved here), so I planned to head out once she woke up, which turned out to be after 5 pm.  No big deal, right?  I packed her in her stroller, grabbed my purse and keys and we set out.  After the first 30 seconds into our walk, all the people walking in front of us that were smoking away helped me quickly remember that we do not live in a kid-friendly place.  As we got closer to the store, the streets became more and more crowded- which should have been my 1st clue to turn around and head back home NOW.  The store was no different- which should have been my 2nd clue.  By the way, so far I see no sign of such a thing as a cart in the heart of London, and you are straight dreaming if you thought maybe a device existed where you could collect your food and also contain your child all in one.  No NO No!  That could have been my 3rd clue, I suppose.  No, I held a little shopping basket on one arm and pushed the stroller with the other arm.  I picked an isle on the far side of the store to start on. As I parked the stroller to ponder what items we would want to eat, more people started filling the isle.  I would grab one thing then have to move to get the next thing, but couldn't because there were people already there.  The shopping basket I was holding was getting heavy and was in peoples way, so I tried hanging it on the stroller to consolidate our space, but as it became filled with more things, it stuck out further off to the side of the stroller- & was in the way again.  I decided to put the basket back on my arm.  This made me realize what that mystery bruise on my arm was from- a crappy heavy shopping basket from my last shopping excursion.  As the minutes ticked by, the store became more and more crowded still.  My stress & frustration level was rising FAST!  People were in front of me, behind me, bending in front of me and completely invading my personal space.  Then Ady wanted to grab things as we would move- and started whining and complaining.  I kept thinking, "I am here, I have made it this far, just get what we need, and get the heck out of here!"  So I kept pushing forward.  The basket filled very quickly- and we still didn't have half of what we needed so I started filling the stroller.  I was balancing food on all sorts of places on the stroller.  I am sure people were looking at me like I was some crazy American- and they were so very right!  I was completely out of my mind to go shopping there at that time of day and bring along my big stroller and my 3 year old- and expect to get the things we needed.  What the crap was I thinking?!  On our way home, we found Tyler- and I was in far too terrible of a bad mood to even care about anything.  I think there was steam coming out of my ears.  I felt like I had just been run over by a train, then kicked by a horse, then had water dumped over my head... well, you get the idea.  On the way home, I was just saying, "I am so very mad" and Ady was sweet.  She said, "Mama, don't be mad.  We will help you be happy."  When we got home Tyler unloaded the groceries and cooked up some dinner.  I sat on the couch and stared at the wall for a few minutes and had a little cry.  Ady brought me my iPod and put on (accidentally and luckily) my favorite songs list.  Then she sat in my lap and colored me a picture.  I eventually cooled off and came back down to Earth- but I learned a very valuable lesson: I WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER DO THAT EVER EVER AGAIN!!!  Mark my word!  From here on out, I will order groceries online and have them delivered.  I don't know how else people can fit enough groceries to last them more than 2 meals in that silly little basket, let alone have a child (yes, and that is only 1 child) accompany you to buy groceries, and leave the store in a decent mood.  I am completely flabbergasted.  Walmart would have been a dream shopping experience compared to that, I assure you.  So one of the big lessons I have learned from this is that "If at first you don't succeed, have a cry, then try again, but try a completely different approach."  Online grocery shopping, here I come.

A Good Life

Take a listen to the song at the link below.  I think it was written just for us.  :)  I find a lot of strength from it.  It is a good reminder for me to let go of my fears and worries and be confident that life is going to be good here...  as if there was any doubt about that, eh?  Silly me.

Good Life by One Republic

When the Dogs are Away... the Cats Shall Play

Tyler started work yesterday.  It was a big day for him... and us.  Doesn't he look handsome in his new suit?!  He has new employee orientation all week.  People from all  over the world were joining him at the orientation.  He also met the Partner and the group that he will be working with.  His workspace will be on the top floor of his building with a breathtaking view of the Tower of London, the Thames, the beautiful bridges lining the river way, and the horizon of the cityscape all around.  Today he is attending an all day special area wide conference at the London film museum right next to Westminster Abbey.  When he called me today, he told me that the clocks in the conference room weren't working, but he could see Big Ben standing tall right outside the window- so he could keep track of time just fine.  I couldn't resist asking if he ever imagined that he would be in a situation where he relied solely upon Big Ben for the time.

...And yes, it was a big day for Ady & I because it was our first attempt at facing the city without a confident guide to lead us around.  I feel pretty confident about navigating maps, the tube, & finding our way home by myself, but I get nervous about running about the city with a little 3 year old at my side.  I have no doubt that it will be easier once we get into our own place where the pace of the area is a bit slower and better for families with kids, but for now, we are in the heart of the business world- and there just are not kids- or anything remotely kid-like anywhere around here.

Today I threw caution to the wind and decided we would bust out of our flat to head for the Princess Diana Memorial Playground at Hyde Park.  I researched out the closest & easiest route on the tube, packed up our lunch, camera, & umbrella and Ady & I embarked on our big journey.  It was worth every bit of effort.  The playground was absolutely amazing!!!  It contained about 8 different sections to it- including an area with a mini neighborhood of pint-sized log cabins that Ady could crawl all over and inside of & wooden play equipment, an area with a huge nearly life sized wooden pirate ship with several mini ships nearby that were suspended by chains in the air, a water play area with rock alligators and rock islands all around, an area with 3 big canvas teepees, an area with musical playground equipment- to make all sorts of interesting sounds, and much more.  It was the best playground I have ever seen!  We spent hours there just playing and having a ball.  I think we will head for the Tate Modern tomorrow.  It is FREE to the public & is supposed to have a great kids section.

 



 


                     


                                                    

                                              

And this familiar friend was waiting for us when we got near home...  so I was sure I hadn't gotten us lost on our big day out.  PHEW!

Week in Review & Random Thoughts

Good News!  Our new laptop computer has a slot for our camera memory card... so I don't need to wait for the usb cable after all to upload our pictures!

A fun day at St. John's Wood and Regent's Park

 


We have now been here one full week.  It has been really great to spend some time together.  The weather has been sunny and hot everyday, which is completely abnormal for London this time of year from what we are hearing.  I am confident that it has made our transition much easier than if it had been rainy and cold, which should be the trend starting tomorrow.  Umbrellas HO!

Over the past couple days, a movie has been being filmed right in front of our flat.  Despite some minor inconveniences of getting in and out of our place as we would like, it has been fascinating to watch the filming.  So much effort and time goes into perfecting a 20 second long shot.  Imagine all that has to align to make a movie scene with several 20 second shots work together seamlessly; the time of day/consistent lighting, the weather, the surroundings, the noise of the city, etc.  So they have been working extra hard all day long while the weather is so nice.  The movie is supposedly titled "Charles" and has a few stars even Tyler and I recognize.  We saw Vincent Cassel yesterday.  He is the ballet teacher in Black Swan.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001993/  Check out this website for a picture & description of him.

We have been given a full month of temporary housing in this flat.  From here it is only a short walk to Tyler's office.  The proximity to his work is extremely convenient.  Ideally, we would like the more permanent housing that we choose to have a similar commute time; although, the neighborhoods that we are interested in so far are about 30 minutes or so from his work.  We swore that after Stansbury Park we would never have a 30 minute commute again.  We are most interested in Kensington & St. John's Wood.  Both areas seem safe, charming, have good access to shopping for day to day things, and are close to some really great parks that Ady would enjoy.  I guess we will see what happens.  It is way too tempting to accept certain things you had sworn off when you are standing inside a place you love.

Our current Apartment building

The park across the street from us

This link may not work, or if it does, it may not work for too long...  but here is an example of the type of flats we are looking at.  

http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?location_ids=994-22&price_to=1000&prop_type=flats&property_id=787612&search_form=map&search_type=LL&submit_type=search

We will be going out with a "letting" agent soon to see inside some of the properties.  I am anxious to get into a place of our choice and to make it our home.  The day that our ocean shipment arrives will no doubt be better than Christmas to us.  I am especially wanting it to get here for Ady's sake.  She has so few toys and things that are familiar to her.  I just want her to feel comfortable and happy.  For now, she continues to work on her amazing coloring skills, enjoy a bit of fresh air and take an occasional "rumble train" ride.

These are pictures from a park in St. John's wood.  The playground there was a blast!

 

Sweetly Stated

I love to hear the British people talk.  The way they describe things is so delightful and sweet.  Here is an example taken from the baking instructions on our frozen potato wedges:

"Spread your wedges evenly in a single layer onto a baking tray and pop it into the top of the oven.  Bake for 18 minutes, turning them every now and again, until they're lovely, crisp and light golden."

I know it is just potatoes, but doesn't that melt your heart?