18 Months And Nothing Has Changed

Hi, yes, we're home. Have been since late Sunday night, but we've had some technical difficulties here, so I haven't been able to blog, really. Technical difficulties like, oh, a baby waking up at 2:45 am thinking it's time to start the day. Taking a couple of naps, and then falling asleep at 1:30 pm and sleeping like she's not gonna wake up till tomorrow. Except her tomorrow will start at about 11:00 at night. Mama can't take that kind of difficulty.

Plus, I think she's having withdrawals. Everyone was SO enamored with her while we were in England, and we were always going to see another family she'd never met before, so she got really used to meeting people and flirting with them! :o) She was the belle of the ball the entire time we were there. (And on the airplane coming home, but that's a story for another day.) So she's forever looking around for new people, and new things.

And our modem/router/Internet connector has gone caput, so we had to get a new one.

And, really, in general, I'm just tired. Sorry to disappoint, but it's true. I think we've turned a corner and are adjusted to Pacific time again, but it takes a lot of energy to keep up with Little Miss all day long! She's curious and active and adorable, of course, and I love to do stuff with her, and I am SO very thankful that I get to stay home with her, but I get tired sometimes. There, I said it.

Now, onto the recap. First, our flight from LA to Chicago was relatively uneventful. We left on time, we arrived on time, blah blah blah. Uneventful, except for the singing that was coming from a few rows up in Business Class. Uneventful, except for the fuzzy-headed looney-bird a few rows up in Business Class. Uneventful, except for Richard Simmons being on our plane! And I've got proof! See?

Proof. Because, who else in their right minds would go out of the house with a head like that?!?! I mean.

We spent Tuesday driving and running errands, and Wednesday we saw friends and had dinner with other friends (which was pretty much our daily routine -- friends at lunch, other friends at dinner). Then Thursday we got all gussied up for the graduation ceremony (horribly boring, yes, but it was a graduation, and that's what matters most, right?!)

Here is a distant photo of our studious Dave, in the queue to shake hands with important people.

And here's a close-up of that same shot so you know it's actually him and not some random person. :o)

We had really great seats right in front of a projection screen, so we got to see everything up close and in fine detail. I, of course, didn't want to waste that opportunity, and I, of course, do not have a powerful-enough camera to get a clear shot of the hand-shakings, so I got a photo of the monitor! :o) I wasn't the only one, thankyouverymuch. I don't know whose hand he was shaking. It wasn't the Vice Chancellor, that's all I know.

After the ceremony, we stood outside and took some more photos. Here's one of us with Dave's advisor. The weather in jolly old England? Sunny, but horribly, bitterly cold and windy. (Or could you tell that by the state of my hair?)

Here's a picture I mooched off of someone else. It was originally a group shot, but because I don't care about most of the other people in the group, I cropped them out. (Sorry, DB!) It's not the clearest shot, but I like it because, well, doesn't Dave look all "I'm a pretty big deal."?? :o)

I very rarely see a genuine smile like that on his face when it's looking at a camera. He was pretty happy...of course!!

This photo reminds me of the old Newhart characters Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. Remember them? "I'm Larry, this is my brother, Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl." Remember? Well, I think of them, because, below? This is Dave, and this is our other friend Dave. They are standing in front of the brick and mortar behind which they both spent so doggone many hours working toward the goal of PhD.

Thursday night we had dinner with friends, more of the same on Friday, and then on Saturday, I got to go shopping, and have lunch with My Girlie Friends, whom I have missed tremendously. It was SO very great to see them again. (I miss you!) They make me laugh, the good belly laugh kind of laugh, and often. They thought Mookie was adorable (who doesn't?!), and gave her a cute little shortie outfit for our summer ahead. It was pink and sparkly. I shall think of them whenever she wears it. Here's a little picture of Mookie and me. Why didn't we get a photo of all of us? Dang. It's still a sweet photo, I think. Plus, I don't get many photos of Mama-n-Baby. Look at her little rosy nosy.

Sadly, Sainsbury's was out of flapjacks, so I came home not having tasted the buttery goodness that has haunted me these 18 months. And I didn't have time to travel hither and yon in search of some. Someone over there eat a flapjack in my honour, pretty please?

Really, though, upon reflection, it felt like we hadn't been gone a day. Nothing really had changed. We didn't have any trouble driving on the other side of the road, we got to see almost all our friends from when we lived there, there wasn't much new construction in the town...it was all the same. Except I had a baby on my arm. But that was it. I don't think I really expected much change, but I guess it was just a bit surreal to go back and feel like, I don't know how to explain it. Like I was in some kind of weird time-warp, and had travelled back to 2007 when we left, and we picked right back up again where we left off.

But then Sunday, we travelled back to 2009. Back to California. Back to a messy house and an active baby. Back to Dave being stinkin' busy at work and Mookie and I entertaining ourselves at home. Back to eating lunch and dinner alone.

I wonder if, when I think of England, it will always be 2007 in my mind.

Checking In From The Other Side

We've been back in England for 3 days now, and have adjusted fairly quickly. The plane ride was brutal -- Mookie didn't sleep (too much to see!), although she finally caved when we had about an hour left to go. woo. Dave got a tiny bit of sleep, and I got to rest my head...but that's life with a curious baby. No worries, though. We landed, we got our car, we drove, Mookie slept. I slept. :o) It's all good.
We've seen almost everyone we wanted to see -- but there are certainly people we both missed, and won't get to see before we head home on Sunday. :-(  I've got to be sure to have my flapjacks from Sainsbury's before I go, though. That's a MUST!! :o)

Dave graduated! Yay! Looked all official and handsome in his fancy PhD gown and saucer-of-a-hat. :o) I'll post a couple of pictures when I have access to my own computer again. We invited our good friend, Tony, to the ceremony, and he and I sat together. They graduated the Masters students first, and then the PhD students. And there were about 91 times more MSc students than there were PhD students. Throughout the ceremony Tony and I were fascinated, riveted, captivated, bored out of our melons. Mookie was, of course, an absolute angel. She was fascinated, riveted, captivated, asleep during the whole thing. (Halleleujah!!) :o)

I'm having lunch with my girlie friends tomorrow, and then dinner with some of our friends from church, and then we fly on Sunday. SHORT TRIP!!!  Sheesh! I am not really looking forward to getting on a plane again so soon. (or ever!) :o)

Hope you are well. Look for graduand photos next week!

Gather Ye Sheep

This is a really cool video -- I hope you take the time to watch it. My friend, Jana, shared it, and it's just incredible. Really amazing what the human mind (and a few dogs) can make happen.

It's Fruity and Jacky and Flappy and Fun!

Today was my day to bring snack to Moms' Group, again. And, again, I dusted off one of my British cookbooks to find a fun, and different, recipe

I've been craving (British) flapjacks for QUITE some time, now, so I thought today was a great day to get my fix. (British flapjacks are also a type of pancake...as in pan cake...as in cake made in a pan, and are a chewy, granola type bar cookie. I didn't take anything made with flour or Bisquick, thankyouverymuch.)

Sadly, I think it only increased, rather than satiated, my desire for that oatey, chewy, fruity goodness. I'd love to show you a picture, but as you can see, we didn't leave much behind. I freely admit to you that the ladies in the Bible study did leave some behind, but I'm a pig, and I snarfed up the rest once I got home.

Here's the recipe if you're feeling oatey.

Pick-Your-Fruit Flapjacks

Ingredients

• vegetable oil, for oiling the pan
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) butter or margarine
• 3 oz (1/3 cup, or so) demerara sugar (found in bulk at Whole Foods, very similar to "sugar-in-the-raw" sugar)
• 2 oz (1/4 cup, or so) clear honey, or British golden syrup if you can find it.
• 5 oz (2/3 cup, or more) dried apricots, chopped; or Craisins, or dates, or raisins.
• 2 tsp sesame seeds (good Omega oils)
• 8 oz (3 cups) oats *Yes, 3 entire cups. It's about $0.40 worth in bulk at Whole Foods. Splurge, why doncha. You can use quick or regular rolled oats.
• handful of nuts (optional, of course) (I added sliced almonds)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. (no more if you want them good-n-chewy) (if your oven runs hot, turn it down!) Very lightly oil a 10 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 2 1/2" (or so) baking pan.
2. Put the butter/margarine, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan over low heat and heat until the ingredients have melted together -- do not boil. When the ingredients are warm and well combined, stir in the fruit, sesame seeds, optional nuts, and oats.
3. Once well combined, spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and lightly level with the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a bit bubbly on the sides. (Yum!) Remove from the oven, cut into bars (nibbling as you go), and leave (most of it) to cool completely before removing from the baking pan. Store the remaining flapjacks (eh?) in an airtight container and consume within 2-3 days (didn't they mean hours?)

Mmmm....num yummy.

Phun Photo Phriday (even though it's only Tuesday)

(Because I am SO wishing it was already Friday)
(Can I boycott "time zones" and "daylight savings time" changes?)
(Because they're hard on a mama)

We are getting a passport for Mookie because we are going to England for Dave's Awards (read: graduation) Ceremony from the university. YAY!!!  It will be awesome to be back and see our old friends (and our young friends, too, of course). I also plan to go to Tesco and buy some Comfort fabric conditioner pearls...which are the dreamiest little bundles that you put in the washer drum rather than a liquid that gets all oopy and globbed up. They also make your clothes smell good for weeks. WEEKS, I tell ya. What? An extra suitcase for laundry enhancers? I see nothing wrong with that!

Where was I?

Oh, right. The Passport. More importantly, the passport photo. I've inquired a bit, and it seems places want to charge quite a lot of money for a set of passport photos. I've got a camera right here that takes pretty good pictures of Mookie, so I figured I'd give it a go (as they say in England).

182 photos later.

(I put the camera on continous mode, and hope against hope that I get at least one good one!)

Here are some of the outtakes. Mookie-licious was none too happy to be strapped in her high chair with a sheet behind her. But you'll see that. Loud and clear.

Giggle away:

I don't wanna be here, Mama.

Pick me up, Mama. I'll hug you good and snuggly-like.

Yaawwwnn. This photo shoot is boring.

Please, Mama? Pick me up?

Aw, Mama. This just isn't fair!

I'm gonna try to reach up and grab the ceiling and pull myself out of this dang chair.

Mama, I'm being really cute. Doncha wanna hug me?

Ooh. Food. Thanks, Mama.

Whadda you lookin' at? Eh?

Wish I may, wish I might, get outta this chair in a flash of light.

There are actually a few good ones that I'm going to try to make work for the passport photo. Hopefully the passport agency will accept my photos and not demand that I pay their fee.

Let's all have a great week!

And, to all you babies out there reading this, sleep in a little late for your mamas this week, okay? Thanks.

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 6

SHE BLATHERS ON AND ON


Originally emailed to family and friends on December 3, 2004. I had been in the UK for about 6 weeks. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this boringly photo-free flashback! Seriously. I'm sorry this is so long. There are some funny parts, I think. Otherwise, I would have spared you the bore. Good luck getting to the end!


Also, you can find Flashback #1 here, and Flashback #2 here, and Flashback #3 here, and Flashback #4 here. And, finally, Flashback #5 here.

Okay, so you've missed my updates, huh? Why has it been two weeks, you ask? I would like to say I took a week off for Thanksgiving, but that's just not the case! The truth is that our lives are just getting kinda boring, I think! There haven't been too many crazy things happen that make me think "Huh, I'll have to be sure to put that in the update"! And I don't want to spend too much time complaining about British radio or British food! :) Plus, I figured with Thanksgiving, you all had more important stuff to do than read my blatherings on about life on the other side!

Although I have to tell you! (I was saddened by this.) Yesterday afternoon, I turned to what (up until that moment) I thought was the best British radio personality, Vanessa Somebodyorother. Her main "call in" question was "Do you remember your first brassiere? What was it? When did you get it? We've got the Queen's Corsetiere on the line with us to discuss this. Call in now." (Or is it corsettierre? corsetteere? What the heck is a corsetiere anyways?) And granted, I'm not the Queen of England, but I sure as heck hope I'm never too snootchy to choose my own bras! And, wow! What a job, huh? Think of the job security! I wonder how you get a job like that? "Guess what, Mum, I just got a job! I'm going to be the Queen's Corsetiere! (Mum: "The What?") "Well, it's a big job. You know, I get to fit the Queen's...uh..." how do you even finish that sentence! And I guess you gotta be pretty high up in British radio to get the Queen's Corsetiere to call in, huh? Not her driver, no. Couldn't get the gardener, uh-uh. Not even the maid... "we've got the Queen's Corsetiere on the line with us. Thank you for calling in today, June." (by the way, wasn't it June Allison that was a big bra advocate a few years back? Maybe she's moved over here and taken on bigger and better...uh...support roles?) [Oh what a funny gal I was back then.] I think one of these days I will just cease to be amazed! [Nope. Lived there 3 years, and amazement never ceased.] I think it just won't shock me anymore. Well, at least I hope I get to that point! My poor mind is numb trying to figure this stuff out! Plus, I think the boredom of my boring days has contributed a bit to the numb mind.

Well, I know many of you had suggestions for our dryer situation, and I wanted to update you. We decided to move it back upstairs, into the kitchen, and put a stocking on the end of the vent-hose! It works very well, thank you Jana! :) It makes the kitchen smell quite nice (not too many good cooking smells, I'm afraid!), and it warms it up a bit, and adds a little humidity to the air, too...which the plants like a lot!

I've had fun re-planting my home. It was very difficult for me to get rid of all my plants when we moved here. I'd had some since I was a freshman in college! Some had sentimental value. Some were just cool! And it's hard to know that the person taking your plants aren't going to kill them! Lucky for me, though, plants here have "sell by" dates on them (like they're going to spoil?) and the stores will usually reduce them by 50% on their "sell by" dates! So I've gotten some pretty fair deals on plants lately! I have tried to be selective and get good plants that make good plant-babies...so I'll have more plants without having to buy them! :) And this house gets so much good sunlight that plants will naturally thrive here! :) I've asked Dave to get me more plants for Christmas...the gift that keeps on giving... I think clearance rack plants are about the only thing that is not painfully expensive here! (and even those smart a little!) But I absolutely love plants and would go without chocolate in order to buy more plants, so it's all good. :) (well, maybe not sans chocolate for life...just for a day...maybe!)

Speaking of food...a record has been set in our household. Dave and I ate dinner at home for over two weeks straight! I hesitate to say "I cooked dinner..." because I am not sure a bowl of Lucky Charms counts as cooking. Yes, it is a nutritious meal, fortified with 8 healthy vitamins...but I can't say I cooked it. It was kind of exciting! Kinda challenging! Kinda like climbing Mount Everest. One of those things that you do once in life and say "Hmm...done it. Let's go back to normal life." So, Dave and I got creative and had some interesting meals :) ... including cereal! We had fun, though. Thanksgiving was the last day of a homemade meal, though. No, sadly, I did not prepare a luscious meal for my starving husband. I was about out of luscious-meal ideas, so we settled on turkey baguettes and potato chips instead! :) What finally broke our eating-out fast? The busiest restaurant in Guildford that night was the one, the only, Pizza Hut! :) Ah, it's good to be back to reality again. It was extra-exciting for Dave because after the pizza, he got to go for unlimited trips to the Ice Cream Dream Machine! (that's our Dave!) I think he stopped at 3 trips? Maybe 4? I lost count. It's not my first choice to cook dinner every night, there just aren't many eating-out options around here! There are a couple of Italian places we've found, and a few Thai/Chinese/Cantonese/gut-buster restaurants, but not the variety like I'm used to! :( And British [pub] food is rather boring. It's very brown. It's very bland. The first day Dave and I were walking around Guildford, our trusty guide pointed to a little shop called "Pasties". At which point I said "Hmm...Pasties...an odd name for a bakery, but okay." And James [Hi, Natalie!] laughed. He said, "No, not pay-stee (like how pasty-white Melissa's legs are this time of year), Pahst-ee." (well, James didn't make that comment about my legs, I did!). (Or pasties as in bra-alternatives...) I said "Oh, thanks for telling me! I would hate to make that mistake in public!" Well, the other day I had the opportunity to have what the Brits call a Pahst-ee. It's a pastry wrapped around a blend of beans (like pinto beans), and onion, and something else - potato maybe? [And sometimes beef. There are also different varieties.] I decided that they had it wrong, that it really should be pronounced PAY-stee...because it really tastes like paste! Except worse! Elmer's really has more flavor and zip to it than these thingies! It was hard to finish! [I know plenty of people that like these - even Dave. I just didn't.]


The Brits really like dressing up in costumes, though...especially the kids. Even though Halloween has come and gone, most of the stores (like Woolworths, and ASDA (Wal-Mart) are selling children's costumes! I think what they do is dress up for birthday parties and stuff. I have found out, though, that some people have their kids dress in costumes for Christmas! It seems a little odd to me, but it's cute, I think! They have little fairy princess or Disney princess outfits for the girls and the boys get to be elves or...um...well, other stuff...I was paying more attention to the fairy princess outfits! :) And the two little girls I know love to dress as princesses whatever day of the week it is, so that's gotta be kinda fun for them! Much to my chagrin, though, Dave and I are going to a dress-up Christmas party. Ugh! I hate wearing costumes! :( The group we do keep-fit with on Tuesday nights is having a party, and when they mentioned it the other night, the lady said "Our Christmas party will be the 21st, and the theme is Disney. I'll let you know more later what to bring." So I thought..."Hmm...theme is Disney. Do we bring Disney-related foods? Disney-related drinks? Bring Disney gifts to be donated to homeless shelters?" Nope. Turns out we come dressed up as Disney characters! AND we have to work out, too! So then I thought (I think it's a brilliant thought, personally) "Well, if I dress up as one of the Disney princesses in some big, foofy dress, then I won't have to work out!" Mais, non, mon cherie. That's not the way we play the ballgame here. Regardless of your costume, you still have to do a little bit of working out. Hmph. Foiled again! So, Dave and I have done a little research in our closets and I think we're going to shoot for Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. I've volunteered to go as Piglet because, well, much as I love him, I just don't think it would be appropriate for Dave to wear pink pants in public! The other option is Pooh and Christopher Robin. I think that would be pretty easy to pull off, too. So not only do I have to cook for this thing, but I also have to dress in a costume and still work out! Life is rough! I think Dave's got a work Christmas party for staff and students only, so, as far as I know, we've only got the dress-up-as-goobers party to go to. We'll let you know how it goes! :o)

The last bit of excitement is that I've been offered a short-term job. Yay me! It's a 6-month position covering for a woman going on maternity leave. There are tons of advantages, the biggest one being that the job is at the university! So it will save on gas (which is nice!), Dave and I can eat lunch together sometimes (which is a good thing), I can join the university gym and work out at my own pace (which is slow!), I get all the university holidays (like 10 days at Christmas! Woohoo!) plus more that I can take as personal days. I start my job on the 13th, so I've got one more week to get my affairs in order before I become a regular citizen again. I can't wait to be busy again! :-)

With all that, I think I can't think of anything else to report to you! Our lives are starting to settle down, and we don't have a lot of funnies for you! But as we do, you know I'll report them to you!

Hope all is well in your "run up" to Christmas (as they say here). I think maybe I'll make a pyramid of cardboard boxes, put a few ornaments on them and call the house "decorated" for the holidays! Should be fairly simple, I think! :)

Love to all,
Dave and Melissa

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 5

SHE COVETS

Originally emailed to family and friends on November 17, 2004. I had been in the UK for just over a month. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback! I'm sorry, but this time I couldn't find any new photos! :-(  Boooooo!!   I'll make it up to you, though...I promise.

 
Also, you can find Flashback #1 here, and Flashback #2 here, and Flashback #3 here, and Flashback #4 here.

Hi everyone, and welcome back! :)

Alley did a great job last week, don't you think? She is here with me now telling me what to do (If you've got a cat, you know what I'm talking about!) :)

So this week, whew, has it been a week already? As the saying goes...time flies when there are boxes to unpack! My arms finally quit hurting on Saturday! Sheesh! I had to keep telling myself that I was simply strengthening my shopping muscles, strengthening my shopping muscles, strengthening... this week we didn't go [to Keep Fit at the Village Hall] because Dave is sick (darn!). He caught a cold and, as luck would have it, it was just better for us to stay home last night than to go to "calisthenics." It's important to take care of our health, now, isn't it! :) hee hee! We'll go back in a couple of weeks for another round of physical torture. Oooh, I just had a brilliant idea...I should go shopping a lot between now and then so that my muscles will be well toned!! Yeah! I like that idea!!


So have you worried about our laundry quandary all week? We figured out a few options. We've got the first idea going right now, and I think it might work for the duration. In the basement/cellar there is a vent in the window that has to always remain open because we have a natural gas boiler...so I just put the dryer in front of that vent and used duct tape to rig the vent hose in front of the slats! It's worked well so far. The thing about it that I don't like is that the washer is in the kitchen, and I wanted the dryer to be in the kitchen as well, but now I have to lug the laundry downstairs (oh, poor me!). However, option 2 is to buy a little vent/lint box that you put the end of the vent hose into and the dryer can go in any room. We might try that if I just can't stand the trek downstairs! :-) Plus, that would add a little bit of heat to the kitchen (which would be nice!) In honor of the solution, I wrote this song. (sing to the tune of "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel)

Hello Duct Tape my old friend
You've come to rescue me again.
Because the staffer was clueless,
My tumble dryer was useless.
There was no outlet to vent the dryer,
but now,
We hear the sounds of drying.


You helped connect the vacuum hose,
What you can't do only heaven knows.
Protected us from screen door slams,
You've gotten us out of many jams,
You'll save us if the leg falls off the chair,
and somewhere out there
We hear the sounds of drying.


You come in red, black, yellow and white,
To blend with anything dark or bright.
I even could use silver and blue,
To make Christmas decorations too.
People have even used duct tape on clothes
and somewhere we know
We hear the sounds of drying.

What do you think? Should I submit it to the duct tape people? Another song option I considered was Lionel Richie's "Stuck On You"...

[There was, as always, an Option #3. We put the dryer upstairs in the kitchen, and when I needed to, I would push it over to the door and put the vent hose out the door. Also, I had to put a knee high stocking over the hose to catch the lint so it didn't fly all around. This worked well, although the kitchen got pretty steamy whenever I was drying clothes. I'm glad we're back to normal now!]Are you now in the camp of people that think I just have too much time on my hands and I need to get a job?


I've put my hat in many rings, as jobs go, but no one has called with a job that sounds really good, yet. I got one call about filling in for someone out on maternity leave, but I don't want to take a long-term temporary job for fear that a better permanent job would come and go. [I took that one, and liked it. I was very appreciated, and felt like I did a good job. Then I took a permanent position at another desk after the maternity leave's 6-months were up.] There are some really good looking jobs out there, so I (not so) patiently wait! :) I don't mind, though. I know that you have to put quite a few resumes out to get any hits, so that's what I'm doing. Sadly our printer was damaged in the move, so I'm trying to find a replacement that I like and can afford. The printer is probably 6 years old, anyways, so it's about time, I guess! I'm really glad that most folks want resumes e-mailed to them...then they don't have to know that my printer doesn't work!


I've been doing more driving, going on fun excursions. Now that I've figured out how to drive the Miata on the wrong side of the road, I can start to scan the surroundings a bit more without striking fear into the hearts of oncoming drivers! :) The country-side really is breathtaking. :) Spring is easily my favorite season, but fall has been beautiful here! Its fun to just drive down and see the bright fall colors in the forest. And the leaves are pretty much off the trees, so now we can look out our back door and see down into the valley and across the way. This morning Dave and I were going to school, and the sun was coming up, and it was just a wonderful sight. Big, wide-open, Colorado-type skies...it was nice. Then, around noon, the clouds and the winds came in and ruined a perfectly good day! [I have missed the English autumn. There isn't much autumn here. There's been a whole lot of summer, notsomuch with the autumn.]


But the real excitement has been that Saturday we bought a right-hand drive car for us. It's an older car, therefore it is (a) huge, and (b) inexpensive. :) It's a '95 Saab. It's nothing fancy, but when you come visit, we'll be able to fit you, your luggage, and your driver (i.e., Dave) in the car all at the same time! :) So Sunday Dave drove it to the empty parking lots near the grocery store, we traded places and I practiced getting used to shifting with my left hand, I practiced parking, going in reverse, etc. (Haven't parallel parked, though...that's a scary thought!) Then I went to the grocery store lot and parked near other cars (not next to, mind you, just near...), went through the round-about a few times (okay, I'll be honest, I was too scared to get out of the round-about the first time!) hee hee! Then we filled the gas tank...unbelievable!! UN-believable! We put £49.00 worth of gas in the tank. (That translates to about $90.00!!) Can you believe it!? Ack!! One would think I had a 30 gallon tank...but no, it's only a 13 gallon tank...that's just how shamefully expensive gas is here! Shameful!!! It translates to about $7.00 per gallon. No wonder people ride bikes and trains to work! Yikes!! Thankfully we can go on base and get gas for the low low price of $2.15 per gallon. Oh, I'm so sorry I ever complained about how expensive gas was at home! If only that was something you could send to me in care packages! :) (Probably wouldn't make it past Customs, you think?) So, today was the first day that I drove it by myself without Dave in the car. It was fine...I was a little scared at first. My deepest fear is that I will pass a car parked on my left, and I'll accidentally get too close and sheer the entire left side off my car! I feel like I'm 15 again learning how to drive!! Dave is a pretty good driving instructor, though. He doesn't scream or pull the emergency brake or jump out of the car at the first opportunity or anything! :) It makes you think, though. I could get into just about any size car in the States and be able to drive it, park it, etc. without fear or hesitation. I could somehow sense it's parameters and "bond" with the car (nothing like Mark LeBeau, though...now he's a Master at parallel parking a new car! You're still my idol, Mark!) Here, I feel like I'm scrubbing the edge of the road, when really I'm probably 3 feet from the curb! I'm back to striking fear in the hearts of oncoming drivers again! Ah, well, I got home safely...only stalled out once...Soon I'm off to pick up Dave from school, and it will be my first experience of driving it after dark. But, hey, if I get into an accident with another car, their little Matchbox car will crumble while my tank will stand victorious! (I feel like I'm driving a Hummer!) ;)  [It was a good car...until it caught fire and nearly burned our 150 year-old house down! Yup. Sadly, I can't find any pictures. I know I took some after the fire brigade put out the fire, but I just can't find them. Some day I'll have to tell you the story of that crazy, fateful morning and how different fire fighting is in England.][I also did not get into any accidents while we lived there. Neither did Dave. Although we did have to replace the engine in our second car. Hmmm...what is it with us and British car engines? Doesn't matter now, does it?]

I think that's all our excitement for now! It's the same-old-same-old for Dave at school...nothing new there.


Hope all is well with you!


Love,
Dave, Melissa, Alley, Gypsy and Daisy-princess. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

What? Mama donn hava pichur of sumpin?

Aaaaahhhhhhh. I donn beleeb it.

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 4

SHE ACHES

Originally emailed to family and friends on November 10, 2004. I had been in the UK for just under a month. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback...it got quite a lot of, um, attention the first time around! :o) I'll also include some photos.

Also, you can find Flashback #1 here, and Flashback #2 here, and Flashback #3 here.

Well, it's been another week already -- time goes so fast! It's been a fun-filled-action-packed week for us, as usual! (We're such wild and crazy people you know!) Last night we went to "Keep Fit" at the Village Hall. We were told it wasn't much of a difficult workout -- but that wasn't necessarily the case! :o) I am very sore today and so I've asked Alley to write the update letter. I hope you don't mind :o) She thought you might like a cat's-eye-view of our (mis)adventures! :o)  [I will have Alley add new comments as well.]

Alley says... Finally! A chance to be heard! I'm so excited -- most people don't understand, but we cats are highly intelligent and highly communicative. I'm glad Mama is finally giving me a chance to be heard!

So, what has happened this week? Well, obviously Mama and Papa deserted us last night to go to something they called a "work-out." Papa says he's supposed to subject himself to the humiliation and pain because it's in his job description!! I'm glad it's not in my job description! And Mama just came home whimpering. She couldn't pick me up today because her arms and shoulders hurt too much. I think I'm not going to allow them to go again if it's going to interfere with Mama picking me up and paying attention to me! It was even difficult for her to fill my food bowl this morning! She says I don't understand because I'm not svelte. I hate it when she uses foreign words on me! [Mama and Papa only did Keep Fit at the Village Hall for a few more months because they changed the instructor, and Mama didn't like her. Not at all. I was glad because then Mama spent more time with us. Yay for the kitties!]

Sunday Papa went on a bike ride to Guildford with a man from church. He said it took him about an hour to get there, but it took a little longer to get back. It was rainy and muddy. But Mama says she's glad he did it because it helps them to know what he needs for when he starts riding his bike to school. That will be fun because then Mama can sleep in longer! Maybe we can get Papa to fill our bowl early and then convince Mama that he forgot and she'll refill our bowl when she gets up! Hee hee, I'm so smart! [Papa never rode his bike to work because Mama eventually got a job in town and they drove the car together. We also never convinced her to feed us twice. We're still trying, though.]

And yesterday morning a nice man (with a belly like mine) delivered something Mama calls a "dryer" to us. Mama was upset when he got here because supposedly he brought the wrong type? She told the man that in the US, there's only one type of dryer -- the kind that has the vent hose directed to outside. But here, there are 2 kinds -- the kind with the hose, and one called a condenser that doesn't require a hose. We don't entirely understand how that one works, but since this house doesn't have a place to vent the hose, we assumed we needed a condenser dryer. However, the large-bellied man said he was told by the Air Force office to bring a vent hose dryer! Mama didn't know what to do because she had already washed a load of clothes to celebrate the new dryer...and now she doesn't know how she's supposed to dry the clothes! Honestly, I don't like the dryer. There's nothing to watch. [I changed my tune! I came to ♥ the dryer. You'll see.] The washer, though...now that's high-quality entertainment! Our washer at home didn't have a window on the front, but this one does! It's so much fun to watch...I don't know how those clothes get going so fast in the circle! Mama says if I was more svelte I might be able to catch it! You humans like to have popcorn when you watch a movie, well I'm the same way. I like to have a little snack of kitty morsels while I watch the washer. She even took a picture of me watching my favorite show. I love it when she does laundry. And everything smells so nice and flowery...makes me think happy thoughts...

Gosh, it goes SO fast! How does it do that?

Aww. Happy kitty. I love the dryer now! Mmmm, warm cozy goodness.

And Mama and Papa keep taking apart the lovely boxes that I enjoy lazing on. Don't they understand? They have to leave me something! Boxes and big huge pieces of paper are just so much fun for a cat! I can hide out and pounce on Gypsy from atop the box! Or I can get under a piece of paper and quietly wait there for a surprise attack on Daisy (not much of a dog, in my opinion!) She scares easily, though, and won't chase me, so she's not much fun. At least Gypsy will run from me. But I'm starting to feel more like home because I'm recognizing some of my old favorite napping spots. Good cats are very particular and highly selective about their napping spots. My ultimate favorite is right next to the food bowl. I have to protect it from intruders, you know. Another one of my favorites is at the almost-top of the stairs. I like it because I can look down on the living room below and not really be noticed. Mama says I'm trying to be covert. She also says that I like that step because it is wide where I am wide and narrow where I am narrow. Whatever! It's comfy and I'm not afraid I'll fall off! And there are lots of huge windows that let in lots of sunshine (like today) for napping. Mama tried to take a nap today, and she told me she didn't understand how I could take a nap with the sun shining right in my face, but I believe there is a special eyelid adaptation for kitties. Whatever it is, I'm glad I have it and I wish Mama had it. I think she should nap with us more often. I don't think Mama and Papa get enough sleep. Papa goes into his room after dinner and stares into a colorful screen for hours and hours. I guess it's like me and my favorite washing machine show...just because others don't understand it doesn't mean it's not entertaining! But he stays up later than the rest of us, then sometimes on the weekend he will take a nap with us...but just not enough. I've heard that cats need more sleep than humans, but I think Papa simply pushes it too far!

Papa needs to figure out how to sleep ON the pillow instead of under.

 
Mama figured out how to get lamps and telephones last week. It wasn't a very exciting story, so I won't bore you with it. She just went early, found a parking spot a few blocks away, bought them and carried them to the car. Boring. The excitement came when she got them home, though. There were boxes for us to play in while she was assembling the lamps. And then she got the first one plugged in, put in a light bulb, turned it on and felt very proud of herself. She's pretty handy...usually...

...but about 10 or 15 minutes after she turned the lamp on I heard a short buzz, then a loud pop, then the room went dark! It was scary! I had to have a snack to calm my nerves! She took out the light bulb, but it didn't seem broken. She found another light bulb and plugged it in to make sure the lamp still worked, and it did, so she felt better (then she took it out!). But she called the store to ask why that might have happened, and the store clerk was very smart. He said "Are you from America?" Mama said "Yeah..." duh! And the man said that the light bulbs here in the UK are different from the ones in the US and if she had put a US light bulb in, then that might have caused the problem. She read the light bulb, and it said 120v 60Hz 20w. The man said that the bulbs for the UK are different than that, and that she had to find the right kind. He also told her that there were 2 kinds of fittings. One called an "Edison Screw" and the other that has 2 pins coming out the side. So, disappointed in herself, Mama went in search of another, UK light bulb. I tried to comfort her. I told her that I wouldn't have known either...but she told me that it's probably because I can't read and she should have known better!

Here's what I want to know...why does everything have to be so different here? Wasn't Thomas Edison an American? Wasn't Henry Ford an American? Wasn't George Samon (invented the dryer) an American? It's like the Brits have taken everything American and perverted it and made it different and backwards and complicated and confusing! Mama says we'll get it all straightened out sooner or later and that we need to be flexible. Boring! At least Papa gets away with being defiant since he gets to drive his American car on their roads! Hee hee!

Speaking of cars, Mama and Papa are still trying to find Mama a car. She doesn't feel comfortable driving the Miata on these roads. She is pretty sure that she couldn't see the ambulance driver in the round-about last week because of being on the wrong side of the car...but driving a car with the gear shift on the left side really scares her too! She's not left-handed and is afraid it will be scary driving a car with the gears on the left. I tell her she needs to be brave like me. [Mama got used to it. In fact, I think Mama did more driving than Papa during the 3 years we lived there.] And the Miata is too small for big runs to the commissary. She needs to have enough room to bring back big bags of kitty food. I wish she would give me more food. When we lived in Colorado, I could get away with more because Papa would always sneak me a few extra morsels without Mama knowing it, but since Mama is home all the time now, he can't get away with it so easily. Bummer. I have to say, though, that I'm really glad that Mama is home all the time. We can help her with household chores (we help flatten freshly folded clothes by laying on them, we help her make the bed by getting in the middle of it, and watch the washer to let her know when it's finished). We keep her company. We try to convince her to nap more often. We girls call it QMT (Quality Mama Time). We know that when she gets a job, our QMT will be significantly decreased. Hopefully nothing like it was in Colorado, but still!! It gets lonely around here during the day. Daisy just naps all day (She's such a prima donna), and Gypsy tries to find hiding places. They're boring. They don't have conversations with me like Mama does. She understands me so much better than the others. She still doesn't feed me enough, though. [Daisy and I learned to nap together. Mama said we had to share the comfy chair. It's a good thing Daisy was so little, else I woulda had to just sit on top of her.]

You stay in your corner, and I'll take up the rest.

Mama can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Maybe she'll have a special dinner and give us a few extra scoops of food to commemorate the bounty from centuries ago... And she read that she has to have her Christmas packages in the mail by November 24th to have them delivered by Christmas! She laughed and said that obviously the postmaster didn't know how Mama and Christmas presents work! She likes to extend the celebration, often into February, or even October! But she does feel more pressure now than she did before. That hasn't motivated her to do much shopping, though! She says she has to be "inspired" to buy presents for people. Plus, she says it's hard to be "inspired" when she looks at these prices! [That didn't change. Mama still owes Aunt Angela a birthday present from July!]

Piles of paper. Ribbons to chew. Warm fires. Man, Christmas if the best day of the year!

Papa says that school is going well for him, but he works really hard, and he hopes that he won't have to put in this many hours as he gets further into his program. He likes it, though, and that makes him happy. And doing crazy things like biking to the city and doing calisthenics make him appreciate the quiet time he gets with his research. [Mama says "Ahem, cough, what was I thinking? Cough, cough."]

Hopefully next week Mama will be injured again and I can write you some more...I like getting all these thoughts off my chest! It's tough being a housecat! :) And she said to tell you this (I don't understand it)...

Tune in again next week to find out how our Dynamic Duo handles their laundry quandary...

Love to all,

Alley, Gypsy, Mama, Papa, and Daisy (snob!)

Flashback: Adventures in the UK - Part 3

SHE TRAVELS (and makes up words)

Originally emailed on November 4, 2004. I had been in the UK for about three weeks. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback! :o) I'll also include some photos.

Also, you can find Flashback #1 here, and Flashback #2 here.

Well, it's finally time for the long-awaited Chapter 3!! Yay for technology!

Where do I start!?

Low-tech Radio In The UK.
In a nutshell, it sucks! I hate it! Dave and I make jokes about it all the time! I guess I'm totally spoiled on American radio where one can actually listen to music (and a variety of it, at that!), rather than a bunch of stuffy radio-dorks talking about the dumbest stuff on Earth (and I mean dum-B-est!) (in fact, I think I should invent the word "dum-worst" just for this occasion!!

And it's mostly "call in if you've ever..." radio. So, for instance, there was "call in if you are a man and you haven't cried at least 1.88 times in the last month..." I'm not kidding. And all I wanted was something to sing along to! Ack! [After a few months we found a pop station in Guildford that we liked.]

And I'm not going to get into the election [Remember, that referenced the 2004 election!], but let me just tell you that it was Agony!! Pure Agony trying to listen and figure out what was really going on!!

Monday I had just about enough! Enough! I have a few CDs unpacked, but they weren't what I was looking for, at all. :-( I wanted a bit of a variety (thus the desire for the radio!) Thankfully, there are a few ladies in the [Colorado] Springs that care about me and my well-being, and they had sent me a care-package, and in it was a CD of a mixture of songs that I could listen to and get the music I wanted and the variety I wanted and not have to listen to anyone say anything like "Who do you love, but haven't told? Call in now and tell them on the radio!" (and this was all, of course, before I had the Internet at home with American radio via the web!)

So, I plugged the CD player into the transformer [because the voltage of electricity is different than in the US] and put the CD in, and pushed play, and the CD spinner started, then stopped, then started, then stopped, then started, then stopped, etc., etc. Argh! Could it be that not enough power was coming through the transformer? I don't know! It was a mess! As they say in the cartoons, "Curses! Foiled again!"

So, I sat for a minute with my head hung low, and Alley came up to me and convinced me that we should try again, and so I picked her up, pushed play one more time, and the CD started, and the music started, and it was such a happy moment for me! Yay! Music of my choice! So, Alley and I slow-danced to the song. (She's a pretty good dancer for a cat!) So, with all that said...when you come visit, don't expect to find anything good on the radio!

"If you have ever danced with your dog or cat, call in now..."

Thank you Linda, Diane, Ashley and Julie! Thank you!

:o)

Chocolate in My World
Ah, yes, onto happy thoughts, now. I'm really hoping this next piece will entice some of you to come visit. ;-) As we were going around London last weekend, I found that there are a number of shops that sell just chocolate! Can you believe it! Ah, what a life I lead! And many of them offer samples...yippee!! So my really exciting discovery was that there is a place not too far from here called Cadbury World! It's like an amusement park for the taste-buds! I told Dave that he has to take me there! (Or maybe like Charlie in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!) (I wonder if they have Fizzy Lifting Juice there?) (Oh, but I bet they have a chocolate river!!) !) Oooh, I can't wait! I'm not sure when we are going, but I can guarantee you that I will enjoy it to no end! I'll be sure to take loads of pictures! [We never went. 3 years in the near vicinity of vats and vats of chocolate, and we never went. What is wrong with us??]

I wonder if the fondue in Switzerland is really any better than the fondue at the Melting Pot? I'll have to find out and report back to you! (I love this job!!) Hee hee! [We also never went to Switzerland.]

By the way, they have cheese shops just like the chocolate shops...tasters...yumsters!

Inside and Outside Conditions
I heard that some of you got the annual Halloween Snowstorm! It happens every year. Always has. Hopefully, it always will. It's just one of those things from my childhood that I want to always be able to count on -- it snows on Halloween (or there abouts). Here, the weather has been really pleasant, although the mornings are often really grim and dismal (or you could also say dim and grismal...they are about the same thing!) (just invented another word! I'm on a roll here!) (Those of you that have lived in England or Seattle understand exactly what grismal means!). Thankfully, though, it hasn't been that grismal here in Surrey for long stretches. [I hadn't experienced my first, or my second winters. Or the summer of 2007 that felt more like a winter because the entire summer was cold and gray and rainy and dim and grismal.] Like it's sunny outside right now (3:00 pm). And the highs are in the upper 50s, and the lows are in the mid 40s, so it hasn't gotten really bad. Lately there have been some heavy winds, and most of the leaves on the trees in our back "garden" (a.k.a. yard) have fallen off...which really opens up the view! We look down onto a valley, which includes the church yard and the cemetery, and then some incredible estates. I haven't been out in a true rainstorm, yet. I've had the sky spit on me a bit, but no torrential downpours. Which is nice!

As for inside...well, the forecast is not all that great. I see a lot of high pressure boxes that will unload their contents some time in the next day or so. So, take your umbrellas, and your utility knives...and watch your step! ;-) So, that's all to say that there are still lots of boxes that need unpacking, and I suspect that since I've finally gotten the computer up and running, those boxes will just have to wait another day! Maybe I could just decorate around the boxes? Kind of like inventing a new interior decorating style! Would Christopher Lowell approve of the Nouveau Cardboard Chic decorated with strips of packing tape and black magic-marker hieroglyphics? Maybe I'll wait for a rainy day...

We will get a lot done this weekend, though. I don't know of anything going on, so I should be able to do a lot of cardboard damage!

It is fun (and frustrating) at the same time trying to outfit a house with all new electronics and housewares and stuff! We left all our lamps in storage because we knew we couldn't use them here, but there is one room in the house that doesn't have any lighting in it, so we've been using flashlights if we need to go into the room after dark! It's awful! I know, "just buy a lamp!" Frankly, I wish it was that easy! There isn't a department store, a discount store, a home store, etc., anywhere near where we live! And they all close at 5:30 most days! Yesterday I was walking past one and went in to actually buy a couple lamps and some new phones, but I realized that my car was parked about a mile away, and I wasn't very excited about carrying a huge lamp-box through the middle of town! Call me crazy! So, now I'm in the process of figuring out how expensive it will be (and how inconvenient) if I have them deliver them. Honestly, it's not like I could hop in the car, go to Target, and pick up what I need! And the stores are all located in the middle of downtown, where there is absolutely no parking! And since Dave is in school during the day (when the stores are open), it's not like I could have him drop me of, I run in and buy it, then he circles around and picks me up! Not so easy! Or I just wait for Saturday when everyone else on this tiny little island decides to go shopping! (Right! That sounds like fun!) So, I guess it's delivery for us...I am just not a very patient person! I want what I want and I want it now! (such an American!) ;-) [We bought many lamps over time while we lived there, and only the first was delivered because I found the HomeBase (like Home Depot) store, and I also found the Ikea (angels singing)]

Dave's Curvaceous Studies
Well, he is in college, you know...and there are lots of co-eds here! ;-) No, really, his focus is on the skies! Don't worry! He has been spending a lot of time thinking about curves, though...as in satellites and curves and space! He's been solving super-intense "math" problems (I put math in quotes because it's nothing like the math that you and I know and love! Nothing!). But he loves it. He's in his element when he's learning. I can't really say what stage he's at (getting his research approved, I think), or the subject of it, other than to say that it has to do with what he did at Georgia Tech for his Master's, and it has to do with satellites, and gyroscopes, and space, and VCMGs and stuff. And he's taking a computer programming class, so for fun he reads his C++ book (that's our Dave!). He is really enjoying his US Air Force comrades, though. There is, of course, the new 2nd Lt. from USAFA that was Dave's student, now they are studying the same stuff together. James is having a blast here! He is working hard, but he is also taking time to live the life, here, too! ;-) Then Dave met a guy who has been here for 2 years already, so Brian has been a good mentor for Dave as far as getting the lay of the land. And then, surprise surprise, he met one of his 1994 classmates! Jeremy graduated in a different program, and they didn't know each other, but Dave had heard of Jeremy. So it's nice to have a little mini Air Force family here. ;-) [We definitely loved having the AF family around us. We miss them now!!]

It's About Time!!
Our first weekend in London...

Being the geeks that we are, Dave and I spent our first weekend in London in Greenwich of all places!! As in Greenwich Mean Time, as in Zulu Time, as in 0° Longitude, as in "the time never changes here" and it was really fun! I think Dave geeked out on it more than I did, though! ;-) He saw some things that he taught about at the Academy, and learned some more things, and we went to a planetarium show, and there is this big huge ball that slowly drops at 12:58 pm, and it hits the bottom at exactly 1:00 pm, so you always know how to set your watch! And there was a lot of history in it, and science (more his science than my science, but science nonetheless!) And it was really cool to be there when the time changes everywhere else, but not there! Yes, we are geeks! So, of course, we set our watches by GMT to the second. (Unfortunately, this means that now I have no excuse for my tardiness! Darn!) [The time did change in Guildford, though, just in case that's confusing.]

Spanning two hemispheres.

The GMT clock.

See the big red ball? Dropped.

And we went to a pub for dinner...although they were out of the traditional pub food so we had to settle for regular stuff! What pub in its right mind is out of Bangers and Mash!?!? I guess I'll have to try again another day! [Oh, how I miss the Linconshire sausages. I miss mash with onion gravy. I never thought I would miss the English fare!]

And we went everywhere on the trains because Greenwich is on the other side of London from us. We did fairly well, considering it was the first time in 8 years for me, and more than that for Dave! I think there was only one train that we had to jump off of before it took us to the wrong place! ;-) [Over the 3 years, we really mastered the trains. And miss them when we're stuck in traffic now.]

I don't know what our next excursion will be (I'm obviously hoping for Cadbury World!) but I'll let you know when we go! [I think the next trip was to the Eden Project after Christmas. It was awesome. Though not as awesome as Kew Gardens.]

Crazy Americans!!
Well, I've driven a lot more this week than I had last week. It's not really that bad, except when there are other people on the roads...that tends to complicate things a bit! Dave does a really good job driving in all of it and keeping his cool...unlike me! And we're going to start the process of finding me a right-hand-drive car of my own (Ack!)

So Tuesday, I decided I was brave enough to go buy a computer monitor from someone in the classifieds. They gave me directions, and I ventured off. Unfortunately, their directions weren't as precise as I needed them to be, and I missed the exit. What happens when you miss the exit? It forces you to keep driving on the major roadway to London! Thankfully I'd been on the road with Dave a few times, so I wasn't worried that I could get back, I just knew that there were a few obstacles in my path...like round-abouts! So I got to the round-about, and after a few prayers, I started in and kept thinking "I am smarter than this round-about. I am smarter than this round-about." Kinda like chanting a mantra! So, it worked, and I made it back the other way towards home, and I decided that was enough excitement for me, and I would wait another day for a monitor. [I eventually got the monitor...except I locked the keys in the car at their house, which was a new comedy of errors trying to get back into the car.]

So Wednesday, I had to do a little more driving, more into town. Which was fine, until I met my new friend, the round-about. This was a little more frightening than the one the other day because it was smaller and busier at the same time! And people really are psycho about the round-abouts, and you just have to gun it and get out there and hope you don't hit anyone! 

Well, I did okay, except I'm pretty sure the ambulance driver wasn't honking at me because she thought I was sexy...

That's all for now.

Love and Hugs to all,

Dave and Melissa