Updating lately has been rather sporadic, huh? I'm sorry about that - consider it my own version of the 'summer slowdown'.. Or just consider me lazy. Up to you.
My mom landed in the UK this past Sunday and we've been having such a great time with her here. We've already forced her to endure two shopping malls*, working a day at Mary Catherine's school, school sports day and numerous trips for coffee. How does she stand it?
We're having a heatwave here in Britain and it's been rather unpleasant when not in air conditioned spaces. Poor Andrew has to travel on the central line twice a day where temperatures have been reported at 45c / 113f.. ugh - I can't think of much that is more miserable, that's for sure. I have it a bit easier as I'm on an overground train in the mornings and only do one stop on the underground before hitting a bus when it's hot like this. Still - it makes for a very sweaty commute. I hope the temps break soon - I like usual high 70s (f) British summertime.
Thankfully we have two air conditioners in our flat, so we're not as uncomfortable as a lot of people while at home. Of course, they're so noisy that you can't actually do anything that requires thinking/speaking/listening while they're running.
*In case you were wondering - the new mall in west London, Westfield, is far cooler than the southeasternly Bluewater. We forced ourselves to visit both to get out of the heat and do a comparison.
It's been a bit of an Andrew-centric few days here at Casa Dunne..
Yesterday was Father's Day, which we celebrated with a fabulous brunch at Smiths of Smithfield followed by a good few hours staring at dead things at the Natural History Museum.
Ps - Our child doesn't like dead things. But she thinks she might like to learn about the earth. Geology dork in training!
Today is Andrew's birthday.. I love this part of the year because for a joyous five months we're the same age. Five months away from older woman jokes!
In case you don't get it (and I didn't at first, I'm not afraid to admit) .. Andrew was in Sainsbury's and pulled this little photo stunt. He said it was a spam filter.
It's a nerd joke. Get it?
We had a gloriously boring weekend. We showed up for Mary Catherine's 8am (yawn) swimming lesson only to find that her instructor wasn't feeling well and had bailed on her lessons for the morning. Since MC's in a private lesson we talked the pool manager into just letting her swim for the lesson time - so crying, non-swimming child crisis averted.
She did a few laps of the crawl, something that looked like breaststroke while forgetting to come up for air and one lap of the weirdest looking butterfly I've ever seen. I think larvae is more applicable than butterfly. She also figured out how to do a forward flip. Yes, it wasn't exactly the most disciplined time in the pool - but oh well.
She left happy and I left with really frizzy hair from hanging out in the humid pool area.
After she had a shower and I put my hair in a ponytail, we hit Starbucks. I find it so very funny that our little family of three can be stressed out or slightly grumpy and walk into a coffee shop and we all visibly relax. You present us with coffee, steamed milk and a comfy chair/sofa and everything that seemed wrong is suddenly not that important. Go figure.
Our week is pretty hum-drum. Mary Catherine lost another tooth yesterday. That's seven that now live with the tooth fairy.
Ooh - last night as we were doing the tooth fairy/pillow/coin wishing ritual, MC asked if there really was a tooth fairy! She was quite specific (not to mention completely accurate) with her ideas about the tooth fairy not really existing and the coin providers being Andrew and I. I asked her if she'd heard that at school and she had.
I think the fairy's days are pretty numbered in our house. But I can tell that she really wants to believe still. Well, either that or she's figured out that if she goes along with it, she'll continue to get money!
We spent most of our weekend on the road between London and Yorkshire this weekend. Andrew's sisters threw a wing-ding of a wedding reception for his brother and new wife (not that he had an old one, mind you).
Apparently, I've now introduced all of Yorkshire (including some of my mother-in-law's friends) to the wonderous cocktail that is the cheeky vimto. And I wonder why my head hurt so badly yesterday? There may be a connection.
It was odd to be back in Andrew's hometown. He and I worked it out that we'd not been there for at least six years. We had a good time driving around Keighley, looking at what was still there or, in a lot of cases, what was no longer there. We tried to show Mary Catherine a few sights, like where Andrew grew up, but she merely rolled her eyes and pulled a bit of a teenager 'whatever'.
I love this picture of Mary Catherine and her school friend. I think it's cool that they look rather old fashioned in their summer uniforms. I should note that the hats aren't part of the uniform, although I think they should have summer boaters. But that's neither here nor there.
I am so thankful that we don't have to worry about what MC wears to school every day. I know that in Amerca (at least where I'm from) the concept of uniform school wear is incredibly alien and not well accepted - but my gosh, I think if people had to comply, they'd never go back once they got the hang of things!
I have no idea where I'm going with this ... just thought I'd post the picture and tell you that I love school uniforms. Yeah, I know. Slow news day.
Mary Catherine arrives back in London this afternoon... We'll be very glad to see her. Less glad to get back into the daily grind / school run / commute - but very happy to have her home.
Only five more weeks of school left to go and for the last two of those, my Mom will be in town. So - lovely things on the horizon, for sure.
Tomorrow, I'm spending the majority of my day being an extra in a short film. What can I say? I've always known I'd make a good crowd scene. No, please.. no autographs.
Andrew's mom is bringing MC back, so she'll be with us until Tuesday. I love having family around so it will be nice to have a full house for a few days. Of course, given what I've just said above - I'll miss a full day of it.
Gorgeous weather and four more hours of parental freedom.. off I go!
So what can I tell you... ah, yes... not very much! Mary Catherine is firmly ensconced in the north, having a great time. Andrew and I are here in the south getting over our colds and working a little more than I would've liked.
That's about it.
Oh - here's something relatively interesting.. Big Brother is back on in a week! I know, I know.. it's rubbish television and I might actually try not to watch. But for the first few weeks, I just get sucked in and ... and... well, you know, there are worse vices to have.
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