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sitting on go..
i'm such a nerd.. i've been sitting by the phone here at work since 8am with my headset on and the estate agent's number on speed dial. the minute it turned 9am, i rang and put in an offer on that flat. i know it's very early days on it and i'm trying not to get my hopes up too much - because when it comes to the Dunne's and property - what can go wrong, will. it would be nice if it did go through.. and if it does - you're all invited for the housewarming party. (that of course, will also be true even if we really do end up living in a cardboard box down by the river) keep those prayers and happy thoughts coming. we need 'em!
i read this today - and really liked it. it's from peter pan.
Mrs. Darling: There are many different kinds of bravery. There's the bravery of thinking of others before one's self. Now, your father has never brandished a sword nor... nor fired a pistol, thank heavens. But he has made many sacrifices for his family, and put away many dreams.
Michael: Where did he put them?
Mrs. Darling: He put them in a drawer. And sometimes, late at night, we take them out and admire them. But it gets harder and harder to close the drawer... and he does. And that is why he is brave.
UPDATE Offer accepted on flat - the ball is rolling!! i have to go throw up now.
if you're the praying type..
tonight we saw the most perfect flat in the entire world.. we're putting an offer in on it first thing tomorrow morning. i don't ask for much - but if you're going to be saying a few anyway this evening... can you put us on your prayer chain? it's too fabulous for us not to get! oh i hope i hope i hope i hope!
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace.
tomorrow - march 31st - i will have been back at work for an entire year. which means mc has been in nursery for an entire year. i was looking last night at pictures of her from a year ago - and man - has she changed! have a look for yourself. (and no - that's not a recent picture of her in the red.. we can't find the camera battery charger!) that's from valentine's day. did i tell you that we had her hair cut while were we in georgia? it was just getting too long and in her eyes.. frutrating for both of us.
 
as he's the king of links... i'm encouraging andrew to start a blog. now - wouldn't THAT be fun to read? :)
just found out that mary catherine's 15 minutes of fame (well, one minute actually) will be aired on may 13th. you, of course, will remember when mary catherine had 2nd degree burns on her hand from spaghetti and how, when we took her to the ER, we were filmed for a new show on the BBC. so - if you want to see what i look like with a lung infection and pink eye dragging my perfectly beautiful child into the hospital... tune in. :) this will not be one of my better television moments, i'm sure. thank goodness mc looked adorable that day.
we've heard from the producers that she's on for about a minute. "Trauma" will transmit every Thursday from 8th April for 10 weeks at 8pm on BBC1 and 9pm on BBC3.
hmm.. haven't done a meme in a while.
totally borrowed from any other day.
9 Layers Of Me
Layer one
Name: Elizabeth
Birth date: November 16, 1971
Birthplace: Atlanta, GA
Current location: London, England
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Brown
Height: 5'5"
Righty or lefty: Righty.. unless you're talking about social values then Lefty.
Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Layer two
Your heritage: English
The shoes you wore today: Brown Timberland rugged mules.. I wear them too much.
Your weakness: Food.
Your fears: to name a few - fire.. my flat being broken into.. terrorism.
Your perfect pizza: lots of fresh veggies
Layer three
Your most overused phrase on AIM: ROTFLMAO (i hate that!)
Your first waking thoughts: How much longer can I sleep? Is MC awake yet?
Your best physical feature: My lips..
Your most missed memory: Going to the movies when I wanted.. flying sans baby (no offense, MC but it's really not very much fun!)
Layer four
Pepsi or coke: Coke, I'm from Atlanta!
Mcdonald's or burger king: McDonald's
Single or group date: Single
Adidas or Nike: Neither, really.. how about Converse?
Lipton ice tea or nestea: I don't 'do' artificial tea.
Cappuccino or coffee: Grande Skinny Wet xTra Hot Mocha, please.
Layer five
Smoke: Not anymore..
Cuss: Like a sailor - but I'm really trying to stop.
Sing: Whenever I can - MC is my biggest fan, I think.
Do you think you've been in love: Yep - currently gaga crazy in love.
Want to go to college: Already have, thanks.
Liked high school: Yep, Jemima Joiner at your service!
Want to get married: Yes, but not again. :) Married almost 3 gorgeous years.
Believe in yourself: Totally.
Get motion sickness: Yes - but only since I've been pregnant .. isn't that weird?
Think you're attractive: Every now and again.
Think you're a health freak: Definitely not - but I am when it comes to MC.
Get along with your parents: 180%
Like thunderstorms: They're alright..
Play an instrument: Not really..
Layer six
in the past month...
Drank alcohol: Yep - Margarita Madness rocks.
Smoked: Nope, thank goodness!
Done a drug: No way, hosea..
Made out: I'm not telling!
Gone on a date: Yes, for a movie and to Steak N' Shake
Gone to the mall: Yep. We went to da' Crest and bought underwear.
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No! (Crunch N' Munch - Yes!)
Eaten sushi: ugh - I'd rather eat sand.
Been on stage: Nope.
Been dumped: Not that I'm aware of.
Gone skating: Nope.
Made homemade cookies: Uh, no.
Gone skinny dipping: Uh, no. (i'm starting to feel boring!)
Dyed your hair: No.
Stolen anything: No.
You sound boring: I know!
Layer seven
ever...
Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes, of course.. I went to college, didn't I?
If so, was it mixed company: I'm proud to say yes.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: mm.. yeah.
Been caught "doing something": Not that I'm going to admit freely.
Been called a tease: Never.
Gotten beaten up: Gosh, no way.
Shoplifted: a balloon once when I was little.
Changed who you were to fit in: Ugh - I hate to admit it, but yes. Gross. And it's not like I was a child or teenager either. I hate to think of those Martha Stewart-esque days.
Layer eight
Age you hope to be married: I got married 'for real' at age 29.
Numbers and names of children: 1 - Mary Catherine
Describe your dream wedding: Small and charming.
How do you want to die: Peacefully and when I'm a ripe old age so no one is terribly sad.
Where you want to go to college: Young Harris College and the U of Georgia.
What do you want to be when you grow up: Taller. ;)
What country would you most like to visit: today it's Japan.
Layer nine
Number of drugs taken illegally: oh now, I can't admit that.
Number of people I could trust with my life: 3
Number of cds that I own: I own about 300 but Andrew owns far more.
Number of piercings: Ears - 5 in one, 1 in the other.
Number of tattoos: None.
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: Lots when I was in high school performing arts.
Number of scars on my body: One big one on my ankle.
Number of things in my past that I regret: More than 2 less than 5.
too funny..
you know... a lot of the time i'm just tooling right along being a parent with very few problems. then all of a sudden (like just now) things hit me that i think i might be supposed to be doing. (how's that for a weird sentence?) like - my current minute's panic is:
should mary catherine be giving up the bottle now? she takes two bottles a day, one when she wakes and another before bed. i've just had this thought that maybe she should be having those two milk feeds from a cup, not bottle. hmm... anyone have any clues?
"But it's time for all of us to speak out against fear and intimidation. And it's time for Ms. to join the chorus of those who believe that Martha Stewart was taken down because she's that bitchy Martha Stewart. The punishment should fit the crime, and Martha Stewart going to prison is wildly wrong, overzealous, and disproportionate." read the entire Open Letter from Ms. in Support of Martha Stewart. Too true.
- link totally scammed from Aimee :)
so now i'm back.. from outer space
landed back in london at 930 this morning after what i can only title 'mary catherine's worst flight ever'. and where am i now? lounging comfortably in my pjs dozing off jetlag? uh no. i'm at my desk. what the heck was i thinking? although i must admit - i'm doing a rather good impersonation of myself in business mode right now even though i'm really only about 40% here.
please - someone tell me i'm dedicated. please?
in atlanta
my grandfather passed away hours after i wrote the below.. peacefully with his wife and daughter by his side. i'm glad i'm here - andrew is as well. i'll post more when i can.
w g bishop, jr
1916-2004
my grandfather isn't well - so unwell that he's been given a week to live. mc and i are on a flight tomorrow morning. so this blog will be patchy for the next week. a will come out at the weekend, but i feel i need to be there now. my boss is worried about me taking so much time off - which panics me. i hope i still have a job when i come back. but i had to fly when the airlines had room and this is all american universities spring break - so flights are packed solid. *sigh* i'm pretty stressed. anyway. more from atlanta.
it's official - insert funeral dirge here.
well it seems that the big mother flat in plaistow is just not to be. we've tried every angle of financing that we (and others) can think of and it's simply just not going to happen. unless you know of any place i can get about £16k on the cheap? i'm made my peace with it - and we'd decided to take a week off home searching. it certainly does NOT bring out the best in either andrew or i.
we snip at each other, i think he's impossibly searching for a property that doesn't exist (is it really going to happen that we find a place with a large square living room so his sound system is 110% perfect - i think not, nor do i care, really).. and he thinks i don't think about the little things like the commute and other various transportation issues.
it's not like living in america where you can safely bury yourself in suburbia - well - not if you require a decent commuting time into work every morning. here you have to stay relatively close to some form of transport link. andrew hates trains that aren't the tube. i won't bother to go on - but let's just say that we don't really see eye to eye.
on the upswing - during this supposed week off ... we've had the opportunity to think about a new build flat that just might work. i won't write more about it - because i'm trying not to think about it, jinx it and/or get too excited. base of the matter is that i would like to just to do a genie-blink and be living in my newly purchased perfect flat. i'm not cut out for all this stress. ugh.
another good point is that my lovely boss is cleaning out and has handed down to mary catherine a really cool wooden rocking horse. she's going to love it and i must admit i get rather giddy thinking about her on it everytime i turn around and look at it sitting behind my desk. i love recycled, reused things. he's also given andrew some of his old shirts and i think we're going to inherit a backyard slide (for another friend, since at this time we're backyardless!) and possibly some stair gates.
under 40 days until we're in america - i can't wait! we're going to a dear friend's wedding and i'm very much looking forward to seeing old friends in DC. i can't believe it's been 3.5 years since i left .. i often wonder what it will be like to be back there. weird. i don't miss it much these days although i do think i prefer living in that city to this one, for what it's worth. i'd like to take my life here and transplant it to DC. and who says i live in a dream world, eh?
picture for today was taken two weeks ago.. my two favourite people and yes, my daughter is eating a daffodil.
what is important = family
for that springtime fresh feeling
i've been checking my webstats... people reach my site while searching for the following: "catherine bell's boobs, clarksshoes blogs, diralyte, how to blow raspberries, messy baby and pictures of srambled eggs" isn't that weird? here's a picture of mc from this past weekend. i've always wanted one of her in a field of flowers - so this is about as close to that goal as i'm going to get.
find the outlawed britney video here... click. gotta love that see-through catsuit.
i have no good news to report really.. and i fear that my site is becoming quite a downer. so i think i'll just glaze over today by telling you that i am not going into the hospital, my uncle's funeral is wednesday and i will not be there and that our mortgage plans fell through on the flat we really wanted. oh and an old loan we had wasn't cancelled and they took out a £550 payment that we didn't know about (and accordingly hadn't budgeted for)..
on the up side... umm.. i have a gorgeous husband, and incredible daughter and even though it's rented, a roof over my head. there are certainly people who are worse off that i am - even though it's easy to forget sometimes.
sadness.
i just got off the phone with my mom... my uncle died today. there aren't words to really express what i'm feeling. i feel every mile between here and home right now and i feel like i'm on another planet far far away from all that is useful. it's almost insulting to those i love, being so far away at a time like this.
on another note - my surgery looks like it will be postponed as we got a message on the phone saying that the hospital would, most likely, not have a bed for me tomorrow as planned. part of me is glad - the other part of me wishes it were going ahead as planned. and a final part of me wonders if it's happened for a reason.
the baby is fine - over the chicken pox and still has her ever running nose. anyway - more later.
artsy fartsy mama - mary catherine and patrick
if i ever opened a bar - i would call it 'retox'.
life.. unscripted.
430am on sunday/monday i awoke because mary catherine, who was sleeping next to me, was not breathing. she was rigid but shaking and her eyes were wide open rolled back into her head. i thought she was dead.
after a call to 999 - and a panicked minute later she came around and started breathing again. the ambulance got there in about 7 minutes (which, of course, seemed like an eternity) and off we went to the paediactric a&e where mary catherine was admitted and diagnosed as having had a febrile convulsion. we spent a lot of time being observed at the royal london then were transferred to oldchurch hospital about 30 minutes away in romford for further observation. we were transferred so far away because it was the closest hospital with an isolation bed availble, since mc is still contagious.
we were released from hospital on monday night and about 1130 that night mary catherine was violently ill, again with a high fever. said high fever is due to the chicken pox. i was so flippant thinking that we were really having an easy time of it because mc doesn't really have that many spots and hasn't been scratching. sigh i feel like i've been through the wringer since sunday early morning. i can't stand seeing her ill and it's been so heart-breaking. when she's medicated and her fever is under control she's bright and happy. hopefully she's mostly over the hump (although she awoke with a 39.9 / 103.8f degree fever this morning) work's been very understanding about me being out to tend to her and my mother in law is down to help. i couldn't cope otherwise.
had my pre-admission appointment at the hospital for my surgery... i will be admitted on monday, cut open on tuesday and, hopefully, released on wednesday. i'm praying that by then mc's chicken pox are mostly a thing of the past and that the fevers are gone and we have our smiling, happy, wonderful blessed child back again. me - i'll survive this operation but if anything were to ever happen to mary catherine i would be.. well - you know what i'm about to say - devastated.
regarding the surgery - i'm having so many conflicting emotions. i want andrew to be with me as much as he can (which isn't much actually - since visiting hours are only from 2p-8p daily) but i know that we have a child to look after and that he has to work as much as possible, since this has fallen in a time that we've had to take so much time to cope with mary catherine.
i'm considering taking myself to check in to the hospital on the bus. and the thought of that, while i do think it's the easiest and best way to deal with it, makes me really sad! andrew can come see me that evening when he gets off work while mary stays with mc. it makes me feel very far away from home - in america i'd never consider something like that! anyway.
to top things off - we found out last night that the mortgage lender is not willing to give us a mortgage on the property we put an offer in on. they see the property as a liability because it is over commercial premises and over 4 floors in height. we're really bummed - but hey - if it wasn't mean to be... well, then.. not much i can do. and given the events of the past few days - i'm just happy to have a healthy family. we'll find something else eventually. to lighten the mood - here's a few pictures of poxie dunne taken this weekend. my mom bought her a longaberger outfit waaay before she was born and she's now big enough to wear it. yay!
 
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