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This week I'm working from home as I recuperate from my knee surgery. It's been really interesting, because I have been able to telecommute into the office and it's been really cool to be able to work from the sofa. I'm not talking about a few emails here and there I've actually been working and it's made my little geeky heart go thud. I have even been able to forward my work phone to here so I can make and take calls. Pretty cool.
I'm healing well - I am down to using only one crutch and although it hurts it's a different kind of pain than I had before so I think the operation was a success. Andrew's been really great about doing the lion's share of everything and even Mary Catherine's been good about not demanding that I be on my feet.
Hope everyone's well - I'd write more, but well.. there's not that much going on in my life except daytime television and a newly found appreciation for ABC1, which shows nothing but bad American sit coms all day. If I just had a personal chef it'd be heaven.
My how time flies when you're having fun. Today is Mary Catherine's 3rd birthday. At times it's like I've felt every single moment that's passed and others I wonder where they've all gone. Go figure. Mary Catherine is an amazing little girl who is sensitive, funny, smart and kind. She consistently impresses those who meet her with her abilities and is a joy to be around. I am so excited that I get to experience her on a daily basis.
Click here for a slideshow of our birthday weekend.
Today Mary Catherine had a small party at her school in honour of her birthday, which is this Sunday. I can not believe that she is two days away from three years old. Absolutely can not believe it - where has the time gone? We are having a party for her on Sunday which will hopefully be very good fun. I know she's very excited and was beaming today at school. She and her friends are so adorable. It was worth the cab ride and journey to get to see her so happy.
I am currently healing pretty well. Andrew and his mom have taken very good care of me and I have let them, which is surprisingly more difficult than it seems! My knee hurts and is swollen and I think I'm having slight allergic reactions to one of the drugs I'm on - but other than that, it's clear skies ahead.
I'm off my feet for a while still, so feel free to email. For everyone who's sent well wishes, kind words, flowers and entertainment - thank you all so much. You're so kind!
Even in my posh hospital bed, sleep did not come easily. This hospital obviously has a lot of patients from the Middle East who come here for surgeries as there is a lot of information about Embassy sponsored patients, etc. So I can now say that I've watched Al Jezeera television at 3am! Andrew just called and will not be picking me up this morning as he really needs to be at work. While I find this disappointing, it's only from the point that I missed him last night and enjoy his company and support. I have been thinking a lot yesterday and today about how I've changed since moving here and how five years ago I wouldve been very angry and upset that I would be left to make my own way home from hospital. Today, I'm cool with it. Interesting. I won't bore you with all my musings, but trust me, I've changed. Think it's horrible of me to not wear a bra home?!
Happy thanksgiving
Since it's now 02:30am here and I'm having problems sleeping (I never sleep well after an operation)..... Best wishes to you all for a lovely and thankful Thanksgiving. We all have our down times, stressful moments which are often longer than we'd like or things in our lives that we think are not quite as we would ideally like them to be.... but we all have things to be incredibly thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.
Am back in my room - all morphined up and woozy. Isn't technology cool? I will stay the night in hospital, feel free to email me to help pass the time. Blackberry@elizabethdunne.com
I'm about to go - I have a lovely arrow drawn on the right leg. Very attractive I'm sure. Met the anaethestist, he's very perky. He smelled nice, so I seem in safe hands. Tomorrow is thanksgiving - in America, of course. I've not been allowed to eat today, so can only think about all the lovely food I'll be missing. I hate being away from home on thanksgiving, just hate that an entire part of my traditions doesn't exist here. And to top it off I'll be stuck with a bum leg. Wish there was turkey and dressing take out. The surgeon said I'd be looking at a three month rehab.. Lovely. I'll write again when I'm back from the trenches. Toodlepip!
I checked into the hospital this morning... After so many dealings with NHS facilities, this hospital is amazing and I know I look completely stupid running around my big private room gawking at the flat screen telly, big private bathroom and lovely view of the atrium garden. Seriously, I never thought I'd see a private hospital room ever again in this country! I mean, yes - I'm still tangled up in knots with nerves over having surgery later today, but when your last surgery was from a spare bed on the amputation ward amongst five strangers in beds next to you, or when you've had a baby on a ward with 18 other women and only one bathroom -- well, this is sort of a lot of fun. It is not lost on me, however, the enormous gap between the haves and the have nots with regards to private health insurance. If I was paying for this a deposit of £3,075 would've been due before the porter in her freshly pressed uniform wouldve shown me to my room. Hmm. Andrew and I are currently hanging out, listening to Vivaldi and looking at the view. Andrew's excited about the free coffee and tea room service and I must say I'm feeling so much calmer than I was this time prior to my gall bladder surgery. Enough for now - I'll blog again as soon as I'm able. Feel free to send fruit (grapes are traditional - I love that custom) flowers and/or trashy magazines!
so tomorrow is the big day ... i go into the hospital at 11 and I think my surgery is around 1pm, but I'm not sure. I am sure that I can't eat anything past 7:30 tomorrow morning, so I sure hope Andrew brings me breakfast in bed. I'm not just typing that because I know he's reading over my shoulder. No sir, no way.
I'm not that nervous about my surgery, but I know I will be a ball of nerves by the time we get to the hospital tomorrrow. Think I could ask for a little valium in my IV? You know, just a little something to 'calm' me? When I had my gall bladder out last year, they broke my tooth when I was in surgery and my biggest fear this time around is that I'm going to wake up again crunching on toothy bits. Do what you want with my joints, but please, oh please leave my smile the way it is!
Think good thoughts for me tomorrow, will ya?
Back in the proverbial saddle after a good weekend. Saturday we didn't go swimming as it was cancelled. Fine by me, it was my week to swim and I was so not in the mood to get wet. It's suddenly turned super cold here in the last week and I'm so not in the mood! This is not helped by the fact that in a moment of genius, Andrew and I decided to take the radiator out of the living room in anticipation of a new one we'd ordered. Next time, we'll wait until the new one is delivered! Duh.
Saturday we also had a rather American experience - we joined Costco! It is so bizarre because it's just like being in America, only the prices aren't as stunning. We just wandered around and enjoyed it very much. Just like I remember Costco in America, this one has muffins, pies, big american birthday sheet cakes, huge containers of everything and the lovely little people who serve up samples. When I lived in the States, an afternoon at Costco was a meal in itself and while we didn't have anything more than a sample of juice, I think if we'd made more of an effort we could've dined very well.
They also had those huge pizzas for £6.99 and the fun fruit frozen yogurt sundaes. Neither of which we had! It was too funny.
We did manage to score a Leapfrog Junior Explorer Globe for Mary Catherine for Christmas. We'd seen it at ELC a few weeks back and when we let her see it on Saturday, she turned it on and used the pen to start touching the icons on the globe. After four minutes she said, 'Mummy, that's Austray-lee-ya' and correctly pointed to the right continent. We knew it was a keeper. Good thing is that she's forgotten that we bought it, so hopefully she will be happy on Christmas Eve when we open some of her presents here in the UK.
Yesterday we had another gentle day as MC seems to have a cold and a minor case of conjunctivitis. I've bravely joined the gym at work and needed some trainers and work out clothes, so we went to Beckton and bummed around.
I'm having knee surgery on Wednesday, so Andrew's mom comes into town this evening. I have also been trying to think ahead as to what we'll need while I'm not able to walk. Mary Catherine's birthday party is this Sunday and I let her choose the cake and napkins. That was sort of silly on my part. We're having Disney Princess cake and Scooby Doo napkins. There's a lesson about her personality in there somewhere!
My birthday has thus far been a success. I'm in a cab on the way home, after having left the office at 430. Funny how leaving two hours early can feel like taking a half day! My colleagues had a cake extravaganza in my honour this afternoon and my boss sent a lovely bouquet of flowers. Speaking of flowers, my lovely husband and daughter sent divine tulips and lillies as well. So it's been a very pleasant day thus far.
Happy My Birthday to you all!
I started today with a nice enough train ride in and I decided that I would splurge. I went to Starbucks and had a venti Eggnog. For those of you that I haven't already bored with the details - you can't get eggnog in this country like you can in America. In fact, the only place I've found it is at Starbucks. It's meant to go into their seasonal eggnog latte, but if you ask nicely enough and look really desperate they will pour you a glass over ice. The trade off for getting such a fantastic cup of yum is that you have to look like a complete dork trying to explain that you want an eggnog latte, hold the latte.
Me, I'm cool looking like a dork - even on my birthday.
childish, i know..
tomorrow is my birthday.. tomorrow is my birthday.. tomorrow is my birthday..
as I am sitting here working my brain out (man, it's hectic around here) the above is running in a chant in the back of my mind. i know.. i know.. what am I? like, four? I love my birthday, what can I say.
Mary Catherine keeps telling me that she is going to eat all of my birthday cake. To which I calmly reply, 'You'd better remind Daddy to buy one then.' Poor Andrew, I know for as much as I look forward to my birthday (have I mentioned it's tomorrow) he dreads it.
This year, I will make every attempt NOT to make the people around me miserable on my special day. I will not make anyone cry and I will be gracious for whatever happens and I will not get upset if nothing does. I know I get outrageous ideas in my head about how I would 'do' my birthday and it's not fair that I judge all others against that. See, I totally know that and yet.. well, yeah.
Anyway... back to work. tomorrow is my birthday.. tomorrow is my birthday.. tomorrow is my birthday..
why yes, i am a hippy.
i've been doing some thinking - mainly in the shower of all places. here's what i was mulling over yesterday morning whilst enveloping myself in Molton Brown's Warming Eucalyptus shower gel.
we - meaning all parents on the planet - praise, cherish and encourage traits in our children that we either a.) admire in ourselves or b.) wish we had. take me, for example, i am a creative type. so when mary catherine puts crayon to paper i will get down and scribbly with her. i do that because i want her to be creative and express herself via whatever medium takes her fancy. i encourage her to do art projects and see the world a little differently (via cloud sculptures, silly rhyming, etc).
my friend "c" is an accountant. she's proud of the fact that her son is analytical and encourages him to find out how things work. unlike me, she does not actively encourage creativity in her son just like i, for the most part, do not encourage analytical thinking in my daughter. i am, however, quick to judge because i think it's sad that he's not challenged more in a creative way. yet, i don't really mind that mary catherine's never thought methodically.
the whole 'it takes a village' slogan - i think there's something to it. i wish my family lived in an environment where different adults, with different skill sets and abilities, were able to actively influence my child. i guess i'm sort of thinking, "why yes, i could live in a commune," although it would have to be one minus the free love and excessive compost heap duties.
what do you think? do we, as parents, have the responsibility to challenge our own thoughts and comfort zones for the benefit of our children? to provide them with a well-rounded childhood? otherwise, what do we end up with but little versions of ourselves - which is sort of selfish, really.
all of that - in a four minute shower. sometimes, i amaze myself.
you asked for it...
My post last week about me at 28 sparked a few comments. So here, just for you - a chance to view me in my 28 year-old, divorcee to be, early mid-life crisis splendor! I loved my big orange hair! I should also tell you that I met my current husband (isn't it fun to be able to say that, it's like I'm racking and stacking them!) with technocolour hair.. so contrary to what my mother is telling you, it wasn't that bad!
a milestone...
Do you remember the first record/song/album/mp3 track you ever became obsessed with enough to purchase (on whatever medium is relevant to your childhood - me, it was on vinyl, a 45)? Mary Catherine bought her first cd single on Saturday. The child is totally in love with the new Madonna track. Every time she hears the intro - she screams Madonna! We bought it for her and she's already singing along and telling us her favourite parts.
They grow up so quickly!
(for the record, my first was Billy Joel's 'Still rock and roll to me')
Have I mentioned that my birthday is a week from yesterday? A mere six days from today? Yesterday, someone told me I looked 28. Oh if they only knew what I looked like at 28!
There's something you should know about me. When I was a child, I put a steel ball up my nose. I don't remember this, but it's a story that my parents and grandmother seem to tell often enough that it feels like a memory.
Apparently, I was staying with my grandparents and somehow had a little pinball game that contained, you guessed it, a little steel ball. I guess I got it open somehow and stuck it up my nose. I shoved it so far up, that my grandmother had to take me to the doctor to have it removed. I don't think she was going to tell my mother what happened, but I announced when I saw them, "I will never put another ball up my nose again."
My grandmother then had to tell my mom what happened.
There is now no doubt that Mary Catherine is my daughter. Why you ask? Yesterday morning, she told me that she had cotton wool (English for cotton ball) in her nose. Andrew and I thought she meant that she had a stuffy nose, as it is cold and flu season. She kept telling me that she had cotton wool in her nose and I kept telling her that she was silly and it wasn't cotton wool, it was.. erm, snot.
The next time she tells me something like that, I am going to listen. Andrew and I both looked in her nose and didn't see anything. So we called her silly a few more times and she told us a few more times about the cotton wool in her nose. Finally, I told her to blow her nose and the "cotton wool" would come out.
Uh... it did. A big slimy compressed cotton ball came out of my child's nose. They're looking into how it happened, but apparently she put it in there at naptime at school the day before.
So now we have had lots of big talks about how our nose isn't a handbag and we have pockets to carry things around in! I do believe at one point she said, "I will never put cotton wool up my nose ever again."
Like mother, like daughter.
I just booked our farm holiday for next year! Very exciting - I so can not wait. I mean, sure it's over 300 days away.. but still. This time around we're taking Andrew's parents and staying in a larger, more centrally located cottage that we were really envious of this year.
We're going to be those people! You know, the ones with the great location for animal feeding with that view? I'm ready to go now - I need a holiday.
we had a very nice weekend - hung out with andrew's sister, her husband and their daughter, philippa. also went to a friend of mary catherine's birthday party. she and mary catherine have known each other since they were eight weeks old and the sad thing is that they could've been strangers.
i suppose that is what happens when people move away and grow apart. it tugged at my heartstrings a bit because we used to be a lot more active with this family.
oh well - people change and move, time marches on and i shall be thankful for birthday parties to bring us together.
This evening, there is a fireworks extravaganza at the Wharf. We decided that we'd make an effort to watch it as I am not sure what we'll be doing on the official date for Bonfire/Guy Fawkes night. In order for us to get there in time to see it, we've put Mary Catherine at the emergency nursery here at the Wharf where my company offers places.
I know I'm her mom and it's my job to brag, but can I just tell you what a star my child is? We walked in, she went straight to her room and asked to have some breakfast. I stayed with her for a few minutes and asked her a few times if I could leave. The first two times she asked for me to stay a bit longer and held my hand. Then she let go of my hand and told me that I could go with a big smile on her face.
I've just called to check on her and they have twelve children in today so they are all in the room where we dropped her off. Apparently, there are two boys close to her age that are on the Playstation and and she is currently playing with a four year old girl and the younger girls in the big wooden dollhouse. They're dressing up babies and dressing up themselves with handbags and hats!
The woman I spoke to is the co-manager of the nusery and she said that we should be proud of Mary Catherine because she is doing so well and leading others with her good behaviour..
How excellent is that! I'm beaming.
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