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 I know this has only been a short week due to the Bank holiday on Monday - but my gosh, it's been a killer. I'm glad it's Thursday and will be happy to see the back of Friday! The picture to the left is Mary Catherine and her cousin. Look at the scowl on their little faces - they're definitely related! That picture is from our recent trip to Leeds to see Andrew's family.
Hey, here's something funny - today I was talking to a colleague in New York and he said that I had a funny accent and asked if I'd ever lived in America!
 We had a great time this weekend up north. At first, as you've read in my last post, not so relaxing. But after two full days of doing not so much and my in-laws taking much care of my husband and daughter so I could be rather lazy... well - I'm feeling much better. That was the first time we'd flown up there and while flying out so late on Friday night and the plane being delayed by an hour wasn't that great, it was wonderful to just be there and back in a snap. I must give kudos to British Airways - on the way back yesterday, they served a full English breakfast.. on an hour's flight! You don't get that on an American airline, I'll tell you. It was nice and Mary Catherine has to be the only three and a half year-old that actually pays attention to the safety talk and knows what to do if the plane crashes on land or sea! She spent yesterday afternoon trying to play 'airplane' with the cat and at one point managed to put a lifevest on him (lifevest being a blowup neck pillow)! It was hilarious! She actually reads the safety card on most flights and we talk about how the slides detach to form rafts and how we mustn't wear shoes when jumping into one. Isn't that kooky?
Anyway - I digress. All in all, a really nice long weekend. Now I'm just depressed that we don't get another holiday until Christmas. That seems very, very far away.
On another note - I'd feel like I was hiding something from you if I didn't admit that I've started another blog. A speciality blog, if you like. As always, you're welcome to read and comment. If it's not your thing, then no big whoop. Because I'm an open book...
We're way up north at Andrew's parents' house.... We flew up last night from Gatwick - the flight was delayed and it was about 1245am when we got in. After we got Mary Catherine to bed, I realised that we'd forgotten to pack our toiletries, including my glasses and contact lens solution. The closest 24-hour place we could find was 45 miles away. So Andrew and I had a late night road trip and finally got back at 4:10am. Yikes. His parents have looked after Mary Catherine most of the day which has been a huge help - but we're both a little worse for wear. Strangely enough, our bizarre 3am adventure around Tesco was incredibly enjoyable and I felt so much better afterwards. Even though we were both tired, it was nice to have fun being silly in the store and buying all sorts of things like a Hula Boola skirt for Mary Catherine's fancy dress party on Thursday. My goal for this weekend was to unwind and reconnect with Andrew, Mary Catherine and myself and I'm certainly well on my way.
I couldn't make this stuff up
Yesterday, Mary Catherine told me that her nursery (that is closing at the end of September, talk about getting out just in time) is having a going away party. The children are going to play games and there will be an entertainer there and party bags, which are Mary Catherine's favourite bit of any party.
They are having a fancy dress competition (British for 'Costume Contest') and Mary Catherine would like to dress up and hopefully win. So I asked her what she'd like to be... a princess? No. A hula bula girl? No. A pirate? No. Finally after naming every single occupation that has an interesting outfit she said, 'I want to be a naughty schoolgirl'.
Andrew just about drove us into a wall.
The saga continues...
Okay - so I'm now waiting my turn at the other health centre. I'm number 13 this time, but at least the counter is set at zero. When I got here the centre was due to open in nine minutes and there was already a line. If you learn nothing about the British from me but this, I'll be happy. The British love to queue/line up. And WOE be to anyone who dares to defile any queue that is in progress. Now I know that lines are sacred so I would never push in or 'jump the queue'. But man, is it ever fun to watch when someone does! Today's amusement - 68ish year-old man and his wife, here for a blood test. As people were waiting around the lobby for the centre to open, they'd taken seats in chairs around the perimeter of the area. In the nine minutes I waited, he exclaimed very loudly about 20 times that he'd been waiting for 35 minutes. It was like he was just daring anyone to try and get a number before him. When people who are not British come in, as English is not their forst language, nevermind culture, they tend to just muddle through - often this involves non-intentional (I hope) queue jumping (insert scary music here). I thought Mr Man was going to stroke out when he ended up being sixth in line. Who needs television! I've decided not to rant much more about the things I dislike about the health service here, I think you've heard them before. I will say that I wish they made it easier for those of us who work to get care. It's a very 9-5 deal, with clinics often in the early afternoon. Maybe I just have my priorities out of whack. I should say that I am one of a small minority of people who have private health insurance in this country - a fact I used to be excited about and something I'm thrilled we have should we ever need care for acute conditions... BUT! Private healthcare does not include treatment for diabetes or other chronic conditions. That sucks. If I'm going to be taxed on £1,485 worth of cover, I just wish it made things a bit easier. Anyway - number eight is in with the phlebotomist now... Five more to go before I can leave and not have to do this again for another three to six months. At least the baby clinic (my opinions on THOSE and healthcare in this country for children in general some other time) is starting so I can stare at the babies and feel guilty for not being around mine.
Today is one of those days when I strongly dislike socialised medicine.... I need to go have blood work done (a month in advance of my appointment) for my diabetic appointment in late September. I'm given a list of health centres that do blood tests as my GP's health centre does not, which is frustrating. So today I chose one that opens at 8am, as I need to be at work relatively early in the day. Two tube trains, an failed attempt to purchase a map and a lot of walking later, I finally find the health centre. When I got there at 8:23 there was a line out the door, which I figured was a bad sign. I went and took my number which was just like being at a deli counter.... I'm number 36. The blinky 'now serving number' sign was on 78. That's right - 23 minutes from opening and the sign still had 22 people to go before it even flipped over to start counting up to 36. I left. Now I'm on a bus, which I hope will take me past another health centre, where I usually go. I'm not sure though - worst case I'l end up at the tube station near home and just go to work, trying the whole thing again tomorrow. It's times like these that I miss being able to a.) See the doctor of my choice, including a specialist, with minimal hassle and waiting times; b.) Have blood taken at said doctor and get the results back in days, not weeks and c.) being able to drive and park easily outside said health professional's office. The thing with long-term maintenance type healthcare here is that it's not easy. Yay! I've just gone past the other health centre - a quick five minute walk back and I'll be good to go! Woohoo! More rants later.
Shocking
This morning I'm going on a course to further my already extensive First Aid training. I'm going to learn how to use a defibrilator - and I'm strangely very excited about it. The statistics alone are enough to make me give up four hours at my desk - 8-9% chance of survival with CPR alone, 80% chance of survival with early intervention with a defibrilator. Uh - hello - no brainer.
Next thing you know, I'll be wearing a stethoscope around the office... (it was invented in France in 1816 by René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec, you know - thanks Wikipedia!)
So let's see.. what's been going on 'wit me' .. Uh. Not much. I have raging PMS/PMT and am pretty much in 'gritted teeth' mode at the moment. We have a long weekend coming up, so I'm hoping to use that to melt away some of my tension. My in laws have a nice big tub and I plan to buy a very trashy gossip magazine and set up house in the bath one evening alone. Just a girl and her gossip.
 So I was surfing today and I went to the Wikipedia to look something up as I do almost every day. I'm all about open source projects - I dig the idea of shared, collaborative information. (See, I really could live in a commune!) I noticed that there are other Wiki projects underway and I started going through the various sites. It's amazing - my favourite? WikiBooks. (hence where I got the diagram to the left, from Chapter 5 of the Geometry WikiBook) WikiBooks is an open-content textbook collection - it's absolutely incredible. Nerdy me spent a good ten minutes reviewing high school algebra just for fun!
(Here's the part where make myself seem far too geeky for my liking, but what the hell - geeky is the new cool, I suppose.) I'm so in love with the sheer volume of information available on the internet. Now I know that there's also loads of porn and absolute crap as well - but who would've ever thought that you could just look up whatever you like from a text book, for example?
I'm probably alone in my love of math on a whim, but it's just incredible that I can spend five minutes of free time listening to music via Pandora or studying up on Basic Ecology. Heck - do like I did and do both at the same time!
Other Wiki projects include Wiktionary, WikiSpecies, WikiNews and WikiQuote.
Speaking of quotes - one I just found on one of my favourite topics: "Media manipulation in the U.S. today is more efficient than it was in Nazi Germany, because here we have the pretense that we are getting all the information we want. That misconception prevents people from even looking for the truth." ~ Mark Crispin Miller But that's a different topic for a different day.
oooh! Andrew turned me on to Pandora last night - a really cool music player/radio station that's evolved out of the Music Genome Project. You can create your own radio station but then it sees what you like and based on that it finds you other music. Sincerely extremely cool (and free).
Check out the right column on my site - you can now see my favourite songs (because I know you've always wanted to know what I like to listen to - trust me, it's varied!) you can click to Pandora from there. You simply must try it!
Wednesday
Today I went to a going away lunch for a member of my team. The people who dislike me were there and I've never really been the life of the party in the team anyway. It was awkward and I felt really alone. I'm totally PMS'ing this week, so it didn't help.
In other news, we got the bill for Mary Catherine's school tuiton in the post yesterday. As I was opening the envelope, I was steeling myself to see figures that were way out of line with my expectations and fully prepared to start doing another round of financial calculations in an attempt to mentally adjust to just how much sending her to private school is going to cost. Imagine my surprise when I finally opened my eyes and saw figures that were way less than I expected! I thought the nursery/pre-k tuition already included the Government initiative for free part-time early education places for every three and four year old in the UK. It was a pleasant surprise.
It does, however, mean that next year when tuition goes up and she turns five and is no longer eligible for that money/discount it's going to be a bit shocking. So, being the responsible person I am - I've opened a new savings account to plonk the difference between what I thought I was paying and what I am paying in for the next year. That should help us build a buffer for next summer/academic year and not get too used to actually having spare money.
A day in the life
Ever wondered what it's like to be me? (I'm actually thinking that you probably haven't!) Have a look here for a photo tour of one of my days last week. Not extremely glamour-filled, but interesting if you've ever wondered what daily life in my part of London might be like. The highlights? I've given you a look into my fridge - which usually amuses most of my American friends who've ever come to visit.
I would also like to say that this past weekend, we went to visit Andrew's family and had a lovely time staying with Andrew's sister Sarah and her love...erm.. wait. We stayed with Andrew's lovely sister Sarah and her plain and average boyfriend Gareth. (he's anything but!) Sarah, the pouty pic to the right is just for you!
 What a fantastic idea! A way to create your own personal city map/book.. It has a key map that summarises the layout of the city (looks like it'll be available for European cities in September, US and Canada after that), a public transportation map, alphabetical street index and 76 blank pages for you to doodle, write, draw and/or jot down information or your thoughts, pictures, stories, etc. Then it'll have a 96-page archive where you can create your own tabs so you can organise your own information. Finally, 32 removeable sheets for loose notes and messages and 12 translucent sticky sheets to overlay and re-position so you can trace your route as you go. I'm in love and MUST have one for London.. AND it's a Moleskine, which for us artsy-fartsy types is like the top of the sketch/note book class. Seriously, I'm in a nerdy euphoria over these! click here for more info.
Oh I do love a good meme...
I AM BLESSED - with a lovely family who love me for me, a roof over my head and a job that pays da bills
I WANT - world peace, enough money to not worry about having money, a big luxury vacation or three..
I WISH - that calories didn't count, I didn't live so far away from the ones I love and that air travel was more affordable..
I HATE - stupid people, racists, closed mindedness, arrogance, bad radio DJs, being hot and the smell of wet dog..
I MISS - my family, Cheeto's, Resee Peanut Butter Cups, a big fridge, Andrew and Mary Catherine when I'm at work..
I FEAR - losing my mind, fire, terrorism and helicopters that fly at night (think I'm kidding on that one, ask Andrew.. it's true!)
I HEAR - a colleague talking to someone, the hum of the printer next to my desk, random office noises and the voice in my head telling me that I should just go get a Frappacino and relax..
I WONDER - what MC's first year at her new school will be like..
I REGRET - lots of things, but none that I want to admit to you!
I AM NOT - thin, false, ignorant, patient..
I DANCE - these days, when my daughter asks me to!
I SING - all the time, in the car, at home, with MC..
I CRY - every now and again, more than I would like, when I'm leaving my family at the airport, when someone is mean to me..
I AM NOT ALWAYS - as strong as people think I am..
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS - uh.. wait, I'll think of something.. oh - bread!
I WRITE - emails to everyone, on my website and every now and again notes of encouragement to myself that I then recycle immediately..
I CONFUSE - right and left - constantly..
I NEED - support from those who love me, hugs and lovely secret 'just us girls' whispers from my daughter..
I SHOULD - try to obsess less about things that bother me, attempt to interrupt other people less, leave work at work..
I START - only projects that I know I'll finish, my period about the 19th of every month (sorry, couldn't resist)
I FINISH - all my work for a day before I leave the office and Andrew's sentences..
We're in Harrogate - home of Betty's team room.... That's where Mary Catherine's first ever birthday cake came from.... We've just popped in to surprise Auntie Sarah at her work ..
we're off...
On a whim, we've decided to go family visitin' up north.. So it's 7:30 and we're almost out the door for a road trip. Tomorrow we're going to a bbq to celebrate A's dad's birthday. It will be lovely to see everyone.
I'm so happy that it's the weekend - not that my week was particularly stressful, as it's the height of the summer holiday season. Still - it's nice to be able to sleep in (well, until 6:30 instead of 5:45, I suppose) and just do what we like. But what am I telling you that for? Everyone knows what weekends are like.
I'll have my Blackberry with us, so will blog from the road. I'm in the market for a new phone/Blackberry - I saw one yesterday that has a camera built in (what phone doesn't these days, really) and when you took a picture the first option was 'blog this photo'. I do like how easy things are these days.
Thursday
Nothing like waking up to a greyish morning to the news that a terrorist plot to blow up planes from the UK to the US has been disrupted. Now pass me my coffee. I hate stuff like this. I feel sorry for the people who are due to travel today and are having to wonder if it's safe to get on their plane. Stupid terrorists. I strongly dislike the way the world is today. Global warmning, terrorism. Fantastic. No wonder our society is desperate to pretend that we're back in the 1950s.
Have you ever thought about that? Look how popular designers like Cath Kidston are (My hand is raised, I love her stuff - I'd actually wear her frilly housewife apron and bake cookies and be the Kool-Aid mom if we had Kool-Aid in this country and I had the time).. Look at the cars of the future from Chevrolet.. It's an interesting concept - that people in this day and age are so scared looking forward that they've begun re-creating a safer time.
There's also the widespread notion the in UK that 2006 is the new 1976. Now, fashion is probably much better, but the coincidences are interesting. A drought, Labour thinking about a new Prime Minister, the movie 'The Omen' was released.. seriously - it's weird.
Of course, that's just hear say - I wasn't British in 1976. I was American. It's actually an important year, 1976 - the American, Bicentennial, the year in which: Apple Computer was founded, the Ramones released their first album, the first 4.6 miles of the Washington, DC subway opened, the CN Tower was built in Toronto, Jimmy Carter was elected President, the first laser printer was introduced by IBM and last but certainly not least, 1976 was the year in which Baby Spice was born.
So there. I wonder if people were afraid to fly on airplanes in 1976?
In other news... I have one more meeting today re: work issues. With the actual person that I apparently have spoken about. My stance - Uh, I so did not.
My horoscope for today, ever so poignant..
It may be difficult to stop thinking about what's been bothering you lately. You intuitively know that the only way it's going to get better is if you keep talking about it until the energies tone down. But you are a Scorpio, and as intense as your feelings are, it's difficult sometimes to bring them out into the open because then you are vulnerable and that makes you very uncomfortable. Move directly toward the source of the discomfort, not away from it.
So, there you go. I'm now taking advice from a horoscope, that's bad, isn't it?
Spooky but not
Ooh - check out my horoscope for today.. You have gone through a rather serious phase reconsidering your place in the world and the challenging aspects of your job. Now, however, your focus may temporarily shift into a more personal arena as your friends and associates tend to see you as happier than you are. Everyone wants to hang out with you today, but choose your entertainment wisely or you can just waste your precious time.
The first bit is downright creepy. But, do you all really think that I'm happier than I actually am? And - just where, exactly, are all the people who want to hang out with me today?
The line forms to the left, folks.
Commute haikus...
Hello ugly man
Why must you sit down like that?
Legs spread too damn wide. This airless shelter
Like sitting in a tin can
It's slightly whiffy Definitely hot
Fashion victims all around
Your shoes are ugly
ahh.. Monday
So it's Monday and I'm back at work. Not much to report, really. I'm trying to take a step back from my worries and problems today. I said trying, not succeeding 100%, but doing a relatively decent job at trying to look/act normal.
Things are slower as it's now August and in Europe, August is holiday month. That certainly helps.
I've just booked our flights to Andrew's parents' for the long bank holiday. We usually drive up, but it's such a long way.. so we're going to see how flying goes. I'm excited, because it means an hour on a plane vs eight + in a car. It'll be nice to be here in London one hour and aaaaallll the way up north the next. To make it affordable, we are flying at odd times (read: quite late at night) so dealing with a sleepy pre-schooler might not be that much fun, but I'm sure it will be fine.
I wonder if Mary Catherine will think it's odd for us to only be on the plane for an hour - she's normally used to 8-9 at a time!
family love
This is what we've done today.... got up when pounced on by a 3.5 year old. Fell back asleep for five minutes while she was on the loo, only to be woken back up by, what can only be described as a 'holler', her call of 'please wipe my bum!' Dragged myself out of bed (and I do mean drag, we had a fire drill/evacuation at work on Friday that meant I had to go down 19 flights of stairs in six minutes and my legs still haven't made friends again with the rest of my body..). I then went with child to the kitchen where we both stood in our pjs eating cereal from our bowls before we ventured to the fridge to find some milk.
Andrew joined us and we watched a good hour of children's television, the highlights being an episode of 'Big Cook, Little Cook' where Big Cook Ben made bread, giving me inspiration and a gentle reminder that I hadn't made my family bread recently. I convinced Andrew to make a pot of coffee. We then put on some music, deciding to see what joys would come from selecting 'party shuffle'. During random Christmas carols intermixed with the Chemical Brothers, Tori Amos and Annie Lenox, we talked about how music makes us feel and Mary Catherine did some really entertaining dancing (no videos were taken to bring out to any perspective husbands, unfortunately). Then we all headed for the spare room, which now that it's been cleaned and de-junked, is our new favourite family hang out.
For lunch we had fresh bread and butter, slices of strong cheddar cheese, grapes, apples and carrots. Mary Catherine had jelly (think Jello, dear Americans) and we laughed and talked as we sat around the kitchen table, which we're now able to do as that room has been de-crapped as well. (Thank you Mother!)
It's been a glorious day. We've just finished a round of silly pictures on the iMac (see right) and now Mary Catherine and Andrew are going to build something from Lego before walking to the glass recycling bins at the end of the road (we 'cycle everything else in a bin in the kitchen, but the council won't take glass). They've started recyclying our glass together and really enjoying it. Rock on father/daughter/eco-friendly bonding!
So, there you go. A 'stay at home day' that's currently wildly successful. No tantrums from any of us, not even the cat. Now, where did I put my coffee...?
 Many thanks to my friend Jodi for bringing this article to my attention.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Readers of a US parenting magazine are crying foul over the publication's latest cover depicting a woman breastfeeding, with some calling the photo offensive and disgusting.
"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one woman from Kansas wrote in reaction to the picture in Babytalk, a free magazine that caters to young mothers. "I was offended and it made my husband very uncomfortable when I left the magazine on the coffee table." Her reaction was part of some 5,000 letters the magazine has received in response to a poll to gage reader sentiment about Babytalk's August cover photo, which shows a baby nursing.
You have got to be kidding me. It pisses me off read stuff like this - what in the entire flipping world do Mr and Mrs Mainstream America think boobs, funbags, tits, hooters, big berthas, bosoms, melons, dumplin's, knockers, headlights, puppies, norks, thr’penny bits, twin peaks, udders, woofers and bra-bustin' bazookas are for?! For the love of Pete - they're for feeding our children!
The only redeeming factor that I can see about this article? "Everyone is saying that breastfeeding is best for baby but there is so little support for it in public," [Editor]Moran said. She said the Babytalk cover photo marks the first time a major parenting magazine in the United States dares to break the taboo about showing a woman's breast and the outrage it has prompted is not about to discourage editors from doing it again.
"This hasn't scared us off at all," Moran said. "We're thrilled and hopefully this will help women get more support for nursing."
Amen.
MC and the Beatles
Andrew and Mary Catherine have a new hobby. Andrew has networked the xbox with our music library so that we can listen (via the xbox) to our entire music collection in the living room. (Technically, we could already do this via our Powerbooks and Airport Express - how's that for nerdy?) The xbox has, like many music players, a visualisation feature that lets you watch groovy images which move and change to the beat of the music. So those two sit in the living room and 'watch' music. Her favourite song, that she's memorising not only words but the harmony? Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles. She also digs 'Take your Mama' by the Scissor Sisters (who she calls the 'Snip Snip Sisters'.
It's hilarious - they sit there and choose songs to listen to based on the album covers on the system. Then they both watch the trippy graphics, with Mary Catherine singing and/or dancing.
Right now, they're watching Queen's 'Bohemian Rapsody' while MC eats her peanut butter and jam sandwich for her snack. I am highly amused. They're both so special to me - I love that they're enjoying music together. Not your average family moment, but I'm digging it, big time.
Lunch fun..
Mary Catherine and I went to lunch today - they're doing Circus themed activities in the mall where we went to eat. Mary Catherine had a go on the stilts and loved them. She's really good on them and walked all over the place! Wait for it........... she's so well balanced! She also had her face painted - with glitter, I might add. It was fun to wade through the masses of wanker bankers holding the hand of my beautiful daughter, face paint and all.
On another note, I've just heard that I'm still not off the proverbial hook with the work situation. Apparently how I say, 'I don't want to step on anyone's toes' when agreeing to do a task in an amicable fashion is threatening and sarcastic. I'm floored. Something has to change - it's getting out of hand.
Deep breath.. and relax.
The meeting went okay. I stood up for myself the best I could and surprised myself a few times with what I was willing to say. My audience wasn't super keen on a few points, but for the most part - well, I'm cool with it. Am I super happy? No. Am I a little irritated that I've been signed up for a Stress Management course for my sins? A little. But whatever. I've reached the point where I don't have that much more emotional energy left to deal with it.
I do have a few talks left to have with various people - those will be fun, I assure you. My plan is to get through those and just move on. Hopefully everyone involved will gain perspective, although I have my doubts. Funny enough - one of the things I'm being called up on is talking about people. Heard from another colleague yesterday that the person angry with me about that, did the same thing to me yesterday. I guess it is true that when you point a finger at someone, you need to remember that there are three pointing back at you, huh? Whatever.
Anyway - Mary Catherine's at Wharf School today, so I'm going to take her to lunch at her favourite restaurant (well, favourite of the moment) and enjoy being with my daughter. The good feelings I have from that and the support of not only friends and family, but the good people of the internet are mine and mine alone. No-one can take that from me. And that is what's important, n'est pas?
Wednesday already..
This week seems to be doing that weird time thing where it's going past very quickly, but when I stop to think about it - is actually dragging on a bit. Go figure.
The latest update in the work saga is that I have a meeting today to rehash/update another Manager of mine who was out last week and missed all the fun. I'm all about keeping people in the loop, but do feel slightly that it's not completely necessary to haul me through another round of semi-public humiliation. I didn't wear mascara, but don't plan to be quite so sensitive or emotional. Famous last words, eh? I'm not super in love with how things have been handled and do feel slightly odd in that some of the things I'm defending myself against are actually results of me doing my job properly and to the best of my ability. Hard to explain more - as getting Dooce'd isn't anything I'm interested in at this point in time.
So I will go to this meeting, head held as high as I can manage and hopefully weather it with grace and humour while managing to tell my side and stick up for myself a bit. Do think good thoughts for me, won't you?
This whole thing has been a pretty heavy situation for me to process and I'm tired of it taking up space in my brain. I want to be happy again, gosh darnit!
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