So the boys took a ZipCar out for the first time on Saturday to Costco. It's 9 miles away. It took 30 minutes to get there and almost an hour to get back to the house. This caused the car to be returned about 7 minutes late. The penalty for late return? £35!!! That's about $50. Ouch!!!
The good news? I now have pots and pans, a Tassimo coffee pot and lots of food. :)
Monday, August 26, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
School? Eeeeek!
So, ummmm... School starts in a little over a week and I have NO clue where the kids will be going!?! It's a little unnerving. If Atticus gets into Honeywell, he'll be in Year 1 (which may be a disaster) but it means no uniform and that Wren jumps to the top of their nursery wait list. If we get into Belleville - there is a uniform and I have no idea if Wren is even in their system. Fabulous. If we go the private school route, there's a chance of starting in Reception as opposed to Year 1, but it's private school and not free and still leaves me trying to figure out where to send Wren. And there's definitely uniforms that will be needed for private schools!
Oh, and the offices reopen on September 2, which is 48 hours before school starts. I'll have at most 36 hours to sort everything out.
This is insane. It's going to require a lot of patience, some good ju ju and a few glasses of wine!!!
Oh, and the offices reopen on September 2, which is 48 hours before school starts. I'll have at most 36 hours to sort everything out.
This is insane. It's going to require a lot of patience, some good ju ju and a few glasses of wine!!!
New Friends
I somehow stumbled upon a message board thread about American moms living Between the Commons. Brilliant! We've met up twice at a local playground and am happy to report back that there are some awesome new friends to be made! Woot! A few are originally from Texas - which was kind of fun, a few are east coasters... But all in all a great group of women and kids. Maybe this London thing won't be so boring now that I'm meeting folks.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Double Decker Buses
We did it. I took the kids on a bus adventure to the Wandsworth Council today. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Ha. Surprisingly easy. Wren swatted at boy in line, Atticus was whining and interrupting every 3rd word, the woman at reception questioned why all of the utilities are in Greg's name...and I'm hoping that everything we gave her will suffice to prove we actually live here!!
The kids really wanted to ride on the upper level but the trip wasn't long enough to warrant it! Next time. I'll take some photos next time too. :)
The kids really wanted to ride on the upper level but the trip wasn't long enough to warrant it! Next time. I'll take some photos next time too. :)
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Dust Settles?!?
There are still a LOT of boxes strewn about the house. A LOT. It's rather difficult to watch two kids, build furniture and unpack at the same time. Not that this is news... :-)
We do now have a proper living room. Thanks Greg! I must admit, the Ikea Erktorp sofa is really comfy! It would be slightly better if I could find the box with my throw pillows and blankets! Atticus's room is all put together as well. Unpacked even! Wren's bed is complete, the rest of her room is on hold until we can build her dresser. We did opt to flip her bed into the bunk like Atticus's bed. I originally wanted to keep here's low and add curtains - but when it's low, there isn't a lip on the bed frame, and we were afraid she'd roll right out! When the bed is flipped, there's a decent lip that keeps her in place. And.. if you saw the picture posted to Facebook, she's feeling pretty pleased with her big kid bed!
Greg and I have a bed and side tables, but we're still searching for clothes in random suitcases! Good thing Greg wears a suit 5 days a week! Although... The downside to suits? Dry cleaning costs a bloody fortune here! It was just over £24 for 11 shirts. That's about $36 to have 11 shirts cleaned and pressed. Good freaking grief! It's dry cleaning folks - we're not secretly funding black hole research or curing world hunger are we? I mean if we are, then sure...
I've met some cool Mums thus far. Some virtually, some in person... :-) My brand new next door neighbor is actually American and married to a Brit. They have a sweet and teensy tiny 3 week old baby boy. Ahhhh... Those were the days! Ha... Only one little screaming ball of joy.
There's also a group of American moms who live close by that are trying to organize a weekly get together just to say hi, drink coffee, and let the kids run around the playground. I'll see how that goes this Friday...
Next up on the priority list? Figure out exactly where we're sending the kids to school in a few weeks! I don't know when we'll hear from the public/state school -- and the private schools are all on holiday for another week and a half! Eeeeeeeek!!! And I haven't even started the search for nursery school. I'm really hoping that if Atticus gets into the state school it will get Wren into their nursery program. Pleaseeeeeeee.... Pretty please!!!!!!
And now... Sleep. :)
We do now have a proper living room. Thanks Greg! I must admit, the Ikea Erktorp sofa is really comfy! It would be slightly better if I could find the box with my throw pillows and blankets! Atticus's room is all put together as well. Unpacked even! Wren's bed is complete, the rest of her room is on hold until we can build her dresser. We did opt to flip her bed into the bunk like Atticus's bed. I originally wanted to keep here's low and add curtains - but when it's low, there isn't a lip on the bed frame, and we were afraid she'd roll right out! When the bed is flipped, there's a decent lip that keeps her in place. And.. if you saw the picture posted to Facebook, she's feeling pretty pleased with her big kid bed!
Greg and I have a bed and side tables, but we're still searching for clothes in random suitcases! Good thing Greg wears a suit 5 days a week! Although... The downside to suits? Dry cleaning costs a bloody fortune here! It was just over £24 for 11 shirts. That's about $36 to have 11 shirts cleaned and pressed. Good freaking grief! It's dry cleaning folks - we're not secretly funding black hole research or curing world hunger are we? I mean if we are, then sure...
I've met some cool Mums thus far. Some virtually, some in person... :-) My brand new next door neighbor is actually American and married to a Brit. They have a sweet and teensy tiny 3 week old baby boy. Ahhhh... Those were the days! Ha... Only one little screaming ball of joy.
There's also a group of American moms who live close by that are trying to organize a weekly get together just to say hi, drink coffee, and let the kids run around the playground. I'll see how that goes this Friday...
Next up on the priority list? Figure out exactly where we're sending the kids to school in a few weeks! I don't know when we'll hear from the public/state school -- and the private schools are all on holiday for another week and a half! Eeeeeeeek!!! And I haven't even started the search for nursery school. I'm really hoping that if Atticus gets into the state school it will get Wren into their nursery program. Pleaseeeeeeee.... Pretty please!!!!!!
And now... Sleep. :)
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Move In Day
We're packed up here at the apartment and expecting the van in a couple hours that will take us to the new house! This will be interesting. The only things put together at the house at this moment are Atticus's bunk bed and 3/4 of Wren's bed. Ha. The couch is still in a box, our bed is still in boxes and the mattress is in the middle of the living room floor where the unhelpful Ikea delivery folks left it. (More on that later...) We should be able to sleep there tonight and then the moving van is due to arrive tomorrow morning with all of our "stuff" which has successfully cleared customs!
Always the adventure... let's just hope the adventure allows us to have an actual home for a couple of years!!
Always the adventure... let's just hope the adventure allows us to have an actual home for a couple of years!!
Kidd Kraddick.
Funny how a celebrity death can hit you harder than expected. I started listening to Kidd Kraddick in the mid 80s in Plano, Tx. I don't remember much of from the early days of his radio career -- I was too young, but I do remember bits and pieces from middle school and high school. I continued to listen to him when I was back in Texas and once I was able to stream music... (Thank You I Heart Radio).
My favorite memory -- and I'm sure almost everyone my age will remember this -- when Kidd played Ice Ice Baby for 24 hours straight. Maybe it wasn't really 24 hours straight -- but I know he played it for every one of the top nine at 9! :-)
With syndication - he reached a lot of folks and I know his charity, Kidd's Kids was a big part of his show and what he stood for. He will be missed...
My favorite memory -- and I'm sure almost everyone my age will remember this -- when Kidd played Ice Ice Baby for 24 hours straight. Maybe it wasn't really 24 hours straight -- but I know he played it for every one of the top nine at 9! :-)
With syndication - he reached a lot of folks and I know his charity, Kidd's Kids was a big part of his show and what he stood for. He will be missed...
Head Injury
Well, it just wouldn't be my life without a trip to the Emergency Room for one of my children. The day started out lovely... it was a bit overcast but the rain had just ended. I packed up the kids and a towel and headed out to Fortune Street Park. This is one of our favorites here in Islington. I'm a fan of Giddy Up coffee and the kids love the play equipment -- it's a good mix. To separate a few parts of the park there are these bright yellow spring loaded gates that are about 5 or 6 year old height. They are great gates that close by themselves and include a gap so little fingers don't get pinched.
However, we did learn that if you run at full speed and push the gate open, it will spring back faster than a newly 5 year old can clear the opening. I was pushing Wren in the swings when Atticus went running at full speed through one of the yellow gates. It sprung back, whacking him in the head and sending him flat on his back. My heart stopped. In the 5 seconds it took me to run over to him a HUGE knot had formed on his head over his right eye. I'm not lying when I say that I honestly thought it was going to burst and blood was going to spew everywhere. It was nasty. Thank goodness he didn't lose consciousness. I looked around at the business folks that were eating and not a single one offered to help or came over to see if we were okay. (I'm disappointed London locals....)
I threw the remains of our picnic lunch into a bag, plopped Atticus into the stroller, grabbed Wren from the swing and made a bee line to the coffee cart. Thank goodness he had a bag of ice and was able to break off a hunk for us. Using the hand towel that I'd brought with us - I wrapped up some ice and stuck it on Atti's head. He was still screaming and sobbing poor guy.
As we started walking towards the apartment, I stopped a local mum and asked her what to do. I honestly didn't know since we still don't have our private insurance cards and I wasn't sure if we were yet eligible for the nationalized health care! Thank you, thank you to the mum for suggesting that I call 1-1-1 a new service here that allows you to talk to medical professionals for a non-emergency. The guy on the other end walked me through a ton of questions and then based on my answers said that we didn't need to go immediately to the ER, but we should still be seen by a doctor. They were able to locate the closest clinic for me and let them know we were on our way.
In the midst of all this, Greg was on the phone with HR both locally and in New York trying to sort out the insurance and authentications we needed. Ahhhhhhh....
Now, I just had to walk just shy of a mile with a 3 year old and a 5 year old with a head injury with only one stroller that really is too small for the 5 year old. GREAT! Oh... and did I mention that due to all the commotion, Wren didn't get to nap so she was tired and cranky?
We headed out with the kids taking turns in the stroller. We made it to the clinic where I wrote Atticus's name on a piece of paper with our address and was told to have a seat. There were about 30 people already there at the clinic. I was fearful that it was going to take a lifetime!! (It only took about an hour...) I tried to occupy the kids and keep them relatively quiet while watching a bizarrely large electronic billboard that spit out names and what room you should go to. Apparently HIPPA laws are a tad different here in the UK!
So... we finally were summoned to Room B where we were met by both a doctor (who looked like she'd just come from chasing kids at the park herself based on her clothes???) and a nurse. Apparently they were expecting a gash or the need for sutures, because of the earlier call -- but yay -- we didn't need those. The doctor asked me a couple more questions. She looked at Atticus's eyes and then printed off a piece of paper that showed a list of things to watch for with head injuries and sent us on our way. No joke, it took less than 3 minutes. Granted... she did tell us that the threshold for any symptoms was very low and if we thought we needed the ambulance at any time over the next day -- to just call, but still -- that was it??? She left the room, the nurse printed the paper and said thanks we were free to go.
That was it. Nothing else needed. No sign here. No insurance information. No cash. Nothing...
Weird.
-- It's now 4 days post-gate and Atticus has quite the bruise on his forehead and the beginnings of a black eye near his nose, but otherwise seems "normal".
However, we did learn that if you run at full speed and push the gate open, it will spring back faster than a newly 5 year old can clear the opening. I was pushing Wren in the swings when Atticus went running at full speed through one of the yellow gates. It sprung back, whacking him in the head and sending him flat on his back. My heart stopped. In the 5 seconds it took me to run over to him a HUGE knot had formed on his head over his right eye. I'm not lying when I say that I honestly thought it was going to burst and blood was going to spew everywhere. It was nasty. Thank goodness he didn't lose consciousness. I looked around at the business folks that were eating and not a single one offered to help or came over to see if we were okay. (I'm disappointed London locals....)
I threw the remains of our picnic lunch into a bag, plopped Atticus into the stroller, grabbed Wren from the swing and made a bee line to the coffee cart. Thank goodness he had a bag of ice and was able to break off a hunk for us. Using the hand towel that I'd brought with us - I wrapped up some ice and stuck it on Atti's head. He was still screaming and sobbing poor guy.
As we started walking towards the apartment, I stopped a local mum and asked her what to do. I honestly didn't know since we still don't have our private insurance cards and I wasn't sure if we were yet eligible for the nationalized health care! Thank you, thank you to the mum for suggesting that I call 1-1-1 a new service here that allows you to talk to medical professionals for a non-emergency. The guy on the other end walked me through a ton of questions and then based on my answers said that we didn't need to go immediately to the ER, but we should still be seen by a doctor. They were able to locate the closest clinic for me and let them know we were on our way.
In the midst of all this, Greg was on the phone with HR both locally and in New York trying to sort out the insurance and authentications we needed. Ahhhhhhh....
Now, I just had to walk just shy of a mile with a 3 year old and a 5 year old with a head injury with only one stroller that really is too small for the 5 year old. GREAT! Oh... and did I mention that due to all the commotion, Wren didn't get to nap so she was tired and cranky?
We headed out with the kids taking turns in the stroller. We made it to the clinic where I wrote Atticus's name on a piece of paper with our address and was told to have a seat. There were about 30 people already there at the clinic. I was fearful that it was going to take a lifetime!! (It only took about an hour...) I tried to occupy the kids and keep them relatively quiet while watching a bizarrely large electronic billboard that spit out names and what room you should go to. Apparently HIPPA laws are a tad different here in the UK!
So... we finally were summoned to Room B where we were met by both a doctor (who looked like she'd just come from chasing kids at the park herself based on her clothes???) and a nurse. Apparently they were expecting a gash or the need for sutures, because of the earlier call -- but yay -- we didn't need those. The doctor asked me a couple more questions. She looked at Atticus's eyes and then printed off a piece of paper that showed a list of things to watch for with head injuries and sent us on our way. No joke, it took less than 3 minutes. Granted... she did tell us that the threshold for any symptoms was very low and if we thought we needed the ambulance at any time over the next day -- to just call, but still -- that was it??? She left the room, the nurse printed the paper and said thanks we were free to go.
That was it. Nothing else needed. No sign here. No insurance information. No cash. Nothing...
Weird.
-- It's now 4 days post-gate and Atticus has quite the bruise on his forehead and the beginnings of a black eye near his nose, but otherwise seems "normal".
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