1 down 1 to go

Okay I am going to BRAG not about my kids not about my husband about moi. I have just arrived home from my computer driving test with a 100% score. yes- I studyed last night like a dork and yes me and the rest of the British eighteen year olds- chugged coffee and scanned the Highway Code in the Lobby as wewaited for the test.

Just so you know- I had a vest(Jack Wills- very cute Briitish brand uni wear) , sweats (Gap), and uggs, and a ponytail to try to look teen driving test like. Now- I just have to take the road test which anyone who knows me knows will be my achilles heel. I let Chris know that I have got him on 3 standardized tests SAT,GMAT (no- I didn't go to B school but it was an option, England's driving test.(we tied on the ACT) If only standardized test taking was a profession. Yes - chris and I are so petty/competitive- we know all of these scores and we check documentation for assurance:)

Random Mysteries Solved

1. Just found out England has a completely different formula for their diet coke then the rest of Europe. May go across the channel to fill the trunk with cases of the god stuff in France:)(okay if I actually go to France I'll buy 1/2 dc & 1/2 champagne)

2.George Clooney wasn't on the red carpet- because he was meeting with Mr Obama concerning the DARFUR crisis (300,000 people have died-not a typo unfortunately)- makes him an all star and makes me feel kind bad for checking out fashion for 5 hours (btw Jessica Biel looked so bad)

3. 5 more weeks before a new term starts at school and that means Casey Jane gets to wear a dress- yes God is working miracles in our lives!!!!!

4.Taxes in ANY country are confusing and $$$$ (expensive) and yes I passed the CPA exam in 1997. (okay it took 3 times but the first time I didn't study and wished I was at the Kentucky Derby with my senior class)

5. Why I love handbags- you are never too fat or skinny for a purse- they don't need laundering- they don't stretch/tear/or have red wine spilled on it (okay not usually)

Mini Oscar Recap

It's late monday at 11:45- our viewing didn't get started until 8:30 and surpisingly although everything was prerecorded this technoology actually hindered us (we kept rewinding to check out staredowns between Angelie and Jenn and seeing who was behind who on the red carpet)- so you are getting a mini recap- (note truffles +champagne=misspellings and bad grammar)(another note- the british girls I had over really hate Eddie Murphy for what he did to scary spice)

Love

Angelina (green earrings, hair, and Brad, hello beautiful)
Natalie Portman- that pink dress if only the prom was for 35 year olds that would be my dress
Hugh Jackman- love him as a host (thought I would hate him)- love all the sing and dance numbers esp the one with Beyonce
Kate Winslet- classic- (she still talked too much )
Girl from Slumdog- she is so darn pretty
HSM gang- they are so darn cute what's not to love
Anne Hathaway- love her

Hate

Reece- that dress was so not her (black and blue unstructured)
Beyonce-first dress black and gold UGLY
Jen A- liked dress- the braid was so ""HILLS" and so 20 something (btw she so looked very excited when Brad's name was snot called for best actor)
Miley Cyrus- too much dress for too little of person
black on Black tuxes- hate the balck shirt, black tie, black jacket combo

Awards- so 2 of the biggies I lost out on. Loved the stage and the new way they announced the new categories. Will try to update with more details but need to sign off if I'm to make school run tomorrow morning:)

The Wilderness

So its a pretty bold title for the post and the camp we went to had 2 starbucks on the campground, and per se we weren't really camping (little condos), but we had no cars-bikes with headlamps or horses, and it was in the wilderness. We had a great weekend- helped that the weather was AWESOME, and the family we went with were so much fun-(outburst board games + champagne), and the kids loved the swimming, the biking under the stars, the horses, the art class, the outside play, and running in the woods. CJ kept mentioning Mom I think we should move to this Park in England.

I was sort of annoying on my birthday between taking calls on my iphone and then checking email ( did I mention how much I love bday greetings:)- I did take somebreaks to drink some bubbly in the evening and go down waterslides and wave pools during the day (I tried to ignore the fact I have day glo white skin in Feb).

So that brings us to Oscar sunday- which I am avoiding technology on MON so I can watch them Monday night. And yes I finally have good friends who have agreed to wear pjs and drink champagne and watch them with me on Monday ( and yes we will fast forward thru all the annoying awards that no one except the nominees families care about). Chris has graciously offered to act as a minicab and drive the girls home (stolen idea from J Morris in the Heights). So please refrain from oscar comments until after 4 pm EST on Mon:)

Oscar

Quick rundown- before we head to go camping (okay it is a condos and there is a starbucks) but no cars and there are horses so I feel like it counts for camping. I will come clean on these pix I have only seen Benjamin B, Doubt, Dark Knight, and Slumdog.

Best Picture/Director- Slumdog- (I didn't think it was the BEST movie) but like all the critics have said it has all the elements of a winner- small indie movie, no name actors from a foreign land (etc)

Actor- I am not going Sean Penn - I'll take Mickey Rourke in all his neon spandex glory

Actress- Kate Winslet-I like her as an actress but would have rather see Meryl Streep win (she's still the best in my opinion)

S/Actor- Heath- similar to GG no way they won't give the dead man the golden guy. Believe PS Hoffman should win. How relaxing to be in this category these boys don't even have to write out a speech for the night.

S/Actress-Viola Davis- Doubt- Amy Adams better not steal votes from this lady

Animated- Wall E will win (btw I hated it- wanted a book light at the movie theatre so I could read a magazine, kids thought it was so so but they also thought Space Chimps was so-so)


BTW next year's Oscar falls on my birthday which I am giving Chris a year to secure tix for me. He said he is working on the BAFTA (poor man's Oscars in England)

He$*

Okay this post is being fueled by coming back from Dante's version of he$& for preschoolers. Just got back from a 5 year old birthday party at an indoor playplace (BTW there are a ton of these in England since it rains all the time). No big deal except this week is midwinter break- no mincing words that joint was pure he%&.

a) so overcrowded- especially with 11 year old boys,I am sure when I have an 11 year old I will be sympathetic but man these boys amp up the violence. Saw some kid head butting a 4 year old. (mom was no where to be found)
b) so dirty- saw people changing dirty diapers on tables by food- bathroom disgusting (need I mention that my 2 cherubs ALWAYS have to use the bathroom- the more disgusting the more they have to use it.)(all I can say is we have purelled ourselves silly)
c)gross crowd of people- here's me being a snob- some of the parents actually let their boys remove their shirts and run around topless (those 11 year olds). Our school party group looked ridiculous- some of the boys were in button down with vests on and the girls had pretty party outfits on.
d.personally having to climb up steep slides and ball pits to keep track of CJ and Casey. I was on edge the whole time as I felt this place had the makings of an awful Lifetime or afterschool special "MISSING" (etc)

The good news is my friends knew I was freaking out and suggested next time I take a valium before attending this playplace. Seriously I am not going back! Now you may ask what are we doing the rest of midwinterbreak- we are 2 passports shorts (CJ's is getting renewed and Chris's in in Wales for a drivers license application) so we are in England). We are headed with another family this weekend to an outdoor family park. Think holidome 2009 but more upscale with starbucks, horses,archery, bowling, laser tag, spas,soccer, and condos. We shall see how this works. The best is the family we are going with are on the same page as we are- the other mom and I came up with a joint shopping list and the items were

1) champagne
2) red wine
3) white wine
4) crisps (Potato chips)
5) dessert
6) water
7) diet coke

As you can see we forgot FOOD:)

8) Food

PS I will post my oscar picks on thurs night- you all can keep me honest. (will warn you I usually win every oscar pool- another item I miss from USA)
Also, my shameless blog about lack of Christmas cards has gotten me some bday cards. Whatever it takes!!!!!

Rockstar

So the keane concert was so fun- didn't hurt we were in a box that had food and drinks- but the concert pretty much rocked. I'm a fan now.(The lead singer looks like Scott M in chicago) Plus the venue The 02 in London is a sweet place to see concerts. (that's me in the entrance)

The night before Chris and I got to go to the London screening of "The International"- cool CIA type drama with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Next life I so want to come back as an Agent. Chris finds this hilarious since I have trouble staying home alone but i think it could work out.

Wed night was the "Mum's Night Out"- better than expected- no real cattiness and since alot of the girls looked like they needed a night out quite a few bottles of champagne were consumed.

As predicted CJ was the only kid to pass out valentine's in class- (which btw everyone loved)- he came home and said "I didn't get any valentines but that's okay because the class sang "We love you CJ". We are warming up this school slowly but surely:)

Couch Potatoe

Just a couple of things that are annoying me right now

1- There are no kiddie valentine's in England- I have searched the net and retail central to no avail- another fun kid day not celebrated this side of the pond (we printed some off the Internet and CJ and Casey colored them in- but they look a little ghetto)

2-Chris has been putting in some hours at work in the last few weeks and when he rolls in at 9pm- I am 90% of the time on the couch with a glass of wine or a diet coke and he always says "don't you look relaxed"- (actually buddy I'm not - I love feeding, bathing, doing 5 year old homework all by lonesome)- (don't worry I'll lose the bitter attitude by Valentine's Day)

3-Grammies the day after- I really want to watch award shows in real time- I cheated with the Superbowl and am going to be in real trouble with the Oscars.

4-Mommy drama- the cliques and mom squads on the playground. (Let me just state none of us are as attractive as the cast of Gossip Girl so give up the drama- the Miss Popular contest should have ended in '90's (or whenever some of these chics graduated from high school)

5-the new 90210- I am into it but is it just mean or does kelly and brenda look awful and all the new high school girls are very cute but look anorexic.

6. facebook- okay so addicting but man some people like to update their status 4 x a day-I suppose my blog falls into the same category- TMI

7 Being asked to bring pudding as a dessert to a British Sunday Roast. Hate the word, texture, and the taste and now I have to make it -no it doesn't taste like the dessert Bill Cosby peddled.

8.Being so pathetic trying to cram 3 albums of keane songs in by Friday concert deadline. (really not rockstar cool)

9. Completely taking away husband's man card and guy friend's man card when I suggested that Chris walk my college friend to the train station which is less than a 1/4 mile from our house. (yes I had 2 glasses of wine in me)

10. As I type being sucked into watching Terms of Endearment for the 100th time- and yes I will cry and I want to kick that no good cheating husband in the bum.

Go Fish

We are a tad stir crazy- we had a 4th snow day on friday for which it really didn't matter since we were headed to London for passport renewal. As if living in the burbs isn't inconvenient already- the good ole US embassy has a huge checklist of items you can't bring (and there is no storage)- laptops, cellphones, ipods. Get there bright and early and discover that both Chris and I have our house keys with our car keys (electronic opener) attached. So the guard of course was like you can't bring those in and we don't have storage, on cue Casey starts to high pitch squeel- (sort of the octave of some sea creature) - long story short security guards caves quickly takes our keys and lets us through- (I knew casey jane's scream would come in handy at some point). Wait 1.5 hours after checking in where both chris and I accuse each other of having weird passport stamps that our red flagging us for delay (Me- that Nairobi stamp- Him- all the trips to Cyprus in your passport). Finally get up there and renew CJ's passport where they let us know we will be carrying 2 passports for him (old one with visa and new one)- oh joy one more thing to rememember.

Chris heads to work and I decide to take the kids to the London aquarium. Kids are pretty excited- we walk into the first exhibit ( I think it was catfish) and both kids start freaking out. I'm scared mom- the fish look mean- none of them look like Nemo- its dark in here- Are you sure they can't get out of the tanks- can we go home. Survive the aquarium where by the end casey is trying to put her hand up to the pirannaha tank. We head out and of course some retailer designed the exit so you need to walk thru the gift shop to leave the aquarium. Sidebar- since we are on staycation- Chris and I have decided not to buy the kids souvenirs at every sight we go to- 1. we would be broke. 2 the kids 99% of the time pick out junk that ends up under the car seats. CJ walks right through and notes that I said no souvenirs. Casey grabs a mermaid doll and refuses to let go until I pry it out of her hands. (Note- Cj is behaving nicely but he is so in the tattletale phase," Mom, Casey 's not showing good manners, she is asking for things after we aleady had a fun outing." Tube ride and train ride and home.

So I never blogged about the email I got from a fellow parent of CJ's classmate. On Christmas Day- I received an email detailing the death of one CJ 's classmates mom' s (or mum's). It caught me so off guard, as I assumed the email was school news or meeting up at some indoor play club over the holidays. Anyways- a 36 year old mother of a 4 1/2 son died on Christmas eve due to a chest infection that spread (puzzling to say the least). The husband's email was so touching, I was tearing up at the computer in my parent's den. I knew the mom (not super well)- I had coffee with her twice and then the normal playground banter while waiting for the kids. I remember she brought Krispy kreme donuts to one of the coffee dates and of course I had to quiz her on where to find those in England (Tesco Super Store). She was very sweet- she came to my Halloween Party and was laughing at how I allowed 17- 5 year olds tear up the play room without even batting an eyelash.

Fast forward to today, her son's first day back to school since coming back from India where his mommy was buried. I pick up CJ and a classmate from school to drive them to tennis and at our school they have the kids line up and they personally release them to parents (in our school's case 99 % of the time a mom)-I am not adequately going to convey the scene but this little boy is staring at each of the mom's looking for his mummy. (seriously, so sad on so many different levels)-Thank God the teachers hugged him -(if hugs were not dispensed by the school I very well would be off home schooling and you all know how I feel on homeschooling) CJ and his pal let me know that this little guy cried most of the morning and Miss W (their teacher) asked for a volunteer to be the little boy's special friend. (hug him, sit by him at lunch, make him laugh, etc)

Long story short- CJ was the chosen volunteer. So after tennis we got home and made some chocolate chip cookies (CJ's idea-"Treats make kids happy") and wrote him a card with knock knock jokes and picture of Ben 10 characters (Mom's idea). So hopefully- this little guy has a little bit of easier day back at school tomorrow

SNOW DAY

4 inches of snow has this city at a standstill- Chris and I chuckle remembering our MI roots and Chicago days:)

scrunchie

So no real weekend update- as Chris was out of town for work both days so it felt like a weekday ( minus the school). I did however find my scrunchie (circa 1993) and began studying for my theory part of the drivers exams. Yes, I had a sweatshirt and a big diet coke (wish it was a fountain) as my study aides. I felt like I was back at hesburgh library (minus friends and Organic Chemistry; did I mention I was premed for a year:). Let's just say on these mock drivers test -I am at a 50% pass rate (this was suppose to be the part I was going to be good at since you know I am going to do awful at the actual driving test)- maybe my cute american accent will get me thru the test (doubt it).
Chris and I did get to go to dinner on Friday where we we went with a couple that actually ordered the meal for us at the Indian Resteraunt (we would be hopeless if they didn't order for us)-I kept with the theme and ordered a few (only 2 drinks this weekend) Bombay Sapphire and Tonics. So that brings us to Super Bowl Sunday- which for Chris and I will be Super Bowl Monday- (Chris is pretty cute not chekcing scores when these big games occur late on sunday)- I am going to make some chili and try to stay warm as we may actually get snow tomorrow. I promised Chris I wouldn't take pictures but CJ had his dance (ballet) recital for his class in school. My little boy actually picked a girl to dance with (hannah- blonde with glasses(ADORABLE)- he was pretty cute attempting to point and flex his toes. My mommy friends took photos so I will try to get some pix to post.