Reasons I haven't updated my blog

1- computer virus- being without a computer for 3 days and then shelling $150 to go back to my factory settings and missing all my other handy settings ( I am a little bitter- but bright side is I didn't lose most of my hard drive)

2- Chris out of town the rest of this past week (translates into paranoid me who sleeps with cell, landline, car keys, and lights up the whole house and only watched hgtv type shows that won't air scary movie trailers)- side note I finally requested a friend here to check in every morning that I was alive. No one was volunteering so I had to make the request

3-CJ had the stomach flu which I guess was better timed since I was already up in the middle of the night

4-Coffee maker broken- and no it is not convenient to get to starbucks with both kids. The poor customer rep on the line who dealt with me- I was not happy about 3 week turnaround time.

5-the sunniest weather I have ever seen in England (its like 72) but kid you not people are swimming in outdoor pools (brings back MI and Chicago memories of memorial day weekend pool openings)

6- I attempted to cut the lawn here (itty bitty small lawn) and I butchered it (had no idea how to set the length so it basically looks like we have no grass)

7-purchased Fitflops ( cute flipflops that CLAIM to have you lose inches on your booty and thighs just by walking around)- totally sure they don't do that but I have a cute bronze pair just in case they do.

8-attended cricket game where the most exciting thing was young men in white polo/pants. Damn that sport is long and boring!

9 - made it to church with kids and Casey volunteers to bring up the communion. (which they allow her)- who in their right mind let's a 3 year old carry the GLASS bowl of communion. (sidebar in pure Casey fashion she makes it down the aisle, hands the bowl to the priest, and then refuses to leave the alter.

10-did I mention the lack of resteraunts in the burbs will send me home (seriously I don't want to cook 21 meals a week)

Prague

So 13 years ago I backpacked through Europe post college and one of my fave cities was Prague. To be back toting a family was different but weirdly the same (see photo of mommy drinking Pilsner Urquell)

1- My backpack was replaced with a 30 pound Casey. The only saving grace of having a little more money than I did as a backpacker was this go around I didn't have to wear that nasty sweaty stomach pocket thingy to hold my passport. ( mine was disgusting after 6 weeks of touring Europe)

2- Drank some beer but a lot less of it. The hostel I stayed in was on the water and had 2 things going for it- beer for a 25 cents and some hot guys from UNC. (oh yeah the city's architecture was breathtaking as well)

3-Casey and CJ allow cultural happenings in 45 minute incrementals every 3 hours. Talk about trying to plan around kids- I'll take my lonely planet guide and zero $ any day.

4-Prague is alot more commercial in some areas and seedier than I remember 13 years ago (again it may be the beer that helping me to forget) but its hard to beat the Charles Bridge at night and we lucked out with awesome weather.

5-The kids had moments of being rockstars like when they charmed the pants off of this couple at dinner (who subsequently invited us to their country home in the Cotswold)- btw the "English" do not invite randoms to their home so that was big. We shall see how the couple reacts when we actually show up there:)

6-Lego obsession to a new level- CJ trying to figure out how many legos it would take to build the Prague Castle.

Quick vent

Okay so I sent an email a week ago to the nursery parents seeing if anyone wanted to meet up at the local park for a picnic after school. Totally made the invite weather dependent as I DON'T want 20 kids and 20 moms hanging out in my kitchen. Well my harmless little picnic idea has created quite a ruckus - let's see

1- one call can we make a list so all the kids have the same food (20 ham sandwiches, apple slices, etc)?
2- should we detail if the kids can bring scooters and bikes?
3- if it is overcast will it be cancelled?
4- are you letting Casey change out of school uniform before picnic?

Answers to the Questions above

1-No- I am sorry little george will have to learn sometime that other kids will have better stuff in their lunchbox- in fact we still have some Oreo cookies that Mommy will be eating at the picnic:)

2- No- I am sure some kids have scooters but we will just let everyone bring their own stuff

3- let's be honest it will be raining tomorrow

4-no

Will report back on how/if the picnic happened. How George reacted when his ham sandwich looked different from a turkey sandwich. How we all need to relax and not create drama or else I will never invite anyone (except the 4 cool chicks I have found here)on a picnic. Okay -I feel better:)

A few random things on my mind-

1) i still hate how in May all the shows I watch end- the lost finale was good but I will be happy in a year from now when have less questions and more answers. ( Locke dead or alive?????)

2)school calender here is whacked - strange to have kids going to school until mid july- but when you are still wearing a sweater and a coat in May it won't feel like summer anyhow.

3)cooking- Both chris and I are so bored with what I throw together for dinner- I think we have had chicken stir fry a zillion times (this no decent restaurant in a 15 mile radius will be the death of me)- I have started leafing thru cook books in hopes that a magical chef will appear and cook the items for me:)

4)CJ first field trip (w/o mom) is tomorrow- yes we have heard about the bus, not having to wear a uniform, getting a packed lunch (no fizzy drinks (soda) or sweeties (dessert), and going with his class to Celtic Camp a million times this week.

5)Casey is moving backwards on staying dry at night- she now wakes up in the morning-throws her wet pull up in the garbage and then tells me "Mom, my pull up was wet but I didn't poo poo in it." (at some point I will bite the bullet and remove the pull ups but the girl sleeps from 7pm-7:30am and hate messing with that.

6)hosted a playdate on Monday for which the child stayed from 3-6:30pm- when I said the kids could watch a show while I made dinner- the little boy informed me that his mummy does not let him watch the telly during the week. Interesting concept but think I will stick with my routine.

England

Picture Casey drew at nursery. On the back if it the teacher wrote what Casey said: "Its me and mummy, CJ and Daddy, its raining like it always does here." From the mouths of babes come the truth:)

Show and Tell

Okay - I am over my pity party (cure -train to London, sushi, 2 sappora beers, and premiere screening of Angels and Demons)(spoiler alert- good but not as good as the book or the first movie- plus Mr. Hanks looks so old which will remind yourself of getting older- yuck)

CJ has show and Tell tomorrow- ( an yes you can't bring in any toys- so mummy (as CJ refers to me) came up with the posterboard idea of taking pictures of toys (legos) to get around their rules. (Yes I am a rule breaker)

My little guy came up with the concept all by himself-

4 Things you need to do legos:

1. legos

2.patience (note all those bitty pieces drive me nuts -kind of the way I hate Polly Pockets or Lil Petshop :)

3 Partner (daddy- Chris is in heaven that CJ loves legos-kinda like when I took Casey Jane to ice skating and the American Girl Cafe)

4 Pocket money (poor guy get 1 pound a week and the legos are pricey- luckily the grandparents dumped some treat money into both kids piggy banks before leaving.

F

Lets see 19 years of driving experience gets you nada in this country. I FAILED my driving test- no I did not commit any serious penalty (I even parallel parked like a rock star)- I got 16 minor faults (didn't use mirrors 100% of the time and undue hesitation for roundabout) and yes 15 is the pass score. So I am livid- the instructor/test giver was an arse from the get go 1. He mentioned a zillion times how he believed England's driving standards were so much harder than the States. 2 that most experienced drivers have not kept up to date on the highway code.3. of course it rains for my test- lest I expect anything else

So yes- I have a test date in july (some reason they are all booked up for the next 6 weeks and yes I have to pay another $100 to retake the test). Feeling like cher from clueless when she fails her test.(except its not sunny and my closet is so super small here) Feeling like this is a nice out for the company to send us home- can't drive anywhere need to go back home. The biggest joke was the test guy reminded me to remove the L plates to drive home since I can still drive on my USA licence until fall. I am going to start with the fake english accent and see how that works next time around:)

Mum's Day

So yes- we were the only family celebrating Mother's day in our village- since England celebrated it 6 weeks ago. I woke up to a latte (homemade - did I mention starbucks doesn't open until 10 am on the weekends- just thinking in a down economy they might want to sell some java before I am on my third cup) and a bagel w/ cream cheese (I miss my einsteins this was a sad british bagel with philly) in bed. So nice as I flipped thru In Style magazine while Chris battled breakfast duty- then daddy and chris left for swim lessons while I had casey sorting through my makeup (so scary she could probably curl her eyelashes if I let her)- Church- and then a sunny day at a converted farmhouse/pub. Food was good and we toasted the day with some bubbly.

Chris left his blackberry at home most of the day- I would love to say that is a pet peeve of mine but its not- since I get out the iphone to check weather and other random updates way too much.
I got a gift- heart was in the right spot but its not me (crystal ball sees a return in the near future)- but no gift compares to bagging chores I hate- bath time and emptying the dishwasher:) All in all it was an awesome day- will post pictures later.

Grabbag

Well- we had a girls night out last night- met at a mexican restaurant for margaritas (felt a little guilty that Mexico wasn't celebrating Cinque de Mayo) but still managed 2 margaritas. My British friends were stuck with angry husbands who didn't want to do the bedtime kid routine due to the Arsenal vs Man U soccer game but were stuck dealing with it anyway:) I guess complaining about men is an universal language.

Speaking of men that need to be complained about- how about Jon of (Jon &Kate plus 8)- how is it that a man with 8 children has any time/energy to have an affair with a 23 year old? Chris and I actually watch the show occasionally (totally realize anyone would be hard pressed to find a tv show we haven't at least seen once). Jon definitely looked beaten down in the early years but it seemed after potty training the sextuplets (another version of hell on earth) Jon and Kate were more relaxed. Not sure how much cash for dates- Jon is going to have after the alimony pymts but we shall see.

My mom casually (not that casual is ever a good adj for my mom) noted I have a very free flowing blog (e.g A LOT of spelling and grammar mistakes). The truth is I quickly type an entry- reread it once and then post. If I spent any time editing it- I wouldn't post:) (would be nice to have a cute copy editor like I did on the high school newspaper)( FYI- it was very Cool to be on the newspaper st THS)


Obama is speaking at my alma mater for graduation. I am okay with this (although a lot of students/alumni are not). I personally know alot of alumni that voted for him-so yes there are Catholic Democrats out there. Here's the deal its the President of USA so it is a huge honor to have him say yes to our university. Totally for free speech and healthy debate but this whole mumbo jumbo that a Catholic University should not let a pro-choice,pro stem cell research President speak at commencement in my mind is ridiculous. (please note he is not even talking about these hot topixs)(and yes I voted for the other guy but being an American overrides my political party affiliation). Okay I am done preaching.

Last gripe- my driving instructor is mysteriously out of the country. So my last cram sessions were cancelled so now I am stuck with the hubby trying to teach me how to parallel park (think the worst couple from Amazing Race )- and yes we will probably have to do it on Sunday (Mother's Day). Oh joy!

Au Revoir

So we had some tears sunday morning- the grandparents left bright and early at 6:30 am- and CJ happened to wake up to see them leaving. Poor little guy had begged them not to leave on sat evening. He then cried waving goodbye at the door to Nana and Pappou- he then said he wasn't going to eat breakfast until they returned.(Casey Jane ever the opposite child happily siad goodbye sat night and slept in:) Glad he was a kid because 20 min later he was chowing on cheerios. I hosted a bar b que Sunday so I wouldn't be too depressed that my parents were gone. Man-it's nice to have people help you out with meals and kid duties- the school crew knew soemthing was going on since my hair was flat ironed daily and I wasn't habitually in my running gear. So gone are the 25 minutes of me times (yes-I know I could get up before the munchkins but unless a starbucks IV system is invented that is never going to happen)- gone are my mom's 3 course dinners and glasses of wine (don't know what it is with parents in their 60's but they like their pre dinner drinks (or at least mine do), gone are my dad fixing our graden and random oddjobs (and yes he knew it was a rental but he still wanted to help fix things). So yes I miss my mommy and daddy:)