Jack O' Lanterns

Jack O' Lanterns are kind of an American invention, only kind of.....

We did partake in the activity here.  The pumpkins were smaller then we typically find in the US and we did not find a pumpkin patch to get them from... but we saved the seeds and the boys still enjoyed it!

Tonight we are headed to a get together, but it won't involve costumes.  Hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids and wine for the mums!  I am bring Grandma Beary's famous baked beans (without the liquid smoke since I could not find it) to share.  You have to remember that in the UK they eat baked beans for breakfast.  Son 3 was a bit nostalgic for home this morning when he said "This will be the first Halloween that I won't be dressing up or trick or treating."

Here is the legend, please note, instead of typing it all over, I copied it from this site:  http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

People have been making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloweenfor centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into ****. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack-o'-lanterns.

Happy Halloween!  

And You Shall Have Beer!

While we were in temp housing, because we have two cars, my teenage sons were adamant that I could not have a drink at dinner, not even one.  We have been eating at lots of pubs and taverns, so it has been very temping!  But, I honored their request for a number of reasons.  First: because I was in a foreign county and driving on the wrong side of the road; second, because we always went back to where we were staying in the dark and lastly because I respect them and their need to be safe and I hope that they hold everyone that they ride with to the same standard.

I have been very interested in trying the different types of beer and alcohol here, so today after Super Hnadsome and I tried to purchase one of the cars and failed (because it was not ready).... we went to the grocery store and while looking at the squash (which would be a concentrate juice), I noticed the alcoholic cider on the other side of the aisle.  Super Handsome had heard that Bumbler's Pear Cider was suppose to be really good and as we looked we saw a bunch of other different flavors that we decided to try as well!  The picture shows: Franks Alcholic Root Beer, Franks Ginger Beer, Brothers Toffee Apple Cider, Bulmers Pear Cider, Bulmers Cider with Crushed Berries and Lime and Wells Banana Bread Beer.  I cracked open the Alcoholic Root Beer and had it with dinner, it was not bad!  We then drank the Toffee Apple Cider, which reminds me of Creme Soda.  Super Handsome really enjoyed that more then the alcoholic root beer.

As I mentioned earlier,  before Super Handsome and I did our beer run, we went to the car dealership intending to get one of the cars.  My car was not ready yet, which was a disappointment as we really need to get rid of these rental cars.  They are very costly!  In other news, we are having more issues with our credit union (first it was the debit card issue).  Along with all the feet dragging, they have decided that Super Handsome's car is not worth the selling price.  So, it looks like I have plans Monday, calling them when they open to discuss the issue.  The last email that we got informed us of the issue and then also informed us that he would discuss with us on Tuesday as he is off Monday.  Not. acceptable.

We decided to get a loan for the cars, little did we know that we should have just saved ourself the pain and just jabbed ourselves repeatedly in the eye!  Seriously, this has been going on for two weeks people.  Get on it and get on it NOW!  Honestly, I understand that I am not the first in line and everything has a process, but every time we thought we had all the information to the credit union we received emails requesting the same information again.  I am not sure what the problem was, I wondered if they were not receiving the attachments from Super Handsome since he was sending them from his UK work address.  One issue that did come up was that they apparently decided only to  deal with Super Handsome (probably because he is primary on the account or something) and left me out of the loop.  Super Handsome had to redirect her to "the boss".

After we finished discussions with the very patient car dealer, we headed out to the pottery place, PotStop to grab the projects that we did on Tuesday.  I think that they turned out rather well!

After that we headed back home to Oak Lodge.  On the way we stopped at the store and along with the beer, we grabbed some pumpkins for the kids.  They were thrilled to see them when we got back home. When we arrived home we were also greeted with a dozen yellow roses!  Our neighbors: Keeley; Tony; Emily and Christian dropped them off at the door for us with a card welcoming us!  Quite a nice welcome!  Maybe we should have them over for a beer....

Yeah! Moving Day!

Moving day finally arrived!  Super Handsome had emailed me yesterday with the information that it would happen today, but I was very skeptical that it actually would, so I was slow at getting things around and informing people, like the homeowners and the packers who had our things.

Luckily and thankfully we were able to get everything accomplished in time that we needed to, so that it was able to happen!  I found out at 9am that everything was a go and the kids and I flew into action.  Oldest Son was the chief car packer.  We figured that we were going to have to make at least two trips to get all of our things from The Shack to the house.  Oldest Son almost made it into one trip.  It was so close and there was not a lot of sitting room, he had planned that everyone had to ride with something on their lap.   If we had had a second car it would have definitely worked.  Unfortunately, Super Handsome had to go to Warminister for business, so, he was not able to help.  Not only that, but he had the packing papers with him at work, he had to send them into customs so that they would release our things After he sent them, he neglected to bring them back to me.  So, with the car fully loaded, we made a quick stop in Harlow and another quick stop to the letting agency, then we went to our new home.

We were early and lucky for us, the homeowners Jan and Ron were as well.  We were able to get the car unloaded.  The boys also claimed their bedrooms upstairs.  As per out discussion, the Youngest Sons had the biggest room, since they wanted to share.  Oldest Son let Son 2 choose his room first.  Son 2 choose a room with smaller storage space, but larger living space.  Son 2 really liked the dog pictures on the walls. Oldest Son chose a smaller room but it has nice storage in it.  He immediately started stripping beds and changing out linens.  I had to have him fix the mess that he left, because he had spread the mess into another room that had a twin bed and a trundle.  In the end Oldest Son ended up stripping and making 3 beds.

The truck arrived around noon, just as we had expected.  We got everything unloaded and then proceeded to unpack everything to ensure that things were not damaged.  Right now, Son 2’s bike frame is bent, so his front tire no longer fits.  Super Handsome and I also brought our anti-gravity chairs that also may be bent.  We finished up by 1:30, so Son 2 and I headed back to The Shack to get the last of the things.  We also made a quick stop to the store to get a few things for dinner and snacks for the never ending pit that we are affectionally calling Oldest Son's stomach!  We headed back to the house and we ate a late lunch/early dinner.  Just as we were finishing Ron and Jan came over to talk with me about a few things.  Before they got here, their 12 year old grandson, saw me in the kitchen and waved.  He was hanging out with some of his friends, as he is also on holiday from school this week.  He came to the door, and seemed delighted to see us.  Older Sons came out to meet him.  I told him that he was welcome to stop by whenever he wanted, and that I was used to a house full of boys.

It has been a rainy day here, but around after watching a bit of a movie, the boys headed outside for a little bit.  Oldest Son found Christian and his friends and is looking forward to hanging out with them again soon.  We will also be unpacking some more of our things and moving things around to better suit our needs.  We have already had to talk to the boys about keeping their things away from the radiators.  We have radiators for heat in every room.  While I don't think that they will ever get hot enough to actually catch fire, I am not planning on taking any chances!

We are all absolutely thrilled, beyond belief to be in our home, with our things! Let the fun begin!

Here is a picture of our dinner, the second night.  Super Handsome was too late to eat with us the first night.  We ate chicken stew with zucchini and root veggies.  It was pretty good!

Fun Activities

Well, it has been a bit crazy here for sure!

Tuesday, 25 October, was a rainy day, so I found a placed called PotStop.  We went and picked out pottery pieces to paint.  Oldest Son decided to do a skate board, Son 2 and Youngest Son choose a cat and painted them to resemble our kitty Tux.  Son 3 and I did a pumpkin.  It was a fun project and a nice way to spend the day since we were not able to move.

Wednesday, 26 October we headed to Lee Valley Farm which is in Waltham Abbey (south of where The Shack is located.  We left at lunch time I ended up passing the Farm the first time and going into Waltham Abbey.  So, we decided to go to McDonald's to eat, but instead I pulled into the Tesco, which is a grocery store.  We grabbed a couple of groceries and the kids begged me to get them Krispy Kreme donuts.  They have a case of Krispy Kreme in every store and they are not just the standard glazed, they are a delicious blend of yumminess!  We had them once for a late breakfast, so I decided what the heck, and we got donuts and milk for lunch!  YUM!  You have gotta have fun sometime and hey, you need to be a fun Mom every once and awhile!

Lee Valley Farm had promised an Apple Tasting and cider making activities along with the other attractions, which was farm animals.  The apple tasting was really not happening.  Instead, the staff member was making cider.  The kids got to help, below are pictures of Youngest 2 Sons shredding the apples into smaller pieces.  After that, they did not want to even stay for the cider making part so we headed out to the rest of the park.  We were able to see some baby pigs, that were very smelly!  We also saw sheep, goats, chickens and they had some great play equipment!  Youngest Son also got to try milking a fake cow!

We ended our visit with a Tractor ride to the barns where they were milking cows.  When we got in line for the ride, we did not realize that we had queued up in the wrong area.  The little boy that I thought was in front of us, rewarded us with a few nasty faces.  I exclaimed to him, "My you can make mean faces!"  His mom chided him to stop, but he was quite determined to keep it up, and gave us a couple more for good measure!  After listening to us talk the mother realized that we thought we were at the end of the line and politely let us know that we were in the front!  So, I apologized and headed to where that back of the line really started.

The little guy and his family made it on the tractor and rewarded us with a few more nasty faces.  (My oh my, I apologized little guy, really!)  We finally made it onto the next tractor after much moaning and groaning from Oldest 2 Sons.  Youngest Son in particular was looking forward to seeing how they milked the cows.  We got to see the calves that were in the building and one was even licking anyone that passed.  We did not spend a lot of time at the milking facility as it was cold and we were ready to head back for some hot chocolate.

On our way back, during our second tractor ride we encountered the same family with the little boy that had made such awful faces. We were trying to find seats on the tractor, and there were a few seats scattered here and there.  The mum had a seat next to her that she offered and then she started asking her small son in the seat across from her to let her sit with him to make room for me.  He wanted no part of it and was blankly refusing her request.  She told me that she really did not think he was going to let her sit with him.  I told her that was too bad as we were trying to all fit on for the ride back.  I really wanted to shake her and tell her that she is the adult in this relationship, but instead I told her no worries, that Oldest Son and I had been told by the driver that we could stand.  Honestly, if that little kid made one more face at me, I might have just made one back!

The day was quite chilly, even though the sprinkling had finally let up and the sun was shining, the wind was brisk.  We were definitely under dressed for the occasion with just our fleece sweatshirts and jackets. Other people had hats and puffy coats, I have to admit I was sorely a tempted to take a hat off a little kid and run, but I restrained myself.  There was really no where to run to anyway!  It was a fun time for the younger two in particular. I am pretty sure that one visit was enough for the Beary family!

Moving Day--psyche!

Well, the wire transfer did not arrive as we had hoped yesterday at close of business here.  We are not really sure why, we have a very vague email alluding to approvals and transmissions. So, here we sit with no idea of when we will be out of here, Super Handsome is swamped at work and I am feeling stabby about the whole thing.

We are still in The Shack.  It is clean and we are packed up for the most part.  My delay in packing my stuff did not work, (apparently it was if you pack you will leave, instead of procrastinate and throw everything in one suitcase, no folding and run) I still have my small amount of clothes and a small amount of food to pack.  I guess I need to tell Ann, the owner that we are hoping for Thursday.  At this point I am going to call the movers and ask them to push back delivery of our stuff as well.

It certainly could be worse by all means.  But, at this point we are ready for our own space and our cherished things that we choose to bring from the US.  I told the boys to bring the things that they would be sad and not want to be with out.  Last week Oldest Son told me that in the mess of everything that he had not gotten his Big Puppy packed or his cherished blanket that my mother made for him.  I was most surprised about the blanket, this has to be the first time that he has not taken it with him, he is famous for dragging that blanket everywhere with him.

Yesterday (24 Oct), Youngest Son was crying and sad.  Thankfully, he had his brother, Son 2, to help and comfort him and make him feel better.  He was feeling homesick.  With all the time that the boys have on this school break, there has been lots of discussion of what they miss, and our kitties top the list, hands down.  My kids miss Tux and Coco.  We also think about Chip, our Fox Terrier.  We can't wait to get him back with us.  We have seen Cricket a few times when we have talked to Super Handsome’s parents and she is doing great!  I know that they would not be so homesick if we were in our house with the tree house to play in and their things to occupy them.  So, since it looks like we are not going to be moving today, I think that I need to find something fun or at least diverting for us to do instead.

The kids have another break around Christmas, they get out of school on December 14, and they are off for almost a month.  We are going to keep very busy over the break, seeing and doing things.  When they get into school on Monday, it looks like I need to spend sometime planning on things to do!   We are not going to spend another school break like this one....

The Currency--A Pencey saved is a Pencey earned?

As most of you know, the UK uses the pound sterling or £, option number three on our Macbook.  So, it is a learning curve for us.  It helped recently because Youngest Son has some math homework to do over the break and he had to tell how much was shown on the pictures, so I gave him the handful of change that I had so that he could do it with the real thing.

They do not have £1 notes, instead it is a coin, they also have a £2 coin, but I do not get it as often.  I have also seen the £5, £10, and £20 notes, they have a £50 note as well.  The notes are easy!  It is the coins that are different.  Last week I was at Starbucks with the boys getting lunch and our bill was £20.40.  The line behind us was long, it was a bit dark in the store and I tried to hand the clerk what I thought was close to the right change.... I was off and so finally in frustration I took a handful of change out of my change pocket and held them in my hands and asked her to please pick out the correct change.  I apologized profusely and told her my just moving here story.  She was very nice and very forgiving, and it let us move out of the line quickly!  What a relief!

The kids are having a great time with the new coin system.   Son 2 & 3 have both found £1 on the ground, and they have all found some coins, they keep a sharp look out for change and someone usually finds something on every trip out that we make!

In the UK, they call cents, pence or pees (p).  They have a penny like we do, but we have nicknamed it a pencey, 2p (pence), 5p , 10p, 20p and 50p.    Pretty standard really, but confusing because of what we are used to in the American system.  The pencey (penny) is about the same size and color as ours.  The 2p is large and copper colored as well,  They are the two copper colored coins.  The 5p is very similar to our dime in shape and that it has the same type of serrated edge.  The 20p and 50p are a 7 sided polygon, with the 50p being the bigger of the two.  The 10p is close to the same size as our quarter.  The next coin is the £1, which is thick and a golden color.  The £2 is bigger and gold and silver two toned, similar to the £1.  They all have a picture of HM The Queen on one side of the coin and the other side of the coins all the newer coins have a portion of Shield of the Royal Arms.   If you would like to read about it, I would suggest this link http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/shield.html.

All the notes also have HM Queen Elizabeth printed on one side and different historical notables on the back.  The £5 has Elizabeth Fry, who worked to improve jail conditions for women across Europe.  The £10 features Charles Darwin, no explanation needed!  The £20 features the composer Sir Edgar Elger.  The £50 note has the first Governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Houblon.

So, for all of you English history buffs, what is a sixpense, shilling or half a crown?  Well, those terms are actually no longer used as they have changed the currency system.   See below, this is what they would be equal to in the current system:

• six pense=2.5p
• one shilling (or "bob")=5p
• Half a crown (2 shillings and a sixpense)=12.5p
• one guinea=£1.05

They have slang terms for their money as well, £1 is also called a Quid, 5 Quid and so on.  A pound coin is sometimes also called a smacker or smackeroon.  The £5 notes can also be referred to as a fiver and the £10 a tenner.  I have not personally heard those terms, but now if I do, I will know what they are talking about!

Interesting note, Super Handsome's maternal grandmother, kept sixpence for all of her grandchildren for when they got married.  I wore my mother in laws and mine both on my wedding day in my shoe and I still have mine for my future daughter in laws to borrow.  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a sixpence in your shoe (as the full saying goes).  It has been good luck for us, Super Husband and I have been married 16.5 years, it will be 17 years in 2012 May!  

A Weekend Tale

This weekend we had a nice weekend.  We took sometime to actually do something other then worry about the not so small details of our lives.  Not that we completely ignored it, because we didn't.

Saturday, we went to the car lot and Super Handsome looked at the cars that I had found.  We figured out that my car had been smoked in and Super Handsome's car smells like mold.  Not a problem for normal people, but unfortunately I have family members that have issues with both.  The cars still are going to be cleaned, so I am hoping between that and me spending sometime airing them out that we will be able to get by, after all, it is only a year or so.  Super Handsome drove them both and we figured out that my car vibrates and his car is loud, even by diesel standards.  They certainly aren't exciting and they are bare bones, but if they get the gas mileage that they claim, I won't complain!

We had left the kids at The Shack, so we headed back to get them and talked about doing something.  We were having trouble figuring out what, so I looked around for a pumpkin patch or something to do, since the museums seemed out because they closed at 4pm.  We found an apple orchard in Chelsmford that was having an apple tasting, so we added that to our list.  First, we headed to the rental office to sign the lease.  Then we did a quick tour of Oak Lodge (our house!) and then we headed to a Fish & Chips place and grabbed a bite.  It was greasy, but OK and the kids can now say that they have had them. We headed to the apple tasting at Lathcoats Farm.

On the way out, we got separated.  I had the GPS and Super Handsome did not.  So, he took another route to Chelmsford.  We met back up with the help of our cell phones.  Which, was not easy, as it is illegal to drive while talking unless you are hands free.  So, Mark had to answer my phone, since I do not have any way to be hands free with my pay as you go phone.

After we met back up, Super Handsome followed me to the orchard.  We got there just as everything was closing up.  The store was still open another hour, so we walked around a bit, and the kids got to do a few things.  We also took some time to taste some of the apples.  When we first walked up to taste the apples, we did not really get a lot of attention from the ladies that were there.  After I explained that I was from America and that they had different apples did it become more interesting.   We tasted probably about 5 different varieties.  The Cornish Gilflower was a very different apple, it has a slightly fermented perfume flavor that you get in your mouth when you first take a bite.  The Bleinheim Orange has a slightly orange flavor to it and was good.  My favorite was the D'arcy Spice, not only because of the name (I am a BIG Jane Austen fan) but also because of the slightly spiced taste.  The apple is one of the last that they harvest, in November, but they kindly got me a small bag for me to purchase.

Then we headed to the country store.  We looked at the apples and other fresh fruit and foods.  We ended up picking up 6 eggs and some streaky bacon for breakfast the next morning.  In the UK, what they call bacon is actually more like a piece of ham.  American bacon is what they call streaky bacon.  We also picked up some delicious fresh baked rolls and french bread baguettes.

After we were done, we went back to Dunmow.  We had been told that there was a good Indian restaurant to go to, it is the Queen Victoria.  Liam has a project that he is doing in school about India.  Part of the project entailed going to a restaurant and doing a section about the food.  We had a very nice time at the restaurant and Liam said it was delicious and he wanted to go back.  Super Handsome (who is not an adventurous eater) even said that we would be back!

Sunday, turned out to be a beautiful day and we headed to Hertford to walk around the town.  I took many pictures and we saw many, many interesting things.  I took the time to take photos of a few of the restaurants that we had been to that I had not taken pictures of...

After wandering some we went into a pub that we had noticed always seemed busy, The Duncombe.  We grabbed a lunch and then I suggested we go to the castle that was located in Hertford, which was close to where we had been walking.  I am so glad that we did, as it proved to be a very interesting visit. It is called the Hertford Castle Gatehouse.  None of the original castle remains, all that is left is the Gatehouse, the motte and the walls.  But it has a rich history and was used by royalty quite often in the past.  If you would like to read the history, I suggest this link http://www.hertford.net/history/castle/.  There is also some history about the statue that I took a picture of, his name is Samuel Stone and he founded Hartford, Connecticut with his friend Thomas Hooker.  After wandering and taking some fun pictures, we ended the day by going to a pub called The Bullhead.  We had eaten there once before, just about a month ago.

We are actually coming up on being in the UK for a month.  The time has gone quickly for me, as I have been engrossed in the details, the details.  I am hoping this coming week we get to spend some more time enjoying some of the other interesting things in the area.  There is a lot to do and see!

Cutting through the Red Tape

Well, we have a moving date.  It looks like October 25th.  Now, we just need the stars to align to make that happen.   We need to make this happen, not only because we are very ready to have our own home, but also because we need our warmer clothes (fall weather has arrived) and our temporary housing time is quickly coming to an end!  Plus, the scratching noise in the attic is not going away, and frankly, it just gets creepy....

Apparently, it is a process to let a home.  But, really, everything here so far seems to have some sort of process involved, then again it does in the US as well.  I just have been out of the rental market for so long, that I can't even judge if this process is the same, better, or worse then the US.  I just know that our process is different and probably takes longer then the average English family because we are from the US and we have to rely on the company for help and assistance.  This can be frustrating for a couple of different reasons, if something is not working, I appreciate the ability to fix or correct it myself.  Well, in this instance, I can't.  Super Handsome has to deal with his company, I do help as much as I can.  But, sometimes, I have to wonder if there are not too many hands in the proverbial pot.  To let a home, we have a total of  6 people involved.  Seems a bit much, doesn't it?  The letting agent, the reference company, Super Handsome and I, the moving coordinator and the accountant.  I am not even sure if I have everyone even listed....  I guess you can add two more, the homeowners!

So, we are waiting for our reference to be confirmed.  Raytheon's HR department has to confirm that the information Super Handsome gave the reference company is correct.  Monday, when the reference company called, HR was out of the office all day.  Here it is Wednesday and they still have not confirmed the information.  I sent Super Handsome an email and asked him to follow up with them.  Would be so much easier though, if they did it sans prodding....

In the process, the letting agents email was mis-transcribed and the accountant had questions for her.  Also, keep in mind that the accountant is located in the US and is 5 hours behind.  So, emails were not getting to her.  The letting agent informed me yesterday, in a polite but firm way that the first months rent was due, and necessary to take the home off the market.  I also politely, informed her that at this time I am at the mercy of the company, and the company is back in the US.  It was apparently a good thing that I mentioned it to her as she thought it was all just the company in Harlow.  Super Handsome and I finally managed to get the email delivered to her that contained the questions that accountant had for her.  I am hoping that this will mean that things will move swiftly, now that communication can take place.  I have not heard anything today, so I think that I may need to send out some communications to see what is going on.  Super Handsome did mention that we did have approval from the relocation agent....

Yesterday,  I found my debit card!  Imagine my surprise!   So, I spent yesterday accessing accounts and then last night calling banks to get access to things that we needed to pay bills electronically and to be able to obtain quid (cash).  So, today I am tasked with going to the ATM!  It is going to be a little strange for awhile.  I have used only a credit card for years in the US.  It is going to be a transition, but really I think that it will be a positive one.  The first thing that I am going to buy?  A brush.  I did not pack mine!

I think that when I come back to the US, I may end up ending my relationship with my current bank and keep my relationship with just my credit union.  Our credit union has always been wonderful to us.  Their borrowing rates have always been better, they will convert our dollars to pounds for free and they don't nickel and dime us for other expenses, like bill pay.   I think that we are going to end up borrowing money for our cars from them as well, as long as we can work out a way to do it since we are overseas.  It will be crazy banking though, because in the end I will be dealing with three banks.  We will have our US bank, the credit union and we are in the process of getting an account in a bank here.  Which is very important for establishing credit history.  Did I mention that we can't get a cell phone contract?  It has to be pay as you go.  We need bank statements or something to get a contract.

The boys are on holiday this week and next.  So far, we have done nothing really.  We walked Monday on the foot trails.  All through the UK, there is an amazing foot trail network.  They are typically marked by signs on the side of the road.  It seems to be a really nice way to enjoy the countryside.   We stayed in on Tuesday because it was really chilly outside, even though the sun was out.  There has been frost here the last two days.  If we had our warmer clothes I would have made them go out.  Oldest Son did go outside and practice his Tae Kown Do forms.  Then we looked up some Yoga videos on Youtube and did a bit of Yoga as well.  I am going to try and take them up to the house tomorrow to talk to the homeowners and let them play outside at the tree house.  The tree house is a huge center of conversation for all of them.  They have some really big plans!

Monday, I went and test drove the car that I am probably going to purchase.  It is a 2005 Renault Grand Scenic, diesel.  Not really an exciting vehicle, except for the fact that it gets 47.1mpg (seriously for a 7 seater)!  It is considered an estate or a station wagon.  I was really not wanting a big car, I was dreaming of a little 5 seater.  I had also been dreaming of a Volvo or a Mercedes, but when we really started looking at the cars and the gas mileage, they are ok, but not the best.  Honestly, after looking, if Skoda (seriously it is a brand of cars) made a 7 seater I would get one.  There is a car that we have looked at for Super Handsome that is a Skoda and it gets 56.5mph (HELLO, WAKE UP AMERICAN CAR MAKERS)!  It is just out of the price budget of we want to spend.  Instead the poor guy is probably going to drive a 1997 Ford Mondeo or a Ford Focus Estate.  Not quite the little BMW that he was dreaming of....

I was reading about the Skoda car company and they are coming out with a 7 seater car for the 2011-2012 model year.  I told Super Handsome that I want to order it and bring it home with us.  Skoda is well known to have one of the best gas mileage around.  I am just not sure where I could get it worked on!  All the Skoda cars get good gas mileage and the company reported growth in sales this quarter when many car companies did not.  Skoda is actually partnered/owned with VW and uses the same platform to build their cars.  Maybe, bringing one back home is not so impossible!

Today, the kids and I are going to head out.  They need to move around beyond The Shack and so do I.  We are off to look at cars (and hopefully seal the deal), grab some lunch, get some cash and buy a brush!  I should have a car by next week (crosses fingers or as they say here "touch wood"), then with our new cars and our warmer clothes, maybe we can head to the ocean or go somewhere.  We need to go to the Olympic Stadium, Colin has to do a project in one of his classes about it.  I am just anxious to go exploring!

A House!

We have a house!

I honestly would have taken the third house that we looked at. It was a nice house, a bit on the small side, but close to the schools and work. But Super Handsome had concerns because it did not really have an extra room for the electric drum kit, for the kids for all their home work and stuff, so I kept looking. I am glad that I did!

The house selling market is very slow here, at least in the size homes that we were looking for, but the rental or as they call it the letting market is hot. I mentioned why in one of my last posts. Just as a refresher, it is because Londoners are moving out to Hertfordshire because of the schools. It is lucky for us that the sellers market is so slow, that is why the home we choose was up for rent. The owners had tried to sell it but after having a buyer fall through in January, they had decided to let it for awhile until the market improves.

We looked at houses in both Essex and Hertfordshire. Our home is located in Essex, in a smallish hamlet (or village) called Takeley. I say smallish, because it has three pubs. The really small hamlets do not have a pub. The pub is called the Lion and the Lamb and it is suppose to be a good place to eat, I was warned that they have large portions though. Shopping is fairly convinent as well with Bishop's Stortford and Great Dunmow being very close.

I looked at the house initially on Wednesday. I met the owners, Jan and Ron. They are absolutely lovely people. The home is named Oak Lodge. When they bought it, it started out as a small, family home. As time went on and after their kids left, they added onto the original home and ran it as a Bed and Breakfast for a number of years. The original home dates well back into the early 1400's, and at our most recent visit, Ron showed us some information that dated it back into the 1400's when it was being letted out!

When I looked at the home, I absolutely LOVED it. I was concerned because really, it was not the most convenient to school or work. There was one other home that I needed to consider first that was central for both Super Handsome and I to commute to. (this you may want to skip) To explain, Super Handsome works on the northwest side of Harlow in a section that is known as the Pinnacles. If you are looking at a map, his work is located near 414 and A1169. The boys' school is located on the northeast side of Harlow, off of B183 in Churchgate. The GPS says that it takes about 18 minutes to get from school to the house. I am not sure what it will say about Super Handsome's work. But I do know that the road is little(meaning narrow) and there is a lot of farming in the area. I think that an 18 minute commute will only happen under ideal conditions, 25 mins is probably more accurate.

At the last minute another home came up. Honestly, I almost did not look at it, it was really only the location that drew me to it. It was a great house, had a little bit of extra room and a playhouse in the back. It would have worked, it would have been a cozy year for us. It was closer to school and work. The downside was that it only had one shower and there really was not a place for the boys to ride their bikes safely. So, I finally decided that we needed to let Oak Lodge.

Here is the link with some pictures: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-28566067.html

We all visited the home on Saturday and the kids LOVED it, as I knew that they would. If you look closely at the outdoor pictures, you can see the hint of a tree fort. Ron built it for his now 12 year old grandson, that will incidentally be our neighbor! Ron and Jan's daughter and her husband and two children live in a "bungalow"(which seems a misnomer to me, looking only at the roof, it looks to be a nice sized home) on the property as well!

While we looked at the house, Ron and Jan gave us the grand tour and included all the information that they knew about the house. One of the little stained glass windows and the oak woodwork and doors were probably taken from Catholic churches when England broke with Rome. We saw the new and old parts of the house and then ended the tour with the fantastic tree fort! The younger two asked if they could just stay there while we left to go and pack their stuff at "The Shack". We laughed, as Ron and Jan still need to pack their things. They are going to live with their son for the year and maybe do some traveling. Jan apparently has a cousin in Ohio that she wants to visit!

I am so excited about the prospect of getting my winter clothes. When we arrived the weather was unseasonably warm (but very pleasant!) which, has been to our benefit. But it is rapidly cooling down and we have been experiencing typical UK weather, it is time to break out the sweatshirts, sweater and boots! The kids are ok, especially since they have their school uniforms. I packed the lightest and I find myself cold very quickly!

I also can't wait to get my debit card! The shoe stores have some fabulous boots that I can't wait to purchase. I have also seen some really nice cashmere sweaters that I would love to have a closer look at as well!

Right now, we are just waiting for the paperwork to go through. We hope to get in soon as our temp housing time is coming to a close. I am hoping for October 25 or sooner. It would be ideal to be settled before the kids start back at school.

House Hunting

House hunting is different in the UK, even renting versus buying. Homes are listed sometimes by two different agents at once. From what I have learned, it is quite common to work with many different agents. Here we look at the house, a relationship with an agent is a nice perk, but certainly not necessary.

I have looked for all the homes on a central website that all the agencies seem to use, it is called Rightmove.co.uk. It has ben helpful, for sure. The problem seems to be that homes go faster then they are put onto the site! There were two homes that we were interested in seeing, pictures never did get posted and when I inquired about them, they were already "let".

So, today is the day that I am making a decision about a home. I thought had it down to two, I had viewed one and loved it! I found two issues, the laundry was located outside in a little out building and it was a bit further away from school and work then I really wished it to be.

Then a third house worked it's way into running. Yesterday an agent that has been very persistent in trying to get me to look and his properties had his assistant talk to me about a property that had just come available. I have to admit I was very skeptical about it, but the location was pretty convenient and his assistant told me that the picture did not do it justice. So, I relented. I had the time before viewing the last home on my list. So, I looked at it and it has some very good positives, so good that I am having trouble making the decision!

I did view the last house and it is very nice as well. But really the other two have it beat, for many reasons.

So, now I am getting ready to head out and meet Super Handsome. He is going to look at the house that I saw this morning. He has only seen pictures of the other home. So, I know, one way or another we will make a decision today! :)

Starbucks with no free internet!

Tuesday, I managed to go back to the Starbucks (see my Facebook page) and I got my Crème brûlée machiaciato latte and a skinny lemon poppy seed muffin. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera. I wished that I did, only because they offered so many different choices. They had sandwiches and some bento style lunches, along with the cookies, muffins and breakfast sandwiches. The only thing that they had in the case was some of the pastries and sweets. The sandwiches and lunches were all in a plastic wrapper or container.


Well, the latte was good. I had forgotten that they do not sweeten it and you have to sweeten it yourself. So, that was a little bit of a shock. The muffin was really good, lemon poppy seed muffins are one of my favs! I am not sure what made it skinny though, it had a nice layer of frosting on the top....


If you planned on eating in, they served you in a Starbucks mug. I choose take away as my time was kind of short. I sat down and tried to connect to the internet, to be disappointed to find that both unlocked connections were for paying customers.


Free internet can be found in some restaurants. McDonalds has it and we have found some of the nicer taverns offer it as well. Many times, in places where there are a lot of shops you can find an internet "hot spot". The ones that I have found all tend to be run by the same company called BT Hot Zone. They have them all over. It seems that you have to pay to use it. I have honestly not examined it closely as I really am not that interested in paying for the internet zones. I miss having my iPhone at my finger tips and all, but honestly I can deal without it. As my friend Katy Brown told me, I can get my mid-1990's on!

Cars, or Lack Of....

So, a car, a car, a car... one of the next goals.  If only Super Handsome would have listened to me last week!

Last week he told me to find a car and lease it.  Ok, sure.  One thing that I knew before we moved here was that financing in the UK was notoriously hard to obtain!  Someone did not believe me or must not have remembered reading about it.  I told him last week that we just needed to go and find a decent, inexpensive car and charge it.  Then we would deal with the bill on the other end.

Well, that idea did not sit well with him.  So, I let it go.  He was working with his work to find something for himself anyway.  Well, Tuesday (11/10/11), he suggested that go and lease a car.  Really?  Because anything I had found on the internet suggested that leases were only available for 36 months, and then there was that whole credit issue....  So, I went to Volkswagen, Audi and Ford and they all told me the same thing: the financing agencies would not even look at us.  In the UK, it does not matter if your credit rating is the highest ever in the US (over 800), they won't consider your history there, because you are here, period.  Ford told me that sometimes they can do something for people when they produce 3 months of bank statements, but the last person that had tried to purchase a car was refused.  They all suggested that we ask his company to lease a car and pay them or go to a contract hire place.

I relayed the message to Super Handsome, and guess what we are going to do this weekend?  Oh, yeah.  What I said earlier, go and charge it.

School

So, the boys have been in school now 4 days.  They started the last week of term, which means that they will have the next two weeks off.  No joke!  The schools here go 7-8 weeks and work the kids pretty hard, then they take a week or two off for holiday (or vacation).

So far it has been a great experience for them.  Except for Cian who is having the hardest time.  He is very tired in the morning and has decided that he does want to go to school anywhere.  Yesterday, he forgot his blazer.  Since we were early, he stood with me on the playground and had tears about forgetting the blazer, being tired and just having to go to school.  Poor little guy is just have a rough go!  We had tears again this morning, Sean was here to help deal with them.  He is having a hard time understanding what people are saying to him and is to shy to ask them to repeat it.

Colin is having a great time.  Yesterday, at the end of the day he was walking out of school with a bunch of the guys.  He is really enjoying the experience and when Cian was complaining about school, Colin told him that this was a really good school.  I think that the small size has really helped.

Mark is settling in as well.  I think that the attention has waned some.  Though he was divorced once and married twice Wednesday.  Today he apparently has to make a decision between two girls!  Oh my!  Also on Tuesday the kids asked him to do a silly dance.  He finally complied and then they ended up joining in!  Ok, whatever, as long as they are having fun.  :)  Mark was also invited to a birthday party tomorrow evening.

Monday, the boys went in school pants, but no tops.  Monday afternoon we had an appointment with the school store to buy what they needed.  Cian and Liam were the first appointments at 14:00 and they went the full hour!  Colin and Mark went next and they were longer!   We needed shirts, ties, blazers, jumpers(sweaters), their PE kit (I am not joking!) which consists of their Rugby clothes, whites (for regular PE) and a track suit, that they ALL needed!  Cian and Liam got book bags and a satchel for their PE kit.  Liam also got an outdoor coat.  We got as much as we could from the second hard store, but that was that a big bill!  Sheeish!

Tuesday, I spent some time talking to both Liam and Cian's teachers after school.  Cian is out of school first, and so, while I was waiting for Liam I talked with his teacher.  She told me that sometimes they have trouble  understanding each other.   But she works with him and they try and use other words if they can't understand each other.  She ended up giving me work for him to do over holiday for him to do to catch up.  She showed me his book bag which is more like a portfolio case and he had a Star Wars book in it for free reading along with his homework, etc.  I found out that she is a big SciFi fan!  Cian was well matched with his teacher, she not only has similar taste in genre, she seems very patient and caring.

Liam is doing very well.  He is well liked by all the kids and his teacher.  He is having problems remembering names though.  He is not the only one, they all are having that issue.  I caught up with his teacher at the end of school on Tuesday as I was trying to figure out the dismissal routine.  She gave Liam some work to do over holiday as well.  I am going to ask for work for all them over the holiday.  It's not like we can take a holiday right now!  Hopefully we will be spending the time settling in our new home.

All in all, they seem to be settled in well.  And I think that we have a house.  I will post details when we are confirmed!

Trouser's not Pants....

So, in case you have not heard, the boys are going to be starting school on Monday.  They will be attending St. Nicholas school, it is located in Harlow.

Monday we visited the school and had a tour from the headmaster, Mr. Knight.  Wednesday the boys went for a "taster" day.  What a day that ended up being!

When I arrived to pick them up in the afternoon, the school secretary had some very interesting things to tell me!  Colin and Mark had to take placement exams in the morning.  Apparently when Mark was taking his exam, the girls started tapping on the window and calling "Hello" (really it would be 'ello, as the British don't always pronounce their "h" sounds well).  Much to the chagrin of the secretary, she had to shoo the girls away and then keep watch so they would not come back!  

Liam and Cian joined her in her office after they finished with school.  She mentioned to me that when they saw each other they gave each other a big hug.  I should mention that I really like the school secretary.  Her name is Mrs. Bradley and she shared with me that she has 3 boys, her boys are older then ours.  She is the ONLY mother that I have talked to that has said something about girls being not as easy and I did not get offended.  Probably because she has all boys as well!

When the kids got into the car, I heard the verdicts.  Colin loved the school.  Mark had a hard time with all the attention.  Liam enjoyed the school.  Cian, well, he just wants to stay at home with me and not attend any school at all!  The older two boys were paired up with buddies and Liam and Cian had small classes and they seemed to do well.

Colin had a great time playing football (remember it is soccer here!).  He scored three goals when he played and was well pleased with how nice everyone was to him.  He talked to many of the kids but did not seem to remember many names.  We found out later that one of the boys was Andrew, and he is from Scotland.

 Mark was asked to tell the class about himself in forms, which was first thing in the morning.  He told the kids that he had three other brothers and no sisters.  The girls were apparently sorry and several offered to be his sister and one said that we could adopt her!  Then he had the girls knocking at the window while he was testing and the later, he had at least 8 girls ask if they could be his girlfriend and he got at least one marriage proposal.  LOL!  I told him next time to say that his mother won't allow it.

Liam enjoyed his day as well.  He met a boy named Harry and played giant Connect 4 with him.  Cian did not really have anything memorable that he wanted to tell me about his day.  He did get to swim in the pool for lessons as part of his PE, he did enjoy swimming and the water was warm because the pool is heated.

Colin and Mark are a head in math.  We also found out that Liam and Cian are actually a bit behind in English.  The school and the teachers are not worried though, they feel that it will be easy to catch them up.  Oh!  One thing that I should mention.  The boys do not have grades, they are in years.  Colin is in year 10, Mark is in year 8, Liam is year 4 and Cian is year 2.  In England, all the years go by age and the cut off is September 1.

So, the boys were excited to go and I met with the school on Friday and received the official offer to have them attend.  They will start on Monday and be getting their uniforms ordered that day as well.  I won't bore you with the details of what they look like....

Today (Saturday) we attended the school's open day.  We went so that Sean could see the school.  It was also very helpful because we ended up talking to all the teachers.  They were all very friendly and wanted to know about us and tell us about their classes.  We had a very nice tour guide, his name was Stuart.  He is Colin's age.  Interesting fact about Stewart?  David Beckham is his neighbor!  Poor Stewart ended up spending the whole open day with us as the teachers were very interested in speaking with us!

We learned a lot of great things about the school and I know that Sean really agrees with me that this is a great place for them to be.  Some of those interesting things?  In the UK, the kids have the option to do double science or triple science.  What that means is that they take the sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) 2 or 3 of them, all of the concurrently.  They do this from the 7th year to the 11th year.  Colin can specialize and he has chosen to take the triple science course.

Another interesting thing that we learned from Mrs. Bradley?  Sean mentioned to her that we would try and pick up some pants for the boys at the store before Monday.  She instantly corrected him, and informed him ever so politely that is was trousers.  Pants in England are panties and for girls, trousers is the correct word for the situation.  She also warned Sean to let the boys know as well as they may get some giggles and laughter or even teasing if they use the wrong terminology!

So, tomorrow, we are off to buy TROUSER's!

Why My GPS is a Crabby, Bossy Hag

Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I have a GPS right now.  Generally, though I have never been a fan and I have resisted getting one for a long time.  I live in Indiana for goodness sake!  I have never really needed one, and in the past, I have just used Mapquest or Google maps.  I am luckily enough to generally be able to look at the directions and be able to drive places.  I also have a fairly good memory if I have been somewhere before.  In England, it is a total different story.

I have always disliked the GPS when I have ridden with them in the past and I finally figured out why as yesterday I was told endlessly where to go ALL day.  It is the voice, her voice.  Let me digress why.  I love the British accent.  It was a total plus in moving here getting to listen to it all the time, and I adapt easily and I have already started to pick up the intonation. (When I lived in Kentucky I started to pick up the southern accent as well) The British have a lilt to their speech and intonate their voices higher in pitch in their sentences and words, especially toward the end.  I associate that with politeness and as everyone that I have encountered talk that way and seem so polite and courteous.  Well, my GPS?  We have it on the British speak, and it has always bothered me.  I now know why.  Her voice is monotonous and flat. She sounds bossy and naggy.  Who wants to drive around in a car with a crabby, bossy, nagging GPS?  Apparently I do if I want to know where to go and how to get there!

My GPS apparently likes to sight see as well, or at least wants me to take the most circuitous route possible.  Which, honestly, it is not all the bossy, naggy hags' fault.  Sometimes it is my fault because I can't understand what she is saying and I miss turns or exits.  Roads and such as not always as well marked as she may think!  I am convinced that she sometimes directs me to the wrong exit on the round about on purpose, just so she can make me turn around in the next round about.  Secretly, I think that she is laughing at me and is taking immense joy in sending me in circles.  I think that she knows that I hate her....

New Definition of Torture

We have been in a hotel since we had arrived last Thursday, September 28.  It was a nice hotel, a Marriot.  We got free breakfast, it was warm, we had a nice TV with more then 4 channels, and may I mention that it was WARM, the staff was helpful, ever so polite and nice ("Yes, Mrs. Beary.  How may I assist you?").  We had connecting rooms, but no real living space.  Which at times can be annoying, but really, how often were we really there all together?

We had discussed changing to a different hotel because we had talked about living up in Bishop's Stortford, which is a town north of where Sean works in Harlow.  The hotel was south of both points, so at first, it looked like I was going to do lots of driving.  But, as I dove into the housing and school situation, it became apparent that there was no way we would be living in Bishop's Stortford.

Sean had other co-workers that had been in the area for about 4 months and they lived in temporary housing.  Sean was bound and determined that we were going to move there, come **** or high water.  Despite, anything that I said.  So, I shut up, packed up and we arrived last night.

I am not exactly sure where we are, to be honest.  We arrived in the dark, after a late dinner.  We were on a winding little horse cart of a road and on our first try we turned into the wrong place.  We finally found the place and was directed by a helpful, soon to be neighbor where to go to check in and Sean paid.  I do know that when I looked out the bedroom window this morning I saw horses.  Then when I looked out the living area window I saw the cars, a couple of other cottages, round hay bales and a tractor.

We walked in and it seemed ok, except for the gas like smell in the kitchen/living area.  I pointed it out to Sean and was instantly told to shut up.  Really?  Because the smell of gas IS great, right?  Oh, but we do have a self catering kitchen (because it is in my wildest dream to cook right now), a TV with 6?  channels and washer/dryer combo though, ooooo, celebration.  Oh and the bathroom... can I mention the bathroom?  It smells, much like the bathroom did in the hotel that we stayed in while we went to Milan.  It is not quite like a port a potty, but has a definite eau de poo smell and about that washer/dryer combo?  I think that I may finally understand why my English friend Carly mentions ironings so much on Facebook.  All the clothes came out wrinkly and not completely dry.  I might add that I took them out right away and put them on a drying rack.  ( I just wanted to go to a laundry mat, but Sean insisted that was not going to happen.)

So, we all got ready for bed and shut out the lights.  One thing that became apparent was that the road was very close.  We could hear cars race by occasionally all night.  I say race because remember last night I described the road as a little horse cart?  Where we are is a little curvy area on the small narrow road.  I wonder how fast those cars are really going because it sure sounds fast.

So, as morning came upon us, I start hearing a cow, mooing.  It was also freezing cold!  Ok, where am I really?  As I was looking around this morning I found the receipt, the name of the place that we are staying?  Delmond Barns, great.  So, here I sit, freezing and smelling gas, sipping hot tea.  We are wandering around with blankets wrapped around us and the warmest clothes that we have on our bodies.  Guess this is going to push me to make a fast decision on a home!  Brrrrr!  But hey, on the plus side I have free internet!

Houses

So, Sunday though today (Thursday, October 6) has been filled with the housing and school search.

I am going to talk mostly about the housing search now.  I will mention that I have found two schools of interest that have openings.  I have been meeting with them both, details to follow when we have success!

All the homes that we have looked at have at least 4 bedrooms.  One thing that I had already knew was going to be an issue was closet and storage spaces in bedrooms, not all homes that storage.  The other issue that became apparent as we looked, was that we needed at least one or two rooms more then what we would live in, a multi-use room.

Sunday we looked at two homes. The first home had very small bedrooms, was very modern and neutrally decorated.  It was just enough space for us to live in, but missing the multi-use room.  It was located in Bishop's Stortford in a neighborhood with lots of homes in close proximity.  The second home was located in a community of homes and because it is an older house it had a name, which made it a bit harder to find.  The houses around it were all older as well and it was definitely not a town or city.  It maybe was a village but I don't remember seeing a pub.  It had a very nice use of space, the bedrooms were good sized, the decor could benefit to be a bit more neutral, especially the red carpet.  (Perhaps we are a bit spoiled?)

Monday, we toured a school and then went directly to look at a home very close in proximity.  I was very excited about both, but Sean asked me to keep looking as he had hoped to be in a different place so that he had an easier time getting to work.  So, I kept at it.

Tuesday was a quiet day that the kids and I spent at the hotel.  I talked to the school I had looked at and arranged for the boys to visit on Wednesday.  I filled Wednesday with appointments to look at homes.  It was as I looked at the first house (which was very nice on the inside BTW) that I realized we needed more then just 4 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen.  We just have to have at least one room for the boys to do homework, to store their musical instruments etc....

So, armed with that knowledge and the fact that the boys had a great visit at the school.  I have narrowed it down to two homes that are very nice.  This afternoon I talk to the school to determine if the boys will be able to attend.

How I Lost My Husband...

Yes, yes, yes.... I lost Super Handsome.  Let me explain!

Saturday, we decided to head back up to Bishop's Stortford and go to the letting agents.  He also wanted to stop in the information center to ask them about a place for short term stays.  Also, on our agenda, was to pick up a pay as you go cell phone for me as well.  Super Handsome decided that we should go to Bishop's Stortford first and I should lead.  I almost told him we needed the mobile phone first! Looking back I probably should have.

So, we got on the M25 (major highway that circles London) and then proceeded to get onto the M11 to head north (major highway that runs north from London to Cambridge).  I totally panicked and headed SOUTH on the M11, into London.  As soon as I did it, I realized my mistake.  Super Handsome did not follow me and he wondered what the heck I was doing, so did I!!!  So, I had to take M11 to the next exit (which, BTW is nothing like an American exit) which was about 9 miles away and then I had to follow this road east for, um at least 6 miles.  All in all, my panic attack cost me 45 mins and at least 20 miles!  Grrr!  Not to mention that I was not sure where to meet Super Handsome now, as we had not discussed what to do if we got separated!  I had Kid 2 in the car with me.  After a bit of swearing, "****, I just lost Daddy!", "Mommy, don't say the S word!", so I said, "Well, what would you like me to say?  Hurray!  We just lost Daddy?", which was followed by laughter.  We made it up to Bishop's Stortford and to the letting office and where Kid 2 and I found Super Handsome and the rest of the boys.  Phew!  We made arrangements to view two properties on Sunday and left.

We headed off again, this time I was following Super Handsome.  We drove around a bit, I think that we were suppose to find the Tesco again, but Super Handsome ended up getting side tracked and we visited his work instead. It was an anxious time for me, as it is not easy to follow someone in the UK.  Instead of 4 way stops and lights, they have round abouts, all over.  Some of the round abouts even have lights.  For the most part I was able to keep up and I did not loose him.  We finally made it to Tesco.  We were hoping to use our current phones to get mobile service, but none were unlocked.  So, we finally ended up purchasing a pay as you go phone.

Saturday, we also finally paid for internet.  Super Handsome needed to buy the UK maps for the GPS so we could figure out where we were going the next morning!

Friday, Our First Full Day!

Friday, we headed back up to Bishop's Stortford.  We were looking for schools and homes.  So, we started out by visiting Bishop's Stortford College.  That was a total waste of time.  They are a big school and highly rated.  It has a beautiful campus and goes from nursery school all the way to age 18.  I was really hoping they could accommodate us.  But they only were able to accommodate 2 of the boys and then they were unwilling to because we would not be here for the duration.  Ok, fine fancy-pants school, we don't need you either!

Then we headed to the information center.  I headed to the train station again to try and park.  Well all the spaces are for permit holders.  Well, that is not going to be me!  Colin swore he remembered parking by the center, so I headed into the center of town, small, teeny, tiny roads and all to find it.  We made it and I parked behind another vehicle, all seemed good!  We headed in and got a map, a list of letting agents and other helpful things.  We had only been inside 5 mins tops.  I hurriedly remembered where I parked and asked if I was in an allowed area.  The lady looked out to where I was parking and said, "Oh, no, you can't park there!  Hurry now, they are there to give you a ticket!"  I instantly ran out and the Bobbie and cried, "no, please I will move the car right away!"   I kept profusely apologizing as she repeatedly told me how lucky I was as she could easily ticket and fine me.  That by not ticketing me she was saving me a lot of money.  Phew, I am so glad she did not ticket me!

So, I then headed to the catholic schools.  The receptionist politely gave me registration information at the desk of the school for the older boys as the registrar was on vacation.  The primary school also gave me forms and let me know they had a wait list.  Hmmm, this was obviously NOT going to be easy.  I went to one more school, another primary school.  The headmistress was wonderful!  Liam and Cian went in and she gave us a tour of the school.  Really it was not much different then Covington, the school that we just left.  The teachers all had Smart boards.  Instead of a computer lab, they had a cart and the laptops were brought to them.  They had a rather small library area but they had a very big playground and a small area with trees that they called the forest (a mislabel for sure, but cute sentiment).  Liam loved the school and really enjoyed the tour.  Cian held my hand and was not so happy to be there.  Poor guy grabbed my hand through most of the tour, which is kind of unusual for him.  He is definitely feeling some anxiety and he is enjoying his break from school immensely.  

What I ended up gathering from the very kind and helpful staff at the school was that I needed an address so then I could find the school.   They kindly suggested some letting agents for me, letting is what they refer to as renting in the UK.  So, I headed back into the town center and this time I was lucky enough to figure out where it was legal to park! (and I did not listen to Colin)  :P

I finally headed to the letting agent.  I visited as many offices as I could.  I managed to find out that Londoners are moving in large numbers to Hertforshire or Herts (a UK county) because the schools are so good.  So, currently there are not a whole lot of properties to rent.  Fabulous....  things can never be simple, can they?  Also, as you may have concluded, the best schools are all full.  No real surprise, is it?

So, I met Sean back at the hotel, armed with all this information and we headed to Hertford to grab dinner.  Well, because we did not have a booking (reservation) the two places that we tried did not have any space for us.  So, we ended up in a pub and enjoyed dinner there.  Sean and I were the only ones that ordered a traditional dish, he ordered the Steak Pie and I had fish and chips with smashed minted peas (which are very good BTW).  The boys all ordered things that they could get at home and we warned them that at the next restaurant the would need to choose something else!

When we arrived in Hertford we parked in a garage.  When we arrived we had actually missed the pay period so, our parking was free.  But we had to be mindful of the time because the garage closed at 9pm.  We arrived at the garage by 8:45 to find that in door was down, further investigation found that the stairwell and the elevator was locked.  We started to get a bit worried.  So, we looked around and asked questions and luckily saw the person who was locking up and he motioned to us to lift the door (where we entered).  We tried with no luck.  We headed to the exit and found it open (thankfully!).  We left quickly, no need to get locked in!

We made a quick stop at a super Tesco (similar to a Meijer or a Super-Walmart) to look at their mobile plans.  Then headed back to the hotel and called it a night.  We were still pretty tired and trying to recover from jet-lag.

Hitting the Ground, Driving!

We arrived in Heathrow and immediately went to pick up our cars. While at training we had determined that we probably needed two cars because of the amount of luggage that we would have. A car that would seat us all and our luggage was not something that Super Handsome was comfortable driving because of the size of the roads.

When we went to pick up our car we once again found out that our reservation was messed up (if this seems to be a reoccurring theme, you would be correct!) So, Super Handsome arranged for us to get two cars. The first car has been smoked in, so Super Handsome had to take a bigger car than he wanted. He let me take the little BMW 1 seris and he took the Puegot estate (station wagon). I have been very grateful to have the smaller car on many, many occasions.

Driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road has been very interesting, to say the least! There are times that I do not want a car at all and then there are times that I see that I can't do with out one... in the future I will do some posts devoted just to the driving. I have already had some very interesting incidents, to say the least!

Our first stop was at McDonalds to grab a drink and a bit of lunch. McDonald serves different food here, a lot more chicken and hardly any burgers.  It seems to be a bit more healthy.  They also have potato wedges!

We arrived at the hotel to find yet again that out reservations were messed up. They only had Super Handsome booked for one room. Later, the staff figured out that I had been booked a room as well. The rooms though were not connecting or a family room.

The staff was very sympathetic and worked very hard to put us in rooms that were across the hall from each other with roll a way beds. They promised us a room change on Saturday. They got us into a room as fast as they could and we went in and rested for a bit. Super Handsome headed into work. Before he went he showed me the map of where we were and suggested where I should go. We had to use a map because Super Handsome had not had time to get the GPS updated with the UK maps! So, I headed up to Bishop's Stortford with the boys to have a look around.

We headed up to Bishop's Sotrtford and thankfully found a place to park at the train station. It was late enough that I was able to find a free parking spot. It seems that most parking spots you have to pay for, not many are free.   Parking is a pain, thankfully I have a small car to squeeze in small spaces, and as Kellie Wallace-Kalnajs and my other drivers ed partner (was it Kathy Hauge-Struecker?) might remember I have a gift for parallel parking in small places!  

 Then we got out and wandered around looking for the information station. They would have maps and other useful information for us. Unfortunately, they were closed. We were suppose to meet Super Handsome around 5:30 at the information station, since I did not have a cell phone the plan was to keep checking back every half hour if he was not there. After dark I decided to take the kids back to the hotel. They were exhausted. As we walked into the room, Super Handsome called. He met us back at the hotel. Everyone but Kid 2 went to grab a bite to eat at McDonalds, for the second time today.   As many of you may know McDonalds is one of my least favorite places to eat, in the world.  At least they seem to have some healthier choices here though.

One things that the kids and I discovered that they hate riding with me. They have some understandable reasons!  I have not driven a manual in a few years. It has not been a complete relearning process, but it has been definitely painful. It is a bit unnerving to driving on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car. There are a lot of things to adjust to and then I have to remember to shift.  I have killed the engine too many times to count, mostly because, I end up sticking the gear shift in the wrong gear because I am panicking. The hills were a bit stressful at first, as well. I also tend to jerk the car a bit when I shift because I take the clutch out to fast! :) I like to drive my car like a race car!  Sadly, it makes the kids feel a bit woozy, especially when they have not had much to eat!  My older two remind me often as we are getting in the car that I go to the OTHER SIDE now.   I have had at least one person tell me to drive on the "right" side of the road.  Once when I was following Super Handsome when we were late for a viewing appointment, I pulled out in front of a man in a delivery van and he SCREAMED idiot at me.  Sadly, I just laughed.... and honestly, it still makes me laugh.  Maybe because he sounded a bit like Yosemite Sam when he is screaming at Bugs Bunny?  :P

On the plane with Thor, god of Thunder

I would recommend to you, if you have the ability to fly business class, do it!  Drink the free champagne, and drink up, because you did already pay for it!  We sat in coach and the champagne was NOT free!  (darn it!) Sadly, it was not as comfortable as my last trip to Italy when I was able to sit in business class.  Our flight was a bit over 7 hours. During this flight I sat with Kid 3. The movie selection was not  exciting for either of us. The rest of my family enjoyed watching Captain America, The Green Lantern, and the X-Men. Kid 3 and I are just not action type movie people. We will watch them with the others, but if given the choice we would prefer something else. So, Kid 3 watched the Disney channel and I watched parts of Midnight in Paris and a bit Downtown Abby, from last season. After dinner, Kid 3 broke his headphones into the arm rest. So, he was not able to listen to his show which worked fine as the lights were turned down and we tried to get some sleep.  It was very hard to get comfortable and I did not sleep much.

The funny part of the flight came as the steward was serving breakfast. To give you perspective, he looked like the foreign exchange student in the movie “Sixteen Candles". (You know, the one in the tree calling out "Ohhhh, Sexy American Girlfriend!"  bahahahahaha) As he is serving me breakfast, he points to the three rows of two that we have by the windows and asks if they all belong to me. I, of course, tell him yes. He then says that they are all so well behaved, especially the last two (my oldest sons). He proceeds to tell me how impressed he is and how polite they were because they called him “sir”! He then told me he wanted them to call him something more exciting and less formal, like “Thor, god of Thunder”!   

When Something Can Go Wrong It Will...

One thing that I have learned as a general rule is, when something can go wrong, it will.  Don't question it, expect it.  It is a rule in my life and so when things do go right I am very, very appreciative.  I also have learned to take the "screw ups" generally with laughter and gratefulness as the staff that I am dealing with is trying hard to compensate for the mistake they did not make!  Thankfully this trip was filled with little things, not big problems!

We said good-bye to my parents and sister and headed into the airport.  Our first problem was when Super Handsome's backpack was pulled out of security with his Leatherman in it!  He quickly ran it to our checked luggage.

When he rejoined us after we had made it through security, he told me our seats on the first flight out of Fort Wayne weren't together.  That was a simple, painless fix as the Stewardess advised us where to sit.  Super Handsome proceeded to direct the misplaced passengers to our old seats, problem solved!

As we left Fort Wayne we were lucky enough to see a rainbow!   Thank you Fort Wayne!  I like to think that the rainbow as good omen for our trip and oncoming year.  I was sitting with my youngest son and he said to me, “Look at the rainbow!  Is that where the pot of gold is?” as he pointed to the spot in the woods where the rainbow ended. “Sure is.” I replied! “Would be nice to have that pot, wouldn't it?” he nodded his head in agreement, dreaming of the toys he wants, I'm sure! :)  

They all enjoyed their short flight to Chicago. We landed and headed to our next gate. They were looking forward to the longer flight because they knew that they would be able to watch movies and eat dinner. We were all hungry and did not have any time to grab anything to eat!