Christmas / New Year 2008

Christmas & New Year

Hello & how are all of you doing? It’s New Years Eve as I type & it’s very cold out today but very sunny too…the weather has been very strange & we’ve seen it all from freezingfreezingfreezing through Tornado’s, lovely & warm, well into the 60’s & back to cold again, but more on the weather later!

Well its official…I’ve turned into my Mother! How do I know? Well in the days leading up to Christmas I was cleaning & there were things that had to get done much to the girl’s dismay when they realised it involved them! Now these things were of vital importance…all the household chores had to be done & everything had to be clean & tidy by Christmas Eve, nothing was going to stop me, no one was going to get in my way & everyone around had to help! The girls groaned when I informed them of my plans (I was actually enjoying it all!) & of the mission that we were about to embark on…the wondrous joy (not!) on their little faces took me hurtling back to my childhood & I remember being made to help with the cleaning, while my mum ran round like a whirling dervish full of the joys of her own pre-Christmas madness…. We don’t really enjoy it but we do it, well I do, torturing myself if I don’t get all those jobs ticked off the list in time!! So there you have it..it happens to all of us, well us girls at some point…the realisation when you do something or say something & it takes you back, hurtling way back when & you know, you just know & have to accept the inevitability of it…we all turn into our Mothers eventually!! Love you Mum! (**,)

Back to the weather…it got so cold just before Christmas we were convinced we might get a ‘white one’ but it wasn’t to be, it was actually pretty mild on the day but what followed was very odd…all of a sudden the weather warmed up & thunderstorms were forecast…outside the door we have a big concrete step that’s pretty much undercover & it was wet for the first time since we’ve been here. It had been drizzling & we assumed it was the rain but the step & the concrete sidewalk(!) were wet & weren’t drying off which is unusual. It was bizarrely warm that evening & we had the heating off & the windows open & there was this odd warm wind blowing & you just knew something was going to happen! We later found out that the concrete sweats here(!!!) after its been cold & then you have a warm spell it sweats…eeeeeooooo! Then came the tornado warnings…all of a sudden the TV/Radio stop & beep at you really loud & then they tell there’s a warning & for what area & for what times it’s going to last etc etc…all very efficient & all very exciting because even though we did have a major downpour the tornado warnings were for the next state over & not close enough for it to be too scary!

Yesterday we went ‘over the river’ again but this time to pick up one of the cars finally & at last, good grief we’ve only been waiting almost 4 months! We’ve ordered two & if you’ve been with us the whole way through our journey so far you’ll know all about the car palaver! The two we’ve ordered we’re going to ‘share’ but the one we’ve picked up is ‘mine’ & it’s a beautiful shiny black baby SUV or to be more precise a VW Tiguan…the other one that is at a port somewhere but is actually in the US as far as we’re aware, is a beautiful shiny black saloon or to be more precise a VW Passat, not the hugest of American beasties but still black & we are European afterall! So that’s one down & one to go! Anyway I digress… it was sooooo warm yesterday & we didn’t even need coats & had a lovely walk by the river!

So now Christmas is over, how was it? It was good, uneventful but good! We let the girls stay in their PJ’s all day & that’s a first for them & they loved it. As we knew no one was coming by & we weren’t going out we figured it was ok! There are certain traditions or things you just do at different times of the year & when you actually think about them you don’t know how or why the traditions come about but staying in PJ’s is NOT one of ours but we felt it was ok to let things slide a bit this time seeing as we were stateside & things were all a bit different! We had pork for lunch…we’re not that keen on turkey just in case you were thinking we didn’t have a ‘bird’ because of the fun we had with our previous ‘no breasted’ chicken! Christmas Dinner was yummy…thanks to Mr Blackler, although I did help with the laying of the table & with the ‘Christmas Spirit’! It’s funny the things you miss…I missed crackers (the pulling kind, not the edible type!) who would have thought it!? I hate those paper hats that you get inside but the table looked weird without them & they don’t seem to do them over here & can you imagine asking for them? Excuse me do you do crackers? You know those paper things you pull & that explode at the table?! Move aside please…security, there’s a strange foreigner at the till asking for explosives! NEXT!

The worst thing that happened? Our cable company cut off our internet, email & voicemail just in time for Christmas Day!! There was supposed to be a simple name change on our account but they cut us off instead!! We’d planned to open our pressies via Skype & do the ‘Christmas’ thing with everyone & I could have cried when we realised it wasn’t working….. Frustrating would be a huge understatement of the most colossal kind!! But after a lot of inner expletivations (I know it’s not a proper word but it looks good!) we got on with the rest of the day & I hope you had a lovely one too! I won’t bore you with the story about trying to get it all sorted out as I’m sure you can imagine it but there have been many phone calls & many minutes waiting sometimes patiently & sometimes not so patiently in those ‘press 1 for blah, press 2 for blah blah & so on until you get too, press 73 for blah blah blah’ queues!!! Hopefully by the time you read this we will be back online properly once & for all!

This week I’m loving… the sunshine & my Cadburys crème eggs sent over by my Mommy! Sorry couldn’t resist…I mean Mummy!

This week I’m not loving… being fobbed off American Style by the cable company!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

November 2008

Week 6/7

So what have we been up too? I’ve been to my first ‘coffee morning’ which was very interesting in an American way…I was a bit nervous & my first instinct was to say no thank you very politely, when I was invited but I made myself go & even tho I felt like the ‘new girl’ they made me feel very welcome. But I must admit I felt like I was playing with the grown up’s a little bit!

The girls have made friends with some local kids which is great, there’s Montana & Jacob who are 9, and Rachel & Cole who are 6. The gardens are all open plan it’s great to watch them all running around out there & playing on each other’s play frames & Cole has even been trying to teach Nyah how to snowboard down the hill at the back of the garden as only 6 year old boys can in an inch of old snow…I think Cole has a fan in Nyah, she thought his board skills very impressive! We have also experienced something we’ve been warned about where they all play together in a group & move from house to house to play if they get too cold or bored! We’ve also had our first experience of what is called a ‘snow day’ where if the weather is deemed too bad or dangerous for the school buses, school is cancelled! Only problem is that they have to make it up later on in the term at some point!

It’s been all about the dreaded ‘Driving Tests’ recently too… if you’re here on holiday or visiting you can drive on your license from home for as long as you like but as soon as you become a resident in the state you have to take the test & then get an American license! We were both dreading doing it but knew we had no choice…our relocation lady had got us the ‘book’, the US version of the highway code which I’m not sure many of the Americans we’ve actually seen out driving have read or at least not the same one we have! We’ve been swatting up on the book…I was reading it before we went to sleep, found it was a bit too efficient at getting me off to sleep actually! Anyway one day I hadn’t quite finished the book but the thought of the test was hanging over me like a little black car-cloud over my head…so I skim read the end & set off to the test centre with the pile of papers to prove I was a ‘legal alien’!!!! But of course I didn’t have the right letter which had to say that G worked in the state of Missouri, honestly the red tape sometimes is a meter wide!!! I went back the following day with the correct letter & a can of Heinz beans as a bribe (joke!) & after the formalities, sat to take the first part of the test…you take a multiple choice written test of 25 questions & if you get 6 wrong you fail….mine were all pretty easy, we found they were either ‘silly easy’ or ‘stupid hard’…the good thing is the tests are all free & you only pay for your license! Then onto the road sign test & then a quick vision test & then you wait for your examiner to come & take you for the actual driving test….I didn’t realise all the examiners were police/patrol officers…eeek! I get scared seeing police driving the other way on the roads let alone driving in my car with one sat next to me!!!!! My mouth was so dry I swear my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth…he also took G’s test & said ‘Oh the one with the very English accent’ when G asked him if he remembered me, No...that was my tongue stuck to the back of my teeth!! (**,) We both passed, thank god that’s over!

G had a couple of days off to help with the Christmas shopping, first time he’s done that since before we were married! We only had to girls to buy for so it wasn’t too bad & he was actually happy to stay out for longer than I was!

We’ve also been to our local high school to watch a basketball game which was really cool! The school was pretty impressive inside, it had the usual couple of gym’s & indoor full size swimming pool just like we all do(!)….it was huge with corridors you couldn’t see the ends of & lockers just like Troy & Gabriella’s…you won’t know who I mean unless you’ve seen the High School Musical films & if you haven’t seen them yet why on earth not, you DO NOT know what you’re missing…stop reading now & go watch the films!!!!

This week I’m loving… My big red bow I bought to hang on the front door which is a big as a small car (the bow is big you understand? Not the door, well the door is big too but you know what I mean… I’m waffling now aren’t I?!)

This week I’m not loving… The pizza! The pizza is weird & not yummy like our pizza!!! We’ve only tried two places but its not nice so far…will continue the search however!

Bye for now….Happy Holidays…….HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….ONLY JOKING!! I hate Happy Holidays…GGGRRRRRRRRR….HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!!!

XXXX

November 2008

Graeme’s Week

I’m back! I’ve let my good wife do most of the writing to let you all know what has been going on and I must say what a good job she has done. Not just in writing but in sorting a lot of mundane things out this end such as utilities, shopping, e-mailing, Facebook, etc, a woman’s work is never done!!

For me it has been a mad crazy time with work. Hitting the ground running and … well, I’m still running and running, getting up early to avoid the traffic and hitting the traffic on the way home to avoid the work. Did Dee ever tell you how bad the driving is here? Well let me tell you, Missourian drivers are tailgaters from hell whether the sun is shining, hail is hailing or a blizzard is blowing! I’m forever looking as much in my mirror as I’m looking forward waiting for the inevitable smack up the backside which would be bad news as I’m still not convinced whether I’m insured or not!!!

The cars…. Well who would have though getting two lease cars would be such hard work? We started the exercise well before we left, in fact about 6 weeks before we left and I know that Dee has mentioned about Ford pulling out at the last minute. The new VW’s are nearly here, supposedly 1 week for mine but still 3-4 weeks until Dee’s arrives which means we are still in rental cars and that’s why I’m not 100% sure about insurance cover, so I’m driving very very carefully! It also means we will have two lease cars here in the US for a couple of months after we leave to come home!!

Now the important stuff for all the boys out there! I am still looking for a home theater system to go with the 40” HDTV down in the basement but we want a DVD player that plays multi region DVDs so we can still watch our DVD’s from home. Well no-one sells multi-region and every time I look at a new system, I can’t find any hacks for them so no further forward. Just found a nice LG on e-bay that is guaranteed multi region but is $100 dollars more than the same region 1 system you get in the shop.. I’m going to have to make a decision soon as Chrimbo is fast approaching.. What to do?!

Ladies, you can come back now as I want to tell you how the dog is getting on.. well she has been a pain at times and has turned into the biggest scaredy cat ever! I’m the one that has to take her out first thing in the morning and last thing at night and all she wants to do is to get back in the house as quickly as possible! I can tell you there is nothing worse than trying to pick up dog poo (with a plastic bag for those of you who think I’m some person with a sick dog poo fetish!) while the dog launches off at full speed back to the house on a retractable lead.. If you don’t have your wits about you, you’d go flying when she reaches the end of the lead, which I’m sure the neighbours would find highly amusing watching a mad Englishman flying past their window trying to catch the dog poo that has also been launched upwards at 90MPH!! In the house she likes to go mad by running around the house at full speed chasing the kids (did we mention the house is big and with minimal furniture becomes a great dog park)! She now has a figure of eight track that she runs around which includes the dining table at one end and a settee at the other and sometimes has a variation that goes through the hall and back around through the kitchen. It all becomes a bit more precarious now that we have put the Christmas tree up!! The good thing is it doesn’t take long for her to get puffed out and she soon collapses in a heap in the middle of the floor. The worst culprit though is Dee who likes to stir the dog up by running around the track making the dog chase her! The down side is Dee doesn’t collapse in a heap and likes to carry on being a pain to me when the dog has had enough!!

Finally for those who think I’m going to turn into a big fat American blobber, I’ve been out for two jogs this weekend.. both killed me physically but mentally I feel stronger zzzzzzzzzzz!! Enough from me for now as I’m sure Dee has far more important things to tell you about, especially about her driving test!

October 2008

Week 5

This week it’s been all about the money…or the cost of things! While it’s true that you can fill your car with petrol for about 13 quid other things are scary expensive! We went ‘over the river’ (but the Missouri River not the Mississippi River, not actually seen the Mississippi yet!) into St Charles for a day of Olde Worlde USA…Happy Holidays! While we were there we came across ‘The English Shop’ which of course we had to pop into…bloody nora, we came out a lot of $$ lighter after purchasing one tin of beans, a jar of marmite (bleeeuurrrchhh!!), 2 Crunchies, 1 tube of Smarties & a Mint Aero! How expensive was it?! OUCH! They had lots of really cheap brands & lots of dodgy long life stuff with a shelf life of about 10 years that you’d only maybe buy if you were really desperate for something at 11pm on a Sunday night when only the local garage is open! There were lots of Americans wandering around ooooohhhhing & aaahhhhing at the quaint “English” items that were all a little dusty looking to be honest! There was even a tin of Family Circle biscuits that you can get in Asda for under a fiver & they were selling them for the bargain stateside price of 17 pounds!!!!! There was a lot of gasping, frowning & “oh my god, how much?!” (from me!) & a lot of frowning & not so much gasping (from the antique looking, but alive lady behind the till!)

We then had our first experience of getting a prescription filled for Harley, which of course is usually free & I really mean it when I say I’ll never complain about the NHS again! The prescription cost $62!! Luckily this is covered by the insurance!!! Did I tell you about the bill for $800 for immunisations & the health check before the girls could start school…no? That’s another story!

We also woke to snow…which was a nice surprise…the girls loved it & went out as soon as they could to make snowmen etc & we enjoyed it from the window…we would have gone out in it but it wasn’t ski-deep enough! It’s been really cold here this week but bright & sunny still so that makes it much easier to bear & the air is weird here, have I mentioned that?….it’s much drier so there is no dew in the mornings & no frost & no damp days yet apart from when it’s actually been raining!

This week I’m loving… the electric garage doors with the remote thingy on the sun visor so you can drive straight in & get into the house without stopping or even being outside, even though I said I never would!

This week I’m not loving… the way they show scary/gory TV really early on in the day for the kids & then cut out the slightest swear word or bit of violence or just the main plot-important part of the film or TV programme for the adults later on!! What’s that all about!

Important lesson learnt this week: DO NOT (ever again) put more than two squirts of bubble bath into the whirlpool bath as it really does grow & grow & grow into a huge white bubbly beast that takes over the bathroom when you turn the water jets on!!!!!!

October 2008

Week 4

I’ve been meaning to take some more pictures & post them but did I tell you that Nyah ran through a closed screen door with my camera in her hand… well you guessed it…one broken screen door & one broken camera!! She was unhurt (luckily!) also G managed to fix the screen door, which was good because we were in the temporary house at the time but no luck with the camera, think it dead-dead! Managed to get the pic’s off of the memory stick & now need to get a new camera! Boooooo! Been a bit of a week of accidents actually….Nyah fell & hit her face on an open drawer, made her nose bleed & it was horrible but luckily she had no black eyes & recovered quickly…then Harley decided to play I’m the king of the castle on the downstairs banister & yep you guessed it again…fell off!! One big bruise on her hip & a dented ego later…then I’m walking downstairs (to the basement/cinema room) picture the scene…girls are in bed after a long day & there’s wine, peanuts, choccie cheesecake & the big TV a-waiting for me! There is also waaaaay too many stairs in this house! G took one glass of wine down & I carried one glass of wine, two bowls of peanuts & two plates of the yummiest looking choccie cheesecake & yes I got to the first step & watched the choccie cheesecake roll down the stairs…landing of course on every single stair…oh & did I mention we had a light carpet all through this lovely new ‘rented’ house? No? Well all the carpet is nice & neutral & oh yes, LIGHT! I then managed to also to tip the bucket of water that I’d got to clean up the mess, all over the stairs…at least it gave me a head start on the cleaning! Did I eat the chocci cheesecake? Oh god yeah after all that of course I did! (**,)

So what have we been up to this week..we had our first home cooked roast dinner & G will probably kill me for sharing this but well I just had too! He of course as you may or may not know is the house chef here at Chez Blackler & a very good chef he is too…we’ve not been able to find meat that looks like …well, our meat! It all seems to be wrapped in plastic with some sort of mystery juice inside too & we haven’t found a butcher or fresh meat counter yet….anyway G got the chicken after lots of ummmmming & ahhhhhing at all the different ones… he complained a lot about the chicken….before, during & after cooking it! But the complaining reached fever pitch once the chicken was out of the oven & ready to be carved….”it’s a weird chicken” “this chicken is not right” “this chicken has got no breast” Oh good grief I thought what is the matter with him & the silly chicken…I go over to investigate the chicken….now I’m no chef but the chicken is UPSIDE DOWN…that’s why the poor bird has no breasts….she’s lying on them!!! The roast chicken dinner was yummy however & the breasts were very moist too!! (**,)

It’s also been Thanksgiving this week….which was well, a non event really (for us) it was a sunny day & I thought it might feel like Christmas but it didn’t! Some people had started to put lights up outside etc & our relocation lady told us that some people put their crimbo decs up the day after TG & voila overnight the stars & stripes that had been hanging from various flag poles had disappeared & been replaced by santa!! G asked some of the people he works with what they usually do for thanksgiving…eat, watch TV & then fall asleep on the sofa was the general consensus…bit like Christmas really…trust those yankees to have to do it twice!! It’s been nice for the girls to have a few days off school & for G to have a couple of days off work & to just ‘chillax’ bit!

This week I’m loving the neighbours who bought cookies over after we moved in!

This week I’m not loving not having any idea what TV programme is on what channel!

October 2008

Week 3

Another week gone.. not sure where time is going! I’m sitting here typing this at the beginning of week 4 as we’ve been offline while waiting to be reconnected after the move from the temporary house to the (semi-)permanent one. It’s been hard without an internet/TV connection but a good thing also as it means I have no excuse not to unpack & get sorted! It’s really chilly today but not a cloud in the sky so it’s really warm inside & in the car & the sky is sooooo very blue…I don’t mind it cold when it’s sunny & bright too! So what have we been up to this past week?

Nyah was the ‘Shining Star’ of the week in her class which she just loved, basically she got to do a different activity each day all tailored around her, she couldn’t of been happier! Harley is also loving it at school, she has a ‘very grown up’ expanding file that she carries all her work & ‘assignments’ in & is doing really well, they are also giving her a little help with getting to know the US currency & also cursive handwriting (the posh curly stuff) that they have already covered when they were younger here but not in the UK. The school have been great & the staff have been really keen to get to know the girls, help them feel at home & it has really helped things all round having them both so happy. (keep an eye out for the surreal moment of the week to do with school further on!)

On Monday G & I went with our relocation lady to the social security office to get the highly anticipated ‘social security numbers’ referred to as SSN’s… you need one of these over to here to get most things, credit card, cell phone (mobile to you back in blighty!!) internet/TV, lease cars, the list goes on. We’ve been really lucky to get the basics through the relocation company so far. You have to have been in the country 10 days before you can even apply for one. Some things here are so cutting edge & at the total opposite end some things are a bit old fashioned & tied up in red tape it’s unreal!! What makes me really laugh is they have these little signs they put on the doors of shops/restaurants etc that look like the ‘no smoking allowed’ sign but as you get closer you realize it’s a ‘no guns allowed’ sign…makes me smile to myself as I picture a baddie with a gun walking up to the shop or whatever seeing the sign & thinking “oh darn it, no guns allowed, schucks, I’d better go home then”! Anyway what was my point…oh yeah! We’ve been frisked at the door & bag searched & it’s a bit like going through airport security just to get in the office & we wait. The main thing we were waiting on with the SSN’s is the fact that we needed them to get our lease cars released, they had been ordered & G’s was almost ready & mine was at the dealer & those big fat shiny black ford trucks were a-calling our names big time!! We had the rentals & they were very nice but sensible saloons…we wanted monster SUVs’! More on those babies later!!

Back at the office (are you still awake?!) there was a hitch (things have been going oh so very smoothly hadn’t they?) I was in the system (well of course I was it’s me we’re talking about here!) G of course wasn’t! He was going to have to wait…oh I was so going to get my car first! Then they noticed a letter was missing from my surname & we both get sent away while systems/departments/officials sit back & chat & deliberate the lonnnnnnggg awaited verdict of how many weeks it’s going to be before we actually get our bloody numbers (sorry mum!) The verdict? It’s just one of those things they said, happens all the time they said, but we want our trucks we said! We are still waiting for our SSN’s! The nice people gave us a letter saying we’re waiting on the SSN’s so we can still pick up the aforementioned cars (are you bored of the cars yet?! Keep reading!) & off we go again, we’re a chilled kinda couple, pretty laid back, take it as it comes, blah blah blah….then the car man rings to say Ford have pulled out of the leasing market as of NOW & have cancelled ALL 2 year contracts…YES THAT INCLUDES OURS!!!!! Cars? Don’t talk to me about bloody cars (sorry mum)…sick of silly cars!!! For a day we were slightly concerned (that ‘pretty concerned’ on the normal concerned-ness scale for normal people) then our car man sorts things…arranges us a free rental as we only had the one car up until then but we were moving house (again) & needed 2 cars really & he also come up with two new motors….NOT two big monster trucks anymore (sobbing uncontrollably as she types) one suv & one saloon from a very reputable european car manufacturer (yawn…really wanted American ones, I know I know, no sulking! So got 2 VW’s on order now, don’t hold your breath…will let you know when/if they arrive! (**,)

I helped out at school for a little while one morning in Nyah’s class as they were making cards to give to the vets (the Veterans & not the animal vets like we were originally thinking doh!)…I was a bit scared but thought if I didn’t do it sooner rather than later & everything is worse if you put it off isn’t it & we’re here for the whole experience right?! So I just said yes & did it! Also got to experience a special assembly the school was putting on for local Veterans for Veterans Day (like our Remembrance Day but without poppies) which was all very interesting, with hands on hearts & pledging allegiances to the flag etc etc they must have been wondering who the strange looking foreigner was at the back with the open mouth staring at everything & everyone! Not that much different to a school assembly here, just picture it in your head & double everything…even the kids & I’m talking about their height & how grown up they look here in comparison to ours…boobs in Grade 5?…OMG!!!!

So all the furniture arrived intact from its sea/land journey all safe & sound & still snuggly wrapped & the first thing I unwrapped?? Why my ironing board of course, we were very happy to be reunited! Oh & I’ve bought a cool new iron (Oi…no snoozing, I love my iron!!) where the cord gets sucked into the base after you’ve finished…how cool? Well I thought so! We’ve unpacked everything & have tried to spread out our meager few bits in this huge house we keep getting lost in! It’s as beautiful as we remembered & we love it already! Yoji has found the best sunny bits as so many many windows, (11 of them in the front room alone, thank god they left the curtains!) & she’s baking herself in the sun as I type…I worry about her you know, doesn’t she know the sun is ageing & she’s very red already!

Surreal moment of the week has to be standing at the end of the drive of this beautiful house that I can’t quite believe we’re living in, feels like someone is going to come along at any minute & kick us out! Anyway, standing at the end of the drive waiting for the school bus which arrives & then the girls get on without me & the door closes behind them & it drives off leaving me there waving at them….the last time I saw that scene was in the film Nightmare on Elm Street!! If you’ve seen the film you’ll know what I’m talking about & if you haven’t you don’t want to know!!

This week I’m loving the way the kitchen appliances all work faster here (on a domestic roll sorry!).

This week I’m not loving the fact that on the PC keyboard there’s no pound sign only a $ sign & back home we have both which is much fairer I think!!

Think that’s it for now…hope all is good with you & keep in touch!

October 2008

GB’s view of it so far!

Well I thought it was about time I said something of our move to STL.. well I was prodded actually!! In the scheme of things it has gone very smoothly, well that’s what it feels like, but then, just like child birth (so I’m told) you forget the really painful bits quickly because there is something good happening that makes you forget!

The time has passed really quickly and I’ve already had my first full week at work. I have my own office and acquired all the mod cons that go with it, including a new ‘Blackler’berry that is making Dee very jealous. So much so, she thinks I’m already addicted to it.. Hello! Does she remember being Edward scissor hands with her mobile phone back in Blighty!?

I’ve had fun and games sorting cars out with the my car (SUV actually) not being ready until 9^th December so I’ve now had to take on a long term rental car, while Dee’s mummy sized SUV should be ready to go this week.. and it’s black, so Dee is happy!

Picking the dog up from the airport was fun and games as I had to go on my own and it was late in the evening when she actually arrived. So armed with our (Danya’s) trusty Sat Nav, off I went to the airport to find some sort of cargo place that’s not listed, so obviously I arrive at the wrong terminal! Eventually made it to cargo who were about to close and said they had no-one to clear Yoji through customs so they sent me to the main terminal.. Having now found the car park for the main terminal (2^nd lot of charges) and found baggage services, they redirected me to Continental help desk, who contacted the ground crew to find out if a big eared, ginger fluff ball had arrived on the flight! Luckily she had, but it did take them about 15 minutes to determine she had cleared customs in Texas!

They now delivered her in a big wooden crate to my feet on one of those airport luggage trolley’s and after explaining I only wanted the dog and not the crate as it was far too big to fit into our sensible choice of a 4 door saloon car (my fault, it looked the nicest car at time of renting!) they nicely explained that I’d paid for it, so it was mine and I had to take it!

Do you know how hard it is to fit a big dog crate into a lift, no? Well it is very hard and I had to do some modifications to the crate and a bit of brute force to get it in.. and out of the lift! Once I got to the car, I let Yoji out to see if she would do a pee, and I can tell you, she didn’t look happy! She gets panicked going in a car for short trip to my mum’s, so you can imagine what she was like flying on two airplanes half way across the world.. you guessed it, feeling very sorry for herself! Anyway, she didn’t do a pee, she did a great big poo in the middle of the car park road! Having not brought any poo bags with me, I had a quick scan of the car park to see if anyone was looking (thankfully not as big fines over here and it was 10.30pm) before shushing her into the tiny foot well of the car.

Now was the problem of the crate. It was a sturdy wooden thing with stapled wire mesh ends that no matter how hard I pulled or pushed, would not come apart. I delicately scanned the crate for any evidence of my name or anything that could link it to me, before taking it for a walk around the car park to see where I could conveniently accidently leave it in the confused state that I was in! I did find somewhere and have been waiting ever since for a lorry to turn up to deliver it back to me. That was until I noticed that on the receipt I had, they had put the wrong address for us, so felt much better after that!

As Dee has mentioned before, the temporary accommodation is really good and we feel very comfortable here, but soon we need to pack up again and move on. Next weekend is move day and we look forward to the big house in the country! I’ll be back to commuting to work while Dee can walk the girls to school.. well she would have but they’ll get the bus for the long ½ mile journey to school.

Life is really hard right now and I’m not sure how we’ll cope with the two new cars, big house, cheap petrol, cheap food and cheap restaurants. Oh well, I suppose we’ll have to be brave and strong and just battle through!

October 2008

Week 2

Phew what a week..feels like it’s been 10 not just one…in a good way though! Saying that it’s not all been good, I’ve got this horrid cough/cold & I’ll never hear the last of it if the girls & G get it too!

We had a quiet first full wkend it was nice to just laze about & not have to do anything in particular where we’d been so busy. We took Yoji to one of the ‘local parks’ remembering that you have to drive everywhere & she slobbered all over the nice clean interior of the hire car which of course we rented late at night after flying for god knows how many hours & by the time we chose the car we’d forgotten we even had a dog, hence her having to sit in the front foot well & slobbering all over it! I know I know but we can’t help it, car 1st dog 2^nd!! We also visited a ‘local’ outlet mall which had 6 neighbourhoods inside & also an ice skating rink, roller skating rink, cinema, food court & various soft play places along the way for the kids & that was one of the small malls!!

Monday was a big day & I was very prepared in advance….i.e packed lunches made on Sunday night & up at 4.30 (up so early due to coughing I hasten to add not general preparedness!) it was G’s first day at work & the girls first day at school….they were so excited.. the girls that is G not so much! That made it much easier for me, not sure what I would have done if they’d of been hanging onto my leg begging me not to leave them…though if I don’t write for a while you know why! Where we’re in our temporary house at the mo & we’ve also only the one rental car, we drove & dropped G at work & then onto school, about a 50 min trip in total so going from literally a two minute walk to school it was a bit change for the girls but they did me proud & didn’t complain once…although might not be the case after a few days! I imagine the novelty of counting the yellow school buses on route (36 this morning) may wear off & not just for them!

This week I’m loving… my little laundry room, such a fab idea (you may not all agree though, but I’m loving it!)

This week I’m not loving… struggling to find normal baked beans, don’t want them with, bacon, brown sugar lumps, bits of sausage, honey, hickory smoked chips, marshmallows or big brown bears…just want bloody beans!!

The girls are really loving school, Nyah hasn’t said once (yet!) that she doesn’t want to go! They love wearing non – uniform & it’s not even taking them too long getting ready each day, they’ve both made some little friends & like their new teachers…obviously not as much as their old teachers but they’re happy & that makes us happy!

The dog is much more settled & more like her normal self, is eating for England or should that be America & sleeps all day, calm & normality have been restored!

It was a bit strange not having Fireworks here, missed them but not the lead up to it when fireworks are going off every night for a couple of weeks, why do people do that…like those people who set them off at 11.50 on New Years Eve, what’s that about!?

We’re still counting yellow school buses too!

It’s been another good week & the longest we’ve ever been away from the UK now. G has caught my cold but he’s only got a cold at the moment rather than ‘Man Flu’ which is good! (**,)

We’ve still got just the one rental car but we hope to be able to pick my long term car up this week which’ll be good!

October 2008

Week 1
We finally arrived after getting delayed at Philadelphia on route & also after missing our connecting flight to STL, but we're all ok & the temporary house is lovely, like moving into a show home! Still a bit jet lagged, but we're all happy & even happier now we've been out & bought a lap top & got back online!

We've been to the bank & opened an account & we're off to take the girls to visit their new school tomorrow & our air freight has arrived & has been unpacked & put away & it's only monday!

I've even managed to work the washing machine & tumble dryer...YEY, but not had a chance to try the ironing board yet...BOO!

The dog is flying out in the morning & all being well we will be able to pick her up Tues evening!

At the mo it feels like we're on holiday...all is good! (**,)

Yoji has arrived & was very excited to see us & is ok!

We've been to the school for the proper visit & then we had to register the girls at their Dr's which was good but they had to have 3 'shots' each (in their arms not down their throats!) which they weren’t that happy about, but it's done now!!

It was chilly yesterday but today is lovely & warm & the flip flops have gone back on! G had to go into work today (thurs) just for a few hours so the girls & I went off to the mall(!) to get the school supplies as you don't get anything in school i.e pens, pencils & paper etc over here. It was a bit weird driving on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road but we did it & it was cool! Mr sat nav got us there in fact we wouldn't have been able to get anywhere without him this week (thanks sis)