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!!!!!!