No Place Like Home....s

Hey! I'm gonna blog.

Lots of things have happened since I blogged last. Here's a one sentence synopsis: We moved to a new house, had visitors for a month, visited America, then another visitor.

To get the ol' bloggin ball a rollin again, I thought I'd do a Britland vs "The States" list. See, there were a lot of things we were looking forward to in America. Space, fountain drinks, space, food, space, oh, and friends and family... Once we got there, though, I was looking forward to some of the Britishy things I'd left behind. So here they are, all organizationally layed out for you and whatnot!

God Bless American...

* fountain drinks * road space * Mexican food * mountains *

smoke-free beaches with sunshine * boating * junk food * hot dogs

* campfires * Old Navy * friends & family * country music *

exchange-rate making everything on sale for us people who are paid in pounds *

campfires * lack of inhibition * Slurpees and SnoCones *

Reeses anything * stores that stay open past 5:00 pm * SUVs and pickups *

weaponry (pocketknives, bb guns, etc) *

Good Old Britishy...

* roundabouts * cheese * chocolate * Indian food * public transportation *

accents * politeness * wellies * rain on the conservatory roof *

markets * healthy eating * spunky old ladies * friends *

international holiday destinations * history * villages * London

* Caramel Digestives * teapots * Lush bath ballistics * footpaths * countryside *

Primark * double-decker busses * the kids saying Britishy phrases *

overall Britishy-ness *

It looked all cute and in different fonts and sizes, but then it all went away, because sometimes blogger hates me. Enjoy anyway!

Ups and Downs...and repeat

So, SOMEONE left my laptop on the plane...coughJimmyDcough...so I keep having things happen that are blog-worthy, but no computer to blog with. So, here's the overview, and I'll possibly...or not... get more details in if and when I ever have a computer again.


The days here so far have been rollercoasterific. Just the last few days alone have been...well, I have no words. That tells you something.

Here's the highlights for ya:


* Our air shipment had been delayed a few days, but finally arrived today. Our sea shipment, however, will most likely not arrive to our house until (maybe) the first week of June- not next Monday like we had been originally told. So on the upside: I had a wonderful time unpacking the dishes I sent. It was like Christmas. I have never loved a 9 x 13 pan or a pot more. Sigh. However on the downside: if I had known our air shipment would need to hold us for a month and not a week, I might have packed more wisely. Back to the upside: if they are giving us a date of arrival at all, I have to hope that means our sea shipment is not on the ocean floor...yet.

* Our house is amazing, and I love it. However... it probably has an oil leak. It has reeked of a garage since we moved in, but we were told that it was because of a new boiler being installed and would fade as we used the heating. It hasn't faded. Today when the movers came, one of them kept saying "Wot is 'at 'orrible smell in 'ere?" "I fink it's a gas leak, it is. It's poison! Gonna make yer li-ul ones sick! "Ave the children play in the garden and call the lan'lohd!" He even made the postman "pop in and smell the 'ouse!" The postman agreed- there was a poisonous leaky smell of some kind. We did call the management company about it- the oil...boiler...guy is supposed to check it out tomorrow morning. If we wake up.....


I'm tired, so I'll give you more tomorrow. (It's late here, it's not the poisonous gasses making me tired. Maybe.) There are still a bunch of ups every day to outweigh the downs though. Here are a few of my favo(u)rites and a picture or two to end the post.

*Wandering with our little family through the footpaths into the forest.
*Making Indian food for dinner...and it was cheap and easy! Out of a jar! Wooo!
*The fields of rabbits. It's like a cartoon in some places.
*Going to the church Market Fayre up the road.
*Seeing the letter "Y" in unexpected words, like "fayre" and "tyre".
*My donut friend at the Market in town.
*All the roundabouts. Efficient and awesome.
* Hearing the boys pick up new words and phrases, like "lorry", "squash", and "biscuit".
*Looking out my window and saying "Holy crap, I'm in England!"
*All the green outside.
*The old houses on the road in our village.
*The radio station playing...well...not Miley Cyrus, for one.
*All the new things mixed into everyday life.
*Wandering through golden fields, as pictured below: (Don't worry, we didn't really wander through, just walked carefully a few feet in for a picture.)

Videos O' Britishy Fun

Jimmy D was mowing today. It was sad, and a little bit funny. And sad some more. So... I decided it needed to be recorded for you. After I recorded it, I went on a video spree. The first one is something I will call:

Stuff Here Is Tiny

(I'm too tired to be clever with the title)

It's okay, though. I have realized that the tiny things force me to use moderation. Like with the laundry- instead of dumping everything in the kids' dirty clothes basket into the washer, and then nagging them about all the clean clothes mixed in, I actually go through them (or make the kids do it) and have less wash to do in the end. Or, maybe we just end up smelling a little funny sometimes. It's cool. And with the fridge, I won't have room for moldy leftovers. Bad for science, good for me. See?

Just to be fair, I also did one that I will call:

Not Everything Here Is Tiny, Some Stuff Is Huge-ish

That video was less awesome, though, because you see both of my chins as I lay on the towel. Or really, my chin becomes my neck in a very unflattering sort of way.

The last one here I will call:

British Pantry Fun

We went to Asda today. Asda is kind of like British Wal-Mart. It is even owned by Wal-Mart. I have thought the past few days that things are more similar to home than I thought they would be, (what?) but that was before I tried a big shopping trip. Everything is just different enough to throw you off and make shopping tricky. Hamburger is mince meat, and pricey. (I think). Bacon is not bacon as I know it. If I want bacon bacon, I have to get Pork Belly Strips (or something like that- they are downstairs and I am lazy, so close enough.) Sugar isn't with the baking aisle, it's by all the tea. I don't know if they have cocoa powder- it was hiding somewhere. Mexican products are expensive and scarce. The cheese, though, makes it all worth the trouble. I see now why Wallace is always telling Grommit about it.

Also, just an update on how we're doing. We've been crazy busy getting things done. We've called to have our oil tank filled (for the boiler), gotten pay-as-you-go cell phones, set up a bank account, found Asda, applied to get the boys into school, checked on utilities, internet, garbage pickup, met people in the ward, and eaten some cheese. And donuts.

House-hunting trip picture-rama

Hello, all. My brain is overloaded- we are home from our house-hunting trip, and now I am overwhelmed with the insanity of packing up, figuring out school things, timing our packing and shipping schedule, blah blah blah. I am still excited to be going, though, don't worry. Just a tired kind of excited.

Since my brain is such a jumbled mess, this post might be, too, but oh-well, here you go!

We were staying at the Grosvenor House (but say it like Super Grover with an "n" and without the "Super") which is right across the street from Hyde Park. We were too busy to actually see Hyde Park, well, at least closer than from across the street, but we will someday, right? On Saturday and Sunday we checked out areas we were interested in, on Monday we house-hunted, on Tuesday Jimmy D had a trade show and I was forced to sleep in until noon and then go shopping, Wednesday we house-hunted some more, Wednesday night we debated and then debated some more over which house to choose, Thursday Jimmy D went into the office and I took the train to check out the area where the house we chose is, and then Friday we flew home. Phew!

Here are some pics for an overview. I will do some little posts tomorrow with details when I take breaks from the chaos.

Jimmy D headed to the Ministry of Magic:



The biggest lamb-i-est burrito in the world from Cafe Naz in Brick Lane: (mmmmmmm)



A very good summing up of our first night there- the rose they gave me as we left Cafe Naz, my umbrella, all against the backdrop of the Picadilly Line Tube Car:



Poor Jimmy D was ready to strangle all the "car-hire" places in Greater London for closing at noon on a Saturday.



The place that was finally open was right in the busy center of London. Here we see Jimmy D realizing we were both, quite possibly, about to die. Or maybe hit a few people or cafe chairs at the very least:



See? This was the intersection about 30 seconds after we started driving. Run, people, run!!



Ehh he he he he heeeeee:



Here's the Tube. We giggled every time the polite Britishy automated female tube voice told us we were on the train to Cockfosters. Juvenille, but c'mon, you'd giggle too, admit it:



These, my friends, are the most exclusive part of our new house. Closets...er... wardrobes. Not a common thing there:



This is where you could be killed with a candlestick if you visit us:



The train station, umm, maybe at Chelmsford?:



Each morning at the hotel's fancy schmancy breakfast, the waitress looked shocked and amazed when I didn't want coffee. I guess all Americans are supposed to want coffee. When I also passed on tea, they would be at a loss for what to do next. So I had hot chocolate every morning, and that seemed to make it a little better since there was something hot they could pour for me. Plus, hey, hot chocolate for me:



Here is Regent St, between Oxford St. and Picadilly Circus:



One day while coming back to the hotel I ran across Narnia. Well, sort of. Right off a busy shopping section (Oxford St.) there is a tiny gap you can go into that opens up into a whole separate shopping street. It's called St Christopher's Place.:



The train from Liverpool St (Jimmy D will take this train to work, and we will use it to get into London) goes right past construction for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Here is the Olympic Stadium and the venue for the Swimming competitions:





And finally, here is a shot of Jimmy D, moments after stepping off a plane back home at the SLC airport. He was panicked to discover that there is no Mt Dew in the UK. If you visit, you have to bring some or we won't let you stay with us:



Okay, it isn't all that late, but I am exhausted, so I'm going to bed. More tomorrow, maybe, probably, well... we'll see...?

The British are not Mexican...

So, I am very excited about all the Indian food we will get to eat in England. Indian is by far my favorite kind of food. Jimmy D loves it too, but I think Mexican food is probably his favorite. I was curious about whether we would be able to find good Mexican in England, so I turned to my trusty Google, and found this:

http://www.chiquito.co.uk/pdf/21210_001_Chiq_Main_Menu_06_11.pdf

Hmmmm. It's the menu for a place called Chiquito claiming to have "Mexican" food. They have a lot of locations, but the menu leaves me doubting. I think we may have, more or less, found a Chili's. They have burgers, wraps, salads, southern-ish food, duck fajitas(?), lamb with mashed potatoes(?), and then they also have burritos, chimis, etc. We'll have to give it a try, but we may have to be content with the Indian food and just realize that England is a long, long way from Mexico.

PS-Dad, please send us tortillas. (My Dad works at a tortilla factory near Tijuana, so we've got the sweet hookups.) Maybe also, Dad, see if they can carry your tortillas in the UK Costcos? You've got some pull, right?! Maybe?