New Job

I really, really like my new job and the people I work with. I am really tired, but happy. I really needed this boost. Josh got a raise and Charlie likes daycare. After a rocky start, it looks like things are going really well for us over here.

Goals

Charlie and I have set some goals for our time in London. Here are a couple:

1. We would like to use as many swings in the greater London area as humanly possible.


We are off to a good start using swings in the following locations: Camberwell, Green, John Ruskin Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, Regents Park, Kennington Park, Crystal Palace Park, and Jubilee Gardens (and several times in some of those places).

2. Eat at the table like a civilized person (in fairness to him, his parents have to work on that too since we like to eat on the couch).

Things I Am Starting to Get Used To...

1. No open container law - people drink beer on the bus, in the park, walking down the street, on the playground, etc.

2. People standing in the wheelchair/stroller(they call them buggies) area of the bus and refusing to move when Charlie and I struggle to get his stroller in there (even though there is a sign that says priority should be given to wheelchairs and buggies. I can see why city people would get cranky after years of using public transportation.

3. Almost everything being closed by 8pm.

Update.

Hello. It has been too long since I have posted, but I am just struggling to get into the swing of things here and haven't felt up to it. Charlie and I are going to go out and do some exploring today. Here are some random updates:

I mastered getting Charlie/stroller on and off buses by myself.

Josh turned 28 on Tuesday, so I made my first purchase on amazon.com.uk.

We joined Blockbuster online since it is super expensive to rent movies here normally (3.75 to 3.95 pounds for one night!).

I figured out how to use Skype to call cell phones and landlines in the US. Now, if I could only get rid of the 5 hour time difference. Thank you to V, your voice mail made my morning because I was feeling lonely. I will try you tonight.

My mom, dad, and Ryan are in Florida at Disneyworld. I got to talk to them because of my Skype discovery and it sounds like they are having a lot of fun. I can't wait until they visit us, but I think my dad would hate it here. I am thinking of us taking a trip to Normandy.

Well, I am off for now.

Jeanne

Queen of the Castle Again...

Well Josh took his mom to the airport this morning and she is waiting to get on her plane back home. She watched Charlie last night so we could go out and see "Son of Rambow" (really, really cute movie). I really appreciated her help (even though she drove me crazy at times), but I am ready for us to get into our own routine. I feel a little funny about it all - like I was using her presence as my excuse for not getting settled and now I have no excuse. I think Charlie and I will go out and enjoy the sunshine and think about what we will do this year.

Snow?

It was in the 60s a few days ago and this morning it is snowing. I didn't think it was supposed to snow much here, especially not in spring...hmm.

We Made It!! Part 2: The "Flat"

Our apartment is really cute. I was pretty worried about what it would be like because Catherine kept apologizing in advance for how it looks, but I guess that is just her way. I think Charlie likes it a lot and feels pretty at home. He is already into a pretty regular schedule after one week of being in London which I find pretty impressive considering we had to get used to a new time zone. We are still settling in. I think I finally learned how to use hot water in the shower without asking Josh for help which is nice. Our toilet is different. It needs like a flush and a half to make it work and then it is uses an impressive amount of water. We don't have a door knob. We have a washing machine, but no dryer so there are two meat hooks in the ceiling and a long bar that the last people used to dry their clothes (I also have a drying rack). There is a laundromat around the corner, but it will be easier to do it this way since I have Charlie by myself most of the day. Hmm, what else... We were here for three days and someone buzzed our door to ask about renewing our TV license. In England, if you own a color TV, you have to pay for a TV license for each TV that can pick up British broadcasting stations. I told them that we didn't have a TV since we just got here and he said that he had to come in and search our apartment for unlicensed TVs. He looked in every room and gave me information about registering a TV if we buy one. It will cost us about $260 for the year if we get a TV. We are still undecided if we want to get one. I thought that was a little strange though. Apparently, we were in a database of apartments that don't have a license or who claim to have a black and white TV (there is a smaller fee if you have a black and white TV) so they inspect those places first. We love the bus system. I highly recommend the Number 12 Bus. You can walk to the stop in a couple minutes from our apartment and it will take you by all of the top tourist attractions. I appreciated that Josh's mom came to help us out and it was very useful for the first few days, but I am ready of have some privacy again. I don't feel like I can settle in completely until we are on our own. She is also driving me completely insane, but that is a whole other post that I will never write. This is such a rambling post, I am sure I will make more sense after I am here for a bit longer. I think we can all learn a lesson about getting making yourself comfortable in unfamiliar places. We just got back from dinner at Catherine's house. We looked over and Charlie had taken his pants off and had a big smile on his face.