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.

We Made It!! Part 1: the Journey

Wow, I can't believe we left New York a week ago. It has been such a whirlwind. The flights were much better than I imagined they would be, but they were still completely exhausting. Here is the general travel schedule we had:

March 26th:

1pm: 45 minute car ride to the Rochester airport
4pm: flight from Rochester to JFK in New York City
5:30pm: arrive at JFK, take a train to the proper terminal, go through security again
8pm: flight from JFK to Heathrow

March 27:

2:30am (6:30am London time): arrive at Heathrow, go through immigration, get bags, find our driver
3:30am (7:30am London time): car ride to our apartment
5am (9am London time): arrive at apartment, bring up bags, meet Catherine (Josh's boss/our landlady)
10:30am: collapse on the bed


Charlie is a traveling champ. I was really glad that we used his carseat because I think it would have been a lot harder without it. He is used to being stuck in that in the car, so it wasn't such a stretch to be stuck in it in the plane. He almost fell asleep on the plane ride to New York City, but we landed while he was just groggy and struggling to stay awake. He fell asleep before we pulled away from the gate on the flight to London, but only slept about 2 of the 6 hours. We did a lot of walking around the plane looking enviously at the sleeping passengers trying to keep Charlie occupied. The Air India flight was awesome. I highly recommend flying with them. We ate awesome chicken curry for dinner and the flight attendants were really nice and accommodating. We watched bollywood shows and The Nanny Diaries (odd mix). Charlie was not as happy to be trapped in his carseat, but he did ok. We got to Heathrow and saw the immigration line and I almost cried it was so long. Charlie was already really wiggly and impatient and I couldn't imagine holding him in the long line. We got to the gate to the line and they escorted us to our own line and we went quickly through. Apparently, they let people traveling with small children go in their own line. I was thrilled. We got our bags, met our driver Barry with a thick cockney accent and tried to stuff our bags and ourselves into his car. It was over an hour from the airport to our apartment because of it being rush hour in London. Charlie was really good though. He spent most of the time looking out the window. Riding with Barry was our introduction to the various accents. It is embarrassing how often I have to ask people to repeat what they say. We arrived at our really nice apartment and met Catherine, Josh's boss and our landlady. She had fully stocked the fridge and cupboards with food so we didn't have to find a store right away. We collapsed on the bed and began our life in London. I have so much to catch up on, I will try to do it in parts. I have to run for now though.

On Our Way...

We had a lovely Easter weekend, said some sad goodbyes and now we are packing up and getting ready to go. I will post again across the pond...

Dr. Reno

On March 13, 2008 at about 2pm, Josh became a doctor of anthropology. I cried a little because I was unbelievable proud of him and a little sad to officially close the Michigan chapter of our lives. Charlie cried a lot because he was way past his naptime with no comfortable place to sleep. It was a whirlwind. Josh did an amazing job and his advisor said it was one of the best he has ever read and was proud to be associated with it. His committee is nominating him for a Distinguished Dissertation Award. He is in Ann Arbor until around noon on Tuesday finishing up the administrative stuff and then he will meet Charlie and I in Barton.

We sold the camry and are now carless. We rented a car to use until March 24th. We leave in less than two weeks! Holy crap! Gotta run, Charlie is napping so I need to get some stuff organized and attempt to look at pictures of Liam which are sure to put my ovaries in overdrive.

Updates...

It looks like we will say goodbye to the camry and hello to a rental car in the next couple of days. The plan was to borrow one of my in-law's cars after we sold the camry, but that fell through (not surprising to me). We are going to make money on the sale of the camry if everything goes according to plan, so I am trying not to stress about the expense of the rental car too much since we weren't counting on making money on that sale. Charlie and I will be mainly carless in Barton until Josh returns from Michigan though which is kind of crappy, but oh well. It is what it is...

Josh did not pick up a single anthro book between February 15th and today. I was shocked, but boy did he need a break!

We ran into Josh's ex-girlfriend at CVS today and it was pretty awkward.

We are one week from Josh's defense and three weeks from our flight to London. Oh my god, the time flew so fast!!

Now, here are some pics of Charlie enjoying our time in New York...

Bad Blogger

I blame the lull in posts on frustration with dial-up followed by a really nasty cold. We are finally feeling better. We had a lot of fun outside the last few days as we started feeling better. Today was so nice, we ran around outside most of the day. Charlie likes to run down the driveway because he is from southeastern Michigan so hills, no matter how small, will probably always be amusing. We would hold hands and run down the hill yelling "Woah!!!!!" It was very fun. We are working on selling the camry and other miscellaneous things on our to-do list. I can't believe we leave in a little over 3 weeks. Yikes! I hope everyone is doing well.

New Yorkers Again

We made it. Charlie was SO good in the car for me. It took us 8 hours and he only slept the first two, but he was such a good boy. The camry is a disaster with sippy cups, toddler socks (he kept taking them off and then when we needed to get out of the car I couldn't find one of them so I had to keep getting new pairs out of his bag), and crackers all over the place. It still hasn't hit me that this isn't just a vacation. I still feel rushed like I have so much to do in so little time. It is time to slow down the pace a bit.

One Week Left - Notes to Self (a work in progress)

1. Eating a lot of Indian food won't make you feel less stress, just very full and kind of chubby.

2. Get a hair cut when you get to New York - it has been 8 months!!

3. Yes, that may have been the last time you ever pump gas at the 7 Mile Road gas station, but stop being so nostalgic about everything!

4. Go back into the running schedule (at least until our next illness).

Our Stuff Made It

I am kicking myself for not taking any pictures during our move. I am not going to be too hard on myself since we were hustling to try to finish before we needed to get Charlie from daycare so there wasn't a spare moment for someone to stop and snap pictures. Our stuff made it to New York and Josh's dad sent us some pictures which I thought was cute:

Zack, Jim and our stuff

Zack, Sarah and our stuff

Zack, Sarah and our empty U-Haul truck...mission accomplished!

We are off to a Going Away/Superbowl party with my co-workers this afternoon.

Our Stuff Is Heading to NY

Josh's parents left this morning in a U-Haul packed with 95% of our belongings. Our apartment seems huge. Charlie is fighting his nap that we all desperately need. In two weeks we will be in New York again. It is hard to believe. It is funny, when we moved to Michigan over 5 and a half years ago, my parents drove the U-Haul (well, Penske truck to be exact) and we drove our car (the corolla) and now we are heading back in a similar way (other set of parents), but with a lot more stuff and a toddler. I wonder if we will always need our parents for big transitions? While I wrote this, Josh was successful in getting Charlie to take that nap so now we will watch Arrested Development and rest.

Packing Frenzy Part 2

We got a lot of packing/cleaning done this weekend. I would say we are about 95% done with what we want to do before Josh's parents arrive on Friday. Charlie was concerned that we were going to forgot to take him to New York so he took matters into his own hands, threw his blanket in a box we had in the living room and climbed in. He tried to close it, but wasn't successful.

Corolla Sold!!

We sold the corolla for $4,000! It has 142,000 miles on it - toyotas hold their value for a long time! Josh said that it was a mother and her son. The kid was read to buy it once he saw that the air conditioning works. Everything will be finalized on Monday.

Snowy Morning...

It is snowy outside, Josh and Charlie are back to sleep after being awake from 4:30am to 7:20am. I am getting started on packing up kitchen stuff. I have no motivation to do it though. I want to curl up in my rocking chair and watch bad tv. Josh's parents are getting here Friday though to take most of our stuff (including my comfy rocking chair!) so there won't be much down time in our near future.

We are already exhausted by the work involved in selling cars. I like our old way: buy used and drive it until it is worth almost nothing - much simpler. It looks like the corolla is going to be sold in the next few days so we will hang on to the camry and take it to New York. I am sad to see the corolla go. I have to quit being so sentimental about everything or this move is going to break my heart!

I better get back to packing.

Awkward Day...

Off to quit my job today. Yikes. I feel so nervous, about as nervous as I felt telling them I was pregnant. I even grew an enormous zit on my chin for the occasion which I think is from a combination of stress and sugar. I think it will be a little awkward, but I am just going to do it and get it over with. What's the worst thing that could happen right?

We have gotten almost no packing done this week so we will need to step it up this weekend - Charlie willing.

Packing Frenzy

Wow, I can't believe how much packing we got done this weekend. Josh's parents are coming the weekend of February 1st to take most of our things to New York so we are trying to hustle to get everything organized. We will still be leaving February 15th, so we are just keeping things we need for those two weeks. I am going to be in Barton starting on February 16th (maybe with a stop in Ithaca for lunch or dinner?). I am feeling really good about this.

We posted the Camry on craigslist and already have someone planning to look at it this week.

Movin' Out

After some wonderful advice from a dear friend, we have decided to go to New York early. We will now be leaving Michigan on Feb. 15th after my last day of work. I am glad that we set ourselves up well enough that we can leave an unhappy situation. I hope we always do that because feeling trapped is terrible. I am glad I have a friend that can give such good advice from so far away as if she has been right next to me the whole time living through this with me.


I am so excited. I think this is going to be good for so many reasons. I am going to do a lot of packing and daydreaming in the near future.

On the Mend from the Superbug

Thank God, we are finally feeling better. It was a ROUGH week. I can't remember the last time we felt that bad for that long. We still have runny noses and raspy coughs, but we feel human again.

Josh finished his draft dissertation and turned it in to his committee on Friday. He will have to work on revisions and final touches, but it is nice to have that milestone done.

We bought some boxes at the UPS store today while we were running errands and are going to gradually start packing.

So Sick

All three of us have come down with a nasty bug and have been barely functioning. It is hard to take care of a miserable toddler when you barely have enough energy to stand up. Luckily, I am feeling slightly less sick this afternoon (Josh and Charlie are still pretty wrecked) so I can take care of my boys a little better.

Back in the Swing of Things...

Josh just finished his second to last chapter draft (he wants to turn in his full draft to his committee next Friday). I have grocery and dinner lists made for the week ahead. We started gradually packing for London (stuff that we won't need for the next 2.5 months). Charlie is snuggled in his crib getting some much needed rest. I ran six miles on Tuesday and am looking forward to being on a good schedule.

After much debate, we have decided to stay put until around March 19th when we will make our way back to New York before the big departure on March 26th. We would've liked to come out for a trip in the meantime, but finances and the need for extended normalcy wins. Now, I am off to bed. I keep my fingers crossed that the little toddler in the room next to me lets me stay in bed for at least 6 hours (ok I would like 8, but I will settle for 5 or 6).