SOS

Could someone please tell my family that I've not disappeared, but that my email is REALLY REALLY broken at the moment. (I've just received word that it is bouncing emails back to people now.)

Will have new email address to send from by Monday morning.

Am also mourning the passing of John Updike.

GO STEELERS!!!

Kate's Nativity Play - Rising Star?

A few videos of Kate in the school nativity play. (Literally took me all afternoon to upload them!) She was "the star" amongst the stars....

We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Take 1)




Three Wise Men




Twinkle Twinkle (pt 1)





Twinkle Twinkle (pt 2)






We Wish You a Merry Christmas (with bows)

Rainy day. School Day. Mom's Got the Blues Day.

Well, yesterday was the first day of school for Kate.

Background and reminders. Kate went to school last year. Half days, five days a week. She LOVED school. She loved her friends, the extra stimulation, her teachers, pretty much everything there was about school, she liked. (Well, the singing of Happy Birthday and the performing in front of the whole school thing? Not so much.)

As the summer progressed, I was starting to get the feeling that Kate wasn't all that thrilled by the idea of going back to school. She wasn't coming out and saying it. Wasn't telling me, "NO! I'm not going!" Just a weird lack of enthusiasm that I was detecting. We talked about school. I didn't want her to forget that she was going to go back. We had play dates with her school friends so she could look forward to seeing them more often.

And then the big day came yesterday. She got up, no problem. Got dressed..... unenthusiastically. (Given that some days Kate would probably live in her nightgown if she could. It didn't strike me as being anything out of the ordinary.) The dressing, the brushing of teeth and hair and washing of face, the going downstairs, the eating of breakfast.... it all had a feeling of dragging feet.

The walk to school was decidedly morose. It didn't help that it was overcast and chilly. Raining periodically. She went willingly enough, but there was a silence about the journey that was unsettling. She's normally a chatterbox. (For example, we recently had a long conversation on what your veins ("these green things" as she calls them) and by association your blood actually do in your body. She just loves to talk.

We went past the door that she normally would go in. The only way she could have gone any slower would have been if she had gone backwards. And then she spotted the playground.

Basically, all the kids in the school EXCEPT the nursery kids (Kate last year) gather on the playground every morning and line up in their class lines. Their teachers then lead them into the school at the appropriate time.

So, Kate turned the corner and saw this MASS of people standing around. She just froze. I tried to point out her friends to her and other kids that she knows and plays with, but she just didn't see past the crowd. Like other parents with semi-shy children, I walked with her and the class to the little rainbow gate that leads to her classroom. (Reception class has their own private entrance.)

It was all down hill from there.

Mrs Downy was a teaching assistant in her classroom last year and Kate absolutely adored her. She is now an assistant in Kate's classroom this year. She was there and Kate was having NOTHING to do with her or anyone else. She just grabbed my leg/coat/whatever she could hold onto and would not let go.

They literally had to pry her off of me and carry her into the classroom. And when I say "carry," I don't mean the nice comforting carry. I mean they had to carry her in like a log. She was not going into that classroom.

The last image I had of her as she disappeared was her arms outstretched towards me, calling my name.

So, yes. I have the blues.

When I picked her up, it was as if nothing happened. In the past, she has been known to cry when seeing me because she is so relieved/happy to see me. On this occasion, I simply got a... "Hi, Mummy! I'm starving to death! Let's go home and have lunch!"

I could have killed her.

Today was better. She needed a little guidance about the whole line thing, but she was much chirpier and went in without a speck of trouble.

So. Here she is .... the obligatory first day of school shot. Before it all went so so wrong....



And that is all I'm writing about that subject. I'm definitely much more traumatized over it than she is.

I'll get over it.

Someday.

Maybe.


Talk to you again soon!


For those interested:

Kate's Schedule

This week: Tues - Fri 9-12

Next week: Mon - Wed 9 - 1 (she'll eat lunch there)
Thurs 9 - 2:30 (they get out at 2:30 every Thursday)
Fri 9 - 3:20

Three Shots!?!?!

Well, the poor thing had her pre-school checkup yesterday with the "health visitor." (I'll explain that in more detail some time.)

She had three shots. (And was understandably unhappy.... *I* wasn't happy! I had to restrain the poor thing.) Tetnus, MMR, and HiB (Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) - an important cause of childhood meningitis and pneumonia.)


As for the rest....

Kate is 42 inches tall and weighs 37.5 lbs.

Pretty much average.

The good news is no more shots until she hits the teenage years! Yay!

Random Things.... nothing exciting

Just some random things that have rolled through my head....


I was sad to see in the news that LeRoi Moore has died. (He was the saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band.) Today I went to listen to my "Crash" CD, and though the case is there, the cd itself is missing. Coincidence?

Okay, probably not.

Great Britain is having a fabulous time at the Olympic Games. What I really like about the commentating is that it is less about actually winning and more about doing their personal best. So, many times some runner has not placed on the podium, but the broadcasters still give effusive praise for them breaking their personal records.

Whose stupid idea was it to even put London's name up for the 2012 Olympics? Did no one think that China was going to have this over the top spectacle, pagentry, and architecture? If I was a country, I wouldn't have wanted to follow China's Olympics for all the.... tea in China. Let's face it. No matter WHO won the hosting of the 2012 games, they would/will be compared to the Chinese venue and will be found lacking. I would have waited until 2016.

Though the UK as a whole are complaining that the cost of the games was stupidly under-budgeted and is now vastly over-budget, has anyone noticed that construction on the Olympic stuff is probably the only construction site not worrying about layoffs in the WHOLE country?

Okay, so my favorite (note the American spelling) show in the whole world is "Mock the Week." (At least while it's on... Until QI comes back.) It is a comedy show hosted by Dara O'Briain (spelled correctly) who I now refer to as my boyfriend and my friend Phill saw driving though London last week. (Yes, I am still speaking to Phill eventhough he neglected to invite Dara to dinner at my house.) Its stand up comedy/mock game show format is very popular over here, but that Irish man just makes me howl with laughter. Produced by the same guy who got "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" rolling.

One of the guests of this show (and many other shows... the comics tend to make the rounds over here) is David Mitchell. He is half of the Mitchell and Webb comedy team (guess which half?) that do some really horrible comedy (as in... comedy that I just can't stand... it just isn't my... cup of tea, if you will) sketch shows. When he shows up on any of the shows that I watch, I usually complain bitterly and whine my way through the show (much to Jeff's annoyance, I'm sure).

Okay, thing is.... he's been on a few of the shows lately and I'm starting to consider the idea that this guy might just be really smart. Yes, he's smarmy and annoying, but on the shows that have a political slant... he seems to be someone who is clued in and has a realistic grasp on the issues. Cuts through all the crap and smoke and mirrors and just tells the bald faced truth. Yeah, yeah... he went to Cambridge to study history. As I found out the hard way, having brains doesn't mean you have common sense.

So, now I'm faced with the dilema of hating this guy's comedy... but perhaps having a grudging respect for him. Well, even if he turns out to be a really nice guy, he'll never be my boyfriend.

Well, I almost went a whole post without mentioning Kate.

We have a busy day tomorrow. Going shopping for school shoes in the morning. Lunch in town and then off to see the health visitor (don't ask) at the doctor's office in the afternoon. If what the other mother's say is correct... the girl is going to be getting some shots (or maybe just one) while we're there. Oh, and they call them "jabs" over here. I prefer the term "injection" I think.

Kate and I made 24 egg carton spiders today. She wanted to decorate Daddy's desk with them. Will share pictures when I get them off my camera.

Best thing that happened to me this week.... Kate went upstairs and pooped on the toilet. Told me she had to pee (Or in her language.... "Mommy, I'm starting to pee.") and was gone for a long time. When I called upstairs to see what was up and she said, "Mommy, I think you better come up here." (She was standing at the top of the stairs with her panties around her ankles and her dress hiked up.) Her smile and look of achievement on her face was worth all the yelling and screaming and sulking I've had to put up with for the last (what feels like) billion years.

Of course, the first person I told was my mom. I'm sure she is very pleased that I call her with "poop stories."

And when my mom said that she's very proud of Kate and I relayed the message?

"Blah blah blah," replied Kate. If she's not careful, the webkinz dog is going to end up going to one of her cousins.

She's an odd kid. What can I say? In retrospect, Kate is not good being the center of attention even if it is praise and long distance. She embarrasses easily and that may have been what was going on there.

Or it could have just been that my kid is a smart mouthed brat.

Or it could be that she's heard Mommy say that phrase a few too many times when Dad is telling her something. It means something along the lines of "I've heard that before, show me something different."

You never know what is going to come out of their mouthes and more times than not, it's your own words that are coming back to haunt you.

Could be worse, I guess.

I could swear like a drunken sailor.

Well, the man is sick and I should go provide some comfort. Now that he's been to the doctor and he knows he doesn't have leprosy or toe cancer (he's had sporadic pain in his big toe for a few months) and he's not suffering from legionnaires disease or tuberculosis (he's coughing) I guess I better switch from "you're being ridiculous" stage to "comfort and sympathy" stage.

Until we meet again.

Boozy Weekend and Summer Begins

(How embarrassing.... summer is almost over and I'm finally getting around to posting this!)

Well, this past weekend was something that I didn't expect.

Sure I had RSVP'd for Kate's parties and had told Wendy that I would go with her to the Face2Face concert ages ago. I knew they were all the same weekend. I had put them all in my diary. (Calendar or Planner to us US folks.) I just didn't QUITE expect it to turn out like it did.

Let's review for a few minutes.

Kate has been to two parties previously. One in February and one in May. Both were fairly straight forward children's parties. Take kids to a hall of some sort. Do crafts. Eat food. Take sugared up children home and try to detox them before bedtime.

Well, after this weekend, I may be the one in need of a little detox.

Let's start with Saturday. (Since it comes before Sunday, that seems like as good a place as any.)

Gymnastics in the morning as usual. (Featuring getting up at some stupid hour of the morning in order to get the kid there by nine in the morning. When she turns five I have a few more options regarding class times and let me tell you, I'm really looking forward to it.)

Home again home again, jiggity jig. Do the whole lunch thing and finish up the odds and ends to be ready for her friend Thomas' party (turning four). Of course, Daddy didn't manage to wrap the present like I asked him, but no matter. I whirl into action and wrap gift, make gift tag, feed child, and get both of us ready to go.

I feel I should warn you. This was no ordinary party. This was a fancy dress party. Okay, put the picture of kids in formal gowns and tuxedoes back in the closet. In UK-land, fancy dress denotes costume. Fancy dress shops are costume shops. So, Kate was invited to her first costume party. Now you can get costumes at Woolworth's or any shop that sells children's stuff pretty much all year long. There are some very pretty princess dresses and fairy outfits, pirate costumes, and pretty much any superhero you could desire. This was going to be a piece of cake.

In my dreams.

When asked what she wanted to be for the party, the Katester didn't even think twice. Without the slightest glimmer of hesitation she told me, "I want to be a zebra."

Of course, she did.

I scoured shops hoping beyond hope that I would be able to find something that could pass as a zebra. I checked dance studios and any company that sold anything that resembled a leotard to see if they sold anything in a zebra stripe. The only thing available over here that is premade is a tabard with an attached hood that looked mega-hot and Kate would wear for probably 8.5 minutes before telling me that she wanted to take it off. The design had some merit, however, and after looking it over, I decided that I would make her costume myself. It couldn't be too hard. I mean, come on. I worked for a costume company for over five years. So, what if I had been banned from the sewing machines because I sewed like I drove in those days. As fast and as far as possible. Besides that, I didn't even HAVE a sewing machine! I would do it all by hand and be SUPER MOM!

Right. And that's how Super Gran came into existence.

Don't get me wrong, I would have gladly made it. We located some relatively lightweight fun fur in a zebra stripe and I had lovingly planned it all out. In my head, I knew exactly what I was going to do. Then Wendy took one look at it, announced that she had a sewing machine and could do it faster, and took it with her. She ended up doing it by hand in the end, but my design was well executed. And I got to make the tail, that counts for something right? (Yes, it took me three tries to get it right and yes, I did it at 11:30pm on Friday night.)

Oh, and I bought the mask.

And planned the stuff that goes under the tabard.

And here she is.....


She had a great time at the party and wore the costume (minus the mask) for the whole time. (For which my husband owes me £10.00.... he bet me that the tabard portion of the costume wouldn't last 10 minutes on her and my lovingly crafted tail would be off before then. Ha ha. Eat my tail! She wore it the WHOLE time and the tail is still well attached.)

For the first time, she did not cover her ears during the singing of Happy Birthday and she actually SANG part of it. They sang it not once, but twice because they didn't get a picture of Thomas blowing out the candles of his great looking dinosaur cake. Could this mean that I might have some decent pictures of her blowing out the candles of her own cake without the dramatics? Is it too much to hope? Probably.

Oh, and for those who are wondering.... 1 zebra, 3 fairies, 2 spidermen, a princess, and a hula girl.

Here are a few more of the party. They play something over here called "Pass the Parcel" which involves a present wrapped many times. The kids sit in a circle and pass it around while music is played. When the music stops, the kid holding the gift unwraps one layer. (Under which is usually a small gift or a piece of candy.) The goal is that each child unwraps a layer and then the birthday child is the last one and gets the gift. So, if you see any pictures of Kate unwrapping a gift, she hasn't mugged the birthday child... she is supposed to be doing that.





Now, what makes this party different from the other two that we had attended was the detail of attention that was given to the adults. As soon as I walked in, I was handed a glass of Pimm's which somehow had a funny way of refilling itself for the entire two hours we were there. Along with the children's food, "adult" pizza was served. This is usually non-existant at most parties. It's usually parents sneaking food off their kids plates and if we're lucky, a cup of tea.

Now, in my younger years, alcohol and I were great friends. Not as chummy as some people, but I knew exactly how long I could stand his company before we needed to part ways. Since Jeff doesn't drink alcohol at all, my drinking habits (hmmm.... that makes me sound a bit alcoholic) my drinking..... usage has declined sharply. Basically, I'm out of practice and after two hours with Mr Pimm's as my friend, I was feeling rather tipsier than I would have in the past.

Which explains why when an overexuberant child knocked a drink out of someone else's hand and it ended up in my bag containing my camera, I wasn't the least bit concerned. As Thomas' mother said, "Chip was really laid back about the drink on the camera. I would have been freaking out."

Well, it was an accident. It wasn't like if I had a fit it would have changed anything, right? The camera was fine, the pictures were fine. No harm done. And if it would have been ruined? Well, it wasn't, so I don't have to worry about that.

And Saturday isn't over yet!

The plan was that the party would be over at 4 pm and I would drop Kate off at home and then head right to the bus stop to go to Gran's for dinner and an evening concert. Well, the party ran a little late and I didn't get home until 4:30pm. By the time I dropped the girl off at home and headed to the bus stop, I managed to turn the corner just in time to see the 84 to Barnet go ZOOMING past me. I waited 20 minutes for the next one and I was finally off to Wendy's.

I was supposed to get there between 5 pm and 6 pm..... I got there at 6:20pm.

The musical group we went to see is called Face 2 Face and is a Christian music group that one of Wendy's friends, Judy, plays cello for. It is primarily a string quintet with a percussionist, keyboardist/trumpeter, and two singers (one female and one male - who also plays guitar.) They raise money as part of an ongoing project to fund various projects in the some Russian based area. Don't ask me more. I can't remember much.

The music was nice. I had a good time. Though I could see the merit in the female singer's voice, it really wasn't my type of voice. She has a very strong and very trained soprano voice and to my ears, it just wasn't suited for some of the numbers. I had to grit my teeth through her rendition of "Summertime." I swear the glassware was beginning to tremble and dogs from Barnet to the center of London were wondering who stepped on a cat. Other than that, it was a good time. Very entertaining. (Especially the part where I found out that one of the instrumentalists "fell off the wagon" that very DAY and it seriously looked like he was going to fall asleep or fall over on several occasions. He made it through to the end!)

Oh, yes. Did I mention there was wine and cheese and nibbly things? Yes, more alcohol.

Luckily, a friend of Wendy's was kind enough to drive me home so that I wouldn't have to take public transportation. There was some talk that I would stay the night, but I just didn't feel like I would make it home in time to get the child moving for Sunday's social event. (Yes, husband should be able to handle it, but this is Jeff and Kate we're talking about. Sometimes they forget who is supposed to be in charge.) So, rather than rushing home and acting like a raving lunatic/banshee/harpy, I chose to go home and sleep in my own bed and just wake up raving mad.

Well, not really raving mad. But it sounded interesting, didn't it?

Sunday morning. The birthday party was from 11am until 1 pm. Odd time from my experience, but evidently it is quite common here.

No fancy party dress this time. Just kids and a party. Luckily, Kate's friend Eleanor was invited as well and we were able to catch a ride with her. It would have been doable by bus but sort of like going to to Florida via Hamburg. Though Daisy goes to Kate's school we're really at opposite ends of the catchment. (How's that for a good English societal word. Think School District but not as formal.)

Oh, yes. I nearly forgot to mention. Daisy lives in a village called..... Tyttenhanger. (Tit-in-hanger) Sounds a bit like something mentioned as a possible name for a bra. Supposedly they have a nice pub.... and not much else. There is a travellers' site (gypsy camp) somewhere nearby as well. A very nice place to live. I wouldn't mind it AT all. We saw someone horseback riding on the way there.

So, off to Daisy's where we walk in and a glass finds its way into my hand with a kind voice asking, "Red or white?" Good heavens. I would have checked my watch had I been wearing one. Blissfully, being a stay at home mom means that I usually don't have any appointments or places to be that require me to wear one. The only reason that I use my appointment book is 1.) my sister in law Cathy gave it to me for Christmas, 2.) It's Bunny Suicides which in of itself makes me carry it around to see the odd looks I get from people with no sense of humor and 3.) Kate's social schedule now requires that I keep one. (How sad IS my life?!?!?!)

Evidently, the pubs opened at 10:30am so the consumption of alcohol is socially acceptable.

This party was brilliant. Daisy's parents had a lovely gazebo set up and a whole bunch of activity stations set up around the yard. Daisy's mom, Jo, told a very funny story about trying to find a magician to do a magic act as entertainment for the kids. The only magician in town evidently charged something like 150.00 pounds and they basically *do* the party. Do everything. You do nothing. Well, that wasn't what Jo was looking for. She just wanted a man with a hat and a cape to do some tricks for the kids.

So, one of her friends actually volunteered to take it on. Never did magic before. So, they geared him up, he learned a few simple tricks, and off he went. Well, it was hysterical. The kids were just fascinated by the act! All the parents were in on the joke that this man really was NOT a magician and maybe it was the wine, but we all found him funny. He wrote his material in such a way that it had an adult level that the kids didn't get. And Kate came home with a pair of balloon dogs, so for her it was a winning act.

Not to be outdone by Thomas' party, a glass of wine (red) managed to spill on the metal openwork table that I was sitting at and onto my white sneakers.

Oh, and if anyone has noticed that I've changed my personal avatar to the elephant with the wine glass, that would be Kate's bestest friend Ellie and it was taken at Daisy's party. I actually ended up using it when I made homemade thank you cards for all five of Kate's classroom teachers/assistants plus the head mistress of the school.

A few pictures from the party:

Kate and her friend, Eleanor

Magician and his Assistants

After returning home from this one, I spent some time on the couch recuperating while Dad and child occupied themselves in the back garden. It may have been Kate's party weekend, but I'm the one with the hangover. (As it should be.)

Cheers!

Rain, Rain, It's a Pain.

Well, the weather of England has returned to it's normal state. Rainy.

After a few weeks of lovely, sunny weather and something that almost looks like a tan on my daughter (or it could be dirt... I can never be sure) the rainclouds have returned and the umbrella has become a permanent accessory again.

When it first returned, I can freely admit, I was rather stubborn about it. In denial, really. The first day, it rained in the morning but had stopped when I took Kate to school. When it was time to pick her up, the sun was shining and I was more than confident that the walk home would be dry.

Ha ha. Joke's on me.

About halfway home, the clouds opened and decided to chuck buckets of water at us. We were halfway between home and school with no where to run, so we ducked under some bushes until the worst of it passed. If you remember Kate's weather phobia, you can imagine how unimpressed she was by the whole scenario. She now won't leave the house unless one of us is carrying her umbrella.

Her Gran would call her sensible.

I call it "What fun is life without a little risk?"

This weather is NOT helping me conquer the mountain of laundry in my bedroom. Think the Fraggles. Think Marjory the Trash Heap.



Now think bigger and without all the helpful advice she gave. If trash and laundry were filled with wisdom and guidance, I would have more people visiting me than the Oracle of Delphi. I could charge admission! But, sadly, it doesn't and so I can't. I'll have to think about it though... maybe I can still find a way to make this tower o'laundry work for me.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to suffer having socks and underwear hanging throughout my house. Classy decor at its best.