The last 2 weeks

Well, you might be actually relieved to find out I'm not writing so many details about each and every day like I first started! Overall, we are doing well, settling in to life, work and school (tomorrow).

So for the last 2 weeks:

Wednesday Aug 24 - Mary Lown came by in the morning with a nice bag for me along with a good vegetable peeler; and 2 little bags for the kids with a wash cloth (flannel) doll and a sachet for their drawers (or suitcases for now until we get a dresser). David and Schaeffer headed into town to pick up our push chair at John Lewis - Wonderful! Adelaide and I stayed a bit longer to finish getting ready; and thankfully so because the repair man arrived as we were half-way down our street! He 'fixed' the dishwasher - the valve under the sink needed to go left rather than up. Ha! Then A and I into town, met up with D&S, walked around a bit, got crepes at my favorite little shop, then to the Round Church to meet Annie. The afternoon was nice so after naps, the kids and I went for a walk exploring our neighborhood and got a brochure about the Botanical Gardens (just 2 streets south of us).

Thursday Aug 25 - Ranald came by in the morning, good visit. Then I went to town to meet up with Ilona and some other ladies she knows for lunch at Strada. Great time! Then out to Tesco with Ilona and one of the other ladies Diane. Thankfully Peter (Ilona's husband) picked us up after he was finished with work. That night we went to the Cubitt's for a BBQ and Bible Study with their home group from CPC (Cambridge Pres. Church). Nice to worship and sing hymns. The kids are getting more on schedule with the time here, as are we.

Friday Aug 26 - The kids and I went to the Cubitt's who shuttled us to Grantchester Park for a playgroup with other Heritage School 'mums' and kids. Even with the light rain and wet playground equipment, my kids were so happy to be out and in a big space they didn't mind if their trousers were wet! We had a nice time. Home around 1, lunch, naps. Then I walked (in the rain, 40 minutes, not recommended, blisters are still healing) to the BeeHive to do some shopping with Ilona. That night the 4 of us went to Pizza Hut for dinner since kids eat free, and were surprised to find it's a decent restaurant over here! We got our debit cards for our bank account over here, but we can't use them yet until we get our pin numbers - a few more days.

Saturday, Aug 27 - Adelaide and I stayed home that morning; David and Schaeffer went into town to do some shopping. Then Schaeffer and I went to town that afternoon to do some shopping at Boots (like CVS), Marks and Spencer (home goods section) and Sainsbury's (grocery).

Sunday, Aug 28 - Went to church with the Cubitts at CPC; enjoyed the service and the guest preacher. Want to go back to hear regular preacher, Ian Hamilton. That evening the Coopers (Elaine and Ian) invited us to their house for high tea which was so lovely! Then Schaeffer threw up all over me, but thankfully did not get on their rug or upholstered chair. Cleaned up, new shirt, visited a little more before going home.

Monday, Aug 29 - Adelaide and I went to Annie's wedding to Andy. Annie is on staff with CH. Very nice, enjoyable, and lovely cupcakes and tea afterwards! Then after an hour of that, everyone goes back into the sanctuary for the 'speeches' (toasts) by the Father-of-Bride, Groom, and Best Man, complete with pictures and videos and lots of witty humor. Adelaide walked the entire way there and back! So proud of her!

Tuesday, Aug 30 - Schaeffer threw up again, poor guy. Thankfully doesn't seem like a very violent bug. All 4 of us headed out for some shopping - at British Heart Association (2nd hand store) and found a dressing table for me for 70 pounds! Very exciting! Popped in a few other charity shops, then to the Grafton Center (mall) for Mothercare, lunch and a few other stores.

Wednesday, Aug 31 - David had 2 meetings so was pretty much gone all day. The kids and I had a slow morning, packed a lunch, then made our way to the City Center - John Lewis for Adelaide's school uniform dress, to the park for lunch and play, Clark's for shoes for the kids (Adelaide loves her pair for school!), and then home as the kids had fallen asleep while I was waiting for a top-up on our internet 'dongle'. I stayed up late 'til 1:30 am trying to make an online order for home delivery. Messed up and deleted everything in my 'grocery basket' so just ordered a few household items and called it quits for the night. David threw up; thankfully just a one-time deal and he felt better; and thankfully the girls in this family seem to have stronger stomachs than the boys.

Thursday, Sept 1 - Yah - a really beautiful day! Maybe I can get some laundry done and it will actually dry in less than 3 days! We went to Cubitts to drop off a few of their things that they lent to us, and she offered to keep Schaeffer while I took Adelaide up to school! Adelaide didn't want to miss out on the play time at first, but when at school she enjoyed it. We met her teacher, Alice Breakspear who seems very nice - perhaps a few years younger than I am. We had a tour of the school, which is in an old house so it reminds me very much of my 3 years teaching at Central Christian School in STL. Home, and then my dresser was delivered - yah! Goes perfect with the old wardrobe there, and nice to have a mirror set in it so I can do my hair there. This was David's official first day of work, which went well. When he got home at 4 or so, I headed out to the big Tesco - a 30 minute walk. I thought I'd shop for an hour then head home and be there in time for Pui, one of the interns who we invited over for dinner. Well, that didn't happen - it took me forever there, looking and deciding about everything, and maneuvering the 'trolley' that goes everywhere on swivel wheels, etc. etc. THANKFULLY happened to see Ilona and Peter there, who called David and told him I'd be late (it will be so nice when we get our cell phones!) and called a taxi for me. The taxi never came, so I had to go to customer service, etc. etc. FINALLY home, had pizza with them, and visited with Pui until 11 or so!

Very bright young guy, interesting to talk to. I need to do some homework and read up on some of the things he was talking about!

Friday, Sept 2 - Sainsbury's delivery came, all in a box - it is nice to slowly but surely be setting up house. In this purchase was 4-piece cutlery set, toilet bowl, coir mat for front door (which doesn't fit), a wicker basket to try out on the built-ins in the living room (lounge), salt and pepper shakers, cutting boards. We went into town, Schaeffer fell asleep on the way, walked through some stores, bought some pillows and jeans for Schaeffer at Next, crepes for lunch. On the way home, Adelaide started crying because she thought she had broken her tooth! Come to find out, she just has a wiggly one, already! Thankfully Schaeffer went back down for another nap when we were home. Then I took them to Lammas Land - a park about 15 min. walk and SO many people out today with the nice weather! We had a great time! Burgers for dinner. AND WE GOT CELL PHONES (or MOBILES). SO thankful to be able to function a little bit better.

Saturday, Sept 3 - Breakfast burritos! They have tortillas and salsa, 2 things I couldn't find 3 years ago. David went to Heritage School about 11-3 for a work day. The kids and I were just home; nice day, laundry, etc. etc. When D got home, I went to Sainsbury's - the big one, so just called a taxi since I needed to hurry because we were going to the Greyling's for dinner. Of course, it took me longer than expected. You think I'd realize this about myself one of these days! Taxi home with my big load, unloaded while kids ate dinner D had fixed them, got ready for Peter to pick us up. So it all worked out in the end. We had a nice Mexican dinner at the Greyling's with another American couple there just to visit for a few weeks. Their 3 and our 2 kids watched a movie while we visited; although Schaeffer kept coming over to eat my Doritos and dessert! David got our landline working, so I was able to call my Grandmother on her birthday!

Sunday, Sept 4 - church at STAG (St. Andrew's the Great, Anglican). The Greylings go here, as do the Townsends. Chris Townsend is the head of the board for CH. They had us for lunch; we walked home with him, on the north side of town. Lovely afternoon with them, great Sunday roast (chicken, veggies, potatoes, etc.), nice conversation, etc. Schaeffer napped for a little while in the stroller while Adelaide played with their high school aged children and their 2 pet rats. Adelaide wants a pet rat now - I told her Gramma Ireland would never come see us if we had a pet rat! We walked home, in the drizzle, feet very sore when we made it home, about 6 miles total. DONE for the day. Movie night with kids. Tried to catch up on finances that evening.

Monday, Sept 5 - David's off today; technically, although there's so much he needs to be looking into and people to contact that he doesn't really feel 'off.' BUT anyway he thankfully took the kids to Botanical Gardens so I could get some computer support work done.

They loved it! Ranald stopped by at noon just briefly and made plans to come over again tonight; I'm thankful he wants to meet with both of us and not just David, which would probably be more convenient for him and for David, but I do enjoy and appreciate being involved in the conversations. Our router came in the mail today, so he got our internet connected!!! So now we don't have to use the dongle, and just instantly have internet access! I went into town to do some returns, get some plimsolls (like black keds) for Adelaide for gym class at school, and groceries. When I'm at a store I like, like Next or John Lewis, I ask them when they have sales - so I'll hold out for a few things at Next until their sale in a few weeks. Home for spaghetti and meatball dinner. Ranald came at 8 and surprisingly we didn't hear a peep out of the kids! We had a great talk about things like CH, churches in the area and UK at large, etc. until 10:30.

Tuesday, Sept 6 - Estelle brought her girls over at 9:40, which was great to have them over to play especially with it being a very rainy day. I was able to get some cleaning done - used my new limescale cleaner on the stainless steel sink and it looks marvelous, I must say! Then used bleach and sponge on the kitchen floor and it IS coming clean! I only got 1/3 done - takes lots of elbow grease. Kids played upstairs, etc. and with our new playdough, then lunch. I made peanut butter and jelly; which was funny because to them jelly is jell-o, and so I should say PB and jam. They didn't like the ranch dressing I put on for carrots and snap-peas, which makes sense because it has been difficult to find and the bottle I did buy is Paul Newman's Own, an American brand. Italian dressing is also hard to find, and there is no "Onion Soup Mix" so I settled for 'chicken and leek soup.' Hope it works the same for my Italian Chicken recipe! If not, maybe someone will send me some :). Estelle came for lunch so we were able to visit a little before they headed home. Now kids are napping. Adelaide starts school tomorrow - our little girl is really growing up! But we're all excited and ready for it.