So when you wake up early on a Tuesday because the kid's got some choir function that requires him to be at school half an hour earlier, plus he has to finish up some homework, and you open up your gmail only to find a big email from Grandma that ends with "Looking forward to reading more on your blog - it has been some time.", you know you've been slacking.
So here I am, with a brief update on what's been going on. I've been seriously craving pizza as of late, and the elation of discovering that Papa John's franchises exist over here has been completely shattered by their website informing me I don't live in the delivery area for any of their franchises. Rats. So I went to Pizza Hut instead and am happy to report that a Hawaiian Stuffed Crust pizza tastes pretty much the same here. I got a 2-liter of Diet Pepsi as well (in honor of Grandma), so I've been happily burping to myself while I get ready to iron for the rest of the afternoon. Junk food.....yummmmm.......
And to anyone who might give me a hard time for eating so crappily, I've really been behaving myself! Still haven't popped into McDonald's for breakfast, or KFC for mac & cheese, and I've generally been making nice healthy food for dinner (last night's chicken was a masterpiece of lemon, pepper, and various other things I threw into the marinade, along with the best brown rice I've ever had, which was prepared in a similar manner as the marinade).
So.....London Eye and Aquarium and such.....
I can't say I was too terribly impressed with the Eye. Granted, I do sort of have a phobia about Ferris wheels, and it was a gloomy day when we went, so I maybe wasn't in the best mindset to appreciate it. And the only picture I really really really really wanted to post up on the internet didn't turn out (a French lady had her Spandex trousers pulled up waaaaay too high and as a result had THE most ridiculous camel toe I've ever seen in public....I think she figured out I was taking a picture of her and turned away before I could get the shot. Rats). Took Conrad and his friend Harry, and they had lots of fun because I'd passed out bubble gum before we got on the thing. Simplicity.....
Now. The Aquarium made me happy to no end. Mostly because it had lots of placards everywhere with helpful little factoids about the aquatic word. And everybody knows, I love factoids (cross-reference Jeopardy! tattoo on left ankle)! So while the boys ran around to all the tanks, I took picture after picture of the factoid signs. I posted the better ones on facebook, links to pictures will be at the bottom of this post. I also discovered that I have a jellyfish fascination. Not the big ones with all the asymmetrical tentacles hanging off them, but the cute little ones that are all symmetrical and energetic. I want a tank of 'em. With like, a black light behind it so they glow. Living lava lamp! Wahoo!
Best thing overheard at the stingray tank in the aquarium: "Tommy! Don't lick your fingers please!"
So that was all 8/17/07. Got home that night, watched Hawaii Five-O with Sonja, Thai takeaway, and champagne. Sonja danced to the theme song. The boys had some champagne as well and got a bit tipsed (hi-larious).
Five days later, my life changed.
Well. Sort of.
I found a proper Mexican restaurant in London on 8/22/07! Woot. And not just a restaurant that serves good Mexican food by London standards, Cafe Pacifico is a restaurant that serves good Mexican food by my Southern Californian standards. I was in heaven. Got to have a margarita, a Dos Equis, enchiladas verdes, AND BEST OF ALL, sopapillas! Yummmm......
Which brings me to a side note that will probably wind up being the end of this post.
My Mexican food skills have improved so much since I got here, I impress myself. I've taught myself how to make tortillas! I think the reason why it's gotten better is because I don't have access to all the readymade stuff to be found in American grocery stores. Plus, I have to get creative with the ingredients I can get here, so that forces me to learn how to season and stuff in order to get the flavor I want. The only bummer is that the family isn't quite where I'm at with what they consider spicy. So more often than not I take out the seeds and membranes because otherwise Conrad won't eat it. Every now and again (especially if his friend Harry is over for dinner), we'll have jalepeno eating contests, but there's really no point to is as the boys can barely handle eating one without running for the milk. And they force me to eat the banana chilis which are just a little too much for me.
Oh lord. One of the cats is making a noise like it's brought me a present. Must go make sure it isn't a pigeon or a mouse.
Whew. Blue-Blue just wanted to bring me a piece of bark. Now she's merrily clawing away at me until she gets comfy enough to curl up. Her and I are two peas in a pod. Minus the clawing and the bark presents.
Anyway, I've decided to chase the pizza and Diet Pepsi with some serious ironing while watching Bulletproof Monk (which I can't believe Sonja actually owns), so I'm going to wrap this up.
Next post will probably be about shopping and Bank Holiday weekend.
Here's pictures from the London Eye and the London Aquarium: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46266&l=c6c9e&id=560310472
Sorry about all the B&W shots.
Later skaters.....
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Being homesick.....
....sucks.
It's a given that I am going to miss my family and the few friends that I left behind. I have been here 70.5 days, and I don't think a single day has passed where I haven't seen/heard/done something that reminds me of the people back home. I've learned that I cannot think about my baby kitten because I miss having her around so much I start to cry. Sometimes, when one of the cats here curls up with me (especially all-black Max), I feel terribly guilty. I can talk to people via email and the phone, but there's no way for me to tell Daphne that I haven't deserted her, and that I'll be back in December. I hope she remembers me. I wish I could bring her back with me. I looked into pet visas the other day, and it's a six-month process that I wouldn't be able to take care of here. I miss my baby.
And this is how my homesickness manifests itself. Like I already mentioned, I would really really really really really like to see everyone sooner as opposed to later, but I've managed to keep from getting completely depressed about it by either choosing not to think about it, keeping myself busy, or a combination of both. But every now and again, like tonight, something random and minor will set off a crazy slippery slope of homesickness that ends with me desperately wishing that I'd never gotten on a plane. Which actually turns out to be helpful. Once I've reached that extreme, I realize how silly I'm being, and start grudgingly working my way back up the slope I was all too happy to go careening down in the first place. I'm trying to teach myself how to meditate, and that's helping a bit, although I always seem to call up memories of sitting at Doheny whenever I get into it.
Tonight's homesickness trigger was making chocolate chip cookies. I think that because I don't acknowledge every little moment I get all wistful about back home, the little moments all build up until I can't bottle them up anymore and they all surge forth with startling swiftness. Sonja inspired me to make chocolate chip cookies around six this evening. Went to the grocery store, bought chocolate chips and my new secret baking ingredient, then immediately started baking once we got back. While mixing up the batter with Sonja's hand mixer, I longed for my grandmother's KitchenAid mixer, which would have done ten times the work of Sonja's mixer, without requiring any strength from me. While dropping cookie dough onto Sonja's single undersized cookie sheet, I dreamt of my cookie sheets, capable of making 30 cookies at a time, compared to the six I was able to fit on Sonja's. And every time I took a batch out of the oven, I yearned for the oven in my mother's kitchen, capable of turning out 60 cookies every 8 minutes. Sonja's manages six cookies every eleven minutes.
In all fairness, there simply isn't enough space for a KitchenAid or a big oven, and I'm not sure if my big cookies sheets would fit in the oven she's got. Before moving here, I'd always at least doubled cookie recipes. Hell, I octupled the snickerdoodle recipe once. Had to do it in two shifts of quadruples, and I still thought I was going to burn out the motor on my mom's mixer. I can't even remember how many hundreds of cookies I made that day. Can't do that here. Nobody would eat that many. And since I work where I live, I don't have the option of bringing leftovers to the office to be eaten.
But I'm rambling off topic. Tonight was baking. And the smell of somebody burning wood in their fireplace (Doheny.....can't wait.....). Last week it was a desire to see mountains, hills, anything besides the constant crush of buildings that is London. I want to drive my Jeep through Trabuco Canyon. I want to make cowboy coffee with a proper coffee maker. I miss junk food, haven't had a soda in weeks, and I'd love to eat about fourteen Big Fat Chicken Tacos, no tomatoes with extra sauce.
These are the things that make me cry for home while clutching Mr. Bear (since that's what I brought him for). Ridiculous.
And now I've fought my way back up Homesickness Hill. So all this melancholy whining of mine has served its purpose and purged all my unhappy feelings. Woot.
On a side note, the thesaurus does not have an entry for "homesick". It is listed as a synonym for "nostalgia", but does not have its own entry. Strange that such a common state of being is so singular in description.
But I think following that train of thought shall have to wait for another day.....
It's a given that I am going to miss my family and the few friends that I left behind. I have been here 70.5 days, and I don't think a single day has passed where I haven't seen/heard/done something that reminds me of the people back home. I've learned that I cannot think about my baby kitten because I miss having her around so much I start to cry. Sometimes, when one of the cats here curls up with me (especially all-black Max), I feel terribly guilty. I can talk to people via email and the phone, but there's no way for me to tell Daphne that I haven't deserted her, and that I'll be back in December. I hope she remembers me. I wish I could bring her back with me. I looked into pet visas the other day, and it's a six-month process that I wouldn't be able to take care of here. I miss my baby.
And this is how my homesickness manifests itself. Like I already mentioned, I would really really really really really like to see everyone sooner as opposed to later, but I've managed to keep from getting completely depressed about it by either choosing not to think about it, keeping myself busy, or a combination of both. But every now and again, like tonight, something random and minor will set off a crazy slippery slope of homesickness that ends with me desperately wishing that I'd never gotten on a plane. Which actually turns out to be helpful. Once I've reached that extreme, I realize how silly I'm being, and start grudgingly working my way back up the slope I was all too happy to go careening down in the first place. I'm trying to teach myself how to meditate, and that's helping a bit, although I always seem to call up memories of sitting at Doheny whenever I get into it.
Tonight's homesickness trigger was making chocolate chip cookies. I think that because I don't acknowledge every little moment I get all wistful about back home, the little moments all build up until I can't bottle them up anymore and they all surge forth with startling swiftness. Sonja inspired me to make chocolate chip cookies around six this evening. Went to the grocery store, bought chocolate chips and my new secret baking ingredient, then immediately started baking once we got back. While mixing up the batter with Sonja's hand mixer, I longed for my grandmother's KitchenAid mixer, which would have done ten times the work of Sonja's mixer, without requiring any strength from me. While dropping cookie dough onto Sonja's single undersized cookie sheet, I dreamt of my cookie sheets, capable of making 30 cookies at a time, compared to the six I was able to fit on Sonja's. And every time I took a batch out of the oven, I yearned for the oven in my mother's kitchen, capable of turning out 60 cookies every 8 minutes. Sonja's manages six cookies every eleven minutes.
In all fairness, there simply isn't enough space for a KitchenAid or a big oven, and I'm not sure if my big cookies sheets would fit in the oven she's got. Before moving here, I'd always at least doubled cookie recipes. Hell, I octupled the snickerdoodle recipe once. Had to do it in two shifts of quadruples, and I still thought I was going to burn out the motor on my mom's mixer. I can't even remember how many hundreds of cookies I made that day. Can't do that here. Nobody would eat that many. And since I work where I live, I don't have the option of bringing leftovers to the office to be eaten.
But I'm rambling off topic. Tonight was baking. And the smell of somebody burning wood in their fireplace (Doheny.....can't wait.....). Last week it was a desire to see mountains, hills, anything besides the constant crush of buildings that is London. I want to drive my Jeep through Trabuco Canyon. I want to make cowboy coffee with a proper coffee maker. I miss junk food, haven't had a soda in weeks, and I'd love to eat about fourteen Big Fat Chicken Tacos, no tomatoes with extra sauce.
These are the things that make me cry for home while clutching Mr. Bear (since that's what I brought him for). Ridiculous.
And now I've fought my way back up Homesickness Hill. So all this melancholy whining of mine has served its purpose and purged all my unhappy feelings. Woot.
On a side note, the thesaurus does not have an entry for "homesick". It is listed as a synonym for "nostalgia", but does not have its own entry. Strange that such a common state of being is so singular in description.
But I think following that train of thought shall have to wait for another day.....
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