There's a whopping 5 inches of snow outside and it's quite cold and blustery. I, however, am staying active and having fun with my new Wii Fit. Based on rave reviews from several friends (including the one who inspired DH and I to get the Wii to begin with) I ordered a Wii Fit from Amazon as soon as they came back into stock after the Christmas rush. It arrived last night, and already I'm not sure whether I've burned more calories from actually using the thing or just busting a gut laughing at some of the routines.
I've learned:
- DH and I weigh about the same... only he's 3-4 inches taller than me (boo!)
- My BMI is on the high end of normal; DH's is perfect
- I have very poor balance control
- I am not coordinated enough to do step aerobics
- I am really weak and out of shape (just a couple of the strength training exercises and I was DYING!)
- I was an AWESOME hula-hooper when I was a kid, and I don't think that the hula-hooping routine reflects that accurately.
- It's kind of annoying to only do things for 2-3 minute spells only until you're one minute into the routine
- There is nothing in this world funnier than seeing DH's Mii get hit in the face with a soccer cleat. Nothing.
I really hope that the novelty doesn't wear off too quickly for me... because right now it is a ton of fun. I am the kind of person who will try over and over again for a perfect result, and, well, getting a perfect result with some of the challenges on the Wii Fit would mean that I had a perfect body, perfect balance, perfect strength, and perfect stamina. Since that's unlikely to ever be the case, at least I won't be bored for a really, really, long time.
And despite the fact that I'm terrible at the Step routines, I hope that someone comes out with a 20-30 minute step and/or aerobics workout for the Wii for use with the balance board, because I think that would kick butt.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
The evolution of my photography
I've been flipping through and loading onto Facebook a bunch of photos that DH and I've taken on various vacations through the years. I look at our first group of "digital" pictures taken on our 2004 trip to Italy (DH bought the camera while I was at my language school and brought it over with him when he joined me for some traveling). They're pretty awful. All kinds of interesting corners are cut off whatever we're taking a picture of, lighting is awful, and there aren't enough pictures of either of us with whatever we're photographing. I then look at some of the pictures I took on our trip to London, and while I'm not even an amateur photographer by any stretch of the imagination, I can definitely see an improvement. I seem to be thinking more about what I'm taking a picture of, rather than just snapping away and hoping it turns out okay. I'm also making sure that I have lots of pics of one of us in there, since the memory isn't really supposed to be the building or the art or whatever, but the fact that I was there with someone.
I really regret the paucity of pictures from my 2006 trip to St John with Jeffro and CCHarmony. By then, DH and I had been to St John twice already, and I guess we just thought we had enough pictures. I really regret not having pics of all of us fooling around in the pool and on the pool deck, rambling around in the Jeep, splitting open our poached coconut, etc.
At least I've learned to just keep snapping. If I get one fantastic photo for every 5 I take I'll be happy.
I really regret the paucity of pictures from my 2006 trip to St John with Jeffro and CCHarmony. By then, DH and I had been to St John twice already, and I guess we just thought we had enough pictures. I really regret not having pics of all of us fooling around in the pool and on the pool deck, rambling around in the Jeep, splitting open our poached coconut, etc.
At least I've learned to just keep snapping. If I get one fantastic photo for every 5 I take I'll be happy.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
There and back again
DH and I just popped down to London for a quick weekend trip. It's really great to be able to do that kind of thing! Anyway, we had a great time, saw about 60% of the stuff we had planned on seeing, and met up with a friend of mine I hadn't seen in almost 5 years!
As with my Germany trip, I won't bore you with details, but here's a quick recap of our trip.
Friday, Jan 16
Took the train from Harrogate to London Kings Cross, checked into the hotel, walked about seeing Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. Met up with Lucy for drinks and dinner, and missed the last Underground train back to our hotel, so we had to grab a taxi to get home (we had enjoyed quite a bit of wine by that point).
Saturday, Jan 17
Took a LONG time getting started this morning ;). In any case, once we did get going, we took a walk along the south bank of the Thames, seeing Parliament and Big Ben (again!), the London Eye (broken, unfortunately, as the weather was perfect for pics from the Eye), the Millennium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral (didn't go inside as the best part - the whispering gallery - was closed for renovations), and Fleet Street. We closed out the day by visiting the National Gallery. I was pretty excited to see a bunch of Renaissance paintings, but found out that about 1/2 the paintings I wanted to see had been included in a special exhibition - so they weren't with the permanent collections at that time. Poopers! Oh well, we'll catch them next time. We were cautioned against leaving the Gallery by staff for a short time while a HUGE pro-Gaza, anti-Israeli incursion protest was taking place in Trafalgar Square (right in front of the Gallery). It was pretty wild with helicopters flying overhead and lots of shouting and chanting. When we finally got out, we walked back down towards Westminster, where yet another huge protest was taking place across from Downing Street - this one against the Sri Lankan government in the wake of a murder of a prominent journalist. More excitement. We took it really easy that night by eating dinner near the hotel in preparation for a big Sunday.
Sunday, Jan 18
Up bright and early! Had a hideously huge breakfast at a greasy spoon cafe near Victoria station (which I ate just half of), then made our way up to Covent Garden and through Soho before visiting the British Museum. Spent a few hours checking out the Rosetta Stone!, the Egyptian and near-east collections, and the Ancient Greek and Roman collections. After that we made our way to the Tower of London. We had wanted to take one of the Yeoman's tours and then spend another hour or so exploring the Tower. Unfortunately, the last tour had left an hour before we got there, and the Tower was closing an hour later. There was no way I was going to spend 16.50 pounds for just an hour in the Tower, so we left it until our next visit. Instead, we made our way over to the Tower Bridge, visited the upper deck (with clear skies and a beautiful sunset, it was great). Afterwards, we somehow made it back up to Covent Garden to a neat fish and chips place we'd seen earlier in the day, then raced back to Tower Hill for our Jack the Ripper night walk. Despite being 10 minutes late, we made it (miracle of miracles) and walked around the East End of London hearing about those lovely gruesome murders. Very cool.
The final bit of our day was supposed to have been a trip to The Sports Cafe to watch the Eagles/Cardinals game, but DH checked the score before we got on the Undergrounf, and it was 21-6. He was too discouraged to go out to watch the game, so we just went back to the hotel to ease our aching feet. It turns out the game was on a Sky Sports channel we got in our hotel room, so DH watched the painful second half from the comfort of our hotel bed.
Monday, Jan 19th
Final Day! Quick coffee and pastry from a neighborhood cafe was our breakfast, which we ate in a park overlooking the Thames. Then up to Westminster Abbey for the visit we were supposed to have done on Saturday morning. We spent about 2 hours touring the Abbey (which was awesome!), and by the time we were done it was time to collect our things from the hotel and make our way up to the train station for our train ride home. We'd enjoyed unbelievably good weather the entire weekend, and the instant our train pulled out of Kings Cross, it started pouring rain. C'est la vie.
Pics of our trip can be seen here.
Next month's trip: A long weekend in Paris!
As with my Germany trip, I won't bore you with details, but here's a quick recap of our trip.
Friday, Jan 16
Took the train from Harrogate to London Kings Cross, checked into the hotel, walked about seeing Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. Met up with Lucy for drinks and dinner, and missed the last Underground train back to our hotel, so we had to grab a taxi to get home (we had enjoyed quite a bit of wine by that point).
Saturday, Jan 17
Took a LONG time getting started this morning ;). In any case, once we did get going, we took a walk along the south bank of the Thames, seeing Parliament and Big Ben (again!), the London Eye (broken, unfortunately, as the weather was perfect for pics from the Eye), the Millennium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral (didn't go inside as the best part - the whispering gallery - was closed for renovations), and Fleet Street. We closed out the day by visiting the National Gallery. I was pretty excited to see a bunch of Renaissance paintings, but found out that about 1/2 the paintings I wanted to see had been included in a special exhibition - so they weren't with the permanent collections at that time. Poopers! Oh well, we'll catch them next time. We were cautioned against leaving the Gallery by staff for a short time while a HUGE pro-Gaza, anti-Israeli incursion protest was taking place in Trafalgar Square (right in front of the Gallery). It was pretty wild with helicopters flying overhead and lots of shouting and chanting. When we finally got out, we walked back down towards Westminster, where yet another huge protest was taking place across from Downing Street - this one against the Sri Lankan government in the wake of a murder of a prominent journalist. More excitement. We took it really easy that night by eating dinner near the hotel in preparation for a big Sunday.
Sunday, Jan 18
Up bright and early! Had a hideously huge breakfast at a greasy spoon cafe near Victoria station (which I ate just half of), then made our way up to Covent Garden and through Soho before visiting the British Museum. Spent a few hours checking out the Rosetta Stone!, the Egyptian and near-east collections, and the Ancient Greek and Roman collections. After that we made our way to the Tower of London. We had wanted to take one of the Yeoman's tours and then spend another hour or so exploring the Tower. Unfortunately, the last tour had left an hour before we got there, and the Tower was closing an hour later. There was no way I was going to spend 16.50 pounds for just an hour in the Tower, so we left it until our next visit. Instead, we made our way over to the Tower Bridge, visited the upper deck (with clear skies and a beautiful sunset, it was great). Afterwards, we somehow made it back up to Covent Garden to a neat fish and chips place we'd seen earlier in the day, then raced back to Tower Hill for our Jack the Ripper night walk. Despite being 10 minutes late, we made it (miracle of miracles) and walked around the East End of London hearing about those lovely gruesome murders. Very cool.
The final bit of our day was supposed to have been a trip to The Sports Cafe to watch the Eagles/Cardinals game, but DH checked the score before we got on the Undergrounf, and it was 21-6. He was too discouraged to go out to watch the game, so we just went back to the hotel to ease our aching feet. It turns out the game was on a Sky Sports channel we got in our hotel room, so DH watched the painful second half from the comfort of our hotel bed.
Monday, Jan 19th
Final Day! Quick coffee and pastry from a neighborhood cafe was our breakfast, which we ate in a park overlooking the Thames. Then up to Westminster Abbey for the visit we were supposed to have done on Saturday morning. We spent about 2 hours touring the Abbey (which was awesome!), and by the time we were done it was time to collect our things from the hotel and make our way up to the train station for our train ride home. We'd enjoyed unbelievably good weather the entire weekend, and the instant our train pulled out of Kings Cross, it started pouring rain. C'est la vie.
Pics of our trip can be seen here.
Next month's trip: A long weekend in Paris!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
What's been going on?
It's another gray, rainy day in England-land.
Yesterday was a sunny, but coldish day. I drove my lil' Bug for the first time over to the University of York to meet with the co-coordinators for the MSc program in Marine Environmental Management. I even wore my sunglasses! The meeting went well. Nothing crazy or unexpected, I'd done my homework beforehand and there were no surprises.
When I got into my car after our meeting was over, looked up at the temperature indicator, and saw it was 51 degrees! My lower limit for putting the top down is 50, and the sun was still shining, so down the top went! Woot! I hadn't driven in England-land, and now I was going to drive with the top down!
Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. About five miles down the road the clouds started to build up, and the temperature dropped to 41 degrees. But I didn't care. I was on a two-lane highway, and speeding along at about 80 with some lovely Dethklok playing in the background. I did give up about 20 miles later, pulled over to the side of the road and put the top up, but still, I was thrilled.
Not much else interesting going on. DH and I are going to London for a long weekend, leaving tomorrow. I most excited about meeting up with two girls I met back in 2004 in Florence; we're having dinner Friday night!
So despite the crazy weather - I'm having a good week. I gotta find something more substantial to do with my time soon, though.
Yesterday was a sunny, but coldish day. I drove my lil' Bug for the first time over to the University of York to meet with the co-coordinators for the MSc program in Marine Environmental Management. I even wore my sunglasses! The meeting went well. Nothing crazy or unexpected, I'd done my homework beforehand and there were no surprises.
When I got into my car after our meeting was over, looked up at the temperature indicator, and saw it was 51 degrees! My lower limit for putting the top down is 50, and the sun was still shining, so down the top went! Woot! I hadn't driven in England-land, and now I was going to drive with the top down!
Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. About five miles down the road the clouds started to build up, and the temperature dropped to 41 degrees. But I didn't care. I was on a two-lane highway, and speeding along at about 80 with some lovely Dethklok playing in the background. I did give up about 20 miles later, pulled over to the side of the road and put the top up, but still, I was thrilled.
Not much else interesting going on. DH and I are going to London for a long weekend, leaving tomorrow. I most excited about meeting up with two girls I met back in 2004 in Florence; we're having dinner Friday night!
So despite the crazy weather - I'm having a good week. I gotta find something more substantial to do with my time soon, though.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Moving forward while looking backward
Having a Facebook profile and being a curious creature has been a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, reconnecting with friends has never been easier, most of the time with a wave of good memories and a lot of laughs. Old misunderstandings are likely to now be water under the bridge, and new, adult relationships can be built from the foundation of a shared history.
On the other hand, every connection you make with someone from your past puts a memory at risk. Friends who you respected immensely, thought were the smartest or coolest, or even people with whom you had a lot in common, grow and change as much as you have grown and changed. Sometimes you've grown and changed in many of the same ways, and the re-connection provides the catalyst for a whole new relationship. But sometimes the people you have in your memory have grown and changed in ways you would never have suspected, or they never grew or changed at all. That wonderful first love could now be a complete pervy creep. The best friend you spent so many sleepless slumber parties with might now be a bigoted halfwit. Would those be cases where ignorance is bliss?
And sometimes reconnecting comes with a wave of nostalgic angst. You never really know whether old wounds have fully healed and loose ends are definitely tied up until they're challenged head on. Before Facebook, heck, before the internet, plausible deniability ruled the day. In a few cases of my own, I do feel like I've taken a big risk, and I know that if I hadn't truly moved forward, I'd have been paralyzed by looking back and wanting to relive/rehash everything all over again. You never really know until it's too late.
In any case, right now I'm having lots of fun. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I've always been a bit of a risk-taker.
On the other hand, every connection you make with someone from your past puts a memory at risk. Friends who you respected immensely, thought were the smartest or coolest, or even people with whom you had a lot in common, grow and change as much as you have grown and changed. Sometimes you've grown and changed in many of the same ways, and the re-connection provides the catalyst for a whole new relationship. But sometimes the people you have in your memory have grown and changed in ways you would never have suspected, or they never grew or changed at all. That wonderful first love could now be a complete pervy creep. The best friend you spent so many sleepless slumber parties with might now be a bigoted halfwit. Would those be cases where ignorance is bliss?
And sometimes reconnecting comes with a wave of nostalgic angst. You never really know whether old wounds have fully healed and loose ends are definitely tied up until they're challenged head on. Before Facebook, heck, before the internet, plausible deniability ruled the day. In a few cases of my own, I do feel like I've taken a big risk, and I know that if I hadn't truly moved forward, I'd have been paralyzed by looking back and wanting to relive/rehash everything all over again. You never really know until it's too late.
In any case, right now I'm having lots of fun. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I've always been a bit of a risk-taker.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Happy New Year! What's coming up in 2009?
Wow. It's 2009 already. That means it's been 15 years since I graduated from high school, DH graduated from undergrad 10 years ago, and we'll have been married for 8 years in November (but together for 12). I'll turn 33 in August!
Numbers, numbers.
DH and I partied it up with a small group of friend for New Year's Eve, with me drinking a twee bit too much! But it's all good. This is going to be a year of great uncertainty, I think. I'm probably going to apply for another grad program - this one at the University of York. Until that would start though (not until October) I've got to find something to do with myself.
DH is still happy with his job here, and I think we're starting to settle in to a small bit of a routine, though the holidays really screwed around with whatever it was we were starting to establish. We've talked about an awful lot of travel plans (Paris in February, London in January, Spain at Easter time, etc) but nothing has been bought in the way of plane tickets or hotel reservations yet.
The weather is still crap, but maybe, just maybe, the days will begin feeling a little longer in fact rather than in theory. Obama is going to be inaugurated in a couple of weeks, and I'm curious what his administration is going to mean to the agencies I hold dear (NOAA and NASA).
I want to start exercising more and getting out and about more (even just for weekend walks). I hope that the kitties stay healthy and happy. I hope to meet more people and travel more places and do some things that I've never done before. I hope that friends back home are able to come visit us!
Most of all, I just hope for a happy and healthy year for DH and me! If you've got your health, you have it all.
2008 was way too stressful for me, so here's hoping for a better 2009!
Numbers, numbers.
DH and I partied it up with a small group of friend for New Year's Eve, with me drinking a twee bit too much! But it's all good. This is going to be a year of great uncertainty, I think. I'm probably going to apply for another grad program - this one at the University of York. Until that would start though (not until October) I've got to find something to do with myself.
DH is still happy with his job here, and I think we're starting to settle in to a small bit of a routine, though the holidays really screwed around with whatever it was we were starting to establish. We've talked about an awful lot of travel plans (Paris in February, London in January, Spain at Easter time, etc) but nothing has been bought in the way of plane tickets or hotel reservations yet.
The weather is still crap, but maybe, just maybe, the days will begin feeling a little longer in fact rather than in theory. Obama is going to be inaugurated in a couple of weeks, and I'm curious what his administration is going to mean to the agencies I hold dear (NOAA and NASA).
I want to start exercising more and getting out and about more (even just for weekend walks). I hope that the kitties stay healthy and happy. I hope to meet more people and travel more places and do some things that I've never done before. I hope that friends back home are able to come visit us!
Most of all, I just hope for a happy and healthy year for DH and me! If you've got your health, you have it all.
2008 was way too stressful for me, so here's hoping for a better 2009!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas for Erika in Germany...
I could write pages and pages about our trip over Christmas to Germany, but no one wants to read all that, just like no one wants to watch a slideshow of someone's trip to Florida. So I'll try and keep this short and sweet and just hit the highlights of each day.
Day 1 - Friday, 19 Dec.
DH and I set off for Munich, Germany, on Dec 19th out of Manchester Airport. Our flight was late and it was rainy when we landed. We got sort of lost in the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) looking for the exit that would lead to our hotel (which was quite literally right next door) but nonetheless, had a great first night!
Highlights:
- DH eating his first Bratwurst!
- First visit of the Munich Christmas Market
Day 2 - Saturday, 20 Dec.
It was drizzling outside, and since we had booked the "I Love Chocolate" package through Sofitel, we enjoyed a really big, delicious breakfast before setting off for the Neue Pinakothek for our cultural immersion of the day. That night we had reservations at the hotel restaurant for our three-course chocolate dinner.
Highlights:
- Canova's Paris
- DH's first trip on a Strassenbahn (German street trolley)
- Chocolate dinner at the hotel
- Discovering super-yummy Nuernberger Brats at our new favorite Christmas Market (by the Sendlinger Gate)
Day 3 - Sunday, 21 Dec
We again slept in and enjoyed our huge yummy breakfast. Then we set off for the Deutsches Museum (German Museum) which is Germany's version of all the US Smithsonians combined into one single museum. Oy! We spent no less than 4 hours there! Afterwards we hit our favorite Christmas Market again for more Nuernbergers (although DH ate a normal Bratwurst) and some French Fries, and both our first Feuerzangebowle (traditional German hot drink at Christmas)
Highlights:
- Marine Navigation hall at the Deutsches Museum
- Watching a blind brass band perform Christmas songs at our favorite Christmas Market
- DH's first U-bahn (Germany subway) ride!
Day 4 - Monday, 22 Dec
Today we got ourselves out of bed a littler earlier than we had been, again enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then checked out of our Munich hotel and picked up our rental car. After a brief delay caused by a wicked accident on the Autobahn, we made our way to Noerdlingen, Germany. This is the town featured in the older version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory - at the end when they are flying around in the glass elevator. We also learned that the town was located in the crater of a giant meteor that hit over 15 million years ago, and that NASA astronauts had visited before their trips to the moon for quarrying experience. Pretty cool! They had a sweet little Christmas Market that we visited, eating a pretzel and - what else - another Bratwurst!
We left Noerdlingen to make our way to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, where we were staying for the night. After some very tense moments getting lost and being unable to find our hotel, we finally checked in, parked the car, walked around the town a little bit, and then did the Nightwatchman Tour! We had a really lovely traditional German dinner at one of the town's hotel restaurants before turning in for the night.
Highlights:
- DH's first drive on the German Autobahn (his max speed - 150-155 km/h)
- Noerdlingen - I loved it!!!
- Nightwatchman's Tour of Rothenburg o.d. Tauber
- Yummy Schweinbraten mit Knoedel at Restaurant Roter Hahn
Day 5 - Tuesday, 23 Dec.
Since we had arrived so late in Rothenburg, we spent most of the day walking the town, visiting the Kriminalmuseum (full of old torture instruments!), and walking along the wall, gardens, and towers of Rothenburg. We left in the late afternoon, just making it to Wuerzburg where we dropped off the car and traveled by train to my friend Andrea's, with whose family we were spending the holidays.
Highlights:
- Seeing Andrea and meeting her loverly family!
- DH's first German train trip!
- DH's and my first Weisswurst (traditional Bavarian/Franconian wurst - not to everyone's taste, but definitely to ours! YUMMY!)
Day 6 - Wednesday, 24 Dec. *Christmas Eve*
What a lovely day. We didn't really do much. Slept late, ate breakfast, walked around Ebelsbach and saw two castles in 10 minutes, relaxed, ate "lunch" (baked chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto and sage, potato cheese casserole (like an au gratin), and ratatouille), went to Koenigsberg i. B. to see another castle and a quaint little town, then returned to Ebelsbach, went to church for the childrens Mass and Nativity Play, ate yummy individual pizzas, and celebrated a traditional German Christmas.
Highlights
- The little kid playing the main shepherd looking for his little, white lamb at the Christmas children's Mass
- Home-cooked German food! Oh my!
- Walking around Ebelsbach
- Traditional German Christmas tree with real candles!
Day 7 - Thursday, 25 Dec. *Christmas*
Another completely lovely day. After having Christmas dinner (which in Germany is at lunchtime, since the main meal of the day for many Europeans is at lunchtime) which was out of this world (Roulade, Knoedel (large potato dumpling ball), and Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage)) we went to Bamberg to walk the town's streets. We visited the cathedral, popped into a little restaurant to try a Bamberger Rauchbier (a smoky beer that smelled like smoked ham, and kind of tasted like it too), and generally wiled the day away. Dinner was a meat and cheese platter - where I discovered a new favorite cheese!
Highlights
- Bamberg Cathedral - so gorgeous!
- More German homecooking. Mmmmmmm!
Day 8 - Friday, 26 Dec. *Boxing Day*
Sadly, our last day in Germany. After a quick breakfast, it was off to the train station to catch a train to Frankfurt airport. We said goodbye to our lovely hosts, who are unparalleled in their hospitality, friendliness, and openness, and set off for Harrogate!
Highlights
- DH's first ride on the ICE - Germany's super-fast train (even though we didn't get to go super fast)
- Seeing the kitties again, who were clearly fat and happy and barely noticed our absence (thanks to the excellent care provided by our young hired help).
Pics of our trip can be seen here.
Day 1 - Friday, 19 Dec.
DH and I set off for Munich, Germany, on Dec 19th out of Manchester Airport. Our flight was late and it was rainy when we landed. We got sort of lost in the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) looking for the exit that would lead to our hotel (which was quite literally right next door) but nonetheless, had a great first night!
Highlights:
- DH eating his first Bratwurst!
- First visit of the Munich Christmas Market
Day 2 - Saturday, 20 Dec.
It was drizzling outside, and since we had booked the "I Love Chocolate" package through Sofitel, we enjoyed a really big, delicious breakfast before setting off for the Neue Pinakothek for our cultural immersion of the day. That night we had reservations at the hotel restaurant for our three-course chocolate dinner.
Highlights:
- Canova's Paris
- DH's first trip on a Strassenbahn (German street trolley)
- Chocolate dinner at the hotel
- Discovering super-yummy Nuernberger Brats at our new favorite Christmas Market (by the Sendlinger Gate)
Day 3 - Sunday, 21 Dec
We again slept in and enjoyed our huge yummy breakfast. Then we set off for the Deutsches Museum (German Museum) which is Germany's version of all the US Smithsonians combined into one single museum. Oy! We spent no less than 4 hours there! Afterwards we hit our favorite Christmas Market again for more Nuernbergers (although DH ate a normal Bratwurst) and some French Fries, and both our first Feuerzangebowle (traditional German hot drink at Christmas)
Highlights:
- Marine Navigation hall at the Deutsches Museum
- Watching a blind brass band perform Christmas songs at our favorite Christmas Market
- DH's first U-bahn (Germany subway) ride!
Day 4 - Monday, 22 Dec
Today we got ourselves out of bed a littler earlier than we had been, again enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then checked out of our Munich hotel and picked up our rental car. After a brief delay caused by a wicked accident on the Autobahn, we made our way to Noerdlingen, Germany. This is the town featured in the older version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory - at the end when they are flying around in the glass elevator. We also learned that the town was located in the crater of a giant meteor that hit over 15 million years ago, and that NASA astronauts had visited before their trips to the moon for quarrying experience. Pretty cool! They had a sweet little Christmas Market that we visited, eating a pretzel and - what else - another Bratwurst!
We left Noerdlingen to make our way to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, where we were staying for the night. After some very tense moments getting lost and being unable to find our hotel, we finally checked in, parked the car, walked around the town a little bit, and then did the Nightwatchman Tour! We had a really lovely traditional German dinner at one of the town's hotel restaurants before turning in for the night.
Highlights:
- DH's first drive on the German Autobahn (his max speed - 150-155 km/h)
- Noerdlingen - I loved it!!!
- Nightwatchman's Tour of Rothenburg o.d. Tauber
- Yummy Schweinbraten mit Knoedel at Restaurant Roter Hahn
Day 5 - Tuesday, 23 Dec.
Since we had arrived so late in Rothenburg, we spent most of the day walking the town, visiting the Kriminalmuseum (full of old torture instruments!), and walking along the wall, gardens, and towers of Rothenburg. We left in the late afternoon, just making it to Wuerzburg where we dropped off the car and traveled by train to my friend Andrea's, with whose family we were spending the holidays.
Highlights:
- Seeing Andrea and meeting her loverly family!
- DH's first German train trip!
- DH's and my first Weisswurst (traditional Bavarian/Franconian wurst - not to everyone's taste, but definitely to ours! YUMMY!)
Day 6 - Wednesday, 24 Dec. *Christmas Eve*
What a lovely day. We didn't really do much. Slept late, ate breakfast, walked around Ebelsbach and saw two castles in 10 minutes, relaxed, ate "lunch" (baked chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto and sage, potato cheese casserole (like an au gratin), and ratatouille), went to Koenigsberg i. B. to see another castle and a quaint little town, then returned to Ebelsbach, went to church for the childrens Mass and Nativity Play, ate yummy individual pizzas, and celebrated a traditional German Christmas.
Highlights
- The little kid playing the main shepherd looking for his little, white lamb at the Christmas children's Mass
- Home-cooked German food! Oh my!
- Walking around Ebelsbach
- Traditional German Christmas tree with real candles!
Day 7 - Thursday, 25 Dec. *Christmas*
Another completely lovely day. After having Christmas dinner (which in Germany is at lunchtime, since the main meal of the day for many Europeans is at lunchtime) which was out of this world (Roulade, Knoedel (large potato dumpling ball), and Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage)) we went to Bamberg to walk the town's streets. We visited the cathedral, popped into a little restaurant to try a Bamberger Rauchbier (a smoky beer that smelled like smoked ham, and kind of tasted like it too), and generally wiled the day away. Dinner was a meat and cheese platter - where I discovered a new favorite cheese!
Highlights
- Bamberg Cathedral - so gorgeous!
- More German homecooking. Mmmmmmm!
Day 8 - Friday, 26 Dec. *Boxing Day*
Sadly, our last day in Germany. After a quick breakfast, it was off to the train station to catch a train to Frankfurt airport. We said goodbye to our lovely hosts, who are unparalleled in their hospitality, friendliness, and openness, and set off for Harrogate!
Highlights
- DH's first ride on the ICE - Germany's super-fast train (even though we didn't get to go super fast)
- Seeing the kitties again, who were clearly fat and happy and barely noticed our absence (thanks to the excellent care provided by our young hired help).
Pics of our trip can be seen here.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Finally... news...
Well, thanks to all of you who have offered tons of support, but I've just gotten word that I was not selected to interview for the Bosch Fellowship. At least I now know, and can refocus on getting a job here in the UK! No worries - I totally believe that when God closes a door, he opens a window. I'll think about reapplying again next year in any case.
Thanks again for all the well wishes!
Thanks again for all the well wishes!
Quick update - or rather non-update
For the one or two of you who might be watching for news about my fellowship application, I'm posting to let you know that I still have no update. I emailed the woman yesterday morning (8am England time, so 3am US EST time) and heard nothing all day. Everytime a message appeared in my inbox my heart would jump into my throat, only to be disappointed by the sender being "American Airlines" or "Whole Latte Love" or somesuch other junk mail.
With my friggin' luck, the woman is either a) out sick or b) out for holiday vacation and I still won't know for weeks on end. The mail situation for our APO box is total crap too, so I don't know when/how I'm going to hear.
Frankly, I don't have the best psychic vibe about it anymore. I mean, if I had been selected for interviews, which are being held Jan 13-15th in NYC, I imagine someone would have contacted me by now for travel arrangements, right? Argh, this is so frustrating. I just want to know definitively one way or the other. I feel paralyzed not knowing. It's brutal.
With my friggin' luck, the woman is either a) out sick or b) out for holiday vacation and I still won't know for weeks on end. The mail situation for our APO box is total crap too, so I don't know when/how I'm going to hear.
Frankly, I don't have the best psychic vibe about it anymore. I mean, if I had been selected for interviews, which are being held Jan 13-15th in NYC, I imagine someone would have contacted me by now for travel arrangements, right? Argh, this is so frustrating. I just want to know definitively one way or the other. I feel paralyzed not knowing. It's brutal.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
"Tell me honey, how come you're so cute?"
One of the leading actors from one of my all-time favorite movies died yesterday. Van Johnson, who was 92, starred in "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo," the Hollywood version of the true-life bombing of Tokyo during WWII.
The movie makes me laugh, makes me cry (of course), stars another one of my absolute favorites, Spencer Tracy, and has one of my all-time favorite pieces of dialogue that I use on DH all the time. If you're up one day and see it coming on TCM or something, sit down and watch it. What those boys (yes, they were just boys) did was nothing short of astonishing.
Here's the YouTube link for the trailer to "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo." My favorite piece of dialogue begins about 2:37.
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The movie makes me laugh, makes me cry (of course), stars another one of my absolute favorites, Spencer Tracy, and has one of my all-time favorite pieces of dialogue that I use on DH all the time. If you're up one day and see it coming on TCM or something, sit down and watch it. What those boys (yes, they were just boys) did was nothing short of astonishing.
Here's the YouTube link for the trailer to "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo." My favorite piece of dialogue begins about 2:37.
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Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Kinda just started to freak out...
Since arriving in England, I've put off a job search or anything resembling it because I've applied for a Bosch Fellowship. If I was awarded a spot, I would be spending Sept 2009 - June 2010 in Germany, working for a German government agency and a German non-profit/private sector firm for about 4 months each.
My application was submitted in October, with what I thought was a strong essay and what I knew were two very strong personal recommendations. I thought that I was supposed to hear via email by December 15th whether I was going to be invited just to interview for a spot. Re-reading the application acknowledgment email today, I realized that they are in fact mailing (by regular US mail) those results out, which I should receive by Dec 15th. I did give our APO address on my application, but we've been having tons of issues getting mail from the States at that address. So now I'm kinda freaking out, since they've requested that we not email them about the status of our application until after December 15th. Seriously, at this point I just want to know one way or the other, and not have this hanging over my head. I guess I'm just getting nervous now that it's nearly time to find out, since I haven't really been thinking of it until now.
Of course, with my luck, DH will pick up the letter today when he check our mail on base. It's like some kind of psychic link or something.
My application was submitted in October, with what I thought was a strong essay and what I knew were two very strong personal recommendations. I thought that I was supposed to hear via email by December 15th whether I was going to be invited just to interview for a spot. Re-reading the application acknowledgment email today, I realized that they are in fact mailing (by regular US mail) those results out, which I should receive by Dec 15th. I did give our APO address on my application, but we've been having tons of issues getting mail from the States at that address. So now I'm kinda freaking out, since they've requested that we not email them about the status of our application until after December 15th. Seriously, at this point I just want to know one way or the other, and not have this hanging over my head. I guess I'm just getting nervous now that it's nearly time to find out, since I haven't really been thinking of it until now.
Of course, with my luck, DH will pick up the letter today when he check our mail on base. It's like some kind of psychic link or something.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Weird, wild, wacky Christmas party (UK edition) - UPDATE
I have learned since attending the surreal Christmas party last night that many of the things I thought were peculiar were indeed British Christmas traditions. To wit:
These are the cylindrical "bang" packages which contained the tissue paper hats and little plastic toys that I was confused by. I learned tonight that they are known as "Christmas Crackers." From Wikipedia:
"Christmas crackers are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and in other Commonwealth countries. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun).
In one version of the tradition the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. In another each person will have their own cracker and will keep its contents regardless of whose end they were in. Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat or crown; a small toy or other trinket and a motto, a joke or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper. Crackers are often pulled after Christmas dinner or at parties."
I don't yet understand the tissue paper crowns (which come in the crackers) or the ABBA connection, but I will solve these mysteries and report back to my faithful readers!
These are the cylindrical "bang" packages which contained the tissue paper hats and little plastic toys that I was confused by. I learned tonight that they are known as "Christmas Crackers." From Wikipedia:
"Christmas crackers are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and in other Commonwealth countries. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun).
In one version of the tradition the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. In another each person will have their own cracker and will keep its contents regardless of whose end they were in. Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat or crown; a small toy or other trinket and a motto, a joke or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper. Crackers are often pulled after Christmas dinner or at parties."
I don't yet understand the tissue paper crowns (which come in the crackers) or the ABBA connection, but I will solve these mysteries and report back to my faithful readers!
Weird, wild, wacky Christmas party (UK edition)
Wow. I don't even know where to start this post.
Last night was DH's team's Christmas Party. It all sounded normal enough (normal to my American sensibilities, anyway). We were going to a local hotel for a meal, and meeting up for a little pre-party at a nearby couple's house for a little wine and cheese.
Indeed it started pretty much how these things go... we went to the couple's house, which was very nice, and enjoyed some pre-party drinks, were introduced to spouses and made some small talk, and it was all very expected.
I guess the first sign that things were going to be a little different should have been DH telling me that the dress code was either "smart casual" or "70s disco" style. These two things don't make much sense, but I just kind of let it go. When we arrived at the hotel for our pre-dinner drinks at the hotel bar, I looked around at the assembled crowd. Our group was only about 20 people; there were perhaps a hundred or so in the lobby area. People were wearing the widest variety of clothes I had ever seen assembled in one place in my life. There was a very large group of people dressed in black tie formal attire (with more women than I have ever seen in my life squeezing into dresses that had they bothered to check a mirror, they would have known their dress was four sizes too small) Oh - there was a complete lack of appropriate foundation garments as well - there were flat droopy boobs, poochy tummys, and spare tires in abundance. There were the "smart casual" folks, with the boys in nice pants and nice shirts and the occasional tie and blazer and women in nice sweaters or shirts and skirts or casual dresses..
And then there were the folks in the 70s garb. Just. wow. Bell bottoms and paisley galore (including some sequined bell bottom paisley, which was nothing short of insane). These people were dead serious about their 70s style costumes. Standing there in the lobby I bitterly cursed DH for not having a) told me to bring our camera and b) forgetting his iPhone in the car, which takes much better pictures than my crappy cell phone camera.
After a short while in the bar we were led by someone from the hotel staff up to the restaurant and to our reserved tables. The tables were decorated in a way I expected much more for a New Year's Celebration than a Christmas party - with little champagne poppers, noisemakers, strange popping package-type things that went "bang" when you pulled them apart, and really annoying balloon-type things that you blew up and let go, at which point they sailed around the room making that horrible deflating balloon squeal. They looked like giant flying penises and there were dozens of them flying around the room. Inside the little "bang" packages there were tissue paper crowns, which people all around the room were wearing on their heads.
I kind of stood there in shock for a few minutes, trying to understand exactly what this scene in front of me was. Eventually we settled down, had a fairly standard quality hotel-catered meal, and I just kind of was looking around at this surreal scene of grown adults at their companies' Christmas parties, wearing tissue paper hats and shooting champagne poppers at one another and setting off balloons around the room. It was like a strange LSD trip.
And it was only the beginning of the strangeness.
After dinner, once everyone had had their cake and coffee, the entertainment for the evening started. Now DH had told me that the hotel had a 70s theme club or something, he wasn't quite sure what. We joked that it would be something like an ABBA-fest (me) or a BeeGees-fest (him). This of course explained why some of the people in attendance were dressed in 70s garb.
At the front of the room there was a small dance floor with some lights and whatnot set up. The room's lights were dimmed quite low and some peppy instrumental music I didn't recognize at first started playing. I was in no way prepared for what appeared next. Indeed, I'm not quite sure I believe it actually happened yet.
At one point I recognized the musical refrain, at about the same time as DH did. I turned to him and said "Is that... Waterloo?" At that exact moment, the dance floor's lights came on, and there was a group of four - two men and two women - that were clearly an ABBA tribute band. And they started singing "Waterloo."
The room went crazy, "Woo-Hoo"ing and screaming, as if it was a room full of teenage girls and the latest boy band had just taken the stage. A woman, dressed in a 1920's style flapper dress (she was with one of the black-tie groups, I think), almost immediately jumped up on the buffet and started dancing (it was the first song! how much had she had to drink already that she was ready to dance on tables?). The ABBA tribute band was singing its heart out, and I was simply looking at my DH in utter and complete shock.
I kind of figured that they would play one or two songs and then a normal dance floor would follow. How wrong I was. I didn't even think ABBA had that many songs, but they played for a solid hour, with their "encore" number being, of course, "Dancing Queen." It was absolutely surreal. There is simply no other word for it.
Once the band finished playing, our group started to disperse - it was 1100pm on a Friday night, after all. I'm still not sure that I've processed everything that happened last night. After all, my Christmas party experience has mostly been a subdued meal with some folks you work with, perhaps a little bit of Christmas music on to get you in the mood, maybe a Secret Santa or White Elephant/Yankee Swap-type game for some wholesome laughs, and then everyone goes on their merry way.
I was not prepared for an New Year's Eve party-type craziness with an ABBA soundtrack. It was, to say the least, bizarre.
And here are just a couple of crappy cell-phone pics:
Hard to see... but up there are the blond and brunette "ABBA"-like chicks singing
Flapper-like chick dancing on the buffet - TO THE FIRST SONG!
I have a pic of DH wearing his paper crown, but to my chagrin he won't let me make it public.
Last night was DH's team's Christmas Party. It all sounded normal enough (normal to my American sensibilities, anyway). We were going to a local hotel for a meal, and meeting up for a little pre-party at a nearby couple's house for a little wine and cheese.
Indeed it started pretty much how these things go... we went to the couple's house, which was very nice, and enjoyed some pre-party drinks, were introduced to spouses and made some small talk, and it was all very expected.
I guess the first sign that things were going to be a little different should have been DH telling me that the dress code was either "smart casual" or "70s disco" style. These two things don't make much sense, but I just kind of let it go. When we arrived at the hotel for our pre-dinner drinks at the hotel bar, I looked around at the assembled crowd. Our group was only about 20 people; there were perhaps a hundred or so in the lobby area. People were wearing the widest variety of clothes I had ever seen assembled in one place in my life. There was a very large group of people dressed in black tie formal attire (with more women than I have ever seen in my life squeezing into dresses that had they bothered to check a mirror, they would have known their dress was four sizes too small) Oh - there was a complete lack of appropriate foundation garments as well - there were flat droopy boobs, poochy tummys, and spare tires in abundance. There were the "smart casual" folks, with the boys in nice pants and nice shirts and the occasional tie and blazer and women in nice sweaters or shirts and skirts or casual dresses..
And then there were the folks in the 70s garb. Just. wow. Bell bottoms and paisley galore (including some sequined bell bottom paisley, which was nothing short of insane). These people were dead serious about their 70s style costumes. Standing there in the lobby I bitterly cursed DH for not having a) told me to bring our camera and b) forgetting his iPhone in the car, which takes much better pictures than my crappy cell phone camera.
After a short while in the bar we were led by someone from the hotel staff up to the restaurant and to our reserved tables. The tables were decorated in a way I expected much more for a New Year's Celebration than a Christmas party - with little champagne poppers, noisemakers, strange popping package-type things that went "bang" when you pulled them apart, and really annoying balloon-type things that you blew up and let go, at which point they sailed around the room making that horrible deflating balloon squeal. They looked like giant flying penises and there were dozens of them flying around the room. Inside the little "bang" packages there were tissue paper crowns, which people all around the room were wearing on their heads.
I kind of stood there in shock for a few minutes, trying to understand exactly what this scene in front of me was. Eventually we settled down, had a fairly standard quality hotel-catered meal, and I just kind of was looking around at this surreal scene of grown adults at their companies' Christmas parties, wearing tissue paper hats and shooting champagne poppers at one another and setting off balloons around the room. It was like a strange LSD trip.
And it was only the beginning of the strangeness.
After dinner, once everyone had had their cake and coffee, the entertainment for the evening started. Now DH had told me that the hotel had a 70s theme club or something, he wasn't quite sure what. We joked that it would be something like an ABBA-fest (me) or a BeeGees-fest (him). This of course explained why some of the people in attendance were dressed in 70s garb.
At the front of the room there was a small dance floor with some lights and whatnot set up. The room's lights were dimmed quite low and some peppy instrumental music I didn't recognize at first started playing. I was in no way prepared for what appeared next. Indeed, I'm not quite sure I believe it actually happened yet.
At one point I recognized the musical refrain, at about the same time as DH did. I turned to him and said "Is that... Waterloo?" At that exact moment, the dance floor's lights came on, and there was a group of four - two men and two women - that were clearly an ABBA tribute band. And they started singing "Waterloo."
The room went crazy, "Woo-Hoo"ing and screaming, as if it was a room full of teenage girls and the latest boy band had just taken the stage. A woman, dressed in a 1920's style flapper dress (she was with one of the black-tie groups, I think), almost immediately jumped up on the buffet and started dancing (it was the first song! how much had she had to drink already that she was ready to dance on tables?). The ABBA tribute band was singing its heart out, and I was simply looking at my DH in utter and complete shock.
I kind of figured that they would play one or two songs and then a normal dance floor would follow. How wrong I was. I didn't even think ABBA had that many songs, but they played for a solid hour, with their "encore" number being, of course, "Dancing Queen." It was absolutely surreal. There is simply no other word for it.
Once the band finished playing, our group started to disperse - it was 1100pm on a Friday night, after all. I'm still not sure that I've processed everything that happened last night. After all, my Christmas party experience has mostly been a subdued meal with some folks you work with, perhaps a little bit of Christmas music on to get you in the mood, maybe a Secret Santa or White Elephant/Yankee Swap-type game for some wholesome laughs, and then everyone goes on their merry way.
I was not prepared for an New Year's Eve party-type craziness with an ABBA soundtrack. It was, to say the least, bizarre.
And here are just a couple of crappy cell-phone pics:
Hard to see... but up there are the blond and brunette "ABBA"-like chicks singing
Flapper-like chick dancing on the buffet - TO THE FIRST SONG!
I have a pic of DH wearing his paper crown, but to my chagrin he won't let me make it public.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Weird, wild, wacky weather (UK edition) - Part Deux!
Well, something in the air made it snow yesterday - and the whole town fell apart. It was a whopping 2 inches! You'd have thought that we lived in Alanta, GA, or something, the way that they handled things. Traffic was snarled, streets were impassable. No one shovels their walks around here (of course, we don't even have our snow shovels - I guess that's one purchase we should make this weekend, that and some rock salt). DH drove my beloved Bug to work today and I am just praying he makes it okay.
Here are a couple of pics I took of the snow:
Yes... that is a car with a snowman on its roof. You can see more pics I took around town here.
In more gastronomic news, I got my second veg box delivery this morning (good job River Swale!) Take a look at these yummies! Carrots, onions, potatoes, red cabbage, fennel, leeks, and eggplants!
Here are a couple of pics I took of the snow:
Yes... that is a car with a snowman on its roof. You can see more pics I took around town here.
In more gastronomic news, I got my second veg box delivery this morning (good job River Swale!) Take a look at these yummies! Carrots, onions, potatoes, red cabbage, fennel, leeks, and eggplants!
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Weird, wild, wacky weather (UK edition)
View from our bedroom window one morning
So over the past 7-10 days we've woken up several times to see a dusting or a coating of snow outside our north-facing windows. On many of those same mornings, DH has driven to work only to discover an inch or more of snow has fallen just 5 miles outside of town.
It seems that more than anything that altitude is playing a role in these differing experiences. From tonight's bulletin from the UK Met Office (their National Weather Service equivalent) applicable to our region (North Yorkshire):
There is a high risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of Scotland and the northern half of England. Snow spreading from the west on Wednesday evening will become persistent and heavy at times by the early hours of Thursday morning, eventually clearing away eastwards from England by Thursday afternoon and from most of Scotland by the evening. On low lying ground there is the potential for 2 to 5 cm of snow to accumulate, while on ground above about 150 metres accumulations of 10 to 20 cm are expected, with blizzard conditions and considerable drifting in strong winds. This is likely to cause disruption to travel networks, particularly across higher level routes.
According to Google Earth, the location where we live is about 470-490 feet above sea level - just at or under the 150 meter mark. Where DH works, however, he is at 750-770 feet above sea level.
Luckily, DH just got the snow emergency number to call to know whether to report on time or at all for work in the event of a major snow. I don't think that they get major snows (like 8+ inches) very often though.
Monday, December 01, 2008
D'oh
I'm not having a lot of clothes-related luck.
Point #1 - DH and I went shopping for a nice new winter coat for him. We went all over Harrogate to the major stores hoping to find a nice wool coat. Our first stop was the Gap, where we had bought his current coat several years ago. They had one possible option, and it wasn't bad. 3/4 length and 70% wool 30% manmade. The problem was it was a quite a bit thinner/lighterweight than his current coat, quite a bit more expensive, and it just might not have been warm enough. We went to some other "English" shops, figuring that there are so damn many sheep around, there must be plenty of wool coats. Boy, were we wrong. At one of the more recognizable Brit stores - Marks & Spencer - we looked at coats labeled "Wool Rich Blend". What a total joke - "wool rich" meant only 5% wool! Total and utter crap.
Point #2 - Continuing with the whole "wool" theme, I bought a nice lambswool cream-colored hoodie from LLBean before leaving for the UK. Today, I thoughtlessly threw it in the wash, and lo and behold, shrank it such that it would only fit a barbie. Dammit. My own fault for not paying attention.
Point #3 - Continuing with the whole "wash" theme, I went ahead and washed all my bras today. Hanging them up to dry, I realized that I had washed ALL my bras, and there was no way one would be dry to wear to Quiz Night at our local pub tonight. Just great!
At least that's three things... so now I should be safe.
Point #1 - DH and I went shopping for a nice new winter coat for him. We went all over Harrogate to the major stores hoping to find a nice wool coat. Our first stop was the Gap, where we had bought his current coat several years ago. They had one possible option, and it wasn't bad. 3/4 length and 70% wool 30% manmade. The problem was it was a quite a bit thinner/lighterweight than his current coat, quite a bit more expensive, and it just might not have been warm enough. We went to some other "English" shops, figuring that there are so damn many sheep around, there must be plenty of wool coats. Boy, were we wrong. At one of the more recognizable Brit stores - Marks & Spencer - we looked at coats labeled "Wool Rich Blend". What a total joke - "wool rich" meant only 5% wool! Total and utter crap.
Point #2 - Continuing with the whole "wool" theme, I bought a nice lambswool cream-colored hoodie from LLBean before leaving for the UK. Today, I thoughtlessly threw it in the wash, and lo and behold, shrank it such that it would only fit a barbie. Dammit. My own fault for not paying attention.
Point #3 - Continuing with the whole "wash" theme, I went ahead and washed all my bras today. Hanging them up to dry, I realized that I had washed ALL my bras, and there was no way one would be dry to wear to Quiz Night at our local pub tonight. Just great!
At least that's three things... so now I should be safe.
Friday, November 28, 2008
First Veg Box is Here!
Exciting happenings today! My first veg box was delivered early this morning from River Swale farms. It was a mini-veg box and contained parsnips (3), mushrooms (gorgeous!!! about 6), potatoes (5), onions (4), carrots (4), and a stalk of Brussels Sprouts, which I love! I also ordered a block of parmigiano reggiano, which they get from a sister farm in Parma, Italy; a 2L thing of milk, which they get from a dairy that treats their cows right; and some salad greens that are grown on the farm, only under poly-tunnels.
I feel pretty good about it, since there is no spot for me to grow anything but some herbs on the windowsill here at the house (I do have Basil and Parsley flourishing). Everything looks really nice, and I'm excited to get cooking!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Long time no post...
So my goal of posting every few days has fallen tragically short of expectations. Really, though, there isn't that much interesting to report.
In the past two weeks, I've met some folks for coffee that I met through the book club, I've gone to a couple of girls' nights out with some girls that DH works with, and I've finally visited the famous Betty's Tea Room in Harrogate, just yesterday with the girl I worked with at NOAA. Throw in the couple Monday night Quiz nights at The New Inn, and I've been at least as social as I was in DC.
The main challenges in the past couple weeks have been establishing routines and getting stuff set up to support daily life. At home, DH and I had joint and separate bank accounts to support house and individual purchases respectively. Moreover, since we were paid in dollars, and stuff was priced in dollars, and we'd had our accounts established for a significant period of time, and we knew about how much our monthly "must pays", groceries, and miscellaneous averaged out to be. Here, we've not yet had enough experience with all of us living here together to know how much the "must pays" are going to end up being, the fact that we have to pay our expenses in pounds sterling rather than dollars means that we have to allow at least a week or so for transfers from dollar accounts into our pounds account, which pretty much eliminates any casual or unplanned spending until we've got a solid handle on our "must pays" and have established a regular dollars-pounds transfer with reliable exchange results. Not that I'm a total shopaholic, but there are lots of little things that I'd like to get for the house (crock-pot, hand blender, etc) that I'm planning on putting off until things are more stable.
Another routine we've not really established well is our grocery routine. We've got several possible shopping places, and I like them all for different reasons. Shopping on base is good for staples, but not - in my humble opinion - the best option for fresh foods. We like our local Waitrose for meats and some veggies, and some local staples, but I like our local Morrisons for their wine, cheese, some veggies, and seafood. We went to our local Sainsburys this weekend, and it was okay, but nothing different from the other two, and two friends I've made here have recommended local farm delivery services that will bring local seasonal produce and dairy items right to the house. Since we have all these shopping places that we like for different reasons, it has been impossible to just say "we'll do all our shopping on Saturday morning", which leads to us running out of stuff midweek, forgetting critical items, or just feeling disorganized. In addition, I don't think that the fridge that we have here is very reliably cold, so I'm nervous about keeping things like meat and cheese in the fridge for more than 3-4 days. So that all it is frustrating.
Thankfully, the cats still seem to be adjusting well. And since this Thursday is Thanksgiving, I guess it's appropriate that I be thankful for something.
In the past two weeks, I've met some folks for coffee that I met through the book club, I've gone to a couple of girls' nights out with some girls that DH works with, and I've finally visited the famous Betty's Tea Room in Harrogate, just yesterday with the girl I worked with at NOAA. Throw in the couple Monday night Quiz nights at The New Inn, and I've been at least as social as I was in DC.
The main challenges in the past couple weeks have been establishing routines and getting stuff set up to support daily life. At home, DH and I had joint and separate bank accounts to support house and individual purchases respectively. Moreover, since we were paid in dollars, and stuff was priced in dollars, and we'd had our accounts established for a significant period of time, and we knew about how much our monthly "must pays", groceries, and miscellaneous averaged out to be. Here, we've not yet had enough experience with all of us living here together to know how much the "must pays" are going to end up being, the fact that we have to pay our expenses in pounds sterling rather than dollars means that we have to allow at least a week or so for transfers from dollar accounts into our pounds account, which pretty much eliminates any casual or unplanned spending until we've got a solid handle on our "must pays" and have established a regular dollars-pounds transfer with reliable exchange results. Not that I'm a total shopaholic, but there are lots of little things that I'd like to get for the house (crock-pot, hand blender, etc) that I'm planning on putting off until things are more stable.
Another routine we've not really established well is our grocery routine. We've got several possible shopping places, and I like them all for different reasons. Shopping on base is good for staples, but not - in my humble opinion - the best option for fresh foods. We like our local Waitrose for meats and some veggies, and some local staples, but I like our local Morrisons for their wine, cheese, some veggies, and seafood. We went to our local Sainsburys this weekend, and it was okay, but nothing different from the other two, and two friends I've made here have recommended local farm delivery services that will bring local seasonal produce and dairy items right to the house. Since we have all these shopping places that we like for different reasons, it has been impossible to just say "we'll do all our shopping on Saturday morning", which leads to us running out of stuff midweek, forgetting critical items, or just feeling disorganized. In addition, I don't think that the fridge that we have here is very reliably cold, so I'm nervous about keeping things like meat and cheese in the fridge for more than 3-4 days. So that all it is frustrating.
Thankfully, the cats still seem to be adjusting well. And since this Thursday is Thanksgiving, I guess it's appropriate that I be thankful for something.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Oh happy day!
I still haven't been able to shake this darn cold, and have a hacking cough that DH has described as "piercing." But today was a good day.
DH and I left for Liverpool out of Harrogate at about 11:15 this morning on the train. I was pretty tired this morning, the weather was really blustery with a sharp chill, and I was just not in my right mood. We spent the better part of the 3 hour trip staring out the train window, listening to the cacophony of conversations around us.
Once we got to Liverpool Lime St Station, we grabbed a taxi and asked him to take us to Seaforth Container Terminal. It was about a 10-15 minute ride, and at one point DH said "Look - there it is!!!"
I quickly whipped my head around and saw a little Salsa Red VW Beetle Convertible sitting up against a wire fence. Was that really my Bug? A quick look at the license plate area confirmed that at the very least, it was an American car (since we have the little plates). It was my first glimpse of my beloved car since it was taken away from me several weeks ago.
To be honest, I was worried the entire trip from Harrogate to Liverpool. I had heard lots of horror stories about cars being shipped overseas RO/RO - scratches, damage, thefts, etc. I just didn't have the strength to see dents or big scratches on my car. But sitting there up against the fence, it looked just fine.
I started to get excited, bouncing a little bit on my seat (it was one of the traditional English taxis - with the big back seat) and clapping my hands. The taxi driver started laughing, even though he didn't really have a clue where exactly we needed to go. We made our way into the dockyards (which was pretty cool), to the handling agent, and there it was. My Bug. Up against the fence. I literally ran over to have a look, carefully checking it over. No damage, no scratches, no dents, and the interior was just as clean as it had been when I handed it over. I was ecstatic!
We finished the paperwork, handed over our port charges, and took a few pictures before hopping and and driving back to Harrogate. DH drove - I'm not quite ready to take to the left side of the road yet. But that's okay. My Bug and I - we're back together again.
DH and I left for Liverpool out of Harrogate at about 11:15 this morning on the train. I was pretty tired this morning, the weather was really blustery with a sharp chill, and I was just not in my right mood. We spent the better part of the 3 hour trip staring out the train window, listening to the cacophony of conversations around us.
Once we got to Liverpool Lime St Station, we grabbed a taxi and asked him to take us to Seaforth Container Terminal. It was about a 10-15 minute ride, and at one point DH said "Look - there it is!!!"
I quickly whipped my head around and saw a little Salsa Red VW Beetle Convertible sitting up against a wire fence. Was that really my Bug? A quick look at the license plate area confirmed that at the very least, it was an American car (since we have the little plates). It was my first glimpse of my beloved car since it was taken away from me several weeks ago.
To be honest, I was worried the entire trip from Harrogate to Liverpool. I had heard lots of horror stories about cars being shipped overseas RO/RO - scratches, damage, thefts, etc. I just didn't have the strength to see dents or big scratches on my car. But sitting there up against the fence, it looked just fine.
I started to get excited, bouncing a little bit on my seat (it was one of the traditional English taxis - with the big back seat) and clapping my hands. The taxi driver started laughing, even though he didn't really have a clue where exactly we needed to go. We made our way into the dockyards (which was pretty cool), to the handling agent, and there it was. My Bug. Up against the fence. I literally ran over to have a look, carefully checking it over. No damage, no scratches, no dents, and the interior was just as clean as it had been when I handed it over. I was ecstatic!
We finished the paperwork, handed over our port charges, and took a few pictures before hopping and and driving back to Harrogate. DH drove - I'm not quite ready to take to the left side of the road yet. But that's okay. My Bug and I - we're back together again.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
On being sick in the UK
As a reward for staying up until nearly 6am and getting only 4 hours of sleep election night, I was given a horrifyingly awful head cold, which fully materialized - thankfully - after I had enjoyed a nice cappuccino and slice of chocolate mousse cake with a girl I had met through the book club I joined.
I am a terrible sick person - completely unbearable. This version of the common cold, though, totally beat me down. Endless gunk dripping into my throat, making it seriously raw and painful, which then made its way down to my stomach... and the next morning right up my throat again. What followed was two seriously awful days spent on the couch. One night DH forced me to drink a capful of the most awful Nyquil ever, and it did knock me out for a decent night's sleep - on the couch.
I've discovered that the new mattress DH and I bought before shipping our goods to England is a little to firm, which is leading to fun lower back, neck, and shoulder blade pain. We're now in the market for a foam mattress topper to make it a little more comfortable. There's my warning about rushing into a mattress purchase!
Anyway, depending on the time of day, I'm either on my way to recovering or suffering from a relapse. The one very huge, major, perhaps pivotal moment that came out of all of this was a singular discovery which may get me through many, many dark, cold nights here.
The Rice Bowl, a Chinese restaurant here in Harrogate, has Hot and Sour soup that is both hot and sour! It has spice! It has flavor! It was a little thicker than most H&S soups I've enjoyed (easily remedied with some hot water) but it had FLAVOR! It is a first for me here - food with heat (spice-heat in this context). I was so desperate, and this soup made me so happy!
Every cloud has a silver lining, right?
I am a terrible sick person - completely unbearable. This version of the common cold, though, totally beat me down. Endless gunk dripping into my throat, making it seriously raw and painful, which then made its way down to my stomach... and the next morning right up my throat again. What followed was two seriously awful days spent on the couch. One night DH forced me to drink a capful of the most awful Nyquil ever, and it did knock me out for a decent night's sleep - on the couch.
I've discovered that the new mattress DH and I bought before shipping our goods to England is a little to firm, which is leading to fun lower back, neck, and shoulder blade pain. We're now in the market for a foam mattress topper to make it a little more comfortable. There's my warning about rushing into a mattress purchase!
Anyway, depending on the time of day, I'm either on my way to recovering or suffering from a relapse. The one very huge, major, perhaps pivotal moment that came out of all of this was a singular discovery which may get me through many, many dark, cold nights here.
The Rice Bowl, a Chinese restaurant here in Harrogate, has Hot and Sour soup that is both hot and sour! It has spice! It has flavor! It was a little thicker than most H&S soups I've enjoyed (easily remedied with some hot water) but it had FLAVOR! It is a first for me here - food with heat (spice-heat in this context). I was so desperate, and this soup made me so happy!
Every cloud has a silver lining, right?
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