Hail, hail, hail!
Topic: This and That
(The photo to the right is from Valentine's Day. I don't have any exciting new photos, so I am posting some older ones.)
There is something truly amazing about the combination of shortbread cookies and black tea.
Today is the third day in a row we've had hail here. Today we even had it while the sun was out. Luckily I got my run in before the hail got here. Today I ran without Ryan for the first time in I don't know how long. I love taking him with me in his jogging stroller, but it's nice to get out solo once in a while. Today's run makes this the first week all year I've managed to run five days in a week. I'm hoping to keep the consistency going. I've noticed I feel so much better physically and mentally when I run. It was very difficult for the two months Larry was gone and Ryan and I were sick all the time. Thankfully we've been healthy for a stretch now. Hope we stay that way!
Yesterday evening, Larry and Ryan and I drove up to the Borders bookstore near Leeds. We just wanted to get out a bit. It was nice because there wasn't too much traffic and the bookstore wasn't very busy. When we got there, out first stop was the Starbucks upstairs. *grin* After that, we looked around a while, picked up a couple of books, then were back on our way home.
We've had a quiet weekend, which has been nice. I figured after his first week back, Larry wouldn't want to rush out and do day trips on the weekend. Also, the weather has been so wacky here, being outside at all is a risky proposition. It's still very cold and windy here. Add precipitation to that and it's not something you want to be outside in.
Speaking of wind, I've noticed that the wind doesn't always blow the same way here consistently. In the Antelope Valley (where I'm from, for those of you reading this who might not know), the wind blows the same direction so much, that when it doesn't, they have a special name for it! Here I suppose the vagaries of the wind would explain why the trees are perpendicular to the ground in such a windy environment.
Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. This morning something extremely unusual happened. Ryan slept in! Well, first he woke up at 6:30am and needed attention. However, after that he went back down until almost 9:30am! Yay! I enjoyed the rare opportunity to (as they say over here), "have a bit of a lay in."
Which brings me to another thing I had been contemplating writing about. After being here about eight months, I'm not worried about picking up an accent. What I am concerned about is picking up colloquialisms and turns of phrase. My dad poked a bit of fun at me when I used the expression, "straight away" rather than, "immediately" or "right away." There are some Brit expressions I really like, and some that I fear have crept into my everyday speech. It's funny because if I use those expressions around British people, it's fine. If I use them while speaking to an American, I sound either pretentious or stupid or both. In a way it's kind of too bad we have to tailor our speech to the area in which we are speaking. However, I suppose if we didn't then it would make clear communication even more difficult than it already can be at times. A phrase one of my father's teachers used to say comes to mind: "Eschew obfuscation." *grin*
I'm not particularly worried about Ryan picking up a local accent. Besides the fact we probably won't be here long enough, something I heard Madonna say about her daughter summed it up and made sense. She said her daughter speaks to her with an American accent, to her school friends with a British accent, and in French to the nanny. That just goes with my thought that we all adjust our speech depending on to whom we're speaking.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Pigeon, Cheese, and Fizzing Whizbees
Now Playing: Rain splattering against the windows and Larry's XBox football game.
Topic: This and That
It only took me three phonecalls to find the right person to report the dead pigeon to. It was a racing pigeon. I figure the person who owned it would want to know what happened to it. The local racing society took down the information from the band and will notify the owner. The man I spoke to on the phone asked me if I was Canadian. That kind of made me laugh. I've been asked in Germany if I was British, and now in Britain if I'm Canadian.
I would like to report that the Jarlsberg cheese worked out fine.
I would also like to say that my friend Kate has mailed me a box of goodies I can't wait to get! You would think that in the very country where the Harry Potter movies are filmed, that it would be easy to come across the various merchandise that goes along with them. Nope. I am going to have to have my Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Fizzing Whizbees imported!
This picture of Ryan was taken a month or so ago. I just thought he looked cute in his jammies with his blankie. He fiddles with his ears when he's tired or sometimes when he first wakes up. He's done that from the very beginning. Interesting habit.

Harrogate Life
Topic: This and That
(This photo of Ryan is from a birthday party we went to last month. That's my arm and foot on the left. Photo courtesy of Sarah Moore.)
Sunday morning I took Ryan in his stroller and walked to the shopping center. (There was something in particular I was looking for at the time.) It was around 9:45am. As I walked around, I realized almost all of the shops didn't open until 10:30am. That seems like an odd time, to me. Starbucks didn't even open until 10am. I walked around a bit, waiting for Starbucks to open. The shopping area was a complete ghost town. It amazes me how during a particular time and day, a place can be absolutely alive with people and energy, then at others, completely and almost eerily quiet. At about five 'til ten, something strange happened. It was as if some unseen director yelled, "Action!" and in ones and twos, background players entered the stage and started to cross and mill.
I went ahead and got myself and Ryan something from Starbucks (he loves kids' cocoas). I decided not to hang around another half hour waiting for the stores to open. For one thing, it was really cold and windy out. For another, I was waiting for a phone call from Larry letting me know when and how he was getting home. (Snafus with his flights caused this to be an issue, but all's well that end's well.)
Yesterday's weather was weird. We had a lot of sun and wind, but also about ten minutes of rock salt sized hail, and later just a few snow flurries.
Today it's been sunny, but also windy and cold. I wanted to check out a cheese shop. Remember that asiago I was looking for at asda? Well, this specialty cheese shop didn't have it, either. I honestly didn't think asiago cheese would be that hard to find. The girl at the shop sold me some Jarlsberg instead. Hope it works ok in the recipe. I'll let y'all know later!
On my way out the door this morning, I met our new next door neighbor's father. Friendly fellow. Chatty. When he first started talking to me, his accent was so broad, I couldn't understand a word. He made a joke about funny accents that seemed to be aimed at both himself and me, then winked. I asked him where he was from and he replied, "Yorkshire." I told him he didn't sound like other people I'd heard in this area. Suddenly his accent was ratcheted down several notches and I could understand him just fine. I learned in the couple of minutes we chatted that:
- his name is Jeff, his son's name is Mark
- his son is 19 and runs the rifle range out at the army foundation college (British), and loves Americans
- his daughter now resides in LA working as a DJ in a club, going by the name, "Salamander," and she also works for Miramax, doing computer graphics and special effects
- Jeff is wealthy but his wife divorced him six years ago and took off with half
- he just sold his company to a company in Chicago (didn't name his company, can't remember the name of the one in Chicago)
- Jeff bought the house for Mark and is fixing it up for him. Mark moves in May 1.
What I enjoyed about this exchange is that Jeff didn't ask a thing about me except for my name and my son's (that was after introducing himself). For a split second after he took his leave, I thought, "Hey! You didn't ask me anything!" However, then I had to laugh because I think it says something about people who only want to talk about themselves, no matter how nice they are. Also, it's so much easier not being asked questions, than to try to always weigh your answers in the light of opsec.
JoAnna, to answer your question (see comments on the "I'm No April Fool" entry), the picture was taken in my kitchen. There are two main windows that face west-ish. That one was the window on the right. The windows are at about low chest level and are right in front of you if you are facing the sink. Hope that answered your question!
Update on the Spectacularly Dead Pigeon: today I noticed what looks like one of those little bands that some birds have around their legs. I am going to bring this to Larry's attention and see what he thinks. I'm wondering if someone out there would appreciate knowing what happened to this particular bird. (Of course, I don't know where it went after the cat so kindly cleaned most of it up.) I'm not even sure how to find out who to contact. I'm not keen on picking the little band up. I would definitely use gloves or something!
Quick Ryan report: Ryan seems to get the concept of putting things back where they belong. Kind of.

Amen, JKR!!!
Now Playing: "Stupid Girl" by Pink
Topic: Featured Link
Please, please, please take a look at this rant by JK Rowling. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Harry Potter, but everything to do with how warped our society is when it comes to female body image. JKR Rant (This is a text only version. It's the only way I could put a link to it. If you want to check out this rant on her site proper, go to jkrowling.com, click on the hairbrush, then on "miscellaneous," and then on "for girls only, probably...")
Weight has ALWAYS been an issue for me, as I'm sure it unfortunately is for most American (and apparently British) women. I was so glad to see JKR use her fame to try to help girls realize their weight is the last thing about themselves they need to be worrying about.

Sometimes
Topic: This and That
(The title of this photo is, "Still Life In The Kitchen.")
The sun was out this morning, so I decided to take Ryan in the jogging stroller and go for a run. There's this one traffic light at a pedestrian crossing to get to the Stray. For some reason, it hasn't been working the last few days. I thought it was just off on the weekends. However, it was off today as well. Hope it's temporary. Most of the time it's very difficult to get across that street without a signal.
It didn't look like I was going to get across any time soon, so I decided to alter my route. That got me thinking...
Sometimes circumstances in life cause us to change plans. Sometimes those changes bring things into our lives we never expected. Sometimes our lives change in a huge way, just because we took a different route. Then again, sometimes all that happens is we get a change of scenery. Sometimes that's enough; to change our lives, or maybe just our perspective.
Nothing major happened to me today because I took a different route than I had planned. However, it did get me thinking.
I am a big believer in a mix of fate and free will. I think fate (or God, the universe, karma, our higher selves, whatever Powers That Be you want to call it) lobs us things. Our free will is how we choose to react. I don't remember where I first heard that idea, but I really feel it's true. I think there are certain things each of us is supposed to do or learn or experience in life. Sometimes we get it right the first time, others it takes several tries. Maybe with some things we only get once chance. (Thankfully I don't think that's the case very often. I think God believes in mulligans!) I do think that everything happens for a reason (even if we don't know what that reason is), and that we are never given anything more than we can handle (even though it seems like it sometimes).
So yeah, all that from a non-functioning traffic light. :)
Saturday I went to ASDA to look for basil and asiago cheese for a recipe I want to try. I ought to have known better than to go there on a Saturday afternoon. It was crowded and chaotic just trying to get inside. This older lady stopped short in front of me. I accidentally bumped her with the stroller. I apologized immediately. She was really nasty! She said, "That's a pushcar not a weapon!" (Thanks for clearing that up for me!) She acted like I did it on purpose. I was actually a little rattled by the experience, because everyone here has been so nice. I was surprised to encounter someone so foul tempered. Of course, I have no idea what the rest of her day (or life, for that matter) had been like, so maybe getting hit by a stroller was just her last straw. Anyhow, later on I thought what I would have liked to have done was pointed out that she stopped short in front of me and is lucky I didn't hit her harder. Unfortunately, my mama raised me right and I simply was polite and apologetic.
(I was not able, by the way, to find any basil or asiago cheese there.)
This morning Larry asked me if I knew there was a dead pigeon in our rain gutter. I did not. I came out to look and it was spectacularly dead. Larry said it looked like it had been shot. With something of way too high a caliber, from my view. Larry was leaving for work and said he'd clean it up when he got home. This afternoon I was in the living room and happened to look up to see a cat carrying off the bulk of the remains. Thanks, kitty!
The weather has been really crazy today. It's been sunny most of the time, but really windy. It's been a strong, cold wind, too. There have been bouts of precipitation now and then. Nothing like the downpour we had yesterday, though. It's weird because when I'm inside looking out at the sunny day, it seems like it ought to be a lot warmer out there than it is.
As for the Larry report, he went to bed early last night and seemed to get a good night's sleep. He got up and went to work today. He felt fine in the morning, but we'll see how he is when he gets home!
The daylight hours here are starting to near the point of being ridiculously long (which is a good thing, in my opinion!). It doesn't start to get dark until around 8pm. I love all the light. The only downside is that Ryan is tending to wake up earlier with the earlier light in the mornings. So far it's dark when he goes to bed, so that's not an issue - yet. I'm hoping it won't be, actually. He naps in the daylight just fine and didn't have trouble getting to sleep at bedtime last summer.

Guess Who's Back
Topic: This and That
Yes, the above title is an Eminem reference. ;) (Just me being silly.) :P
This is just a quickie to let y'all know that Larry is back in one piece after a very long day of traveling.
Hope everyone has a great week!

I'm No April Fool
Topic: This and That
First off, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend, Diane!
In this picture, I was trying to capture this cute curl on top of Ryan's head. Sometimes his hair just does that all by itself, and it's sooooo adorable! The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but you get the idea.
Not much is up today. Just ran, ran errands, etc. Trying to do last minute cleaning before Larry gets here, which should be sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Mold, Etc.
Topic: This and That
So far I have gotten four different comments on the moldy bath toys (two were in e-mails and another was during an IM). Thank you! They are all much appreciated. (It's funny to me that things like spiders and mold usually get the most comments - besides Ryan, of course!) What I decided to do (which seems to be the general consensus) was to throw them out and try to keep up on maintenance better with the next set.
Today I did get some time to myself a bit. A lady from the babysitting co-op watched Ryan for a little while. I walked to the shopping center and had tea and a scone at a little place in the Montpellier Quarter called Jenny's. It had a number 7 on it's door, and when I got my bill it was number 11. (7 and 11 are my lucky numbers.) I figured that was auspicious! Also, there were seven tables in the very small cafe.
After that, I walked to Starbucks and got a white chocolate mocha. Yes - I got tea then coffee! I was feeling decadent. What can I say? :)
There will be more pictures soon.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

New Photo
Topic: This and That
Time seems to be going along at an accelerated rate. By about 3pm tomorrow, I'll be 50 and Ryan will be going off to college!
I realized that I had an entire page of blog entries with no photos. Can't have that! I took this one yesterday at the Stray. There are some homes that have yards with gates opening onto the Stray. Ryan seemed to really like this gate. I thought it made an interesting backdrop.
The weather's been really screwy. Lots of wind, with rain and sun alternating back and forth several times an hour. Today I got lucky and was able to go for a jog in between rainy spells.
Larry is now at his mom's place. He should be back in the UK on Sunday.

The Shoe, the Time Machine, and the Mold
Topic: This and That
Today was really busy.
Yesterday after I got Ryan up from his nap, we went for a walk to the shopping center. I just really needed to get out of the house. I went over to WHSmith to investigate the "adult" editions of the Harry Potter books. (The only thing that's different is the cover art, which is really nice.) After Ryan and I were almost home, I realized Ryan was missing a shoe. Ack! I retraced our steps to no avail. WHSmith was closed by the time I got back, so I couldn't see if they had it. This morning Ryan and I went back over there, and thank goodness they had it Yay! Accio shoe!
Shortly after we got home from the shopping center, we had to head back out for the babysitting co-op meeting. It was at a place nearby called the Time Machine. It's an indoor play area for kiddos of all ages. It's actually kind of neat. I'd never been there before.
Ryan was really tired. The time change here has messed him up a bit. Also, our morning was hectic. It seemed like he needed a nap, but there hadn't been time between retrieving his shoe and the co-op meeting.
I asked a couple fellow co-op members to keep an eye on Ryan while I ran to the bathroom. When I came back, I saw Ryan laying face down on the mat in the play area. I about had a heart attack! He was fine. Turns out he was so tired, he just laid down to rest on the mat right where he was.
We had lunch during the meeting, then I figured I ought to get Ryan home to rest before our doctor's appointments. Once home, Ryan didn't want to nap. I put him in his crib, but he didn't sleep. I have no idea why.
We went to the doctor, and Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way. He also slept while I held him in the waiting room. Of course he cried when he got his shots (there were three), but after that he was fine.
Once home, it was dinner time and too late to nap. By about 7:30pm, he was tired out of his gourd. I managed to keep him up another hour, then put him to bed. He was out almost immediately.
Mold. Yes. I need advice from anyone who has it to give. Some of Ryan's bath toys have become moldy inside. They have holes for water to go in, but don't open up. Is there any way to really clean them? Or is it a lost cause and I need to just throw them out? Is there a good way to prevent mold? Also, if there's mold inside the toys, and water goes in and out of the toys, if Ryan drinks some of the water, will it hurt him? Thoughts, please!