Chicken Pox?

Boy Griffen has just been a trooper with this move. If its going around...he has it. He went to bed last night with a few 'spots' on his tummy and back and woke up this morning with a few more all over. And they itch. We walked to the doctor in the next village and my neighbor was nice enough to offer to pick us up. Took him in to the Dr. and they confirmed a fever and said they look like chicken pox but they were slightly different as some have a ring around them. So to be on the safe side-he is home from school yet again. A few kids at school do have the chicken pox-and they do not vaccinate for them here. The Dr. had never seen anyone who was vaccinated for chicken pox and thought the variation in the spots could be due to that. He will call us for a follow up on Wednesday. In the mean time I will call his old Dr. in TO and see what they have to say.
Ahhhh! As I am sitting here waiting for the picture of Griff to upload, the school called and said Kaitlyn has just gotten sick. And Jillian is sleeping. What a day-I have been blessed with a super neighbor, Not only did she pick us up from Sawston this morning but she offered to pick Kaitlyn up from school as well.

Quiz Night

Jason's team came in fourth place. He said the guys on his team knew tons of literature and just stuff that he had never even learned in school. In a nod to me, he said I probably would've done better than him. He had a fun night and they all headed over to the pub after. Good thing they walked. Jason's tolerance isn't up to the locals.

Snowy morning

Our back garden this morning...The wind isn't blowing so its not quite as cold as earlier in the week. Cold enough to snow, but not cold enough for it to stick.

Its cold

Ok-that post from yesterday-bitter cold? OMG is it cold. Even the locals are commenting on the temperature. Griffen thought maybe it was too cold to go to school this morning and it would be closed. It was soo cold on our walk to school that I wanted to cry. At least on our way home the wind will be at our backs-I still have to go against the wind to get there. Poor Jilly is all wrapped up in the jogger.
Jason got a call the other night from a fellow in the village-not quite sure how our number got to him. Anyway-there is a fund raiser for the PTA this Friday. Its called Quiz Night. Teams of 6 pay £25 and compete. The trick is not to win first place though, the winners have to come up with next year's questions. It is nice to be included in all the goings on.

Weather Forcast

"Any showers will move away leaving the night dry, but with plenty of patchy cloud and limited clearer spells. It will be on the whole bitterly cold with a moderate notherly breeze. It will be icy across the region. Min temp -2 to1C." And for tomorrow: "After a cold start to the day, it will be largely dry, but largely cloudy. Brisk north-easterly wnds. The evening is likely to see snowfall. Max temp 3-6C."
Today I learned that in February, the weather is the worst and I should always carry a 'brollie.' Griffen, Jillian and I got caught in a spurt of rain and ice on the way home from school. Now I know the real reason the English drink so much tea-there is no other way to warm up. Kaitlyn lucked out with a ride home to a friends for tea. On the bright side, my snake skin wellies showed up today. No more traipsing through the green in my nice shoes.

The end of innocence

Imagine the look on my face as Kaitlyn's teacher told me during our conference that they encourage the kids to NOT use rubbers. Realization slowly hit as I figured out she meant erasers. I tried very hard not to giggle-although her teacher is quite young and probably would've laughed had I told her what rubbers mean in the US.
Kaitlyn has informed me she knows what the F dash dash dash word is. She has been obsessed with figuring this out since catching the reference to it in the movie "A Christmas Story." Jason and I took a cultural training course and were told that the 'F word' is quite common and is almost considered just part of the vernacular. Shit however is very bad. Great...the kids don't use rubbers, f*$# is ok, and shit is not. BTW, mother f is bleeped on tv, but f$#@ is not.

Valentine's Day

The kids are off school this week for half-term. Griffen is still out with fever and headache. Poor guy just hasn't been himself for a couple weeks now. I may call his US Dr. and get their opinion.
The kids liked their treats, Renee. Even got a kick out of the hearts being in Spanish. Good thing you sent them as the grandparents packages seem to be stuck somewhere between Montana and here. Despite all good intentions and mailing the packages last month, we are still waiting...
Rethinking the whole driving situation. It would be cheaper for me to hire a taxi once a week for Irish Dance lessons than to get a car that I don't really have the desire to drive anyway. I can walk to 2 villages from here, the train station is only about 3/4 mile away which can take me to Cambridge City Centre. We'll see how I feel in 6 months.
The snowdrops are blooming and the crocus are starting to pop out...that means Spring is near. We actually have had 2 mild days in a row-not much sun but a balmy 50 instead of 30.

Why is it...

Jason is home, but of course he is sick and tired. Griffen came down with a fever again. So that bath, glass of wine and privacy that Kristie ordered up for me is nowhere to be seen. We did see the sun though.

NHS

Well we had our first experience with the NHS (National Health Service). Jason took Griffen into the hospital last night-he had a high fever, rash and stiff neck. They almost kept him overnight but were able to get his fever to break and sent him on his way. He does have an ear infection (which they don't treat with antibiotics here). The care was attentive but not what we are used to.

I have no $$ rights

Dear Mrs. Martin,
"Thank you for your recent application for a Citibank account. We regret that after a carfeul review of your credit history...we are unable to approve your application at this time. ... Should your circumstances favorably improve (we suggest that you wait at least six months) and you would like to re-apply for a Citibank account we would be delighted to re-consider your application."
Well at least they were polite about it. I now know what elderly people feel like when you take away their driving and money privileges. All I wanted to do was add my name to Jason's account as a joint holder. I had to provide a renter's agreement (didn't have one-its in Amgen's name), a job (don't have one of those either), a bill in my name (nope), a certified copy of my passport, a letter from my bank in the US saying I have money and a 4 page application. So now Jason is my ATM machine and I will have to forge his signature for any checks.

where is the sun

Its been about 4 days since I've seen the sun and its cold too. Not fair when I know Jason is roasting away in TO. The headteacher keeps telling me it will get nicer soon. I have noticed a bit longer days. Sun rise and sun set are called 'lighting up' and they actually put in the paper how many hours of actual sunlight we get. Average I've seen is only around 4.
Poor Griffen is still having a tough go at it. He cries every morning before school and begs me to come pick him up after lunch. The school has been keeping a close eye on him and keep me posted every day.

Do I really want to drive?

Instead of taking a taxi to Kaitlyn's Irish dance class and having Jason pick us up-I decided to brave the road. I got a sitter for Griffen and Jillian, plugged in the destination on the navigation system and we were off. To bad it gets dark here to darn early. Too bad the navigation system took me the 'back way.' I was doing fine until the ole Garmin told me to turn off the larger road onto a nice, dark, narrow country road. Cars zooming past on my right and trees on my left. All I could see were oncoming lights and blackness. Then I heard trees hitting the window, but i couldn't drive over more to the right without a little freaking out on my part. Then I felt and heard something a bit louder than tree branches. After white knuckles, kaitlyn telling me she just wanted to go back home-we reached our destination. Oh-and the rims are a bit scratched up. The tires are fine though. Jason is not too happy after I texted him the situation. Maybe now he will let me get that teeny tiny car I want over the 7 passenger van. I mean how often are you guys really going to come visit us?! All those in favor of me getting a LITTLE car...

Fellow Americans

Spent Sunday afternoon and evening with some fellow Americans from Thousand Oaks (more Amgen expats). While I was ok driving to the next village for church, driving into Cambridge didn't sound as managable, so they came and picked us up. It was nice to talk with someone going thru the same things. Poor Griffen felt so at home playing with their kids that he melted down when it was time to go. Its a small world, turns out we have mutual friends in TO.

Priestly visit

Well I managed to drive to church this morning since jason is soaking up the sun in TO. The kids were not allowed to speak a word. Kaitlyn said i did such a good job that she rewarded me with some of her birthday chocolates from Belgium. As we left church, Fr. David remembered me. He grasped my hand and said something along the lines of 'Hello Nicole, so nice to see you today. You know, I don't have your address. Why don't you email it to me so that I might pop around for a cup of coffee.' While we have always been on friendly terms with our parish priests, I've never had one over for a 'cuppa.'

A laugh a minute

Oh my-today was a laugh! Our goods sailed thru customs and arrived today (a week early!) Bad news is they took our rental tv and the new one isn't set to be delivered until Thursday.
Anyway, I had 5 guys with a "Cockney" accent deliver our belongings. Half the time I couldn't figure out what they were saying the other half they were all taking a 'fag' break. It tried to snow today and the doors were open all day. By noon my feet and hands were numb. The guys were kind enough though to bring in a sofa right away for Jillian to nap on in the office. They even went down to the shop and brought me back a coffee.
They laughed at my can of Bison Stew, called me Madam and told me I just had to start watching the "Eastenders." Their day ended at 3 as they headed out to the pub, while at 10:15 I am still trying to figure out where my pots and pans will go.

What I miss

Progresso bread crumbs (although a fellow American just told me that a random gas station somewhere around here sells them), waffles, brownie mix, goldfish crackers, carne asada, Doritos, Oreos, Trader Joes, and clothes dryer that actually does get the clothes dry. I miss all you guys too. Jason will be bringing an empty suitcase for his trip next week, as well as his dry cleaning.