Heidi Chronicles

I’m glad today is over. Good riddance March.

Filed under: Aaron, BackBlogging, Depression, Health, Liam, Life In London, Mommyhood, Ugh — Heidi at 11:53 pm on Monday, March 31, 2008

I’m getting a cold sore - but I have Zovirax, so I’m going to kick its ass.
Elena was up from 12.30 to 2.30 last night.

(Evidently the article couldn’t wait.)

Have been calling the dr. to see if I can get her in but both lines have been busy for 2.5 hours. I think she might have pink eye.
Liam absolutely would NOT go to school this morning. Aaron came up with a plan to bribe him with his friends, but none of them were at school today, so he stayed home, much to my chagrin.
Finally got children settled in front of television after much screaming and crying. Liam lay on the sofa with his blanket over his head because Little Einsteins is dubbed with an English accent on the DVR.

He’s so weird.

Laundry service is not answering the phone. Bastards.
Finally got through to the dr. No appts. They said to call back at noon and see if they’ve had any cancellations. I set my timer and started calling right at noon. Busy. Finally got through at 12.17 and made appts. for both Elena and me.
Made the kids go in their rooms and rest/take naps. I tried to sleep, but remembered that the ironing service was coming to pick up AJ’s shirts, so I got up and did laundry and talked to Heather until
AJ came home early because he was sick. After some serious persuading, I got him to take my appt.
Elena has pink eye. Aaron has a sinus infection and allergies. Liam had a good time playing with the toys, so I’m sure we’ll be going back later this week. And I still don’t know what I have. A has an appt. scheduled for tomorrow night, so if I’m still feeling terrible, I’ll go then.
Tried to go to bed early but couldn’t sleep. AARGH. Elena woke up shortly after I fell asleep and was up for an hour or so. I finally just drugged her up and put her back in bed.

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Ok, still sick.

Filed under: Aaron, Blah Blah Blah, Elena, Friends, Health, Liam, Life In London, Mommyhood — Heidi at 11:38 pm on Saturday, March 29, 2008

Elena has a fever. No wonder she’s been whining. But she’s still eating like a champ.
Liam loves to play my DS and he hates taking naps.
Aaron is still fighting his sore back.
I’m still coughing and have a sore throat. A went to get me some more cough drops at 9.30 this evening. If I’m not feeling better by Monday, I’m going to the Dr. Even my ears hurt when I swallow.

Ok…one funny thing and then I HAVE to be off to bed.

So, Liam pooed this afternoon and when he got done, he yelled, “Dad! Come quick!” so A went to help him and as they were finishing up, L looked in the toilet and said, “There were two poops. They made a sandwich.”

He’s been drawing sandwiches lately, but I didn’t realize he was that obsessed with them. Aaron came running out of the bathroom unable to control the laughter trying to surface as he’s yelling, “Just flush it, Liam…FLUSH IT!”

By the way…little tidbit for you. The English call poop “poo” and pee “wee,” as in “Liam did you wee AND poo? Oh WOW, great job! Now go wash your hands.”

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A little better?

Filed under: Aaron, Blah Blah Blah, Elena, Friends, Home Ownership, Liam, Life In London — Heidi at 8:47 pm on Friday, March 28, 2008

I took Liam to school this morning because Aaron woke up with severe back pain and couldn’t really get out of bed, much less walk the kid to school. He worked from home and the kids and I went about our day.

Jenn, Jack, and Avery came to play with Elena while Liam was at school. (Well, I guess Jenn actually came to play with me.) They had a good time making a mess of the playroom and with my new attitude not worrying about the house so much, I just relaxed.

I’ve realized in the last few days that I’m not enjoying living here as much as I could because I’m so concerned about the house, the laundry, etc. I think I’ve been in a must-get-everything-done-and-keep-it-looking-perfect mode for so long - since the end of last June, really - that I’ve forgotten how to relax.

Before we had to get the house on the market, the place was lived in - and I was happy with it that way. I didn’t mop the floor or vacuum between Fili’s visits; there was stuff on the counter and I didn’t stress over it - and we got along just fine. But lately I’ve been concerned about every little thing. Our place here is still clean; it’s just messy.

So, after a few months of trying to do everything, I’m not going to worry about it so much. The house will get picked up at least once a week for the cleaning woman - and maybe that’s ok.

Our time here is too short not to do everything possible to enjoy it!

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A Typical Day In My So-Called Life

Filed under: BackBlogging, Elena, Liam, Life In London, Mommyhood — Heidi at 11:11 pm on Thursday, March 27, 2008

And she was coloring so nicely when I turned around to put the milk in the refrigerator.

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Heidi Chronicles: The Resurrection

Filed under: Aaron, BackBlogging, Blah Blah Blah, By Myself, Depression, Elena, Family, Food, Friends, Liam, Life In London, Medicated, Murphy & Macey — Heidi at 10:52 pm on Thursday, March 27, 2008

I hear that there are people worried about me because I haven’t posted anything happy for a while. There’s a lot going on in my life and in my mind lately and it’s not all fit to blog. The majority of it is, but I’m having difficulty finding the energy to do it (which means I’ll want to kick my ass later for not doing it, but I still just can’t get motivated) and I’m sick, so that doesn’t help.

However, we’ve had some fun, happy, and interestingly weird stuff going on lately.

By some act of Google, my old email is working. Use whatever address you want…I get them all now.
On Saturday we had a thunderstorm, sleet, and snow. (Check out the budding tree on the right side of the pic.)
Then Sunday morning it snowed for real! (Or as “for real” as it gets around here.)SO strange. The only way I can explain it is that my parents are here visiting. Any time anyone comes from the US, the weather gets crazy. What the hell?
The fam got in around 10 on Friday and A picked them up at the airport. We did nothing the rest of the day.
I didn’t even cook. We ordered pizza. It’s similar to New York style pizza and it’s a little floppy, so you have to fold it over. Being the child that he is, Liam went down his own folding path.It worked for him.Even though we were lazy, everyone did get to play a bit.

And E loves my new flip-flops from good ol’ Kansas.

Finally, after everyone left and went to bed, I worked on our finances. I am probably not exactly the right person for this job, but Aaron is definitely the wrong one when it comes to the minutiae - like making sure there’s enough money in the account to pay the bills, etc. Macey saw me get ready to sit down and hopped up just as I sat down to cuddle in between the sofa and my ass.

This is such a common occurrence that I don’t ever scoot to the back of the sofa if she’s in the room. However, she’s likely to get squished one of these days when I don’t know she’s around.
Saturday we hauled everyone out to the Borough Market. It was a pretty long tube ride, but the kids did great. Unfortunately it was cold and windy when we arrived - and more than a bit overwhelming. We went with Jenn, Noah, and their kids and they totally know their way around so they were able to get what they wanted and head out.
I, on the other hand, didn’t buy anything. I didn’t know where to start. The market holds everything a professional chef could possibly want. I could have spent hours there…without the kids.

Aaron did get some more beer though. I think we’ve officially become beer collectors with this last purchase. We don’t seem to be drinking it, and the bottles make lovely dust collectors on one of the shelves in the kitchen. I don’t see us having any big parties any time soon, and seeing that St. Patty’s was our last big hurrah and there’s still Guinness in the fridge, I guess we’ll have to cut back on the beer buying until we pare down this stash.
On Sunday we celebrated a quick Easter sans baskets or hidden eggs.
I know…it’s really bad of me. My planning just hasn’t been what it used to. I’m not good at holidays. Fortunately Aaron remembered and bought the kids some candy and a few other things that ~~Amazon~~ the Easter Bunny didn’t get to the house on time.But, he did make it to Grammy and Grandpa’s hotel room.
Interestingly though, either the EB decided that Elena wasn’t good enough to get a chocolate bunny, or housekeeping really did swipe it. And no, it can’t just be my mom forgetting it because my dad saw it too before they left the room yesterday.

Bad housekeeping. BAD housekeeping! I shame you and hope that you wear your trophy as a necklace and a tarantula crawls in your bed. You don’t mess with the Easter Bunny.

Anyway, after we had some lunch, my dad and I went to see the Tower of London because he wanted to see the Crown Jewels. The line to get tickets to the tower took 25 minutes and then the line to see the Crown Jewels was ridiculous - probably because it was included in the entry ticket price. By the time we would have gotten in the doors, it would have been time to close. Instead we walked around a bit in the tower and then walked across Tower Bridge, down the Thames, back over London Bridge, and up to St. Paul’s Cathedral. I t was open, so we went in. It’s the first time in years that I’ve been to church on Easter by choice.

Even though I had the beginnings of a cold and I’d stayed up late the night before playing Escape on my DS, I greatly enjoyed the trip. It was nice to spend some time with my dad, as well as get a break from the kiddos Also, I was quite impressed with my navigational prowess, as I managed to get us back home without jumping on any wrong trains. AND the bonus?, dinner was almost ready when we got back - thanks to my handy dandy crock pot.

Clearly I rocked the house wife, daughter, and tour guide roles today. It’s a good thing everyone else was responsible for the kids.
Monday the padres kept the kids so that A and I could go to Whole Foods to do a little shopping. It was awesome…aside from the fact that I was getting sick. We tooled around and managed to spend enough money on purchases: applesauce, diced tomatoes, and beer (I know…just what we need.), among other things to get free parking for two hours so we checked out some of the stores in Kensington - until I got too tired to care any more.
We got home just in time for naps. The padres went out on a little walk around the area and I worked on our stupid taxes. We have so much crap to document since we’re paying US taxes instead of UK taxes - which are insane, by the way. I completely understand why the Americans decided to get out from under the King’s rule and boycott British tea and shit. Their taxes are for the birds.I ate enough crap throughout the day that dinner didn’t really need to be an option, so the boys went out and got what they wanted and then I ended up eating part of the mistake meal that they gave Aaron in addition to his correct meal. Mmmm…hummous with broad beans. Tasty.
Tuesday I just couldn’t haul my butt out of the house. I really am struggling here, peeps. It was cloudy - A-GAIN - and I just didn’t want to do anything. We all went to pick up Liam and then Dad and I tried to find a place to change some money and get some stamps. The bank had a long line, so I ran to the post office. The post office had a long line, so I went back to the bank. The bank wouldn’t take dollars from a tourist, and told us to go to the post office. We went to the post office. Line was still about 30 people long, so we decided to bank at Chez Chronicles and Aaron paid pounds for dollars. Duh.
Anyhoo, I now know where to get money changed, so it won’t be a problem for any of you coming in the future. Funny how you never notice a Western Union until after you need it.Everyone took a little snooze in the afternoon, but I didn’t have time once I got the kids down since I was still in my PJs. I dressed and got ready to go and Liam hadn’t even woken up when Ana came to keep them so that the adults could go to the King Tut exhibit!We left and I didn’t look back. I didn’t even think about the kiddos until Ana texted me that Elena was climbing on the kitchen chair because she (Ana) thinks it’s hilarious, and when I got the text that Elena had a poo. Ana is seriously awesome. I love that woman.

I think we all really enjoyed the exhibit. I know I did. It was so nice not to have to take the kids with us. I got to read about every item and stare at things to my heart’s content. I always wanted to be an archaeologist as a kid, so it was very fascinating.

Post Tut we went to a churraskaria for some meat lovin’. It was ok. Nothing like the other places I’ve been to. But what should I expect…it was actually comparable to prices in the US instead of being twice as much. Regardless, it was funny to see my dad go to town on the SALAD bar since he hadn’t seen green food for almost a week.

We stopped for pastries on the way home and sent Ana on her way. After she left I read her note. This was scattered among the usual info about what they ate, whether or not they pooed, etc.:

- Elena talks ALL the time: Mine, youws, fin-gahs, pwet-sul, no FANK you. She’s the happiest baby in all of the UK.
- Liam said that Becky calls him “Poo poo guy.” Next time she says it, he’s going to say “I’m not a poo poo guy. Everybody poos and you do too.”
- I didn’t listen to Liam saying “that’s not mine,” so I put in the South Park DVD by mistake. I’m laughing on the inside.

She is fantastic.
Wednesday the folks kept the kids and I stayed up in my room all. day. long. I was sick, but I can’t even begin to describe the joy I felt being all alone. I don’t know what everyone else did all day and I don’t care. I did exactly what I wanted. We did cook dinner though…biscuits and gravy.
On to today. I’m still sick and the kids are nagging me because Grammy and Grandpa aren’t here any more. But we’re loving the new DVDs. I needed some new songs to get stuck in my head.We got to talk to Gabe and Sadie this afternoon, but Liam was too interested in my DS to chat. Gabe was so sad. Sadie is all over the place since she’s walking now. But evidently she destroys everything and beats up on Gabe. Poor guy.
Also chatted with Auntie Heh-dah. She was on the phone with my parents, who are stuck in Chicago due to a snow storm. AND, it was sunny and beautiful the majority of the day here. Looks like they took the weather with them. Ha ha!
So, there you go. I’ll try to be better about posting (and remembering to take my afternoon medication) so that you all don’t have to send me gently worded personal email - which I do appreciate, by the way. Thanks for caring.And just so you know, I’m not going back to proofread this whole thing, so unless you correct me the mistakes and formatting blips will stand.
Done.