Alan is recognized

Met Alan today. He's the proud owner of two Westies. He lives around the corner from us, with his wife Jan. Natalie absolutely loves those dogs. They hang out in their windows and if we have the trolley (hand cart for groceries) they will bark their fool heads off. They won't bark if we don't have the trolley! They also are quite fierce to anyone wearing red... which means they go after the Post man as he walks by.

How did I meet Alan? Formally? On the bus. I think that one day, while Natalie was throwing a fit on the sidewalk, he walked by and asked if she was okay. This was back in August.

He was very funny and sadly, because I didn't have a thing to write with or on, I can't remember what he said so that I can share with you. We did talk about his Westies (Flora and Bella) are handling the weather and lack of outdoor exercise. We talked about how convenient Langley Moor is as far as its location and amenities. We got off the bus at the same stop and he walked with me as far as the Tesco. It was there that I introduced myself finally.

The bus today was of middling size, so for the Durham to Brandon loop, which Langley Moor is on, it's a bit small. I was one of the first people on, so I got prime real estate location; up front, with leg room. The bus filled up and of course I was going to have to share my seat. No objections there...except that your seat partner may smell or be offensive in some other way. One of the last passengers to get on the bus, second to last even, was this gentleman who looked vaguely familiar. He had kind eyes. I would rather have him sit with me with his three small bags than the harried tight-eyed woman with the mean mouth and the overstuffed, over large bag containing her Christmas shopping. He was surprised that I moved over and called me "duck".

So I started to talk to him. Thank God I'm not too far gone in my head that I can still reach out and make the small connections. After asking if those were his dogs, I told him that Natalie loves looking to see if the 'puppies' (they're full grown but small dogs) are in the window. He chuckled of course. Everyone laughs at my three year old, but in a good way. He seemed pleased to be recognized.  I think we're all pleased when we're recognized by others...Not in the creepy stalker way, just in the fact that there's something that about me that you remembered as you observed me passing through a corner of your life

***

I had a pre-Christmas drinky in the pub today with Ruth. Originally we thought to meet for coffee at Joannie's Cafe, but why kid ourselves? As I was leaving to go run my errands, the two gentlemen two tables over wished us a Happy Christmas. Then one of them asked me if I was Canadian since I sounded Canadian. That's a first. Usually, I get Australian. Go figure. Anyways, I said no, that I was from Oklahoma. And he'd never heard of it. This is a first too. Sometimes I get people who don't know where it is, but they immediately begin belching out the glorious state song, "Oklahoma". So I do what I normally do when the person doesn't know where it is...I ask them, 'do you know where Texas is?' He didn't know that either. So I asked, 'you know the Gulf of Mexico?' A vague apprehensive look, but eventually affirmative.

Me: "Okay {gestures to the side} Here's the Gulf. {raise hand} Here's Texas. {raise hand further} Here's Oklahoma."

The Guy's Friend who's been very quiet: "He knew where it is, pet. I know where it is too. Happy Christmas, ladies."

I LOVE GEORDIES AND THEIR NICKNAMES FOR WOMEN!

Also, I think that Ruth may have had a slight fear/intimidation issue with Peter from the pub which is why I never saw her there before. But now, since I've basically explained about Peter to her (and Brian), we may have more meet-ups in the pub, her and me.

Blueberries, More Snow, and a Day Trip to Newcastle

8:45 am:
Hopefully, in what has amounted to be an epically frustrating half year, today will be the last step I am required to complete in becoming a teacher here. We're off to Newcastle to take in ONE piece of paper that MUST be seen IN PERSON by the minions of the supply agency.

As the Mad Hatter said to Alice, I've lost much of my muchness. Where the hell is my Vorpal Sword? All these Jabberwockys are crushing. Frabjous Day is coming.


EDIT (8:15 pm):
Received phone call not too much longer after I originally posted the above. Due to snow, no one would be in the office, so... I didn't need to bring the paper, I can just mail it.  It was really nice of the girl to call me. We ended up going anyways still. Dan wanted to go to the IKEA store.  Still looking for a couch. I hate IKEA.

Still feel like this is Wonderland... things are ever so slightly different here and also ever so slightly different from town to town. TIL that the Metro in Newcastle does not really go to the MetroCentre. And that the Metro is not the same as the MetroCentre. That the MetroCentre is so big, that there's a special bus to transport people from one store to another.

If you prefer my Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows type of posts, then quit reading. I don't care.

Since you're still reading, then I'm happy to answer your question of "how are you?" You know, if we talked on the phone? Instead of lying and saying, "fine, thanks," this is what I'd say to you. Still feel like I'm fighting imaginary but metaphorical monsters with inadequate weapons. Or that I'm encased in jello; I don't get as much done in a day as I used to. And when I do it, it takes an inappropriately long time to get done.  And maybe I'll get distracted and my tasks aren't even accomplished. So it builds up and ultimately, right now, here sucks.

We saw Peppa Pig!

It really was a spur of the moment, sign catching the corner of my eye kind of thing. No pomp and circumstance, just queue up and take a picture when it's your turn. 

And did I get a picture of Natalie hugging Peppa? No, because the throng of waiting little girls intimidated me. So instead, we get to cherish a picture of Peppa smashing Natalie's head down. C'est la vie.

Banned from Wetherspoon's.

More so here than back home, is the following: Christmas work party. I've been to at least one work party of Monroney's faculty and staff and I may have attended others. Usually they're held at the home of a faculty member and it can be surreal visiting the home of someone you see everyday but don't know that well. I don't remember many of these parties very well, mainly I guess because nothing much happened that was memorable. And the people were people I saw nearly every day. Nearly, because some days, you don't always see each faculty member that you work with. I'd like to think that I connected with everyone I worked with at least once, just so that I cannot be accused of ignoring some individuals. I think I've gotten off track already.

On Saturday, I met up with the crazies from the charity shop for our Christmas work party. Based on the adverts I've seen around , I suppose it's more common to have the work party at a restaurant/bar/pub. There are all sorts of incentives; lower prices if you book early, special menu, SPACE. Ours wasn't tame. Originally, the plan was to go to Wetherspoon's, the pub/restaurant next door to the shop. Easy to get to, everybody knows where it is, blah blah blah. And it's very reasonably priced and comfortable. Has a fireplace. I'm looking forward to it actually.

I text Laura to let her know I'm on my way. She replies that she'll be waiting for me at the station. I text back, pragmatic and all, "Nah, go on and get a table {smiley face}." because I know that being the Saturday before Christmas, things are likely to be busy. I arrive at the bus station, and there's Laura with her new boyfriend, and Lauren and John. This ticks me off. I want to yell at her, "For crying out loud, this is going to be a busy night and I'd like to be able to sit at a table and not stand because I'm wearing a pair of 3 inch stiletto boots and I'm not going to want to stand the entire night because these damn boots are already killing my knees!"

But what I said instead was, "Are we waiting for somebody?" Oh no, just me. Well, what are we waiting for, let's go across the street! Apparently, Wetherspoon's is off. Lee's been banned.

What? How does one go about getting banned from a chain pub? I'm not surprised, Lee's a bit of a meth-head to my mind. He's nice, but he's a spaz. They're all spazzes.  Here's how it happens that I don't get to go to Wetherspoon's and instead, have to go to Yates. Lee and Shelley get drunk at Wetherspoon's. They're kicked out for what must be inappropriate or anti-social behavior. They snuck back in, got kicked back out again. Lee then became mouthy with the manager.

To be fair, Yates has good deals too. And the road to hell is paved with them. And when one goes out to drink in the UK, one must think ahead. For instance, the press of bodies at the bar is unsavoury. I hate it. Every pub seems to be the same. People, mainly men, order their pints, receive them and then proceed to stay put. They don't leave. So it gets very crowded there and that's why you've got to think ahead. Otherwise, each time you're out of beverage, you've got to brave the throng of aging chavs. You could be in danger of spilling their pint if you keep going back and forth and no one wants to see that. It isn't pretty.

So, my version of thinking ahead is to get the big glass of wine, 250 mL. I leave with a glass... and the bottle. Well, why not? It was only £5.95. Not a bad deal. Especially if it prevents me from dealing with belligerent baldies. Seriously. They could see I was wanting to get to the till, but did they move even a shoulder? NO.

Really, I'm making this sound as if I had a ghastly time. I didn't. I had a lovely time.

Front row: Lauren and Lee
Back: Me, Shelley, Laura, and Laura's new beau, Matt
Not pictured: John, Chris, and Chris

Even if there was trauma drama going on between Lauren, Lee and Shelley, I still had a fun time out. How could I not?

But, because I'm the old lady of the club, I left at around 8:45. Mainly, because of my damn boots. I'm never wearing those again. And also because the youngins' wanted to go to Studio. Not my scene, really.

What do we miss if we never look up?

Upper Right Corner: Vengeful Dove! Puffin in lower left.

Recently I noticed two wooden birds above the windows of Bimbi's, the fish and chips restaurant in the market square.

Upper Left Corner: It's a puffin!

And then I saw this little guy above the entrance of the posh tea shoppe.

So, this made me wonder if there were others located around the square. Yes, there are.

I really can't tell what it is. Maybe a bird on its back?

A parrot and something else.

A Barclay's lemur. He likes to move it, move it.

The other Barclay's lemur.

Finding these, just discovering that they exist, made me disproportionately happy that day. And I also noticed that there were many empty brackets that are not specifically assigned to hanging baskets (which are evident in the spring). This makes me wonder if there were more of these fun gargoyles in the past, but for some reason, were taken down and never replaced. And I also wondered about the choices... Puffins are found on/around Lindisfarne so that makes sense and doves are ubiquitous representatives... but a parrot? A chameleon? Lemurs? What's their significance? Why were these animals chosen to observe the bustle of the marketplace?

I did go into the tea shoppe to ask about the chameleon. The manager said she'd never noticed he was there until she began to work in the shop and that she'd shopped in Durham for all her life. I've even mentioned the critters to a couple of people in the shop and was met with a few blank stares and raised eyebrows. So I'm going to go into the tourist center tomorrow and see if they have any info.

What else have I been missing? It has been @ 6.5 months here and I've just recently noticed these objets d'folk art? At least I have some company; there are others who've lived here their entire lives and don't know these wooden animals are watching them as they walk by.

Christmas Trad.

Your originally scheduled program will begin shortly. Please click on the links from today's sponsors. Please feel free to purchase any item with all major forms of laughter.

Christmas in the UK
I have found this group and this group shall be mine, and it'll be my group. Also, look for Gap Yah .Yah, do it... before I CHUNDER EVERYWHERE!  Oh mi gobdolly rocks! I had to clean my laptop... it is not wise to drink coffee whilst viewing this vid.

Newport State of Mind
You're really only going to get this if you know about Empire State of Mind. Or Newport. Or both.


Dan's off to LONDON this morning. After watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I don't think I can ever pronounce LONDON like I used to.

Working on my own version of Christmas activities here. We don't have cable, so we don't watch television and therefore will not be able to watch the Queen's Speech this year. (Okay, if you didn't click on the first link above, then you have no idea what I'm talking about...so stop now, go back, and click the damn link, Jabroni!)

Thank you.

So here's some Christmas trad for you. That's traditions, mate. Sorted.

Combine this with syrup and now you know why their turkeys always look so damn beautiful. 

Thanks to mom for sending me to Brownies. That's where I derived this activity.

My quarter. Done just to show Natalie what the point is.

So fierce is Natalie.

But cloves hurt tiny little fingers, so I ended up finishing it.

Happy National Lemon Cupcake Day.

I goofed. And on National Ice Cream and Violins Day too.

Okay, so.  Yeah. I made a deaf guy embarrassed about his spelling and embarrassed myself as well in the process. But I didn't mean to!  This guy owns the local florist shop where I bought this:

Decoration of mantel. No tree, but a lovely greenery piece. Christmas figures courtesy of SJB. 

Let's have some explanatory background, shall we?

When you see things that are obviously the Brrrrritish spelling, you can tell.... usually there's an extra 'u' in the word; colour, honour, etc. This I knew already when I moved here.

So, I was unprepared for 'tyre'. Even right now, blogger doesn't recognize Brrrrritish words as the correct spelling... yay for patriotic, xenophobic Google! Anyway...ahem.

Took me a bit to figure out what a tyre is. It's a tire. But when you say you're tired here, you don't use 'tyred'. I guess it is just another way to dichotomize. Kind of like saying 'haitch' instead of 'aitch' for the letter 'h' is indicative of which social class you're a part.

Right. So, I'm in the shop and I thought I'd make some conversation and portray myself as the person I'd like others to think I am: an interested person in others' culture. Because, really! I am! So it went down like this:

Me: I noticed your sign outside.

Guy: Oh, yes?

Me: Yeah, and I've wondered for a while, if you know, like wreath is spelled differently here?

Guy: Pardon?

Me: Well, you know...like how the tire (tyre, hee hee) is spelled with a 'y'. Back home we spell it with an 'i'.

 Guy: *stares at me* {Remember people, he's deaf?}

Me: *louder* YOU KNOW? YOU GOT THE WORD 'WREATH' ON YOUR SIGN OUTSIDE?

Guy: Ah. I suppose I misspelled it, then?

Me: Uh. I don't know?

***

Walking down the street today to get a fuse for the fuse/breaker box {that made for a fun morning} I saw his sign. It'd been edited. To say 'wreath' instead of 'wreth'.

It made me sad, I guess. I reckon that it'd've been neat to think that it is spelled sans 'a'.

***

Am also realizing that "Love Actually" has parts about it that aren't plot mechanisms to tell a story. Being the #1 music act for Christmas? That's real. Ant and Dec, the hosts on the MTV-ish show? They're real. Liam Neeson moving on after his wife's death? That's real too.

National Ding-a-Ling Day

Lunch at the Duke of Wellington... went to this posh pub just up the street on Friday 10th with Ruth.  Yes, same Ruth that is hostess with mostest. She's a great gal and can prolly drink me under the table. But just about anybody else can so that's not such a big accomplishment, really.

I had the Fisherman's Pie and green beans. Fisherman's Pie is the fishier version of Shepherd's Pie or Farmer's Pie. Instead of beef or lamb, it's fish. Topped off with a creamy white sauce, some mash (mashed potatoes), and cheese and all baked in one bowl... I didn't really need to eat dinner after.

Ruth and her husband Brian moved back from Australia in May, so they've also had the same experience of moving an entire life across the world. Only difference outside of it being Australia? They didn't do it with kids. They don't have any yet.

So, I really enjoyed myself and I don't think I got stupid drunk...so, one can say I continued my good work in trying to make a friend. Talked about everything one talks about when one is getting to know a new woman... husbands, kids, job issues, home-making, background information... It's the human equivalent of when dogs sniff each other's butts. I must have sounded (smelt) okay, because Ruth wants to have a girls' night out in Newcastle, so I can see just how hardcore these North East women are when it comes to plumage.

Wow, two animal references to describe women's behavior.

***

The snow is completely gone. Hung around for two weeks but in two days time, it melted clean gone. Even in our backyard which does not receive much sunlight. However, and this is a big however, there's more to come within the week. And Dan is back but goes to London later this week. Let's all keep fingers crossed that there'll be no problems with the de-icer trains.

The Scottish minister of transportation resigned because of the weather and how his department handled it. After reading related articles and comments from other readers, I'm thinking the Scottish are a big ol' bunch of babies. And that it is out of character, or is it?

***

I'm putting together small-ish boxes to send home to a select few. Would you be so kind as to tell me what items you think should go in said boxes? The theme is "Brrrrrrritish".  So far I've got Hobnobs, Digestives, Twinings tea, Trolley key chains, Marmite, and Christmas pudding.

In keeping with this theme, I've come across your Link of the Day.
ICONS

This has given me some ideas, but sadly, those ideas are items that can be purchased in the states. Scarcity is the ticket. Anyways, I definitely would appreciate some suggestions, if you think of them.