I posted a picture to MSN UK News and it's on there!

http://news.uk.msn.com/photos/special-photo-galleries/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=155343379&page=2

Also, picture #10 (as of posting time) is of the Wear. I see it every day riding on the bus to and from Natalie's nursery.

Man, oh man, am I stoked! My picture is the second one!!! They actually used it! I'm overreacting... BUT WHO CARES!!!


EDIT 12/1/10: The link is no longer for my picture and if you didn't get to see it, that's okay. It is posted in an earlier blog...The third picture, I believe in the 'we went for a walk' post...

3 days

It has been snowing for 3 days straight. Natalie and I went to Tesco for bread and milk and what we got was a circus. The bread shelf was almost completely empty. Luckily, we were able to get a loaf of Tesco brand wheat bread. They call it brown bread. It was only 47 pence. That's about 75 cents US$. Milk was 1.55 which is $2.42. Hmm, maybe I should just list:
Bread @ .47 =  $0.73
Milk @1.55 = $2.42
Peanut Butter @ 1.90 = $2.96
6 pack Yogurt @ .90 = $1.40
Bag of Fusilli pasta @ 1.10 = $1.71
Mince (ground beef) @ 1.21 = $1.89 x2 = $3.77
Stirfry veggies @ 1.00 = $1.56
Total: 10.34 = $16.12 for three bags of groceries. @$5.37 per bag.

And I brought my own bags because that's what you do here and I got 11 Green Clubcard Points.
How is it that peanut butter is the most expensive item? I don't care, it lasts a long time.

Anyway, more about the circus: They had huge display of Foster's beer on the floor in front of the entrance. It was on major sale: 10.00 for a case of sixteen or twelve, i dunno, didn't pay attention. There were men milling about looking for shopping carts to cart the cases. Men were standing by people in the checkout lines waiting for the carts to be emptied so they could take them. I was in the 10 items or less lane, and the guy in front of me was buying 10 frozen pizzas and three carrots. Woman behind me had one package of paper towels. Then behind her, was the long line of men standing holding 2 to 3 cases of the Foster's beer. These are big cases, people.  The cans are 8 inches tall at least; they are at least as tall as bottles back home and three times as big around. Those men really wanted that beer!

Today, as the snow came down (again), Natalie and I made M&M sugar cookies. That was fun and I like baking with her. Sadly, I have no pics.

Dan is still in France and today was his day to go sightseeing and shopping. Last time he brought back some Laderach chocolates from Zurich. The closest to you guys where you can get some of this angelic byproduct is NYC. They have a store there. Should you be anywhere near that town this holiday season, go there, buy up the lot and you'll have the best gifts to give. Ever.

Better dash, sounds like someone threw a snowball at my window. Pesky kids.

Walking In The Air (from: The Snowman)

This is from a long long time ago. It is still a beloved classic here; part of the Christmas pop culture. I remember watching this. At first, I didn't want to; mum was strongly encouraging. 20+ years later, I hear this song at the PlayPit and was just entranced. I racked my brain trying to remember where I heard it and had to ask the lady who owns the Pit. She immediately knew and told me.

I share it with you. This is what it really looks like here. The boy singing is Peter Auty, a former St Paul's Cathedral choir boy.

We went for a walk

Remember my meadow? The one that I found on a walk with Natalie back in May and it had the sunset and illuminated back-lit dandelions? Well, we went there again today. I believe I will share with you the lovely.

To the upper left is the Meadowfield soccer and rugby pitches.

I like this picture a lot... but...

this one is my favorite picture from today. 

Ah, making a snow star with Star Song.

So, it has been six months to the day that we've been here. Here's a pic from the first few days:

Men, in this country, when at karaoke, dance with each other. This and the next picture were taken at our local. 

Such an unattractive photo of myself but to be expected when one has had a few pints. That's Kev. He's been very nice to Dan and myself. Informative about stuff around here and he's a fan of Florida...the state, not the team. 

It's Snowing! And it's National Parfait Day!

"I don't know nobody who don't like no parfait!"

Natalie is well kitted, thanks to SJ!

Early morning snow!

Snow day for Natalie! She was doing snow angels in the back yard but called it a star. We threw a few snow balls at the fence. She woke up today and as always, looks out her window. She yelled, "IT'S TIME! MOMMY WAKE UP! WE GET OUR COATS AND GO OUTSIDE IN THE SNOW!"

 I'm keeping her home today which is a good thing too because when I called just now to let them know, the lady who answered told me they're having trouble getting staff in in a timely manner. Some may not be able to come in because of where they live and the transportation issues. Reason: Not many people live in the city of Durham. Most of the housing is student housing. Sure you get some old houses that have been in families for generations, but for the most part, I'd say the percentage of student housing is around 60-70%. And living in the city area is extremely expensive. So most people, like us, are living in the surrounding villages like Consett, Esh, Esh Winning, Brandon, etc etc. This division of housing is a bone of contention here. Kind of like how there's people who get upset about others who are on the dole and spend their time in the pub. A lot of the men in the pub are older and thus are pensioners. No big deal there. It's the younger people in the pubs in the middle of the day that irritate the taxpayers. I myself was accused of being on the dole by someone (don't remember who exactly but I think he himself is on the dole too...this was a long time ago and was such a non-event that I didn't think that it was a thing of interest. Come to think of it, I'm not sure it is a thing of interest now.)

Anyway, I was talking to mum on skype and wanted to share one of the things I told her: Buying rounds. When you go out with friends here to a pub, you're expected to buy a round of drinks, one for yourself and for everyone else. It's a cultural thing here. Treating is another thing; I didn't bring any money for lunch yesterday (forgot wallet arrrgh!) and Laura (mah frien) said she'd treat me to lunch because I treated her to a movie. I was like, dude, you didn't even get to see all the movie and you bought me a drink and popcorn, which is the ticket price equivalent so we're even stevens. That made her laugh. When I was out with the girls a month or so ago (pitiful me, j/k) I saw this as the night progressed. I'm pretty sure I bought my first drink and then someone bought my next. So, of course, I'm obliged to buy her next. As mum said, this can get expensive but the night doesn't last long here anyways because people have to catch buses home and the buses quit running at midnight, so you've got to be done with your drinking before your bus is due to leave plus the time it takes to get from your pub to the station. The chip shops do a brisk business in this time period. It is kinda funny to see a bunch of drunks, men and women, standing around sharing fries out of a paper cone while using forks to eat the fries.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all. Eat up that turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole for me. Don't be surprised, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Think about it.

Use Even If Seal Is Broken Day

Anyone else think of the rash of baby seal clubbing news that popped up in the 90s when you read my title?

I enjoyed Harry Potter. Enormously. I was surprised it ended where it ended. Audience reactions were great and I took a friend with me. Sadly, her babysitter crapped out on her just as we were walking out the door to head to the theatre. So, she saw about 45 minutes of it before she had to go pick up her boys. She wasn't upset with her babysitter, but I sure was since we made the plans a week ago and everything was agreed to. Babysitter made plans yesterday to go shopping today and was unable to get back in time. Nice of her to let us know in time rather than be called in the middle of the movie. So, my friend was mentally prepared to leave and I guess no big deal. Summary: I'm upset on my friend's behalf.

Today, I'm doing my big clean and I hear there's snow on the way. Supposed to hit Thursday and be blizzardy until Saturday. So, I'll get the house ready so if necessary, Kiddo and I can play and bake all day tomorrow and through the weekend.

Or I go to the shop and get some grownup interaction with friends and regulars at the shop...hmmmmm. Clean tomorrow when I've got a helper...

National Cashew Day

A favorite of the Monroney teachers.

Today begins Dan's first full day in France. He's in Orsee/Orseilles/Orsay. I dunno. I'm going to see Harry Potter. Without him. That's how I get back at my husband for not taking me to France.  *Laughter*

Durham City's Lighting of the Lights

As always, when it comes to government/council sponsored things, the result was underwhelming.  Let me preface with the following before you judge me.

"They're here."

That was a massively awesome set of TV screens. They seemed to be hi-def from where I was standing but to my camera it appears to be circa 1982 via Poltergeist. You can see the draping of the strings of Christmas lights. There were vendors hawking the lighted toys you get at the Oklahoma State Fair. Sorry. The Great State Fair of Oklahoma. There were even toy bubble machines. There were minor celebrities from this country and I have no idea who they were but I did get excited when I saw Jason Isaacs' (Lucius Malfoy) name appear and was disappointed that we missed him as he was listed as being on earlier in the day. There were people on the stage televised on the big screen TV. So, I know what people look like, just not who they are. And they were trying to get people to sing Christmas carols. But when you yourself don't even remember the whole song, how are you going to get a bunch of chavs into the holiday spirit? And then... the guy who was leading the singing was applauded and it was said that it was Jason Isaacs. OH NO IT WASN'T! It was not my Jason Isaacs, it was some other Jason Isaacs who I've never heard or seen before. 

Really, for all the fuss that went into this, I expected a bit more when it came to the moment we all were waiting for. There wasn't even a tree.

Now in my relationship, I'm the Clark Griswold, but even Dan noticed that Norman, with its miles and miles of Christmas decorations, doesn't put out the big whoop like this. And we decided that if Norman did put up the same amount of decoration that Durham did, you can darn well bet there wouldn't be a big ceremony involving a plunger.

It is pretty though. Just imagined that there'd be more. Afterwards, we headed to Nando's for some vittles. Dan wins the feeding-of-the-child award for today. He ordered the green olive appetizer, which she ate. He ordered the kids' grilled chicken with the light peri-peri BBQ sauce and she ate that too! I tried it and it was hotter than I would think a kid's food item should be but she's a daddy's girl. However, she also tucked right into the frozen yogurt, so really, she's my kid too.

Did Natalie like the Christmas Lights Spectacular Extravaganza Soiree? I think so...

Result: A nice time out of the house.