Still here!

It's been a very busy week! Mick and I were gone most of yesterday. We had to take the train to a little town called Romsey all the way in Hampshire so that I could get my biometrics done. Biometrics are digital photos and fingerprints for the UK Border Agency. Now my application is complete and all there is to do is wait to hear back from UKBA!
In other news, we are moving this weekend. We will still be living with my in-laws but we will be moving to another larger family house in Kent.

That's about all for now! I'll just leave you with a photo of mick in front of a tiny door of a tiny house in Romsey yesterday. It was a very cute little town and everything seemed so tiny!

Stay at home... fiancee?

And now, for something completely different, unemployment! Not sure how I'll handle this, as I've been working pretty much steadily since I was 17. Everybody keeps asking me if I will teach in England, and my answer is no, not right away. I want to spend about a year just getting used to the culture and learning my way around before I throw myself into a room of children with lingo completely different from the lingo I'm familiar with. That would just be professional suicide. So, I think I'll get a job waiting tables once I'm able to start working after Mick and I are married, then, next year, we'll see.
Promotion was good yesterday. The girls looked like they were going to prom and some of the boys even wore suits. They all looked so cute and cried like they'd never see each other again. Some of my students asked to have their picture taken with me and said they'd miss me, which was very sweet.
At the staff luncheon my Language Arts partner spoke some words about me that made me want to cry and the school gave me a nice set of desert greeting cards with really pretty pictures so I don't forget where I come from. I packed the last bit of stuff in my car, turned in my keys and ended my two years at Centennial. I learned a lot at that place.
Yesterday afternoon was a whirlwind of cleaning and packing- I just have to finish this load of laundry and decide what I want to take of that, clean out my desk and throw away the last bit of trash and I'm done. Thank goodness! I never want to move ever again!
My brother and his wife got into town last night. My sister in law brought cupcakes, I had a strawberry milkshake one and it was fantastic. We didn't do much last night, just sat around and talked and I crashed probably at 9:30. Not sure what's on the agenda today, except for some time in the pool, finishing up my room, and probably lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Hope everyone has a great start to summer vacation!

The Itchy and Scratchy Shoooooow!

I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but I'm breaking out in hives randomly. It started last Friday, I woke up with some bumps on my chest, but I just thought it was a spider bite. Living most of my life in Arizona, I'm used to that and it didn't really worry me. But then when I got to work that morning, the palm of my hand swelled up, turned red and got really itchy. So I took a Benadryl and I was fine.
Over the weekend, nothing was wrong. I had kind of forgotten about it. But today I woke up and was covered in welts and red blotches. My thighs, stomach, arms, chest. It itched really badly and was driving me crazy. I was able to make an appointment with my doctor midday so took the day off to take care of that. I went and the doctor said he just thinks it's an allergy and gave me the names of medications. The rash went down after an hour or so, and now it's starting to come back again. I am going crazy with itching. I just took another Benadryl so I'm hoping it all calms down. I need to go get that other medicine tonight. I'm wondering if it's from the stress of the huge transition I'm about to make... But according to medicinenet, stress cannot cause hives. Apparently it can just be caused by nothing sometimes. Cosmic...
Worked on my room most of the weekend. Closet is 99% done, under the bed is 50% done. Just need to do bathroom, bookshelf and under the window seat. It's been hard to do any work today because I'm about to jump out of my skin.

The weekend was great! I spent the day with my mom on Saturday, kind of a last Mother Daughter day.  We went to see Bridesmaids and laughed the entire way through. Then we had lunch at Mimi's and did a bit of shopping. I bought some fantastic shoes that I cannot wait to wear at the Engagement party. They are made by Antonio Melani. They're surprisingly comfortable. Brittany came over in the evening, had dinner with us and helped motivate me to work on my room. Sunday we had a lazy morning and then spent the afternoon with Brittany and some of her friends and their babies. We gorged ourselves on pizza and chatted away. Then we got some stuff I need for moving at Wal-Mart and headed back to the house. My absolute favorite part of the weekend, though, was when we got in the pool and played and splashed and had a grand old time. It's the first time we've used the pool since Mick has been here. We always have so much fun. I'm so excited that I'm marrying my best friend!
Time to relax a bit before bed. Hope you all had a nice, hive free start to your week!

Bits and bobs

This is getting ridiculous. I am leaving Yuma a week from this coming Monday. Not forever, but in the sense that I'm moving. Moving. And how much have I done to prepare for that. Hah. Not much, really. I did do a bit of work last night, but, as I said, ridiculous. I have no motivation to go through 14 years of Stuff. So much Stuff. And it doesn't help that when I get home, mentally psyched up to get in there and do some work, Mick's always like "oh I want to go do this and this and this." Duuuude. So I've recruited a very strict friend to come over tonight and force me to do it while Mick watches her child. I'm hoping to finish under my bed and the window seat. And that just leaves the dreaded closet for tomorrow. My room is a disaster, though. I've always hated that, you know? That in-between stage when you are honestly cleaning, but there are stacks of Keep, Trash, and Donate and big black garbage bags. And so it looks dirtier than when you started. But I'm not embarrassed to have people over, because I have a good excuse for my mess.
Moving on. I'm so glad it's the weekend. Work is quickly just becoming a fight for survival at this point. Trying to keep the kids from going completely bonkers is quite a task. Next week is full of activities, though- we're finally going to watch The Diary of Anne Frank, which we finished reading a few weeks ago. There's an 8th grade pool party and BBQ, and then promotion is on Friday, as well as an end of the year luncheon. Then my brother and his wife are coming for the weekend, and Mick and I leave for the Grand Canyon and Vegas the following Monday. So there's lots going on, and this is why I need to get my butt in gear with the packing thing!
Today is mother daughter day. I'm really feeling the time limitations when I think of how I want to spend time with people before I go. So mom and I are going to go see Bridesmaids and have lunch and do some shopping. It's really weird and it occurred to me last night. You always start getting closer/getting along with people better when one of you is leaving. I also noticed this when I was 10 and moved from California to Arizona. I made so many new friends in the few months before I left, which made it harder to leave. Lately, my mom has been making me really laugh, and I'm noticing things in my dad that I'm really going to miss. Even my sister, who is ten years older than me, and I are finding all sorts of things that we have in common. I'm trying not to let this make me sad, though. I'm trying to think of it as a good thing, something that will help us all stay close when I'm living far, far away. But everything family related is really getting to me. I was picking out a Father's Day card yesterday at Target and just about every one of them made me want to burst into tears.
It's also happening with friends. Last night I went out with Brittany and Jake and some friends of theirs. I haven't seen them in possibly months, and of course all our best memories and laughs resurfaced. So, yeah, I'm basically in a mad scramble to spend as much time with everyone as possible.

And that's where we are this weekend. Hope everyone is having a great start to summer activities!