Finding Winter

I've never experienced a real winter, having grown up in Southern California and Arizona. I remember one particularly cold "winter" in Arizona, I was walking to class one morning at the college. I walked across the grass and was a bit bemused when it started to crunch beneath my feet. Frost?! That is something we're seeing more of these days, now that I'm in England.

Such amazing patterns to be found in ice and frost. Little trails, mountains, rivers and valleys to explore with the eye. I found myself hoping this morning, when I woke and heard someone coughing and rattling objects in what should have been an empty house. I could tell the cough belonged to my mother in law. At first I assumed illness, but then quickly replaced that idea with a hope of snowy roads and no way for her to get to work. A glance out the window erased this dream, and an explanation of car trouble answered my question.

This approaching winter not only brings the normal things for me - my mother and sister's birthdays, Christmas, warm fires and time spent together, keeping warm on the inside, hot drinks and snuggles. This year, winter holds more for me; an exploration of a new season, new elements and a whole world of winter wonderland to discover. Mick and I hope to make it up to London before Christmas for some shopping in Camden and Greenwich Markets, perhaps catching a musical at a theatre in the West End. This winter will be a walkway into my new life, in this new place, with my new husband. What an adventure! 

Viral Breeding Ground

Well, it finally happened. I always had some cold or another when I was teaching. Coming into contact with so many hygenically-challenged teenagers meant I came face to face with lots and lots of germs. And so for two years of teaching, I had a cold every couple of months. Since living in England I didn't even encounter a single sniffle- that is until last week. I started getting a chesty cold and cough around Thursday, sore throat and nearly lost my voice at work on Saturday. Now it's the whole shebang- runny nose, coughing, sneezing, hacking, chest rattling with mucus, pounding head and sinuses. Oh yeah, it's a veritable germ sensation in my body right now.
I just find it really annoying that I went for months without getting anything, and as soon as I have a place to be and responsibilities, I get sick. Like the sickest I've been in a while.

Work is going well. It's a learning process and a pretty fast paced environment so I'm trying to keep up. I think I'm doing really well but I'm still new. I do struggle with understanding people's accents. One such amusing occasion was when someone asked for "bitter lemon" with their drink (type of juice) and I happily plunked a slice of lemon in their glass, thinking I heard "a bit of lemon." We all shared a laugh at my expense, but that's okay. It was pretty funny.
Thankfully though, I have two days off work to try and recover. Hopefully I'll be feeling more human by Friday night. I think I have a chance if I stick to my survival kit- cough drops, ginger ale, hot drinks, cold medicine, jammies and the couch.
Hope everyone is feeling better than I am!

A Moment

It happened Saturday night. The pub was relentlessly busy, a coworker had a sick son and couldn't make it in, so three of us were pulling it together and making it work without so much as a breath between customers. I was baptised with fire that night, learning by doing. I stood, mixing a Malibu and diet coke facing the back part of the bar where all the spirits are stored. I glanced up to reach for something and caught my face in the mirrored back-splash. I looked younger than I have felt in a few years; fresh faced and wide eyed, eating up the new. I thought about how much my life has changed in the past year. That tired, drawn "teacher face" is gone. I saw freshness, newness. I thought of my Mick, and of the huge thing I've done for him- us, even for me at the end of the day. I saw myself mixing this drink and suddenly felt the positive impact this huge transition has had on me. Everything shifted, fell in place and aligned in one of those moments where you are suddenly very aware of your little place in the universe. It hit me that the steps are all over- we are done with visas (for two years), I managed to snag the first job I applied for, and we are in motion. Things are happening now, and this is the life that was planned for me, the very same one that I chose.
I remembered my teenage dream- moving to Ireland and opening a pub. I had to chuckle- I made it to England, and am working in a pub. Not exactly on target, but a very pleasant alternative. And the thing that makes it all worthwhile? That boy who stole my heart when I was 17 and took me as his wife three months ago. I felt peace, and turned to mix the next drink, once again absorbed in the sounds of inebriated laughter, clanking bottles, and cheerful banter.
And so after work this afternoon, I ran to the store to buy a sandwich for a late lunch, found myself a new pair of gloves and a scarf, and bought that boy I love so much the pair of slippers he pointed out a while back.
Which may or may not have gorilla faces. I'll never tell ;)

Photo Phrenzy

A new job, coldwetwindy weather, the beginnings of a chest cold (or at the very least, an icky cough) a date night and the house to ourselves this weekend. That was our week.
Have some photos.

Like a Duck to Water

I started my job last night. Everything went really well! Started out doing the obligatory paperwork and safety run throughs- moral of the story, "don't be an idiot, use common sense." I can handle that. I was shown how to use the till by the manager. Took a few minutes to figure out but she said I was quick with it. I had to use a similar computer thingy when I worked at Outback. I had a really good time, all the other bar staff was really nice. There were lots of friendly customers who seemed to love the fact that I'm American and wanted to know all about how I got here, what my husband did, and our story in general. I can be a bit of a ham at times, so I did quite enjoy being a bit of a novelty. Is that bad?
I had so much fun that I was a little bit disappointed when my shift ended and went out to meet Mick waiting for me in the parking lot. My legs and feet were tired, but I was having a good time! Some of the other girls made comments about how I didn't seem as scared as they did their first night, or that I was taking to it "like a duck to water." It feels good to be confident about a job on the first day. My last new job was teaching, and there is nothing in the world more terrifying than meeting 150+ kids in one day and being handed the responsibility for their education for a year. This was a bit intimidating, just because I was put behind the bar with people I didn't know, asking what I could get for customers and struggling to understand their accents and nicknames for drinks. I caught on quick that a "Boom" is the colloquial for Oranjeboom, and Guinness and Black is Guinness with blackcurrant syrup. An Asahi with a top just means a splash of sprite on top of the pint. Though England is a small country, just about every town has it's own accent, I'm learning. Figuring out how to understand all of them is a bit of a task! But for the most part I was able to make it seem like I just couldn't hear people in the loud pub. Hehe.

Everything I know about Pubs, I learned from The Nag's Head- the pub featured in the British comedy, Only Fools and Horses. The Nag's Head was the hub of the community, where lovable (apart from Boyce) characters gathered after a day of hard work to visit with friends and have a breather.

(Dave - er, Rodney, Trigger (the love of my life!) and Del Boy 'avin a pint at the Nag's 'ead)

 

I was happy to learn that this is a pretty accurate portrayal of a pub. Though it was my first night, I could pick out the regulars- the jovial, friendly ones who made smalltalk and had amusing conversations with the rest of the bar staff; the ones who asked when I was working next, because they were sure to be here; the lovely couple who were eager to hear my story and were pleased to learn that we only lived up the street from one another, then made my heart melt a bit when they said they always end up best friends with the bar staff. I felt like I found my Nag's Head- a place of my own in this country where I feel like so little is my own. Bit by bit, I'm handed the bricks to build my life here, and it feels good to get some foundations set.

Working Girl

Good news! I got myself a job :D Sunday midday I got a call from the local pub, where I dropped off my resume earlier in the week. The manager asked if she could interview me. I went yesterday, and felt that it went really well. Then this afternoon she called back to offer me a full time position as bar staff. It's 35 hours a week, a mixture of nights, days, weekdays and weekends. It's close- just a few minute walk. The pay is respectable, plus I'll get 5 weeks of vacation a year. Yes, Europe is way more laid back about giving employees time off. Americans get the shaft. Annnyways, I've spent a good amount of time working in restaurants, which I always enjoyed, so I'm really pleased! It's also such a relief to find full time work so quickly- not going to lie, I was pretty worried.
I think it's pretty fun that I've moved away to England and have managed to land a very English job- pulling pints and wiping down the bar, serving food, etc. I'm really looking forward to it. I start this Thursday. Wish me luck!

I'm so happy that everything about moving here has gone so smoothly. Both visas and the national insurance number were all obtained easily and with no hassle. And now a job so quickly. I'm so thankful that things are settling into place. God is good! I hope this trend continues!

Bringing Thanksgiving to the Redcoats

What a great, full weekend we had here- visiting friends, attending parties, and for me, lots of cooking! Saturday night I began my cooking for our little belated Thanksgiving which we would hold on Sunday. It's hard to do Thanksgiving on Thursday here, because nobody has time off, obviously, since it isn't celebrated here. But that wasn't going to stop me- we pushed it to Sunday.
I did my two casseroles (sweet potato as well as twice baked potato), put them in the fridge to bake the following day, and left the turkey out to defrost.
When we woke up Sunday morning, hubby and I walked to the store for some last minute ingredients and came back to the house so I could get started on the pumpkin pie. I had ordered pie filling from amazon (not available here!) and got my store-bought crust out of the refrigerator to place in the pie dish. It was square instead of round, so I had to knead it and roll it out to make it fit the pie dish. Took care of it, placed it in the dish- looking good! Pop it in the oven to flash bake. Cool. I decided to check on it after a minute or two only to discover that the crust was slipping down the edges and settling in a pathetic puddle at the bottom of the dish. I freaked out, shouted for Mick, and got all teary. I'm not sure that it was really the crust that got me so upset. More likely it was the fact that I didn't get to have Thanksgiving with my family, didn't want to ruin the pie because it's my favourite part of Thanksgiving, and it was just a hectic morning. Back we went to the store to get more pasty ( 4!) and another pie dish, because the one at the house was shaped weird (straight edges instead of angles), which I thought added to the problem. We rushed home and I started over. It started to do the same thing, but only on one little edge of the crust, so I pulled it out of the oven and patched up the spot with extra pastry (which had been frozen and had to be thawed! Ugh!). Back in the oven to finishing flash bake and out in a few minutes. It looked pretty compromised, but it was holding together. In went the pumpkin mixture to finish baking. It all turned out fine, and tasted just like it should!
This was the only mishap of the day, apart from the store-bought apple pie that didn't want to bake. But that was okay, because we just did our dessert in two stages. Most of my Brits had never had pumpkin pie before, and they all seemed to like it. Even Mick, who had been more skeptical than the rest, said he really enjoyed it. And he is one picky man!
So thanks to my wonderful husband, his mom and step-dad, my sister in law and her boyfriend, I was able to have a Thanksgiving. And they helped make it special.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your families and friends!

Centerpiece

My mom's side of the family always had gherkins and olives out on Thanksgiving. It wouldn't have felt legit without them!

My pie didn't look all that great, but it tasted perfect :)

I think I did Mama proud!

Pretty table

I know this is an awkward picture, but I swear- my husband does know what a camera is. He just hates them.

The turkey!