Transitions

Winter creeps in so slowly that you don't even notice it. I check my phone weather forecast and each week the first digit in temperatures drops. It's only in the 40s now, due to be 30s next week. I know that's not as cold as a lot of the places you folks live, but I've been told the cold in England is different, and I have to take people's words for it, having spent exactly no time in cold climes before. Apparently it's the damp that does it here. It gets in your bones. Or so I'm told.
So, as winter presses her nose against the window, peering in and preparing herself to settle in heavily, Mick and I prepare for something as well. It's time to dip our toes into apartment hunting. We've looked at one place, but for our reasons we've decided to keep looking elsewhere, even though we really liked it. Nothing serious yet, no paperwork has been filled out, we're just collecting out data, looking online, and planning to go look. And, oh, is it exciting!

A Slightly Hyper Post

Today I worked from 10am-6pm with a slew of families swinging in and out the door. The comfy, worn in couches scattered about the warm pub were filled with laughter and chit-chat, and my hands were satisfied and sticky from pulling lots and lots of pints. Two o'clock rolled around and my boss said I could take my break. I donned my wool coat and scarf (never thought I'd say that!) and walked across the square to the supermarket to buy a sandwich and a drink. My selections in hand (chicken salad sandwich, strawberry flavored water and sour coke bottles), I paid and exited the store. To my immense puzzlement, as I walked through the sliding doors, I was accosted (ok, not really, I just never pass up an opportunity to use that word. Accosted. Accosted! I love it) by charity collectors holding their plastic coin cup things and wearing... wait for it!.... GIANT DOG COSTUMES. We're not just talking a painted face and ears, people. We're talking the hole getup- a full on furry costume with giant head and everything. Actually, it was probably pretty warm, now that I think about it. Anyway, there was Christmas music blaring from mysteriously placed speakers and booths and things set up. In a daze, I grabbed a few coins from my pocket and chucked them in the cup. The Giant Dog I deposited my money to waved with his big, fake, awkward hands. Character costumes like that have always freaked me out a bit. I don't know, it might be the vow of silence the people who wear them seem to take. It's just weird, okay?!
Anyways, I retreated to the safety of my designated lunch spot- a tree planter with a large base to sit on. I munched on my sandwich and watched the way the light played on the pavers, the sides of brick buildings, and shone around the corner, bursting through a narrow walkway. I fell in love with winter light today. And as I snapped pictures, a children's choir at the charity thing began to sing "Good King Wenceslas," which always reminds me of that scene in the end of Love Actually where Hugh Grant is desperately searching an entire street of houses, asking for the girl he loves, tryyying to find out if she lives there because she only gave him the name of the street she lived on and not the house number. And three little girls open the door and don't realize Hugh Grant is the Prime Minister, because they're like, seven. So they ask if he's a Carol Singer and he starts to sing to humor them. And his driver, who is standing behind him, busts out in this really sexy bass voice, and Hugh Grant does this surprised little face and turns around and looks at the driver. (I tried to find a clip on youtube to no avail). It always makes me smile, as does anything to do with Hugh Grant, and particularly Love Actually. I smiled and snapped pictures until my hands started to go numb, at which point I decided it was probably time to go back to work.

My lunch spot. I love how the concrete and wood eat up the light and hold it tight.

Pavers also enjoy eating the light. Also- I much prefer the footwear of bartending to the footwear of teaching. Vans to work? Yes, please!

This picture literally stops my breath. The way the light bends around the building and down this little walkway. Be still, my heart!

Have a fantastic Saturday, you!

Some Randomness for You

Some things you may not know.

I detest the feeling of lipstick and lip gloss. My lips go au natural 99% of the time- weddings qualify as lipstick time. However, I have found lip stain, which doesn't bother me.

I have a strange fondness for dandelion clocks (that's the actual name for dandelion poofy ball thingies)

I love the smell of spicy candles.

I've wanted to be a writer since I was 9. Wrote my first story in 4th grade and my first poem in 5th.

I inherited the shutterbug gene from my maternal grandfather.

I love the smell of baby head. You know, fresh out of the bath, wrapping them up in a towel, and just burying your nose into their wispy hair and breathing in real deep. My niece has been a victim of this activity a time or two.

I'm a real believer in the "live and let live" outlook on life. I feel like way too many people express anger at situations that don't really involve them or affect them. So what if those guys want to get married? So what if that lady isn't Christian? So what if that girl is covered in tattoos from head to toe? Does that mean the world is coming to an end? Does it mean that I can't carry on in my life and hold true to the things that I've been taught and value the most? Absolutely not. Times will always change, people will always say things we don't like. And that, my friends, is beautiful. At the end of the day, you probably should be looking at yourself and your own life more than spending time obsessing about what's happening outside. Start at home. I'm not saying we should ignore what happens in the world, or that we shouldn't try and make a difference, but it's important to tell the difference between what we can change and what we can't... and that moaning about it won't make the difference.

I believe in a strong work ethic. My parents pounded into me from a very young age that it is important to be at work or school. I wasn't allowed to take a day off "just because" and I don't let myself do it now.

I never had a blanket or stuffed animal that I drug all over the place as a child. I did, however, have a pillow that went on all overnight trips with me. I still have that pillow, and it has traveled the world with me, thank you very much.

I love to cook. I'm pretty new to it, but my mother in law handed me the reigns to the kitchen when I moved to England. It's been a bit off since I've started working and have been ill, but we had some pretty cool meals there for a while.

My husband drives me crazy, in every sense of the word. He can say things that baffle me, enrage me, confuse me, amuse me, or just make my heart melt. It's weird how things deepen the longer you love someone. I feel like every day he grows more handsome in my eyes. He doesn't change physically, of course, but as I learn more about him and love him more, those things show in his face.

I have serious guilt issues. Like, if I do something even remotely naughty (as silly as not putting something back where I found it) I have an internal battle about how horrible I am.

I have a dangerous addiction to Diet Coke and Coke Zero. I don't have it every day or anything, but if it's in the house, there's a good chance I won't drink any water until it's gone. For the most part we keep it out of the house, but I'll treat it to myself when we go out.

We are movie people. Every night, Mick and I select a film to watch, take refuge on the couch and dive in. We often pause for tea breaks and discussions- occasionally it'll be an in depth plot analysis, but typically we criticize acting skills and continuity errors.

I require three pillows when I sleep: said comfort childhood pillow, one to go underneath it because it's pretty much flat and dead, and another to wrap myself around because husband can't cuddle during sleep. Bummer.

I have a hunger for traditions and heirlooms and look forward to making rich, deep histories for the children I will someday have.

I was raised to be proud of my ancestry.

I love trying new things- whether it's an activity, a food, a game or a new place, I'm usually willing to try it. I even tried eating Black Pudding (see: pig's blood mixed with herbs and spices, fried and made like a sausage) a few weeks ago.

I am a roller coaster junkie- love the rush!

I love a good lazy day, but enjoy a busy day out doing things as well.

And I love, love love to take pictures.

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.