In Which Things Are Much Better....

En route to Suffolk, we got the news that the landlady is raising the rent - a reasonable amount. Not trivial, mind, but not the jump isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

So that's it - we stay here for at least another year, after which B's job prospects will be a bit more solid and E will be finishing out kindergarten (Reception, they call it here). I am massively relieved. We were able to enjoy staying with our friends in the country... had a great time... nobody wanted to leave, but we're back in London now trying to wrap our heads around the fact that it really is Monday tomorrow and back to the grind, etc.

Well... a few pictures.

Heading down the driveway for a quick walk around the nearby fields. E got to "drive" in our friend's lap briefly on a jaunt to the beach, since it was all off-road driving, on tractor lanes at about 5mph. Made his week.

They're off - the boys with a big head start there.
Lagging behind across the fields after that little display, with baby conked out in the sling.

And back, for playroom carnage.

Also, masks.
C gravitated toward this doll. Might have to get her one. I've never done the whole boy-blue, girl-pink thing, and she does enjoy running around with a car clutched in each plump fist, but this doll was a real attraction for her.

Of course, so were the stairs. Who needs a gym when you've got a climbing 15 month old?

Sifting through pebbles in the driveway.

Big brother enjoying the very long-roped swing. Spot the peeking baby. She was just on the cusp of getting angry about not being able to swing. Shortly after this, she was distracted by a cat in the adjacent orchard and toddled madly off to find and pet the very tolerant feline.

Spotted on the way home, literally above our car as we drove along the highway! Had some sort of strange fan-like engine strapped to its rear. 'Scuse the reflection in the windshield.

...off to bed... baby still not even close to sleeping through... but it's been a great weekend and maybe this coming week will be a bit easier.

Well...

March is supposed to be the end of the sick season, isn't it? For us, it definitely wasn't. It's been a rough few weeks around here - made worse by illness. Picked E up from school with a vomiting bug, which he then passed to C several days later (fortunately not passed to the adults as well, although I'll admit we have better hand-washing habits etc). Then a bad cold, passed to everyone.

On top of that... it looks certain the landlady is going to raise the rent. OK - we can deal with a rise... but then she had an agent come around to "revalue" the property. I did a bit of research and... well, London private rents have gone up a lot in the past few years. Two bedroom places in this area are renting for prices that, for us, are unaffordable. So God knows what our rent is going to be raised to, but I'm really hoping we can afford it.

If not, I don't know where we'll go. We have a ballpark area - anywhere with good transport links to both Brighton and London. Nothing hums to us. Nothing feels like home. We've been here for just under five years now and the thought of relocating makes me feel sick to my stomach. The thought of telling E, who is so excited about going to "big school" just down the road, that he can't go there, makes me feel awful. I love the school run, I love this area, I love seeing and chatting to the same people - the nice librarian who has known E since he was 4 months old, the friendly childminders in the area, the other mothers.

So, just sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will the rent increase be affordable? Will she be merciful, wanting to keep known tenants, or take a gamble on the unknown? We've expressed our interest in staying... there's nothing we can do at this point but wait, and hope she doesn't ask for £300 extra per month.

It sucks being a taxpayer in the UK who has to support a family on one income. A worker supporting a wife and two young children is taxed at the same rate as a childless, single taxpayer. There are so many good aspects to this country but this particular point is tough to swallow. It's not the principle of the thing - it's the fact that I love this area, I love this flat, my children have spent their entire (albeit short) lives in this area... and we're on the cusp of being priced out entirely. I knew we'd never be able to afford to buy here (or anywhere, really, at this rate), but I thought we might have a few more years here.

It'd be easier if we had somewhere else in mind. But... we don't. And actually, even areas further out in London are more expensive than I'd expected. Just... ouch. Reality bites, and all.

It'd also be easier if B's job wasn't up in the air. His company is... well, restructuring. He's not in the line of fire, but he will be in a few months, when some department takes a look at his role and decides whether it's essential or not. And his boss has just taken another job, so he's getting a new one. Another unknown... way too many for me.

Well... reality bites.

So let's look at the positives. We're off to Suffolk to stay with friends this weekend. And this Sunday was Mother's Day in the UK. I woke up to chocolates and a balloon....

We all went to Wimbledon Common for a walk.

Note the horses just through the trees in the last pic. We saw lots of people out riding. After our walk we went for lunch and then had a browse in a local independent bookstore. It was a good day.

Now that we're all healthy again, the warmer weather is luring us into the garden. C is too precarious to leave on the large trampoline (especially with E on it) so I've dragged the little one out and she's loving it.

Can't do anything for one these days without the other one wanting it... "Take a picture of me, Mama!"


Ok - am off to attempt to regain my natural optimism. Probably through sleep (if C lets me, she's been awful the last week) and maybe possibly through having a bit of chocolate and reading a trashy romance. Tomorrow is another day, and all that jazz.

EDITED TO ADD: If anyone has emailed me lately and not received a reply... email me again, please (katcoll AT yahoo DOT c.om is the one I check - write it the normal way with the @ and . - am foxing the spambots by not writing it out properly, this is a public blog, after all). I've lost some messages to spam, according to a friend, and may have straight up just not received email. V. annoying. And now off to bed.

10 Years

...since my mother passed. I've been thinking about it all month. I don't really have the words to write anything appropriate. I wish I could have marked 10 years somehow, but I have no good ideas. I think when the right idea comes to me, I'll do it. Maybe that'll be this year, maybe the next.

B and I celebrated our 5th anniversary earlier this month. We had steak at a local restaurant. It was rammed on a Thursday night and we soon found out why - the food was great. It was strange to be out, childless, after dark. Felt a little bit like I was breaking a curfew or something.

Lots of stuff happening around here... insignificant stuff, for the most part, but it's our life, and it's happening now, and I keep meaning to write it down so that I can look back on things in later years. So... I won a book in a competition for the kids. The weather has been mild, especially for February, almost shirt sleeve weather really. We've been playing more in the garden.

Last Saturday we went out to Ockham Common, had a pub lunch, hiked.

Lots of stumps to climb on.

B seized the camera and took this dodgy photo of me. I am sandwiching it in between other photos so that people can more easily pass it by.

Got the camera back, only for it to be snatched by someone else! Ignore the grubby face - she had been scavenging lunch off our plates. For her, it is mainly about the thrill of the hunt than eating her spoils. Ketchup? That's just edible warpaint for this little lady. Note the two bottom teeth - she's long past due for more down there, but what pops through first? Her molars - we're still waiting on the other incisors.

Found a swampy bit. You want to entertain a 3 year old for an hour? Go to a pond and make sure there's lots of rocks/debris nearby.

Really nice weather for February. "It feels like it should be May," B said.

A shot of the two wild ones gadding about the pub playground.

Apart from that, we have mostly been....

...keeping a certain young Miss out of trouble (well, mostly....), playing in the garden, reading lots of books, watching Tom and Jerry episodes (E's current favorite show, and he's into Scooby Doo now too, which was my favorite at around his age), visiting the library, going to the park and having a "picnic" as E terms it - wrapped up warm on benches eating sandwiches and cinnamon rolls, throwing a frisbee back and forth, blowing bubbles, cooking, doing dishes, laundry...

C is saying "Mama" (constantly!) and "Hi" and "Bye" and "Wow" and "Dat" (that). She says "dat!" so vigorously, with lots of pointing, and is understanding lots of what we tell her. Except "no," of course - that results in insta-tantrum. Her brother was never as intense as she seems to be, with the lying down and head-on-the-ground angry zero-to-60 wailings!

E is continuing to enjoy his preschool - 5 mornings per week, 8:45-11:45. And he goes to his sports class once a week on a Wednesday - he came back with a special medal last week. He's reading lots of words now - the other day he read his first sentence to me, apropos of nothing, at the supermarket: "Does that say... 'Food To Go?'" Why yes... yes it does... excuse me while I faint right here in the aisle.

The kids had hand-foot-and-mouth disease (Coxsackie Disease or something) which is basically a high fever for a day or so and then spotty sore type things on the hands, foot, and in/around the mouth. Wasn't much fun for them but at least they're now immune to that strain. C had what I figure must have been rotavirus - vomiting and other... well, I'll spare you the details. Let's just say I'm going to have difficulty going back to that bookstore anytime soon. And my coat has been dry cleaned.

In closing, here is a photo of the kids in the garden, sharing a bag of kiddie tomato puffs. Note the intent, hunter-gatherer expression on C's face.

And that's all for now. I'll continue to try and update at least twice a month. I've broken 55k on the latest novel and hope to have around 75-80 when all's said and done. I think the rough draft will come out to around 65-70 and revision will probably add another 5-10k.

Snow 2012

First snow this winter... it's been very mild (much to my relief). We got a few inches, enough for snowballs and snowmen and general fun. It came in on Saturday night, lasted all of Sunday, and now, Monday night, is pretty much gone. Slushy school run Monday morning wasn't much fun, though.

E and I took a snowy morning walk.


We brought back a snowball for C, but she wasn't convinced...

It was nice to have a little bit of snow and cold weather... but now I'm ready for Spring.

We went to the Natural History Museum on Saturday. The kids loved it. E told us he would dream about volcanoes in museums that night. There was a great section on volcanoes complete with different types of lava deposits - most of them touchable. Also an earthquake room, set up to look like a replica of a Japanese supermarket. E was a little bit surprised at the earthquake but he enjoyed keeping his balance on the moving floor! After that we all saw some fossils and then left for home, knowing that the baby (who had no nap) was slowing turning into a ticking time bomb. Highlights of the trip: E's reaction to the volcanoes and C's reaction to the trains - there was no room on one of the short trips we took so I stood with her (in a sling) and had my hand on the railing, with B's hand nearby. After a moment of reflection, C placed her hand in between ours and kept it there! With a smug expression, I might add. Too cute.

Catch-up

January started off a bit slow, but the past few weeks have been really busy. We rearranged the living room, putting the second, smaller couch at the far end of the room and moving our table to a more prominent (and accessible!) position. So now, family dinners take place a lot more often! E and I visited the Imperial War Museum while B and C stayed home - the museum was a little bit too heavy for him, so we left earlier than I'd intended... but that's fine because it's not far from home - a short walk from Waterloo station, which is only a quarter of an hour's train ride from where we live. E liked the walk-through submarine, but they'd closed the Children during War exhibit so there was less to do than I'd thought. The trench warfare walkthrough was way too intense for him and we left at the entrance, bumbling about past various, less-scary displays on our way out. And, on the way back, we stopped to balance on benches, low walls, to smell the flowers on display at the outside florist at the bottom of our hill, and as a special treat, to walk through the "curly gate" of the graveyard that strollers don't fit through. Having young children has (mostly) taught me to slow down and live in the moment. Less agenda, more flexibility and all that.

Today, B and I went on a date for afternoon tea at our normal posh hotel in Marylebone, near Baker Street (of Sherlock Holmes fame). It was good. We talked about things, uninterrupted. 1 year plans. 5 year plans. Memories. Anecdotes. All the while drinking tea and eating far-too-rich treats. I, in my unabashed Americanness, mentioned a left-out, treat-loving, 3-year-old boy at home, and could I have a box to go for a few leftover treats, please? They did one better than that, and sent us home with two little boxes of extra treats. Splendid.

C is climbing things (successfully, I might add....gah!), jabbering away in nonsensical baby talk with the occasional "E-rriii-gah!" which is what she calls her big brother, dancing, loving music, pointing imperiously at anything she wants (and then climbing you to GET it, if you don't respond quickly enough), and generally being non-stop. We have been referred to a pediatrician for her sleep issues. Which, over here, is kind of a big deal. Hard to get referrals like that. But she is up every few hours (or less) throughout the night. Yesterday, for example, we had resettles at 10ish, 12ish, feed at 1:30, then 3:45, resettle at 5, up at 6.... that's not by any means unusual, either.

So... some promised pictures from the Horniman Museum, which is a nice little place in Dulwich. Some of its exhibits (the outside animals, the bandstand, some of the gardens) were closed, and they now charge for aquarium entry, but it's a fun place to spend half a day, and you can get lunch in the cafe (or bring your own, as we did, and eat in the large greenhouse/conservatory).

E and I blitzed through the hand-on wildlife section while B sat in the car with a sleeping C. E turns the dial to listen to the different sounds of wildlife here.


Getting a bit too up close and personal with a taxidermied fox:

The large walrus in the middle of another exhibition - we read about and looked at extinct or nearly-extinct animals, including a replica of a dodo, and perused monkey and other skeletons/skulls.

C woke, and joined us in the aquarium. 'Scuse the bluriness - flash wasn't allowed.


Then we headed upstairs to the instrument exhibit, where there's a hands-on room for children to make their own sounds:


After lunch, we went outside to burn off some energy. Spot the boy in this pic?

C gamely tried to keep up, but she hasn't quite mastered running yet. Behind her is museum and conservatory.
Spot the boy, Part II:


"This tree was planted in 1953, the coronation year of Queen Elizabeth II."

Looped the rest of the grounds, then back to the car and home. And that's all for now.

2012

I meant to do a 2011 recap, but things around here have been way too hectic.

Every day, I manage to feed, clothe, and clean myself and the kids, do some basic housework, and write at least 100 words (usually around 250-300). Anything else is gravy. We try to catch up on the weekends. It's not bad - just tiring. And sometimes I look up and I realize I've neglected this blog, to take stock of how far we've come.

So, in that vein....

In 2011, E wasn't yet at preschool. Next year, he will be in Reception (Kindergarten) and C will be 2. Big changes. E is really starting to appreciate outings more - museums are fun to him. He is fairly gregarious, extremely verbal, and continues to be overall a kind, gentle and fun boy. C is walking confidently but is shy, especially of new people. She won't have anything to do with strangers and will flee them angrily. At 13 months she is beginning to understand some words and short phrases/requests. We went to our first solo playgroup (sans brother - he was at preschool) last Thursday.

And some photos....

Christmas Morning....

Grandpa's piano on Christmas Day, a duet.

Checking on us at the local fair, on Boxing Day. We ran into someone I knew from the neighborhood (she lives a few streets down) and her 3 year old and E were immediate fast friends, going on ride after ride, and culminating with this bouncy castle, which they stayed in for ages. Actually met up with them the next week when I was out walking to the park with E, and we wound up going AGAIN, totally impromptu. Pro tip: Never buy "toasted marshmallows" at these events, they cost 2 quid and were roasted with a mini-blowtorch. Yeah.

In and around all the fun, someone found the chance to wreak mischief.

"Wait... how many calories?"

Hampton Court Palace post-Christmas, watching the costumed actors give a performance in Henry VIII's great hall.

C surveying the landscaped gardens.

Oh-so-artsy.

Hedge maze!

Triumphant.

A stroll along the outer edge of the palace, toward the fountain.
"Oh all right, one go on the carousel before we leave."

I have some more pictures, these from the Horniman Museum (trust me, the name has no bearing on anything) last weekend. It has a little aquarium and some good kid-friendly hands-on things, like instruments. But it probably deserves its own post.