Catching Up

Time Here: 4:33pm
Washington Time: 8:33am
Temp/weather: 36° windy but clear

Well I have been a busy bee the last few weeks.

I've finally completed all of my core training at work. Three one day courses in three weeks. Okay so that doesn't sound like much but when you factor in travel time it makes for very long days. Now that I'm done with all of the core training I can start on the elective ones such as, fire marshal training, dealing with the media, all kinds of good things coming my way.

Winter has finally arrived here in the past few days. The Met Office was predicting blizzards from Russia late last week. Seems they hit with force Sunday night in the south, London was pretty much closed on Monday morning with no bus service or underground service. But up this way in the northwest, it was just like being at home. Wonderful snow all around me and not a flake in site! At least that was my thought Sunday night.

How wrong I was! I woke up on Monday morning to a dusting of snow. Or what most people called here Oh My God SNOW!!! Now normally I go to lunch on Mondays with my friend John, we meet up in Liverpool, go to a pub have good food catch up for an hour. Then he goes back to work and I come back home.

Not yesterday, I was smart and stayed at home, tucked up and warm. It was a good thing too since it started to snow again about 1pm then snowed again for a couple hours more around 4pm. The last snow storm dumped enough snow on us to stick. Thankfully Mal got what we call the good bus, which means that he didn't have to do the mile walk from the nearest town Liscard.

Today when we woke up all the snow had melted. So very typical of here! But it was nice while it lasted. We both had the day off work because our new fridge was being delivered. We slept in a bit and then got busy getting the kitchen ready. Before now we had what I've always called, one of those executive fridges. You know the ones that have no freezer and fit under a counter top. There was never anyway to have it full of a weeks worth of food unless you wanted to play Tetris every time you wanted to put something in or take something out of the blasted thing. The freezer is right next to it and is also an under the counter top deal. And it's not frost free. So to have a 'real' fridge and freezer all in one makes me feel like I've joined the 21st century in many ways. Now to just get the rest of the kitchen sorted!

We have both registered for an Open University course in digital photography which starts in May. I'm very excited about this, my first ever University class! So once that starts in May I'll have to start working out how to juggle that, the job course work I'll still be doing and juggling a social life!

I'm tired just thinking about it!




What am I listening to/watching: Who Do You Think You Are on the TV

It's A New Dawn, It's A New Day.....

Time Here: 5:00pm
Washington Time: 9:00am
Temp/weather: 40° windy

So history has a brand new shiny page.

As I sit here and type this out, John Williams new piece of music is being played at the Presidential Inauguration.

I have to admit I feel very emotional right now, its a first for me. Then again it's the first time ever that I've wanted to sit down and watch an Inauguration. It's the first time I've felt so strongly about a President. He reminds me of Kennedy. I know others have said the exact same thing.

But there he is taking the oath right now. And there we are, a new President. And here I am with tears in my eyes. Listening to this man who not only has swept up a nation with his words and his beliefs. But he's swept up nations all over the world.



I feel proud to be an American today. With Obama in charge I feel positive, a feeling that I never felt before with any other President in my life time. I wonder, is this what it's like to believe in a President? To feel the power of someones words and believe that he believes it? That not only is he saying the words but he believes with his entire heart in what he's saying?

If it is then I feel privileged to be alive today. To see this, to hear him speak, to follow his words and to believe in them.

There is still hope, he's awakened it me and thousands more like me the world over.

What am I listening to/watching: Barak Obama's first speech as President.

Ever The Busy Bee

Time Here: 10:25
Washington Time: 2:25
Temp/weather: 40° sunny with out a cloud in the sky

I have been flat out busy since going back to work. I've been busy completing all my foundation training courses for work. So far this month I have completed training in, Inclusion and Diversity, Introduction to Action for Children and a week on Tuesday I'll be finishing my last training course which will be Safeguarding Children. I've enjoyed it to a degree. I've noticed that most of the course have been geared towards the project workers which makes sense to a degree. Still I can't wait until these are over and I can get on with training that's more geared towards my job.

Speaking of which, I had my 5th month review on the 13th. This is what happens right before you pass your probationary period. So I sat down with my manager and went through all the paperwork. By March I'll be confirmed in post, having passed my probationary period with out one hitch. Tell you what, for the first time since working for Abby National I have a permanent job! It's a pretty cool feeling. And this place is willing to give me lots of training as well, pretty much anything I'm willing and happy to go on they'll send me. So yay!

In other non work related news, on the 10th I went to see Most Haunted filmed live in St Georges Hall in Liverpool with my friend Livi. We had a fantastic time and while I don't know if we got caught up in the moment or if we actually heard and felt things while watching the filming. Regardless of the fact we had a good time and want to go and do another one if we can get tickets and get to the location. That was a very late night for both of us and considering Livi is struggling health wise at the moment she was out of bed before me on Sunday morning!

I have the car back as well so that's made me very happy. Now I just need to work out how to dry it out and get rid of the stench of anti-freeze! And then believe that there's nothing wrong with the car now. I guess it will be trial by fire because I'm off to Manchester this coming weekend to spend the weekend with Cheryl. It's been a long time since the two of us spent any real time together and it will be nice to just sit around and catch up on stuff.

Today I am being the ultimate in lazy, I haven't even bothered to get dressed.



What am I listening to/watching: Most Haunted Live from Wednesday

Lazy Sunday

Time Here: 1:00pm
Washington Time: 5:00am
Temp/weather: 35° cloudy and rainy

Yesterday Mal and I went down to the Spaceport to meet up with Cheryl, Dan and Darren. We were going to see The Art Of Doctor Who which was a really cool exhibition. After that we went to the Cafe next door to have some lunch. This was the first time I'd been down to the Ferry Terminal (aka Evil Job) since I walked out of there over a year ago. I was a bit worried about what I'd feel about going back, and who I'd run into. But it was all good in the end we all had a very nice time.

Mal rode back in the car with Darren and Dan while Cheryl and I walked along the prom, since we don't see each other or talk to each other as often as we did when she lived near me we thought we'd it'd be nice to walk back that way we'd have a chance to catch up on things. By the time we got back to the house, the boys were already happily flopped on the couch with hot drinks and they were all either geeking or had their noses in books. So pretty much some degree of geeking or another. Cheryl and I kept on chatting with the boys geeked and once in a while they actually joined in on the conversation!

After they all left to go to Cheryls Mum's house I rang Mom. She sounded pretty out of it and at first I wasn't even sure I had the right room. But that was just because her voice sounded odd. I didn't talk to her long because she said that her throat was still pretty sore from the breathing tube. But when I rang her back later she sounded more awake and more like herself. It seems she does have some peritonitis after all. Trust Mom to also have some kind of infection that isn't normal in these kind of cases as well. But they are treating her with two types of antibiotics so she'll be right as rain in no time at all.

Today I'm being really lazy, I've not even bothered to get dressed. It's never really got light out today so I'm happily snuggled on the couch watching films. Tomorrow it's back to normal life. My two week vacation/holiday is over and Tuesday it's back to work. But tomorrow it's normal stuff and lunch with John, which will be nice we haven't had lunch together in probably close to a month.



What am I listening to/watching: Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

Not Even A Day In And There's Been Drama!

Time Here: 5:35pm
Washington Time: 9:35am
Temp/weather: 32° and it was cloudy before it got dark

Yesterday was a no good rotten I'm going to move to Australia day, as Mom would say.

I woke up with a fuzzy head thanks to staying up to late the night before. Considering that I don't drink waking up with a hangover is always an odd thing. But one that always happens if I get overly tired or drink to much pop. I avoided taking pills because well I take enough stuff and I thought if I just did nothing and relaxed it'd go away.

But no of course not, it's never that simple. By early afternoon it had reached hair pulling and squinty eyes level of pain. So I gave up, took a extra strength migraine pill and hung out on the couch for a while longer before I finally gave up and went for a nice hot bath. And a nap, in the bath, shush I can hear you from here. Yes I slept in the bath, I do it often and haven't come close to drowning yet. Freezing yes, drowning no.

After the bath I decided that the day was a wash and put my PJ's on. Felt much better after that. The rest of the day was spent doing...stuff. I've no idea what I did but chat on line to Cheryl and John.

Then about 8:50pm my time the phone rang. It was Maren, who has lost her voice and so she morphed into Bud. Bud told me that Mom had called 911 and had been taken into hospital as she was in a lot of pain. They didn't have any other details. So I looked up the number for the hospital and rang them, fully expecting to not be told anything because she'd only be in ER. But the nice person on the other end of the phone knew she was in the hospital and transferred me over to ER. I don't suppose it hurt to say that I was calling from England.

Nice lady in ER was told the same thing, am daughter calling from England blah blah. She went to find a nurse to talk to me. I didn't have to wait long for the nurse to get on the phone and she was so wonderful and nice I wish I could find her and kiss her! She said that Mom was fine, just in a lot of pain and they were suspecting it was her appendix. When I could only think to ask if she was stable the Nurse said that she was. She made me feel so calm and I just knew that Mom was going to be fine.

That wonderful nurse made me feel calm that I managed to go to sleep with out a problem and to sleep all night.

Today, I burnt off a load of nervous energy by deleting Christmas for the year. Tree and decorations are down and packed away for another year. I've cleaned up down here and shifted one chair from one end of the room to the other just to make the room look a bit different.

About 3pm my time I rang Moms house thinking maybe she'd been sent home but nope no answer so I phoned the hospital. Had a nice chat with her and found out that it was indeed her appendix which had kindly waited to burst until she was actually in hospital! She had surgery last night and thankfully isn't suffering from peritonitis. She'll be in for 5 days but she's already talking about wanting to be out of there sooner so yes she's already well on the mend.

That's enough drama for one year thanks!

What am I listening to/watching: The Crime and Investigation Channel

So It's 2009

Time Here: 4:40pm
Washington Time: 8:40am
Temp/weather: 27 degrees and before it got dark it was overcast and a bit misty out there

While I did manage to stay awake until midnight. I didn't go out of the house and was in fact in bed when midnight arrived. I heard everyone come up from the houses on the river (on the prom) to count down and to sing in the new year.

Mal came down from the computer room to give me a kiss and then I went to sleep. I wasn't even ready to get up come 8:30 this morning. But there was the promise of a bacon butty and tea so Mal knows how to get me out of bed.

I don't do the resolution stuff, I'll only let myself down when I don't achieve any of them. I'd rather set myself goals throughout the year, one small step at a time and gratification quicker than I would be if I set myself a whole list of stuff to do by the end of the year. Besides I'd rather have a bunch of smaller goals than 5 huge ones that I should do by the end of the year.

It's my last day of holiday/vacation time. Tomorrow is just a normal day off work. Mal goes back to work tomorrow. I'll be cleaning all of downstairs and putting the Christmas tree away for another year. It's past time, I'm ready to see the back of this tree, I want to see if I can re-arrange things in here so it's not the same old same old. Sadly the room is long and narrow so there isn't much I can do with the room. But I want to do something to make the room look... different.


What am I listening to/watching: Coast to Coast AM Dec 17th 2006 broadcast

11 Years Ago....

Time Here: 10:50am
Washington Time: 2:50am
Temp/weather: 31 degrees and foggy.

11 years ago today at about 8am England time. My plane landed at Manchester Airport. It was the first time I had traveled out of the country on my own, the first time I owned a passport, the first time I'd traveled this far on my own. And if that wasn't enough I was also moving away from home to live and marry Mal.

A few things I remember about that flight, flying over the Atlantic ocean and thinking that some place down there the Titanic had been floating happily along until it hit that iceberg and sank, (yes I know lovely thought while you're flying above it all, my brain does have it's morbid moments) the second thought was as we were flying into Glasgow airport. Which by the way was weird because I didn't know that we would be stopping there and 90% of the people getting off! But as I was saying, my second thought was how pretty everything looked, all the yellow gold streetlights in such cool patterns. My sleep deprived mind wanted to think of the streets lined with gold.

Mal was waiting at the airport and the taxi ride back here was full of shiny things, I couldn't take it all in. All the sights the newness of the place. It was all to much for me to take in. Walking in the front door of the house for the first time was also magic. I was home, my new home. I remember people coming to visit, Mal's cousin mostly. I am still convinced he came round just to see me because he's never been back since.

His mates wanted us to go out to the pub that night, but there was just no way I was going to be able to do that, I could hardly stay awake as it was.

But here I am 11 years later. I've finally got my driving license, a fantastic job, and I know the town like the back of my hand. A far cry from that first day here.

This blog is all about my life here, the boring stuff and the cool stuff. There will be photos and links. There may even be a video or two.

Happy New Year people!

What am I listening to/watching: Ghosts of Glastonbury on the TV