It’s autumn, November, cold, colorful, rainy, and on its way to winter. If we had experienced a nice summer, it wouldn’t be so unwelcome but it seems we’ve had nothing but wet, stay-indoors-type weather for months and months. Even in England, we usually get quite warm in July and August but no luck this year.
Now that it’s November, it’s time to get ready for our version of Thanksgiving here. Since there are some American-isms around here, I can get a hold of canned pumpkin for the most part and marshmallows for Steve’s sweet potato casserole (no thank you). We have a turkey joint, ready-made mash, chilled turkey gravy (again, if it’s available), boxed mac and cheese from Florida, brioche rolls, noodles, chicken, and my Schultz family oysters that I make with cheese Ritz and canned oysters. In The States I would have used fresh oysters and saltines but, alas, this is the way I have to make them here and since I’m the only one who eats them, it’s fine.
This also means we’re beginning to get ready for Christmas. Already we’ve taken Christmas photos and seen Santa at his workshop. We have lots of events to look forward to between now and the big day, then we have Jack’s 4th birthday soon after so birthday party invitations have been passed out at nursery. Last year there were quite a lot of children ill so they couldn’t attend his party, so I’m counting on this year having a better turnout.
Work is a bit up in the air these days and some changes in our schedules will occur that I anticipate. I’m hoping everyone adjusts well and we get along okay despite the disruption but, again, I’ll count on everything working out well. (That’s all you can do really.)
Well, it’s that time when we start getting ready to head back over the pond to visit my folks. As usual, I’m super excited but think what a pain it will be to get everything ready. But, alas, the excitement and prospect of being back in Florida far outweigh the annoyance of the tasks.
The main concern is taking a small child on the plane and into the parks. It’s one of those things that we’ll have to see how things go because either Jack will be absolutely fine and stay with us, or he will try to run off every two seconds and it won’t be worth spending the money on park tickets if no one can enjoy it.
Other than the parks, we have plenty of beaches and pools to keep us entertained. Obviously visiting and having family time is the most important, so I’m looking forward to all of that. Plus, it will be my birthday when we fly out so hooray!
I sadly have been neglecting my writing and reading. I’ve kind of accepted that it’s just going to be that way for a while until I have the time and the mental capacity to get back into it. I have ideas of YA book series as always but, alas, nothing started and/or nothing completed.
Instead, I’ve been obsessing about Mia Tui bags and have realized that it’s a whole thing where people show off their items on a Facebook group and even involve themselves in drama revolving around the owner and who she invited to the warehouse. There is a whole section of bags for sale on Facebook Marketplace as well so, by all means, if anyone is interested, go have a look.
Jack was off from nursery for two weeks in August, so we kept him as busy as possible. Now I’m keeping him home on the weekends to make double sure he’s well for the trip. All three of us have had an annoying cold for a while now.
Jack’s primary school applications opened too and I have very mixed feelings on the subject. It’s tough because I have to find a school that works with our work schedules, and is somewhere that I think Jack will be happy. That means a lot of visits in the near future and I have to narrow down my top three where I’d like him to go. I’d hate for him to be away from his little friends at nursery but I just don’t know if he can even get into some of the schools or how difficult it will be for us to manage if there’s no after-school club available.
I’ve already booked Christmas events and am looking forward to all of that. I should have a nice chunk of time off work if my leave is approved, so we can keep Jack busy then with winter-time fun. We have a train ride, Disney on Ice, Santa at Beamish Christmas Evenings, Santa at Redfox Garden Centre, Northern Lights in Leazes Park, and even Breakfast with Santa at Tobey Carvery.
I even have half a day off before Thanksgiving so I can feel semi-normal and keep to my American traditions.
And with that said, I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer. I usually love autumn but I am not interested in cold weather or warm clothes wearing again. Our British summer consisted of torrential downpours most days so I am not ready to transition into another season when we didn’t have much warm weather. But I’ll be on the beach soon with my tropical drink, so it’s all good.
So last week was a bit of a tough one. Jack got sick on Tuesday night, so I had to stay home and look after him. I, of course, got a weird version of what he had and have been fighting stomach pains ever since then.
The sad part is that coffee seems to make this worse and no coffee makes me not feel as bad. I guess this is all part of my transition into a full British lady because tea is about the only thing I can handle caffeine-wise right now.
Being tired and half sick and without caffeine is just not pleasant. I get so short with Jack and feel awful about it because I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with inconveniences. I took him swimming on Sunday after we got insanely too early to find out that he didn’t want to swim because he was too tired. I can only say that my lesson learned is that I will go with my gut instinct and stay home when I think we need to.
I don’t know if anyone else feels this, but after Covid, do you feel like you’re lazy for just wanting to be home? I know I shouldn’t feel guilty after being sick or not being able to sleep past 2AM like Sunday morning, but I do. I think that being out means I’m doing fun things and being a better mom, productive, interesting, etc. I recently saw a video online talking about how just because people have nice houses, it doesn’t mean they’re content with them. I think being at home has been taught to be bad, boring, unimaginative, and everything in between.
I quite like being at home, especially when we’re all home together. It’s not to say that I don’t like going out as well, but I need to work on not being so hard on myself when I just feel like we should stay in.
That’s exactly what we did this past week. On one hand, I will book family outings and places to go with Jack but this week, we just stayed home. He went to two out of his three swim lessons and his soccer with Steve on Saturday, but that’s all. It was rainy all week and much more cozy indoors.
Evening, everyone.
I’ve just looked at a middle-grade book titled The Private Blog of Joe Cowleyand it started with, “I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you, blog.” Yup. this is exactly how I feel most days. Usually, I get five or ten minutes to myself and I veg out in front of the TV instead of being constructive but, alas, that’s Mum Life for you.
But, today is another day and it’s another reason to post an update. We had a fantastic time at Steve’s work family summer party. It was a rainy day in Stockton-on-Tees but there were a lot of lovely people to meet and Jack was happy to have cake. There were some fairground rides and a petting zoo as well, plus the atmosphere was nice with a big party tent next to a lakeside park walk. Very pleasant indeed.
I made sure that Jack was included in some of Steve’s group photos with his colleagues because one day he may look back on his video gaming career (if he so chooses) and can say, “See, I was there when I was this young!”
In fact, I felt it was really good that we went as a family and did something other than the regular go-to activities of swimming, soccer, shopping, etc.
We still have holidays on the horizon, so I’m excited for that as well. It always seems really daunting to take a toddler out of the normal routine but when it’s a worthy cause such as having time off for family, it’s worth the effort.
Aside from that, it’s cooled off a bit more and jackets have gone back on. I’m feeling better after being sick for a couple of days from the heat and lack of sleep. (No, we do not have air conditioning in houses here.) That and the cool rain makes for a more positive outlook on life.
At work, I’ve done some Health Literacy training that I’ll have to share with the library staff. I’ve also been working extra Saturdays because that is the easiest day for me to snag a few hours. Jack is in a new, privately run soccer group because I think the large groups run by big companies just made it way easier for him to be overwhelmed and distracted. He’s a leader, not a follower, so he does what he wants to do if there is no direct attention.
My mother’s birthday is today and I’m super grateful that we’re still able to celebrate even from afar. I’ve tried to talk her into having a day fit for a princess with food, shopping, and a nap because that’s what I like to do on my birthday.
I’ve also decided to just act as if with my writing. If I mentally believe I’m working on one of my young adult series, I’ll be more apt to actually work on it. Again, it’s just time I do not have, so the delusional belief is strong. But it has to be.
Okay, guys, I’ve finally done it: I upgraded my site. I could have dropped the WordPress.com hindrance altogether and just gone for my own hosting but, alas, I’ve used this blog on this platform for so long that I may as well just make it a little snazzier.
That said, this means that Mister Pick will have to work on a new theme for me as the current one is outdated. We now have an extra cat, a dog, and our little Master Pick to make out happy family complete.
As the picture above indicates, it’s been raining lately and cooling off the super hot summer days we’ve had recently. Today it was quite warm and Jack and I went out to see the fire engine at Dream Big Role Play. That was a first for both of us and we really enjoyed it. Jack was shy about the fire engine and gets so involved in what he’s doing that he doesn’t want to be interrupted (can’t imagine where he gets that from) but we played with all of the toys, had a nice visit, and took some photos with the “nee naw.”
I’ve been reading again, which seems silly, but I am so tired at night that I can’t keep my eyes open, so getting into my Little House on the Prarie books has been a nice, comforting way to ease back into a before bedtime reading routine. I really think it’s because my brain can’t handle anything more than middle-grade and high-school books right now. Not that they aren’t complex and interesting on their own but anything that I can’t just submerse myself in won’t keep my tired brains to attention until 10PM each night.
I also updated recently that I got another Passion Planner after swearing I wouldn’t bother anymore since I don’t have time to plan. It’s been nice to get back to my hobbies and activities that I enjoy doing because for so long I put them aside. Baby brains and tiredness do not work well with solitary whims.
With that said, I’m still losing on Slimming World as well (Hallelujah) so I can be more comfortable when we go to Florida, which is my main aim. And as I speak, Mister Pick has put dinner on the table so it’s time to sign off. I’m excited to have my new upgraded blog options to work with soon.
