Pond Hopper

Let me start by saying all of my tests of come back and I have been given the all clear from the doctors! Phew!  I can't say how stressed I was over the whole thing! I actually got word last week, but I am only just coming out of a 10 day viral haze.  I haven't been so sick in ages!  I didn't move off the couch the whole time.  The stress probably wore me down.  Either that or I picked something up on one of the many doctor/hospital visits I've had lately.  What ever I picked up was nasty!  I had some sort of virus that caused a throat infection with painful ulcers.  I wasn't able to eat much more than jell-o for the best part of a week!  The upside is I lost a good amount of weight and hey, it's not fatal so I can't complain can I? I've been catching up on Christmas preparations (and every day life), but wanted to make sure I gave an update!  Thank you so much for all the well wishes!

A few weeks ago, I found a lump in my breast.  I was in the shower.  I thought I felt something, but my first reaction was to not let my mind go there so I quickly moved on.  A few minutes later, I checked again and confirmed it was indeed a lump.  I finished my shower (and my day) trying not to think too much about it.  That night I asked my husband to see what he thought.  We went to the doctor the very next morning. In short, the doctor referred me to a specialist and told me I'd get an appointment in the mail.  About a week later, I saw the specialist who referred me for more tests.  I had a mammogram on Monday and today I have an ultrasound.  Scary stuff right? Because we never know when the appointments are going to be, my husband can't plan for it and arrange to be with me.  I've had to see the specialist and have the tests on my own.  This is one of the worst things about living in a foreign country - when my husband can't be there, I am left with no-one else

After I worked out today, I went into the kitchen for a bottle of water and saw the pouring rain out my patio door.  There are few times I can think of wanting to feel the rain more. Without a thought, I went out and stood in the rain.  English rain is cold, but today it felt incredible.  I live in a very public place, but in that kind of weather there was wasn't a soul in sight.  I thought about twirling, but the grown up in me squashed the notion. What I did do though was close my eyes and raise my chin toward the sky to let the rain fall on my face.  In my mind I slowed it all down and took it in.  I swear in those few moments I felt every drop. I've always loved the rain.  I  love the sound of it and like to open the windows and listen to it while drifting off to sleep on stormy nights.  Even as a child I would love to go out and play in. When I got older, I found it sensual and and dreamed of romantic moments that would play out under dark clouds, surrounded by grey

The other mother and I went into the school to meet with the teacher and the assistant head.  We both let them know how upset we were that we were not informed that our children were sent to the office and how much we were against the children being allowed to play fighting games on the playground.  I told them I wouldn't allow it at home and I'm really unhappy that it's being allowed at school.  They admitted it was a problem and explained that they are planning to introduce a a scheme to teach the children to play in a safe way.  They will be calling it 'Super Hero Training'.  They plan to give out capes & masks out to children who behave well as rewards at playtime.  They will have assemblies where they will teach the children to play fighting games without making contact.  I find this to be absurd.  The problem has gone on to long and I doubt they will be able to teach little children to change their games when they have sixty other children to look after on

Yesterday after the school run, another mom and I decided to let the kids play for a while.  We were walking to their house together when a group of guys called out to us.  It was basically the English version of 'Yo Yo Baby you're looking fine!' don't ask me to repeat it because I can't even type an English accent (even after all of these years).  I was walking with a twenty-five year old girl so I assumed she was the target of their outburst and ignored them.  Then one called out, 'Hey there gorgeous! You in the grey - you are beautiful!'  I was so shocked that he was talking to me, I laughed out loud!  In hindsight the poor guy probably thought I was laughing at him.  The truth of the matter was that I could have run up and hugged him! My confidence is at a low right now.  In the last year I have gained 25 lbs.  My arthritis has gotten much worse and I wasn't able to workout for months.  I ballooned.  Over the summer I hated putting on a bathing-sui

My son has been back to school for three weeks and I have already had three meetings with the assistant head (vice principal).  He's five years old and has just started in year one (1st Grade in the US). Let me start from the beginning though. Last year, I was the class mom.  I went in nearly every week to help.  I got to know the children and  both teachers (he had two that split the week).  I got along really well with one of the teachers, but clashed with the other from the beginning.  At the end of last year, we found out that my son was going to have the teacher I clashed with again this year (full time without the other teacher).  When my son found this out, he cried and said he wanted to switch schools.  I can't say I blamed him, but I talked to him and finally convinced him to give her another chance.  I never told my son I didn't like her (or that I had gone to see the Head teacher/Principal to complain about her), but he sensed it so at the end of the year, I wen

This morning I woke up to yard looking like the set of a horror movie!  The entire yard was covered with spider webs.  They covered every surface and piece greenery there was.  They were in the garden furniture, between fence posts and in the bushes and trees!  I noticed it through the window and it took me ages to get the nerve to open the door to take some photos because I was afraid to see what might be on the other side! I'm sorry if the photos aren't clear, but it was as close as I was willing to get!

I took the summer off from Blogging as in the UK, children only get six weeks off for the summer.  This year for unknown reasons, they only got five weeks off so we had a lot to cram into a very short summer.  We went on three family trips.  I'm using the word 'trip' because I've been out of the US long enough to not want to use the word 'vacation' and not in the UK long enough to want to use the word 'Holiday' so 'Trips' it is. Our first trip was a two night trip to Legoland in Windsor.  The second was a three day trip to London where we spent two days at a Theme Park/Zoo called Chessington Wild Adventure and one day at a theme park called Thorpe Park .  The third trip was  a five day trip to Wales where I experienced my first British 'Caravan Holiday'. There were also many day trips to more local places.  I don't think I have ever had such a busy summer (if you can call five weeks a summer).  I am still recovering.  My son went