Mixed emotion

It's been a funny old week. You'd think that being by myself a lot that I would have had more time to blog and keep up to date with all the comings and goings of being here in England. I just looked and realized I'd totally failed. Anyway, here's the precis of the week.

Work - crazy. While I was here the plan was to take at least a week's vacation, but that hasn't happened at all. Many reasons for it - I keep telling myself that I'll take more time in August. I think it's been OK and I don't think that I've suffered too much - however it would have been nice to have more rest time.

Mum - she's recovering slowly. While it can be frustrating for her, i think she's coming on really well now she's home. Today she made her first journey out to Tim's and we had a barbeque which was lovely - I'm hoping we'll get to a restaurant tomorrow, but we'll see how she is. Her knee bends pretty well and she's practicing walking without a limp. I'm sure that when I go home she'll hear my voice in her head telling her to "walk straight", "don't limp", "bend your knee", "don't cross your legs" - but it's all good. I think it's awesome and by the time I'm back in August she'll be ready for a shopping trip to Braintree.

Dad - so, we weren't planning on Dad being sick, but we had a bit of a scare this week. He had previously been told he'd had an aortic aneurysm and he was waiting for an appointment with the doctor. Well, on Wednesday he got a call from the hospital to go and visit the consultant on Friday morning. The thing to realize here with British healthcare is that for that to happen it's a real shock...usually everything happens over a few months. Quite a scary thought. Anyway, he and I looked on the internet and came up with questions ready for the doctor. So, without labouring the point here, he's got another scan in 6 months to see if it's grown - it's currently at 3.5cm, surgery is when it gets to 5.5cm. The scan to figure out how fast it's growing. Apart from smoking there's nothing he can do to prevent it, make it better or harm it - and given he doesn't smoke it's a case of wait and see.

My ankle. I'm getting worried as it's not getting better. I've tried wearing the bootie, not the bootie - but the fact of the matter is it still hurts. I go to the docs on Thursday so hopefully I'll get some guidance then.

I have really mixed emotions now. I leave to go home on Tuesday. I'm excited to see Trev and all the work done on the apartment but I'll miss seeing everyone so regularly. It's been really nice spending more than a few hurried days with everyone. That said, I'm looking forward to resuming my exercise regime - before I get back to England in August my friend Debbie and I are going to lose 10lb. wish me luck

Return to Cedar Rapids

My ol' home town has made the front page of nytimes.com - check out the video.

If you do a search for "residents return to cedar rapids" you'll find the video. How very very sad.

Betty - still thinking of you as you clean up your house! Hope all is going as well as expected.

Wow

Had a really quiet weekend - I haven't spent a whole lot of time working (maybe an hour...not bad for me!) but have hung out with Tim (watching him play Call of Duty 4...oh joyfulness) and got some administrative stuff sorted on my laptop (you know, like reviewing your favourites list that's 3 years old...I swear, I think about 50% were invalid) and watched the patient.

Mum's doing OK and while her knee is sore she's in good spirits and getting around OK. I think the funniest is the toilet....the door is wedged open with the frame that's over the toilet....which is pretty funny if she's caught short...hahahah. Oh well, we all know being in hospital and recovery strips you of dignity...this is just more proof. Her first doc's appointment is tomorrow and we'll hear if the symptoms she's experiencing right now are normal. Watch this space.

Tim bought himself a gas barbeque... upgrading from the charcoal one from two weeks ago. It's pretty flipping smart....I just wish I could export it:) Totally overkill, especially as i could probably pay half the price....but even so, very very cool.

As Mum couldn't travel we went round there for a barbie. We've definitely mastered the art of marinading food...and cooking it so it tastes fantastic. That and salad is actually pretty healthy. We took the meat, salad etc round to Mum and Dad and then for dessert we had home grown rhubarb. I love rhubarb...and it's so hard to find great fresh rhubarb so I'm on the hunt for seeds etc and I'll grow it myself!

Mum and Dad managed to surprise both Tim and I tonight. I think we were speechless. They gave us a gift each which was wonderful - and totally unnecessary. However, thank you. We love you too.

Back to work tomorrow.....not really in the mood, but hey that's what pays the bills. Happy Monday for tomorrow to everyone!

The 7 Deadly Sins Quiz

Thank Dory for this one! Interesting....

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

Home at last!

Good news! Mum's home. As of 7.45pm this evening she was settled in her recliner and glad to be home. The best bit? She'd lost 10lb in weight...now how is THAT for a welcome home present! I need some of that - because I'm certain i've put on 10lb since I've been here.

So now recuperation begins. It's going to be tricky, because it's easy to leave the sticks behind, or forgot you shouldn't lift a lot of stuff. As I've said loads of times I'm going to be a pain in her arse...but it's all for the best - right?

Between Dad and I the nursing starts - we can take turns...just so we get a break. I think it's great. I'm so happy.

The first doc's appointment is on Monday so by then I'll know how long I need to stay to assist.

So happy! Yeah!

Cedar Rapids Flood 08

We lived in Cedar Rapids IA for 7 years and we're familiar with all of the downtown places that are flooded like crazy. It's like a home town - I still can't believe that it made UK news.

Check out my friend Dory's blog, with her very own pics of the disaster. http://42wallabywaysydney.blogspot.com/2008/06/cedar-rapids-flood-08.html

Most of my friends escaped, except for one - Darren and Betty. Please think of them while they get their stuff cleared away.

Gotta have 'em

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1026716/Can-pair-50-pants-REALLY-reduce-waistline-forever.html

What can I say? A pair of pants that shrinks your butt.....you have to give it a go, right? Also, if you order outside of the UK, you're excempt from tax so it's 17.5% less.....I'll let you know if they work!

Mum - update

So, 2 weeks after Mum's knee replacement, she's still in the hospital. She's seen at least 2 sets of women come in for the same surgery and go home after 4 days. While she's been OK in herself the past few days, it's very frustrating not recovering as quickly as everyone else. That said, the doctors and nursing staff are attentive, it's a lovely ward, and they're making sure Mum is doing all the exercises etc as she should. We were told yesterday that by Sunday night she must be able to move her knee 60 degrees. Yesterday she'd got it to about 50 and it was very painful, but she's hoping it'll be better today. If this exercise doesn't work then it looks like it'll be more surgery next week.

They have this cool machine thing that you put your leg in, and it pushes it back and forth slowly - something that just a few years ago a physiotherapist would have to do. Technology is pretty advanced which is great. Everything is just taking a lot longer than planned.

I've been here 2 weeks, and the plan was for me to assist with Mum at home. As that's not happened I'm going to be staying longer than planned. I have got 2 work days in London Mon/Tues but then I'm going to return. I'm hoping by then we'll have more news and I'll know when I'll be going back home.

I always complain about the health service in England, but I have to say it's been great. In the US, they would have sent you home to recover as they keep you in the hospital as little as you can. It's been refreshing that they're Ok having Mum hang out waiting to get fixed - that is AWESOME.

Poor Trev, he's home alone. This is the longest time I think we've ever ever been apart - and feels like forever. It's likely to be another 2 weeks at least (1 week for Mum to have the surgery, 2nd week for me to help at home) so he's being wonderfully patient. What a gem:)

I'll post more updates as I get them, but for the weekend we're in a holding pattern.

Briefly, on my ankle - it's started to hurt like crap again. I'm sure I overdid it, but it's been over a month now. It sucks. And now I have a lump on the bone in the middle of my foot - and that definitely wasn't there before. Hopefully it's nothing serious. I'd go to a doctor here, but it'd take 3 months to get an xray.

More later...

Catching up

Can you believe I've been in England 11 days already? Time has flown by. Mum is doing better, although still in hospital. For a while it looked like she'd need additional surgery, but we're hoping that's now not the case. She's spent the past 4 days in a splint but now she's back on the exercise machine. By tonight she'd got to 35 degrees - she has to get to 90 before they'll let her home. I'm so glad I'm here to help - although I may have to delay my return as the whole point of my trip was to be of assistance when she was home. We'll see...I don't have to make that decision quite yet.

On the dieting and food front it's been a disaster. No matter what I try and do, Dad and Tim just eat such huge quantities.....and while it's not their fault at all when i choose something bad in a restaurant, it's so difficult not to. A lot of the meals that I order or food that I buy i cannot get at home....so i feed I need to overdose on it while I'm back.

Exercise is even worse than dieting. I've done a total of 20 pushups. That's not a lot at all. I have resolution every day that I'll at least do 100 sit ups, some crunches, balance and a few yoga poses. Yeah,.....right.

My ankle is still sore. I tried one day where I didn't wear the big bootee and while I was walking OK it's been very sore ever since then. I'm hoping that it'll get better soon - especially after the kick ass stilletoes i bought myself today:)

Not much else to report. Work has been crazy - and while I know they're OK with me being in England and working from home, it's been very stressful at times. I've found that while, in principle, they're OK - there have been crisis almost every day. The worst one was on Saturday when i was asked by my boss when I was going to get her a report. I replied and said Monday morning her time thinking that I could do it Monday morning UK time and be done. I wouldn't have minded but she waited until 2pm UK time to email on Sunday afternoon telling me she expected it that day. Hmmmmprf. usually I'm OK - but it's really irritated me this week.

Tim has bought a barbeque grill - so we've spent a lot of time grilling out. Yummo - it's so healthy too. The only problem is the bad stuff i eat after that....) Oh well, I'm on holiday, right?

Happy Anniversary Darling

It's our 11th wedding anniversary today. In some ways time has gone by so quickly, in others it feels like a lifetime (in a good way, of course!!). It's the first anniversary we've spent apart - it was a hard decision, but given that Mum is sick it seemed that we had no choice. I left a card and even arranged for flowers to be delivered, cute eh? Not sure the favour has been returned, so I guess it's "out of sight, out of mind!".

Mum is still in hospital and will be so for a few more days. I'm managing to get lots of work done in the mean time so I can help when she finally gets home.

Seen lots of friends this week too - and it's been total glutony on the food front....

Old people

I'll say this now - this is not politically correct in anyway, but quite frankly I don't care right this minute.

I'm in England. Maybe that's it. I've had a great time the last few days visiting Mum* and hanging out with Tim, Dad and friends. Today though I ventured out to the local supermarket. I know from experience this can be traumatic to me but at 11am on a Thursday it was incredible.

A bit of background. When I was little, I was always told to respect elders, be polite, give up my seat on a train/bus etc and generally behave well. I still do this today and will always give up a seat etc if the situation needs it. Today in the shop I was blown away by the disgusting, arrogant, rude and downright pissyness of the old people. I'm not talking just ignoring you - I'm talking about smashing into people, physically pushing you out of the way etc etc. They were soooooooooooooooo rude. When I was a child, if I had acted like that I would have been told off and made to apologize. Rightly so I might add. I couldn't believe it - from the moment I walked in the store it started, and didn't end until I drove out.

Here's one situation. We're in the grocery isle, it's a little crowded as a little old lady is taking ages decided what potatoes she wants (!). That's OK, there was myself, and then 2 ladies with young children queued behind her. I kid you not, a married old couple come from behind, push the 2 year olds out of the way, smash their cart into mine and the ladies with kids and walk on out. Can you believe that? OMG - i went nuts. In my true American way I said "EXCUSE ME! DON'T MIND ME!" Ignored. What great role models this couple were to the young kids right there. NOT. The ladies looked at me and we all decided we clearly didn't have enough lines on our faces to warrant some respect. I'm 40 for pete's sake, not a 10 year old.

Another reason why I don't like England. Mum, Dad - if I EVER catch you behaving like that be sure you'll be "told off". LOL.

* and BTW, she's doing OK, still in quite a bit of pain, but managed to walk to the bathroom and back. Hope she'll be home from hospital by the weekend.

Sex and the City - review

So one of the first things I did when I got to England was go and see the Sex and the City movie. It's great - I really enjoyed it and while it was 2.5 hours long the time flew by. It was funny, sad, moving all at the same time. It really was like taking out a DVD and watching 5 episodes back to back. I think they did a really good job - and I wasn't disappointed. So, if you were wondering whether to go and see it - do so, it's worth it. I was going to wait for the DVD to come out as I didn't want to put Trev through seeing a chick flick - although when I told him how good it was he now wants to go and see it. I think it's really for all the gorgeous women....but he'd never admit to that:)

Mum's doing well too after her knee replacement. While she's in pain, she's making progress every day. She should be out of hospital towards the end of the week, so I'm working as much as I can before that so that i can then stay with her during the day.

My ankle survived the trip to England - the flight attendants were great. I had managed to get a seat on the front row so I had loads of room, but they brought me several pillows to rest my foot, I didn't have to put my stuff overhead as you usually do - they strapped it into the spare seat next to me. I'm not usually a good patient, but they made you feel like you needed to be. Definitely looking to get the same treatment on the way home!

You'll notice my weightloss tracker went up a few pounds. Over the past couple of months I've been bad - I rely on exercise to equalize my weight and I've not really been following rigidly any diet. It's worse now I'm in England as there's all that fabulous bad food to choose from. I'm mentally preparing to start again and in earnest. I'm going to give up chocolate again and see if that helps.

Sold it

I've done pretty well with selling things on craigslist. While I didn't make a fortune, it's better than a kick in the teeth!

Washer/dryer $325
2 IKEA chairs $150
Sofa and ottomans $375

I have the refridgerator and dining set to go - that's my project when I get back.

Almost one-word MEME

Thanks Penny for this.

NAME? Philippa
Four Letter Word? Crap
VEHICLE: Lexus RX330
RESTAURANT: Baipo (Ipswich, England), Sushi Lounge (NJ), Aoki (NY)

CITY: Hoboken
BOY NAME: Thomas (completely and utterly random here)
GIRL NAME: Lucy (again, random)
OCCUPATION: Program Manager
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Gym kit

FOOD: Yorkshire Pudding
SOMETHING FOUND IN BATHROOM: Scales
REASON FOR BEING LATE : I'm not usually late
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Trevvvvvvooooorrrrrrr

Craziness

Usually I'm relatively supportive of call centers that have their first line calls taken from India and while it gets frustrating sometimes I've never had the bad experience that I've heard so much about.


Until today. Oh good grief. Beside myself I was....


If you remember back a few weeks I said that I'd spent a load of points on our credit cards. One of the things I'd purchased was a handbag (in a beigy tan colour to go with my summer sandals). It arrived in black rather than brown. I called the helpdesk at the weekend and they said that someone would contact me to return and replace it. I then got a phone call yesterday asking me to call them and tell them if I wanted to return the item and get my points back (yes please....as it was much smaller than I thought it would be). That's when the fun started. I told them they could pick it up tomorrow (Fri) as I was home all day but if they couldn't do that I wouldn't be home until the 18th.

Each time I asked a question the guy said "I hope you don't mind, but I need to put you on hold". This happened 4 or 5 times. To precis, they wanted me to stay home on the 19th to wait for UPS to turn up to pick up the package. Of course, being out of the office for over 2 weeks, that's not feasible. I offered to take the package to work, they said no. In the end he escalated to an American lady - he must have told her I was pissed because she was quite ratty on the phone. I wasn't particularly annoyed - I just couldn't do what he was asking. She said that he wasn't asking me to do that - he was. Oh well - I've told them I'll leave the package in the building - it's down to the UPS guy to figure out how to get in. I also told them they better not complain if I'm not there when they arrive. Man, what a pain in the rear.

On a better note, my ankle seems to be calming down again, although very tender. Not looking forward to the flight to England - but hopefully a couple of Tylenol PM's and I'll be out for the count! Here's hoping!

Owwwiiiiieeeeeeee

So, I've got used to my bootie thing for my ankle, and all was going along ok. I've realized that I need to use an ankle strap at night so that I don't hurt myself, my only problem is now the shower. Stepping over the bath used to be so easy - and while I move gingerly, it's manageable.

This morning when getting ready for work, I managed easily to get in the shower. Getting out, I managed to do a minor twisty thing of about 2 inches.....and the biggest shooting pain when up my leg and now my ankle is throbbing like crazy. Obviously this is more serious than I thought.

I did talk to the car hire adjudicator again yesterday and they're going to follow up. They asked loads of crazy questions like "what type of shoes were you wearing", "what were you doing", "how far did you fall", "where did you land" - and on that last question my initial response was "on my ass......" but realizing she actually meant the road. I'm sending her the pics I took, and she's told me to keep all my receipts.

On a more positive note - I still love the fact that Jose, our builder, has made our water pressure so brilliant. It's AWESOME.

Phew! 2

I forgot something in yesterday's chapter and verse:

8) Allergies. I have a cough, I've always had it for about 10 weeks a year. Doctor's have looked and tested and have found nothing wrong. Now, this Allergist believes that I'm violently allergic to dust mites. We've nuked the bed and it's now lovely microfiber encasings for the box spring, mattress, duvet and pillows (to the tune of nearly $600 I might add - ouch!). Last week if you remember i had 2 creams for the rashes, an inhaler and then 2 pills (one of the pills left me soooo tired). I felt like a walking pharmacy. Anyway, when I saw him on Friday we talked for a while - first, he started talking to me about allergy injections to try and fix it. I'd heard of them but knew nothing so I asked the question - did you know that you have injections weekly for 7 months and then have to go on maintenance mode for ever? For a cough that lasts a few weeks a year? Seemed a bit overkill to me - so I told him that. Then, he said to scrap all the other meds I was on and to take a nasal spray. At least it's only 1 thing. I'm to call him Tuesday to tell him if it's working or not. All I know is the damn thing tastes like wet grass - and that's not nice at all. Oh well, about a month from now the cough will disappear anyway:)

Phew!

We're in our apartment - yeah! Very excited about that - so much has gone on since the last post. Had an impromptu evening with our neighbour last night - it was funny, although not so funny when i had to get up early this morning for the cleaners:) Hey ho - we had fun, and I was fine by 9 (after a triple shot of coffee!). So, go get a cuppa, take a breath and get ready for a long ol' read. I'll take one thing at a time.

1) One of the things that's annoyed me since we moved into this apartment was the water pressure in the shower. It was crap - and when I had long hair it'd take an age to get all the suds out. Well, Friday morning when I took a shower there was a very loud scream of excitement - it is awesome. Now, of course, I don't want the crappy shower head - so I'm on the lookout for one:)

2) Furniture. We spent most of yesterday putting together the sofa table and 2 end tables - they look AWESOME. I have to say that I think www.overstock.com is fabulous. It's always great quality stuff and it's really easy to put together, even if it takes a little bit of time. The ottoman in the living room is also cool - it's got so much space underneath that it'll hide a multitude of sin:) One of the things I've tried to do is find furniture that has drawers and places to put things as we have so little closet space. All I have to do now is decide what to put in what drawers (weird, huh?). The other cool thing is that the website has now released a china cabinet that will fit very nicely where I was going to put the audio cabinet - seriously, seriously considering adding it as to complete the set.

3) Building work. The floors are done, cabinets built, backsplash is on (even though it's not the colour I want), walls painted etc etc. Still got to do the bathrooms and have the TV mounted on the wall and get the bathrooms sorted out. The little bathroom is easy - it's already painted and the ceiling fixed, we just need to have the floor ripped up and the plain white tiles laid. That'll be cool.

4) Selling items. Not done bad here - craigslist is awesome. I've sold my Ikea chairs and washer/dryer. Still got the fridge, sofas and dining set to go. Working on that.

5) Appliances. New stuff got delivered today. Who knew we had a gas dryer - I always thought it was electric. Well...after we removed the old one (not an easy task and at least 2 wrenches had to be purchased!) we found out that it was actually gas. That was great - except I ordered an electric dryer - so, we had to send it back. The new one arrives on Friday - the day I leave for England. The fridge though looks great - except for the fact that the water dispenser doesn't work. They couldn't get it to work when they installed it and gave me some flannel about needing to leave the water to chill for 24 hours before it'd work - I fell for it. However, 3 nano seconds after the elevator shuts Trev pipes up "it's not going to work!". Brilliant. The ice is working fine, although it's not coming out of the dispenser. I tried calling, but they're shut until Monday - I'll call then. Hopefully they'll be able to arrange for delivery of a new one at the same time as the dryer.

6) Home organization. So through all the clearing up yesterday we went through our closet of crap as well as the closet in the spare room - we've had a huge reorg that took ages, but we have lots more room. You know that Skymall magazine that's always in the back seat of the plane? Well, when we were delayed getting back from Denver I spent a good hour going through that magazine and found something I had to have - usually I always feel like that, take the magazine home then decide I don't need it anyway. As it turned out I really wanted this and ordered it - it's blinking brilliant. All it is is a waterproof, breathable bag that houses all the cushions for our outdoor chairs. Apart of the fact that it's mustard yellow (not my first choice, of course) it sits at the end of the balcony and easily takes all 10 cushions. It's guaranteed not to leak. It also gives us oooodles of space in our one and only closet in the living room. I feel such a sucker for buying it after I saw it on the plane, but hell - it's great. The other thing I want to do is bring up my piano - we've got a spot for it in the spare room. Before i do that I need to get hold of a restorer as from all the floods last year, it's got damaged. That will give us a lot of room in the basement storage unit. The electric piano will still be stored there - but at least one of them can come into our home.

7) My ankle. I'm out of the cast (hurrah!) but now I have this big ugly boot to put on and I have to wear it for at least 2-3 weeks. That means when I head to England that I will have to take it with me. I thought having the cast was bad, but this thing is far worse. Not only is it huge and clunky, but it's heavy. It's like walking around with an additional 5lb. The other thing is that I need to be VERY careful is when I'm walking around without it - while I have athletic tape to brace my ankle it's very easy to overdo it. I'm taking it easy and getitng used to the fact that I'll have to wear flats for my 2 weeks in England.

8) Diet and Exercise. I did really well in fall last year - lost 17lb and got into the groove. For whatever reason, it's sucked this year. I know I lose weight if I follow the diet - the problem is, I've just found too many times that I'll cheat "just a little bit". I've really got to get back on the straight and narrow. Exercise is OK although all I'm oding right now is working out with Billy. I can't get much cardio done at all. Hopefully though I'll be able to spin when i get back in the middle of June.

Ok, I just ordered dinner, it'll arrive shortly. Need to shower before we head out to see Indiana Jones. Hmmmmm.....Harrison Ford.

My ankle

I get to go to the doc tomorrow afternoon - hopefully it'll be mended enough that I don't need a cast. It's still very sore, but I can at least wiggle my toes without grimacing - that's progress, right?

The car hire company actually called me today - lots of excuses about the note we left being water damaged so they couldn't read the phone number etc etc, but they did find my reservation and called. They have logged a complaint number - when I called to confirm my phone number and address etc they said that an adjuster would be calling me in 3 days. That sounds serious....which I guess it is given i've got a) proof and b) a sore blinking ankle.

Let's hope this gets fixed soon.

Saving money

Here's an article that made me chuckle:) I don't think it's supposed to but it did. Everyone I know has money trouble - not that we all spend more than we make, but there's always the "what we're supposed to do" vs. the "I could be dead tomorrow" mentality. I shift constantly between the two. I'm always paranoid about frequent visits to the coffee shop, but I've dropped craploads of money for a washer, dryer, refrigerator, sofa, leather chairs, ottoman, entertainment center, decorating in the past few months - and now we're on a roll, Trev is getting in on the game deciding he wants to revamp the spare room with new office furniture, a fancy sofabed (getting rid of the actual bed that gets used rarely) etc etc. it never stops.

So, the question is do I believe in these rules?

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105041/Ways-to-