Massive Blackout!

It would appear that my job ate my life two years ago.  It's not that I don't want to blog.  It's just that I'm not sure what to blog about.  We do a lot!  It's a little overwhelming picking one or two things from each week to write about.

Quick Update

So,  we have yet to put up a Halloween update--which is pretty important since Liam won a costume contest at the local shop.  He dressed as a spider.  I'll post these photos ASAP! 

We had a whirlwind month in November.  We moved out of our house in England, and traveled home--me, Jeremy, Liam, and Marley on the plane.  Traveling for 21 hours with a 19 month old is more than a little difficult. 

Our friends and family greeted us at the airport when we arrived, and it was fantastic.

There was a perfect coming home party on Saturday, December 5th.  There are some photos floating around, which will find their way here as soon as I collect them from friends and family. 

I had a job interview on Thursday, December 10th.  It went really well.  It was with a financial planning company called Waddell and Reed.  A very nice gentleman named Bert interviewed me.  I had to take a standardized test to ensure that I'll be capable of passing the Series 7, Series 66, and a Texas licensing exam to sell life insurance and annuities.  The test also determined whether or not I have the right personality type for sales . . . I'll get the results when I go in for a second interview tomorrow . . . BUT

I think that either the climate or the pollutants in my dad's house are making me stuffy.  I've had some killer congestion.  This morning I woke up and my voice was completely gone.  You can imagine how worried I've been all day knowing that I have this very important interview tomorrow!  I've been resting my voice all day and bought some Mucinex at Dad's recommendation, which seems to be working. 

Jeremy starts school at UH on January 19th.  He registered for classes/attended orientation on Friday.  I think he's really excited. 

Saturday night we ate at Floyd's for my Birthday.  Then, we took Liam to the Christmas parade in Friendswood.  He loved all the lights and music.  He danced and waved to everyone on the floats.  When the firetruck went by he made the sound of the siren.  It was so cute!

Liam spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa while Jeremy and I went to Hugh and Jeff's in League City to celebrate my Birthday with some choice crew and music.  Mama Tried and John Evans Band both played.  It was such a wonderful time!  I'm so happy to be home! 

The icing on the cake was Sunday, when (with a crippling hangover) we dragged ourselves to the country club for brunch with Jeremy's family so that Liam and his cousins could see Santa.  I have video of that on my new HD Flip that Uncle Steve bought me.  Liam gave Santa a high five.

I'll put some more interesting info up soooooooon.  I promise.  We've just been extremely swamped.

Cheddar, Somerset and the West of England

We left Saturday morning and drove 220 miles to Cheddar to stay at a Bed and Breakfast called Tor Farm. The room was beautiful, the bathroom was big, the breakfasts were delicious, and the location was perfect.


That night we ate at an Indian restaurant in Cheddar where the service is great, but the food is not that good. It was called Shahnaz. If you are picky about quality, avoid it at all costs. The stale poppadoms should have been a warning. I think Jeremy liked his food, but I did not think it was very good.


Sunday was wet and foggy all day! That was our only full day there. We went to Nyland Hill Farm Shop in the morning, which is well worth a visit if you ever get the opportunity. We had lunch at a pub that was directly across from the Cheddar Company. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE PUB! I don't remember the name of it, only that you climb stone steps directly up from the road to the beer garden. The food was terrible. The place was filthy. And, I think the WC was probably in the top five dirtiest in the country. If the ladies' was that bad I can't imagine the gents'.


We went to the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. That was a nice experience because you can go on a tour to watch them make cheese. I never knew so much work went into such a small amount of cheese. No wonder good cheese is expensive!

We drove to Glastonbury and saw the hippies and the tor. Then, as we were coming back to the B & B the sun started to shine. Unfortunately, it was time for us to find a place to eat and get ready for dinner. We went to Wells, the smallest city in Britain. It's a city because it has a cathedral, but there are only 10,000 people. Our reservation was for a place called Rugantinos. It's in the Ancient Gate House, which has a garden view of the Cathedral. The food was not bad at all!

The next day was Monday, our last day, and we knew we couldn't stay long.  We got up early and had breakfast and checked out of our room.  We drove into town and took some photos of the village and the gorge.  Then, I strapped Liam into the backpack carrier and carried him up 274 steps of Jacob's Ladder to the lookout tower.   Jeremy carried Liam up to the top of the tower, down, for about a one mile hike, then back down Jacob's 274 step ladder.  As we were going down there were all these people stopped, sitting out of breath, and I heard a woman say "Look at them!  They carried that big baby all the way up!" Little did she know, I carried him.  I was proud, but my legs felt like jell-o.  I'm really out of shape. 

For lunch we stopped at Derrick's Tea Room.  The people at Derrick's are really friendly.  It also has a nice garden and the hike to the WC is hilarious.  They do great teas and a delicious Victoria Sponge cake.  However, their hot meals are bad.  Living in this country, where people LOVE chips, I would expect them to have really good chips.  Chips in this country usually look like this:

And they taste about as bland as they look.  I got addicted to the chips (yes, fries) at the Bedford Lodge in Newmarket because they are more like seasoned wedges than chips.  So, given the quality of everything else at Derrick's I had hoped that the hot food would be delicious and that my ham, egg and chips would be super tasty.  I asked the waitress "What are your chips like?" She gave me a confused look and said "Well, they're chips." Jeremy thought this was the funniest exchange he'd ever heard.  I was somehow embarrassed.  And, went ahead and ordered the meal, with which I was extremely disappointed.  Jeremy also did not like his overcooked burger.  Stick to sarnies, cream teas, scones and cakes here.

Now that I've rambled on and on about Derrick's . . . We had a fantastic drive home (and I think Jeremy will agree) except for the traffic queue we were stuck in on the M25.  But, I got a chance to take a photo of my favorite British graffiti which says "Give peas a chance." They sure do like their peas here.  Oh, and on our way we passed Stonehenge.  It isn't very big and you can't get very close to it.  The mystery is more interesting than the actual locale.  There are better places to visit besides Stonehenge in Britain. 

Farm Shops

One of the things I'll miss about England is the great Farm Shop. We visit many farm shops. They have produce grown on that farm and some stuff from other local farms. They also have cheese, meats, meals, and other food products made locally. Our local farm shop is La Hogue in Chippenham. While we were in Cheddar, we visited the Nyland Hill Farm Shop, but they don't have a website . . .

If you ever visit Britain, work a farm shop into your schedule and you won't regret it. If you're visiting Bath, Glastonbury, or Stonehenge, you might as well drive just a bit further and check out Nyland Hill Farm Shop. Or, if you're in Cambridge, check out La Hogue in Chippenham.

We love farm shops. Some are better than others. The two we've mentioned here are especially good. All of them are different and special in their own way. La Hogue offers a separate wine shop and a seasonal Christmas Fayre, and Nyland Hill Farm has open days where the kids can see the animals and learn about where their food comes from.



To locate a farm shop near where you live in the UK or near where you'll be staying, you can put the post code in on this interactive map:


http://www.farmshopping.net/map.htm

Mr. Independent Eats

Liam insists on feeding himself. It's the only way that mealtimes are peaceful. Bibs are a futile effort. We even have some that cover his entire torso and arms, but those still don't save the lap. We often completely undress him for meals.

The Family Art Project

Our handsome little boy loves paint. He's also just entered this really independent streak where he wants to do everything himself, but still lacks the ability to carry out these tasks. One of them is opening containers and screwing lids back on.

Throughout our art project, he would occasionally realize that we weren't letting him do these things and he'd get angry. We'd try to divert his attention by singing his favorite song, Row Row Row Your Boat, or by making him say "Boo!" Unfortunately, he doesn't ham it up for the camera and makes Mom and Dad look like asses. Here's our fantastic project.

The Fig Newton

Liam's favorite snacks are fig Newtons.  He says "Mmmmm . . . !"