Today I am a Negative Nancy

I just need to spill my guts today.  I hope you're OK with that.  

I don't know whether it is the changing of seasons here right now, or the fact that I have inhaled a lot of paint fumes lately, but I am feeling pretty down in the dumps.

It might also be the fact that I've lived off mostly microwaveable food for the past 3 weeks, and it is sure doing weird things to my body.  My skin is worse than it was in high school, I feel fat and bloated, have no energy, and let's just say Nick and I would both benefit from this right now.  I'm not even joking.  How do people live like this all the time?  The large lady in front of us at the grocery store the other day was buying Mac and cheese IN A CAN.  I dry heaved.  Literally.  I didn't even know that existed till then.  The good news is our kitchen arrives Thursday and should be fully functioning by the beginning of next week.

Furthermore, every time I look at the doorsteps of our neighbors, which are devoid of any pumpkins or other Halloween decorations I feel kind of homesick.  Reading your blogs with pretty pictures of fall, apple picking, and Halloween decor is not doing me any good either.  I'm jealous and willing to admit that.  

Lastly, the fact that it is currently mid October and Christmas decorations are on sale is making me feel super anxious about life.  I feel like I have been very unproductive this year.  Like my personal world is changing around me but I'm not really making any of these changes happen like I should be, and I need to be a whole lot more active and creative and goal oriented.  I constantly feel like a lost puppy.  The good news is next week I managed to get 5 weeks of paid work, which will be the first work I have had since December last year, and bringing home a little bacon is sure to make me feel slightly more productive.

Do you ever think about how much time you waste watching TV, facebooking, or whatever else your vice is?  I wish I didn't check my email, facebook, and reader every 5 minutes.  My life would certainly NOT be worse off, but I can't seem to restrain myself.  I think it's an addiction.  Does anyone else have this problem.  Better yet, does anyone have a cure for this problem?  

Also, we really need cheap furniture, and there is no Ikea around here slash we don't have a car (did I mention my license is expired in England now, so even though we want one, I can't drive until I pass the super hard British test, which takes months to book anyways?).  Where do you buy cheap furniture thats not Ikea or stolen from your mom (mum)?  Our clothes are currently hanging in cardboard boxes.  It's not working too well.

That's all.  Sorry for writing an essay.

A Walk Across America

I can't get enough of this video.  

Homesickness has been rearing it's ugly head at me lately, 

and I just love how American this is.

I finished my internship at the canine hydrotherapy place on Thursday, 

and one of the clients asked me what I missed about the USA...

Salsa, warm weather and sunshine, driving with the windows down, driving for that matter, talking loudly, going to the pool, stores being open later than 5:30 pm, the American sense of humor, the mall, the way our houses look, loud sometimes obnoxious people who are full of character, wearing shorts, summer bonfires, lemonade stands, the way the skyline looks at night,  football and baseball season, corn fields and corn on the cob, bible thumping, gym shoes and baseball caps as an acceptable outfit choice, twangy accents, running into people I know everywhere I go, lightening bugs, good produce (the only thing england can grow well is strawberries), hugs instead of handshakes, everything being much bigger, clean streets, and patriotism... to name a few

I've never felt homesickness so strongly before, and I have done a lot of traveling.  There are two reasons for this, firstly, although a year ago we planned on being in the process of moving back to the US right now, the recession is making my husband very wary of what our prospects would be like back home - and the fact that we are here indefinitely makes me feel nervous.  Secondly, I've never thrown myself into life in England.  To be honest, I never wanted to live here, but it was easier for me to move here than him to move to America.  I guess I resent the fact that we're still here, but I need to make the most of this opportunity while I can.  So eff off homesickness...

How do you fight off this disease?  

And what would you miss if you moved to a far away land?

Carpe Diem, Friends.

ps. Thank you for the well wishes on the job front.  Unfortunately I was a blubbering mess at the interview.  I don't think I got it. :(

Cougars on the Prowl

One of the things I miss most about being home is my friends.  Coming from a place like Cincinnati, you grow up with people, and I am lucky to have made long lasting friendships there.  But in England it's been a real challenge to find my niche.  Actually, our niche, I would love to have mutual friends with Nick, as this is something us long distance lovebirds have never experienced.

In order to solve this problem Nick and I recently joined An adventure, sports, and social group.  Membership isn't to expensive, and they have all sorts of activities you can sign up for - galas, dinner parties, hiking, caving, bungee jumping, sailing, walking with wolves, photography weekends, etc.  We thought there were some fun things and figured we'd try it out for a few months and see how it goes.

Monday night was the new members evening at a pub in the city.  All informal meetings in England occur in pubs - fact.  Nick and I walked into a room of full of chatty mature birds, a handful of youngish people, and a few men.  Nice.  Then the coordinator spent AN HOUR AND A HALF teaching us how to use their website and FACEBOOK.  Um is this really necessary?  Even my technophobic mother has figured out how to use facebook.  Clearly, this is not aimed at our generation.

But wait, they did highlight the Under 40 events for their young members.  I don't mean to be rude, but 40 isn't exactly young is it?  Or do I just need to give these mature birds a chance?  

The next morning I met this old guy while walking the dog - typical, right?  I mentioned how Nick and I were looking to establish our social circle here, and he said, "Well you're a bit young for it, but have you heard of Spice?"  As a matter of fact sir, I have!  

He then proceeded to tell me how you can do some fun things with them, but the club is mostly full of old divorced women looking to find their true love later on in life.  In case you mature birds don't know, us youngins refer to these women as Cougars.  

We're still going to give this adventure club thing a chance, but if our first impressions serve us right - it looks like we've joined a cougar club.  

How do you make friends in a new city?

I would love to make one good girlfriend who is my age.  

Any tips?

RIP Touchdown Jesus

Some times when you live abroad you get news from home that is unwelcome to say the least.  Today it seems many of my Midwestern friends' facebook statuses were dedicated to the "King of Kings" statue on I-75.  He is better known locally as Touchdown Jesus (for my international readers, this refers to the gesture the referee makes when someone scores in American football), and I think it is safe to say he will be sorely missed.

This picture does not do him justice.  He is massive, at 62 feet high.  Ironically, in what can only be described as an act of God, he was struck by lightening last night, and totally burned down.

I will always remember seeing him at the end of my long drives home from university in Chicago.  He seemed to welcome me home, back to my Christian roots, to friends and family who despite their love of Christ, always managed to have a good laugh at this statue.

He was most certainly an Ohio landmark, perhaps our equivalent to the Eiffel Tower, and I dare say not a soul, Christians, Atheists, Hindus or Jews, could drive past him without cracking a smile.

RIP Touchdown Jesus.

You will be missed.

How Far Would YOU Go... For a Burrito?

Well, I for one, would jump through all sorts of hoops to get my hands on a semi decent burrito in jolly old England.  Unfortunately, authentic Mexican food is hard to come by here.  Not that you can blame the Brits, its not like they have any Mexicans swimming the English channel to get into the country.

But lucky for us, we have discovered a burrito joint in the middle of our local mall (and by local I mean it requires a bus journey AND a train journey to get there - we really do live in the country folks).  Maybe I never grew out of my tween before I got my drivers license phase, but I was pretty pleased my husband decided to take me on a Friday night date to the mall food court.

Chilango.... sound a bit like Chipotle?  Well it is! It's a complete knock off.  We don't mind though.  It's the best damn burrito this side of the Atlantic and we were happy....

So we chowed down.  Thank you Chilango!  I sure needed my burrito fix!

ps.  Is it just me or am I constantly stuffing my face lately?

Butch My 4runner

Homesickness is one of those things that gets better over time, but it will never go all the way away.  There are little things that trigger it every now and then, and sometimes they just pimp smack you across the face.  Like today, I was walking Heidi, and parked in a drive way was a black 4 runner.  Why the hell would a black 4 runner make me emotional?

(Via)

Well I guess the thing about homesickness is it is all related to memories.  My first car was a black 4runner I bought for a mere $800 from my very generous aunt.  It was admittedly a piece of shit.  When you closed the doors big chunks of rust would fall off, and it would often smoke on the way to school in the morning, leaving my carpool with big head aches to start the day with. But the truth is, I loved this car.  I named her Butch, because all my friends said it was a car a dyke would drive.  But I didn't care.  It was mine and it gave me my first real taste of freedom.  I loved driving to school in the morning, and sitting in the parking lot having dance parties in the winter until the windows fogged up.  I loved putting it into four wheel drive in the winter snow and feeling like a real bad ass driving by people with little cars that got stuck.  I loved the way it smelled after I let some of my.... less studious friends borrow it to skip class and go get "bagels" in the morning.  (I never skipped class.  Goody two shoes here).  I loved the way the trunk flipped out and we could lay in the back and take naps before rowing practice.  And I really, REALLY loved the car rides home.  I had the best carpool, and we would jam to our CD mixes, on an old battery powered boom box - this car was too ghetto for a CD player.

I guess what I'm saying is I don't miss the car at all.  I miss those memories and the best way to confront homesickness head on  is to realize all that stuff is in the past and I will never do those same things, with those same people on a daily basis ever again.  Even if I was to return home, chances are few other people would be there with me.  So here I am in London, creating new memories.  Who knows - maybe one day I'll be homesick for London?  Doubtful.

Until next time, I'll leave you with the carpool's two favorite jams.  This is for you - MJ, Solimine and Gaffney.

Cincinnati

Please read this post in tune with Joni Mitchell's "California"

Sitting in a park in London, England
Lookin' around and it sure looks bad
They don't do interpretive dance
That was just a dream some of us had
Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn't want to stay here
It's too old and cold and settled in it's ways here
Oh, but Cincinnati
Cincinnati I'm coming home
I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a flying pig
Cincinnati I'm coming home



I met party animals in the South of Oz....

Who did the shark shuffle very well

They gave me back my smile
But left me with a cow-milking smell
Oh the Toole, Tom O'Toole
He baked good pies and cakes
And I might have stayed on with S2C there
But my heart cried out for you, Cincinnati
Oh Cincinnati I'm coming home
Oh make me feel good Queen City land
I'm your biggest fan
Cincinnati, I'm coming home

CHORUS:

Oh it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
Just gives you the blues
Just gives you the blues

So I bought me a ticket
I caught a plane to Namibia
Went to a party down a red dirt road
There were lots of pretty people there

They're saving cheetahs, collecting poo
They said, "How long can you hang around?"
I said "a month, maybe two,
Just until my dyke spike grows out..
Then I'm going home to Cincinnati"
Cincinnati I'm coming home
Oh will you take me as I am
Even if I don't eat ham? 
Cincinnati I'm coming home

CHORUS:

Oh it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
More about the war
And the bloody changes
Oh will you take me as l am?
Will you take me as l am?
Will you?

We're coming home Dec 14th - 29th.  Hope to see everyone then!