Busy, busy week

I just got back from a night out on the town (sort of) and thought I would recap on my week.

Monday was a perfect day here in the Tring area, so I went out for a little run, stopped at home for my camera, and headed over to the footpath near the house. It was a great hike once again and I tried out the new camera, which was very successful. I lost track of time and reality while I frolicked through the fields (literally) and came out feeling fully rejuvenated. It’s amazing what a little nature can do to ya! I babysat for the neighbors who had three little boys Louie(6), Sammy(8) and Joe(11) who were cute but quite the characters. I told Louie to put his pajamas on so Joe went in to help him and they said “ready” as I opened the door and little Louie was laying spread eagle butt naked on the floor laughing…boys!

 

Playing dress up

Tuesday was a typical day for Kate and I… lounging around, me dozing off on the couch while she enjoys her favorite show, Peppa Pig. I’m feeling more and more sleep deprived everyday. I say I’m going to go to sleep early and it never happens… I’m awaken every morning by crying or yelling or laughing or music or just plain noise! You know me, not quite the morning person so getting up at 7am every morning is bad enough, but to this! Ugh! Really, one of the best parts of my day is waking up and looking at my phone to realize, YES, one more hour of sleep!

beautiful makeup!

Player of the week for football!

Wednesday I decided to drive over to Hemel Hempsted to the shopping center there. I actually made it there no problem (and keep in mind Hemel has like the worlds largest roundabout---a roundabout with 6 roundabouts around it---I mean it’s legit crazy) but I got through it without any issues only to be completely turned around when trying to locate the car park(aka parking lot/parking garage). When all was said and done I found my way and made a b-line for the mall. I shopped around for a couple hours (they have a PRIMARK there which to my disappointment was not as good as the London one and I came away with NOTHING).  I bought a few things and went to GREGGS, which is a little eatery that was on this outdoor strip outside the mall. I got the usual ham and cheese and an apple juice, and then came the exciting part—caramel doughnut! I’ve had this strange craving for a pastry for the past week and have googled bakeries around Tring…nothing. Even though a doughnut wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, I figured it would hold me over.

Luckily we went to the gym and I ran 5.2km so maybe I broke even?

Thursday Kate had ballet, which was the cutest thing ever. I wasn’t allowed to stay and watch but her outfit was adorable and from what I saw (dancing to little mermaid) it was too funny. Lisa made lasagna again for dinner and it was to die for. I’m not a big lasagna fan but oh, my, god is this stuff good! It was followed by this strawberry and custard trifle… I mean come on could I ask for anything better?!

Today was a really yucky day with mostly rain and it was pretty chilly so I couldn’t do much. I spent most of the day camped out in front of the tv planning trips that I’d like to make in the near future. My first one is in the works, Scotland. Gordon will be in Miami, FL for work so Lisa is taking the girls to her parents house and we’re going to drive up to Glasgow for a couple days. 

We had two skype dates this week and I think the girls are hooked. They have come to the conclusion that the boys are a little too intimidating (sorry Jim) but might be in love with Jaclyn. Abbie keeps asking to call her so she can talk and see when she is coming to stay at their house. They learned to say hola and adios to her Spanish roommate. Today the girls were playing a guessing game and Beth asked Abbie “who is a girl that has brown hair, from America and is getting married” and Abbie responded “Jaclyn?!” haha no, Katy Perry.

                                O-H                                                     I-O

Tonight I went out with Coralie and Agne again, but this time to the Akeman pub in Tring. This one was a lot nicer than the last pub we tried, very nice and cozy inside. There was a very large age range there, which was interesting, and according to the guy I made friends with, this is the only place people come to hang out if you live anywhere around Tring. This may be a bit premature, but I think I’ll find my man at the Akeman! We all rode together so Agne and I had a beer and we all talked about anything and everything. We started talking about what people do on the weekends and got on the subject of college and of course, Ohio U. She asked if house parties are really like how you see in movies and was totally shocked when I told her they are exactly like the movies, “I must go when I visit you!” I think she’s wild but doesn’t know us well enough yet to decide if she should let loose or not.

Me, Agne, Coralie at the Akeman

Coralie can understand a little of what I’m saying making it difficult to carry on conversation, but she’ll learn quickly I’m sure. She was on the lookout (I taught her the term “scope” like scoping for guys) for people to hook me and Agne up with but they all looked about 12 years old.

We stopped at this little hole in the wall, late night eatery just across from the pub and ordered chips and cheese (cheese fries) which were amazing and disgusting at the same time. There was a mound of cheese on top and Mayo on top of that! Ugh! Coralie loved them because they don’t have them in France.

Well that was all from Friday but never posted so here is the rest of my weekend.

Saturday was Lisa’s birthday so I ordered some flowers (as suggested by my mother). Her parents were in town for a concert in London so the house was a little crazy. Lisa and I snuck out to go into Berkhamsted, a cute town nearby with some nice shops and restaurants.

I was babysitting because Lisa and Gordon were going to a ball at the cricket club, so the girls and I stayed up late to watch X-factor, which is my new obsession at the moment. If anyone doesn’t know what it is, it’s basically british American idol but cooler!

Sunday I went into the city to meet up with some alum sigma kappas for a brunch at Browns. I was able to meet 5 other Sigma Kappas living in the London area and heard about many others scattered around Europe (always up for visitors!). There was a girl named Wendy who was there just in London for a couple weeks who had graduated last year from Maryland so we spent the day together exploring London’s famous markets! Markets in London are definitely some of my favorite things about the city.

Food stals at the market. They have food from so many different countries around the world...Morocco, Tibet, Turkey, Ethiopia, Italy, Spain, China, Bangkok and tons more

Wendy & I eating some authentic food

My Mediterranean & Wendy with Ethiopian (and yes those are pickled beets!)

Some stals at the UpMarket on Brick Lane

End of the day, going our separate ways

The pastry I've been waiting for. Ate it before I could get a picture

New Places, New Friends

This week started off as a memorable one for the Mackintosh family. Beth had finally convinced Lisa to move Pixy the hamster into her bedroom, prepared the new cage and packed it full of toys and snacks. When Beth returned to the kitchen hysterically crying, there was only one explanation…Pixy was dead. Sure enough the decision was made one day too late and poor Pixy bit the dust and sent all three girls into a crying fit. Lisa loaded them into the car and we drove to the next town to pick out a new hamster (which Lisa was totally against). Long story short she convinced them they could all get a toy instead of the hamster, which the younger two were fine with and Beth is still coming to terms…but will take a dog instead!

We had a play date on Tuesday (so overrated!) with the Owens family. Caron and Gareth (I think) are the parents who are super nice…like really, really nice…I had a headache and my face hurt from smiling so much by the time we left. We sat and had some tea (with milk) while the girls played and then sat down for dinner, she made lasagna (with carrots in it?). But they both use to be marathon runner until a couple years ago and Caron invited me to join her running group on Monday so we’ll see if I take her up on it.

Lisa has signed up for the Moonwalk in London in May which is a 26 mile walk for breast cancer and I’m thinking about doing it with her. It starts at midnight and everyone is given a bra to decorate all crazy (http://www.walkthewalk.org/Challenges/TheMoonWalkLondon) and a huge course is set up all throughout downtown London. I guess I’ve got time to decide.

Friday night I drove over to Tring, car seats in the back and a hamster cage in the trunk (serious mom moment) and met up with two other au pair girls in the area, Coralie from France and Agne from Estonia. We went to the high street to a pub called The Bell (which Lisa later told me is a bit “dodgy”) where we ordered a juice, yes non-alcoholic juice on my first night out! We sat and talked for a while, as much as we could with the language barrier. Agne spoke English very well and Coralie I’m sure will learn quickly. We had a few good laughs while we tried to sound things out for each other and used Coralie’s French/English dictionary for extra help. Neither have been to the US so when I told them they’ll have to come visit when I move back (if/when!) they jumped at the invitation, especially Agne!

Agne is 22 I think and is a skinny little thing with white/blonde hair. She is from a tiny village in the middle of Estonia, which I had to look up on a map. She is here to work on her English and then moving back to find a job. Coralie is 21, really pretty and so sweet—I feel so bad she can hardly understand me! When we first met she got right in my face and backed off right away laughing and explained how she is use to the double kiss in France. She is from a city in the south of France by Boudreaux so I’m totally tagging along on a visit! She has a boyfriend back at home, but Agne doesn’t so we decided she could just be our wingman. There are also other au pairs Agne is bringing out next weekend from Czech and I can’t remember the other so hopefully my circle of friends will expand in number and diversity!

Saturday I tried to sleep in but was woken up by the girls playing with Beth’s new recorder for school—what a horrible invention. We went over to Hemel Hempsted which is about 20 minutes from Pitstone(our town) where we had lunch at Pizza Hut! It was pretty much the same so nothing exciting. We went to see Marmaduke at the cinema where we had assigned seats on our tickets. The movie was really cute and the girls loved it.

Today we went to watch Gordon play cricket, which I thought would be fun but really there is nothing exciting about the game. Like Lisa said it was a bunch of middle aged, overweight men chasing a ball around . I still don’t understand the rules or the objective of the game, but don’t really care to find out. It was nice to experience the game but once is definitely enough for me.  

I have no idea what will be going on this week but the plan is to head to the massive shopping center (fingers crossed I make it there alive) so I’ll be updating sometime soon!

Drying my clothes out on the line. Apparently I don't know how to hang them properly.

My good looking sandwich! Tomato, cheese, and avocado.

Abbie & Kate eating their fruit salad

  Kate and another of her favorites: pasta with cold tomato soup

Living the City Life

Saturday was Beth’s birthday and she was sure to wake me up before her football practice to open her presents. I got her a couple games, which I think she liked(I told her either way to act like she liked them) but she opened them right away so I think they were a success!

        

We went to the pottery place for her birthday party where she and 6 of her friends made some puppets and then headed home to have pizza and get ready for the best part of the day…Footloose! We went to the theater in Tring, which was pretty small, just two little sections so there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The cast was mostly teenagers but they were all amazing, the music was great and the show overall was so so good! (brilliant as the brits say!)

On Sunday I finally made it into the city for some sightseeing, which turned into a long day of shopping. I got up early and Lisa dropped me off at the train station just up the street around 10:30am. There were some interesting people on the train…the girl across the aisle from me had a diamond on her tooth, while the old Indian man across from me was burping like nobody was around and the guy next to him just looking around to see if other people were hearing this too. The train into London was 35 minutes, not bad at all, and took me right into Euston station in the center of London.

Luckily I remembered how to read the tube map and took it over to Piccadilly Circus where there is always something going on. I walked around and did the tourist thing—taking pictures, going into the souvenir shops—and decided to hop back on the tube.

I got off at Oxford Circus, which is basically the center of the shopping district. First stop: Topshop! The store was massive and so unbelievably packed (I should have expected it, it was Sunday afternoon on Oxford St). It was so overwhelming I had to stop and have lunch at the little place downstairs. I ate at EAT. (say that 3 times fast) where I got a ham and cheese baguette(so good!) and felt like I actually belonged in London sitting in a small café while I took notes of my day so far in my little travel notebook(thanks to jaclyn) posted up in between an over-affectionate European couple and a small family with a child eating a meat pie. I finished eating but sat for a while longer just taking everything in and giving my feet a rest before hitting the streets for some more retail therapy.

I did a lot of browsing until I remembered exactly where I needed to head—PRIMARK. What is PRIMARK? Only the cheapest store ever created to benefit the poor young adult trying to survive in the big city. Luckily I remembered what tube station to go to and sure enough right outside the Marble Arch exit stood PRIMARK. The only way to describe it would be a man’s very worst shopping nightmare come to life—crowds of people shoving and throwing stuff everywhere, fluorescent lights beaming down while you start to work up a sweat just standing there let alone fight the crowds. Thirty pounds(money that is) later I had a big bag in my hand and made a b-line for the door…awful but worth it!

The day of shopping went on for a few more hours until my feet were about to give out and the stores were closing for the evening. I hopped back on the tube and got to the train station in time to grab dinner (another ham and cheese baguette) before getting on my 7:00pm train back to Tring. Lisa picked me up from the station, I was exhausted, went upstairs to try on all of my purchases and went straight to bed. 

Successful day of shopping!

Settling into My New Home

So, I’m just coming to the end of my first full week of AuPair duties.  I’m starting to get settled in, getting use to the daily routine and feeling pretty good about it all. The surroundings are starting to become more and more familiar and I fully support the idea of getting lost being the best way to learn your way around a place. Some of my favorite times so far have been just going out for a drive around the town or surrounding towns all separated by these amazing looking fields, hills and pastures. I can’t even begin to explain how beautiful this place is and a picture just wouldn’t do it justice. I don’t think driving down a wide open road surrounded by the London countryside will ever get old.

one lane bridges that are everywhere

 I manned up and decided to go to the gym with Lisa the other night, which ended up being the best idea yet(I think my chances of having a social life went up about 50% and even better my chances of finding the good looking Brit causing me to never more back went up about 30%). They belong to the Mentmore Country Club, which is just a 10 minute drive from their house. Mentmore is a rich town with old mansions that are unbelievable. Supposedly (I haven’t seen the movie), Batman Returns(I think) was filmed at the Mentmore mansion, this huge castle looking thing that can be seen from the golf course(I’ll try to get a picture). But the gym was really cool, very modern. I’m trying to get a membership this weekend so I can get in shape for vacation in February…Dubai anyone? Lisa said last time they went when Kate was a baby she couldn’t even go in the water it was so warm. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for everything to fall into place because that would be quite the vacation especially in the middle of a London winter.

Kate and I went into Tring on Thursday to go shopping for Beth’s birthday present and went to a cute store called Fancy That. I went to pay with the card Lisa gave me(the one used to deposit my money in each week I get paid but it is under her name) and with my luck had some courtesy call where I had to talk to the card company on the phone. The first question they asked was date of birth, which obviously I did not know and that didn’t go over well. Long story short I got the card taken away and cut up….so much for my first purchase in the UK(bummer!).

It was such a nice day though so we walked around the main street a while. There was a singer on the corner we gave some change too that had such a nice (loving-old man sorta tune) voice singing an old Irish sounding song. It’s the little things I’m loving about this town, that’s for sure.  I stopped and bought Kate some sweeties(candy), the whole lingo thing is actually more different than I thought!  They get really confused when I call them “girlfriend” and “girlfriend” is also when a boy dates a girl.

Trousers = pants

Pants = underwear

Trainers = gym shoes

Tea = dinner

Pudding = dessert

I feel like there are a million but I'm totally blanking.

I’ve met many parents at the school and have already scheduled my very first play date! We’re going to have tea(dinner) at Abbie and Kate’s friends house next Tuesday J. Lisa has also talked to two of her friends who have aupairs- one from France and one from Denmark- and we are supposed to meet sometime this/next week hopefully!!

Today I had the day to myself from 9 when I drop the girls off till 3 then ran some errands (getting my picture taken, stopping at the ATM and going to get my train ticket from the station). I had some extra time before picking the girls up at school so I went and walked around by the canals. I'd never been to this side of the canals yet and it was kind of scary so I took a few pictures and booked it. 

houseboats

Beth is having her birthday party on Saturday so we’re going to some pottery place I think. Later that night the whole family and I (minus Kate) are going to see Footloose at the theater in Tring. Its performed by teenagers but Lisa says they are always good shows so I’m still excited!

I’m hoping to go into the city on Sunday if they don’t have plans already to do some shopping and sightseeing before it gets cold. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to post when I get back! 

Photo shoot:

 

Abbie and Kate watching cartoons in my room

Silly faces

Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil

Beth wanted in

The three little ones