My Inspiration

My Inspiration

Tuesday 31 January 2012

A few differences...

Hi there my loyal bloggy friends.

I'm sure you have all been sitting in your homes, crying every day, wondering where your fav blogger has been for the last couple of weeks.

Well, I'm on vacation.

In England.

It's awesome.

But I feel kinda bad that I've been neglecting my bloggity blog blog. So I figured I would come back on Tuesday to make a Tuesday Ten of some of the things I love and don't love that are different here. I have been having such a fantastic time here, seeing my parents, meeting new people, relaxing, being with my awesome family. I'm not going to bore you all with the details of my holiday, because I'm pretty sure you don't want to read a blog that is like...50 pages long, and has 462 pictures on it (yeah, that's how many pictures I've taken so far, and I don't come home for another 2 weeks. Oh man...) So, I'll give you a little sneak peek at what I've been up to. And don't worry, I'm not going to make the list like, "OH EM GEE, THEY LYKE, TOTALLY DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!!11!!! LOL!!!!" Because I'm pretty sure you guys already know that...

10 Different Things In England

1. They have weird chips  crisp flavors. Like worchester. And roast chicken. And cheese and onion. Weird. BUT, sooooo good. Well, the worchester one is awesome anyway. And the roast chicken. When I told one of my new friends that they have weird flavors but they don't have ketchup flavor which  makes me sad because I love ketchup chips, she said, "ketchup crisps? That's disgusting!" She said that WHILE EATING a bag of prawn cocktail crisps. And she called me disgusting! Weirdo.

2. Eating out costs about a billion dollars. And it's totally not worth it. Y'know when you go out for dinner, and you get a huge steak, and lots of sides, and it's the best thing you've ever eaten. Then you get dessert. And you just want to explode from all the good food? PLUS, you've had like, 12 refills of pop, because refills are free (and if they're not, you kinda want to punch a dolphin because of the injustice of it all?), and when you get the bill, it's still under 30 bucks? No dice here. When you eat out, it's kinda gross. The service is terrible. As in, you see your server seat you, then you never see them again. And when you order a pop, you better nurse that small tiny drink of yours, because you just paid £3 (about $5) for that drink and if you want another one, you've gotta pay another £3. For three sips. Cuinn and I have been so blessed that we are able to eat at my parents house, because eating out every day would have bankrupted us. And there are so many better ways to become bankrupt. 

3. When you go to some kind of play place for kids, other parents will NOT play with you. At home, if we went to some kind of playground, you would go home with about 20 new friends. Everyone kind of plays with each other, the mums chat with each other, often going out for a coffee/tea/hot chocolate together afterwards. Here? They avert their eyes. We went to a big play place and anytime Aislynn started playing with another child, the mum would scoop up their kid and go somewhere else. Which was a little disappointing because Aislynn really loves other children and I think she is really missing her little friends at home. 

4. English people are not nearly as reserved as you think. I went into a store to try on a shirt because it was really pretty and looked like a good deal. I took the shirt to the change room to try it on. There were woman just....changing. In the open. Which made me so uncomfortable that I just put the shirt down and walked away. We went to the pool, and when we got to the change room, I asked my mum where the change rooms were. Like, where you can close a door and be naked by yourself. She said, "they don't have that here." Again. Woman were just getting changed. In the open. With all their nakedness on display. Now, you all must know by now that I really have space issues and privacy issues. In a really big way. I found somewhere to change. With a door. I was so uncomfortable.

5. People here drink tea. A lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that England is known for drinking tea, but I bet you don't know how many times they drink a tea a day here. Neither do I, because I lost count after 12. And we hadn't even eaten dinner yet!

6. When you stay at someone's house, they put a hot water bottle in your bed before you go to sleep so that your bed is all nice and toasty when you go to sleep. Isn't that awesome?!? Seriously, it was SUCH a big surprise the first time it happened I thought it was a mistake. But then it kept happening. I am going to be so sad when I go home and there isn't a hot water bottle in my bed. They also heat up your plate when you eat! I think I need to start that when I go home.

7. If you want some electricity in your house, you have to put money into the meter in your closet. Like, actual, real money. Into a meter. In your closet.

8. Everybody, even part timers, get a minimum of 5 weeks vacation a year. Doesn't matter how much or how little you work. You get 5 weeks. 

9. A lot of things are so much cheaper here, and I know that when I go back to Canada, I'm going to be really annoyed paying what we pay. For example, baby wipes. For the EXACT same amount of wipes we get in Canada it's £7 (about $11?) here. In Canada? Closer to $25. PLUS TAX. Fruit is so much cheaper here, so is the fresh produce, and a lot of it is better!

10. They don't have @$$holes on the road. Everybody just....drives in peace. They get out of the way if someone is going faster than you, nobody drives on the shoulder to pass a big long line of cars, everyone follows the rules. I think sometimes there are a few speeders, but seriously, people are pretty awesome about following the rules. Although, they don't have stupid rules here, the traffic runs so smoothly, it makes me not want to go home and drive in the stupidness of Canada.

So there are just a few differences between there and here. There are loads more, but those are the ones that popped into my head now. There are a lot of things that are just better here. There are a lot of really compelling reasons to move here. BUT, there are definitely things I miss from home. Plus, I really miss my friends. Aislynn and I are missing our routine and mommy groups, even if we are really enjoying being with my parents. (Aislynn is loving her grandparents. Especially when they give her chocolate. And crisps. And jam loaded scones. And haggis. And all the other treats she is getting.) 

Cuinn and I are enjoying our holiday so much, but don't worry, we will come home. And I'll try to blog more. 

But for now, I'm off for a cuppa.

Monday 9 January 2012

A few random thoughts...

Sometimes I kinda forget to blog.

Seriously.

I have all these really awesome things to blog about, but I have been totally slacking in the blogging department.

Can I blame it on the fact that I am gearing up to go to England in 2 days?

Umm...not really....because I'm still not packed.

In fact, I'm only blogging because I am procrastinating packing. 

I hate packing so much. For real.

So, instead of packing, here are some random things going on in my mind.

1. Just had another girls night with the girls. (get it? girls night...with the girls? Because it's a night full of girlyness) It was awesome. I am seriously in love with my new group of friends. They are awesome and we had a night full of awesome. Y'know the times, where ya all sit around and pretty much laugh the whole time? Seriously, if I knew hanging out with girls was so much fun, I would have made more girlfriends when I was in high school.

2. I think I am getting sick. Which is so not cool. So, after I write this blog, I am going to go to sleep. Not pack. Go to sleep. I ca not be sick before I get on a plane to see my parents. It's just not going to happen.

3. Even though I really enjoy having a night with the girls, I really miss Aislynn. And I was actually disappointed when she was already asleep when I came home.

4. I hate banks. Seriously. You tell them the same darn thing a hundred times and they don't DO it for about a million years. CIBC, I'm lookin' at you!

5. Cuinn is hot.

That's all for tonight. I'm off to crunch on some vitamin C, curl up in bed, and read my KOBO. Much love to all my favorite readers.

Friday 6 January 2012

A date...

I have the greatest job ever.

In fact, it's so awesome, I kind forget it's a job.

Until my boss lady hands me over the cash.

Which is kinda cool, because then I buy cool things.

Like..

groceries.

Back to my point.

I babysit for an awesome lady, K, and I think her kids are awesome. 

For Christmas this year, they bought Aislynn a very cute outfit (all purple. They may have noticed I have a purple addiction), and they gave Cuinn and I the best, most thoughtful, most awesome gift ever.

A date night.

They gave us a gift card to the (yes...the) fancy restaurant in our tiny town, AND they babysat Aislynn for the evening.

Cuinn and I haven't had a date date in...

umm...

well....

let's just say, the last time we had a date, without Aislynn, I might have been pregnant...

ANYWAY.

We have had our date planned for about a month, and the day finally came. So we got all gussied up and this is how we looked!


W.I.W.

Dress - Costa Blanca
Shrug - Old Navy
Shoes - Aldo (which you can see here, but they look smokin)
Necklace and Earrings - Ardene

We went to the fancy restaurant and we had such a good time.

Seriously, from now on, I am giving babysitting nights for Christmas presents. It was so nice to be out with Cuinn, all by myself.

Thank you K, you're awesome. 

Thursday 5 January 2012

A BLW convert...

As most of you know, Cuinn and I are weird parents  Attachment Parenting type people.

So, y'know, we do the whole co-sleeping, no cry solution, breast is best, baby wearing and all that "hippy stuff". 

Seriously, I get called a hippy, but if you met me, you would see that I'm not. I'm just a weird parent... Again, something else I get called. Whateve's.

Being this kind of parent I do get a LOT of criticism and only a tiny little bit of praise. The praise is generally in the form of, "Your baby is so happy/well behaved/such a good eater/the best baby in the world." So basically, I put it down to our parenting style. Even with the criticism we get, I am happy with our choices. Even if it is a little hard making much different parenting choices than my friends.

So you can imagine my delight when I met this new friend of mine who seems to want to parent in a lot of the same ways I do! Her "little man" (she calls him that, and I kind of picked up on it. Pretty sure he's gonna hate that name when he's like...6 feet tall, but that's what moms and moms friends are for... embarrassing the crap outta ya!) is 4 months old, so a lot of the parenting techniques haven't really started yet. Since, y'know, he basically just cuddles right now. But you know what I mean.

One of the things that A is going to be doing with her little man is BLW. I am so excited for her! She has asked for plenty of advice and I am always more than happy to share my experience with her. Every kid is different, and she really won't know what she's doing until she actually does it, but she has been so interested in our process and I think she wants to give it a go with little man. Her hubs is on board (which, seriously, is a huge plus. If he's not into it, it makes everything so much more difficult.), and in 2 months, she will start her BLW adventure.

She just posted a blog about it, so I want you all to go give her some love and read the rest of her blog too.

You can read all about her awesomeness here!

Yay for friends!!

Tuesday 3 January 2012

A Tuesday Ten Link Up Party

I don't actually think Miss Mommy is doing this anymore...

She hasn't done one in, like, 2 weeks...

Whateves. I'm still in. And if you all wanna link up with me, have at it. I have no idea what that entails though, so how 'bout just make a list, then tell everyone to come to my list and in my comment section post a link to yours? Work for you? Awesome.

This weeks list is all about my trip! Enjoy, my darling readers.

10 Things I Am So Looking Forward To:


1. Seeing my parents again. This should be an obvious one. My mum and I have one of those mother/daughter relationships that you hear about but rarely see. My mum is so awesome. We are very alike, and we have a lotta fun together. She's my best friend, I have missed her so much. My dad and I are very close too. Even though I am so much like my mum, I am a lot like my dad in different ways. We are both very content to just sit in silence, reading. That is true bonding time with my dad. I can not wait to see my mum and dad again!

2. Seeing my grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins again. I haven't seen most of that part of my family since my wedding in 2009, I haven't seen my mum's mum since 2005.  None of them have met Aislynn. I am so incredibly excited for my extended family to meet my awesome daughter. I'm sure they're going to fall in love with her. I am a little disappointed that they don't get to see Cuinn, especially since my granny has never met Cuinn, and I'm not sure when they will ever meet. She wasn't able to come over for the wedding, and I really don't know if and when Cuinn and I will get over to Scotland again. I'm not going to focus on that part. I'm focusing on the positives baby!

3. Cirque Du Soleil! I have almost seen Cirque 3 different times! Each time I have planned to go, something has come up and I wasn't able to go. This time though, there is NOTHING that will stand in my way. I am GOING and you can't stop me!

4. Our bus tour of London. It's going to include the Parliament building, London Eye, Big Ben, and I'm sure more awesome touristy sights. It's going to be a fun day for sure.

5. Meeting all of my parents' new friends. My mum has talked about all these interesting people, and told me stories and it will be great to be able to put names to faces.

6. Travelling with Cuinn. Cuinn has barely been anywhere, so I am so excited that he is getting this opportunity to travel somewhere. Plus, who doesn't like to travel with their best friend? I think I might be more excited about Cuinn travelling than myself travelling. I've been to Scotland and England, Cuinn hasn't. I'm so excited for him!

7. UK Chocolate and candy. Seriously. Once you've had real chocolate, all the crap you buy in Canada will just never taste as good again.

8. Landing. After 7ish hours on a plane with my darling baby, it's gonna be so fantastic to be on the ground again. I do not like flying at the best of times, but by myself with a 10 month old? Oy vey...

9. A vacation with Cuinn. We haven't had a vacation in...umm...probably since our honeymoon? It;s going to feel so good to just relax and not have to do anything but just be. Cuinn works so hard for us, I am so looking forward to just being a relaxed family. We might not even come back. Just kidding.

10. Fish and chips. Real, honest to goodness, English fish 'n' chips in a newspaper. Oh man, I can feel my hips getting bigger, and I'm so not going to care.

So, come on, show me your Tuesday Ten!!!