For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

1st day of school

I thought about Selim all day.  At lunch I looked at my watch and realized that he was a half hour away from getting on the school bus for the first time.  I walked home after work and knew that I could stop in to the local market to pick up the peanut butter that I forgot yesterday because it would still be too early for his call.  He gets out of school in 15 minutes.  I'm not sure what time the bus will drop him off.  Heather took pictures this morning and posted them on Facebook so I could see what he was wearing and how happy he looked.  I'm so grateful for all the technology advances that makes me feel closer to home.

My body was stressed today for some reason.  I woke up with a huge nose bleed, got a monster headache around 10:00, my ear started spasming at lunch and I got another nose bleed when I was cooking dinner.  I don't know what the message from this is supposed to be, but I'm trying to pay attention.  My headache and ear pain has subsided now, so I think I will be able to get a good night sleep.  I'm already in my PJ's and it isn't even 8:00.  The mug of decaf Earl Grey is cooling and I'm winding down.

And I think that is about it for today.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Home alone

I'm sitting down on the couch, US Open Tennis on the TV with a cup of Fortnum and Mason Earl Grey Classic Decaffeinated tea and a shortbread cookie, proud of myself that I made it through the day without crying.  I really missed my guys when I walked to work.  I've been accustomed to the family banter, holding hands with one or both of my guys,  and getting hugs and kisses at the corner of the Embassy before I go in.  Today the blocks seemed to take forever and I missed the hugs.

The day passed by quickly.  Unfortunately, I bought the wrong size tights and didn't realize until I was about six blocks down the road this morning.  And I had been so pleased with my outfit.  I brought the dress from home but hadn't worn it yet.  I paired it with my black and white sweater jacket, the tights and my knee high boots.  I was less than thrilled when I felt my tights slipping down before I even got to work.  I spent the whole darn day trying to inconspicuously hike back up the tights.  Argh, sigh, swear word.

I ate lunch at my favorite cafe/sandwich shop and wrote postcards.  I'm not sure how long they will take to reach the US.  I had a chance to send them via US pouch or Royal Post and I opted for the Royal Post.  I've been here over two weeks and those are the first I've sent.  I usually don't eat at the cafe, but take my sandwich to go and take it to the park.  But it looked like it might rain any second, so I opted for a table under their awning.

After work I went in search of a larger grocery store.  I thought I had copied down the address correctly to a store in Marble Arch, but when I got to the address, it was some fancy bank.  I ended up taking the bus to Greater Portland Street and finding the market there.  It wasn't as large as the one in Camden Town that Vinny took me to on my first day, but the selection was bigger than the corner market one block down from my flat.  I bought fruit, bread, pasta, lettuce, and lentils and potatoes for soup.  I managed to carry it all back to the bus and then home.

I hadn't been in the flat for more than ten minutes before I got a call from home.  Yeah!  Selim, Mom and Nedim had taken Selim to meet his new teacher and get a feeling for the new school.  From their reports, it seemed like it went well.  I am still having trouble believing that my lovey lamb is starting first grade.  He is such a big boy and growing up.  Luckily he has only two days of school before taking four days off for Labor Day weekend.  His body is going to need some time to adjust back to east coast time.  I'm glad he doesn't have a full week ahead.

This tea is so good, I'm going to have to return and buy more.  When we were little and returning back to NH after being with Dad in Laguna, I remember putting tortillas in our suitcases because the markets close to home didn't sell them.  This may be like that, only with tea.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Bank Holiday

Today is a Bank Holiday in England, so the Embassy is closed.  Next Monday is Labor Day in the US, so the Embassy will be closed.  I lucked out in my timing.  Not having to go in today made getting my guys off to the airport much easier.  I was able to pack and go through the flat without rushing too much.  Vinny came around 8:00 for tea and before taking them to the airport.  Since Vinny had his van, seating was limited and I didn't go to the airport with them.  That was probably best, but no less difficult in saying goodbye.  When I signed up for this program, this scenario is not one that I envisioned.  I didn't think I would be separated from my family for a month. 






After pictures, hugs and tears, they drove off and I went out.  I didn't want to be in the flat without them.  I took the tube to Green Park.  I went down a side street, looking for a craft store that I thought I had seen in a google search.  I ended up at Christies and the art district, but not craft store.  However, I did see a silk scarf in a store window that I fell in love with. I went in, knowing that I could never afford it, but I wanted to touch it.  It was a patchwork scarf made up of other silk ties.  I lusted after this and at 395 pounds (pounds, not dollars), there was no way I was going to purchase.  I had to be content for holding it for one minute.  As I stood there with it in my hands, I pictured getting home and cutting up Nedim's ties and buying others just to try to replicate.  Clearly, I'm not going to, but you get the idea of the level of my desire.


 From there I walked back up to Piccadilly to Fortnum and Mason where I lingered.  I made the right decision yesterday in not making Selim suffer through more of my house wear looking.  Because I was by myself, I browsed the Christmas ornament section, china settings, teas, and packaged food areas.  I bought more tea than I will drink, but tea bags will be easy to pack.  I also bought a small box of Turkish delight candy.  The saleslady started to wrap the box and tie a ribbon when I interrupted and told her it was just for me so no need to go to the trouble with all the ribbon.  She gave me this odd look and just put three layers of stickers on the outside of the box.  Very secure.  No powdered sugar is going to escape.




From there I continued down Piccadilly until I got to Piccadilly Circus and the Eros statue.  That statue is proving hard for me to photograph.  My pictures come out either too dark or too light.  I'm having trouble figuring out the settings on this shot.  But at least a few of them came out better than the one I got from the tour bus last weekend.



I turned left onto Regent Street and walked north.  I stopped in a china shop, looking for a pretty tea cup but none of them struck my fancy.  I took a picture of Hamley's since I didn't do that yesterday.  Then I went into Liberty again, to buy a needlepoint kit.  I spent so long in that store but I couldn't make up my mind.  There was a kit of a night London city scape that I liked, except for the fact that there were only four shades of blue and three of yellow.  I thought I would get tired of the wool before I finished.  I haven't seen a place where I could buy skeined needlepoint wool to change up the project.  There was also a little elephant pillow, but I didn't want to spend $45 on a project I wasn't in love with.  I ended up walking out of there empty handed.




When I got to Oxford Street I turned left.  I went into a couple of clothing stores and a big department store in search of a nice dress or jacket.  I tried on lots of dresses.  At some point in the dressing room I realized that I was so hungry, that I had lost my ability to think clearly.  So I went down to the hosiery section and bought two pairs of tights.  Buying tights under the guise of retail therapy was OK.  I kept walking until I got to my regular weekday bus stop just up from the Embassy on Gloucester Place where I hopped on a bus and went home.  I'm not sure the mileage on my day, but it was enough to help me hold back the tears and forget the sadness of the morning.

This last picture was taken last night when Selim was posing with his police paraphernalia that he has accumulated in London.


Sunday, August 28, 2011

Best playground ever

This morning we got off to a rough start. The three of us were in the bedroom and Ogun and Sadia in the living room.  Selim woke up early and we kept him from going into the living room for over an hour.  He was so cranky and full of sass.  Then it hit me, he is leaving tomorrow and he tends to get his hackles up right before a change.  When I expressed that I was sad thinking about his leaving tomorrow instead of how tired I was at hearing him argue with me, he started to cry and then I followed.  He crawled into my lap and we hugged and cried.  After that, our day got better.

We ate breakfast, Turkish style, with the TV on the hurricane coverage on in the background.  It is hard to be away from home and be worried about the house and boat and be powerless to do anything about either.


We all walked out together and took some pictures.




Then Selim and I took the bus back to Kensington Gardens so that he could play in the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.  I think that has to be the best playground ever.  There are so many different areas, made for different age ranges.  We were there over two hours, may be close to three.  Selim made a friend, played on the ship, went into the tepees, rode the wooden sheep, and just had a great time.  At a few different times it felt like it was going to rain, but we never got more than a couple of drops.  If I had brought lunch, I think Selim could have stayed there all day.









But I dragged him (metaphorically) to the tube and onto Regent Street.  I wanted to see if I could get a little something at Liberty for Mom and Heather.  We weren't in there too long, but enough to know that I will be back without him.  I saw a few potential needlework canvasses that I would like.  Then we went to Hamleys to pick up a birthday present for Jacob, something for Joshua and a new toy for Selim to take on the plane (inshallah, hurricane permitting) tomorrow.  That toy store was too much for me.  Too many people, too many toys and too many workers demonstrating products.  We didn't linger.



After catching the tube up to Baker Street, we walked home, carrying our packages, pretty happy with the way the day turned out.  Now we are about to embark on the beginning packing stage.  I've still got some of the laundry in the dryer, but we should be able to start the piles and figure out will go in his carry on and what will get checked through.  Part of me is procrastinating because I don't want to say goodbye tomorrow.  As Selim says, "It's going to be tough."

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Fire alarm and a lovely day

So last night we had just finished our family cuddle time on the couch, watching soccer followed by carrying Selim to bed when all of a sudden, the most piercing noise blasts through the flat.  Fire alarm.  It is so loud that I panic and turn around in circles, trying to figure out where it is coming from.  Clearer headed then I, Nedim runs downstairs to make sure their isn't a fire.  He comes back up, stuffs towels and his briefcase up against the alarm in the bedroom where Selim is still sleeping, unaffected.  I go and stand by the door where the other alarm is blasting, with my hand pressed against the alarm, muffling the noise.  Nedim goes back outside to see what is going on, call the apartment manager and see if anybody can figure out how to turn the blasted siren off.  After a few minutes he comes back in to say that it is coming from the second floor.  The alarm stays on, piercing my already sore ear for an hour and Nedim and I take turn standing with our hands pressed against the alarm unit.  Mercifully, Selim wakes up once, looks around, Nedim tells him not to worry, and he falls back asleep.  The drama ends at 11:00 when they figure out how to turn off the central alarm, located in the small gym.

Selim wakes up this morning as says, "I had a great sleep last night, didn't you?"  I just stare at him, amazed that he really wasn't affected by the hour long, incredibly awful alarm shrieking.  In good humor, he ate two breakfasts and was eager to go on an adventure with me.  We parted company with Nedim at the bus stop -- Selim and I on our way to Marble Arch and Nedim to go do guy things with his brother or Vinny.

We rode the bus from Baker Street to the Marble Arch stop.  We took pictures of the horse head sculpture/statue.



From there we walked through Hyde Park and on to Kensington Gardens.  Our destination was the Peter Pan statue.  A kind lady offered to take a picture of Selim and I and the statue.  She caught me at an odd moment, but at least it has the two of us.  Selim and I both enjoyed finding all the creatures at the base of the statue.  I also liked all the other fairies.






When Selim had had enough of Peter Pan, we continued walking south, towards the exit that would take us to the Science Museum.  But first we came across three swans.  The white on we nicknamed showoffy because he/she followed us and seemed to desire the camera attention.  I obliged.  Then a small dog got into the water and all three swans started hissing.  The dog was properly intimidated and got right out.




As we were exiting Kensington Gardens, we saw the Albert Memorial, another great photo op.  We walked all around, taking pictures.  Towards the end, Selim sat on the stairs and I managed a few shots of him, relaxed.







Then it was on to the Science Museum.  He had been there earlier in the week and knew just what he wanted to show me.  I saw Amelia Earhart's plane, the space suits, space capsule, the huge spinning globe and the motor boat.  We also spent time in the interactive area making patters from rubber hexagons, ripples projected floor pond complete with fish, and a booth where Selim got in and made patterns on the wall.





At the end we hit the gift shop without doing too much financial damage and left.  We got onto the street and realized that we missed a rain storm because the street had huge puddles.  We then went into the Natural History Museum.  The reason that Selim had not seen the dinosaur skeletons earlier in the week is because the guys had gone into the Victoria and Albert Museum, not the Natural History.  No wonder Selim had gotten so bored.  I think we were too tired to truly appreciate the Natural History Museum.  We had walked in a side entrance, so we missed the big grand entry way with the diplodaucus skelaton.  The queue for the dinosaur room was so long that we didn't go through it.  So we missed the T-Rex.  But I took a few pictures of the gorgeous interior and the diplodaucus.






As we walked towards Harrods, we fortified ourselves with rice cakes and peanut butter that we had brought and some broken up cookie pieces.  I enjoyed seeing the lovely exterior of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  I will go there at some point after the guys leave.



Then we went to Harrods.  We were on a mission to get some rose and violet cremes for Selim's speech therapist.  The place was packed and I went a bit overboard.  I lost my ability to discern and ended up with more chocolate and tea than I really need.  Oh well.

Luckily there is an underground station right there so we were able to ride home easily.  After a quick stop at the market for bread, juice and cereal, we came back to the flat.  We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grapes.  Selim is now on the couch watching cartoons and I'm in the bedroom with the laptop and European golf on the TV. 

As we were walking home, Selim said that this had been a great day.  It was.  We laughed, walked, held hands and enjoyed being together in London.  Tomorrow we might hit up Fortnum and Mason and Liberty.  But I might need to pack the suitcases so I can determine how much extra they can carry back, hurricane permitting, on Monday.