a letter

Dear friends and family,

Sorry I have taken so long to actually update on life since I've made it safely over here in the UK. There are several things that we probably need to catch up on. Such as, what was it like leaving, have I started work yet, what is the place like that I am staying at, am I doing alright, what have I done so far, have I seen any of my family yet, and probably plenty of other things you are curious about that I can't think of? We can't possibly touch on the plethora of things that we need to in just one post though. Could you even imagine the length of that monstrosity? No, we won't go there. We'll spilt this up, but where will we start?

A couple of these are easy. Work, no, I haven't started yet. I start on the 9th. Family, yes, I have seen a couple members of my family here. We met up in London and caught up for a bit. It was lovely.

What is my place like? Let's do a picture tour. This will be more exciting for all of us.

Random sidebar: The family I'm staying with is absolutely wonderful. I could not have asked for a more welcoming and kind family to randomly end up renting a room from.

Brief reminder, this is only meant to be a short-term accommodation. I will be looking for somewhere else to lay my head eventually, a place of my own. Most likely a flat, and then you can be super cool and say you have a friend who lives in a flat.

Now, please buckle up, and keep all hands and feet inside of the tour bus. First we have,

the view looking into my room from the hallway.

Then, when we turn left at the door, we find this old-ish fireplace type thing. Looks pretty awesome even if it is probably not used for fire anymore!

From the awesome green fireplace (which you can see in the mirror on the far wall), we can see where some of my clothes and toiletries are. Along with the sink.

In the next corner we have the radiator, desk, and shoe area. The window has a view of the back garden. This all is right next to....

the bed!
Last but not least, the wardrobe that is behind the door leading us back out to the hallway.

Now, my nephew asked me the other night, on video chat, what is outside that door. To which I said, "the rest of the house." I believe that is a prime example of being cheeky. Shall we do a picture tour of that next?

And by that, I mean the rest of the house.

i made it!

Well, rather I should say, the planes made it. I didn't really do anything; other than not get nasty to the two teenage girls sitting next to me, who could only speak Spanish, when they attacked me with their DS they were fighting over on the way to ATL. Things were redeemed on the way to Gatwick though. I had a whole row to myself. I got to "sleep" laying down :)

That's all I've got for now. Will update later. I'm sleep deprived, jet lagged, and have luggage under my eyes now. Must stay up at least until 7 or 8pm to have any chance to getting onto British time zone.....

Farewell home, for now.

"can i touch your hair?"

I was subbing in a 4th grade class today, and one of the girls from the class asked me that. She explained she wanted to touch it because it looked soft. All I could do was laugh, and then politely say no (you don't know where these kids hands have been!).

This same girl asked me if I was Martin Luther King's daughter; to which I was speechless at first.

(this is his eldest daughter pictured to the right)

I mean all it takes is one look to realize that I'm not his daughter...I'm very freckly and very white. Besides, I would have to be a lot older than I actually am (she had asked me earlier on how old I was because I look so young - confusing child). Another student asked her why she asked, and the first girl then realized that it's my last name that is similar to his first name. Ohhhhhhhh.....south florida....and their education system.....

Okay, but seriously, this might have possibly been my most enjoyable day of subbing! These kids were so good. I mean, insanely good. They got antsy towards the end of the day, but that's to be expected. It's a Friday and they are 4th graders. Let's face it, I was antsy.

There were these two adorable girls who waited for majority of the students to leave the room after dismissal and came up to me one at a time. Girl #1 looked a little awkward as she approached, looked up at me, said, "Thank you so much for everything today, " and then looked like she couldn't decide whether to hug me or not. I patted her arm and thanked her for being so great while I was with her. She went back, and the other girl looked like she did not know whether to come over or not and finally the other girl encouraged her to come over. Girl #2 looked up at me with Precious Moment like eyes, brought her hands up to her chest, and blurted out "You were the BEST and nicest sub we have EVER had. ever."

(that's her, sans the bee on top of her head)

Oh my gosh!

I told her that was the sweetest thing EVER! Adorable.
They started to leave and I wished them a fabulous weekend, and they looked back beaming.

I sure hope that whoever their parents are realize what AMAZING little girls they have.

medieval torture devices

First, I'll just put it out there. Yes, I knit. Don't judge me.


Second, that picture shows medieval torture devices; otherwise known as double-pointed knitting needles. They scared me.

Actually, they still do.

However, I've conquered this fear recently! Actually, it's quite sickening how much I have put them to use in the past couple of weeks.

It started out with my experimenting and making a pair of fingerless gloves, aka homeless man gloves. Then, my sister wanted a pair. Next, I wanted to see if I could make a hat. Now, my nephew wants a pair of red gloves. Well...he actually just wants ONE red fingerless glove, but I refuse to only make him one. If he decides to only wear one at a time that is his prerogative. It won't be for lack of having a complete set though. Maybe the way I view his fashion sense is how the older generation views my generations' fashion choices... That's for a different time.

Anywho, the hat is completed. We'll see how much use I put it to. Or even if I decide to keep it.
All I have to say is if I somehow managed to make this, anybody can conquer this feat!


P.S. 13 more days until the big move. Well, technically 12 since it's past midnight...

getting closer

My plane tickets are booked!!!
February 26th is the day I say "Adios Florida" and "Hola England"

I had some Hammar time on Thursday, and just to let everybody know we have decided that every Feb. 5th is going to be International Fringe Boot Day from now on. It has to be international for the mere sake that I'll be in England in next year, and she'll still be in Florida. We'll change that once she's done with law school though!

You should have enough time to prepare for next year...

In other news, today was the last day of soccer for Nate this season. The little man got "Most Improved" for the team. We're all very proud of him.

London's Calling

Well friends, got the call... (actually email).

I'm to be in London NO LATER than the 3rd of March. Yes, I've got my moving date and my start date at my new job; which is the 9th of March.

Beyond excited to have this set and to know that I am finally going to be done substitute teaching and doing data entry! Not that these haven't been good in between jobs; however, if I had to do them forever I might just pull my hair out one strand at a time from shear boredom... Not sure about you, but I don't think that I would look good bald.

bum-de-bum-bum

I'm officially back in SoFla, and I have been sleeping like it's going out of style.
It's a combo of coming back on a red-eye flight, this very strange congestion in my head, and the time difference between Cali and Florida. Feel like a bum-de-bum-bum...

In other news though! Got a call this morning from my recruiter concerning my short-term accommodation in London. She went to check it out yesterday, and told me "I didn't even know there were houses that big in Croydon!" It sounds like such a sweet deal and that the family I will be staying with is pretty chill. I don't have to sign anything up front, and I'll just pay on a weekly basis.

Things are coming together on the London front. Should find out next week sometime when I need to officially get my butt over there.