Bee and Paddy were due to be off school today as it is 'teacher appreciation day' so the teachers go in for a fancy lunch and a massage in the afternoon.  Well deserved.  Mac has pre-school but due to MORE snow they are starting an hour later than usual so despite it being a 'school day' 7.20 has been and gone without the normal 'get in the car NOW!' yells etc.

It is one of those days where you know driving on the roads is going to be bad and you only go out if you really have to.  Again.

 I am due to return to the nutritionist on monday having kept my food diary pretty religiously.  After baby Rory the weight has not come off like it did with the others but I alsthink I have been comfort eating more.  My cholesterol was still high and I wanted to really try to do more about it. 

I have done the Aitkins sort of diet before and lost weight rapidly and then binged on pastas etc  - on everything you are not supposed to have.  After my talk with the nutritionist I noted a few things.

1.  I don't eat proper meals.  I will be on the go and just snack when I get hungry here and there and just eat what is at hand - often 'junk' very rarely a sit down plan it snack/meal

2.  I do not drink enough.  When I was there and she did thev tests I was borderline dehydrated.  I had this during pregnancy too.  Living 5280 above sea level you are supposed to drink more anyway, but I rarely did - or maybe I drank Diet Coke which really didn't hydrate me much at all.  Back in 2004 I had kidney stones which were agony to pass (think natural childbirth) and they can also be caused by calcium build up and being too dehydrated.

3.  The only hot drink I like is hot chocolate.  I love the smell of coffee but hate the taste.  I am the person holding up the drive through Starbucks queue if they have even put a smidging of coffee into my drink..  On Nutitionist's advice I have tried teas these 2 weeks.  I have about 5 boxes of different teas sat here and I hate them ALL.  I have tried sugar, honey, milk added here and there but there is just an undertaste of tea I don't like.  I would rather not drink at all than have to drink that which rather defeats the object.  But I have drunk a lot more water than normal - and I am making the habit of taking a fresh bottle of water into the car every trip (that in itself is at least 4 a day).

4.  Yes I am busy and run around all day with the kids but the majority of that is in the car, dropping off and picking up.  I spend a lot of time in the car which is not burning calories.  I used a pedometer last week expecting to reach over 10 000 steps easy - it was an average day and I think I got around 6000. 

5.  The majority of whole grain healthy stuff tastes like cardboard.  And anything remotely tasty is either too high in sugars or too high in fat.  I had better be getting cholesterol well and skinnier soon is all I can say.

I think I am losing weight a bit.  I will say I have more energy.  I will say I am grumpier - a lot of it is I have no 'nice' food  to use as treats.  I am having bad PMS/T this time and I hate it.  Had blood tests to rule out thyroid issues last week and will have other blood work done if I don't improve.  I want to be left alone which is impossible with the kids etc.  I am short with them and I chastise myself for it later.  My patience is nil with silly things like getting them in the car or their constant noise.  Hubby is home more with his new job but is expecting some kind of medal for this it seems.  He actually said yesterday 'What did you think it would be like?  You didn't think I would do more at home did you?'  He just seems like another child sometimes. 

God I need some chocolate. 

In the kitchen I have a large plastic box with most medicines in that we use quite often. Well I say quite often but when I get the box down from the top shelf there always seems to be one bottle of mixture that has somehow managed to topple over and deposit just enough goo to make everything else a tad sticky.  Usually I have most pain relievers for the children and their cough mixtures etc.  We like the Lemsip capsules from UK and always try and stock up on them when we are back - causing worried looks from the cashiers in Boots - I have now learnt to buy a box whenever I pass a Boots in our fortnight there rather than try and buy 10 boxes at once.  Anyhow we are currently out of Lemsips capsules so hubby, who was so c l o s e   to  d e a t h with his mild cold last week, had to use Tylenol.  But there is always a box of something or other that is out of date.  No matter how many times I check the box (ok then just when I bring it down to need something).

The box with more first aid items is upstairs in the bathroom.  Not sure  if there is any logic in this - it was just the room we unpacked it from when we moved house.  So I have a cut on my heel.  Not sure if it is a cut or just a cut that has come from cracked heels.  Have ignored it really and only remembered it when having to put on/take off boots.  I thought it was healing fine but it seems quite hard where it is joining - actually it doesn't look like it is joining and the hard bit made me worry I had a 'foreign body' in it or something.  So I soaked it well last night, gently rubbing it - seeing if anything came out as it softened (no).  Then went to the first aid kit which luckily I have rarely had cause to use.  Just as well really as the sealed antiseptic wipe I found (probably a bit over the top but everyone was in bed and I actually had time to do it - will probably be 3 weeks before I look at said foot again).  Anyway, this wipe had a date by which it should be used.  10/02.  As in October 2002.  mmm.  Bit out of date then.  It was still moist and I still used it but it shamed me to think I may have had to resort to using it on one of the kids.

 So just returned from a big First Aid stocking up spree from the shop.  Antiseptic wipes. sprays, different plaster (didn't actually need those but they come in handy - always have some in handbag/car just in case and Mac spotted 'Cars' plasters (honestly) and on this occasion it was easier to say yes).  Bad parent.  Anyhow I am sure I was an advertisers' most guillable shopper as I bought lots and lots of things that a Dr would probably say is really not necessary.  But I am now in code for pretty much everything.  Fall ill outside my house and you will be in safe hands!  But forgot to buy Orange juice.  oh well.

I got a mention re books over here

http://www.platform27.co.uk/BookBuffs  and it reminds me that I should be reading furiously.  I have my book club on Tuesday and yet again i have left it quite late to buy the said book.  On Thursday night it was really snowing here, weather conditions deteriorating and well below freezing.  But we had to drop off Bee near a large bookstop so I dragged the boys into the shop and tried to find the book in the Biographies section where I had been told to look.  Nada.  Asked a really unhelpful assistant who did me the huuuuge favour of looking it up on her terminal.  With a sigh and a shrug she huffed off to retrieve it.  But she returned to tell me it was 'one of THOSE books.' 

'What do you mean?' i asked, assuming there was some book secret language going on here that I had been unaware of all these years....

'Yeah,' she sighed 'It's one of those that says we have them but they are never actually on the shelf.  So we don;t order anymore as the computer says we still have them....'  You get the gist.  No joy here.

Then mentioned this to hubby later - apparently his new office block (still haven't been) is next to another huge book store so I gave him the title and author etc and he called me a few minutes later saying it is out of print and not readily available as it IS after all from the late 1900s. 

Mmm.  I had the book in my hands a few weeks ago and there were references to ICUs and airports... Not very 1900s.....

So found the book Friday and I have read some but it is gonig to be one of those (so far at least) I just read to finish rather than love to read it.

'The year of magical thinking' by Joan Didion.  Anyone read it?  Any views?

Am I being harsh?

OK.  How long do you spend doing the laundry a week?  Quick survey.  See if I am way off the mark.  I mean sorting it, loading it, drying it/ pegging it out, ironing it/ folding it, putting it away. 

 Mundane I know but...

Just curious.

When going away I am not one of those people who can cram it all in a rucksack.  Maybe it comes from having the children and thinking through 'what if scenarios.'  Or maybe it is just me.  Having said that even with all our US - UK trips and with the exception of the last 2 years there were sometimes 3 or 4 of these jaunts a year, I have never ever had to pay excess baggage.

When we went on honeymoon it was a surprise destination.  Hubby had done a good job of putting me off the scent.  I would walk into a room and he would quickly put down a map or a guidebook that I would then find later.  It was Lake Tahoe and camping areas.  I was not thrilled.  Before we were packing, the day before the wedding he told me to pack some jumpers, trousers and walking shoes.  I was really gutted but tried to smile through it all.  He told me to put some pans and tins of soup in  a box and how long did I think I would be able to stay in the car without going crazy?  Needless to say... this was not my idea of fun.

Flic to day after the wedding and he actually films me on the honeymoon suite balcony as he hands me tickets -to a swish hotel in Hawaii.  I am actually on film looking vert tired saying 'But you can't drive to Hawaii can you?' as i had been so brainwashed we were going to be in the car!  Anyhow, hubby (then fiance had basically unpacked all the things I had packed in anticipation of the camping trip, and repacked for me - just a few things for the honeymoon.  It was probably the lightest case I have ever had!  And I did fine.  Well we did once the cases arrived as they missed the connecting flight... but this has been his mantra ever since - well ever since I have always packed a lot and he has said 'you know we're only going for a week/ 2 weeks and they DO have washing machines......

Bee is so excited about our forthcoming trip to Mexico she is making packing lists (she is 8).  Not even I do that.  She is sorting out her closet to put Mexico clothes to one side.  Hubby told her today that we will only be taking 3 sets of clothes each as there IS a washing machine.  She rolled her eyes behind his back and I thought 'Good on you Bee, my sentiments exactly'

So do you think hubby will be using said washing machine on his holiday?

Do you ever phone someone and and then when they answer or further in the conversation even, you think 'Uh oh, I should not have bothered' or you can tell that they are not really in the mood to talk and you just want to get out of it. 

When I phone someone, especially someone with children I always ask if it is a good time to talk.  Always do that if you have friends with kids.  I mean if you are potty training then a friend phones  talking about her run in with the butcher.... it  is not really high on your list of priorities..... I get that.

I phone people on impulse - that is my problem.  But today I called a friend in UK (the times actually worked for once) and it was just awkward.  We phone and e-mail all the time but today it was just not really there.  Strange.  I got off the phone and felt needy.  She had made me feel needy for wanting to talk to her!!

Ah well........

Why is it, that some Americans feel the need to do their best impression of an English accent when they hear me talk?  Do they think they are the first to have done this?  Or do they actually think their impressions are anything like a British accent???????

I cannot do an American accent - I am the first to admit it.  So I don't try.  Ever.  Even if people ask me.  And I find there are very few Americans who can do a true British accent.  And then there are those that THINK they can.  Like the woman last night who didn't even know me, heard me talk and then decided to answer me in her 'British accent' and then burst out laughing.  What she said was not funny so I looked a bit perplexed before I realised she was laughing at her 'great' rendition of a British accent.  And I gave a sickly smile but secretly thought 'you are a mad, so not even funny  and not even close love!' 

She was very in your face about everything I found. 

But it is hard to do accents.  I am always surprised by actors I think do it well.  Hugh Laurie is brilliant on House and I thought Renee Zellweger was superb with her accent as Bridget Jones but they have dialog coaches for a reason - to get really good.

Another person I think great at accents is James McAvoy who is actually Scottish it seems.  I loved him  in the few series of Shameless they have shown over here and I saw a trailer for 'Starter for 10' which has him as a 'down to earth' student.  Whilst I haven't seen thev film I think he could have done it with a brilliant Yorkshire accent or even kept his natural Scottish tilt - I'll know more perhaps when I see the film.

An American once told hubby he sounded like Prince Charles.  That is like saying that Sara Cox sounds like the Queen.  So far off the mark.. Even after 10 years I can only say with certainty a New York accent...... So I don't guess and I certainly don't guess out loud on things I am not sure of.  Almost as annoying as the people who say they have been to London and had a lovely taxi driver called  Dave and they SERIOUSLY look at you as though you should know Dave the cabbie from London.  Almost as bad as the American woman who had been to my home town. 'Wow!' she exclaimed!  'I know that place - I had a bladder infection there and it was terrible!'  Even I was speechless for once with that one.