Winter Snow

OK, now we all know I grew up in New England and Frank in Canada...both cold places in the winter. We know Seattle, not known for its cold weather, had record breaking snow falls last year and generally has a cold snap some time in Dec. and January....you would think that a little bit of snow and cold weather wouldn't bother us.....but, let me tell you...THESE OLD HOUSES ARE NOT INSULATED!!!!

Ok the first problem is that we are heated by hot water. This seems fine enough, but once the temp. dips below the 40's, no amount of hot water gets the house warm, in particular...the floors. I now wear socks AND slippers just to get across the kitchen floor. Lest, you think it is just me...the boys now steal my slippers and FRANK puts on MULTIPLE LAYERS in order to go downstairs in the morning! For those who don't know, in Seattle, Frank, wear shorts and t-shirts year round inside and out! The second problem is all the other things for which you use hot water. Say , for example, you wanted to get up and take a nice hot shower, well, you can do that as long as the heat is turned off...so your choice is a cold shower and warm house, or freezing house and hot shower. Now if say more than 1 person wanted to take a shower in the morning, how many others need to freeze while this happens?...the answer...all of us!

Laundry is the next event, those of you with multiple children know that if a day ends in 'y" then laundry must be done. Now with this un- insulated house, I have found that if I do a cold water laundry, the water is so cold, that the detergent doesn't dissolve and the liquid detergent just congeals, so I have to do warm...but only if I turn the heat off and god forbid if someone is even thinking about taking a shower as they will only get a tiny trickle of cold water.

We are now in week 2 of weather that hasn't gone much above freezing, snow still covers our yard and we alternate between mildly warm and freezing as we attempt to bathe and wash in merry old London.

Think of us next time you take a hot shower or walk barefoot in your heated houses!

Joe Won

OK. I couldn't go to bed without adding this snippet. Having never watched any of the reality shoes back home, the schools are all abuzz with the X-Factor. So after much searching we found it and it has become a favorite of the weekend, seeing if our favorite singer will make it through. Tonight, our lad that we routed for from the start WON!!! We were a wreck watching him and will promptly go out tomorrow to buy his CD. Some of you may find it in your Christmas packages! He is this 18 yo from a small village in the middle of no-where with a voice that just blows you away The boys are thrilled and Bridget, of course, has added him to her short list of those she would marry :)

Apologies

Well, as you can see I have finally added some new pictures. After our "stuff" arrived it took me 2 weeks to get out of boxes. The last week was the worst as now there was no room left and I had to decide what to put in our attic...which I had to bring a ladder in from outside and climb into...and what we might use in the near future. Do you know how many Q-tips come in a Costco size package...enough for 3 years by my count..those went to the attic. All those throw rugs I thought would come in handy...just something I'd have to vacuum..attic. But the box of school supplies, paper, books and all important Legos made the cut for the main floor. I then spent the next 2 weeks searching for shoe racks and storage units for toys...every local person I asked said the same thing...if you find them, let me know....who knew this was to become a quest. After 2 weeks and much despair, on a road trip to Costco(where I took a friend who had never heard of it before...she is addicted and needs to go back..she couldn't believe how big it was and what you could buy...I left her for 1/2 hour in a giant pile of Hugo Boss men's jeans as she hunted for a Christmas gift for her husband..she kept saying...do you know how much these are in the stores....oh my!) but I did find shoe racks and storage units..they aren't the most beautiful, but everything fits :)

Thanksgiving was a great time to catch everyone at home cooking so we enjoyed chatting away. Here, the kids had school, activities and Frank had work, but we pulled together the littlest turkey I have ever seen(7 lbs) and all the fixings and even had apple pie for dessert.

Here the world is full on Christmas. We have had both schools Christmas Fairs..odd events and my children now know what a "tombola" is. It is a raffle, 3 chances for a pound, and you pull out 3 numbers, they either match something on the table and you win it..or not. Sadly, no one won anything and my children learned another lesson in gambling...much like the racing pigs.

School for Bridget chugs along, but for the boys it seems that it is all about the Christmas Pageant at this point. Matthew and Nick are both in choir and Nick is doing 2 readings. The performance in this week...so I will report back on that.

Rugby has continued, although cancelled to due rained out fields one week, and this weekend Bridget's team had a Christmas Party.....I was to drop her off at 2 and return at 3 to collect. At 3 Frank went for pick up, whereupon he was privy to the games that occur at an all male(but for the 10 girls on Bridget's team) rugby party.....there were no left overs, they were throwing rolls in the air toward their tables...nothing ever touched the ground.

Bridget's team was invited to be Ball Girls at a local club match(the London Welsh). The next thing we knew we were in the stands watch a Rugby game and these HUGE men...think mountains with legs...are out there playing and throwing and piling on each other and when the ref blows a whistle, I look out and see my daughter, blonde pony tail flying in the wind, running to center field to hand in a new ball...how exactly did this happen? She could get eaten alive by these men! At the end, the players were lovely, taking pictures with all the girls and invited them and us to join their after game banquet, we got a rugby ball and they all signed it for her. The boys were too busy playing their own game of rugby out on the field in the now pouring rain to be bothered with autographs.

I went to 1 of 2 Christmas parties for Frank's office..after drinks and Secret Santa at their office, I met them at pub #1...a Rugby match had just ended, so we and the rugby supporters, stood outside in the 30 degree weather with beer in hand and someone(not from Frank's office) organized a Christmas carol sing along....did I mention we were all out in the street at this point...cars would pass and the crowd would squish to the side a bit and wish them a Happy Christmas as they passed. We then moved on to pub #2, where there was food, a band, promises of karaoke, and dancing and of course, 1/2 of people standing outside on the street, drinking singing etc. We left before the full karaoke started to train home....let's just say, the trains during Christmas party season are..exciting.

We are busy with Bridget's High School applications(done I think!) and she took her ISEE exams on Saturday. The boys and I went to the Zoo and had some fun...the wart hogs were the favorite as we just finished a book called "Olaf and the Pig who would be King"..really and in the end, the pig does become King...long story.

I have tried to send out most of my Christmas cards and packages, but ran out 1/2 way through the cards...so if you get your late, I do apologize, there is no such things as 1 hour photo at least for cards and such, so we had to get creative!

I figured I better get this out and the next few weeks promise to be busy, the kids get out on Friday and I will have the job of keeping them occupied until Christmas comes. We plan to ski for New Years..hoping there's enough snow!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday preparations , we miss you all!

Thanksgiving

This is our cute little Thanksgiving Feast..not bad for a Thursday night after work, soccer and basketball!. The rest are from the town of Birmingham. It is an old industrial town that they have renovated and refurbished the old mills along the river and canals. It has the largest Christmas market outside of Germany...we went, we ate, we shopped 'til we dropped! The large water fountain is commonly known as "The Floozie in the Jacuzzi"

Guy Fawke's and Mayor's Parade

Here are pix from Guy Fawke's/Mayor's Parade. Yes that is the mayor's chariot being drawn by some 12 horses. There are no end of odd groups that marched...yes..PEA's..the pea growers association is quite important!


Yes, this is a giant pork chop..you have no idea how big pork is here...a whole aisle in the grocery store is dedicated just to pork!
And yes, it was pouring rain..but we hung in there.