The First Month

I'm not sure I can even remember properly at this point.  I may resort to bullets to get through the mess that was our first month.

• Torrential rains and "thundery showers".   Uncharacteristic rainfall, even for England.  Picture the 5 of us traipsing around town in the pouring rain.  Only having light jackets, broken, wind blown umbrellas and a "push chair" (stroller) not meant for daily city treks.  Yes, we did. In fact, we hoofed it clear across town (which mind you, is NOT flat) in a thunder storm to see a house.  We had to find a place to live and for some reason Jason was adverse to calling a taxi. After that, we walked to town, had some dinner and then carried on another mile to see another house, only to realise it was too small and they wouldn't allow pets.  All in all we walked about 3 hours that day.  The kids were a little grumpy. On the bright side, we got a lot of exercise.
• Cait's pink eye was taken care of at the ER after a .5 mile walk to the bus stop and a short bus ride across town.  Thanks to NHS there was no fee for service.  Unfortunately, she shared it with me and I spent the next week feeling like crap.  On top of that, Brady got a stomach bug and threw up on the bedding in our temp apartment.  It was a self service apartment and we didn't have extra linens.  Someone walked to the store to buys some, while we washed what we could in the minuscule washer/dryer in the apartment.  The dryer part of that combo was a total joke.  It left the clothes about as dry as they would be if they had come out of an American washer's spin cycle. One night Jason used the hair dryer to dry Cait's sheets so the pink eye wouldn't spread. Thankfully, a friend let us borrow a drying rack, which is still sitting in my house!  Sorry!  On the bright side, I've learned to appreciate my washer and dryer back home.
• The fridge in this place was like one of those dorm "cube" refrigerators.  Basically, we had to go the grocery store everyday.  So much fun in the rain with no car. NOT.  On the bright side, I learned my way around town really well.

After looking at about 7 houses, we finally chose the one we are living in.  Things here are very different.  We wanted to live walking distance to the centre of town and bus stop, so we could get by with one car.  We had hoped to live on the other side of town, but that isn't how it worked out.  I still get a little pang of regret when we are down that way, but I need to let that go.  We have a house that is large enough (more than large enough) for our family and any guests that decide to bless us with their presence. We have a small front courtyard the kids can play in and the kids have been enrolled in a school that has very good reports.  Despite the "attempted break in" the first week we moved in, I feel safe here.  The stairs are a bit overwhelming, but again, more exercise, right?  I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting or just plain leaving out, but this will have to do.  Hope to be more consistent and a little more entertaining.  Right now, I just want to document what we have been through.  The second month promises to be just as exciting!  I do think we have turned a corner here.  Things are not perfect, but we are settling in.  :) Cheerio for now.