Um, hi....

Hey, would you look at that - it's been 6 months since my last post. How did that happen? Oh, I know, it's because I'm not really much of a writer. So, how have I been? Good, can't complain, really. It's not like I haven't been busy in the last 6 months. Ever since I joined Crossfit in April 2012, it's been like a whirlwind of busyness. Well, not really, but I'm definitely busier than before I joined. I still go twice a week most weeks, sometimes more. I've been gaining strength - I can now clean 105 lbs, snatch 75 lbs & deadlift 205 lbs, so I'm definitely improving. I need to work on my mobility, my cardio &, well, everything but weightlifting, really. Not that my weightlifting doesn't have room for improvement. It totally does. I've made so many friends at my gym, though, so even though I'm still as lazy as ever, my friends keep me coming back.

So, what else has been happening? Andrew & I travelled to the UK again, in May. That was a blast! Andrew had to go for work again, so we were in London for the first 3 days. We stayed in a pretty ritzy area this time - Mayfair. It was still within walking distance of the cafe I worked at when I lived in London during the summer of 1992, so I walked up there a couple of times for lunch (once with Andrew, once without). I love exploring that part of London, lots & lots of money there! On my way from the hotel to the cafe I passed 4 luxury car dealerships (shopfronts, really) - Porsche, Jaguar, Rolls Royce & Bentley (where I saw a Bugatti Veyron, for reals - when I told Andrew that he had to go check it out for himself!), several antique galleries (really ancient Roman, Greek, oriental antiques - very very cool), fashion boutiques, a yacht "store" (just models in that one, but even the yacht models were gorgeous - and that's coming from someone who is NOT a fan of watercraft). Of course I had the same crepe I've always had at "my" cafe - chopped bacon, cheese & sour cream, folded up into a parcel of yummy, yummy goodness. I had the same thing both times I went to the cafe this time, and I was so happy to be able to finally, FINALLY bring Andrew to the cafe for a crepe (chicken & asparagus, in case you're wondering), after 22 years! After London we rented a car & drove to Birmingham for the day, so I could check out the huge security show they hold in the UK every year. It was a chance to meet my European customers & salesguys, plus it was free & had free wi-fi, so it was a chance I couldn't pass up! I hadn't told my Toronto co-workers that I was attending, so they were very confused & surprised to see me. That alone was worth the trip! From Birmingham we headed to Shitterton, to stay again at the 500 year old farmhouse that we stayed at the last time we were in the UK 4 years ago. We were able to spend lots & lots of time at Monkey World this time (last time we arrived 1 hour before closing, so we really had to rush past all of the apes & primates), it is such a wonderful place! One of my favourite places ever. It's right next to a tank proving ground (you know, army tanks, not storage tanks), so after Monkey World we headed to the tank museum next door. Had a lovely lunch, then checked out hundreds upon hundreds of tanks. Well, Andrew did - my feet gave out after the main hall. The next day we headed for Cardiff, to the Doctor Who Experience, which was totally geek-tastic! Well worth the drive! We had lots of yummy, yummy food, including a great lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian (we'd eaten there in London too, for a "work" dinner). Really really good food! We also checked out the local Crossfit box to get some shirts for our Crossfit friends. From there we headed back to London for our flight home. It really was a wonderful trip, and I can't wait to go back.

Since we got back it's been a whirlwind of family visits, Crossfit parties & get-togethers, BBQs with friends & just general living. Andrew's mum has been here for a visit for the past 2 weeks, she heads home tomorrow. One free weekend, then I'm off to the Ladies Fall Fit weekend, which I'm pretty nervous about. I'm not fit at home, let alone in the wilderness, camping & such. Plus the current forecast calls for buckets of rain that weekend. Figures, doesn't it?

Adoption-wise, there's been no news. The program continues to evolve, which will impact us, of course, but we're not sure in what ways. It's still open, though, so there's that. Still we wait, 5 years & 4 months since we started the process. Not sure how much waiting I have left in me. We met with the agency director in July, which was a good meeting, and very informative, program-wise. He couldn't say how long we would be waiting, though, which didn't surprise us. So we continue to wait.

Well, I think you're caught up now. I can't promise that I'll write more often, but I'll try. Maybe my next post will be a really, really good one?

It's been a long time...

since I posted anything of note. In fact, I had to look at my blog to see what the last significant posting was that I made. If that sentence wasn’t grammatically clunky, I don’t know what is. Anyhoo, on to the update.

OF ADOPTION SIGNIFICANCE: Going in chronological order: Andrew went to the agency on October 20 to drop off the updated paperwork we had gathered for our file (see: So Much Angry, So Little Time) & to “chat” to the file manager (not The Idiot) and to the managing director. The visit went well, really well, and it sounds like they are walking on eggshells around our file, which is what should have been happening all along (in a good way, I mean). They bent over backwards to help him, and even showed him where we are on the list (according to the director, we are 4th in line to receive a referral for a baby girl up to 18 months old at placement). They said they would be very surprised if we don’t have a referral in the next 6 months (so, by the end of April). That is great, wonderful news – I’m just having a really, really hard time believing this will actually happen. We’ve been waiting for so long (we started the paperwork 3.5 years ago, been officially waiting for a referral for over 2.5 years), and so much has happened (bankruptcy, Idiot paperwork bungle) that I am terrified of putting all my hope in this, and having my heart smashed into a million pieces. There have been a couple of referrals for infant girls recently, so that is helping me keep the faith.
October 21 – We are advised that The Idiot has decided to leave the agency, for personal reasons. Whether or not that was the only reason, who knows. All I know is – he messed up our file & did NOTHING to fix it. He waited until I went to someone else for help, & they discovered the problem. Apparently, he also bungled other families’ files, to varying degrees. Whatever the reason he left, I am glad he is gone. Yes, it puts more work on those employees still with the agency, but at least the work will be done correctly. Adoption is life-changing, and shouldn’t be taken lightly, or for granted, by any of the parties involved.
Right now – We’re still waiting on our stat dec paperwork, but we’re told that it should come in very soon (heh – we’ve heard that before!). We’ve paid the appropriate amount to the correct people, so everything is in order. And we can still get a referral, even if the stat dec isn’t quite ready yet. We’ve been working a bit more on the baby’s room – we moved the “spare room” dresser from the spare room into the nursery, and moved the tall dresser from the nursery to the spare room. The “spare room” dresser is much lower than the tall dresser, and we can use it as a change table with the addition of a foam changing pad, so that is space-saving! When we went to Buffalo 3 weeks ago we went to the Fisher Price World Headquarters in East Aurora as a side trip (nice little town – you should go!) and bought a high chair (the sort you put on a normal kitchen chair) and a diaper bag (a plain dark brown bag that Andrew will not be ashamed to carry). Slowly we are amassing all the ephemera a baby could ever need (well, except for the essentials – diapers, wipes, food, etc).
Also right now – Our friends are in Ethiopia RIGHT NOW picking up their son. I can’t believe he’ll be home for Christmas!

OF FAMILY SIGNIFICANCE: My brother is having colon resection surgery tomorrow, to remove part of his colon that has been damaged by his colitis & to fix some related damage. According to the doctor, once he has recovered he will be able to eat normally again, and will feel like he has never had colitis. That, my friends? Is music to my ears. He’s been suffering for the better part of a year with this beast called colitis & I will be SOOOO HAPPY to see him back to his old self. In related news, my niece continues to be TOO STINKIN’ CUTE, and even used the potty willingly for the first time the last time we were at her house (about 2 weeks ago)! Hooray for childhood milestones! She has a brand new cousin, too, born at the end of October. Lucky girl.

OF NO PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE: We’ve started our Christmas shopping and are about two-thirds finished. I’m very pleased with the choices we’ve made for our loved ones, though I really do need to get cracking on my brother’s stocking (we pick names out of a hat to see whose stocking we will fill that year – I got my brother). I have been hinting that I’d really, really like something from Tiffanys this year, before become a family of 3 & money is more tight. I’m not sure that Andrew is getting the hint, though. I learned some cool things while we were shopping in Buffalo earlier this month: Pandora charms are significantly cheaper in the States, it is possible to get a Coach bag for less than $120.00 (including taxes!), Black & Blue Steak & Seafood is a REALLY nice place to eat, and, if you’re going to a Sabres hockey game, there will always be a competitively priced parking lot much closer to the arena than the one you parked in. I learned that last one the hard way, but at least I got some exercise!

So, that’s where I’ve been. I’m looking forward to this upcoming holiday season, to seeing friends & family, to kicking back & enjoying good company, holiday movies (Elf 4EVA!) and tasty nibbles (I’ve got this jalapeno popper dip recipe I’m dying to try out). And who knows? Maybe Santa will leave something extra special (a referral!) under my tree…..

ALAMO SUCKS, consider yourself warned.

To start off, I would encourage anyone who reads this blog (all 3 of you!) not to rent a car through Alamo, at least in the UK. I’m about to explain why, but suffice it to say, we are getting harassed & threatened by them for NO REASON except their incompetence. Here’s a brief description of what’s been happening since we rented the car in the UK in May of this year.

- Picked up the car from Heathrow on May 28. We had originally booked (and PAID FOR) a basic car while still in Canada. Since we were going to drop the car at Gatwick, we paid a little extra for this privilege. When we picked up the car we upgraded to the next level up & also requested & paid for a GPS (and also paid for the upgrade).
- Returned the car to Gatwick on June 2 & settled the account. We thought this would be the end of it. How wrong we were.
- During the next 6 months our credit card was credited & debited 6 times for various reasons (insurance, damage waiver, theft waiver, some other mysterious charges). They also sent us an invoice for GBP 372.51, for a car rental we had already paid for. We were confused but not too worried at that point. Andrew called & email Alamo to try to sort it out. He got a confusing, nonsensical response.
- On Dec 23 we received another invoice for GBP 372.51, this one stating it was the FINAL NOTICE!!!!, and failure to pay this account within 7 days (mind you, the invoice was dated Dec 7) would result in legal action & damage to our credit rating. FOR AN ACCOUNT THAT WE HAD PAID FOR 7 months earlier. It also stated that we had been blacklisted & would no longer be able to rent from Alamo anywhere in the world. No problems there, we won’t ever rent from them ever, ever, ever again. Seriously.

So, let’s review – we rented a car, we paid for the rental car, we were debited (4 times) & credited (twice), and now we apparently owe GBP 372.51 for a rental we’ve ALREADY PAID FOR, all because of the incompetence of Alamo. And we’re being threatened with LEGAL ACTION for an account we settled in good faith 7 MONTHS AGO. We’ve copied our travel agent on the correspondence & recommended that they not use Alamo for their other clients. Alamo are treating us as if we rented the car & deliberately did not pay for this privilege, when the error is entirely their own. If this is how they treat their customers, I wonder how they are still in business. In this day & age, this kind of customer service is DISGUSTING. In this recession, you’d think businesses would be striving to keep customers happy, to encourage repeat business. Alamo clearly thinks they are above this way of thinking. Shame on you Alamo, shame on you.

Please pass this story on to anyone you think might benefit from it, I wouldn't want anyone else to get screwed by these people. I want to get the word out there - DO NOT RENT FROM ALAMO!

UK Trip, days 5-7

Day 5 - This was mostly a driving day. We headed out to Heathrow fairly early to pick up the rental car. After lengthy negotiations, Andrew manages to secure an upgraded car (Saab Aero) for some extra bucks. The extra bucks buy us more legroom and, more importantly, a GPS. We were off to Scotland! The GPS paid for itself by getting out of the area surrounding the airport with no wrong turns. With the amount of round-abouts in the UK, I'm sure we would have gotten completely lost without the GPS. Thankfully, Andrew has lots of experience with round-abouts from growing up in Australia. We got to Edinburgh at about 6.30pm, though it took us an extra 30 min to find our "guest house" as the GPS did not take us all the way there. After a bit of griping at each other we decided to stop at a pizza joint & ask for directions, because if anyone knows the neighbourhood, it'll be a pizza delivery guy. Anyway, we finally arrived, too late to do any sightseeing in Edinburgh itself. We had a little dinner and then headed up to chill out in the room. Well, it wasn't actually chilly, as it never really got too cool in Scotland when we were there, which hampered our sleeping efforts. Also, our room happened to be above the hotel bar, so if we opened the windows too much we got a room full of smoke & noisy patrons. Awesome.

Day 6 - Had a hot breakfast, including haggis (we went all the way to Scotland, we had to say we'd tried haggis). We only tried a little bit each, but it stayed with us for quite a while. It wasn't awful, it just had an odd taste & texture. Then it was off to Inverness, by way of Fort William. You could really tell when you'd reached the Highlands, the mountains were just spectacular. I've never really been around mountains like that before so it was quite a treat. Sure, they're not the highest mountains in the world, but they just go on forever. I took lots of pictures from the car, and they actually turned out - all hail the sports setting! All over the place there was this small yellow shrub that I can't identify & it's driving me nuts. Anyhoo, we stopped in Fort William for lunch and a little shopping. We bought my dad a quaich & a little bottle of scotch (which he doesn't really drink, and won't be able to drink for a while - until he recovers) from the local distillery (Ben Nevis - which is also the name of the nearby mountain, the highest peak in the UK). We also scored a nodding/bobble-head Nessie for the car! We do love our odd bobble-heads. We still miss Louis, the bobble-head lobster that was stolen with the first Jetta. Sigh. Moving on, we got back on the road to Inverness, passing by Loch Ness in the process. No monsters were spotted. That is one big loch. Part of the reason I wanted to go up to Inverness is because of the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon, so it was great to see the scenery in that area. It's going to add a new element to the books, which I plan to re-read (again) in anticipation of the new book, which will hopefully be out this fall. We passed a small herd of hairy Highland cattle on the way into Inverness - so cool! They are just about the cutest cows you'll ever see (but then I kind of have a thing for horses & cows & sheep etc). We finally reached Inverness about 5pm. We checked into the B&B/guesthouse & headed out for dinner. Then it was back to the guesthouse for a little TV, then sleep. Well, we tried to sleep. The bed was VERY firm, and of course it was pretty warm with the window closed, so we opened it to let in some breeze (and traffic noise, and bird noise). Of course, no one thought to mention that because Inverness is so far north, the sun doesn't set in the late spring/summer. So it's like dusk from 11pm-6am. That didn't bother me so much, but it did get to Andrew. My issues were with the hard bed & the thin pillows - too thin for just 1, too thick for 2. Gah!

Day 7 - Had a good breakfast (a nice mix of cold & hot foods), then headed out to the Culloden Battlefield Interpretive Centre, which is near to Inverness. Again, it was awesome to be somewhere I'd read so much about in Diana's books (even though they are fiction, they have elements of actual historical events). It was sad and a little chilling to see the artifacts of the battle - all the musket balls & broken swords, as well as mementos & items that actually belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie. One highlight of the centre is the 360 degree theatre, which shows a film based on the battle (no narration, just the battle). As you're standing in the middle of the room you hear the wind around you & see the grass & the heather moving with the wind. Then you start hearing bagpipes & the sounds of marching. Slowly the men come into view - the English army or the Highlanders, depending on which direction you are facing. They get closer & closer, facing each other. Then the English cannons start firing, and the muskets (with bayonets), and the Highlanders start yelling & advancing with their swords & shields. They never stood a chance. Like I said, it was chilling. Then the figures fade away and you hear the wind again. By this time you've reached the place where you exit the building onto the battlefield itself. Obviously it's just a field now. You get an audiophone & you walk the path. The audiophone activates at certain places on the path and you hear an account of the battle, often based on writings of people who were there. You pass by the Well of the Dead, where one of the big chieftains fell, the stones placed where the members of each clan were buried, and the big stone cairn commemorating the battle, which was put there over 100 years later (the battle was April 16, 1746). By that time it was almost 11am, so we hit the road to Skye, which was the other thing we had been planning to do that day. Turns out we should have allowed a whole day for Skye to do everything we wanted to do, but we didn't know that at the time. The GPS took us the long way around, through multiple one lane roads, but we finally made it. One of our destinations was Duncan House, which is an artisan studio about 30min inland from Broadford. It was well worth the trip, the Celtic knot jewelry there is made by the artisan on site. I bought a silver ring with thistles & Celtic knots (it's hard to describe) as my "souvenir of our trip" from the artisan himself. It was very cool. Then we went & had some lunch & headed up to Portree, to shop at Skye Batiks. We had also intended to visit Talisker Distillery but as it was already 3.45pm we thought it was too late, as it would take about 45 mins to get there & it closes at 5pm. So we headed back to Inverness the quick way. On the way we rounded the bend and all of a sudden in front of us was a castle (Eileen Donan), right on the shores of a loch! It was stunning. Another un-eventful evening, except for the finale of Britain's got Talent, and a Top Gear episode that we hadn't seen yet (but that happened to also be the first episode we saw when we got home).

We're in the home stretch now. Only 2.5 more days to go!

UK Trip, Days 1-4

Here is the long-awaited (heh - who am I kidding?) UK trip diary. I didn't actually keep a diary while this was all happening, so I'm dragging it out of the dark recesses of my noggin. Come along, enjoy the ride! Beware of an overload of information! I'll add pictures later.

Day 1 - Left Toronto at 12midnight precisely, the flight was surprisingly good for a "budget flight". Lots of legroom & my arse even fit in the seat! Huzzah! I heart Air Tr@nsat. Food was not bad, but not great either. I tried to sleep but the fool in the seat in front of me kept opening her window blind (every 10 minutes) so I kept getting a face full of sunshine. Grrrrrr. Touched down at 11.30am local time, got a taxi to the hotel & were in our room by 12.30pm. That's got to be some kind of miracle. Didn't do much that day, except book a tour for the next day & go out to dinner at an Argentinian steak restaurant. Food was really good, especially the cheese bread & chimichurri sauce. Slept surprisingly well.

Day 2 - We (Andrew, Andrew's boss & I) did a day tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Bath (well, the Roman Baths). We had to be at the pick up hotel (10 minutes walk away) by 8am so we got up too early for a vacation, had a quick breakfast of yoghurt (that we'd bought the day before) and hit the road. The bus actually picked us up at 8.20am & took us to the bus terminal, where we lined up to get on our actual bus. Arrived at Windsor Castle at approx 10am, when it promptly started raining. Didn't take too long to get inside & get our audiophone tour guide thingy. Why they think people are co-ordinated enough to walk & listen to an audiophone at the same time is beyond me. Or maybe I'm underestimating other people. Anyway, the castle was very cool but the audio tour was too slow, we were constantly getting ahead of it. We had to be back at the bus by 11.45am, but of course you get held up by the changing of the guard (the police won't allow you to leave the castle grounds until it's over at 11.30am). Then we quickly grabbed some lunch, as previously instructed, and hoofed it back to the bus. Drove through the beautiful countryside (it had stopped raining by then) to Bath. I love Bath, it's one of my favourite places I've been, it's too bad we only had enough time to see the Roman Baths, which were actually the one part of Bath I didn't see the first time I was there. That was also neato. Had just enough time for an iced mocha & some yummy chocolates. Then back on the bus & off to Stonehenge! Stonehenge looks pretty much like it does when you see it on TV or in pictures, but it's smaller than you expect. That might disappoint some, but I thought it was great! Amazing that it's been standing for so long. It's also really cool to think about all the people in history who've seen it. Then it was back on the bus & back to the hotel. My feet were KILLING ME by this point. We did a little refreshing, then headed out to dinner at this great Italian place called Alloro. I had the best fried goats cheese on a bed of spinach salad, and for dessert I had a chocolate fondant cake. Yummmmmmm. Andrew wanted to check out the hotel he used to work at (Brown's) so we headed there after dinner, and he had a good chat with the doorman. Then it was back to the hotel. Man, I slept like the dead that night.

Day 3 - Andrew went to work that day, but first he got us a yummy breakfast from the café nearby. I had a chocolate pastry twist & a glass of milk - mmmmm. Actually, I had that the next 2 mornings too. Soooo yummy. Andrew & his boss headed out, & I went back to sleep. I woke up at 11.00am & decided that if I was going to do anything that day I should get a move on. I decided to walk up to the restaurant I used to work at (Café Creperie). Why I decided to walk, when my feet felt like pieces of tenderized meat, I don't know. It was pretty cool checking out all the high-end jewelry stores (Bulgari, Tiffany's, Chopard, etc) on my way. I also got told by a lovely African man that I was "his kind of woman". Thanks! This baby do got a fair bit of back. Made it to the restaurant in about 30 min, which I was pretty proud of. Had the same crepe I used to love when I worked there - stuffed with bacon, cheese & sour cream. These are big crepes, about the size of a platter. They put the stuffing in the middle of the big circle, then fold it up into a square. Then they cook it on both sides. It was sooooooooooo good. The place hasn't changed a bit, but the area is a lot more built up than I remember. Then I headed to Selfridges, which is right next door. Selfridges was one of the first purpose-built department stores in London, and it's celebrating 100 years in business this year. Everything was yellow - they had yellow Coke bottles, yellow carry bags designed by different designers (the one I got is designed by Stella McCartney), yellow rock candy. There's lots of designer stuff there, but since there was no chance any of it was going to fit me, I headed next door to Marks & Spencer. I got a very nice grey cardigan there. By this time my feet were saying NO MORE! So I hopped in a cab & headed back to the hotel. The boys had dinner with work colleagues that night, so I got room service.

Day 4 - Andrew was working again, so I headed out early (10am) to catch a hop-on, hop-off tour. It was rainy & cool that day, so I stayed inside the bus. I hopped off at Westminster Abbey, another place that I missed on my previous trip to the UK. Loved it - I lit a candle for my dad. I grabbed a snack there (at 2pm, I hadn't eaten since 8am that morning). I hopped back on the bus for what I hoped was a quick trip back to my hotel. After another 2 hrs on the bus I was finally home. I didn't pee all day - gah! That night we went to a seafood restaurant (I hate seafood but the boys really wanted some fish). I had a great steak there, though, and a yummy chocolate pot. Andrew had oyster rarebit for dessert (it doesn't actually contain oysters, just oyster stout & cheese). That was yummy. That was our last night in London, but we were getting anxious to move on by then.

This is wordier that I thought (but it's a good way to remember my trip). I'll pick up the story in another post.