Living in California

Ramble 13 - 3rd September 2009

facts/fiction and rants

 

The yank women and men cant drive or park, their attitude seems to be one of shock that someone else feels they have the right to use the road

Californian wine is actually really good – apparently they dont sent the good stuff abroad, cause they get top dollar for it here

I had to take the 15 balloons I had blown up for Ciaras tea party at her nursery home....balloons are a choking hazard- and didn’t i know that?!?

-   My response of ‘so is food’ didn’t get past my brain, for which I kick myself regularly

If I hear another...I think your accent is soo cute...I may resort to rudeness

 

They (mostly ladies) like anything not from the US...anything a bit different

They LOVE kids and will tolerate anything the kids do

 ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ are not in the vocabulary of 75% of US kids/adults

People regularly refer to someone they know who is stood next to them as ‘he’ or ‘she’....VERY rarely by their name.

Ciara is considered petite and her blonde hair/brown eyes seem to be winning the day – Caron you were right!!

 

There are ALOT of ‘alpha’ types here. Eg

    Mustang or Porsche drivers revving up the arse of your car so they can pass you between lights (attire is split between wearing posh hoodies or hawaiin shirts!?!?)

Everyone complains about the price of fuel in the US and cars are now being sold on how economical they are, nothing new in this,

Fuel is still 4 times cheaper here

An economical car is one which does 30 mpg...according to the adverts?!?! we are still trying to understand how the same cars as in the UK do 40 mpg....?!?!

 

Yesterday I found myself swearing at the mad woman coming towards me....didnt she know she was on the wrong side of the road..?!?! then the penny dropped...I was the mad woman driving on the left!

-   Ironic considering my comments above.

When turning left on a green light you still have to keep your brain engaged because pedestrians crossing the road you are turning into have a green light as well.

And guess who has right of way....yep, the pedestrians.

 

8 miles today in 75 minutes and 10 weeks of training to go. Looking forward to this pain being over.

I have my first girls night tomorrow night, courtesy of the Scottish ladies. I am almost over excited...which does bode well for my staying power.

Toodle pip.

Ramble 12 - 10th August 2009

This morning its hot all around. Ciara has a temperature of 103.4 (39.5C) and whilst returning from her paediatrician appointment the car told me it was 30C at 10am.

I rang the doc at 8.05 and Ciara had an appointment for 8.50....thats pretty impressive. She doesn’t have all sorts of ‘things’...which were reeled off to me one by one with some gusto. But as I was holding Ciara and trying to stop Tom pulling the doctors laptop off the examining table I took no heed apart from the phrase...keep her cool, bring her back if she vomits violently, doesn’t wee or still has a fever in 2 days.

She has a bed on the sofa and is dozing whilst watching the kids channel here (sprout)

 

My guess is that all the excitement of her birthday (3 cakes, 4 tea parties and minimal sleep) followed by a day at a new state park and then another day at the academy of sciences in ‘the city’ probably took its toll.

 

On Saturday we discovered why the summer is known as MDS (Mexican drowning season). We went to ‘Shadow Cliffs’ state park.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/shadow_cliffs

It was packed with lots of Mexican families, all barbqueing, swimming and generally have a great time. Alcohol is not allowed in state parks in theory and with the amount of police at this one I was surprised some managed to get a wee bit drunk. The swimming attire gives away the lack of swimming ability, Matt reckons its one of the ugliest wet teeshirt competitions he has ever been too....prompting me to ask how many he had been too!!!

MDS – the families flock to lakes or the coast in the summer, have a few beers, have a few fights and in alot of cases someone ends up drowning.

We didn’t see anyone drown. We did see a man lie down about 20 yards from us and not get back up – no one could wake him....eventually someone called the lifeguard, who called the firebrigade who were closely followed by the paramedics!! It was the highlight of alot of peoples day. We were literally surrounded by 200+ people.

 

The academy of sciences in golden gate park is definitely going on the ‘to do’ list for visitors. It has its own rainforest, a planetarium, a swamp and aquarium. I think the tropical rainforest humidity may have been the start of Ciaras downfall.....a wee bit energy sapping for a newly turned, tired 3 year old.

 

Half marathon training has started. I am eating like a pig and drinking smoothies with ‘protein’.....oh and the occasional bit of running - up at 6.30am on Sunday to get an outside run in before the heat of the day.

It was 25C by the time we finished....really not pleasant L

 

Below is yet another reason to go by Dee and not my christened name......YUK!!

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p13034/index.cfm?pkey=cfree%2Dshipping%2Dpillows

 

Ramble 11 - 3rd August 2009

Berkley made me smile. When I came here on the ‘house finding’ visit in February I had an image in my head of the area and houses I would looking at.

You know, Starsky and Hutch esk communities, wrap round verandas, children playing basketball in the streets, every house different, lots of trees.....

As the folk who have been over will testify, we live in high end suburbia. For Thame folk- Its like Pickenfield on steroids....10,000 houses all with more square feet than most small UK hotels.

My point is that Berkley was more like the vision I had in my minds eye. Its the most liberal city in California, with the most educated ‘bums’! It has alot of character with the added benefit of funky shops.

I was directed to a Belgium Butchers, a French bakery, the largest grocery market/shop in CA and a lovely childrens toy shop. The clothes shops will be on the visit.

 

Lots of lovely news from Thame this week and not being there to hear it/celebrate it/guess it made me a wee bit sad.

The sadness I felt was alot less than it would have been a month earlier, before my ‘cherching’ or light bulb moment.

I am living in a lovely place – fab weather/facilities/loads to explore, with 2 great kids, a very happy hubby and the opportunity to try new things.

How many people get to do that? I ‘copped on’ to  myself and am now busy avoiding being collected and trying to figure out what should be next on the to do list! J

All suggestions welcome.

 

Experiences this week:

Tom got his first tooth and blew a raspberry at me

Ciara is swimming like a fish and definitely developing an attitude

I got drunk and had a curry (a Methi is very different here!)with the Scottish couple who live by the park....he got me very drunk (1 bottle of vino in 40 mins, without me knowing!!)

-   They gave us the low-down on the other ex-pats and some of the ‘stalker’ Americans to watch out for!

I am being ‘encouraged’ to join the ‘holistic moms network’, they are into home schooling and patient parenting....they really dont know me!!!

http://www.holisticmoms.org/aboutus/

Tilden National Park was explored – we swam in the lake and fed the pigs!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilden_Park

 

 

Ciara turns 3 on Thursday, I have a Dora cake, party hats, balloons, candles and presents wrapped.....I am not sure who is more excited.

Matt is in Chicago and not happy to be missing his little girls face.

Lots of pictures will be posted on facebook....if I can figure out how to use my camera.

I hope you are all having a great summer. We are averaging 25-30C during the day....a wee bit cooler in the mornings.....and I definitely am no longer blue/white!

(how to make friends....not!)

Ramble 10 - 19th July 2009

Its a been a really lovely, busy, entertaining 10 days. The good news is the house copes REALLY well with 6 visitors.

 

We have been told about a very good Chinese near us, recommended by a Chinese ballerina we met on my birthday, her and her secret service husband had a fantastic story to tell

.....he rescued her when she had been kidnapped whilst dancing over here – only in America. J

The week has been a mixture of margaritas and white wine. The celebrations of a year older have coincided nicely with my brother and the family Gwilliam’s arrival.

It has been lovely to have half drunken conversations with English folk who I can be myself with....I got the bitching out of the way early.

Helen very kindly took me shopping and rivalled the renowned Katie Phillips in the ‘persuasion to purchase’ stakes. I now own a maxi dress (probably wont mean much to the lads!), several new tops and a lovely pair of seven jeans J I maybe heading back to the Nordstrums shoe sale – they have uggs for $99.

Eleanor Gwilliam (8) is a firm favourite with Tom (and me) she fed him like an expert and could always make him smile.

 

Tom has his first cold and has gained looks of horror when his nose, streaming with green snot has been seen entering the gym crèche. I am such a bad mother!! J J

We took the Gwills swimming to help cool down (it averaged 99 after 12 noon this week). The consensus is that the Americans rival the Swiss on rules. Between the bog standard rules you expect: no running, jumping and diving we also encountered, no standing the other side of a white line?!?!, no children on your back whilst swimming/standing (strangulation risk) and absolutely no floatation devices allowed...BUT for $4 for the day you get 3 pools, one is a 50m pool, one young childrens water playground, one whirly slide, 3 proper diving boards (which you can dive off in a very regulated fashion), inflatable tyres play area (only their inflatables allowed) and several covered areas to eat your picnic/snack or generally to stop arses burning in the heat.

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wv4cc14zRXJ6GBQzBmGfkA?select=XaUeXDziwZht1fJt7Zb8nw

 

The Gwills have been the dry run for future visitors, they were willing guinea pigs and have many experiences mapped out for do’s and donts. I am putting together a list of what to do’s etc and have a collection of tram tickets/maps and links already building.  One pointer is to remember it is alot cooler in SF, especially in the mornings. The sea fog doesn’t burn off till 1pm and if you are out on the bay going to Alcatraz there is the sea breeze as well. We have been 15 - 20 degrees warmer than SF city this week.

 

This week we also had an unexpected visitor. Ollie used to work with Matt and has been travelling down from Vancouver on his bike (BMW GS aka ‘the long way down’ McGregor/Boardman fame) since May. He popped in for a bed, some beers, a bit of English conversation oh and didn’t come home after a day in SF !! J The security of knowing his bike was locked in our garage probably spurred on his enjoyment. He was great company and we sent him on his way with skype installed and our US numbers for emergencies.

 

 We have been ‘watching’ the cricket via the BBC text service.....you cant get the iplayer outside of the UK....very frustrating.

Next week Kevin is golfing, we are going to explore Berkley and I may have a day off the wine J

Ramble 9 - 5th July 2009

Its happening again, I cant find cordial. So off to the ‘ethnic’ aisle in one of the most expensive supermarkets around ‘Draegers’

 

Robinsons barley water – ‘$8.49’ the fecking thing had “Only £1.99” on the label!?!?

Heinz baked beans – ‘$1.49’

Maltesers (small packet) ‘$1.89’

 

Our first 4^th July:

We went to my parents friends house in the hills this weekend. Beautiful, haven of cool weather, swimming pool and Ken the Margarita man.

Frozen mango with berries, lobster tails and rack of lamb...their other friends played pass the baby and Ciara was set up their spare bedroom, renamed the ‘princess room’.

Matt had 3 vodka (grey goose) martinis and slurred his way through the evening. Very funny.

We walked Bodega Bay (of The Birds-Alfred Hitchcock fame) Beautiful. Followed by barbequed oysters....with various sauces....I wasn’t sure but can recommend.

Bodega Bay and further up the coast is lovely –I think another trip will definitely be planned.

 

Learning points:

Traffic is shit on holiday weekends.

San Francisco is NEVER known as Frisco or San Fran....the locals REALLY hate it. SF or ‘the city’ is OK

There is a wine train through Napa which comes highly recommended

Pedestrians have right of way on the roads, hence none of the kids look before crossing the roads (very scary)

Ramble 8 - 26th June 2009

I found plain RISOTTO rice?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This feels like a turning point to me. I am starting to be understood in supermarkets, the driving is coming more naturally and plain simple foods are revealing their hiding places to me.

I have enjoyed several ‘mad’ moments this week, usually involving talking to myself/Tom; dancing in shops; wearing Ciaras hair clips in public; leaving my handbag anywhere and everywhere except with me.....and I get away with it all because of the accent. Its as though there is an expectation/acceptance of me being as daft as a brush. This place could grow on you!! J

 

Its official I am going native...I have an obn/gyn aka a gynaecologist!! I was in and out in 30 minutes, it was faster than Matt! J

 

We went to the park down the road and Ciara needed ‘to go potty’ ... you see I am getting with the lingo. I braced myself for a blocked loo, stinking of piss etc

Reality was no smell, 3 rolls of soft toilet paper, the toilet flushed, soap in the dispenser, hot and cold water oh and a full roll of hand towel.

 

Matt’s in Chicago this week and Ciara hasnt been asleep once before 10pm, Tom is waking between 5 and 5.30.....oh and the house alarm goes off about 3am.

Today Ciara had no afternoon nap, a 30 minute energetic swim session, 2 hours in kids gym and lots of food....if she doesn’t sleep tonight I will resort to drugs tomorrow.

 

This morning I had a bit of a chin wag with some English ladies (veterans who have been here 15 years) the general consensus is that you never become immune to the implants/surgery results surrounding you here. We all had a jaw dropping moment when XL spacer hoppers walked past on matchstick woman. Apparently she was married to the ‘grunting’ chiropractor.....?!?!

 

This weekend it is supposed to hit 100. I have an evacuation plan formulated, involving swim suits/portable barbie/food and a large lake in the hills.

 

Alcohol consummation this week = one bottle of chilled pinot grigio.....Wednesday evening J I am hoping to double that tonight.

Enjoy your weekends folks.

X

 

PS vickery past it? me think so

Ramble 7 - 14th June 2009

Hello all

A bit of a mad week here.......

My cousins visited (the wacky ones sister and her hubby ‘the judge’)– great fun but 2 hangovers later and I have had a week off the booze and lots of sleep

My uncle has cancer - 6 months to live - looking like I will be back in eire for a funeral within the next year

My brother is getting divorced

Vomiting number 1 child and teething number 2 child

It never rains....oh except when we come to live in San Ramon – the weather is apparently freaky.... ie there is rain (I would call it less than a very light shower) and clouds. Its still averaging 70+ and they are moaning!?! Some people just don’t know when they have it good.

 

I have found a lovely boutique, where I wont be spending money J Unfortunately, no shoes or makeup!

http://shopoliveboutique.com/

 

Oakland Zoo last weekend:- http://www.oaklandzoo.org/

Monterey Aquarium yesterday:- http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Del Valle national park next weekend:- http://www.ebparks.org/parks/del_valle

 

This is like an extended holiday. Several people have asked about the honeymoon period and if it has finished yet......erm nope.

Apparently between 3-5 months is the average....the beginning of July is 3 months. God help the Gwilliams who are coming to stay, I have asked for their drinking boots to be packed to help me get through the depression which may or may not hit!. Mrs Gwill was wrapped round the white telephone by 8pm at our wedding but she has several years of drinking practise under her belt since then! J (Sorry Hel!)

 

Ciara gave herself a bit of a scare in her swimming lesson. She stepped off the step whilst reaching for her float. On a positive note, I am hoping it might give her a bit of fear/respect for the water. She had none and with the number of pools in back gardens here, it was a real fear for me.

 

We picked up our new lease cars on Friday and sneaked in a lovely meal in china town...Goldie Hawn ate there J J a top tip for when you’all visit.

 

 Can I have a vent? SETANTA...what crap timing to go bust?!?! There we were lined up to watch the first game....shit though it may have been...and nothing to see on Setanta!

We have found an alternative...obviously for another yearly subscription.

Did I mention we saw Eire play USA at rugby over here.....? shit game – sponsored by Setanta...hope they got their money up front!

 

We are picture hanging tonight – its almost like home. J

Dee

 

PS apologies to those I havent replied to yet, I am getting there slowly.

x

Ramble 6 - 6th June 2009

apologises for the timetable of my rambles....like busses....you don’t get one for weeks and then 2 in 2 days.

I need to tell you about my wacky cousin (32 times removed). She rang to tell me I couldn’t wax my legs at home (sorry guys) because she had just seen a TV programme about a woman who had waxed her legs at home and they (the legs) had fallen off. I laughed alot.

Now, I didn’t understand why they called this lady wacky....I think it was a translation thing, wacky = mad as a badger.

The gym, for people watching is brilliant. I honestly have never seen so many smooth/shiny ladies in my life. Shiny cheeks, noses, foreheads and space hoppers....alot of them could do with their turkey necks getting sorted...it really is odd to look at.  When they smile you can only tell cause you see a glimpse of sparkling white (and perfectly straight) teeth. Their skin doesn’t move.

Then there are the fully co-ordinated moneyed...I have been here forever...matriarchs. Most have gravity defying boobs and the odd one has a sense of humour. These ladies are bored with too much money or bored worried about losing their looks/husband housewives. They all love kids and you could feel sorry for them. You can literally see the plastic melting when they spot a child. Tom pulls every time he gets into the changing room. And they ‘love’ Ciaras accent!

I have embarked on a mission...a half marathon is the aim. I swore blind I wouldn’t do another but what the hell. I have coerced a welsh lady into training with me.....after our first run (3 miles) we sat down, talked for 2 hours and drank a bottle of wine between us. We had a chat and decided possibly the wine wasn’t going to help. After the next training session, I got a migraine....and had to sit on the couch for 3 hours. Wine after the next run me thinks. The run is going to be on Big Sur.....stunning scenery....see link below. Anyone fancy a trot on 15th November?

 http://bigsurhalfmarathon.org/site4.aspx

Tea tonight was shrimp off the barbeque. Very tasty and very like being in the UK cause its raining J

So much for no rain after May.....it has been warming my heart to have a bit of british unpredictable weather here.....except they have been forecasting it would rain today for 2 weeks.

Michael Fish could learn a thing or two from the weather guys here.

Ciara has settled in nursery, Thomas is the next Lewis Hamilton, he takes no prisoners – no toes are safe from his speedy pursuit in his walker!

We a week booked in the Galapagos Islands in October for Matts 40^th....sans kids!!! J

Ramble 5 - 4th June 2009

In our cultural training we were told of the large religious communities here, explaining the number of churches I see around. And Ciara takes this time to learn ‘oh my god’ (with full hands to the face gesturing)and ‘bugger’(actually, its usually bugger, bugger, bugger....just in case anyone missed it first time round) as her phrases of choice.

I have got my defence of ‘cultural differences’ at the ready. ‘Damn’ is a REALLY bad word here and ‘pissed off’ is totally acceptable for all to say..

 

During the last few weeks we have had a wee bit of an ongoing parking battle with the house opposite. Apparently (the gospel according to mum – see below) they have 6 cars they dont park in their own triple garage or outside their own house. To be honest i didn’t really notice but it really got my mums goat....I obviously wasn’t keeping her busy enough cause she was curtain twitching over 3 days to discover whose cars were whose. I have canvassed several Americans, the UPS delivery man, the at & t man (aka telephone man),the furniture removal guys and they all tell me the neighbours attitude is ‘disrespectful’. The reason for my irritation is less the ownership of the curb outside the house and more my apparent inability to reverse an SUV out of a double garage around said cars. I hate admitting to being a girl but my parking/reversing has gone to rat shit.

 

Words/expressions I have found myself using

‘thats really great’

‘cookies’ aka biscuits

‘great job ‘....I tried to get Ciara to say this and was told off.

I still cant say chips instead of crisps and I am not understood when asking for a glass of water – its my funny accent

 

It was teacher appreciation week at Ciara’s nursery, me thinking in English teacher mode, I figured I could get on their good side by offering wine. Having laid the ground work, I asked the teacher if she drank red or white wine and was told ‘alcohol is not an appropriate gift’....more cultural differences me thinks.

 

The furniture has arrived. It feels more real now. It all looks very small. Only now have we realised American houses don’t have window sills and although the houses are huge there is a lack of practical storage space. Eg the kitchen – loads of cupboards but only the first shelf (33%)of all the head height cupboards is reachable without a step.

 

More is sanity on the horizon....met a lovely Scottish lass who pays a mean game of squash and she happens to live opposite the park 300yds drive away.

Just need to sort out a play date and check they do drink......do bears shit in the woods?

Ramble 4 - 19th May 2009

Apologies for the absence, I rambled without wine about a week ago, Matt’s proof read comment was ‘they cant all be amusing’, ensuring you all had a weeks reprieve! J

 

Monday 11th

I didn’t ever think a hangover could be such a cause for celebration. Luckily Saturday was a scorcher so there was no chance of rehydrating a cracking headache all day L Not that I am complaining you understand.

I just may not be rushing back to red wine with such gusto – not that there is much left after last Friday! J

 

The hangover was due in part to the arrival of the pool table (clutching at straws to justify a drink me thinks) the pool table is now installed and number 2 (a freebie) arrived today (Monday 11^th)

Apparently if you get something damaged here, you get a new one....no questions asked.....can I ebay something that big (300lbs)?

 

Ciara loves her swimming lessons, whats not to love...an outdoor pool, heated, with Miss Carrie aka Pamela Anderson as the teacher. Buoyancy aids not needed, the teacher provided her own.

 

Lessons learnt

Swearing on a squash court is not allowed, its in the rules....and yes, shit counts!

White wine spritzers are a more sensible drink in 80+ degree heat

I had forgotten how much your ‘butt’ hurts after your first game of squash in a while

IKEA is the same the world over

 

Monday 18th

I have met a few cousins (32 times removed) whilst here. One is definitely out there – they call her the psychic or wacko one, another just got engaged (a wedding in new Jersey for me next June), the wackos husband – a very chilled/patient man and an ex-rodeo man – now retired, with one eye and a very prominent limp....can you spot which ones are blood relatives...?

One lovely couple own a vineyard.....and thats not their only selling point! No American ‘good jobs’ and very robust constitutions where alcohol is concerned....they introduced me to my new drink of choice, frozen mango margaritas. Their house is an oasis of calm with a sea breeze, heaven on earth.....I found it. J

 

Highlights this week:

I have realised my mum is leaving (tomorrow in fact), reality will be one less pair of hands to grab children, cook and even worse iron...I may actually have to interact with the locals now, to find a cleaner /ironing lady!

Ciara has been potty trained....we started a week ago today and haven’t had an accident in 4 days! Unfortunately Ciara declares ‘I have done a poo poo mummy’ when she needs to go....we had ladies walking away in disgust twice today in Macys, obviously assuming the worst.

The farmers markets here are FANTASTIC, with lots of samples of fruit, strawberries so sweet and priuots (apricots/plums) I had never heard of but love!...breakfast on a Saturday morning for visitors me thinks.

 

One last thought.... How many husbands can ‘miss’ two mothers days in one year.....? Just mine then?