Week 21

This past month, a few other families with Keegan’s company relocated to London.  Spending time with them has brought back some feelings from our own first few delicate weeks of transitioning.  I have to say, I don’t envy them.  When I look back at that time for us, I realize now, I was hanging on by a very thin thread.  It’s so weird when I think about it . . . like remembering a foggy dream . . . going through the motions of waking up, eating, getting Liam to school, etc. etc.  It was kind of like camping in the woods.  I was having fun, yes, but everything was just a tad on the uncomfortable side.  Really, I think I just turned my brain off for a while . . . complete survival mode.  Put head down, get things done, don’t look back, don’t look ahead, build fire, eat chocolate {if we are continuing with the camping analogy} just keep moving, don’t stop.  The keep moving, don’t stop part . . . Liam helped with that.  But once I dropped him off at school and came home to an empty flat, that’s when the homesickness would creep in the door.  I am a firm believer that God puts certain people in your life at certain times for a reason.  Here in London, when we first arrived, that person was B.  I have mentioned her before in a previous post, but even at that time, I don’t think I fully appreciated not only her services (SecurelyBe), but also simply her companionship.  She presented all kinds of information regarding life here in London that probably would’ve taken me a year to work out if left to my own devices, or homesickness, as it were, but the information, for me, was secondary.  In all honesty, at that point, I was just giddy to have someone I could call a friend.  It was, in reality, a business relationship, but truly, her warmth and sincerity made it more.  Having been through the very same thing herself, both personally and professionally, she actually cared whether or not I made it out alive.  We chatted.  We laughed.  I told her my fears.  I unloaded.  She listened.  In retrospect, we should’ve done it over a glass of wine rather than coffee (B, add that to my feedback!).  In essence, B and her business, SecurelyBe, were paramount to my sanity during that time and I cannot imagine having done it without her.  We continue to keep in touch and this week she took me on a little extraneous field trip to Richmond Park, just because.  We tromped around on disgustingly muddy trails in our wellies and through fields of long, deliciously golden long grasses reminiscent of California.  She knows me better than she thinks she does!!  I think her intention was for me to photograph away, but mostly, I enjoyed chatting with her.  She continues to be one of my biggest fans (I love her for that) and continues to offer support, feedback, and a firm, but loving kick in the pants to get my business going again, which (to quote Dr. Seuss because Liam has been reading The Lorax nonstop), “everyone, everyone, everyone needs.”


And what would a weekly blog post be without images of my little rockstar.  Truly, we don't stop.  Ever.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  Who has time to be homesick when you have this much giggling to do?!

Don't you just want to gobble him?!

Week 5

When Keegan and I discussed all of the gazillion details regarding moving to London, leaving our furniture behind to avoid exorbitant shipping costs and an excrutiating long wait on the other side with nothing to sit on seemed like a good idea at the time.  Exciting, even, when I thought of having the free reign to design a fabulous flat in London as my new part time job for the first few weeks.  As it turns out, not so much really.  Searching for a statement piece that makes a whole room, stumbling across the perfect piece for the perfect spot, or even decorating ONE room from scratch . . . all fun and interesting projects.  Selecting and buying every single basic piece of furniture for a large 3 bedroom rental flat AND making it feel homey, lived in, and like ours (without the “luxury” of a car) has proven to be my match.  I have learned 1. I do not make decisions easily or quickly.  2.  When I do make a decision, I usually change my mind (again, the convenience of a car eluding me)  3. I loathe Ikea.  Ikea . . . no small coincidence my I-phone autocorrects the word “Ikea,” to “Okra.”  Okra . . . has some appeal to it in the beginning, but in the end for all of the labor it takes to make it presentable, really just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  At any rate, I digress.  Slowly I can capture glimmers here and there of the coming together of a Home to return to in between our adventures and speaking of adventures . . . 

This weekend we attempted our first mini getaway with Liam up to Edinburgh, Scotland.  Keegan and I have found over the years we are quite compatible as travel companions.  The minute we threw a 4 year old into the formula, however, we learned pretty quickly we will have to revise our attack.  All in all, it was a really lovely weekend, exploring the Old Town of Edinburgh and seeing Liam soak up all this information about castles, knights, fortresses, cannonballs (RIGHT up his alley), but it was cold, it was rainy, we walked a LOT, and pubs didn’t readily welcome children so thoughts of sliding into a warm cozy booth and settling into a pint of the local brew while Liam plays on my phone quickly dissolved.  My explanations to Liam about meeting everyone's agenda while traveling seemed to fall on deaf ears.  Good learning experience and of course, with many many countries on our list to explore, I am confident we will come up with the perfect formula once again.

Ikea Flatpack Hell (albeit entertaining to a 4 year old) looks like this:

Glimpses of home amidst the chaos:

Forget the blisters from screwing together pieces of fake wood.  Pack the bags and head out of town!!

I might have to move to Edinburgh just so I can go to Wellington's every morning!!

Fruit Scone, Jam, and Clotted Cream.  Stop it.

 

I have to admit myself, cannons ARE pretty fascinating . . .

Week 4

Occasionally, out of nowhere, a wave of "This vacation has been really great, but gosh, isn't it about time we went home now?!" passes over me.  Walking around the streets of London, seemingly going about a normal life, seemingly maintaining our normal routine, I feel sometimes anything but normal.  Like a visitor in someone else's life.  Where are all of our belongings?!  Where are all of our friends?!  Why is there an entire aisle devoted to biscuits in the grocery store and why does everyone sound so much more distinguished than me, even when yelling obscenities back and forth from the car?!

Then, a huge double decker bus will go rambling by an inch from the sidewalk and shake me back to reality.  The unmistakable beauty of our neighborhood and new places we continue to explore overcomes my sadness for home.  The novelty of hopping on a plane to Scotland on Friday for the weekend makes me giddy (stay tuned for week 5 photos of that trip!!).  The rest of Europe beckons.  My husband comes home from work everyday with a smile on his face and my son is, to put in B's (my relocation coach from Securely B) words, "just a little dude embracing his new British persona) And . . . well frankly . . . the biscuits are quite tasty.


As in interesting foil to all of the classic beauty by which we are surrounded, Liam and I checked out the East end early last week for some vintage furniture shopping.  While I was shooting the below images, Liam wanted to know why I was taking pictures of such ugly things.  Oh young grasshoppa....how MUCH I have to teach you . . .

Heading down to the depths of the Tube . . . 
I think the fact Liam learns the majority of his reading skills this year will be one more reason London will be so memorable for me and this time in our life together.  Liam spontaneously started working on some words while I was cooking.  It's funny how it all kind of comes out of his head in such a jumbled way, but I think to him it makes perfect sense.  These are words he was working on, not left to right, top to bottom, but bottom to top, starting at the bottom right hand corner, going across, and then up to the next rows respectively from left to right, right to left, left to right.  Should be an interesting year :)

Week 2

Week 2 was spent settling Liam into his new school and meeting some of the characters involved in our life here in London (because a good life isn't truly complete without a few characters here and there).  So far Liam's transition into the new school has been brilliant.  They had a wonderful system in place for new students to stay for only a short period at the start and stay increasingly longer each day.  For Liam, that was paramount.  After I picked him up the first day, he said to me, "Mommy, I didn't know if I would like a new school . . . but now I know I do!"  My heart fluttered at these words.  I spent all summer worrying about it and listening to him do his best to express his apprehension in the only way a four year old can, only for these worries to melt away in minutes.  Kids are so adaptable that way.  Much more adaptable than adults really.  His apprehension has turned into excited descriptions of what he has accomplished that morning and the new friends with whom he has worked.  I am hearing names of children I have never heard before.  And for all the people who have asked me if I thought Liam would come back with an accent:  Liam said to me one day, "I have a new friend named Alekzahnda." I had no idea what name he was saying until I said it aloud and realized, OHHHH.....Alexander....with a British accent of course!! :)  It also occurred to me that Liam will be learning to read and write here, which means all of those vowel sounds will indeed be practiced as the Brits say them!!

In addition to the friends Liam has made at school, we also met  a lovely woman named B, contracted through our award winning property finder, Sourcing Property.  Sourcing Property and SecurelyBe teamed up to offer us phenomenal relocating services both in the arena of finding a place to live (Sourcing Property) and then once we settled, learning all about the ins and outs of life in London and how to transition our old lifestyle into a similar lifestyle here (SecurelyBe)  I will be meeting with B once a week for a crash course in such things as healthcare, working in London, education, shopping, chatting with neighbors, etc. etc.  And speaking of chatting with neighbors, B highly encouraged us to knock on our neighbors' door to introduce ourselves.  In doing so, we met Leon who lives above us.  A lovely gentleman in his eighties who invited us in straight away, told us to use his garden whenever we want, and then went straight for Liam's heart with juice and chocolates.  What more could we ask for in a neighbor really.  And finally, our landlord Barry popped by to check up on us.  Again, lovely gentleman, offering help in any way possible.  Unsurprisingly, I have found British people to be SOOO nice, charming, witty, and polite.

And finally, as a celebration of Liam completing his first week at a new school, we went to Legoland!!  Keegan made the all too common mistake of telling Liam about Legoland months ago so needless to say, the visit came not a day too soon for him.  It was a lovely conclusion to our second week here in London.

Cheers!

What could this child possibly have to worry about . . . who wouldn't love that face and that floppy hair?!

 

Liam's totally cool school . . . in an old church building.

Liam and I went on a photowalk one day up the street to an old church/cemetery.  I tried to make it more fun for him by turning it into a scavenger hunt for circles.

Is it creepy that I took my four year old to a cemetery?!  I think I know the answer to that . . . 

After I picked up Liam from school, we went exploring the neighborhood in search of the perfect park which we had yet to find.  I almost fell over when we turned the corner and came across this gem.  We were both just completely flabbergasted by the enormity and creativity of it.  It was a total Zen moment.  As happy as it made me, I couldn't help feeling sad the whole time we were there thinking of Liam's best buds, Will & Teo, back at home and how much fun they would've had all together...

Legoland was, of course, a big hit with Liam and Daddy alike :)