Today after yet another tiresome episode, one of Many, Many, MANY with me doing the 'telling off' and 'reigning in' after yet another sibling argument and potentially dangerous stuation my little 'Best Boy', as he likes to be called and, might I add call himself (thank goodness I have one of each), the boy of few words looked at me straight in the eyes with cheeky contempt in his narrowed eyes and told me I was a "Naughty Mummy".
After this insult he looked away, looked back at me again and then added..."You're fired".
He did. He actually said that. Ellie giggled, it's a phrase she's coined from somewhere and used alot this week. But what surprised me was that he used it in the right context (kind of).
So there we are...I'm redundant. I hadn't expected it to happen so soon, I thought I had at least another 15-16 years in this job maybe eventually moving gracefully into more of an advisory consultancy type of role whilst still maintaining some kind of respect in my field of expertise. Obviously not. I'm on the scrapheap.
Hey ho - onwards and upwards. Do sacked parents get any kind of redundancy package? I only ask because Hawaii looks quite nice this time of year.
Oh yeah and you can still fly that way around the world.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Yellow Clouds
Here we are in April, not so long ago we were knee.... well OK, ankle deep in snow and shivering through icy blasts of freezing cold weather. The first day of Spring arrived and we enjoyed some pleasant 75F days and blue blue skies which always help to lift the spirits.
Cut to now, this very week. It seems that Spring lasted, oooh about 5 minutes and just like that....summer did indeed start in April. My car thermometer has been edging higher and higher and this afternoon read 95F. Before Spring Break holiday Ellie was going to school in thick woolly tights and jumpers, yesterday she returned after her holiday in a short sleeved blouse and ankle socks.
The cycle of nature seems to be as equally confused as we all are. Within a couple of days bare leafed trees sprouted thick leaves and blossoms as if by magic. And then there are the zillions of pine trees that grow in North Carolina, which, have to spread their pollen right? But really is so much of it really necessary?!
Everywhere you go, everything you see is cloaked in this sticky yellow dust and just a gentle gust of wind in the vicinity of a pine tree produces clouds and clouds of the stuff. We are yellow. The sky is yellow. The roads are yellow. The cars are yellow. Our clothes are yellow....especially after a morning sliding down slides at the park! There is not a single hope of keeping this stuff at bay. Heaven help the poor people with tree pollen allergies. Apparently this is the worst it's been for years. Apparently it lasts for 2-3 weeks. Apparently we need some rain to dampen things down.
Cut to now, this very week. It seems that Spring lasted, oooh about 5 minutes and just like that....summer did indeed start in April. My car thermometer has been edging higher and higher and this afternoon read 95F. Before Spring Break holiday Ellie was going to school in thick woolly tights and jumpers, yesterday she returned after her holiday in a short sleeved blouse and ankle socks.
The cycle of nature seems to be as equally confused as we all are. Within a couple of days bare leafed trees sprouted thick leaves and blossoms as if by magic. And then there are the zillions of pine trees that grow in North Carolina, which, have to spread their pollen right? But really is so much of it really necessary?!
Everywhere you go, everything you see is cloaked in this sticky yellow dust and just a gentle gust of wind in the vicinity of a pine tree produces clouds and clouds of the stuff. We are yellow. The sky is yellow. The roads are yellow. The cars are yellow. Our clothes are yellow....especially after a morning sliding down slides at the park! There is not a single hope of keeping this stuff at bay. Heaven help the poor people with tree pollen allergies. Apparently this is the worst it's been for years. Apparently it lasts for 2-3 weeks. Apparently we need some rain to dampen things down.
Rain is now forecast for Thursday night, hopefully it will wash away some of this mellow yellow!
And the most topical question being asked around these parts? When will be the best time to wash the car?! Me? Well, I washed mine on Monday to remove all the zillions of insect bodies we managed to accumulate on the windscreen driving back from Washington DC....one of the guys commented, "Y'all new around here...see you Wednesday and we'll wash off the pollen." I had thought that business was unusually quiet at Bunky's Car Wash for a Monday morning!
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
A Guide to The South
The South
\the 'sau'th\, noun
The place where...
Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter.
Summer starts in April.
Macaroni & Cheese is a vegetable.
Front porches are wide and words are long.
Pecan pie is a staple.
Y'all is the only proper noun.
Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy.
Everything is Darlin'.
Someone's heart is always being blessed.
Taken from a wall plaque I recently bought...
Sweet iced tea is drunk alot. Looking forward to an early summer!
Mac 'n' cheese is everywhere and everyone seems to like it, especially Luke...just wish it WAS actually a vegetable!
For someone like me, who LOVES pecan pie, it's a little slice of heaven!
Y'all doing well? Come on Y'all...ad infinitum!
Haven't done fried chicken...yet, but you can actually buy deep fryers specifically for whole chickens and turkeys!
Biscuits are actually similar to scones and are a Southern breakfast staple. Instead of strawberries, jam and cream Cornish style, they do indeed serve it with some pale and uninspiring gravy kind of substance, I'm just not brave enough!
Everything, everyone and especially you is a 'Darlin' (love that!)
In everyday conversation your heart is well and truly and constantly being blessed.
Chickens & Eggs
Oh my, I have just had my first birds and bees conversation with Ellie.
Ellie: Mummy, how do chicks grow inside eggs?
Me: Well the mother hen sits on her eggs to keep them warm and the chicks grow until they are ready to hatch.
Ellie: But how do they get inside the egg in the first place? I mean HOW? Why are their no chicks inside my boiled eggs?
Me: Errr, well, err umm....they just do.
Ellie: And what does their daddy do while all this is going on? Does he sit on the eggs? Or does he just leave it all to the mother hen?
Me: Errr yes, I'd say so. Oooh look at that fire engine.
Nope, I was not prepared and didn't see that one coming.
Ellie: Mummy, how do chicks grow inside eggs?
Me: Well the mother hen sits on her eggs to keep them warm and the chicks grow until they are ready to hatch.
Ellie: But how do they get inside the egg in the first place? I mean HOW? Why are their no chicks inside my boiled eggs?
Me: Errr, well, err umm....they just do.
Ellie: And what does their daddy do while all this is going on? Does he sit on the eggs? Or does he just leave it all to the mother hen?
Me: Errr yes, I'd say so. Oooh look at that fire engine.
Nope, I was not prepared and didn't see that one coming.
One hour or so later...an update
Ellie: Life begins with a kiss! Mummy life begins with a kiss right?
Me: It does?
Ellie: Yes Mummy! You met Daddy, you kissed him and then I grew in your tummy. Isn't that right?
Me: Well, yes, kind of. Now! Where's your homework folder?
Monday, 8 March 2010
Disney Bound
On Saturday morning we packed up the car and embarked on a journey that took us 10 hours to Kissimmee in Florida aka Disneyland. Finally...a 'Road Trip' to justify my mileage!
Our route from North Carolina took us South through South Carolina, through Georgia and into Florida, we hung a right somewhere close to Daytona Beach and wound our way to our destination. So why did we decide to 10hr drive it rather than 1hr fly it? I don't really know. Because we could? Partly because we didn't have to totally minimise our packing? Because people here just do...drive...such long distances? I also thought (much misguided by a 10 year previous Californian road trip) that the geography and sights would change and afford us to see more of the 'Country'. Not so. On the East Coast I can report that everything on the Interstate looks every bit the same from start to finish, apart from a couple of river deltas in Georgia.
So we're here. In the land of Disney. The sun is shining. The kids are chomping at the bit. Let's see if Walt can work a little bit of his magic on this old sceptic?
Our route from North Carolina took us South through South Carolina, through Georgia and into Florida, we hung a right somewhere close to Daytona Beach and wound our way to our destination. So why did we decide to 10hr drive it rather than 1hr fly it? I don't really know. Because we could? Partly because we didn't have to totally minimise our packing? Because people here just do...drive...such long distances? I also thought (much misguided by a 10 year previous Californian road trip) that the geography and sights would change and afford us to see more of the 'Country'. Not so. On the East Coast I can report that everything on the Interstate looks every bit the same from start to finish, apart from a couple of river deltas in Georgia.
So we're here. In the land of Disney. The sun is shining. The kids are chomping at the bit. Let's see if Walt can work a little bit of his magic on this old sceptic?
Thursday, 4 March 2010
What's In The Name?
As in the name of this Blog?
Several people have queried and asked this question of late, and so, just to clear up any misunderstanding...
We, as a family were moving to India. I decided to write a blog. I had to think of a name. I had been to India before. I knew it was going to be tough. I thought we'd be living in some precarious situations and I wasn't wrong. Dire Straits came to mind, which transposed into In-dia Straits.
Cut to the present day. World economics played their part and not long after we settled down we were uprooted to the USA, and because I was seriously lacking in any creativity or humour at that stage in our head spinning worldwide flit, In-dia Straits became In-dia States, ie Where we'd been and where we've now come to.
It isn't and nor did I ever intend it to be a derogatory name, simply INDIA to the STATES. Hope that answers questions, dots i's, crosses t's and...wraps it up!
Several people have queried and asked this question of late, and so, just to clear up any misunderstanding...
We, as a family were moving to India. I decided to write a blog. I had to think of a name. I had been to India before. I knew it was going to be tough. I thought we'd be living in some precarious situations and I wasn't wrong. Dire Straits came to mind, which transposed into In-dia Straits.
Cut to the present day. World economics played their part and not long after we settled down we were uprooted to the USA, and because I was seriously lacking in any creativity or humour at that stage in our head spinning worldwide flit, In-dia Straits became In-dia States, ie Where we'd been and where we've now come to.
It isn't and nor did I ever intend it to be a derogatory name, simply INDIA to the STATES. Hope that answers questions, dots i's, crosses t's and...wraps it up!
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