Oh Blog, How I've Neglected You

As anyone can see I have severely neglected my blog. Why? I'm not entirely sure. Well a couple reasons, really.

I was planning a trip to Germany - which is done and over.

And the weather here in England has been so nice that I haven't been indoors a whole lot.

I know, neither are really good excuses - but I'm back on the Blog-train so let's get this thing rollin'!


Keith and I spent 6 glorious days in Germany at the Edelweiss resort which was ah-may-zing!! Due to me being neurotic we flew instead of driving. For me its just nice knowing I don't have to worry about getting from point A to point B. I really enjoy just sitting back and not worrying for a change.

I don't want to go all picture crazy, so here's a link to the flikr set that Keith uploaded: Germany Picture Set. Bare in mind that is only a small piece of the 500 pictures we took - but since we have a free flikr account we're limited in what we can upload every month ... so more pictures will be uploaded in May.

Ugh I know its been a few days ...

Keith and I drove around Norwich for like TWO hours the other day on our way to attempting to find the RSPCA so we could adopt a cat. Needless to say we never found it and were both just upright frustrated when we left. On a lighter note we liked the place so much after driving around that we took a trip back there Sunday to be tourists. We went to like 3 cathedrals (hey on Sunday churches are always free to go in) and had a good time of it. Even though neither of us are Catholic or even Christian for that matter - we still enjoy visiting cathedrals here in England. I mean c'mon they look awesome aaannndd you get to light candles (for a small fee but hey whatever FIREEEE) and a few cathedrals even have really relaxing cloisters. We went to the refectory in the Norwhich Cathedral and had coffee and tea before we walked back across town to the car park. Great fun was had by all. And it didn't even rain!

So I was really bummed about not getting a cat still. I actually moaped! My emo-ness kinda made Keith go "Awww poor shang". He checks the bulletin boards from work (because you can only check them from a government computer) and has found us two computer desks (both practically FREE), two tables for the lounge room aka living room and we splurged on a 42" plasma TV (even though we haven't bought a television liscense yet in order to watch anything). Even with all this new stuff in the house I was still bummed.

A day passed and Keith comes home super early from work. He rang the doorbell (as he usually does because I'm here so there's no need for him to take another set of keys) and as I open it his entire BDU top is covered with hair. I said 'Fuck's sake what happened to you?' and he just stood in the doorway with a big grin and said "Well .. her name is Libby and a Master Sargeant was about to board a plane for a new base and has been trying to find someone to take her." I poked my head around the corner but saw nothing and insisted he was just toying with me. He scurried off around to the car and brought out a cage which held ... a cat!

I squeed a bit as he brought the cage in the house and opened it in the hallway. A pretty white and grey cat hopped out and started rubbing on my leg. I jumped around a bit before giving him a big hug and thanking him of course. Oh and I kissed him too. Dur.

So my new buddy Libby was born July 4, 2005 - ex cat of a Master Sargeant. Born on the 4th of July (American Holidy - Independance Day) and her name is Libby which is short for Liberty. Could this NOT have been any more meant to be?! No, it couldn't (and don't you even TRY to argue!)

I've got lots of dental work ahead of me, apparently due to what I was told today at the dental clinic - and I'm not happy about that one bit. I won't go into detail cuz teeth stuff is just gross but the wisdom tooth I had caused a few cavaties on top of needing a good cleaning. So about once a week for the next 6 months I will be going to dental appointments. Rawr. :(

So far so good with everything, though. I'm trying to set up outings for Keith and I to take every weekend - this weekend I'm hoping to plan for a beach picnic or something along that line. We'll see though. I mean .. we aren't far from the ocean and the beaches so we should totally go. I really just hate that whole 'tourist' feeling. Keith is a TOTAL tourist. He stops and takes pictures of sooo many things and even though it embarasses the SHIT out of me I'm glad he does. We come home and we go through the camera and I'm like "Awww that's a good picture!" because I know full well that I wouldn't do that.

Oh and due to us getting lost in Norwich last week - Keith went out and bought a TomTom wich is a GPS thingy. Anyway - we can download maps and such to it and we won't get lost again! Our bikes and other crap all showed up Monday so I'm thinking we might take a bike ride through Thetford Forest - but not sure when yet. I don't really enjoy playing travel agent- but I do like getting out and doing things with my badass husband. And yes .. he is a badass.

Oh! Almost forgot! Here's a picture of Libby! She's a total sassy bitch. Seriously lol I love this cat!

YaY!

Everything with our house is sorted! So we are moving in over the weekend - and we will be getting loaner furniture till September which will be delivered early next week :)

Things are just brilliant, honestly. I am so so excited to be in our new house. We've even got phone and all that sorted and we will even have internet in like 10 days.

Nothing has been even a fraction as hectic as I expected it to be. Keith and I both passed our driving test so we've been out driving in the Fens a bit and driving from Mildenhall to Hockwold (we don't live IN Hockwold but its on the way. We technically live in Feltwell).

We sit and enjoy the drive - even though the first trip though when Keith was driving I was a bit jittery in the passenger seat. We've each rubbed up against a curb (or kerb here in the UK)

I love love our house and area. Still lots of pics to come once we've settled in. I've tried getting in touch with Tree thinking she'd like to meet up since she only lives in Cams - but no luck yet. I'll make friends, damn it! Even if I have to make friends with Air Force wives. Alright I really don't want to stoop that low ..

So far so good! Though Keith and I have been drinking more beer and have most definitely the cider (omg we're major cider drinkers). We also really enjoy hitting pubs for food once a week or so. The pub near where we'll be living only serves food at certain times so I already know we're going to miss the 'food all day every day' thing we have here at Bird in Hand. All good things eventually come to an end, right? Even when its pubs!

Tomorrow will be the last time Keith and I use the cafe here at RAF Mildenhall. Of course he'll be working here - but hopefully soon the internet will e running at the house. We've already got our computers since we shipped those seperately.

Not sure what else to say ...

Willow - gratz on keeping the job! Oh and hurray for the normal scan! You're gonna be Mumx2!

Jelly - Sorry that I couldn't make the wedding :( Everything will be sorted soon.

Stef - WTF you're like never online when I am - and you keep a sleep schedule similar to the time zone in the UK! Rawr!

Thursday May 25th - Thursday May 31st

Well we made it in one piece - but not without a story or two. Yeah yeah, I know. I can never get from point a to point B without something happening. Its fine by me for the most part because if it weren't for those stories my life would be pretty damn boring.

One of the tiniest jets ever took us from Oklahoma City to Chicago. It was cute though - and on take off it was like being in a little race car. Keith and I were kinda bummed when we got the print out for our tickets because our seats were rows and rows apart ... but they assigned new seats when we got to the airport. It was really cool watching everything disappear underneath us though.

Airport food is crap. Sheer crap. I will never eat another cinnamon roll as long as I live thanks to the Cinnibon place in the airport in Oklahoma City. O'Hare in Chicago had slightly better food - but since we'd been up at 3am .. and it was only like 9am they were all still serving breakfast. We didn't want breakfast :( We were ready for lunch. So we grabbed a couple sandwiches and a couple drinks which came to like $30 USD! Yeah major suckage.

From Chicago to Heathrow I slept mostly. I was awake off and on but not for long. They gave us crappy food on the plane, but I ate it anyway cuz hey - free food, right? It was pretty crowded on the jet to Heathrow. The seats were uncomfortable, and I didn't figure out that you could maneuver the head rest around until we were only about an hour from landing.

Alright so we landed at Heathrow airport around 10:30pm. The guy who was supposed to meet us at the airport couldn't make it so we had to call a courier. This doesn't sound like a big deal .. but it costed us 160 pounds to get here :( And yesterday 2.04USD = 1 Pound so yeah it was anything BUT cheap.

I had no idea what jet lag was, but I was fully aware that I was known to get carsick when I'd ride in the car with my family on long trips. Its roughly an hour from Heathrow to Mildenhall. We were on the M1 when I felt a little queasy. I figured it was just because I was tired from all the travel. About 30 minutes later I suddenly felt REALLY sick and told Keith. Before he could say "Want me to tell him to pull over" I started to throw up.

I covered my mouth with my hands but knew that wouldn't be near enough to save the interior of the driver's brand new Volkswagen. So I lifted the bottom of my shirt, made a pouch, and continued vomiting into the shirt. It only took him a moment or so before he quickly pulled over and I jumped out of the vehicle and continued to blow chunks. Keith started rummaging through the suitcases and found me a new shirt. I tore off my other one and put on the clean
one right there on the motorway without even a glance. The driver told me to sit up front because it would keep me from feeling quite so sick .. and I did.

The full wrath of my spew hadn't hit me until we got home. There was vomit all inside my bra .. it was just horrid. I apologized over and over again to the driver but he assured me that everything was fine. I was most proud of myself for not getting a drop inside his car. It was all over me instead. I'm still embarrassed about it - but what can ya do?

Things are really hectic and probably will stay that way for quite a few weeks while we try to get a car, house, and while Keith gets settled in with new co workers and whatnot. So far it hasn't been so bad though. Holy crap the pigeons in England are HUGE! They're freaks of nature and that's no joke. They are really eating high on the hog I tell ya. And there are bunnies everywhere .. which I giggle about.

So we arrived in the UK at 4am Friday - and Saturday we hopped over to Cambridge for the beer festival. We thought the best way to dive into the beer over here was in this forum. This was our first major encounter with English culture. People think that just because most everyone in the UK speaks English that they have the same culture, customs etc as Americans and that's just not true. Keith and I knew this before we came - but there were a few surprises right off the bat.

We were at the beer festival for quite a few hours, and we were so astounded by how many small children were there. We didn't mind, of course because we saw it as a good thing that parents spend so much time with their kids. In the states if adults are going out - they call a sitter. Anyway - there was a whole section dedicated to entertaining children. We were there with a couple guys in Keith's squadron, and since they have been in country for more than 5 years they were giving us pointers.

Pub is short for public place. There are kids in pubs. Its just like going to a Chili's in the states. Yeah they serve alcohol, but that isn't always all. The drinking age is 18 here - and drinking is a very social thing. Cambridge is a very liberal town - and most towns in the UK for the most part are far more laid back than most places in the states. No one cares here if you're American. There are so many tourists here from so many countries and everyone overall is just soooo nice! I for one, totally wasn't expecting that much hospitality right out of the gate. I never expected strangers to strike up conversations while bellied up to the bar waiting on a pint (or half pint in my case after a couple). My family had all told me how shy UKers were, but then again I'm sure they hadn't taken into consideration the places we'd be.

There does seem to be a lot of smokers, but the laws are so different here. You can't just smoke wherever you want. There are designated areas nearly everywhere so it isn't as if you have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get from point A to point B. In the states (at least in Oklahoma and Missouri) you can pretty much smoke anywhere you want - but not inside some places. Most restaurants have smoking and non-smoking sections. Not here. Nearly everywhere is non smoking - and usually you have to be like 15 feet away from buildings to smoke. Keith and I were both VERY happy about how environmentally conscious the UK is. There are all these colored barrels for different rubbish (glass, cardboard, paper, garden trash, and kitchen trash) and go out on different days. Its just second nature to recycle here - and we totally love that.

Everyone here has said "Do not just stay near the base and definitely don't just spend your time in Britain." And we haven't planned to. We do plan to first explore the UK before we head to France, Germany, Italy etc. Just like Saturday we're going to Leed's Castle .. in a couple weeks we're going to Salisbury and Stonehenge ... we plan to do a lot of traveling while we're here. We're going to stop worrying so much about money and just kick back and enjoy this
opportunity to completely submerge ourselves in history, culture, and customs.

Though we've only been in the UK for a week - we both already love it. It already seems this four years is going to fly by. Tomorrow we're off to find a house and get a car. Cheers!

PS - There are no air conditioners! Why? You don't NEED them here!