Nastybrilliantblighty has been on long summer hiatus! It’s been ages since I had anything clever to write about. Even as I read this for the 25th time, I am thinking of binning the whole lot as it is incredibly boring!! Bare with me as I try to get back into writing something worth reading.
The past few months have been without any drama, generally speaking. In August, we had our one year UK anniversary without filing for divorce or booking flights home (wherever home is!). I hear the husband saying he’s ‘comfortable’ here now, and I agree it even feels like ‘home’, but I dare not say it too loud for fear the moving gods might overhear.
The children had six weeks of summer holiday and we tackled our first official UK road trips (queue National Lampoon’s European Vacation Holiday Road theme here): a weekend at Warwick Castle Knight’s Village (pronounced War-ick, not war-Wick), visiting Shakespeare’s home town Stratford-Upon-Avon, and across the Solent to the Isle of Wight (also known locally, but not in the tourist brochures, as Pile of Shite). Our neighbours Posh & Becks say we see more of the country then most English do.
Becks (Matt) swam across the Solent for charity the weekend we were on the island, so we were there to greet his James Bond moment crawling out of the ocean and ripping of his wet suit (alas, we were a bit confused as exactly where this was happening and were a bit lat, but I got this great photo of the lovely couple reuniting). We had a get together at our airB&B enjoying the seaside; we are getting quite close with this family and Posh (Emily) is already dreading us moving away even though it’s far off. Our kids went back and forth between homes all summer and we’ve taken to to drinking in the driveway on Friday night and letting the children run wild, generally bringing down the estate (aka: neighborhood).
My highlight of the summer was our week in Torquay, Devon with our extended family The Clyburn Wadden’s: Billy, Jenn, Nora & Sadie, Sadie who met for the first time. Back in Edmonton, we had a thriving supper club with Billy and Jenn and Ian & Meg, before we all starting breeding and messing up our social lives.
One time our Supper Club went on vacation to Maui with then two year old Aiden, who woke up at before sunrise our first night there. Billy said it sounded like we were “trying to kill a chicken” as husband and I hissed about who was getting up with him while trying not to wake up our childless friends (we failed!).
The tables have now turned and Billy and Jenn are up killing chickens in the night and our precious moppets can turn on their own iPads in the morning while we snore away.
We did not help our tired selves by staying up every night until the early hours of the morning – drinking, talking, laughing, crying, and contemplating the meaning of life. I loved every single minute. Billy and I even got in the kitchen and did some cooking just like old times.
We arranged a date night swap in Torquay (not the swinging variety) where we took turns going out for dinner / watching the children. Both nights we ate at The Elephant, https://www.elephantrestaurant.co.uk. I’m not sure it was the food or that we were not panicked searching the menu for chicken nuggets and cheese pizza, while watching the clock, but the meal was one of the best we had in the UK. The Elephant has had a Michelen star for over 10 years and source the produce from their own 30 acre farm – they have earned that star.
I got a bit cocky on my child watch night and was taking selfies with various hashtags – #igotthis, #pieceofcake – when I found this little angel Sadie with wet clothes, from crawling through a puddle of pee on the floor. Allie struck a fever shortly after this and things went quickly downhill from there. But we all lived to tell.
The kids went back to school a few weeks ago and so far, so good. Aiden has this sweet, soft and funny teacher who reminds me a little of Gene Wilder. Aiden loves his school and his friends. He is playing Quidditch as an after school club, and is now rocking a retainer to sort out a pretty severe over/under bite. He is still a sweet, silly boy and we are very proud of him – he has done so well with this move.
Allie was less enthusiastic about her return to school but is slowly coming around. She is coming home with all sorts of stories. Last week she told me she likes to do things independently. Her favorite part so far is “Forest School”, one afternoon a week where they basically tromp around the forest to learn – picking apples, finding fairies, and get really dirty. All the kids love it.
I found the end of summer, back to school routine and the complicated scheduling a real mental struggle and was feeling a bit glum at the end of September. I put that all aside for an amazing visit from my birthday twin Danielle and I feel totally on the mend now. What a week we had! I could blog about it, but it’s not for public consumption. We had so much fun, I gained about 8 lbs!!
Looking forward this fall – we have trips planned for Sweden, Edinburgh, a week in Italy with my BFF Naomi, and maybe someplace warmer in April. We have Aunt Peggy coming for the first half of December & Gramma Susan for Christmas. Stay tuned for some (hopefully) more interesting reads this fall.
Italics: English lingo; moppets –moppet (plural moppets) – (colloquial) A child. Often used lovingly or in an affectionate way
Some other pictures from summer 2018 -the weather was unseasonably warm and dry, thanks to global warming. 
Spa Day with Jennifer, The Carey Arms & Spa, Babbacombe Beach, Devon
