Saturday 20 September 2008

Up to date

Frankly, I've had enough of all this retrospective. I think I had in mind that I could update friends and family through my blog. But blogging (at least for me) isn't about travel tales and catching up - it's about pithy observation and social commentary. So my plan now is to provide a very potted version of our introduction to the US of A:

We now live in Virginia, but close enough to downtown DC that the Good Man cycles to work. The neighbourhood is leafy and the the neighbours have been extremely welcoming and helpful. I suspect we may be wallowing in suburban bliss...

Light switches work differently here. Up means on and down means off. Why? No idea.

Bambi has had her first encounter with a toilet flushing sensor (flushes when you move in front of the sensor, ie. stand up). It gave her one hell of a fright and now I can't persuade her to go to the toilet in public places - but she's become very disciplined about going before we leave the house.

Washington is far more beautiful than I ever imagined. Weekend activities so far have included Wolf Trap, boat trips on the Potomac, the Kennedy Centre open day (with Dan Zanes - oh so cool) and the Good Man regularly takes Bambi canoeing at Fletcher's Cove. I had never thought that the nation's capital would be so outdoor orientated.

Breakfast cereal without sugar is ridiculously hard to find in the supermarket. I eventually tracked down Weetabix - only available in the health food aisle.

This is an election year (fast approaching election month) and American politics and electioneering are absolutely unbelievable. But I'm sure I will be writing more about this later. At this stage I'm actually quite glad I do not have any right to vote here.

Our freight has yet to arrive. Bambi, however, has decorated our lounge with empty boxes which she has decorated with dayglo paint... and glitter. It's a look unlikely to catch on in Home & Garden and one of which we will undoubtedly be reminded for the remainder of our time here as we continue to brush sparkles from between the floorboards. But it is cheerful.

I am due to deliver Thumper via c-section on 14th October. This is not because, with 3 and a half weeks to go she is already estimated to weigh nearly 8 pounds (help!), but medically advised after an emergency c-section after a complicated (and long) labour with Bambi.  Wish me luck. If I go into labour before then, we're in trouble - no support network means relying heavily on planning. Labour is not part of the plan...

In all, this has been one of our easier moves. I suspect we'll be happy here. And I'll keep you posted.

12 comments:

Kim said...

Virginia, huh? I lived in near Newport News for a while when my ex worked for Nasa at Langley. My lovely daughter was then just a toddler and I was pregnant with my second. One of our favorite places was Virginia Beach. I bet you will be happy there.

The largest baby I delivered weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Believe it or not, he was the easiest labor and delivery. I never had a C section; I hope yours goes perfectly.

Can't wait to hear more about your adventures in the States.

Anonymous said...

DC is kinda high on the awesomeness scale.

in case you want to make dc more beautiful, may i suggest a few local blogs:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/
http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/
http://washcycle.typepad.com/
http://beyonddc.com/

and the grandaddy network of them all:
http://www.livablestreets.com/
http://www.livablestreets.com/blognetwork

enter the game! :-D

Iota said...

Good on ya. I wouldn't have imagined Washington as an outdoorsy place either. Life is full of suprises.

Goodl luck for the C-section

Life As I Know It said...

We lived in Northern Virginia (arlington) for 4 years and loved the city. Hope you are adjusting well to the new surroundings! Good to see you back blogging!

Misssy M said...

So you'll get to see the inside of a US hospital. Do me a favour, if it doesn't have doctors like Noah Wyle, George Clooney and Anthony Edwards, just don't mention it. Let me dream...

Pig in the Kitchen said...

oh you're back! altho you're not where you're supposed to be, you're on the wrong continent! I hovered around your blog for ages, then decided you'd probably been murdered in some awful (low key) African coup.

But look, here you are again! Congrats on being pregnant, good luck!
Pigx

A Mum said...

14 October. so thinking of you xx

The Good Woman said...

Hi Kaycie - we still haven't made it to the beach. We were invited the weekend the bridge was closed due to storms and gave it a miss. But we're enjoying Virginia nonetheless.

Thanks for the links Peter - loved the cycling one. The God Man thanks you too!

HI Iota - full of surprises indeed.

The Good Woman said...

LAIKI - we're pretty close to Arlington - on my way to Harris Teeter in about half an hour...

Hey Misssy. As they'll be wearing masks, I'm resolved to dream about what lies beneath too.

And Pig thanks for dropping by again (and not completely forgetting me during my break from blogging). Sorry the reason wasn't as dramatic as you'd thought!

Thanks Mem.

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Good luck with the new one to come! Look forward to hearing more of your adventures stateside...Best Wishes Hadriana x

Sparx said...

Hiya - well, sounds as though you're settling in and getting prepared well enough. I hope the freight arrives before the 14th, that or a couple of weeks afterwards so you don't have to cope with the c-section pain and unpacking at the same time - thinking of you!

Almost American said...

Just found your blog tonight - wow what a lot of travelling you've done!

Consumer Reports recommends Cheerios and Kix as the best (i.e. low sugar) cereals. I was very disappointed to find that in the UK they only seem to sell what in the US are called 'Team Cheerios' which have 3 times the sugar of the regular ones.

Best of luck with the C-section.