April 18, 2006

Hello, all!

We've had a very British day. After rescuing Siobhan who was locked in the bathroom (Michael got locked in his bedroom the first day) Jim and I registered with the National Health Service this morning. Not as bad as I thought, I have to admit. The added benefit is that you get weighed in kilograms, which means nothing to me. It was the least stressful/guiltfilled hop on a scale I've ever experienced. I hope I never learn metric.

Then we were off the three hour uniform fitting. Complicated doesn't begin to describe the uniforms. First of all, each term has it's own uniform, so three times a year, we'll do this. You have your everyday uiform, Sunday uniform, gym uniform and game uniform. That doesn't include the team uniforms or the two pairs of gym shoes (one indoor, the other for outdoor) or the book bags or the outerwear or the name labels that are required. With a salesperson who had to run to the basement and second floor to find each item one by one and the kids who had to try each item on, it had all the makings of a meltdown (Either Aidan or myself!). And then came the good part. Ryan was first. You all know my Ryan fancies himself to be such surfer dude. His uniform is a blue shirt, grey corduroy shorts with grey knee socks. He was moaning at the grey knee socks when the helpful salesman handed me the SOCK GARTERS! There was a roar of laughter from his supportive family. He calmly repeated, "No way, no way, no way..." until it was time to move onto his gym uniform. That's when the real fun hit. Next item on the list? A SPEEDO! Oh yes, life in the UK just got more interesting. We almost died laughing (obnoxious Americans). Of course it was Michael who was laughing the hardest until I turned to him and simply raised my eyebrows. He got the message. His turn was next and he, too, would be wearing a Speedo. They both refused to try them on until the very end of the session. I painted a very graphic picture of ill fitting speedo swimsuits during diving practice. Finally, they tried them on and they looked very manly over their boxers. That was worth the flight over here!

Later we met up with the family I spoke of in my previous email. They were wonderful and they helped the kids pick out "cool" school shoes. I'm not sure that sensible, black shoes can be "cool". I think I've seen hipper shoes at the home for the elderly, but Lydia and Charlie, their new friends, said they were cool, so everyone's happy.

We went to the only Mexican restaurant in town tonight for dinner. My soft addiction to guacamole (and subsequent withdrawls) has been making concentration difficult at times. Imagine my concern when the menu was filled with Greek and Italian dishes. Huge dissappointment. Jim's comment? "It's going to be a LONG two years".

Anyway, I'll sign off. Jim put Aidan to bed so the coast is clear. He's still not sure about his new room so the bedtime ritual is long and drawn out and could bring a grown man to cry out for mercy. Aidan's bedtime ritual, that is. Not Jim's. But for the record, we've made arrangements for our bed and to be shipped back to the states. We bought a new bed and are looking forward to sleeping off the floor.

Miss you all,

Love,
T