Wishlist

What I would like to do in the USA:

1. Learn to rollerblade
2. Write a novel
3. Get extremely fit due to endless opportunities to exercise

What I am likely to do in the USA:

1. Get run over when I frequently forget which way to look when crossing the road
2. Spend far too much time on Facebook
3. Get extremely fat due to endless waffle & doughnut opportunities

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Settling in Already!

Today we finally got full details of the apartment we will be living in for the next three years.  Yay!  I’m pleased to report that it is in a nice looking area with all the amenities we could dream of within spitting distance, and the apartment itself is about twice the size of where we live now.  (Although, a nice new shoebox would be a vast improvement on where we live now, quite frankly…).  Our contacts in the area have confirmed that it is in one of the better parts of the city so that should be one less thing to be fretting about.

In more exciting news (for me at least!)  we have got tickets to see Kiss at our local venue two weeks after we arrive in the USA.  This was one the big things on my to do list of stereotypical American stuff, but I really didn’t think I’d be ticking it off quite so soon!  As it’s an outdoor venue, I will be covered in mozzie bites by the end of that night, but it will be worth it (wonder if they sell Kiss-branded antihistamines or mozzie spray?  They’ve got pretty much every other type of merchandise covered …)

The day I watched all my worldly belongings leave in an alarmingly small van in record time

That’s it.  Gone.  No more chances to change my mind about whether I really need to take the cheese grater or whether I should just buy a new one (why is it always the really insignificant things that wind us up?).  I have just waved goodbye to the things that are being shipped to the USA ahead of us, in the hope that they turn up vaguely around the same time that we do.  We’ll see.  The removals men were lovely.  They turned up early, at 8.55am.  We have such a tiny amount of stuff to take that they had finished packing the boxes by 9.30,  They were actually pleading with me to give them more to put in, especially when they worked out that we had an unlucky 13 boxes.  I did tell them to just pack a few random extra items and surprise me, but I don’t think they did.  Or did they?  Perhaps I’ll find out over the coming weeks….

For Queen and country

Anyone who knows me well will know that I’m not patriotic in the slightest when it comes to Blighty.  But something weird has been happening in my subconscious.  Over the past few weeks I’ve been increasingly drawn to stereotypically English foods, like apple crumble & custard, proper fat chips & gravy etc.  Then last week I was out in our local town and I happened upon a group of Morris dancers (what is the collective noun?).  We don’t live in typical Morris dancing country.  It was like dear old Blighty was taunting me, with “look at what you’ll be missing!!”.  And I’ve just come back from a weekend in London, where I got a little misty-eyed about the guards on horseback, the soldiers marching outside the Palace, the London Symphony Orchestra playing in Trafalgar Square.  Hell, I even walked up The Mall twice just to see if HM was at home (she wasn’t, although I did spot the Chancellor of the Exchequer).  So, even though I don’t think I’m that attached to it, maybe I will miss the old place after all…..

Home sweet home?

I’ve unwittingly spent four hours this morning on a virtual tour of my prospective new neighbourhood, checking out the beach, shops, gyms, eateries etc.  I must have covered a good few miles, all from the comfort of my front room (I’m not sure this can quite be termed “exercise” but I’m pretty tired anyway and need a rest now …..).  Anyway, it looks promising but of course you can never tell until you actually start living somewhere.  We still don’t have an actual address (only put in a request for housing about 5 months ago…!) but at least I know the right location now.

Hello world!

So the hubby (Agent D) has gone and got himself transferred to the USA for 3 years for work, and of course I’m tagging along.  I hope I can use this blog to let my friends, family and anyone else who is interested know all about our experiences in a whole new country.  It’s about 8 weeks until we go so currently I’m busy sorting out all the odds and ends that go with leaving the UK and trying to get my head around the fact that we will not actually be on these shores any more by the summer (still, with the weather the way it is, will there be a summer to leave behind anyway??).