Monday, June 25, 2007

A day at home (or what our weekends look like lately)

Jim's passport is somewhere between here and the U.S. Embassey (AND, just to cover myself, I would like to say that this has nothing to do with the competency or incompetency of the US Embassy, but is only the standard procedure when you live in London and have to get your passport renewed. We are well within the 15 working day period that was stated on the Embassy's website. Long live the US Embassy! Rah Rah! Please don't leave scary responses on our blog!)

Anyway...needless to say, we can't really go out of the country and lately the weather has been so rainy that we've been spending a lot of time at home. Therefore, we don't have any pictures of beautiful scenery and I give you "Jim and Claire at home."

A pretty consistent weekend event is "Jim takes a nap." In the picture below, you can see the typical look on Jim's face when he is trying to settle down for a long weekend nap, read his book, and generally be left alone


and I start to do what I do every weekend: Clean.


Things really get bad if I am cheeky enough to wash the sheets over the weekend when, at any moment, Jim could go horizontal. This is what happens when I am cleaning and you have the nerve, from your comfy position in bed, which you decided to get into AFTER I started vacuuming, to make comments about how you can't relax because I am cleaning. I get triple chins and then proceed to suck your face with the vacuum cleaner. Be afraid.


But the weekend at home is not all about cleaning and napping. It is also about GROCERY SHOPPING! Every weekend we pull out our granny cart and head up the road to try our hand at getting through crowds of determined seniors armed with larger granny carts than we have, canes, and sharp elbows...all in the name of getting some milk and other essentials. Then, we have our weekly argument about whether we are going to walk the half mile back to our house or take the bus. The 'take the bus' argument is pretty weak now that we have the granny cart, but certain parties still feel the need to argue the take the bus cause. This past weekend it was looking pretty stormy, but we braved the elements and went home. Fortunately for the 'let's walk' contingent, the rain held off until right when we walked into the door. Otherwise the bus supporter would have never let the walk supporter forget it. The granny cart suits Jim.


The weather was pretty wet, so we stayed home for the rest of the day. Here is a picture of the rain from our back door:


Usually, Spike the neighbor cat comes to see us in the afternoon/evening, especially since we got some really disgusting smelling kitty treats, but this afternoon he decided to hang out in the rain. He has a patch under the tree in our back yard, where he stays dry.


And then, despite nearly getting poured on and having his naptime interrupted by the vacuum cleaner (and, I have to mention, the neighbor renovating his bathroom downstairs), Jim cooked me dinner anyway. What a good husband!

Rage against the TV License

There are many reasons why I don't want to get a TV while we are living in England. I don't want to spend the money since we never know when we'll head back home again. I don't want to spend my evenings parked in front of the screen. I don't think TVs are very aesthetically pleasing and I don't want to find myself gorging on British TV when I could be out experiencing British people and places first hand (although I did get slightly addicted to Eastenders when we were living in Greenwich...that's embarassing. And I do like to watch the music TV channels at the gym...but I digress).

The number one reason I never want to get a TV while we are here is to spite the TV licensing people who are determined to harass us into paying a TV license even though we don't have a TV. So far, we have received FOUR threatening letters and, in response to my letter stating that we don't have a TV, we got another letter that basically said they appreciated us telling them that we don't have a TV, but unfortunately we could be lying so they are going to come check. I say BRING IT ON. I think that they should have to pay me the tax for making my blood pressure rise about once a week! If I were an old lady I would feel afraid!

Down with the TV Licensing people. I'm sure this saga will be continued. I'm just waiting for them to show up for an inspection.