Travel Adventures

Universeum: You rock my world

When we visited Göteborg to get a feel for the city and decide if we wanted to live here; I spent quite a bit of time researching toddler friendly activities within the city. There were so many available that I actually had to narrow down my list in order to not overwhelm the toddler and exhaust myself. Universeum was the top place I wanted to visit. How would I describe it? It’s not quite a zoo, not quite a museum, not quite an aquarium, and not quite a play area. It’s all of those things rolled into one compact package! This place should be on everyone’s list. Even more so because it is open 365 days a year from 10am to 6pm. Very little chance that you won’t be able to come on an open day. 😉

Our first visit, Drake’s admission was waived because he was two. According to the website, the winter fee is SEK 120 (Swedish Krona) for children 3-16 and SEK 175 for everyone else. Prices go up slightly in the summer. The U.S dollar is worth roughly 8 SEK. Two day tickets, family, and group tickets are also available. This is no more expensive than visiting the local zoo where I grew up. However, if you are around for a while like we will be; the yearly pass really pays off. A yearly pass is SEK 345 for children 3-16 and SEK 495 for adults. So, for the cost of less than 3 visits; you can go as many times as you want. We’ve been here less than one week and have already been to Universeum twice. The hubs plans on making it a weekend playdate with Drake and I plan on going weekly since it is very close to our new apartment (more on that in another post).

So, why do I love this place? Have you seen the pictures in this blog?? There is so much to do.

Today, they had a bit of construction going on in the rainforest, so we only saw a few animals; but the piranhas, sloths, and ibis were all so fun to check out. This is an open environment for the most part, so there is no barrier between you and most of the wildlife.

Sloth

Sloth

Ibis

Ibis

In addition to the rainforest, today we also visited the underwater tanks, space exploration, and the crafts area. Drake loves the tanks because there is a giant sawfish. He also really loves the stingrays in the smaller tank you can look down into.

Sawfish

Sawfish

After visiting the rainforest and the sea animals (twice), we headed to the space exhibit. There we launched into space in a shuttle, used pressure to launch our own, observed gravity, played space ship games, and checked our weight on all the planets. This is by no means a comprehensive list of activities, it’s just some of the ones we accomplished today.

The final frontier

The final frontier

From there, we headed over to build with the giant blocks; but wait! A distraction had us heading over to the guided crafts area where a wonderful Universeum employee let us help build arches and then two other employees helped us make our own musical instruments. All of the employees speak flawless English and are understanding of my own attempts to bumble through my few words in svenska (Swedish language).

Universeum5

Finally, my guy was hungry, so we headed down to grab our packed lunch from a locker. There may have been one short toalett (toilet) stop. Thankfully, this place is designed around kids and has toaletts on every floor. The lockers are downstairs and cost SEK 10 to use. If you don’t have exact change, they do have a coin machine. If you just don’t want to spend the money, they also have pegs on the wall for hanging your coats. Did you read that clearly? They have pegs on the wall for hanging your coats. Let’s be gut wrenchingly honest here; how many of us from the United States are 100% confident leaving coats hanging in a public place, fully in view of everyone, with no worry that they will walk away? This is one of the culture shocks I experienced when we moved to Guildford and it continues in here. In general, people are honest. That paranoia we have that everyone is dishonest is manufactured. I’ve lost my wallet on the bus in Guildford and it was returned. Likewise, I’ve lost my wallet in Costco in the United States and it was returned. So, why do we always suspect the worst of everyone? I’m not saying that people will not commit crimes of opportunity, but I do think we are a bit more paranoid about it in the States than people are in some other countries.

After lunch, Drake was ready to play some more, even though nap time was rapidly approaching. So, we headed to the Jobbis area and he was able to work in a supermarket, build with blocks, steer a boat, and even have a pretend snack before I finally dragged him away.

Jobbis

Jobbis

 

Thank goodness for my toddler carrier! That boy was asleep almost before we made it back to the tram stop. Also, thank goodness for a city with comprehensive public transportation that is reasonably priced.

Each day that passes in this new city, I enjoy myself a little bit more. Yay for new beginnings!

Until next time…

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Travel Adventures

Hej Göteborg

That’s right, no more Gothenburg here. Now that we’ve arrived (we’ve arrived!!!!) it’s time to assimilate.

Our early morning flight to Göteborg went really well. Drake popped out of bed at 5:30am demanding to move to Sweden immediately. This was helpful; as our flight was at 7:35am. After boarding our flight with little time to spare, the man behind us inquired as to whether we were Americans. He turned out to be an American who moved to Göteborg thirteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. After a short discussion of the merits of living in Sweden; he explained to us that the proper pronunciation is “Yo-tuh-burr-y”. I’m not great with phonetic spellings, you get the drift. Apparently, it is better to avoid saying Gothenburg and our alternative pronunciation of “goat-burg” was way off. It actually reminded me of my first day at Gonzaga when I repeatedly mispronounced the name of my new dorm. Some things never change…

Upon arrival in Göteborg, we needed to find the cat. Not such an easy task. After being directed to the oversized luggage area and waiting in vain for twenty minutes; I decided to contact the cargo company directly. The only problem with this plan was my lack of a Swedish sim card for my phone and the fact that I hadn’t charged my own sim to pay for the out of country fees. So, what is a desperate tourist to do in these situations?

One awesome tip I can share is that most airports in the United States and every airport I’ve been to in Europe has free wi-fi that is easily accessible on your mobile. Some airports limit this to 45 minutes and others to 3 hours. In this case, I don’t speak Swedish, so I’m not sure the duration. I just blindly accepted the terms and connected in good faith.

Thankfully, the hubs downloaded Skype onto my phone and set everything up. This enabled me to call straight through to the Swedish cargo company. They explained that pet cargo is delivered to an entirely different building. Once that was sorted, we set off to find the cargo building. Contrary to what one would expect based on their reputation as a very reserved people; in my experience, Swedes are very helpful and forthcoming. After one gentlemen gave directions; he also suggested that I double check with the information desk. Did I mention that most Swedes in Göteborg and other big cities are fully fluent in both Swedish “Svenska” and English? This country is very serious about educating its citizens.

At the information desk, I found out that there are multiple cargo buildings at Göteborg Landvetter Airport (GOT). After another Skype call to allow the more knowledgeable parties to figure out directions; we set off. Thankfully, our cab driver from Göteborg Taxis had already arrived. He drove us the rather long journey and stayed with us through the next 3 steps it took to get Pongo. Step one, paperwork and visa on arrival payment for her. Step two, pass the paperwork to warehouse employees. Step three, wait outside a cargo bay for collection. She arrived safe and sound and very grumpy. Gotta love this cat 😃

"XL LIVE CAT" - the indignities..

“XL LIVE CAT” – the indignities..

Upon arrival at our temporary housing; we encountered another very European issue. Multiple doors with locks leading to many narrow staircases that did not lead to the correct apartment. Thankfully, after hauling quite a bit of our stuff up four flights of stairs to no avail; the hubs went off on a hunting expedition. He returned having found an elevator and having discovered that there are both inner and outer courtyard apartments. We were on the inner and needed to be on the outer. Phew. Should you be coming to Europe either for a move; or even just a visit; remember this experience. It is not the first time we’ve found ourselves wandering apartment buildings; knocking on random doors for help. Thankfully, people have always been very understanding.

Our first impression of the apartment was that it exceeded all expectations. It is about 127 square meters; which is huge for a two bedroom. Unlike housing in the United Kingdom; Sweden is also fanatical about insulation. Landlords are required to keep apartments at 18 degrees celsius (roughly 64 F) in the room at 16 degrees celsius (roughly 61 F) on the floor. This is not a cost they are allowed to pass onto renters. As such; these places are well insulated and heated. My best description of the apartment air would be arid. While I’m not too keen on using saline spray every day to keep my nose hydrated; I am ecstatic to have escaped the damp and mould so prevalent in every single dwelling in the UK.

After settling in for a short nap in the tiny beds that were pushed together (also very European), our band of world travelers set off in the snow to find food. Yes, it snowed! Drake’s only request for the move was to see snow and our very first day the snow began to fall. It was an idyllic evening and more than made up for any discomfort from moving day. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the night.

Göteborg at night

Winter Göteborg

Göteborg at night

Göteborg at night

Happy family = happy me.

Play in Snow

Play in Snow

I have a feeling this move will be a blessed one.

Until next time…

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Uncategorized

Scrub a dub dub

One ongoing concern for me during my pregnancy journey was chemical exposure. Pregnancy wasn’t something that was as simple as a one time “oops”. It look a long time and for a while there I wasn’t sure it would happen. As I talked with friends and co-workers about what helped them, two things stuck out:

1. Reduce your stress
2. Reduce your exposure to chemicals

The first was difficult for me. My career was very rewarding; but also extremely high pressure and nothing about that seemed likely to change soon. The second, I had a fighting chance with. Initially, I did this by eating organic whenever I could; and changing to the eco-friendly cleaning products in the store. I reduced my reliance on frozen meals and tried to cook more from real ingredients. Nothing drastic; but small changes.

Obviously, from the name of this blog, you know that something eventually worked. Shortly before my son was born and after a long battle with pregnancy related hyperemesis; I left my job to move and prepare to be a mom. That took care of my primary source of stress, but the dodging of chemicals became even more important after Drake was born.

I’ve come a long way from those eco-friendly detergents in the store. Thanks to my friend Karen, I discovered DoTerra essential oils and pretty much live bathed in them. They support my system and because they are therapeutic grade; I don’t feel bad using them. Of course, to justify spending the money, I have to find ways to use every oil I bring into the house. Enter my “miracle spray”. It’s not really a miracle. It’s just good old fashioned household ingredients with a touch of Purify oil.

In my squirt bottle I use:

1/2 bottle water
1/2 bottle vinegar
10-15 drops Purify or Melaleuca (tea tree oil)

Now, how did I use this during my move? In addition to scrubbing the walls, floors, and counters, there were three particularly smelly jobs I did not want to do (thank goodness for rubber gloves!!!!!).

Rubber gloves and spray

Remember that cat I was so worried about with this move? Well, I knew that as soon as we got to the new place she would need a fresh litter box. So, rather than throw out the one I had, I disinfected it and put it in my checked baggage. That’s right, I put a used litter box in my luggage!!!

Does that freak you out? If I didn’t have so much confidence in the disinfecting properties of my miracle spray, I would probably have freaked out too. No need to freak out people. My hound like nose declared that box to be clean and sanitized.

The next two things I cleaned are tied for nastiest. One was certainly the smelliest and the other mentally traumatizing.

First for the smelliest. Yes, I gagged. Ugh… Here we go. Compost is a big thing in England. The wonderful thing about Guildford was the weekly compost pickup. Unfortunately, it took me a really long time to discover compost bags. So, initially I would just put the compost into the household bin during the week and then transfer it to the outside bin for collection. As you may expect, some things would cling to the bottom of that outside bin… I did eventually discover compost bags and they kept things a lot neater; but I never got around to cleaning out the outside bin. Then came moving week.

Armed with my miracle spray and some industrial sized kitchen gloves; I set about scrubbing out the bin. And promptly found myself in the backyard gasping for air. Once my stomach settled, I continued my task. Happily, living up to it’s reputation, the spray had that bin smelling fabulous within just a few minutes. I will never again put myself in that situation. You too should never experience this misery. Learn from my mistakes. Compost bags for the win!

The final chore I had to do was equally dreaded. I call it…the poop bin. When we moved into the house, it came furnished with a kitchen trash bin the prior tenant had left (I think). Since we already had both a recycling bin and a trash bin; we didn’t have space in our petite kitchen for this additional bin. Thusly it was placed in the backyard and became “the poop bin”. No, we didn’t just shovel dog poop into the bin. We did indeed place a liner in the darn can. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to enjoy being lined and the hubs didn’t seem to enjoy checking to see if the liner had stayed in placed. As such, I frequently found the bin liner had slipped and dog poop bags and cat litter kept finding their ways all around the interior of the bin. I should have dealt with this bin after our dog passed away; but instead I turned a blind eye and ignored it. Finally, it was moving day. I realized I hadn’t dealt with the bin. Egads! Thankfully, I had one additional pair of industrial sized kitchen gloves and an entire bottle of miracle spray.

Mentally, I cringed as I heaved the interior liner into the kitchen sink. Yes, I know I could have done this in the backyard. However, my spray is largely vinegar and vinegar is terrible for keeping plants alive. Great weed killer, terrible grass fertilizer. There was logic to this decision. As I reached my arm into the can to scrub, I counted my blessings; which were many. Essential oils, vinegar, gloves; these were all things that were going to keep me from smelling like dog and cat poop the rest of the week. Fifteen minutes and one hubby intervention later (my arms are really short…) the deed was done. The can smelled worthy of household use and took up a position of honor in the kitchen.

There you go. I promised to regal you with stories of cleaning before the move and I did. Bet you didn’t count on all the gory details. Sorry about that. I’m naturally detail oriented. Now that you know the minutiae of the move out; the next blog will get to the fun stuff—moving to Sweden!

In future writings, I will fill you in not only on life in Gothenburg; but also about the travels we’ve taken through Europe so far and future travels as they come up. Hopefully you will enjoy all the toddling we’ve done through Europe as much as we have.

Until next time 🙂

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Travel Adventures

Moving with toddlers

Anyone who has ever tried to do anything productive with a toddler will recognize that making actual progress is tough. It takes ingenuity. My toddler’s favorite activity is doing whatever I am doing—albeit in his own misguided way. If I’m folding clothes, he’s standing on the pile. If I’m taking out the garbage, he’s trying to get into the bag. If I’m cooking at the stove, he’s trying to pull his stool up underneath my arms to “help out”. You get the picture.

Donatello "helping out"

Donatello “helping out”

 

 

Getting ready for this move with a toddler who was home 24/7 was not entirely realistic. Thankfully, my husband was on holiday from work and was able to take the boy out pretty regularly. So, the first way to make moving with a toddler easier is to:

Share your toddler with someone else for the afternoon.

Hey, I never purported to be awesome with children. The fact is, any time you do any activity with a toddler, it is going to be extra work. Therefore, it’s helpful to have someone else doing distracting the tot. If that’s not an option, try this one:

Modify your activity to include your toddler.

Before moving, I noticed that the floors were getting filthy every day. Winter rain is rough on the hard wood and moving stuff about is no better. We started a nightly routine where the boy and the hubs picked up the floor, then I vacuumed up the gunk. Finally, Drake was given a squirt bottle with my homemade cleaning miracle in it to spray about. I followed along with towels underfoot, scrubbing the resulting puddles. More about my miracle spray in the next post…

Another task that is necessary when moving out of a house is scrubbing marks off the walls. Drake of course wanted to help with this. I didn’t want his hands actually touching any kind of cleaning product, eco friendly or otherwise; and they don’t make cleaning gloves readily available in a 3T. Despite this, he wanted to help; so I would give him a cloth dampened with water and let him go to town. It’s better than painting it with markers 😃

My last tip for moving with a toddler is one that is universally achievable, but not any easier on you:

Wait until they sleep.

I know, I know, you are tired too! Sleep deprivation is nobody’s friend. This is why you should keep your nocturnal packings to just an hour or two after they sleep, then get some rest yourself (if you can). When you start packing a couple of months in advance, this is more achievable. As someone who procrastinated a bit on my organizing, I’m not the best at this advanced preparation bit; which is why I’ve been so tired lately.

Now that the move is over and we are officially in Sweden; I actually got a full nights sleep last night. As such, my next post will finish out this moving series and then I can get to the fun stuff—settling into Sweden.

Until next time 🙂

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Travel Adventures

The deed is done

As I sit in an empty house, I can hardly believe the deed is done. The whole place is packed and we are really moving to Sweden. Tomorrow. I kid you not. We are moving to a new country where I do not know the language, there are no friends or family, and YIKES!!! WE ARE MOVING TO A NEW COUNTRY.

PHEW. Now that my panic is over, I have to say, I was going to make this post about how toddlers fit into moves; but I’ve decided to delay that and type this out while the sensations are fresh in my mind and body. Mind and body you question? Yes, both! I haven’t slept in 3 days! 3 days!! Just a couple hours here and there, probably no more than 5 altogether. Did you know I don’t drink caffeine? Yep, this is me running on carbs and water 😛

Last night I was frantic as I finally thought of all the things I’d forgotten. The carseat in the crawl space, the two boxes in the shed, the landlord’s document binder that she most definitely wants back…the list goes on. Anyway, I finally reminded myself that not everything is within my control. Then I took a moment to breath and made a list of those things that needed to be done. When my husband came home from his goodbye party, slightly tipsy, I set him on the things I couldn’t do and took care of the things I could (serenity prayer, anyone?). This meant a lot of last minute things got tossed into our luggage. Why is that? Well, when you are moving to a foreign country and staying in temporary housing, you want to bring everything you will need for 4 weeks. What does that look like? Check out the picture.

20160106_162625

 

Before I get to the actual move, foremost on my mind has been what will happen with the cat. This morning, after dropping my son at his last day of nursery, I raced to the GP surgery to pick up his vaccination records then raced home so my husband could go to work. When I got here, the cat had been relegated to her new home…the bathroom. She was not pleased. I sat in there holding her for about a half hour and then left her to her own devices for another half hour. Right around 11am, PetAir UK arrived with the most awesome wooden crate ever. She popped right in and the nice gentleman whisked her off for a final medical check (they are a company of veterinarians). He called as soon as she was settled and will have her to the airport 4 hours prior to take off.

Now, remember that huge purge I just did, along with the stuff purge I’ve been doing for the past few months? Well thank goodness for that! The moving crew took from 9am until 2:40pm to load and pack our belongings. They skipped lunch… When everything was finally loaded, the truck was full! There were only two feet of space left at the back. No chance all the rest would have fit.

After they left, I checked over the house, picked up the trash, scrubbed the walls (more about all my scrubbing in a later blog), all those small things you need to do before leaving a home. Tomorrow, after our flight leaves, my awesome landlord will oversee the housekeepers and carpet cleaners (thank goodness for prepay!). Finally, I repacked our luggage, as the taxi comes in a couple hours to pick us up and take us to an airport hotel. 5am will come way too soon.

My husband just arrived with some Five Guys Burgers and Fries (thank goodness they have a Guildford location!) to stave off my hunger. Now we are off to pick up the boy and then return to catch our taxi.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for part 2, Moving with Toddlers and part 3, Frantically Scrubbing. 😉

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Travel Adventures

Procrastination kills…or at least maims

As I soaked in an industrial amount of Epsom salts and lavender oil tonight; I reflected on all the ways I could have avoided the aches and pains coursing through my body.  Two ways in particular:

Don’t be such a hoarder!

Be more exacting when culling the belongings

In four days we arrive in Sweden.  When that time comes, I don’t want to have huge amounts of clutter.  To that end, for the past few months, I’ve been taking approximately 3-4 sacks of stuff per month to charity shops (thrift stores for my US friends).  Does that shock some of you? So many belongings that I can bring that much and still have more?  Sometimes it shocks me.  I’m really not sure where all of it was.  This is not exactly a huge two bedroom…

Primarily, I’ve been bringing toys our toddler has outgrown and clothes he’s outgrown or we are through wearing.  Yet somehow, as I type this I have 5 large boxes as well as other miscellaneous items ready to go to the charity shop.

Boxes for donations

Boxes for donations

Thankfully, the debra charity shop (debra.org.uk) will pick up items of furniture or boxes as long as you have a large load.  It is a charity dedicated to “individuals and families affected by Epidermolysis Bulls (EB).  Those born with EB have skin so fragile they are called ‘butterfly children’ – their skin is quite simply as fragile as the wings of a butterfly.”  The debra website says it more succinctly than I could.  So, they help me out and our gently used goods go to help out children who are suffering from a horrible illness.

Enough of the sad stuff though…back to the results of these hoarding tendencies.  I have spent quite a bit of time the past few weeks culling, but today was epic.  Hubs took the boy out of the house and I worked so hard that every bone is my body is aching and I had to bathe not once, but twice!  I’m not a fan of stink…

Thankfully, I think we have most of it ready.  Tomorrow, the garbage bin will be picked up and Saturday, the recycling.  Of course, we will be gone by Wednesday so my landlord will hopefully help out with that.  She is amazing.  She will let in the cleaners and the carpet cleaner I am hiring so we can leave without any worries.

If I could only get through to the airport in Gothenburg to give the “Ok to forward” for our cat. So far, no dice.  Cross your fingers!!  The cat is a no negotiable.

The saga continues…

My next post will be kind of fun.  I want to discuss with you toddlers and their role in a move.  Help or hindrance?  That is the question.  For now though, I will take my aching back, legs, neck, feet, and wrists to bed.  I’m really going to miss living so close to Epsom. Having access to unlimited Epsom salts rocks my world :). Signing off!

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Travel Adventures

Final Week!

You read that right, this is our final week in the UK; our final week in our cozy little house in our quiet neighborhood. It’s almost time to begin our new adventure.

So, what was done this week for the move? Well, all those niggling details finally came to the surface. Guildford Borough Council was awesome even with our last minute notice and sent paperwork for a refund right away. Thames Water was equally responsive and is working on a refund and then interestingly enough, they will send a bill. I find this odd. Why not just hold onto the credit and deduct the final amount owed? There is bound to be some logic to it, but we just accepted and gave them the temporary address we are using in Sweden. Virgin, our internet provider, turned out to have a 30-day notification requirement. So, no refund there and we will need to pay for the full month of service. Lesson learned—make a detailed to-do list more than one month prior to a move. Our power company…oops! Guess I know who needs to be called tomorrow.

The most important travel detail that we are handling is the transportation of our cat. She is almost 13 years old and this will be her second plane journey. In case you are moving within the EU and need some tips, let me help you out. You will need a pet passport. This is not expensive, but it does need to be accurate. The most important detail is that the transponder number (microchip) needs to be recorded by the veterinarian on or before the date of the rabies vaccination. This way the veterinarian can prove they confirmed the identity of the animal before vaccinating. Weird, I know, but this tripped us up. Our vet did this in July, but we didn’t get the passport until November. A different vet filled out the passport and put the date she filled out the document as the date of confirmation. Thankfully, Pet Air UK, the company we are using, caught the issue and let me know. If they hadn’t, we would be in a pickle later. You may wonder why we hired someone to help with this…

When we moved to the UK from the USA, we were lucky enough that the new job paid for a pet travel company. Still, there were several details that we had to handle ourselves. After nearly botching our small role in that, it seemed prudent to have someone help. When I contacted the companies for assistance, I found out that airline tickets were cheaper with their custom made crates instead of the travel kennels we used previously (several hundred GBP cheaper). Additionally, we don’t have a car and our packers come the day prior to the move. So, having someone to pick my girl up and keep her overnight as well as check her in at the airport is a blessing in itself. The peace of mind of having someone double check all the documents is nice too.

What else have we been focusing on this week? Well, the purge has continued. A huge load has amassed of giveaway items that we don’t feel the need to keep. Also, the recycling truck took a huge mass of recycling away. This may seem easy, but emptying the open cupboard items into the compost and then washing and recycling the packaging can be labor intensive. Lastly, thanks to Gumtree and Freecycle, bits of furniture and a rug that we didn’t want to bring have now found new homes. The only furniture left consists of two dressers, two beds, an ottoman, a dining room table, and four chairs. Whew. Needless to say, the house is a lot more spacious than before.

The human aspect of moving should not be forgotten. I bought an address book and asked all our friends to send addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays. Hopefully that will help for long term contact. Tomorrow, for the first time in two years, a small group of my girlfriends and I will be going out for drinks. Friend time with no toddlers; what is that and why didn’t we do it before???

Drinks_640

Nice drinks at Three Pigeons – Guildford High Street

The last thing we’ve completed this week is shoe shopping. You are wondering why I feel the need to call that out, aren’t you? Well, we are moving to Sweden, and everyone says that when you move to Sweden in the winter, you need to have sturdy shoes with traction. Oft repeated advice is worth following; hopefully.

Tomorrow is another day and I’m sure more of those last minute tasks will pop up. When that happens, I just remind myself that the Visa was approved; the flights are booked; the temporary accommodation is set; and the rest will get sorted. Then I close my eyes, take a deep breath, square my shoulder, and brace myself for whatever adventures the day will hold. Breath on friends 😃

 

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Parenting

Birthdays Must Be Celebrated

Happy 3rd Birthday!

 

Today was my son’s third birthday. It was also his first birthday that was celebrated with friends on the actual date. To give you a little background, we left the United States when Drake was 11 months old. Three of the boys celebrated their first birthdays together. In his case, just a little early. Thankfully, since we were getting ready to move, my sympathetic friends handled every detail. We just showed up. It was fun and crazy, but not something he would remember just yet. His actual birthday was celebrated, just the three of us in a temporary house in Greenwich, England. An amazing temporary house, but one where we didn’t yet have friends with whom to celebrate. It was nice, but also quiet.

His second birthday was celebrated with equally as little fanfare. Our initial “permanent house” turned out to have an insidious mold problem that had been hidden with copious amounts of pain. After 10 months there, we were finally able to leave the small village of Horsell and head to the big city, Guildford, Surrey. Unfortunately, this meant that once again we were in a new place with no friends to help us celebrate. Still, he was once again young enough to not be bothered. He was just happy to eat cake 😃

We are now set to move to Sweden, but, we haven’t moved just yet. This meant that finally, we were able to celebrate his birthday not only with friends, but since it is a Sunday, also on the actual date! Jackpot! Here is the conundrum; we’ve never hosted a birthday party and we have a very small house. Toddlers, inexperienced hosts, small house…oh oh; this could have been a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully, it was not; most likely because of the impending move. Our tiny house feels much larger after we gave away a couch, two shelving units, a recliner, and an area rug. The only furniture in the living room is a collapsible table with 4 dining room chairs and a small storage trunk on which sits our tree that now only holds lights. After adding a picnic blanket, a train set, and a box of trains, it still felt very roomy; at least until the guests arrived.

We invited four close friends and their awesome children to celebrate the big 3. Last night I put together one of those box cake mixes because who has time with a toddler and a move to make a cake from scratch? I also wrapped up some small books for the kids to take home, because it’s no fun when you don’t get a present at that age. The big day arrived this morning and all looked well, until the #3 candle broke as it came out of the package. Oh, well… As the first guests arrived, my husband was dispatched to the grocery store. Thankfully, it was 10am the day after Boxing Day, so the store was open.

Eventually, all four friends and their four children arrived. Suddenly, the house did not feel as roomy and my lack of hosting experience shone through. My toddler grabbed every present as they came through the door and immediately opened them. I figured, “why fight it?” and apologized. They totally understood. At least he said “thank you.”

Teas were made and my friends were too polite to tell me when I gave them the wrong ones; they drank them anyway. Ready made snacks were devoured and the cake was a huge hit with the small ones. Finally, after a couple hours, we graduated to coffee, because, who wouldn’t after 2 hours in a house surrounded by toddlers? Meanwhile, I whipped up some home made lotion in the kitchen for the ladies to take home as a treat. Not my best time management choice, but doing something for them made me feel good; their friendship means so much to me.

Birthday_Train1280

Finally, as naptime rapidly approached, we said our goodbyes and planned for one last visit. It was a crazy day, but a memorable one. The birthday boy had an amazing time and I think everyone else did too. A valuable lesson from this is that if you have the opportunity to celebrate in the midst of something like this, grab onto it. Those memories will be the ones that help you when you are struggling to re-establish yourself. Snippets of conversation via programs like Whatsapp and Voxer will be even more meaningful when you have awesome memories playing in your mind.

I’m so thankful that this year we had a chance to celebrate with friends. It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t stressful, it wasn’t without gaffes, but it was perfect. An empty room, a box cake, some heat up snacks, bags of tea; that isn’t so hard, is it? Even someone moving can handle that.

Thank you England for the memories. I hope Drake’s next birthday in Gothenburg is just as grand.

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Travel Adventures

Marching Towards M-Day

One month from today, our little family will set off on a new adventure. We will be leaving the idyllic town of Guildford, Surrey UK for a much bigger city, Gothenburg, Sweden.

1511701_10103666226918768_7129306012057830677_oGuildford High Street

Prepping for this move has been both easy, because my husband’s new company is handling a lot of details, but also hard, because there are so many variables to consider. Visas? Handled. Moving company? Handled. Temporary housing? Handled. Lucky, right? Absolutely.

Now why is anything stressful? Well, when you have a toddler and a pet to consider, everything gets just a bit more complicated. Here are just a few things to consider:

Moving date? Dependent on Visa processing. Pet moving date? Dependent on Visa processing.How to handle check out and cleaning of rental when leaving the country with a pet? Thank goodness we have an amazing landlord… New nursery? Eeks!!! Where will we live after the first month? No idea until after we get there.

That’s just a few things to consider. So far I’ve contacted the pet movers to tentatively set things up, gotten an EU pet passport, emailed several Swedish nurseries to learn about them, contacted women’s groups to try to set up a network, cancelled my gym membership, cancelled the current nursery, the charitable donations, posted belongings for free or sale on the internet to de-clutter…the list goes on. There is always a lot involved in a move and moving to a new country just compounds that.

I’ve also spent countless hours after the toddler goes to bed researching our new city—AMAZING! And trying to learn how to cope with 3 hours of sunshine in the winter (hint: fancy lights and lots of layers!)

After trying and failing to do a fun blog when we moved to England two years ago (thank you, toddler for trashing the laptop…); I’ve decided to really commit to this. One of my biggest sources of angst has been the lack of information about moving to this awesome city with a toddler and with next to no knowledge of the new language. My hope is that as I overcome these hurdles, others who are embarking on similar adventures will stumble across this blog and realize you are not alone, this has been done before, and in a way, we will do it together. Alternately, maybe you will stumble across this blog and realize you too can have a big adventure, it is possible for ordinary people to live and thrive in new places. Or maybe just have an occasional vicarious thrill.

I hope you stay with me during this adventure. Grand adventures are always better when shared with friends 😃

GothenburgGothenburg, Sweden

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Kitchen Creations

The treat I love and hate…

Oh ice cream, how I adore you, and hate you at the same time…to the point that I haven’t had an ice cream cone in over a year.

Is it the inches you add to my butt and thighs?  Pah!  I could care less if it means indulging in a tasty treat.

If not calories and fat, why avoid such an amazingly delicious thing as ice cream?  Well world, one day, several years ago, my doctor was kind enough to point out a dairy allergy. No, I am not lactose intolerant. No, I do not have IBS. No, I am not one of those hipsters who only likes soy. Yes, I am indeed ALLERGIC to milk. Those of you who know my family know this to be a travesty. My mother believes milk and bananas will cure all ills. She presses at least one large glass of milk into your hand at every meal and more so on spaghetti night. How then can I be allergic to milk???  I LOVE milk!

Apparently this love is unrequited. As my K-dramas would say, it is one sided.

When I finally gave up dairy, several things happened — my dry eyes were suddenly damp, my headaches disappeared, and sadly, I broke a rib. Damn you dairy allergy!  I can’t prove that giving up milk was the primary cause of that break. I’m sure tripping over a running beagle while running myself and flipping tush over tea kettle probably contributed as well…but I’m also sure giving up milk didn’t help the situation.

Since that unfortunate time, I have indulged time to time, I even let myself have butter and deal with the headache and dry eyes.

Now that we are in England, I indulge in scones with clotted cream (and several headache and allergy remedies). The one thing I refuse to do is have a large quantity of dairy. In my book that means no ice cream (really, who can stop at a tablespoon????).

This wasn’t really a problem in the US    Non dairy ice cream options abound. We even had shops that sold coconut milk ice cream to the masses!  On cones!  Totally legit.

Not so much here…

After a year of searching for ice cream in stores and bemoaning the cost and space needed for an ice cream maker, today I decided this strike had to end. Today I would have an ice cream cone.

As any self respecting 30 something would do, I promptly catalogued my supplies and checked the internet to make sure they were sufficient.

Coconut milk–check
Cocoa powder–check
Cinnamon–check
Sugar–check
Vanilla–check
Large freezer bag–check
Small freezer bag–check
Ice–surprisingly, check
Rock salt–WTH?!? Rock salt???  Who has that in the kitchen?  Oh internet gurus, will Epsom Salt work? Maybe…hmm…worth a try anyway.

After assembling my ingredients in the small bag and the salt and ice in the large bag, I set about kneading the bag for 7-10 minutes. Or I would have, except after 2 minutes my husband took pity on me and took over.

This is where it all goes awry…

“Umm..we may have a problem,” says my nerdy software guy. This is not what I wanted to hear. I really didn’t want to see that the zipper had come undone on the inner bag and my glorious ice cream was rapidly mixing with the ice and Epsom salt 🙁

Did I give up?  Heck no!  I wanted ice cream. It’s been over a year!  So close!  At this point I looked desperately about the kitchen for two coffee cans of different sizes.  Tragically, I don’t drink coffee and the hubby mainly uses those little pods. Thwarted again!  Ready to give up?  I say nay!

Months ago, Thug Kitchen posted an ice cream recipe and did the most amazing thing. They put it in a bowl and froze it. What a novel idea!  Freeze stuff in the freezer. Why didn’t I think of that?

To ensure my ice cream wouldn’t just be a block of ice, I pulled it out ever 20 minutes and gave it a vigorous whisking. 1 hour later I indulged in a delicious scoop of chocolate cinnamon heaven.

For those of you experiencing a similar dilemma, and for others who may just want to try something new, I present to you my take on coconut milk ice cream aka chocolate cinnamon heaven.

1 can full fat coconut milk (hey, it’s good fat, deal with it)
1 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 Tbsp sugar (I used Demerara but granulated or coconut sugar would be good. Honey would probably be awesome)
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla (mine is straight vodka with 10 vanilla beans aged several months, but no need to be fancy. When you go through so many bottles, it’s best to make it in bulk. Cheaper too thanks to duty free shopping).

Whisk all ingredients together until well incorporated. Place in glass bowl in freezer for 1 hour, removing and whisking vigorously every 20 minutes.

Once set to your preference, enjoy!  Store leftovers in a tightly sealed plastic freezer bag.

If you have any awesome coconut milk concoctions, let me know, it’s my milk of choice in the kitchen 🙂

Here are pictures of my attempts pre and post spillage and then final product. Yummy!

 

Ice cream Ice cream  Ice cream

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