For the past couple of weeks, I have been going into the office one day per week, and two weeks ago, they now require a temperature check when you go in.
The first day that I went in, the temperature check came back elevated. (Although I was pretty sure the thing was inaccurate), so Dan told me I needed to go home and then about 20 minutes after I arrived home, I received a call from the HR manager requesting that I go and get a test.
I booked myself for a test the following day at a drive in place not too far from home. When I arrived, I was surprised to see several men in army fatigues. I took my place in the queue, and when it was my turn, the guy held up a sign that had a phone number, which I dialed. I was then talking to him on the phone while he was standing right outside my passenger window. He scanned my code that I received when I booked the appointment. He then placed the test on my passenger seat and directed me to park on the other side and ADMINISTER THE TEST MYSELF!!! What?!?!? This is how they increased the testing numbers, by expecting people to self-administer the test.
So I did it, I stuck the swab down my throat and up my nose. I am not convinced I did it properly, but it came back negative thankfully.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Things I have learned in Lockdown
1. The only person in my house who really needs to leave the house on a daily basis is me. The kids are happy staying in our house/garden all day long. Brad does like to get out a bit, but mostly just for exercise.
2. Teenagers need A LOT of sleep. How lucky is Lauren that she gets to sleep until 11 everyday. I have stopped trying to get her up any earlier. Her brain is forming, just like toddlers. And her behaviour is that of a toddler sometimes too, except when she is helping me with all my technology questions.
3. Being a dog owner is a lot more fun than I expected. It helps that everyone is here all day, everyday. But Archie is ALWAYS happy to see me, even if it's only been 5 minutes since I saw him last.
4. Brad and I drink A LOT of coffee, like at least 2 bags per week. Thank goodness for the coffee pot.
5. And we also drink a lot of beer. 5 PM is beer o'clock everyday. It's hard not to have a cold one when the weather has been so amazingly gorgeous. And G&Ts as well of course. We just discovered Monkey 47 Gin which is fab. (Our recycling bins are overflowing after about one week, thankfully our neighbours are away so we can use theirs for the overflow.)
6. The girls really only need about 2 outfits, as they just wear the same clothes day after day, yet their laundry baskets are overflowing. That is a true mystery.
7. Sunshine makes things seems not so bad ( I suppose I realised this before lockdown), but I can't imagine what our days would have been like if they had been gray and dreary.
8. The "key workers" that society depends on the carry on are some of the lowest paid, but hardest working people. From the doctors and nurses to the bin men to the all grocery delivery people and grocery clerks and stockers. I didn't realise how much we really need these people, more so than the bankers, etc who make all the money.
9. Human contact and interaction is necessary. The zoom calls are nice to see friends and family, but it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh. I do appreciate that I have been able to talk to my Miami girls several times on video chat! And talk to multiple members of my family in different parts of the world at the same time.
10. Tik Tok is taking over the world (especially for tween and teen girls). Everytime I turn on a hot hits UK playlist, the girls start randomly dancing in the middle of the kitchen. I don't really get it, and I can't remember a dance 5 minutes after they have taught it to me!!
11. Teachers work really, really, really hard! I have so much more respect to teachers now that I have tried somewhat successfully to homeschool Drew and Alison. (Lauren has mostly gotten on with it herself.)
12. Our neighbour is serious about his football training. He trains at least 2 hours everyday, and his dad develops drills for him.
13. Working from home has its positives and negatives....the positive is that I can work in my lycra if I want to, and work as early or as late as I want. The negative is that I have access to all the food all day long, which would explain the few pounds I have gained despite doing more exercise. I guess all that walking really does help.
14. I am so thankful for FitState, my lovely work out people. They were very quick to organise Zoom workouts from the very beginning of lockdown, and have continued with over 10 classes each week at different times that we can join for a very affordable price. I am so, so, so thankful for that.
15. There are SOOOO many books to read, and not enough time to read them. Just as there are so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them. Brad watched "Tiger King," but I decided not to subject myself to that sort of rubbish. The kids and I have been enjoying "Modern Family" and Brad, Drew and I really enjoyed watching "Race Across the World," which is similar to "The Great Race" in America. I learned a lot about South America!
16. Watching sports is a huge part of Brad (and Drew's) life. It has been really tough on Brad not having sports to watch live, read about and listen to commentary on. He did watch "The Last Dance," about Michael Jordan which was a good distraction. Apparently, the Premier League may restart in about 2 weeks time with no crowds but we shall see.....
17. Journalists are really good at asking the same question in a different way. Before they said anything about what would happen after the lockdown rules changed, about 80% of the journalists asked what the rules were going to be. And then when Dominick Cummings was called out for breaking the lockdown rules, for at least 3 days, almost every journalist asked another question about his activities, etc even though Boris Johnson made it clear that the case was closed!
18. Having a family bathroom is tough. We had started our bathroom refurbishment just before the lockdown started, so we have been without the 1st floor bathroom from end of March-beginning of June. Which means that the kids have been showering and brushing their teeth in our bathroom! (and leaving their clothes and wet towels on the floor!) It looks to be finished by mid-June. I can't wait!!!!
19. Some days I feel like all I did was cook and clean the kitchen. You don't realise how much food everyone eats until you are all eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL at home. We have ordered takeaway about once a week, but it still seems like I am almost always thinking about eating or what we are going to eat for the next meal.
I have to say that when we look back on 2020, it will provide memories unlike any other year.
~We haven't travelled anywhere since December 2019
~All sporting events were cancelled
~Public transportation usage decreased by 90% for nearly 3 months
~schools closed
~almost everyone I know was working from home
~we have only filled the car with petrol once since February
~we added a dog to our family(!!!)
2. Teenagers need A LOT of sleep. How lucky is Lauren that she gets to sleep until 11 everyday. I have stopped trying to get her up any earlier. Her brain is forming, just like toddlers. And her behaviour is that of a toddler sometimes too, except when she is helping me with all my technology questions.
3. Being a dog owner is a lot more fun than I expected. It helps that everyone is here all day, everyday. But Archie is ALWAYS happy to see me, even if it's only been 5 minutes since I saw him last.
4. Brad and I drink A LOT of coffee, like at least 2 bags per week. Thank goodness for the coffee pot.
5. And we also drink a lot of beer. 5 PM is beer o'clock everyday. It's hard not to have a cold one when the weather has been so amazingly gorgeous. And G&Ts as well of course. We just discovered Monkey 47 Gin which is fab. (Our recycling bins are overflowing after about one week, thankfully our neighbours are away so we can use theirs for the overflow.)
6. The girls really only need about 2 outfits, as they just wear the same clothes day after day, yet their laundry baskets are overflowing. That is a true mystery.
7. Sunshine makes things seems not so bad ( I suppose I realised this before lockdown), but I can't imagine what our days would have been like if they had been gray and dreary.
8. The "key workers" that society depends on the carry on are some of the lowest paid, but hardest working people. From the doctors and nurses to the bin men to the all grocery delivery people and grocery clerks and stockers. I didn't realise how much we really need these people, more so than the bankers, etc who make all the money.
9. Human contact and interaction is necessary. The zoom calls are nice to see friends and family, but it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh. I do appreciate that I have been able to talk to my Miami girls several times on video chat! And talk to multiple members of my family in different parts of the world at the same time.
10. Tik Tok is taking over the world (especially for tween and teen girls). Everytime I turn on a hot hits UK playlist, the girls start randomly dancing in the middle of the kitchen. I don't really get it, and I can't remember a dance 5 minutes after they have taught it to me!!
11. Teachers work really, really, really hard! I have so much more respect to teachers now that I have tried somewhat successfully to homeschool Drew and Alison. (Lauren has mostly gotten on with it herself.)
12. Our neighbour is serious about his football training. He trains at least 2 hours everyday, and his dad develops drills for him.
13. Working from home has its positives and negatives....the positive is that I can work in my lycra if I want to, and work as early or as late as I want. The negative is that I have access to all the food all day long, which would explain the few pounds I have gained despite doing more exercise. I guess all that walking really does help.
14. I am so thankful for FitState, my lovely work out people. They were very quick to organise Zoom workouts from the very beginning of lockdown, and have continued with over 10 classes each week at different times that we can join for a very affordable price. I am so, so, so thankful for that.
15. There are SOOOO many books to read, and not enough time to read them. Just as there are so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them. Brad watched "Tiger King," but I decided not to subject myself to that sort of rubbish. The kids and I have been enjoying "Modern Family" and Brad, Drew and I really enjoyed watching "Race Across the World," which is similar to "The Great Race" in America. I learned a lot about South America!
16. Watching sports is a huge part of Brad (and Drew's) life. It has been really tough on Brad not having sports to watch live, read about and listen to commentary on. He did watch "The Last Dance," about Michael Jordan which was a good distraction. Apparently, the Premier League may restart in about 2 weeks time with no crowds but we shall see.....
17. Journalists are really good at asking the same question in a different way. Before they said anything about what would happen after the lockdown rules changed, about 80% of the journalists asked what the rules were going to be. And then when Dominick Cummings was called out for breaking the lockdown rules, for at least 3 days, almost every journalist asked another question about his activities, etc even though Boris Johnson made it clear that the case was closed!
18. Having a family bathroom is tough. We had started our bathroom refurbishment just before the lockdown started, so we have been without the 1st floor bathroom from end of March-beginning of June. Which means that the kids have been showering and brushing their teeth in our bathroom! (and leaving their clothes and wet towels on the floor!) It looks to be finished by mid-June. I can't wait!!!!
19. Some days I feel like all I did was cook and clean the kitchen. You don't realise how much food everyone eats until you are all eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL at home. We have ordered takeaway about once a week, but it still seems like I am almost always thinking about eating or what we are going to eat for the next meal.
I have to say that when we look back on 2020, it will provide memories unlike any other year.
~We haven't travelled anywhere since December 2019
~All sporting events were cancelled
~Public transportation usage decreased by 90% for nearly 3 months
~schools closed
~almost everyone I know was working from home
~we have only filled the car with petrol once since February
~we added a dog to our family(!!!)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Operation Dog: Success!
The kids have been wanting a dog for quite some time, and so we got our hampster Renegade in January to satisfy their need for a pet.
At the park last week, they decided that they REALLY REALLY wanted a dog, so when we got home from our walk, they went upstairs and prepared a persuasive presentation on why they needed a dog in their life. They spent almost an hour on it, and they were so nervous and excited when they were doing the presentation. I will say their teachers have done a great job with teaching the persuasive writing, Brad was on board straight away. I took a few more days to come around, but I caved eventually. how could I not when they were RELENTLESS about it!!!
So, introducing: ARCHIE SCHEINER. He is a cockerpoo puppy born on 2 March 2020. We collected him from Ilford yesterday (30 April). He is SOOOOO cute and happy and they kids are beyond thrilled. I haven't seen them so happy in quite some time. We are still working on the potty training and crate training but hopefully that will come with time.
First night home, Lauren and I slept on an air mattress in the kitchen. He fell asleep in Lauren's arms several times and we attempted to put him in the crate to sleep, but he was not having that at all. He was missing his mom and his siblings. After a few bits of crying and escaping, we decided to let him sleep with us. He curled up next to Lauren and slept until 6:15.
At the park last week, they decided that they REALLY REALLY wanted a dog, so when we got home from our walk, they went upstairs and prepared a persuasive presentation on why they needed a dog in their life. They spent almost an hour on it, and they were so nervous and excited when they were doing the presentation. I will say their teachers have done a great job with teaching the persuasive writing, Brad was on board straight away. I took a few more days to come around, but I caved eventually. how could I not when they were RELENTLESS about it!!!
So, introducing: ARCHIE SCHEINER. He is a cockerpoo puppy born on 2 March 2020. We collected him from Ilford yesterday (30 April). He is SOOOOO cute and happy and they kids are beyond thrilled. I haven't seen them so happy in quite some time. We are still working on the potty training and crate training but hopefully that will come with time.
First night home, Lauren and I slept on an air mattress in the kitchen. He fell asleep in Lauren's arms several times and we attempted to put him in the crate to sleep, but he was not having that at all. He was missing his mom and his siblings. After a few bits of crying and escaping, we decided to let him sleep with us. He curled up next to Lauren and slept until 6:15.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Week 6.......
It is week 6 of being on lockdown and the wariness on all of our parts is starting to set in. The kids are getting harder and harder to wangle into doing school work. Lauren is getting up around lunchtime. All three of them are spending WAY more time on electronics than the should be. It is hard to convince them to do much else. I will say that Drew has been outside playing football quite a bit, although today is a rubbish day weather wise. Alison is of course doing her gymnastics all the time. She has been good about doing her conditioning twice a week, although not without a bit of coaxing.
As for me, I have been working from home my three days a week (with the exception of the 2 week Easter holiday), which makes things a bit more challenging with trying to get the kids occupied. I have exercised every day in April so far. It has been very helpful to have my local fitness company who is doing 11 online classes per week so I am able to do some HIIT, Pilates/Yoga, strength training and circuits amongst my runs. I have also been doing a lot of reading as well as doing my new favourite type of puzzle, the codefinder. I bought a small book and I have nearly finished it! I also have weekly pub quizzes on-line with my quiz team: I enjoy having something to look forward to every Tuesday night at 8 PM.
As a family, we have played some Scattergories, which is fun with the kids and we are almost the entire way through Season 4 of Modern Family.
As for me, I have been working from home my three days a week (with the exception of the 2 week Easter holiday), which makes things a bit more challenging with trying to get the kids occupied. I have exercised every day in April so far. It has been very helpful to have my local fitness company who is doing 11 online classes per week so I am able to do some HIIT, Pilates/Yoga, strength training and circuits amongst my runs. I have also been doing a lot of reading as well as doing my new favourite type of puzzle, the codefinder. I bought a small book and I have nearly finished it! I also have weekly pub quizzes on-line with my quiz team: I enjoy having something to look forward to every Tuesday night at 8 PM.
As a family, we have played some Scattergories, which is fun with the kids and we are almost the entire way through Season 4 of Modern Family.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Random Thoughts after a month of Lockdown
or Lockin, or quarantine, or isolation. So many names for what is happening right now. The term I have heard the most that I want to adopt comes from my favourite podcast The High Low, and it's "The Panny-D". (And they are also name Pandora and Dolly, so it's a double-barreled name!)
Here are just some random thoughts and observations from the last month:
~what in the world am I going to do with all these Ocado grocery sacks now that they are no longer collecting them and I have to do one HUGE grocery order every week as we are all 5 eating all 3 meals a day at home. Not to mention all the coffee, beer, and snacks consumed. As well as all the baking. Alison has deemed Wednesdays to be baking as a science lesson.
~I feel more relaxed, but I sometimes think I should feel more stressed. I think most of that stems from the fact that I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, or get the kids anywhere at a certain time.
~The kids are obsessed with Roblox. Like they could probably play it for 10 hours straight without even using the toilet. Thank goodness school is back in session so they are not doing it quite as often.
~"Modern Family" is funny. And the kids enjoy it. I am usually the only member of my family laughing out loud, but Drew does giggle every once in a while.
~Drew says he wants to go to Turkey because there is no coronavirus cases there. I am not sure where he heard or saw that, but's is just funny and so not true
~Lauren is definitely a teenager! She sleeps SO much and her room is a disaster area.
Here are just some random thoughts and observations from the last month:
~what in the world am I going to do with all these Ocado grocery sacks now that they are no longer collecting them and I have to do one HUGE grocery order every week as we are all 5 eating all 3 meals a day at home. Not to mention all the coffee, beer, and snacks consumed. As well as all the baking. Alison has deemed Wednesdays to be baking as a science lesson.
~I feel more relaxed, but I sometimes think I should feel more stressed. I think most of that stems from the fact that I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, or get the kids anywhere at a certain time.
~The kids are obsessed with Roblox. Like they could probably play it for 10 hours straight without even using the toilet. Thank goodness school is back in session so they are not doing it quite as often.
~"Modern Family" is funny. And the kids enjoy it. I am usually the only member of my family laughing out loud, but Drew does giggle every once in a while.
~Drew says he wants to go to Turkey because there is no coronavirus cases there. I am not sure where he heard or saw that, but's is just funny and so not true
~Lauren is definitely a teenager! She sleeps SO much and her room is a disaster area.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
It's Official
3 more weeks of lockdown, as announced by Dominic Raab, who has been deputised to act on behalf of Boris Johnson to act as Prime Minister. All of the journalists keep asking the same question in different ways "What is going to happen after the lockdown is over?" And the answer is always the same "We can't say yet what it will look like because we are looking at the science to make decisions about the steps after the three week period has passed." They should be asking about testing and PPE and things like that.
So that means at least 3 more weeks of WFH and home schooling. My guess is that the schools may go back in the beginning of June, which would mean the kids would have their last term of school, which would be good for all of them. The kids were really excited for lockdown at the beginning, but now they are all saying that they can't wait to go back to school. Lauren I think is missing her independence of getting herself to and from school and seeing her friends, and Alison is just missing her friends. I think Drew doesn't mind the homeschool so much, but he is missing his friends as well.
As far as Brad WFH, I think it may extend out even longer because they have gotten accustomed to working from home. The kids have been very respectful of his use of the reception room for calls and such, which is good.
I am going to think optimistically about the adjustment back to school and normal routine next week. This weekend, we will set out a time table for Drew and Alison for next week, and I will let Lauren continue to get on with her timetable. Hopefully she will PE this time. Lauren has taken up residence in Alison's room for the last two weeks, as well as Reni. That will have to come to an end tonight so that it will feel more like normal routine. They tried to get Drew to have a sleepover as well, but he wasn't have any of that craziness!!!
So that means at least 3 more weeks of WFH and home schooling. My guess is that the schools may go back in the beginning of June, which would mean the kids would have their last term of school, which would be good for all of them. The kids were really excited for lockdown at the beginning, but now they are all saying that they can't wait to go back to school. Lauren I think is missing her independence of getting herself to and from school and seeing her friends, and Alison is just missing her friends. I think Drew doesn't mind the homeschool so much, but he is missing his friends as well.
As far as Brad WFH, I think it may extend out even longer because they have gotten accustomed to working from home. The kids have been very respectful of his use of the reception room for calls and such, which is good.
I am going to think optimistically about the adjustment back to school and normal routine next week. This weekend, we will set out a time table for Drew and Alison for next week, and I will let Lauren continue to get on with her timetable. Hopefully she will PE this time. Lauren has taken up residence in Alison's room for the last two weeks, as well as Reni. That will have to come to an end tonight so that it will feel more like normal routine. They tried to get Drew to have a sleepover as well, but he wasn't have any of that craziness!!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Easter Break
So today is the last day of Easter Break for Brad. He took the last 5 days off, which was really nice! We obviously didn't leave the house, but we did have some fun playing games, watching movies and hanging out!
Alison has perfected her standing back tuck, Drew has rediscovered "Cars" and Lauren is organizing the "AMA" (Adopt Me Awards) with a friend she has made through playing Roblox. Her IBF (Internet Best Friend, I guess it's the modern day pen pal.)
We also watched "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet," both of which were very entertaining, well thought out and creative in terms of how the inside of a video game looks.
We had a great time playing Scattergories and the girls have discovered Words with Friends.
The weather was absolutely glorious!!! Really warm and sunny, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside and had all the doors open on the patio.
Brad and I also joined Alison in her gymnastics conditioning and it is REALLY hard! I was sore for about three days after I did it with her. I have so much respect for her determination and ability to do way more press-ups than I could ever dream of doing. And her abs are so amazingly steel-like.
Tik Tok continues to take over life as we know it. The funniest thing in my opinion is when Brad and I know a song, the girls are so surprised. There are some old songs making a comeback on Tik Tok.
The grocery items that are now really hard to find are flour and brown sugar!!! I was hoping to make a carrot cake for Easter, but couldn't get brown sugar. We almost had a complete disaster last Saturday, as we ran out of coffee!!!! The horror, that would be absolutely terrible. So I spent about 30 minutes going to three different shops before I was able to procure 2 bags of coffee in advance of my grocery delivery. I discovered that the corner shop/news agents only sell the freeze dried coffee that doesn't really cut it.
Alison has perfected her standing back tuck, Drew has rediscovered "Cars" and Lauren is organizing the "AMA" (Adopt Me Awards) with a friend she has made through playing Roblox. Her IBF (Internet Best Friend, I guess it's the modern day pen pal.)
We also watched "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet," both of which were very entertaining, well thought out and creative in terms of how the inside of a video game looks.
We had a great time playing Scattergories and the girls have discovered Words with Friends.
The weather was absolutely glorious!!! Really warm and sunny, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside and had all the doors open on the patio.
Brad and I also joined Alison in her gymnastics conditioning and it is REALLY hard! I was sore for about three days after I did it with her. I have so much respect for her determination and ability to do way more press-ups than I could ever dream of doing. And her abs are so amazingly steel-like.
Tik Tok continues to take over life as we know it. The funniest thing in my opinion is when Brad and I know a song, the girls are so surprised. There are some old songs making a comeback on Tik Tok.
The grocery items that are now really hard to find are flour and brown sugar!!! I was hoping to make a carrot cake for Easter, but couldn't get brown sugar. We almost had a complete disaster last Saturday, as we ran out of coffee!!!! The horror, that would be absolutely terrible. So I spent about 30 minutes going to three different shops before I was able to procure 2 bags of coffee in advance of my grocery delivery. I discovered that the corner shop/news agents only sell the freeze dried coffee that doesn't really cut it.
Last Day of the Spring Term!!!
It is the last day of the spring term for the kids. Definitely not the way they or I thought they would be spending today. This week has been a bit different than last week. Drew was not feeling well at all, so he didn't do much work. Alison was a really hard worker on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday a bit less and yesterday she coloured a really beautiful beach scene picture and did gymnastics. We shall see what today brings. Lauren has gotten up around noon for the past 3 days. Tuesday she decided to sleep in because she has PE for the first 2 periods, fair enough. She does mostly carry on with her work and get all her assigned work completed, so I can't complain too much. She will have to get up earlier today as she has her guitar lesson at 11:30!!!
I have realised over the past two weeks that Brad works really hard, and he has a good relationship with his direct reports. And he drinks a lot of coffee! Between the two of us, we have been drinking a bag of coffee every 3-4 days. Thankfully, there hasn't been an issue with finding coffee. And we have made a couple of trips to the local grocery store to buy beer....only the essentials!!
The kids and I have really enjoyed watching "Malory Towers" on the BBC, which is a TV series based on the books by Enid Blyton (a famous British author who I have never read), but it has been deemed the "Downton Abbey for kids." The cast is spot on, and the stories are relatable to today, even though it is set in the 40s. It's interesting to hear the girls mentioning rations and wearing straw hats as part of their school uniform and wearing skirts and white button down shirts to play sport.
I have realised over the past two weeks that Brad works really hard, and he has a good relationship with his direct reports. And he drinks a lot of coffee! Between the two of us, we have been drinking a bag of coffee every 3-4 days. Thankfully, there hasn't been an issue with finding coffee. And we have made a couple of trips to the local grocery store to buy beer....only the essentials!!
The kids and I have really enjoyed watching "Malory Towers" on the BBC, which is a TV series based on the books by Enid Blyton (a famous British author who I have never read), but it has been deemed the "Downton Abbey for kids." The cast is spot on, and the stories are relatable to today, even though it is set in the 40s. It's interesting to hear the girls mentioning rations and wearing straw hats as part of their school uniform and wearing skirts and white button down shirts to play sport.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Day 8 of lockdown......I think
It's hard to remember how many days this has been our new normal. It was a bit of a gradual process actually. First it was wash your hands and stay home if you are unwell, then it was the schools are open to only vulnerable kids and kids of key workers, then it was don't go out unless you have to get essential supplies, then it was all non-essential stores are closed.
I have been out at least to go for a run everyday, I just can't not go outside and do a bit of something or else I will seriously go crazy!! And not to mention trying to find the essentials that we need. Tortillas have been the hardest food item to come by for some reason...
Alison has settled into a good routine of schoolwork. It was helpful this week for her to make up her own timetable. Drew has been really not feeling well this week, so he hasn't done much work, because he has just been too tired. Lauren is doing her own thing of course. She didn't get out of bed until 12:30 since she has PE on Tuesday mornings. I can't even begin to make her get out of bed.....
Overall, it has been going pretty well. Brad takes a lot of phone calls, so he does that in the reception room. And Lauren sits at the computer desk, and Alison, Drew and I take over the kitchen table. Thankfully I have my laptop to work on! I am very impressed with Microsoft Teams and the ease of ability to do all my work remotely. I do miss being in the office and being able to chat with everyone.
I have been out at least to go for a run everyday, I just can't not go outside and do a bit of something or else I will seriously go crazy!! And not to mention trying to find the essentials that we need. Tortillas have been the hardest food item to come by for some reason...
Alison has settled into a good routine of schoolwork. It was helpful this week for her to make up her own timetable. Drew has been really not feeling well this week, so he hasn't done much work, because he has just been too tired. Lauren is doing her own thing of course. She didn't get out of bed until 12:30 since she has PE on Tuesday mornings. I can't even begin to make her get out of bed.....
Overall, it has been going pretty well. Brad takes a lot of phone calls, so he does that in the reception room. And Lauren sits at the computer desk, and Alison, Drew and I take over the kitchen table. Thankfully I have my laptop to work on! I am very impressed with Microsoft Teams and the ease of ability to do all my work remotely. I do miss being in the office and being able to chat with everyone.
Monday, March 30, 2020
The captivity is starting to get to all of us
So today the novelty of being at home and in the house is starting to wear off, especially for Drew. He is not feeling top notch anyways because he is all stuffed up, but it was really hard to get him motivated to do much on Friday.
And Lauren did about 3/4 of her work in her bed. Not sure that is promoting very good study habits so much. I don't want to crack down on her, but at the same time the fact of the matter is she is more focused on her instagram account than actually doing her homework. And that's not really very cool.
I have to say that I am starting to feel about closed in as well. I am not sure what the Easter break is going to look like to be honest with you. I hope that Brad will be able to take some time off, so that we can have some family time playing games and watching movies and maybe doing some walks around the block and possible even going to the common!
We are pretty sure that Brad had a minor case of the virus, as for about a weeks time he was feeling achy and tired and went to bed around 9 PM. And he lost his sense of taste and smell during that time. The thing of it is that he never had a fever or a cough. He now has a bit of a cough when he wakes up in the morning. It just goes to show that not everyone has the same symptoms.
The coronavirus is now spreading through Downing Street....Boris Johnson has been diagnosed, the chief medical officer. So self-isolation for them!
And Lauren did about 3/4 of her work in her bed. Not sure that is promoting very good study habits so much. I don't want to crack down on her, but at the same time the fact of the matter is she is more focused on her instagram account than actually doing her homework. And that's not really very cool.
I have to say that I am starting to feel about closed in as well. I am not sure what the Easter break is going to look like to be honest with you. I hope that Brad will be able to take some time off, so that we can have some family time playing games and watching movies and maybe doing some walks around the block and possible even going to the common!
We are pretty sure that Brad had a minor case of the virus, as for about a weeks time he was feeling achy and tired and went to bed around 9 PM. And he lost his sense of taste and smell during that time. The thing of it is that he never had a fever or a cough. He now has a bit of a cough when he wakes up in the morning. It just goes to show that not everyone has the same symptoms.
The coronavirus is now spreading through Downing Street....Boris Johnson has been diagnosed, the chief medical officer. So self-isolation for them!
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
My first day off while on lockdown
As of last week, I changed my working days to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and have Wednesday and Friday off. So, today is my first day not working, but I still have lots of work to do: making the meals, doing the washing up, helping the kids with their homework. And I just remembered I need to do the laundry today as well. I am so thankful that the sun is shining and that we have a garden where we can go to get some fresh air! We have taken the covers off the patio furniture for the first time in months, and we can say hello to our neighbours over the fence again (all whilst keeping our safe 2m distance of course.)
The kids are still amazing me with their willingness to do work and not moaning. The hardest bit is just getting them to the table to start, but once they get into it, they are focused and ready to do their work. I am not sure how much they are going to learn outside of Maths and English, but never mind.
I caved and signed up for one year of Disney+ for a year for a bargain price of £49! So we will have to check that out and see what we can find on there for Science as there is all the National Geographic channel as well. And I have seen people posting on Facebook about introducing their kids to shows like Ducktales and other shows from the 80s! That should be fun. I am still not sure I will get bored enough to watch the StarWars, but it all depends on how long this lockdown carries on.
The big news is that KFC is closed for business for the next few weeks. They had already made the decision to close before Boris made the announcement on Monday, but Brad has still been really busy on conference calls and such.
Yesterday the kids humoured me and listened to me reading them the first chapter of Harry Potter. I am hoping to do it nearly every day, as I think it's a good way to get them all in the same room and off electronics. And then we can watch the movie when we finish the book. I hope that we can take turns reading the chapters.
The most fun I had yesterday was a quiz night via Zoom! We tried Skype, but Skype is old technology, there is so much better stuff going on with Zoom and Microsoft Teams. I was very impressed with Gwen doing 6 rounds of the Quiz for us. We even had a Guest Round where her daughters made up all the questions. I came in last by half a point and Wendy was the winner as she knew all the songs in the last round. I am not so good with music. We have set the next one for next Tuesday and we are doing a round each: I am doing the All American round, so I need to start working on my questions! I may enlist the help of the kids as well. I am going to mix in all sorts of bits of geography, general knowledge. It will be fun!
Thank goodness for technology and being able to still connect with people.
Random thoughts:
~Drew is going to have super shaggy hair when this is all over, as we have no way to cut his hair!
~Drew and Alison love doing colour by number things using multiplication as long as it makes a picture.
~Lauren can really focus on her school work when she wants to
~I am missing our house in KY where we had multiple tables, as here the table rotates from being the breakfast table to the school/work desk to the lunch table back to the school/work desk to the puzzle working table to the dinner table. At least we have a big enough table to all work at!
~Thankful that we purchased a new iMac 2 months ago as Lauren has to do all of her homework online and submit some of it
~The kitchen is also being used as Alison's gym and Drew's football pitch (although a lot of his football is being played outside now that it's warmer.)
The kids are still amazing me with their willingness to do work and not moaning. The hardest bit is just getting them to the table to start, but once they get into it, they are focused and ready to do their work. I am not sure how much they are going to learn outside of Maths and English, but never mind.
I caved and signed up for one year of Disney+ for a year for a bargain price of £49! So we will have to check that out and see what we can find on there for Science as there is all the National Geographic channel as well. And I have seen people posting on Facebook about introducing their kids to shows like Ducktales and other shows from the 80s! That should be fun. I am still not sure I will get bored enough to watch the StarWars, but it all depends on how long this lockdown carries on.
The big news is that KFC is closed for business for the next few weeks. They had already made the decision to close before Boris made the announcement on Monday, but Brad has still been really busy on conference calls and such.
Yesterday the kids humoured me and listened to me reading them the first chapter of Harry Potter. I am hoping to do it nearly every day, as I think it's a good way to get them all in the same room and off electronics. And then we can watch the movie when we finish the book. I hope that we can take turns reading the chapters.
The most fun I had yesterday was a quiz night via Zoom! We tried Skype, but Skype is old technology, there is so much better stuff going on with Zoom and Microsoft Teams. I was very impressed with Gwen doing 6 rounds of the Quiz for us. We even had a Guest Round where her daughters made up all the questions. I came in last by half a point and Wendy was the winner as she knew all the songs in the last round. I am not so good with music. We have set the next one for next Tuesday and we are doing a round each: I am doing the All American round, so I need to start working on my questions! I may enlist the help of the kids as well. I am going to mix in all sorts of bits of geography, general knowledge. It will be fun!
Thank goodness for technology and being able to still connect with people.
Random thoughts:
~Drew is going to have super shaggy hair when this is all over, as we have no way to cut his hair!
~Drew and Alison love doing colour by number things using multiplication as long as it makes a picture.
~Lauren can really focus on her school work when she wants to
~I am missing our house in KY where we had multiple tables, as here the table rotates from being the breakfast table to the school/work desk to the lunch table back to the school/work desk to the puzzle working table to the dinner table. At least we have a big enough table to all work at!
~Thankful that we purchased a new iMac 2 months ago as Lauren has to do all of her homework online and submit some of it
~The kitchen is also being used as Alison's gym and Drew's football pitch (although a lot of his football is being played outside now that it's warmer.)
Monday, March 23, 2020
COVID- 19 Thoughts and Reflections
who would have ever thought a pandemic of this caliber would ever happen in our lifetime?
As Lauren said yesterday: "My grandkids will be reading about this in history!"
Everyday, we turn on the TV at 5:00 to listen to the Prime Minister address the nation with the latest updates. First it was stay home if you have symptoms, then it was stay in isolate for 14 days if you or someone in your household has symptoms, then it was the schools are closing (but open for children of key workers), then it was all the bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, leisure centres and theatres are closing, then it was anyone in a high risk category should stay home for 12 weeks. Who knows when the lockdown will come, but possibly today.
Some groceries are hard to come by: pasta, loo roll, anything for baking. However, i did find salt, brown sugar and pasta at the corner shop yesterday! And I said thanks but no thanks to the small bottle of hand sanitiser for £6.....
I have made sure we are stocked up on the essentials: coffee and wine! With Brad and I both being home all day everyday, we have been through one bag of coffee in about 3 days, and we can't survive without coffee. And I don't know that we can get through the evening after being stuck in the house with all 5 of us without something to relax myself.
I am surprised the network can cope with all the activity with everyone working from home and all the kids being at home and working from home.
It's a good time to force ourselves to slow down and enjoy family time and reconnect with people. And the environment benefits because there are less people driving and out and about.
I am frightened by what has happened in Italy and Spain and what is going to happen here. The press conference is tonight at 8:30, so we will see if Boris puts us on lockdown along with the rest of Europe. I just don't see how he can get away from doing it.
As Lauren said yesterday: "My grandkids will be reading about this in history!"
Everyday, we turn on the TV at 5:00 to listen to the Prime Minister address the nation with the latest updates. First it was stay home if you have symptoms, then it was stay in isolate for 14 days if you or someone in your household has symptoms, then it was the schools are closing (but open for children of key workers), then it was all the bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, leisure centres and theatres are closing, then it was anyone in a high risk category should stay home for 12 weeks. Who knows when the lockdown will come, but possibly today.
Some groceries are hard to come by: pasta, loo roll, anything for baking. However, i did find salt, brown sugar and pasta at the corner shop yesterday! And I said thanks but no thanks to the small bottle of hand sanitiser for £6.....
I have made sure we are stocked up on the essentials: coffee and wine! With Brad and I both being home all day everyday, we have been through one bag of coffee in about 3 days, and we can't survive without coffee. And I don't know that we can get through the evening after being stuck in the house with all 5 of us without something to relax myself.
I am surprised the network can cope with all the activity with everyone working from home and all the kids being at home and working from home.
It's a good time to force ourselves to slow down and enjoy family time and reconnect with people. And the environment benefits because there are less people driving and out and about.
I am frightened by what has happened in Italy and Spain and what is going to happen here. The press conference is tonight at 8:30, so we will see if Boris puts us on lockdown along with the rest of Europe. I just don't see how he can get away from doing it.
Homeschool/Work From Home Day One
It has arrived....the day I have to homeschool my kids!!! Thankfully, the schools are very organised and have provided the kids with some things to do. However, my fear is that the work they have been given is only enough for a couple of weeks and then what. It is 2 weeks until the 2 week Easter holiday, so I suppose we will be doing some research and loads of printing of new things to do after the Easter break. And Lauren's school has set all of the homework on the computer, and her first lesson was music and then drama. After she spent minutes on her music homework, she moved onto editing a Dance Moms video.
Overall the day was pretty good. They all got up and got dressed and started working from 9 AM. They couldn't understand why I wanted to do the register, but I did it anyways!! They worked well for the first hour and half doing English and maths, and then Drew did some reading. Break time was a welcome time to get up and move around. We did do 2 laps around the block. The afternoon was a bit less structured. Lauren taught Drew how to do a PowerPoint to satisfy both of their computing lessons, whilst Alison did PE.
Lauren did all of the homework her teachers set out using her timetable, and in between she did editing.
So now what do we do for the next few hours??? I am going to go for a walk to collect our new keyboard and mouse from the shop because the keyboard of Brad's laptop is not working, so he needs one because Lauren is doing all of her work on the computer.
I am hoping to sit down and read the first chapter of Harry Potter aloud to them all. I know Lauren and Drew would read, but I somehow have to figure out how to get Alison to read everyday.
And of course our American History lesson!
Didn't get around to the Harry Potter or the American History today. But there's always tomorrow!
Brad was on conference calls ALL DAY LONG!
At the end of Day one, I am thankful for a dishwasher, the sunshine, healthy family and kids who didn't complain (much) about their homework. It helped that Drew could go outside and play a lot of football, and Alison could do a lot of flipping inside and outside! And Lauren was at the computer desk, doing loads of editing in between all the school work.
And my hands are SO dry, completely old lady hands right now.
Overall the day was pretty good. They all got up and got dressed and started working from 9 AM. They couldn't understand why I wanted to do the register, but I did it anyways!! They worked well for the first hour and half doing English and maths, and then Drew did some reading. Break time was a welcome time to get up and move around. We did do 2 laps around the block. The afternoon was a bit less structured. Lauren taught Drew how to do a PowerPoint to satisfy both of their computing lessons, whilst Alison did PE.
Lauren did all of the homework her teachers set out using her timetable, and in between she did editing.
So now what do we do for the next few hours??? I am going to go for a walk to collect our new keyboard and mouse from the shop because the keyboard of Brad's laptop is not working, so he needs one because Lauren is doing all of her work on the computer.
I am hoping to sit down and read the first chapter of Harry Potter aloud to them all. I know Lauren and Drew would read, but I somehow have to figure out how to get Alison to read everyday.
And of course our American History lesson!
Didn't get around to the Harry Potter or the American History today. But there's always tomorrow!
Brad was on conference calls ALL DAY LONG!
At the end of Day one, I am thankful for a dishwasher, the sunshine, healthy family and kids who didn't complain (much) about their homework. It helped that Drew could go outside and play a lot of football, and Alison could do a lot of flipping inside and outside! And Lauren was at the computer desk, doing loads of editing in between all the school work.
And my hands are SO dry, completely old lady hands right now.
Friday, March 20, 2020
The Coronavirus pandemic of 2020
Wow, what a crazy chain of events have been happening in 2020. Today could be Alison's last day of primary school. She is going to miss SATS which I am sure she is happy about, but she will also miss the fun bits of the end of school....the PGL trip, the disco, the goodbye assembly, her final sports day, superlatives. I think the teachers are all feeling a bit sad about it all.
The announcement was made on Wednesday that the schools were going to close, to all but children of key workers effective on Friday 20 March. It's all very surreal. We had a staff meeting with the headteacher of my secondary school and she is planning for the schools to be closed for the rest of the school year. I am very impressed with how organised the school has been with getting everything up and running on line. And the kid's schools have been very proactive in getting things prepared for them to do as we adapt to the new normal.
The new normal in my mind will look like this:
The kids get up, have breakfast, get dressed. School work from 9-3 with breaks for lunch and some physical activity. I have decided that we should use this time to teach them American History, and learn life skills like tying shoes, tying ties, basic cooking skills, basic life skills like doing laundry and things like that. In the afternoon, have some for reading the Harry Potter series, and in the evenings, watch an episode of Modern Family.
And lots of time for working puzzles and playing games. And organising and tidying the house and doing a major clean out.
And I will be working on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. And Brad will be working as usual everyday, from home until at least the Easter holidays I would assume.
What I really want to avoid is having the kids be on electronics so much. We need to connect as a family again. We have been all so wrapped up in our own little worlds, and we need to come back together.
I will report back on Monday on how the new normal really looks!!
The announcement was made on Wednesday that the schools were going to close, to all but children of key workers effective on Friday 20 March. It's all very surreal. We had a staff meeting with the headteacher of my secondary school and she is planning for the schools to be closed for the rest of the school year. I am very impressed with how organised the school has been with getting everything up and running on line. And the kid's schools have been very proactive in getting things prepared for them to do as we adapt to the new normal.
The new normal in my mind will look like this:
The kids get up, have breakfast, get dressed. School work from 9-3 with breaks for lunch and some physical activity. I have decided that we should use this time to teach them American History, and learn life skills like tying shoes, tying ties, basic cooking skills, basic life skills like doing laundry and things like that. In the afternoon, have some for reading the Harry Potter series, and in the evenings, watch an episode of Modern Family.
And lots of time for working puzzles and playing games. And organising and tidying the house and doing a major clean out.
And I will be working on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. And Brad will be working as usual everyday, from home until at least the Easter holidays I would assume.
What I really want to avoid is having the kids be on electronics so much. We need to connect as a family again. We have been all so wrapped up in our own little worlds, and we need to come back together.
I will report back on Monday on how the new normal really looks!!
Summer 2019: Broken elbow and staycation
It's hard to believe that the summer holidays are nearly over. 6 weeks has gone REALLY quickly in my opinion. Maybe not so much for Alison, who broke her elbow just as the second week of the summer holidays were starting!
The first week was good overall, Lauren had a couple of sleepovers, the kids went to camp a couple of days, then on Sunday, Alison was over at the neighbour's house doing gymnastics (as per usual) and we just heard our neighbour say "oh my goodness, I think she has broken her arm!!" She was crying really hard and her left arm was VERY swollen so we hopped in the car and rushed to the A&E at St. George's. We arrived around 8:30 and didn't get home until nearly midnight. They took an x-ray and said it was fractured and gave her a temporary cast and sent us home with an appointment at the fracture clinic on Wednesday (3 days later!!!) Drew was so sweet and immediately made her a picture that said "Get Well Soon" and Lauren was a very nice and supportive sister. She had a very uncomfortable night's sleep and was afraid to move her arm because she could feel the bones of her elbow moving around.
Monday morning I had to take Drew to the allergy clinic for his annual food allergy check-up and while we were there, I received a phone call from St Georges and they said I needed to bring Alison to the fracture clinic that afternoon because they had seen something on the X-ray that didn't look right. So, I was back at St George's a couple of hours later. And they told us something I didn't expect to hear: she needed surgery to repair the break in her arm. We were booked in for the next day. Thankfully, it's a slow time at Brad's work so he was able to take the day off and work from home. Alison was so brave through the whole thing, and she was really still in a lot of pain.
Tuesday morning, we had to be at the hospital at 7:30 AM so we dropped Drew off at the neighbour's and left Lauren sleeping! We were assigned to bed #7 which we saw as a good sign because that is Alison's lucky number!!! They were a lot of kids with different things happening. We saw the anesthesiologist, who was great with Alison telling her what to expect with the anesthesia and everything and then we saw the surgeon who explained what he was going to do and what to expect. His plan was to put the wires in without making an incisions! They perform the surgeries in age order with the youngest first, and there was a girl with a similar injury a bit younger than Alison who went first. They came and took her back to the theatre around 11:30. While we waited, she watched Matilda and played a couple games of Guess Who. When we got into the room for the anesthesia, she really didn't want to have the mask over the face, but the doctor was great and was talking to her about school and then she was out! The procedure took about 2 hours, and the doctor said he just had to make one small 2cm incision and 3 wires. He said it went as planned.
When we saw her in recovery, she was in a LOT of pain and not happy at all!! They finally gave her some pretty strong medicine and then she calmed down a bit and went back to her bed. She ate a lot (I think at least 6 pieces of toast, some jelly, some apples and grapes). She watched another movie and was very scared to get up and move around. Her heart rate was a bit elevated, so they weren't really able to discharge her and she needed to show that she could walk around. She was very apprehensive to move her arm: she thought she was still going to be able to feel the bones moving around in her arm. But once she actually got up and out of bed, she realised that she couldn't feel that anymore. That's not to say she wasn't in any pain, but just different pain. We were discharged around 7:30 and we came home to Bob and Rebecca and the first thing Alison wanted to do was play hand and foot with them! That was a good sign!
The first couple of days were tough because she was in a lot of pain, but we did go and get her hair washed at the salon, but the best part of that was that one of the hairdressers did her hair in amazing dutch plaits! That made her smile really big!! We also went to gymnastics because she wanted to see all of her buddies.
We made the decision to go private after she got her proper cast on, just because the physio options will be better and the process should be quicker. So, we went to see the doctor on Friday after she had surgery. He was very nice and said he actually knew the doctor who performed the surgery and after seeing the x-rays, he said the surgery was perfectly executed. He recommended we go back to see the doctor who did the procedure because they like to "see their handiwork," but then we could continue with him after that. He also said that we shouldn't travel to the US because travel insurance wouldn't cover if anything happened as it was a pre-existing condition.
A week after the surgery, Alison went back to have an xray to make sure the wires were in place and everything was going well. She selected a blue cast rather than the really bright yellow as she previously thought she wanted. The doctor said everything was looking good and seemed to be healing well. That evening, we went to gymnastics so they could wish her a happy birthday and she got lots of signatures from everyone (Even the artistic girls she noted!)
For her birthday, we went back to the salon for another hair wash and some Dutch plaits, bought her some shirts so she didn't have to wear my shirts, had some lunch at Pizza Express, and then the two of us met Brad in the city for Matilda! Overall, I think she had a nice birthday. I hope so! it's the first birthday she has even spent not in the US.
So, due to unforseen circumstances, we are having a staycation in London for the summer holidays!!! Brad is taking the days off still, and we have planned some fun things to do in and around England. We are definitely sad to miss seeing the family, but we are looking forward to seeing them at Christmas instead.
The first week was good overall, Lauren had a couple of sleepovers, the kids went to camp a couple of days, then on Sunday, Alison was over at the neighbour's house doing gymnastics (as per usual) and we just heard our neighbour say "oh my goodness, I think she has broken her arm!!" She was crying really hard and her left arm was VERY swollen so we hopped in the car and rushed to the A&E at St. George's. We arrived around 8:30 and didn't get home until nearly midnight. They took an x-ray and said it was fractured and gave her a temporary cast and sent us home with an appointment at the fracture clinic on Wednesday (3 days later!!!) Drew was so sweet and immediately made her a picture that said "Get Well Soon" and Lauren was a very nice and supportive sister. She had a very uncomfortable night's sleep and was afraid to move her arm because she could feel the bones of her elbow moving around.
Monday morning I had to take Drew to the allergy clinic for his annual food allergy check-up and while we were there, I received a phone call from St Georges and they said I needed to bring Alison to the fracture clinic that afternoon because they had seen something on the X-ray that didn't look right. So, I was back at St George's a couple of hours later. And they told us something I didn't expect to hear: she needed surgery to repair the break in her arm. We were booked in for the next day. Thankfully, it's a slow time at Brad's work so he was able to take the day off and work from home. Alison was so brave through the whole thing, and she was really still in a lot of pain.
Tuesday morning, we had to be at the hospital at 7:30 AM so we dropped Drew off at the neighbour's and left Lauren sleeping! We were assigned to bed #7 which we saw as a good sign because that is Alison's lucky number!!! They were a lot of kids with different things happening. We saw the anesthesiologist, who was great with Alison telling her what to expect with the anesthesia and everything and then we saw the surgeon who explained what he was going to do and what to expect. His plan was to put the wires in without making an incisions! They perform the surgeries in age order with the youngest first, and there was a girl with a similar injury a bit younger than Alison who went first. They came and took her back to the theatre around 11:30. While we waited, she watched Matilda and played a couple games of Guess Who. When we got into the room for the anesthesia, she really didn't want to have the mask over the face, but the doctor was great and was talking to her about school and then she was out! The procedure took about 2 hours, and the doctor said he just had to make one small 2cm incision and 3 wires. He said it went as planned.
When we saw her in recovery, she was in a LOT of pain and not happy at all!! They finally gave her some pretty strong medicine and then she calmed down a bit and went back to her bed. She ate a lot (I think at least 6 pieces of toast, some jelly, some apples and grapes). She watched another movie and was very scared to get up and move around. Her heart rate was a bit elevated, so they weren't really able to discharge her and she needed to show that she could walk around. She was very apprehensive to move her arm: she thought she was still going to be able to feel the bones moving around in her arm. But once she actually got up and out of bed, she realised that she couldn't feel that anymore. That's not to say she wasn't in any pain, but just different pain. We were discharged around 7:30 and we came home to Bob and Rebecca and the first thing Alison wanted to do was play hand and foot with them! That was a good sign!
The first couple of days were tough because she was in a lot of pain, but we did go and get her hair washed at the salon, but the best part of that was that one of the hairdressers did her hair in amazing dutch plaits! That made her smile really big!! We also went to gymnastics because she wanted to see all of her buddies.
We made the decision to go private after she got her proper cast on, just because the physio options will be better and the process should be quicker. So, we went to see the doctor on Friday after she had surgery. He was very nice and said he actually knew the doctor who performed the surgery and after seeing the x-rays, he said the surgery was perfectly executed. He recommended we go back to see the doctor who did the procedure because they like to "see their handiwork," but then we could continue with him after that. He also said that we shouldn't travel to the US because travel insurance wouldn't cover if anything happened as it was a pre-existing condition.
A week after the surgery, Alison went back to have an xray to make sure the wires were in place and everything was going well. She selected a blue cast rather than the really bright yellow as she previously thought she wanted. The doctor said everything was looking good and seemed to be healing well. That evening, we went to gymnastics so they could wish her a happy birthday and she got lots of signatures from everyone (Even the artistic girls she noted!)
For her birthday, we went back to the salon for another hair wash and some Dutch plaits, bought her some shirts so she didn't have to wear my shirts, had some lunch at Pizza Express, and then the two of us met Brad in the city for Matilda! Overall, I think she had a nice birthday. I hope so! it's the first birthday she has even spent not in the US.
So, due to unforseen circumstances, we are having a staycation in London for the summer holidays!!! Brad is taking the days off still, and we have planned some fun things to do in and around England. We are definitely sad to miss seeing the family, but we are looking forward to seeing them at Christmas instead.
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