Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really nice this year, relaxing and filled with family and food. We tried to really cherish the moments we had with everyone, knowing that next year at this time, we will be sharing turkey and pumpkin pie with other expats in a land that does not celebrate this holiday. As for this year, I thought of all the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful husband and healthy beautiful daughters. I am thankful for my parents and my husband's parents. I am thankful for my grandparents, my brothers, and the wonderful niece and nephew that they gave me, and the sister-in-law who feels more like a real sister every time we get together. I am thankful we have good friends that have made living in Columbus so much easier since we do not have family here. And yes, I am thankful that my husband has been given this opportunity to move to England for his career. Next year, we will celebrate Thanksgiving in a strange land, but I will make sure to remember what I am truly thankful for.

School

One of the big things for us when thinking of moving to England, is doing what is right for the little one as far as schooling. She is in Kindergarten right now and doing really well. We don’t want to disrupt her little life any more than we have to. One of the perks that hubby’s new job provided for our relocation, was an Education Consultant. We will call him “school guy”. School guy and I had a pretty detailed and very long conversation about the school systems over there and how convoluted and confusing, I mean, different they are than the US school systems. Getting back to this school issue that we have in front of us: In the US, you move into a school district and you are guaranteed a spot in that school system. This seems pretty easy and apparently I have taken this for granted. Well, that is NOT AT ALL the way it is in England. You have three choices as an expat: American schools, State schools or Independent schools. One is ruled out for us –there are no American schools where we are moving, these are mostly found in the London area. So that leaves two choices. We would rather not pay the equivalent of college tuition for Kindergarten. (which, by the way, is called Reception in England). So we would prefer a State school. But here is the catch - you are NOT guaranteed a spot at the closest school, or even a somewhat close school at all. You can try for the school closest to you, and if they have an opening, great. If they don’t, you get put on a wait list. Now, the wait list is defined by who has been on it the longest, but also, proximity to the school. So if someone new comes on the wait list that is closer to the school, measured from your front gate to the schools front gate (seriously), that bumps you down on the wait list, even if you have been on it for a long time. And people have apparently been misleading schools about where they live to the extent that it is not uncommon for the school administrator to go to your address and ask your little one to show them around, to make sure they really live there. The school guy said it is a nightmare and can become quite a crazy process for good schools. How do they define a good school you ask? The schools have ratings, and these ratings are what parents look at when choosing a school. So if the school closest to you happens to have a good rating, then you most likely have a longer wait to get in. You can start at a farther away school, until you can get into your school of choice, but you can only move to a school that has a closer proximity, you cannot move to a school that is farther away, but has a better rating. And we cannot do anything until the little one is physically living in England, so we either choose an Independent school, to ensure a spot, or wait and take our chances when we get there that she will be able to go to a State school near where we live. Everyone got it? Very clear, right? Now after school guy completely confused me with all of this madness, we talked to one of the hubby’s coworkers, who lives in the area we will be moving. They are also expats, and they have two children who are going to the school we have chosen for the little one. They think it will not be a problem for us to get her into the school nearest us, and it also has a fairly good rating. I am thinking that we will go with that option and hope for the best. I am just going to try to have faith that this is one of those things that will work out.

Our Tree

This blog will mostly be about our experiences once we get to England. But for now, leading up to the move, I am going to share certain things regarding our preparations to move. One big decision that we made, just about a week ago, is one of the things I want to share. We have decided to sell our house. Now, I have to tell you, we love our house. This was not an easy decision to make. We built this house 7 years ago. We picked the neighborhood, we picked the lot we wanted (it was a big field at the time), we picked our model, made our structural changes, and picked out the fixtures and appliances. Everyone told us that building a house was one of the most stressful and trying things as a couple that we would ever do in our lives. Did I mention that at the same time, we were also planning our wedding?? However, not once, did we feel stressed out, not once did we argue about what we wanted. It worked out so well, and was actually quite a peaceful process. In retrospect, I think we were both so excited to have our own house and in general, I think we mostly agree on what we want. It helps that my husband is one of the most skilled people I have ever met. Everything he does, he does well. He is a professional white collar worker, yet give him a tool and he knows how to use it. After the house was built, we knew that most of the things we wanted done, he would be able to do. Between him and his parents (who are both as skilled as he is, I see where he gets it), the basement has been finished, crown molding and chair rails have been built and installed, rooms have been painted, fixtures have been installed or upgraded, and the list goes on and on. And did I mention the outside of the house? Retaining walls, flower beds, trees and bushes, a beautiful white vinyl fence, a patio, a playground for the kids (I did mention this was a FIELD when we picked it out, right?) I am amazed by my husband and I love our house –and because of all the work that we have done to make it ours –it has become a HOME. I specifically love a certain tree that sits right outside my great room window. It is a Bradford Pear tree. We have 4 of them in our yard, yet this one is special. It has really flourished and grown. I have placed my wind chimes on it, it provided us shade on the patio, it is beautiful in the spring and even now, almost Thanksgiving and it is still one of the only trees in our entire neighborhood that has leaves on it. They are beautiful orange, yellow and red leaves. As I look around our house, our yard and our neighborhood, I think the one thing I will miss the most is that tree. I have attached a picture that I took today.

Seriously

We have been telling more and more people about our decision and our preparations to go to England. We have been starting to look at school options for the kids, places to live, and again, trying to figure out what to take and what to leave here. One thing we have been telling people is --please come and visit us while we are there. And yes, we are serious. We have had a lot of people contemplate it --and say they will try to come, if we are serious about it. I cannot stress to you, how serious we are about it!! I would love for any family, friends, or even casual acquaintances to come and stay with us. I would love to be surrounded by American accents as often as possible. I really feel that this will help all of us with the homesickness that I am sure will be ever present. So, get everyone in your family passports, think about when you want to come and seriously, plan a visit.
On a side note --here is a (not so) amusing story about passports. (this story is why I tell you, if you have young children, get your passports as soon as possible if you plan to visit). Trying to get the little one a passport was NOT a good experience. It took us two days, two different places, and about two hours in total to get one with her looking at the camera, and her eyes open. The older one had no problem at all. Looked, smiled, done. Every time the camera was facing the little one, she squinted her eyes shut, looked away, jumped up from the chair. Sigh...I guess not quite being two years old yet, you can't really expect much, but we didn't expect that! Finally, we got one, with the help of five (yes five) very patient employees at Walgreen's who were pulling toys off the shelf to get her to look at them for the picture. Mind you, she looks like an angry monster in the picture, but she is looking straight ahead and her eyes are open. What more can we ask for? And yes, we will be keeping the picture to show her boyfriends when she is older!
This blog will (hopefully when I can write in it!), keep everyone updated on the upcoming move. And after we get across the pond, should hopefully keep everyone updated on our lives, so check back frequently!

Perspective

There have been a lot of things that have happened recently, that have given me some new perspective. Last week, a post from a former coworker on Facebook, talked about a woman who was 27, who was in the hospital fighting for her life from the H1N1 virus. She had a 9 month old baby. She ended up passing away less than a week later, but I followed her website and her story, saddened and horrified. Her son will never know his mother. As a mom of two children, I am deeply effected by this story. On her website, was a link to another site, The Liz Logelin Foundation. This poor woman had a baby, and the next day died. Her husband writes a blog about his struggles and his daughter's life. Again, I was sobbing as I read his posts. On his site, are several more links --blogs that he is a fan of. One night I was clicking on them, reading the stories. Most of these people have lost a loved one, to a sickness or an accident. Again, it was like looking at a car accident when you pass it --you feel sick, you are praying for the people involved, but you can't stop looking, or reading in my case. As my daughter was playing with her doll house on the floor, I was reading --how these people struggle with something so serious on a daily basis and their lives are changed forever by these unfortunate and unfair things. I have marked some of them as favorites, as I want to keep checking in to see how they are. But what strikes me the most with all of this --is how life can change in an instant. How you really do have to appreciate what you have and let your loved ones know how much you love them. This makes these little things, like changing jobs, or moving to England, not as crucial. Yes, these are big decisions for my family, and they are without a doubt life changing decisions. But again, I think as long as we are together, happy and healthy, these things are going to be ok. It puts everything in perspective.....