British Humour

Yesterday, Craig and I were talking at the kitchen table and he picked up a Trident gum package and looked at it. It's packaged by Cadbury here and looks like a mini suitcase and on the inside, messages are printed where the gum is. We thought two were funny: "For best results, insert in mouth" and "Who thought pleasure could be so soft?" Then I started reading the outside of the package and found some even funnier things. After the typical listing of ingredients, it says, "This stuff is bonkers, but it makes great gum" and after the quality statement where it says you can return the gum to the Trident Customer Service Team if dissatisfied it says, "They get bored and lonely because no one ever contacts them." If you ever buy Trident gum, look at the package and let me know if the US version is as goofy.

A 'Proper' Snow

This morning we awoke to what would be called a 'proper' snow as opposed to the 'rubbish' snow over the past few days. Since we will probably not experience this again, I have declared a personal snow day and the kids are outside playing as I type. They can't believe their good fortune and Owen actually said thank you!

The traffic has lessened considerably today and is actually non-existent. I think people just decided to stay home and also, a few of the larger secondary schools are closed.

It's also started snowing again.

Take That - The Greatest Day

Here is the video of the song I quoted on Barack Obama's inauguration day. This is one of the mega popular songs right now. And for all of my female viewers - some British hotties - you know who you are... Enjoy.

Sorry folks - looks like the video was removed from embedding via YouTube. However, you can copy and padte this link and watch the video straight from YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzMLGH1Rfs

Amazed and Confused

I have recently returned from dropping off the kids at school. My round trip generally takes 10-15 minutes if I get through the busiest traffic light quickly. However, today the round trip was approximately ONE HOUR! Our fair town has been blanketed in perhaps four inches (yes FOUR) of snow and slush in the past two days and the roads were at a standstill this morning. I actually parked the car on the side of the road in true British fashion and we walked some distance to school because everyone was sliding into the road. I will admit that the snow had been compacted over the last two days and was a sheet of bumpy ice in many places, but I was completely amazed at the town's inability to function in snow. Craig says that the way I feel about the roadways here is the exact way he felt about Maryland roadways when he moved from Illinois but I still say that at least in MD they understand the process of clearing the roads even if they tend to overdo it at times. They don't seem to clear roads here. I am not sure that they even have the equipment although in areas there might be a sprinkling of "grit" on a road or a sidewalk. (Every so often, there is a "grit box" on the corner of a street which contains sand, pebbly stuff and maybe ice melting crystals.)
Now I do want to say that I heard on the telly that this is the coldest winter in England for the last 13 years (lucky us) and that it rarely even snows according to our 10-year-old neighbor who has never experienced snow in England. Also, we are located up against almost like a bowl of hills which may exacerbate the problem (colder, shadier here and snow gets trapped on this side of the hills) and Craig said that the roads were definitely worse on this side of town as he was cycling to work. We thought it never snowed in England and didn't even pack a snow shovel in our menagerie.
Lastly, I am going to admit that I played the part of the ugly American in my big four wheel drive and just took my right of way whenever possible because I didn't want to have to stop in fear of sliding and I know I made some people angry but I just don't care today. I used up all my nice driverness bank account on this day, but I did allow a driver to use my mobile as I was walking back from the kids' school because she was stuck and needed to call her husband. Besides we ALL know that the law of gross tonnage clearly states that you need to yield to the heaviest vehicle...

Happy Groundhog Day

What say thee, Punxsutawney Phil, our rotund (bordering upon obese) member of the marmot family? Will there be six weeks more of winter or six weeks until spring? And what exactly IS the difference between the two predictions???? It is too early in England to discover your decision, yet with bated breath, I sit here awaiting your weather forecast for Gobbler's Knob and the entire northern hemisphere. Our future is in your hands, err paws, Phil.

Editor's note: After some research on the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club (www.groundhog.org), I have discovered that "according to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring." How early is early is my first thought...

Also, "the celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest(German)settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, 'For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May...'" I hate to be a myth buster, but six weeks after Candlemas Day (February 2nd) is actually mid-March, not May...

And yes, because I have nothing else to do on this snowy cold day while catering to a sick child, I also learned from Wikipedia that the groundhog may also be called a woodchuck, land beaver or whistlepig and is included in the family of rodents. Although I really like the name whistlepig, it just doesn't work in the "How much wood can a whistlepig chuck..." tongue twister.

4:00 PM Gloucestershire time, 11:00 AM EST
This just in to the Fox News desk (YES, Fox News! I CAN be tolerant of that daft slanderous bunch):

Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow; winter to continue

Oh, well six more weeks to ski.
Also, I added a few more of Owen's creations to the post below.
Enjoy your home made art gallery experience.

Sickest Day of the Year

I have just learned on Yahoo! that today is officially the "sickest day of the year". I do not dispute this in the least as Finn is STILL sitting on the couch not feeling well, I am still feeling tired from my bad cold and my good friend, Melissa, is also feeling very unwell. We were supposed to go into London today on a sightseeing whirlwind, but she can't even walk. On top of all that, there is a whirlwind of snow falling outside so all in all, it is good we are home. Although, Finn and I will be venturing out to the local surgery to have him assessed. I'll let you know what our experience entails.
To all of you "sickies" out there - feel better!
Oh, and Go Steelers! Actually, I guess they already went.

Note: It is still Monday and Finn has been sick since Friday. I finally took him to the surgery and he has a double ear infection that is bad enough to actually rate a prescription for antibiotics. Apparently, British doctors are very hesitant to prescribe antibiotics, but Finn "passed" the criteria of severity I guess. Our surgery is very nice and everyone is pleasant and they seem to tolerate my idiotic questions.

Owen's Creative Juices

Owen is almost always a flurry of activity. This is definitely true in terms of his creativity. There is a room at the top of the house that has a built-in desk. Owen has adopted it as his own and it's pretty much always overflowing with stuff but it keeps him occupied and that's all I can ask. I was sorting through the menagerie this morning so I could recycle the paper bits and I found this creation in the pile. He cut lots of parts from magazines and put them all back together to create a boy/man doing yoga. I love it, especially the Elvis hair.

Here is another interesting one

and here is his study of felines.
You can double click on the photo and it will become larger if you want to see the detail and then just click on the back button on your browser to return to the blog.

I have been very lax on posting. We have all been sick with bad colds, one after the other, for the past two weeks. Finn is the last man down and he is well on the mend today.