one month later

it's been a month since i've blogged about anything. for anyone wondering - no, our plane didn't crash - we're totally here....it's not that i haven't had the time to blog (believe me - i'm bored out of my skull over here), i just haven't felt motivated. i still don't feel very motivated, but what the hell.

it's my birthday. or actually, it WAS my birthday. it's still my birthday in america, but it's been over for 3 hours here.....

29 years ago today, i came into the world all screaming, slimy and butt-ass naked, via c-section, and much to the joy of my family (or at least that's what i've been told). If my grandmother were alive, at some point today, she would have called just to tell me the story of how she kissed the doctor when he came out and announced that i had arrived. i hardly remember a birthday that she was alive for when she didn't tell me that particular story. i love that story.

my grandfather at some point always manages to recall something that someone was doing "at this very moment (insert proper birthday age) years ago" - tonight, when i spoke to him, he just said "29 years ago today, something wonderful happened." - just having him say that....that's probably the best gift i could have gotten.

being away from my family today has been not only bizarre, but difficult. i can't really remember a birthday that i didn't spend with them. and i know that i'm not alone, but i still feel really lonely here, and while i realize that i'm an adult, and today is technically just another day on the calendar, being without my family on my birthday just tears and my soul a little. i think it's just the tradition of it all....

some people don't see a need to even celebrate birthdays once you hit a certain age (or after you hit all the major milestones...16...18...21...), but i feel like anyone who can make it through the crap we all go through every day for an entire year deserves to celebrate a little.....gene did a great job of trying to make my birthday as normal as possible - we went out and had a very nice dinner, and i'm probably the only 29 year old who had a hello kitty tablecloth and a birthday cake covered in gummy bears. it's not lost on me that i'm very lucky. i have a great husband here who is taking the emotional roller coaster that i'm on in stride, and i also have family and friends back home who love me very much. i win. but i still can't help but be just a little bit sad....

it doesn't help that it's so freaking close to christmas. i don't know how many times i've thought to myself "why the hell couldn't we have moved in the summer?" - at least then i would have had ample time to get settled before facing the fact that i won't be home for the holidays.

anyway, today also marks the one month mark of us living in england - we spent the first 20 days or so living in an on base hotel, and it was quite the adventure (and by adventure i mean torturous hell) - don't get me wrong - the facilities were nice enough, but the room was tiny, and after 4 or 5 days, you start to lose your mind. gene and i were together 24 hours a day, and i don't care HOW much you love someone - 24/7 is a bit much to take. plus, the bathroom door was jacked and wouldn't shut completely. awkwaaaaaard.

it only really took us a week to find a house. less than a week, actually, but there is a lot of paperwork to be done, and it kind of held up the process....

we've been living in the house for about 10 days now. it's cute, and actually has everything we said we wanted - there are a few "cons" though, like the washer and dryer being in the garage (with no door from the garage attached to the house...what genius of house building came up with THAT?), and the fridge that we have doesn't fit into the space the the fridge was meant to be in (our fridge is in the dining room...i can't make this shit up). none of our stuff has arrived, and we don't really expect it until the first week of january. they gave us "loaner" furniture though, and it's....uh...interesting, for lack of a better (nicer) word. we have a christmas tree, which is a big improvement from last year, when i forbid any christmas decorations from entering my apartment. i was in a pretty deep, weird depression hole then because gene was deployed. i seriously considered another tree-less year (i just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle), but i convinced myself that if we didn't have one, i'd always regret it.

i bought a car - a black mini cooper. it's cute. it's tiny. it's fun to drive.
driving here is quite possibly the scariest thing i've ever experienced. what's even scarier than the actual act of driving on the "wrong" side of the road for the first time is that they gave me a license without even making me get behind the wheel of a car. i'm not kidding - i got my license on a wednesday, and i didn't even attempt to drive for another 3 days. i'm slowly but surely getting the hang of it, but i don't think i'll ever be able to relax enough to not sit completely straight up, with my hands in the perfect 10-2 position, the radio turned completely down, and the navigation system on. it also takes forever to drive ANYWHERE here. the base gene works at is 14 miles from our house, and that makes for a (pretty boring) half hour drive.


before you ask - no, we haven't been to london yet. people ask me this all the time and i can feel their disappointment when i'm like "nope! not yet!" but i can't just take off to london whenever the mood strikes. there isn't a tube station like, in my backyard, y'all - it takes planning AND time, and after we got all the important stuff done (in processing, finding a house, buying a car...) gene had to start working....we ARE planning to go next week though, over the christmas holiday.

it snows all the time here. at first i was like "OH MY GOD! LOOK AT THE SNOW! I LOVE THE SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! SNOOOOOOOOW!" and now i'm like "ugh. snow. what's with all the damn snow?!?!?!" - apparently this is a pretty bad winter as far as weather goes. what a great time to move to the UK!

that's all i've got right now. we're here, we're alive, and for the most part, england isn't that bad. i have a lot of things to talk about eventually, but right now i'm too tired (it's 3:30 a.m. here!)

coming soon:
pictures of the house, the mini, and any adventures we have....