There are so many challenges to being an immigrant, a stranger in a strange land. The usual things like language, culture, little local quirks. The big things, like being away from family and friends. Especially today. Because today, I got confirmation that a dear friend who has been battling breast cancer and all its metastatic glory for over 6 years, has to finally call it … Continue reading Au revoir, Wonder Woman
These are the things I’ve discovered: I really appreciate running water, even more when it’s hot. Sucking teeth and shaking heads and complaining about the effort needed are universal traits, it turns out (it took us a week and five engineers to get fibre broadband). Boxes will go missing and you will have to chase things. Even if the boxes were labelled and numbered. Things … Continue reading 11 nights a Madrid resident…
Back in February, I posted this photo. We didn’t publicise that we were scoping out Madrid for our next home base. There were many variables in the mix, not least, our jobs. What we didn’t realise was that we’d all fall in love with the city, as quickly or as unanimously as we did. So from that moment on, it was all engines GO! Husband … Continue reading Moving for churros
I took a long break from this blog. A loooooong break. A 365+ day break. It has been the year of -itis. If it ends in -itis, I had it. I’ve spent the year inflamed. In May last year, I got Vestibular Neuritis or sudden, severe vertigo. Symptoms included dizziness (like I was on a boat, constantly), balance difficulties, nausea, vomiting, and concentration difficulties. Always … Continue reading The Year of -itis
We had a good break full of rest, movies and good food. We went for walks. We napped. Like I said, good times. We had some heart-warming moments (opening the gratitude jar and reading our notes from the last year) – followed by heart-breaking moments (me landing the edge of the jar on the edge of my mobile screen and crunching it. Fer realsies.) We … Continue reading Over-reaction is just a slushie away!
It’s taken me a while to get in the Christmas spirit this year. 500+ days in limbo as a non-British EEA citizen. The orange guy. It’s just been hard to feel sparkly. But of course, sparkly or not, DD has a long schedule of events where she’s performing, and last night was one of them. In true DD style, she announces a few short hours … Continue reading Getting there, slowly
Just three short months ago, I wrote Oh, London, my London, and it hurt to write it. But last Friday brought me to my knees. DD and her schoolmates had to walk out a back entrance of school, with news helicopters hovering overhead. She came home and just got into bed and watched the Gilmore Girls. I woke up in the middle of the night … Continue reading A different kind of Monday
Y’all are used to me updating the blog or Twitter with “I’m safe, nowhere near the attack/bomb/insert London incident here”. Not today. Not effing today. Today, I am smack in the middle of crazy central. But outside the cordon that has my daughter’s school in lockdown. Yes, my baby girl got to school just in time. Some of her friends were not so lucky. There … Continue reading Too damn close to home…
It has been a rough few weeks. Just really kick-you-in-the-knees, punch-you-in-the-junk awful. But as proven time and time before, Londoners rise and rally – sip a cup of tea – and get on with it. I asked BB after the attack near Notre Dame how she was handling things. I wasn’t coping too well. She said she was being ‘selfish’. Focusing on pouring love into … Continue reading Oh, London, my London
Dear Reader, if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you will have seen the luscious red velvet cupcake I posted a few days ago, to mark my turning a year older. Not wiser, or funnier, just older. One year short of I-think-I-might-be-grown-up-now. Being the research ninja I am, I thought looking into the mid-life information on the interwebs might give me some pointers as to … Continue reading The Middle Ages
Petal & Mortar 