So there I was... inside the house on a tuesday morning with a crying baby. She ate, she napped, she screamed!!! Patience I thought to myself... just have patience... meanwhile I'm frantically trying to think of anything to help sooth her... and the only thing I found is that she wanted me to hold her... so after about 15 minutes I thought to myself I can't do this all day so I put her down.... and thus the screaming started up again. So I put on my flip flops, strapped baby into the stroller and we were off...
The base we live on is relatively small so you can walk just about anywhere in about 10 minutes. Lucky for me the BX is like a 3 mile walk. As we walked she calmed down and I thought about what a genius mom I was. So we got into the BX and I was just about to get my shop on when.....*waaaaah waaaaaah* the crying started up again. You've got to be kidding me. Crying in the house is one thing, but the fit she was throwing in the store with everyone looking was quite another. I started to sweat.... I sweat when I get all panicked.....so I'm trying to calm her down while spying a cute shirt out of the corner of my eye when my small miracle came over named Vickie Wilkins...
Vickie Wilkins is just about the nicest, sweetest, most caring, sincerely awesomest person I've ever met. She is a mother of nine and has amazing patience. I've never seen her raise her voice or get flustered at all. She is, in my mind, the very model of what a mother should be. She happened to be shopping with her kids and must have heard Cambree's cries. Vickie came right over and took Cambree out of her stroller and the second Cambree hit her arms she started smiling and all the tears were gone. It was magic I tell you. Vickie kept saying she would take Cambree while I finished shopping and I kept saying... no... but eventually said yes. Ahhh Vickie took Cambree for probably 20 minutes and I was able to collect myself, and shop around in silence.
Now I know this story must seem like not a big deal... but to anyone who is the mother of a screaming child, this was god sent. A small act of kindness from Vickie really helped calm me down and have a little time to myself. Turns out Cambree was a complete saint the whole time they had her. It was a nice break for the both of us. Sincerely nice people are rare to find these days and it makes me want to be a nicer person myself. Maybe one day when I'm shopping and I come across a screaming child of someone I know I can return the small act of kindess.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A week of being brave...
As if conquering Cambridge wasn't enough.... next came Friday night. My friend Miranda and her husband wanted us to join them for a night out! She had mentioned going to see GI Joe and having dinner... at a Thai restaurant. Oh goodie I thought.... Thai food. I might just be the worlds pickiest eater (well next to my siblings lol) .. I mean I'm the type to get a hamburger ketchup only... I don't ever go out of my way to try something daring ... and I'll usually pick the most plain and boring thing on the menu. So for me to agree to Thai food.... well lets just say I wasn't exactly thrilled but decided I could branch out and try something new. I know I know... how big of me! Besides I could wash just about anything down with a diet coke right??
So Miranda and her husband were running late and we missed the movie and head straight into Mildenhall Village for dinner. We rolled up on the Thai restaurant and I took a deep breath and walked through the glass doors. Then I heard the most beautiful words ever...... they were all booked up and we couldn't eat there! Hurray!! I was saved!! Bring on the normal food.... or not..... darn that Miranda... her and Geoff had other ideas..... the other idea was....... INDIAN FOOD!
Indian food?!?! And I thought Thai sounded bad.... Thai sounded like heaven on earth compared to Indian food. That movie Along Came Polly came to my mind when they said Indian food. You know the part where Ben Stiller is sweating uncontrollable and then had to head to the bathroom. I mean.... I have an irritable bowel to start with.... is adding Indian food into that equation really a good idea? But... I didn't want to be a party pooper.... so I agreed....
We walked into the restaurant called Ghandi by the way..... and took a deep breath in. *Sniff sniff*..... what is that smell...... *another sniff*.... surely this can't be a good sign if the smell of this place makes me want to vomit. It's like walking into a nail salon where the smell is just like horribly awful but the longer you are there the less you notice it. Well that happened.... we sat and the longer we sat the less I noticed the smell... was that a good sign or a bad sign?
We were given the menu and I'm frantically looking for something I could stomach. The menu might as well been in French..... I mean I had no idea what the heck Curry was..... is that sad? When he came to take our orders.... I simply pointed at something that had chicken in it and hoped for the best. I told Miranda and Geoff I could probably go on Fear Factor after this experience....
Well turns out... the food wasn't that bad. Infact I didn't hate it. It wasn't even scary. That movie Along Came Polly exaggerates I think lol. I mean it probably wouldn't be a place I would ever suggest eating at.... but if I was starving and that was the only option I had......I guess I would go there. So there you go... the girl who doesn't try new things often tried one of the most craziest restaurants and lived. Maybe I'll order something different with my hamburger next time..... spice it up a little...... than again... probably not!!
So Miranda and her husband were running late and we missed the movie and head straight into Mildenhall Village for dinner. We rolled up on the Thai restaurant and I took a deep breath and walked through the glass doors. Then I heard the most beautiful words ever...... they were all booked up and we couldn't eat there! Hurray!! I was saved!! Bring on the normal food.... or not..... darn that Miranda... her and Geoff had other ideas..... the other idea was....... INDIAN FOOD!
Indian food?!?! And I thought Thai sounded bad.... Thai sounded like heaven on earth compared to Indian food. That movie Along Came Polly came to my mind when they said Indian food. You know the part where Ben Stiller is sweating uncontrollable and then had to head to the bathroom. I mean.... I have an irritable bowel to start with.... is adding Indian food into that equation really a good idea? But... I didn't want to be a party pooper.... so I agreed....
We walked into the restaurant called Ghandi by the way..... and took a deep breath in. *Sniff sniff*..... what is that smell...... *another sniff*.... surely this can't be a good sign if the smell of this place makes me want to vomit. It's like walking into a nail salon where the smell is just like horribly awful but the longer you are there the less you notice it. Well that happened.... we sat and the longer we sat the less I noticed the smell... was that a good sign or a bad sign?
We were given the menu and I'm frantically looking for something I could stomach. The menu might as well been in French..... I mean I had no idea what the heck Curry was..... is that sad? When he came to take our orders.... I simply pointed at something that had chicken in it and hoped for the best. I told Miranda and Geoff I could probably go on Fear Factor after this experience....
Well turns out... the food wasn't that bad. Infact I didn't hate it. It wasn't even scary. That movie Along Came Polly exaggerates I think lol. I mean it probably wouldn't be a place I would ever suggest eating at.... but if I was starving and that was the only option I had......I guess I would go there. So there you go... the girl who doesn't try new things often tried one of the most craziest restaurants and lived. Maybe I'll order something different with my hamburger next time..... spice it up a little...... than again... probably not!!
Cambridge or bust....
Since I moved to England its just been easier to let Keri do all the driving when we go out. Infact at first I refused to drive at all. Then I realized I was only hurting myself by being too scared of driving in England. Slowly but surely I started driving short distances. First it was to Mildenhall, then it was to Feltwell (on what is certain to be the bumpiest road known to mankind.) The more I drove around, the more I found I liked it and felt comfortable. Then I did the bravest thing of all, I decided to go into Cambridge by myself..... *cue the scary music*
So I strapped Cambree in tight, took a sip of my diet coke and stepped on the gas. England has what is called a National Speed Limit here and it is 60 miles per hour. Now on those wide roads in America 60 miles per hour seems nothing special... infact why go 60 when you can go 80... but on these tinsy british roads barely big enough for one car, let alone two... 60 miles an hour feels like certain death. So as I was saying I took a sip, took a deep breath and stepped on the gas. The worst part of the trip is the 5 point roundabout. Let me try to set the scene. It is a huge roundabout that has 5 different exits and entrances.... so cars are going around and around and you have to sit there and determine when you should enter without getting plowed over. As you are entering the roundabout so are other people... its like a never ending circle of madness. In these cases it is best just to go and think later. My heart beats fast everytime I get to the 5 point roundabout and I always cross my fingers that I will make it out alive. On this day.... the heavens were with me and I made it just fine.
When I made it onto the motor way is when I turned up the music.. a titch.. and started to relax. I felt confident even. Then it came time to exit and head into Cambridge. Mind you this is about a 30 minute drive to get to Cambridge from my house, if something were to go wrong, I'd be waiting a while for Keri to come help me lol. Of course I push that thought out of my mind because it just makes my heart race again. Next comes two more sets of roundabouts and of course the tinsy roads of Cambridge. Cambridge is unique in that most of the people are on bikes not in cars. So if the cars weren't bad enough, you have to watch out for annoying bicyclists. Well I maneuvered through the roundabouts and before I knew it I was actually at my destination. A series of shops along a few blocks. I parked in the car (again in the worlds tinsiest parking stalls... seriously my parking in regular sized stalls isn't stellar ...) and got out of the car!!
I had done it... conquered the mean streets of England and actually drove to Cambridge by myself. I know this sounds silly... but truly driving my british car around can be quite scary. I learned one thing out of this experience, that I can't let fear hold me back any longer. Next stop: Norwich!!
So I strapped Cambree in tight, took a sip of my diet coke and stepped on the gas. England has what is called a National Speed Limit here and it is 60 miles per hour. Now on those wide roads in America 60 miles per hour seems nothing special... infact why go 60 when you can go 80... but on these tinsy british roads barely big enough for one car, let alone two... 60 miles an hour feels like certain death. So as I was saying I took a sip, took a deep breath and stepped on the gas. The worst part of the trip is the 5 point roundabout. Let me try to set the scene. It is a huge roundabout that has 5 different exits and entrances.... so cars are going around and around and you have to sit there and determine when you should enter without getting plowed over. As you are entering the roundabout so are other people... its like a never ending circle of madness. In these cases it is best just to go and think later. My heart beats fast everytime I get to the 5 point roundabout and I always cross my fingers that I will make it out alive. On this day.... the heavens were with me and I made it just fine.
When I made it onto the motor way is when I turned up the music.. a titch.. and started to relax. I felt confident even. Then it came time to exit and head into Cambridge. Mind you this is about a 30 minute drive to get to Cambridge from my house, if something were to go wrong, I'd be waiting a while for Keri to come help me lol. Of course I push that thought out of my mind because it just makes my heart race again. Next comes two more sets of roundabouts and of course the tinsy roads of Cambridge. Cambridge is unique in that most of the people are on bikes not in cars. So if the cars weren't bad enough, you have to watch out for annoying bicyclists. Well I maneuvered through the roundabouts and before I knew it I was actually at my destination. A series of shops along a few blocks. I parked in the car (again in the worlds tinsiest parking stalls... seriously my parking in regular sized stalls isn't stellar ...) and got out of the car!!
I had done it... conquered the mean streets of England and actually drove to Cambridge by myself. I know this sounds silly... but truly driving my british car around can be quite scary. I learned one thing out of this experience, that I can't let fear hold me back any longer. Next stop: Norwich!!
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