A new level of crazy.

I've always known that I can be a bit abnormal. Growing up in a house with two very, very clean-freakish parents (some may call them OCD), I have learned to truly enjoy cleaning. This is not to say that my house is spotless, even I have my limits (though I do like to have the vacuum trails on the carpet...NO footprints!). I love going to the grocery store and picking out cleaning products (oh, Kaboom, how I love thee), and I love the smell of a clean house. When I am done cleaning a room, I like to admire my work and enjoy the clean. I have grown attached to 409 since Jonathan and I moved to England. Maybe its the nesting instinct that comes with being newly married and living in a foreign country, or maybe its just me, but I love to use 409-daily.

Today, I was baking cookies to send to Jonathan and I wanted to spot clean the counter in-between batches. I reached down into the cabinet and grasped the 409 bottle. As I lifted the bottle, the top detached from the bottom half of the bottle, and lots of 409 spilled out on the floor. No joke, the first thought in my head was "my liquid gold, wasted!". I very rarely scare myself with my cleaning addiction, but today I begin the first step in my healing process. I admit the problem.

This isn't the first incident of crazy since my addiction has begun. A few months back I wanted to deep clean the master bathroom. The water in England is very hard and full of minerals, so the glass door on the shower is always a disaster. I always use Kaboom in the shower, but this time I thought I would attack the shower two-fold: a little Kaboom and a little Tilex (with bleach). I'm not a detail person, so reading the "warning" label on the back of the bottles seemed pointless to me. About 5 minutes into my cleaning, I noticed that I was getting light headed and felt "tingly". I turned the fan on and continued cleaning. I jumped in the shower after cleaning and became increasingly lightheaded. I quickly left the bathroom and read the back of the bottles. Turns out you shouldn't mix bathroom cleaning chemicals...especially when bleach is involved. Luckily, I didn't pass out, though I am pretty sure I lost some precious brain cells (and I don't have many to spare!). All I could think about after that event (other than the fact that I am an idiot) was that Jonathan could have come home from work to find me passed out on the bathroom floor with a bottle of bleach in one hand and Kaboom in the other...I would NEVER live that down.

Lesson of the day: Do NOT mix cleaning supplies...even if the end result is an amazing sparkly and clean shower door, its just not worth the loss of brain cells.

Bon Jour. Good Day. That's too expensive.

I recently returned home from a four day trip to Provence, France. This was the first trip of (hopefully) many to come while I have lots of girl bonding time. Provence was charming, beautiful and full of wine. The countryside is more barren than I expected, but considering that Provence is in the south of France on the coast of the Mediterranean, I guess it makes sense. All along the road were Cyprus trees, olive trees and, of course, vineyards. Despite very bad experiences in the past with the French people, more specifically with Parisians, I was very pleasantly surprised at the friendliness and overall demeanor of the residents that we met in the Provence region. While I hold steady to my opinion that French people (in general) are a little bit snotty, a little bit condescending and just a little too stuffy for my taste; I was amazed at how many town dwellers helped us to navigate our car (a large Sedan) through the tiny, twisting streets of the Town of Arles. Holly was a champion and did all of the town driving (mostly because I was a big baby and too scared to try). Despite dozens of turns that required Austin-Power turning skills, Holly did a fantastic job and even had some French "ground guides" show her the way.

The food in Provence was disappointing (for me at least). I am a moderately picky eater, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Many menus that we encountered were solely in French. 0 out of the 5 girls on the trip took French in high school, so ordering food was a "close your eyes and point" process. Some nights we were pleasantly surprised, and some nights we got jelly-fied eggplant appetizers, and sour cream with bitter chocolate for dessert. Lunches were great (we ate at little sandwich cafes) and snacks were amazing (chocolate croissants and nutella filled crepes made before your eyes by street vendors). The wine was also phenomenal. We found an old monastery called Chartreuse de Bonpas that featured a tour of its grounds and wine tasting for free if you bought a bottle. Buying a bottle was no problem, for any of us! At Bonpas we met a friendly French-man named Bruce who let us taste more wines than normal and also pointed out some cute towns in the area that we might want to check out. Chartreuse de Bonpas is definitely recommended for anyone in the Avignon (Provence) region.

Here's everywhere that we checked out on our trip:
-Les Baux (a charming medieval town on a hill)
-Arles
-La Isle sur la Sorgue ( a town known for selling Antiquities)
-Aix de Provence (a more modern city, with very charming streets filled with shops)
-Cassis (a beach town)
-Avignon
-Marseille (we only saw Marseille because we were lost trying to find the airport)

Jonathan was excited to hear about the trip, and was happy that my first trip was to a country that he feels no need to visit since he has already been. Thanks for serving J!

Au Revoir!

Two-wheeled bikes are for sissies.

Today was a day of firsts for me:

This morning, I road a one-wheeled bike that didn't move. No, not a unicycle-those are for scary clowns at carnival themed first-saturdays. I attended and somehow completed my first spinning class at the gym. I have successfully avoided this class for many, many years but was somehow persuaded to test it out today by a friend who will remain nameless (my quads will never forgive you, Shanna). The class was probably worse than I anticipated, but being the endorphin junkie that I am, I think I might just learn to like this masochistic aerobic experience. But, I am going to wait to make a final verdict once DOMS has set in (thats medical speak for painful, angry muscles after a workout).

This morning, prior to spnning class, I also volunteered to try out a "sport" yoga class. Now, when I am trying something new, I normally try to keep an open mind but yoga is one of those things that I have been judging for years. Yes, it seems to work for the celebrities that swear by it; but then again most of them think that carbs are theoretical food items that don't really exist. Yoga, to me, has always seemed like a touchy-feely wanna be work out. I like workouts that leave me drenched in sweat and exhausted. My opinions aside, I tried yoga with a semi-open mind. I figured that at best I would get a bit of a core workout, and at worst I would at least get a good stretch in. What I forgot is that I am about as flexible as a brick. Sit and reach always killed my dream in elementary and high school of getting the Presidential fitness award. The instructor was pretty nice and luckily didnt make us picture running through meadows with butterflies (which is what the instructor in my first yoga experience a year ago did). She led us through some positions and I have to admit that I couldnt handle some of the things she wanted us to do. I did get a nice little ab workout, but I didn't leave the class feeling "worked out". I did feel a little more limber after class, so all in all it was a good experience but one I am not sure I will repeat.

So, today was a pretty good day. While I may not have found my "chi" in yoga (is that something you can find?), I did get in a well rounded workout.

Ohm.

Martha's got nothing on me.

I am on house arrest today. This will be the fourth visit in 1 month that our boiler company will have to make. Once again, I was given a 9-12 window when the worker was supposed to show up to replace our boiler. Now it is 2pm, the house is freezing because the boiler has been turned off since 8am this morning (like the company told me to do), and I recently got off the phone with the boiler company who told me they are a bit backed up (oh, really...i hadnt noticed) and they were wondering if I wouldnt mind if they just came by "sometime" tomorrow morning instead of today. Um, no. Not having that. I used the strongest American voice that I have and told the man that they would come today, and there were no other options.

The last time this happened (about 2 weeks ago), our boiler was completely broken (only 2 weeks after its yearly overhaul), and our bedroom on the third floor was freezing. The company was due to come out on a Wednesday, but due to "heavy traffic" on the A14 they wouldnt be able to "come 'round" for 5 days (because Thursday and Friday were already booked). I huffed a little bit on the phone, but I let it go and decided I could be patient while freezing my butt off for the next 5 days. They showed up on Monday, spent 4 hours looking at the boiler and then told me it was likely to break again and that I should call the company that manufactures it to see if they might have a look at it. (What? ). So that brings us to today; my landlord decided the best option is to replace the boiler, so I wait at home anticipating another call about the backup on the A14.

Martha Stewart was on house arrest for over a year. Its been one day and I've already cleaned the house, frosted 6 dozen christmas cookies, and thought about organizing my closets. Now all I need is a pair of pleated khaki's and some insider trading hints and I might become the next Martha. That or I will go completely insane. Or maybe thats the same thing?

Summary of this blog: British customer service is about as efficient as a Hummer's gas mileage.

Random Thoughts.

First off...I am very excited because I finished and turned in my final paper and have now completed 1/5 of my degree!! Woohoo. No more class until January22nd=Erin is very happy and talking in the third person.


Second. Jonathan (and Sword) put together an amazing work Christmas party that we attended on Saturday night. SUPER fun, LOTS of wine and no drama. Except for the fact that I somehow managed to get whipped cream ALL over my brand new top that is dry clean only (DOH!).

Third. Jonathan and I spent Sunday walking around Cambridge doing some final Christmas shopping and just hanging out. We had yummy burritos for lunch at Manna Mexico (which are good, but nothing compared to BonFire burritos in Goldsboro). It was really cold out, but the sun was shining and with the Christmas lights out everywhere we had a great time. Its hard to believe that Christmas is here!!

And Finally. I know that England is actually just a small island, but WHY are the parking spaces here tighter than grandma's spanks>? I mean, seriously, I drive a DODGE STRATUS (SNL skit, anyone? anyone?) I actually drive a Mazda 6, which in the states is considered a sedan, but in England is a giant, unparkable BEAST. Jonathan had to get out of the car and ground guide me while I was pulling into a spot in a parking garage in Cambridge. It was an austin powers move times 7....I must have used a 40 point turn to get into that space which really annoyed the car waiting behind me and served as entertainment for the couple parked near us that decided to stand and watch the event unfold (thanks for that). So, my plea to England is to widen your parking spaces, PLEASE, so that I dont have to Boston Bump my way into spaces anymore.

THE cruise.

Jonathan and I took an amazing 12 day cruise with our friends the Harpers and the Rivers from October 13th-25th. We sailed on the Norwegian Jade and our itinerary included: Istanbul, Turkey; Izmir, Turkey; Mykonos, Greece; Heraklion (Crete), Greece; Santorini, Greece; Alexandria, Egypt; Corfu, Greece; Olympia, Greece; and Athens, Greece. All in all, we hit three countries and THREE continents (Europe, Asia and Africa). The trip was absolutely amazing. Instead of hacking every detail of the trip on this blog (mainly because I am too lazy) I thought I would just include some of the highlights of the 12 day cruise. For a more detailed, and better written synopsis of the trip, read my friend Holly's blog (Jumble Life).

In particular order...here we go:

1. Being on vacation with Jonathan! Definitely THE highlight of the trip as Jonathan was away for two months training in the states for his upcoming 4-6 month "business trip" this winter. We planned this cruise as our big trip between the two times Jonathan will be away.

2. Unpacking and not repacking for 12 days. Cruising is amazing. Our normal European vacations have consisted of lots of packing and unpacking, in addition to lugging heavy luggage through airports and train stations, up flights of stairs, down tiny cobble stoned streets, etc. While I am by NO means complaining about some of our other trips, it was nice to go on a vacation where all we had to do was show up and unpack. We would go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning at a new port and/or a new country. We didn't have to lug our bags anywhere, we didnt have to look up train or bus schedules...we didn't have to worry. I highly recommend cruising.

3. Ruins. Lots and lots of ruins. We saw hundreds and hundreds of toppled marble columns, old marble walls and random chunks of stone. The boys (Jonathan, Jeff and Dan) LOVED the ruins, especially when a plaque with LOTS of writing was placed near ruins. The boys read EVERYTHING: every word, every date, every name...EVERYTHING. Don't get me wrong Holly, Erica and I loved seeing ruins and learning about history, but when you are looking at a toppled marble column there is only so much to look at and read about. That being said, we did see some pretty amazing stuff.

-----Ephesus: Ruins in Turkey, Ephesus was a thriving city for centuries, but most well known as home to the Ephesians in early AD times. It is said that Mary (mother of Jesus) lived here, and Paul (the apostle) visited often and wrote many letters to the church of Ephesus.

-----The Palace of Knossos: Pretty much completely ruined, but seeping in history. This was the home of King Minos and prior to that was home to rulers and kings as far back as 4,000 BC! Presently, it looks like a bunch of low walls and marble stones.

-----Olympia: Home of the original Olympic games. The temple of Zeus was on this site and was one of the seven wonders of the world. The temple is completely destoryed; every column is toppled and the statue of Zeus is gone (read: stolen), but in its day it was an amazing and sacred sight to the Greeks. It was pretty neat to see Olympia just months after this years Olympics...so much history.

-----The Acropolis: Incredible. Breathtaking. Under RECONSTRUCTION. The Parthenon is incredible to look at in person, but was surrounded by scaffolding and cranes during our visit. The views of Athens from the acropolis are incredible.

(On the left is ruins of Knossos (a palace built 3000 years ago on a sight that has been inhabited for over 6,000 years)

(On the right: Jonathan and I standing in front of the grounds used for sprinting and wrestling at the first olympics in Olympia, Greece)

4. Beaches. When you live in England, being on a WARM beach is amazing, and rare. The islands of Mykonos and Corfu were beautiful and gave us a chance to work on a tan.

A beach in Mykonos
5. Food. When you go on a cruise you eat. If I could have worn elastic waist band pants the whole time, I would have. The food is all you can eat on board, and we ate all we could. Everynight we had 3-4 course meals (desserts ALWAYS included). The food was really good and also gave us all a souvenier: 3-4 pounds of muffin top to bring home with us. (for those not familiar with Muffin Tops: they are indigenous to England (though have been spotted worldwide). Muffin tops are the phenomenon of tummy excess spilling over the top of pants that are too tight. ) Greek food was by far my favorite. In Santorini we ate some of the traditional greek snacks including Hummus, tzatziki (my favorite), and fried filo-wrapped feta cheese drizzled in fresh honey. If I could live in Greece, I would.

6. Egypt. An incredible experience. You see the pyramids and the Sphinx on t.v. all the time, you hear about them, you learn about them in World Civilization in school but seeing them in person is something else entirely. We took a bus from Alexandria to Giz, and when we were finally able to see the pyramids out of the window I was awstruck. They are huge, and considering they were built 4,000 years ago without modern technology it is completely mind-boggling to try to figure out how the Egyptians did it. As amazing as the sites were, it was also shocking to discover that in addition to being an archeological marvel, they are also littered with TRASH. No joke, there were wrappers, empty bottles and camel poop ALL around the pyramids...right up to the base of the stones. Pretty disappointing, but still amazing to see the pyramids.

In addition to seeing the pyramids, we also had the chance to tour tombs with colored writing still on the wall, ride a jeep through the Sahara, and my favorite...we got to ride camels through the Sahara at sunset. (side note: DO NOT try to pet a camel that you have just ridden through the desert...they WILL try to bite you[ahem...Holly]. Turns out they are pretty angry animals. )

I'm going to stop there....because this became a much longer blog than anticipated! If you can't tell, we had a great time on our trip and are highly encouraging all of our friends to try to take a cruise.

Until our next trip....

B is for BEERlin.

Berlin, Germany: September 2008

Really bad picture, but really good beer.

Jonathan and I took a trip to Berlin with our friends the Coopers the day after Jonathan got back from his 2 month work trip to Las Vegas this past September. Berlin is a pretty amazing city...though it was freezing and raining for most of our trip. You walk around the city and can't help but think about its history. Most of the city is newly built...turns out most of the buildings didn't survive past 1945 (those bombers were a little too good at their jobs!). The Germans are very friendly...and were especially so because we were visiting Germany during a little holiday that they call "Oktober Fest"!! Jonathan had a smile on his face the ENTIRE trip knowing that Beer could be found on every corner.

<---- Jonathan drinking one LITER of yummy Oktoberfest beer.

Among the sites that we saw were: The Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie (on Freidrichstrasse), Berliner Dom (a big cathedral), Alexanderplatz (where Jonathan drank the liter of beer), Tiergarten (a big garden) , a HUGE Russian War Memorial (oddly, placed in West Berlin...kinda wierd), and of course the Berlin Wall.

Berlin Wall- - ->

Jonathan dusted his thinking cap off and strained to use the German that he learned in High School so that we wouldn't be totally obnoxious Americans that didn't even attempt to speak German. I used the few words I know (Eine bir, bitte) and am pretty sure that I completely butchered their language. Jonathan did a great job, though at one point we thoroughly confused a waitress who couldn't figure our where we were from and spoke to us in German, English and Spanish in one conversation.

All in all, the trip was a blast. Good food, good friends, and of course good beer. You can't get much better than a German Hef (though the Belgians put up a good fight in that beer battle). Jonathan tried to buy some Leiderhausen as a souvenier (just as he tried to buy a kilt in Scotland), but I used my crafty ninja skills and helped him talk himself out of the idea. I really don't want him walking around England in leiderhausen (or a kilt)...which is exactly what he would do if I let him buy them.

We are hoping to make another trip to Germany soon...Jonathan and I both spent many years as children in Germany, so its always nice going back to one of our "homes".