Living in America....... summer 2010!

[redflipflops]

So.... new thread.... please join me

introductions:

redflipflops - California (central Coast)

Pants. Ha ha ha ha. Afraid I can't help with the liner thing.

I'm afraid I can't help much with the clothes, climber. I usually go shopping in my local grocery/department store when their close go about 80% off. It's Oregon. We're a jeans and t-shirt type place, like tadjennyp says.

So we're at week 3ish with the new dog. I love that dog. I'm not an animal person, I'm afraid, but I love that dog. I was really wondering what we got ourselves in for when we got her, because reading up on the breed they sound like a complete terror, but fortunately the dog must not have read how she's supposed to be.

We've had a relatively quiet week here. It will be pretty busy in a few days until September, though. We have both kids' birthdays in August, and DH is taking a week of vacation. I never had birthdays growing up, and I seriously over-compensate for that with the kids, doing something pretty much all 9 days from DS to DD's birthday.

I'm really suprised that people don't RSVP to parties. Happy birthdays to Dooney's DC from SB & Dinner.

Can't help with nappy liners, I'm afraid.

How was the party dooney? I hope it went really well.
The in-laws came and went and it was remarkably relaxed. They have driven all the way to Yellowstone today and will be back next week for 5 days. I think they're probably spending less time with the dcs than they wanted but they're travelling with BIL and his gf and they want to do other stuff too. Absolutely shattered today though and need an early night!

Hello, hope everyone is ok and having a lovely summer. We have gone very quiet of late! I trawled round some second hand shops yesterday and found 2 pairs of maternity trousers, a skirt and 3 tops for $20! I was very proud of myself! Then I went and spent nearly $60 on maternity bras in Motherhood (but I did get one free!) but that's what dh spent on his xbox this week. Nothing else exciting happening in Central Oregon, except the weather will be nearly 100F at the weekend!

Not so hot here at the moment - low 90s max but is so so humid I hate being sweaty.

Hope the party went well Dooney. Shopping spree sounds fun, Tadj. Your name is interesting... can you explain it?

Tad is from Tadcaster near York where we were living when I had the first 2 and the rest is rather boringly my name. I like grockle best, always liked that word! It was nice to go shopping without the dcs - I got to browse and everything!

Ooo, browsing! It's amazing how different things are when there are no children around!

Tadcaster always seems nice although I only know the brewery

Tadcaster is in a nice part of the world. There are three breweries and the owner of the oldest one (Sam Smith's, which bizarrely you can get here in Oregon, though not much more than 50 miles away from Tad) owns a lot of the real estate in town. He has fixed ideas about what businesses he will allow in town and so quite a few of the shops are boarded up. That makes is more difficult for the other shops to survive and it's a real shame. Very pretty area though!

Climber did you manage to get hold of decent nappy liners?

no not yet, we're about to try to find another one online as our current roll is nearly at the end.

bras are very much worth it though

Hello all - just got back from a week away....

Climber you might have already seen these but there are some parent & baby classes through adult ed in SB area:
sbcc.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassListingDisplay&int_category_id=4&int_sub_category_id=37

probably online easiest place for nappy liners?

Schools go back next week here. Just got a huge supply list from the school - severe funding cuts here :(

thanks for that red, will keep it in mind, looks like there's some good things for when she's older. For the time being DH is quite busy: tues=swimming, wed=music with putnee and thurs =wriggly readers at the library.

Have only been trying online for the liners (btw thanks for the congrats on the pun ), they don't seem to perforate them properly, odd.

Off to San Fransisco this weekend, any must do activities?

Sealions

Chinatown

Alcatraz

Hey y'all, do you mind if I join? Arrived in Nashville, Tennessee just over 2 weeks ago. I have 2 DSs, 2.5 years and 5 months. We've moved here from London for a few months as DH is working out here for a year and I'm on maternity leave so could join him for a while. Was told by numerous people not to come to the south but have been pleasantly surprised. People are amazingly friendly and helpful (on the face of it anyway), good food and restaurants and amazing mod cons! Struggling a bit though to find any baby groups like baby massage or Monkey Music etc. In London my toddler goes to playgroup several times a week, football etc and I would take DS2 to baby massage, post natal yoga etc. I have just found a Mommy and Me yoga class, which I'm thrilled about, but can't find any other baby or toddler classes. Do Americans just not do baby groups?? Also not sure how much I have in common with the other mums I come into contact with. Seem to automatically gravitate towards Europeans!

Hi gangle! Welcome to the board. I think you can find Moms' meetups online by searching for that term. Often you have to pay a fee and commit to a certain amount of meetings. I have been here since my two were 2.3 and 8 months and never found a toddler group as such, though our library is excellent at offering story times. Soccertots is also very popular. Hope you have a fab time in Nashville!

Hello Gangle - sounds nice to come for a short period! (you won't need to bother with driving tests and moving all your stuff etc..). I think baby/toddler clubs/activities do seem to be done differently here. Meetup.com has some mothers groups. Enjoy your stay!

Hi Gangle

We did Music Together classes which DS loved.

I always wanted to go to Nashville but never managed it. It's still on my list of places to visit.

Gangle, We lived in the Nashville area from 2001 to 2008 so I may have some tips on things to do, etc. Also earlybird lives there so you guys can do a meet-up!

Ladies, I'm leaving today. Thank you for hosting me for the last 4 weeks - it's been lovely to visit and see old faces and meet new ones. I may pop in every now and then to say hello when I am back home.

Hi jabberwocky and gangle - glad I caught this thread!

jabberwocky - good to 'see' you again, and hope you are well. I haven't been around as much as I used to be, but always keep an eye out for your name. Alot of my old 'pals' seem to have name-changed (and I don't know their current names), or they have moved on from the board, so I'm glad to know you're still here.

gangle - I will be happy to help in any way I can. How old are your dc? What part of town do you live in? Don't think my CAT subscription is current, though you could give it a try. I'd be glad to help in any way possible. Ask away.

gangle - I see you already posted your dc' ages further down. DD is 9.5, and we are a bit 'out of it' where baby/toddler activities are concerned, but I'm sure I could be helpful on some level!

earlybird, always good to see you. I'm not around as much either but still have the MN habit :)

I guess I may know more about little kids' stuff so let me see...
We really liked Kindermusik. Gymnastics is good for a 2.5 year old. The Hillsboro area near Vanderbilt University has some cool shops and restaurants.
The Nashville library has a nice kids thing on Saturday mornings and maybe Fridays too? and the Frist museum does things for kids. We liked the family series through TPAC. They had a drumming group from out west that was awesome to watch. Can't remember the name, I think it was some sort of Japanese drumming. You have to find the place that sells Mexican popsicles!!!! My favorite was cucumber and pepper. Earlybird may know directions or maybe dh remembers.
There's a really cool Cultural Center type place, I think it's off of Charlotte Ave. They have all sorts of activities. ummm, what else...fairly new-ish Buddhist temple in Murfreesboro, Rainforest Cafe, Cheekwood Gardens, Discovery Museum in Murfreesboro (is there one in Nashville too?)
For the adults: dh is friends with the founder of Yazoo Brew. They have a cool tap room that's open Thurs thru Sat I think.

hi guys.

just been to virginia for a week & it was lovely. we did all the old colonial stuff, which reminded me of england, and water parks & busch gardens & got horribly sun burnt on the beach (even with sun cream & shade).

i now have a green card and ssn, waiting to find out how to get 'US equivalency' for all my qualifications, but the appropriate person at MI teachers thingy hasn't replied to my email, so i have rather come to a halt on getting a job, for now. i need to make some phone calls to chase that up.

the BIG dilemma is - dd's party is on saturday & only 4 people have said they're coming. 3 have said no, but there's about 10 who haven't replied - do i ring round & chase up, or send out invites to the 'reserve' list? (dd wanted to invite the whole of mi, i trimmed the list a little, so don't mind adding a few more names at this point).

her birthday is at such a bad time - loads of people are away, and, it's nearly 3 months since school ended, so lots of people just don't bother.

next year, i may arrange for us to be in the UK.

send invites to the reserve list. I will never forget my conservative invitation list for ds1's 4th birthday party and only TWO kids showed up. He handled it OK but now I always over-invite.

How did you invite originally (phone, printed invites, etc)?

Most people 'round here do email invitations so those who are out of town over summer break can still receive invitations.

I'd call or email to follow up on those who haven't responded, and also start inviting your 'B List'. Don't want to leave it too last minute for those people.