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

[redflipflops]

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

introductions:

redflipflops - California (central Coast)

$750 i am v our 'cheap' tickets were nearly $1000 each, in Feb. During the summer they hover around $1300, but easily hit $2500 if you don't book them months in advance.

hence the need for a job, so i can get home. but then, if i have a job, i won't have time. oh well.

Yes, they cost around that at the moment for us too. That did involve 3 flights though - here to SFO, SFO to Philadelphia (internal flight lasting 6 hours with no entertainment!) then SFO to Manchester, which we almost missed because dd had an enormous nose bleed! They got the medics out to her and we had to get a police cart to take us to the gate, then they shut the doors behind us! That was hard work on my own with the 2 of them and I don't fancy it again for a while!

redflipflops re tipping for help to your car w/shopping: I worked in a grocery store as a teenager and it was against the rules for us to accept tips for helping customers. We were told helping with whatever they wanted (ie take them to the item they want, not just say what aisle it's on, help out to the car, special requests, etc) was to be done, with a smile, as part of our job. Accepting tips or other gifts would be grounds for termination. Usually the store will have a policy posted somewhere near the customer service counter (or the person at the counter would know).

Monkeytoo thanks! We rather liked the small-town, rural feel of Woodinville after three years in London, so we are trying it out. Is Thenos the dairy with the plastic cow out front? We stopped by there because we can't resist ice cream and DD is a bit cow-mad atm, but I didn't take the name. My car has broken down over the weekend, so I am a bit housebound for the moment, but I will have to try out the Purple Cafe and Pomegranate. I don't really know much of anything local and definitely appreciate recommendations. We did rather enjoy a family night out for the kinect/cirque thing. Sad, us . 18-mo-old DD had the switch on the light ball figured before I did!

tadjenny, have you thought about starting a German group for kids? There's a very successful program called Toddler Tiempo that you could model after.

Thanks, Jabberwocky that's really interesting. There is a language school for children round here and I have to get my act together and give them my resume!

Shanster - I could have written your e-mail! I also live in the suburbs of Atlanta and have difficulty making friends with the other mums - just cant put my finger on why - deep roots with southern families maybe?

Hi All. I have just (three weeks ago) moved to Kansas City from Hampshire with four yr old DT and one year DD. Loving it so far, not been here long enough to get homesick yet but sure its in the post! Need to make the move from being the object of curiosity with other mums to actually making friends....not the easiest! Anyone else in this neck of the woods?

wow. we're on tornado watch tonight. we've put dd in the basement & may sleep there ourselves. amazing thunderstorm going on atm.

welcome, 'rodeo'. i am still an object of curiosity for many. there are quite a few people i am just 'me' to, but every time i open my mouth in a shop, you can see people do a double take. in fact, i was at a 'party' (one of those selling things ones) yesterday, and people who didn't know me seemed quite pleased to recognise that i was from britain, and carefully said britain, not england! when they ask where i'm from, i just say 'not scotland' as between us dh & i have lived in every other part of the uk. never quite sure if they understand me or not!

have you heard the joan collins routine about kansas?

How did the tornado go kickassangel?

just a mega storm, didn't turn into a tornado.

we have just been 'up north' to the 'top' of mighigan & it's a different world up there - when we moved here it felt wild & empty, but this is a busy metropolis compared with the Upper Peninsula. gave me some idea of what canada is like, but we couldn't go over as green card application is in, so not allowed out of the country.

I don't think we need advance parole with our green card application - it's all a bit complicated. I spent a couple of summers in Wisconsin as a teenager and I imagine that's a bit like the UP!

we're not allowed to leave the country atm. also have to go & get finger prints done soon - including dd. then the wait for the fbi to confirm that we don't have a criminal record.

northern wisconsin & UP similar - i was amazed how you cross over the bridge & it's like a different country. i thought 'civilisation' would gradually fade out, but no, suddenly there's just one road, one lane, nothing else in sight.

do you know how boring it is to play 'i spy' when the only possible answers are trees, grass, road, sky and clouds. we got into an argument about whether you could actually see the needles on the pines as you drive through, so was it a valid answer? lovely once we got out & did some walking, but the driving was a bit boring.

Marenmj - sorry we have family visiting so my online time has been a bit restricted! Yes - that's Thenos!

I missed the Cirque / Kinect thing too, we still haven't got good options for babysitters so don't do much in the evenings now - I heard it was good though. Didn't think of taking ou 15 month old - I should be more adventurous!

There's more to do around here in the summer with little ones as there are nice parks etc. I find it a bit limiting when the weathers bad but I'm gradually finding more things to do. Hope you're all settled in

Hello all, I've been away for the last few days in the UK, where it was really hot. Very steamy here in NY as well. redflipflops, ds has not settled well into school here - he is at the United Nations school, which is very transient with children moving in and out all the time. And he still misses his UK friends even after a year .

hi all,

Not had a chance to read through the whole thread yet but wanted to introduce myself. We've (me, DH and 4 month LO) just moved to California, 10 days now and just starting to find out way around. Start new job on Thursday [scared emoticon]

Welcome climberchick! and good luck with your new job on Thursday!

Sorry your son isn't settled midtowner. Hope he feels better soon.

Thanks tadjennyp. He seems happier now that school has broken up - he has even asked to see some boys from school.

Climberchick, was today your first day at work? Hope it went well.

What's everyone doing for the long weekend?

We're staying in town.

dh is going to see a band, a 6 hr drive away, leaving me & dd home alone. he will be working, as usual, on mon. that makes 12 days in a row of me & dd all day. i think we'll head to the pool.

Hi everyone, still havn't caught up on everyones back story. Think I'll just take it from here.

First day went well, am well impressed with the pumps they have at work. In fact, so impressed I've just hired one for home. That way if she goes on a nursing strike, I'll just switch to exclusive expressing. Not sure what my new colleagues will think when they discover I'm storing breast milk in the office fridge though.

No plans for the weekend, just carrying on getting to grips with health insurance/tax/social security no and the list goes on. LO is due a set of jabs so we better get a move on.

There is a work do at the bosses house on sunday, families welcome and so that should be a good way of getting to know people.

Welcome Climber! Whereabouts in California are you? Congratz on the new job

thanks Carmen, we're in Santa Barbara (working at the uni). You in the state as well?

Also general question to all: Are there mother and baby coffee meet ups etc. over her,e like there is in the UK. Tried googling activties for DH to go to but have failed to find anything. Wondering are they called different things over here, or whether they're just anti-social

Yep.. my name's a bit of a giveaway. I'm in San Diego.

One great place to look for meet ups is meetup.com - I have an 18 month old.

What I do find here is that meetups tend to be quite specialist - Christian moms, Asian moms, Professional moms, Caesarean Support moms etc. so it helps to have an interest or something like that. Locally, we have a British mums group so you might have something similar.

A lot of people around me do 'Stroller Strides' which is an exercise class thing - with pushchairs!

Hope that helps a bit

Oh, La Leche League are worth a look too if you're breastfeeding.