Pond Hopper

This morning, I had a pretty bad start to the day. I woke up in pain. I have a illness called Ankylosing Spondylitis which is chronic. I try my hardest not to let it get in my way, but mornings are a challenge (especially with a toddler in the house that doesn't wait for me to loosen up a bit before dragging me out of bed). My meds haven't been too effective lately so last week, my doctor changed to something different. A few days later, I got up from sitting in a wicker chair and my husband said, 'What the hell happened to your back?' I had a bruise in the shape of the chair's edge across my back. With the Doctor's office closed, I called the pharmacy & the pharmacist told me to stop taking it until I can see the doctor. Monday was a holiday and I haven't been able to get an appt to see my doctor since. I've been taking the old meds in the meantime, but I'm going to run out tomorrow. I called the doctor's office this morning, explained ...

Over the weekend while visiting my in-laws, I over heard my sister-in-law talking about me (in a not so nice kind of way). I guess she thought I was a bit too glamorous looking for her taste. I heard her say, 'Look at her being all Glam, how about that lipstick?' to her boyfriend. In my defense, I was wearing a denim skirt that came below the knee, wedge sandals and a t-shirt (it's not like I was wearing some sexy mini skirt & tube top (the witch)! I don't know what was wrong with my lipstick. I didn't ask. I'm close with my mother-in-law and didn't want to rock the boat so I didn't say anything about what I over heard. I didn't even mention it to my husband until a few days later when I changed my cloths before leaving for a birthday party we were going to. I was wearing a summer dress with spaghetti straps that came just above the knee with the same sandals. I all of a sudden felt self conscious and changed into a longer linen skirt, pl...

It must look like I love every book I read. I can assure you, I don't but it's rare I read a bad book because I research every book I buy before I buy it. I don't want to waste my time on bad books so every time I see one I want to read, I look it up on Shelfari.com and never buy a book that gets less than an average of 4 stars. Which is why it may seem to some that I enjoy almost every book I read.

Synopsis: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey... This is a new favorite (maybe even my very favorite). What an incredible, thought-provoking book! It not only made me cry, but it also made me laugh out loud as well. It was a bittersweet story of a child with a brilliant mind, a broken heart, and an injured soul that desperately seeks for a way to deal with his tremendous loss. I have to say that in the beginning of the book, I found it hard to follow. The narrative was confusing as it changes from one character to another without warning or explanation. The first time I tri...

We're thinking of adopting an older child. There it is in black and white. I said it. It's crazy right? 'The Times' (an English newspaper) is running a campaign to try to increase the number of adoptions to older children. Right now in the UK, there are approximately only 3000 children who are taken out of the system through adoption each year. 1 in 100 are over 5. I can cry writing that. I've seen documentaries on the subject which have never left me. One such documentary that featured a little red-headed boy that broke my heart. He had too many foster parents in his young life and they said his chances of ever finding a family were minimal. I was pregnant at the time. I wanted to save him, but what could I do? I'm sure there are a lot of people that thought the same thing. The thing is that we CAN do something and maybe we should be the sort of people who actually do. My husband (the amazing man he is) has always said he'd like to do something l...

The other night while having our bedtime cuddle, Ethan told me 'Lily is my best friend'. Lily is my friend, Angela's little girl. They are the same age and they've been playing together since they were 9 months old. They were both early walkers and would plow through baby groups like baby-zilla stepping on all the other babies. They were too young for toddler classes so Angela and I started getting together once a week to have them play together. Angela was the first English woman to befriend me. For the longest time, I kept her at arms length and refused to let myself use the word 'friend' when talking about her (afraid that one false move would destroy the balance of my very limited social life). I digress - so, after announcing that Lily was his best friend, he said and Angela is your best friend. I said, No baby, Aunt Nicole is Mommy's best friend. He then said (with all the wisdom in the world), but Angela is your best friend in England. That...

Ya know how some men buy a sports car when they reach a certain age? Well, I think I've reached my version of that. Now that I'm thin again and feeling like my old self (or should I say young self), I've been buying shoes - shoes that I'm probably a bit too old to be wearing. These are some examples of my mid-life crisis purchases... Now this last pair, I LOVED (hell, I LOVED them all, but felt silly and returned them). I wanted to keep them so badly, but put them away to return them. The thing is, they sat there forever (just couldn't bring myself to return them). So, I took the picture & posted it on Facebook and asked 'Am I too old for these shoes?' I was shocked at how many people (men & women) responded. With a unanimous - they are HOT - keep them! So, I did. I wore them for Mother's Day last weekend, but aside from that, being a stay at home mom, I have no idea where the hell I'm going to wear them - they're a bit dressy fo...

Synopsis - In this contemporary tale of love and friendship, Jodi Picoult brings to life a familiar world, and in a single terrifying moment awakens every parent's worse fear: We think we know our children… but do we ever really know them at all? I really struggled with this one. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to finish a book (two weeks). It was a good book with a good ending, but the thing was that this was my 4th Jodi Picoult book this year and her style of writing seems to be too similar in all the books I've read. It just bored me and I was easily distracted. As I said, it wasn't a bad book, but it will probably be the last Jodi Picoult novel I read for a while.

Ever hear a song that just wallops you back to another time & place? Living in a foreign country (with a lot of different types of music) that sort of thing doesn't happen to me much anymore, but the other day it did. I heard a song by Richard Marx (of all people) that stopped me in my tracks, sent me back to a past love and made me smile thinking about him for the first time in ages. I got the clearest picture of how his head would fly back laughing at his own jokes (that's when he laughed the hardest - which made me want to kiss him every time - I think it's ok to admit such things when you haven't kissed in 2 decades). He had a different laugh when he laughed at something he said. It was my favorite of all his laughs (he had many). I'm smiling just thinking about it now. But it also makes me a little sad that we don't even talk anymore. Every time we do, it ends badly. We haven't been together since we were kids, but in our long history since - we...

My mood has lifted significantly this week. Maybe it's the sunshine. The weather here has been in the 70s and sunny. I feel uplifted. So, I thought I'd write a little update (I've also back dated all my books I've read since I've last blogged) I'd promise to keep blogging on a regular basis, but every time I do, I seem to do the opposite... I am 8 pounds away from hitting my goal weight! I've done so well that a couple of weeks ago, the slimming world website featured me as their featured slimmer! I was shocked when I logged on and saw myself - complete with before and after photos (cringing)! I'm down to a size 5/6 US (10 UK) and so happy with the results, I just can't get the momentum up to start dieting again for the last 8lbs. I'm sure when bathing suit weather comes along, I'll be back to it! I have met yet another American (the 2nd one in 3 months). We've met up with our families already and had a really nice afternoon. We p...