Windsor

Wednesday, early Wednesday we landed in London to start our lives in the lovely town of Windsor. After a very stressful filled month we finally made it and so did our cats, quarantine free! We also completed just about everything on our move checklist, other than shipping over our stuff which is currently in boxes in Rachel and Jonathan's garage, which we hope and I'm sure they hope we get moved out quickly. We've been struggling to get decent internet and phone service. Everything is thick with red tape.  The people here are very warm and friendly but it's very hard to get anything done if you don't meet all the checklists. For example we can't get a cell phone contract because we haven't lived in the UK for 3 years. Getting a bank account here too is a challenge. There are also cameras everywhere, yes like in the Bourne movies, it's actually true! Despite that it doesn't seem to really do much for crime prevention. Gwendolyn and I went to a thrift store, called charity stores here to buy a few books and a toy for her since she was using power adapters as dolls today, and the sweet ladies there were fearful that someone would pinch her stroller which was right outside their store door, because like the houses stores too are very small and so I left it there. They brought it in anyway for me. It's nice to know that most people here look out for one another. That is as long as you're not in a car...

 So driving here is interesting. It's on the left side of course and Jeremy and I have been making a game out of trying to guess what the various road signs mean. Street parking is interesting too. So imagine a narrow two lane road and then cars parked on either side of those lanes and traffic flying by each direction somehow. A lot of cars have broken side mirrors. In some places cars park up on the sidewalk. This was quite startling when I was out for a walk with Gwendolyn in her stroller and a car pulled up on the sidewalk just a foot away from us. Jeremy keeps offering to let me drive, but I think I'm good walking. There's enough risk in that as it is.

We bought groceries yesterday, first with a trip to Costco, where even the entrance is on the opposite side as it is in the states which we found amusing. Costco is known for supporting local markets and catering to it's local audience. There was an entire isle devoted to coffee and tea. This is consistent in even the local grocery stores too, but it was just impressive to see tea in bulk like that. We searched high and low but it appears carnation instant breakfast or an equivalent is not to be found in the UK, nor is skim milk. The best they have is less than 2%, whatever that means, and it spoils within 3 days of opening. This is a step up from the milk you could buy in Hawaii after the one milk producer went out of business and was taken over by a competitor who didn't clean out the tanks thoroughly causing milk to spoil within hours of opening, but it's still an inconvenience, especially since it is so expensive here. You can get ultra pasteurized milk that's shelf friendly but I don't think I'm that adventurous. Most things here spoil quickly. Salad dressing by the way is a joke, it's actually mayonnaise, don't be tricked by the label. They get away with calling it something different because it is slightly tangier than mayo, but really it's pretty much the same thing. Things are crazy expensive here. Some of the prices look like the same but of course in British pound which makes US currency feel like monopoly money.

 Gwendolyn doesn't seem to mind the rain, our cats have decided however that as long as it's wet out there, they are happy to be house cats. This may be a good thing because people drive really fast. It's marked 10mph on our private driveway but people fly by much quicker than that. I can see why the owners used to have a gate on their driveway. We're basing the size of our new car on the driveway which is really narrow. Hopefully we can start shopping for that in the next week. Gwendolyn has struggled with the cold. Her thick coat is in one of the boxes to be shipped along with all her new undershirts, yeah I know good one on my part. However I did pack the new coat her grandma gave her and her gloves which she loves. She had fun pulling the mitten flap up and down over her fingers. She also has enjoyed splashing in the puddles. I think she may be missing her cousins too. She found a picture of Rachel's family and happily chattered about each of them. We will definitely have to skype them soon. For you Washington folks, we are 8 hours ahead just fyi. Jeremy wanted to call family this morning but we figured a 6am call would probably not be appreciated as much.

 We miss family very much but really like England and all it has to offer. It's a little strange living in a house almost as old as our country but also kind of cool too. The castle is also really impressive. We haven't see the Queen yet but were told we could see her on her way to church every Sunday at 11am.