Monday. I have a case of them.

[gfrancie]

I woke up this morning filled with a nice healthy dose of dread and ennui. Great regret about my entire life and all that dreary jazz. I added to it by looking for some rain boots. I have been looking in shops in the greater area and if they were in my size they didn't fit my calves. If they likely fit my calves they didn't fit my foot. Then I began to look around online. (I have long/wide feet -especially by UK standards and my calves aren't terribly slim.) It was a slog to find something. I did find something but it was slightly more than I had anticipated on spending. I mentioned it to Mr. Jenner and he didn't get what the big deal was. It was difficult to explain "According to the culture I am a fattymcfatfat Mclongfeet who is not worthy of anything that fits or is attractive and if I think I am, I am going to be charged more." He still didn't quite get it and made a slightly ignorant comment. I thought about murdering him but I had errands to run. (also to be fair he didn't realize I have been looking for over a month for something, so that by the time I was wallowing in a fancy hot tub of self-loathing.)
Eventually I ordered some boots. They better fucking be awesome.

My Father inlaw stopped by with stuff for us. (some things from his Mother's house that my brother inlaw brought back after being at a music festival.) He had not seen the house yet and offered a few useful thoughts on dealing with assorted quirks. Here is an amusing thing about the shower room off of our bedroom, the damn thing has now outlets. Not a single one. Not even one for shaving. NOTHING. (also it lacks a mirror.) I am seeing all these details in this house that makes me pause and say, "now why did you do that?" The sloping walls upstairs bring up the reality that I bump into a lot of things.

We visited the school the kids will be attending in the Fall. It is a teeny tiny little school. It is also very good and people in the surrounding area would step over their grandmother to attend it. Technically they are full up BUT as we are in the encatchment area, we can send the kids there. We just have to nag the county a little bit about it. "Listen up, they said we could attend, now get on it." As for the school, there are two grades in each class. I was impressed with how much room there was and things were kind of open. Lots of rooms open to other rooms. There were kids doing different things and they weren't just sitting at a desk. What really won me over was checking out the class Senor Onion would be in. There was a kid who was just too overwhelmed and didn't want any distractions and wanted to quietly work on something else and he was happily working on something in another room all by himself. It was seen as perfectly all right. The teacher seems to understand the introverts. (I also noticed that each class had a teacher AND an assistant. We also checked out the preschool which Miss Biscuit took an immediate liking to. Within in seconds she was pretending to serve tea to the head teacher. Okay then. The teachers there were talking about how this year the class was really big on role-playing. I noticed a number of kids in dress-up and most of them were doing some fairly complicated imaginary play on their own. And once again, the quiet/shy/introverted kid was off to one side doing their own thing. The over-all tone of the school was rather friendly and I saw a great deal of books, art, and color all around the place. They even have a wind turbine and solar panels. Isn't this place just too too much? Even the school food is precious. I think I may have to start buying Boden if my kids go here. *snorts*

Anyhow...
THEN because I hadn't had an anxiety attack today I went and drove all the way to Bude on my own. Sure it was raining like mad and the fog was so heavy that the visibility was something like ten feet and the roads scare the ever living fuck out of me but we needed milk and gas for the car. I took care of errands. I navigated a fucking round-about all on my own, and no one screamed. I treated myself to a biscuit.

Now let's have omelets for dinner and admire the new rug that showed up today. Also the fog is finally lifting. Things aren't so bad. I need to remember that it is okay to be fragile for a little bit.

Comments

[mockduck.livejournal.com]

I think it's a normal GB thing not to have electrical sockets in bathrooms. Maybe a health and safety thing. I've only ever seen them in hotels. Classroom assistants are pretty standard, as far as I know, as well, actually.

Also, take heart that you are not the only person with big wide feet in this country. I may come from Devon, but my ancestors come from Holland, and it shows in my stature.

I am sure it is getting tedious, but I am slightly envious of all the purchasing you are getting to do. What will you do with it all when you move back, though?

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

There is one or two in the downstairs bathroom. It's the upstairs one that is bewildering. It is an odd room with an assortment of quirks. But still it is pretty damn nice in the grand scheme of things. The shower has decent water pressure.

I am glad to know more people with long feet. We need a club. We stomp on shoe-makers.

There are a number of things we acquired through family. Apparently my husband's family seems to pass around a number of objects. We have this coffee table that you might find interesting. (I will have to take a picture of it) I suppose some things we might take with us if we move back and other things we might sell, pass on to family. (something to be said for marrying into a large clan, people are always there to pass stuff onto) Most of the stuff we are buying as of late is the piddly details. You know... soap dishes, garbage bins, bottle openers. We have this ugly little sofa for right now. (cast-off from family)
Some of the shopping is irritating because I am hunting for the best deal possible. One doesn't get a lot of time to bang about in charity shops because I have my entourage of children so I have to be quick. (there is also the tiny detail that sometimes family wants to thrust things onto you that you don't exactly want and so you have to be diplomatic about it. Some don't understand the idea of taking time to look for the RIGHT thing vs. putting up with whatever... )

[mockduck.livejournal.com]

All very true. I still find it hard to shop with Item in tow, but it was ten times harder when she was little.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Miss Biscuit wants to run off on her own and Senor Onion is irritated that OMG we are shopping and can we pleaaaaaaaaaaaseee go ssomewhere else now and maybe get a sweet because OMG this is the dullest thing ever.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I was impressed with the smallness of the classroom size and how many adults there were for the kids. It kind of made me glad we came here. (Seattle has a lot of issues right now with the schools. The money isn't spread out fairly and so some schools are better than others and there isn't always the time/place/skill to attend to each kid's needs)

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

I understand having hard to fit feet. My feet are super-duper wide and I have "Pittsburgh calves" (the calves one develops when one walks up and down hills all the time), so boots aren't even an option for me unless I special order.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Yes. I know of the variety of calves of which you speak. I like to think of them as peasant calves.

[far-gone.livejournal.com]

Have you tried hunter short boots? Original gloss short in fun colours! Try amazon or google for is counts but the hunter site has all the fun models!
http://www.hunter-boot.com/original-gloss-short/sovereign-purple

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I went for the hunter adjustable boot. I carefully measured my calves and found that these boots would work for my needs. Even if I am wearing socks/jeans and so on. For the mud can be deep.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

You know, your story of Mr. Jenner's response to the terrible rain boot situation is a good one to hear, because it reminds me that this kind of thing happens in every relationship, where something that's really important and troublesome for one person just gets dismissed by a wave of the hand by the other person. I'm not always good at realizing what's going on and realizing that murder might be the most appropriate option. ;-)

If the boots work out well, I hope we'll get to see a picture of them! If they don't, well, counselors will be standing by.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I have to take awhile to come to a calm point and then explain my context and that way the other person understands the bigger picture.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

It often takes me a while just to figure out what's going on and why I'm upset about something like that. I just love how you explain the whole experience after the fact, because you capture it all so well.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

A grand thing about getting older is that I am able to pause and go, "oh hey... this is why I am upset" and then I talk about it.

[queenthesixth.livejournal.com]

Heh, the outlets thing reminds me of when I went to my cousin in Boston last October and when I asked her if there was a spare socket for me to plug in the hairdryer, she told me to use the one in the bathroom. My years of growing up with my father's admonitions of "WATER AND ELECTRICITY DO NOT MIX! NOTHING ELECTRICAL IN THE BATHROOM EVER OR WE WILL ALL DIE!!" Okay, so that's not what he said but over the years, that is what my brain has condensed it down to. So when Dawn told me to use the socket in the bathroom, I had a moment of "OMG please don't let me be the one to end up dead with the house burnt down around me just because I wanted straight hair".

Oh, could you please send me your new address when you get a chance? I'd like to post a little something over as a thank you for the book you sent me.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Maybe that is it. But where do people shave in this part of the world????

[far-gone.livejournal.com]

You usually don't even get light switches in the bathroom! Spot the Brit looking for the switch outside the loo door!

[kellymarie.livejournal.com]

Yep, here in NL we just get a string hanging down inside the bathroom. We cannot be trusted with a switch!

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

YES. So many light switches outside of the toilet or the string because the entire nation is going to kill themselves. But seriously... where does everyone shave or curl/dry their hair? It seems almost... uncivilized to do it elsewhere.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Civilized men use a razor. Civilised men who can't be trusted with a sharp edge use a rechargeable electric shaver.

ETA: I too grew up with "you MUST dry your hands before even using the pull cord for the bathroom light in case of dangerous ELECTRICITY".

[bliss-street.livejournal.com]

Three cheers for knowing how to deal with introverted kids and remembering that it's OK to be fragile occasionally.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I suspect that because the school is small enough, there is room for all the personalities.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

I sympathize about the boots. One of my feet is a size larger than the other

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Oh that is a bother. Shoes. They should be bought as singles.

[todayiamadaisy]

When my mother's English out-laws (like in-laws for people who aren't married) came to visit, they were shocked (fortunately not literally) by the power outlets they found in every bathroom. Death traps, apparently. We colonials like to live on the edge.

I also have peasant calves. Nothing higher than ankle boots for the likes of me.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

We colonials love our electrics. I may have found some boots that might work. I will report when I know for sure.

[cutebutpsycho99.livejournal.com]

You are unlocking achievements! Go you!

Also your adventures in clothing remind me of shopping in Taiwan. Nothing would fit me. I apparently am the size of a rampaging moose. But with a more fabulous rack.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

We should just wear sack cloth.

[cutebutpsycho99.livejournal.com]

Even then it wouldnt fit right. Stupid sack designers.

[oldnarkoverian.livejournal.com]

The no-socket thing is because we have 240 volt electricity rather than your 110 volt. I've had a jolt from both, and I prefer the 110.

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

Ugh, the calves. So frustrating, I sympathize.

I remember in all the places I lived in England we never had a bathroom with an electrical outlet. I learned to blow-dry my hair in the hallway.