Monday turns to Tuesday

Monday!   We leave for London at about 4:00 today -- The days are blending together.. I keep talking about the set visit like it was yesterday and the WB stuff like it was earlier today.  But I’ve slept since then.

As I’m blogging this one, I’m sitting in our dark and chilly living room in London… it’s Tuesday night here. So talk of “yesterday” is weird because it hasn’t really felt like we had an evening.

Monday was a day of preparation -  Did laundry last night - re packed - and realized I left a pair of pants in LA.  Dang. I liked those pants.  Maybe they'll mail them to me.  Patti is all packed and ready; Brittany and Scott and Dana and her dad are coming by to be our rides to the airport; and the kids will be here about 12.  David is bringing them in and we're trading kids - Maeby is excited that leases are out and we're saying "go" a lot.  We’re waiting for her to realize that she's going alone.  Luna is already at her grandma’s house…

In addition to the physical packing and preparing, I got the Saturday blog up, (yay!).  I hate getting too far behind.  It's much easier if I keep up on the notes.. David asks why I do it if it’s something that I’m stressing about (it’s just the time factor and letting the days pile up in favor of sleep). I do enjoy blogging (but I enjoy having it for us later even more), so it’s totally worth it.  Now that there are more of us, it should be more active and hopefully I’ll be better at making notes in my phone.  I think the little details are what makes it fun to look back on – if it made us laugh, I try to note it and talk about it later.

We get to the airport and we're on separate flights (don't panic, this isn't a surprise to us).  Me and the ya-ya are on an American flight through Chicago (arriving at 9am London) and the kids are on a USAir flight through Philly (arriving 9:50am).   So we'll be texting to make sure they're getting their flights, and we'll be in London before them to guide them through customs.  At least that’s the plan..

We're all hanging out at our gate - and we're lucky because we're in the same terminal/concourse – we’re C6 and they're C12 (or something).  We get some Starbucks, watch people with varying lengths of dreds, and watch videos of cats in mittens (we look up and Brittany is nearly crying, she’s laughing so hard at watching cats walk across a coffee table in mittens).

Time for us to board (3:30) and the kids head down to their gate. They're due to board at 3:45...  Our flight to Chicago is pretty uneventful, but when we land at 4:30 I have a text that says the kids are still in St. Louis. Ummm.. Their plane isn't even at the gate yet.  I’m a little (downplaying) concerned because they have a layover in Philly, and this will cut down that time they have to find their plane to London.  But they've been assured that they'll make their connection, and by 5:00 they're boarding.  They’ll fly out of Philly at 9:50pm.  But they'll be further east than we are, we're pretty much straight north of where we started.  I won't be able to text them again - because we'll be in flight when they board their second flight.  It's all good.  I was hoping I’d be able to get a text from them to know that they made the plane before we got on ours.

In Chicago it is wet and cold and VERY windy...other planes aren't boarding because of it.. We still have about an hour, so hopefully it blows over.  Charlie Brown's teacher comes over the PA system and makes an announcement about the status of the flights and we figure out that it’s not for us and something about a delay.  But if it were about us we aren’t sure we’d know it.

While we’re sitting around we give Brittany a hard time for not catching up on Downton Abby
before she left.  She’s funny because the reason she couldn’t catch up on it was because she’s working full time.. and Dana is doing what?  Yah, well Britt works all day and then comes home and she’s tired… and again.. Dana does what? 

We board our plane and we’re excited that we’re all in the same row – 42 (the meaning of life, the universe and everything) – and we’re stoked about looking into our movie selection.  Last time we flew over we had like hundreds of movies to chose from and you can each watch your own movie, stop and start whenever you want – TOTALLY cool – but in this flight there are like 10 movies to chose from, and the only one I recognize is “Identity Theft” – and you don’t get to start and stop whenever, they all start at specific times and if you miss it you have to join in progress or wait about 20 min for the next start interval.   Patti puts on her headphones and the PA announcements come over the headphones too – they pause the movie and make the announcement.  Patti and Britt JUMP every time (one on each side of me) – and Patti needed to adjust her volume. She put it on and then the announcement came over and it was too loud – it was loud – I could hear it through her headphones just as clearly as I heard it over the system.  But she SCREAMS (in that way that people in headphone s have no idea how loud they’re being), TOO LOUD!!!  And everyone.  I mean EVERYONE stops and turns to Patti, it has an EF Hutton moment (I’m not explaining that, look it up).  We laughed SO hard – the irony that saying “too loud” was WAY TOO LOUD!  People looked at us like we were escorting a patient..

We’re still sitting on the runway – we’re supposed to be taking off at 7:15.  We start the movie, and it’s about ¾ of the way done before we get off the ground!  We finally lift off about 8:40… LONG delay because of the weather – it caused all these other flights in front of us to be delayed, so then we had to get in line behind all of them.  We were supposed to get there at 9am, but now he says it will be like 9:50 when we land (which is the same time the kids are landing).  So we won’t have a chance to see how things are done before we get there (we’ve done it before, but I wanted to give them as many details as possible).   I’m texting them while we’re on the plane, knowing they won’t get it until they land – giving our flight number, how to get through customs, our destination address for the “landing cards” that we have to give them at the border… Lauren said that they landed and had like 14 texts from me.  On the international plan that we have we get 200 texts – and that works out to be about 14/day for them.. I just used her daily allotment… but it was for a good cause.

On our plane we’re happy to be together so that we don’t have to feel bad about a making people get up to let us out, or leaning and drooling on strangers as we sleep.  Dana has her Benadryl, but the rest of us on are Tylonel PM to try and sleep.  We’ll land about 4am St. Louis time – so we need to get some sleep in. Britt has taken one and she’s about gone.. totally drugged look!  We get dinner on the flight – “chicken or pasta” – well, given the way you’ve described the menu for us.. we all get the chicken. It’s not “bad” – it’s tv dinner type of stuff, but we’re hungry, so it’s pretty good.  By the time we eat the food has perked us up again and so we take another Tylonel – hoping we don’t regret that. 

Dana and Patti are on the left and Britt and I are on the right (all four seat in one straight row but we get different staff servicing us).  And our people suck. I’m sitting right next to Patti and she gets dinner 5 min before us – and drinks?  We totally got skipped over for drinks and had to ask Patti and Dana’s people for drinks.  Later for breakfast I ask for coffee and our lady asks “how do you take it?” – well, that’s not a question I’m used to answering, I just do it myself – I don’t know how to tell them how much cream or whatever, so I hesitate and ask if she has splenda (yes)… and she asks if I would like milk.. yes,.  And then she has a teaching moment with me.  In her best kindergarten teacher voice she says, “You like your coffee with milk and splenda”..  Oh wow, thanks for that.  I know that from her pov that she’s dealing with an idiot that can’t coherently give a drink order – but it’s obvious that she doesn’t like us.  And I don’t care, it’s kinda mutual.  She’s not getting a tip.

Sleep is hard to come by – these seats are close and no leg room and just really hard to actually try and get what is supposed to be your night’s sleep in one of them. We’re going to be tired tomorrow (which is like 5 hours from now).

We land, and we’re late – it’s “Tuesday” – and we’re expecting the kids to be on time.  We’re in different terminals, and we’re walking and trying to find where we need to be, and I’m texting and trying to see if the data is actually working… trying to figure out what we need to do to find them. Can we go to their terminal first, or do we have to go through customs and get bags first…  we hit the line for the border and I see that we’re going to have to get them after we get our bags, and I still haven’t heard from them.  I’m a little stressed and it’s starting to spill out onto my travel companions – but this is what I like about them – they know why, and they know that we’ll all have this moment, it’s just my turn and we get through it and we’re good.  Patti is able to check their flight on her phone and they’re not landing until 10:30 (now), so at least we know why they’re not answering.

Our border patrol lady is cute – we like her.  They talk to you casually, a ploy to catch us in a casual lie (?) but she’s chatty and she asks “What language do you speak?” … Britt says, “English..” and the agent gestures toward our landing cards, onto which we’ve put down our occupations as “interpreter”….. OH!!!  American Sign Language…  Britt is also having a hard time with the British accent, it is our first one and I’m on a delay too – just not a Brittany delay.  She asks us something else (toward Britt) and all she gets back is, “HUH??”.   I joke and said that I’m not sure that Britt should be our spokesperson, and when it’s time to give back our stamped passports, the lady starts to hand them all to Britt but decides she can’t be trusted with that and hands them to me… but Patti and Dana both jump in and say that’s not a good idea either and take the passports.  Whatever.  J

We get our bags and head to the restroom – and Brittany needs to take her medicine. She has had gall bladder issues (it’s been removed now), but she needs this medicine to keep her stomach from making her double over in pain… it’s a powder that you mix into water and drink once a day.  She opens the bag, and yellow sand seeps through the zipper.. yellow puff clouds of dust rise from the bag… it’s awful – she’s a mess – this medicine makes this trip possible and not painful for her, and it has exploded all over her entire bag.  Her clothes are covered in it and the yellow grains are so fine – its that image of when a mummy’s tomb is opened that that fine sand comes through the cracks … She’s physically shaking and crying, and I know that this is her holding it together, it’s much worse than it looks on the outside.  We do our best to gather what we can and put it into a bag that Dana had – we’re on the floor scooping up the stuff and putting it into the bag.  Britt is mortified thinking about scooping this up off the floor of a public place, right outside the bathroom (and later when it’s not so intense, this part is really funny to joke about.. ).  We close up the bag and know that when we get to the apt that we’ll open up the bag on a plastic trash bag, shake out clothes and try to recover as much as possible.  In the meantime she’s looking into getting a prescription sent over here – not sure what that takes.

While all this is happening I get my first text from Lauren!  We get our stuff together, exchange money and head toward Terminal 1 (From 3) – the lady told us there was a train and pointed in a general direction… but we’re walking, we’re walking… up and down and through and around, and it’s becoming obvious that we’re not walking to a train, we’re walking to the terminal.  All good.  We get there – I get a water (it’s free if you buy a paper and the paper is cheaper, hmm) – and the kids have their bags and just need to find us.  I try to give all kinds of signs to look for, like bus, or train, or waiting area, or baggage… they can’t find us.  So finally they ask and the guys says, it’s the “exit” – the sign that you’re standing directly under?  Ha!  They’re related to me.

We get their stories of their flights – all good – Lauren didn’t watch any movies, tried to focus on sleep – but they had the tons of options for movies that we had last time.  Note to self: USAir… and they had the same dinner.  Chicken or pasta.. chicken please.  We’re all together, and we’ve been in touch with our London host – so we head out toward the Tube station that we passed on the way to their terminal.  Only we can’t find it.. just a little detour down a lot of escalators, then back up the lift to the place we just came from, through another door and escalator and winding halls… and there it is!  We get our Oyster cards (London tube cards) and we’re off!!   The Picadilly line to Cockfosters.  We tell them the story of the last time we were here and how horribly funny we thought “Cockfosters” sounded over the PA repeatedly (it’s the terminal stop so they say it at every stop)..  but they’re much more mature than we are.  Hmmm.

We find our way to Euston station, and I leave my laptop bag on the train!  Thank goodness Lauren is watching out- she picked it up for me… DOH!!   I call our host and he emails us a map and directions to pick up the key.  The map wants us to go all the way around the block (like three really long lefts) to get a place that we think might just be through there… but we follow the map and find ourselves back to where we thought we might be – yikes.  We’re looking for a door (64ABC) and there is a key pad where we enter a code – the whole thing is like Mission Impossible, do this and find that, and then enter this… I enter the code a few times, but it’s not working.  So Patti does and.. oh, it turns the other way.   We enter the door and it’s just a hallway with a mailbox and a safe.  I don’t see any other instructions, but then realize that the link for the map was so long that I had to scroll past it to get to the next part.  We’ll find a lock box and we have to enter this code to get our key… and then head to the street after Barnsby and look for a gate – the plastic key code will open the gate, and then we look for the 3^rd building on the right, #1 where we’ll use our key… seriously.   It’s a bit of a walk, and on the way we run into a guy that we’re calling “Richard Simmons”… he’s dressed only in striped shorts (rainbow stripes) and a pink baseball cap.  No shirt.. except the hair shirt on his back..  All I hear Brittany say is “I got it!!” – and I know that she means she got a pic.  J   I'll add that tmw...

We find the gate and Dana helps us find the place where we put the plastic (its magnetic gates, and the key fob is code as a smart entry) -   we’re looking for number 1 – the third building.  But it’s one of those things that depending on your perspective a couple of buildings could be the “third” one.  Dana spots a sign that says “1” and I go in to try the key – but it’s obvious (immediately after I try the doorbell) that this is a place where someone lives…  she comes out and is very nice and directs us to the right place.  

This unfortunately is not enough to get us into the place.. the door – I should not be in charge of opening doors.  We put the key in and twist and turn and push and pull and every combination of that – and nothing.  We decide that maybe this is the back door and we start to look around the sides of the building for other entrances when we hear someone yell at us, “you won’t be able to get in there!” – this lady from another apt has been watching us since we walked up (we are pretty entertaining), Mrs. Kravitz style (2^nd Mrs. Kravitz reference of the trip, if you’re keeping track)… she’s going to come down and open it for us.  I keep trying, and just as we’re sure she’s about to round the bend (coming from the top floor apt in another building, so it’s a trek for her), the door pops open!  We apologize – but she’s really nice about it. Great people so far!

 

We explore, pick beds and settle in.. Thomas in the living room, Patti and Britt downstairs bedroom, me and Lauren together and Dana in her own room.  We charge electronic devices, catch up on facebook, try to watch a little British tv and just chill for a second.  We also go to the task of getting the powder out of Britt’s bags – spreading plastic down and creating more dust clouds, we do manage to salvage some more.  But Britt is still hoping that she can get more stuff ordered.

We don’t have any plans for tonight, but we want to walk back to this pub and get food and then grab some groceries for the week.   We didn’t really have a timeline – but that changed when this lady just walked into the house – ahhh.. the cleaning lady!  We got there a little early and the place did obviously need to be cleaned – there were used towels and the bed was obviously used – but we were just emailing the guy to see where we could get fresh towels and linens – we’re pretty low maintenance.   She doesn’t speak much English, but she says, “20 minutes?” – sure!   Later we’re not sure if she meant she’d need 20 or that she’d be back in 20…

As we’re walking back to the pub we see this little old guy shuffling across the street – seriously just exactly like that character that Tim Conway used to play on Carol Burnett… we smile and wave because he’s spotted us, and he yells something funny to us (we know that it was funny by the way he said it and laughed, but we have NO idea what he said)…  we get to the pub and get tables set – I go up to the bar, because here if you want something you order from the bar, no waiter… last time we sat at the table waiting for long time before we figured that out.  I ask about food and he pulls out these old pizzas that are on a plate, covered in saran, and says that we could have that…  no we want food, pub food… he tells us to go to Euston station (like mall, food court food) – but we want a PUB.   This is where it’s a little weird – because our friend, the shuffling old mad has entered this place in the meantime and apologized for being late (and already had a beer waiting for him at a table where he was sitting alone) – but he tells us to go this pub down this way (general pointing direction), it’s across from mumbled place, and it’s really good… so we head out on our quest and we’re pretty sure that we actually found the place he was talking about.

A lot of us get the pear cider (yum) and most get fish and chips – but Lauren tries the chicken and Thomas actually finds food he’ll eat (club sandwich), and it’s all good.  The exchange rate and the prices are a little heartbreaking and one customer at the pub asks, “What do you think of these London prices?” – Dana says well we’re on vacation, you only live once, and the guy responds “YOLO! (which I had to explain to Dana means, “you only live once”) and then the guy grumbles, “Well, I have to live here!”…   We eat and then we’re trying to come up with a plan for the evening – but we’re all pooped and not really in the decision making mode.  We’re thinking about going to King’s Cross and doing the Harry Potter platform 9 ¾ thing, or just getting groceries and going back for a nap and then exploring..  it gets decided when Lauren has left over chicken and we think that maybe she doesn’t want to be carrying that around the tube to the Hogwarts stop.. so we just decide to get groceries and head back. 

The grocery store is just a small corner place – we pick up some fruit, bagels, cheese, crackers.. and some mini pasties (gotta try something new)..  We get a few sodas, and they have this weird feature where there are people’s names on the bottles – like you would want a bottle with your own name on it or something?   We get one for Amy and Angela, ya-yas that couldn’t make it…  and then we head back to the apt.  When we get there the cleaning lady is still there finishing up – so we now think that she meant she’d be back in 20.

 We relax and some shower, some nap – and I’m still pushing for us to go back and nap and then come back out and explore, but the others say that if they go back to the house that this is it, they’re in for the night.  We try to get the washing machine to work, but nothing.. it won’t power on and we need it (Britt’s clothes and powder).. we try reseting fuses and turning on every switch in the house – I email the host and he asks for my phone number – so hopefully we’ll be able to wash clothes here.

We take showers and relax.. I take a shower (odd shower, pics later) and lay down for “just a second” and I’m out – when I get up, the house is dead, it’s 9pm and everyone is snoozing!   I start playing on the computer and Thomas and Lauren hang out with me and chat.  Thomas asks what time it is and what plans we have for the day.  I tell him that it’s 9:00 and not much, that we’re probably done for the day because everyone is asleep.  He asks if I slept through the night, and I say that I didn’t get much sleep – and then he’s all bragging about getting a lot of sleep overnight.   Now, I think that he’s talking about the flight and how much sleep he got on the flight and I start talking about how we got some, but not a lot and that’s why people are tired now…  but as we go along it becomes obvious that he’s REALLY confused.  He thinks that it’s 9AM (tmw) and that this 1 hour nap he just had was “sleeping through the night” – and thought that it was so weird that we didn’t have anything planned for the day with the whole day ahead of us.   Now THAT is jet lag.  I laugh a lot at the thought of him being so pleased that he “slept through the night” … for that hour.

We don’t end up doing anything for the evening – I finish this blog up, the kids and I listen to the partiers outside our apt.. and the others sleep on.   It’s okay – the sleep is needed and will make it so that we’re reset for tmw.  It’s early in the trip, but I just had this thing bugging me that we haven’t really “done” anything on our first day – but in a way we have, we’ve gotten our Oyster cards, minded the gap, looked Right (traffic is coming from the other side), we’ve had our fish and chips and our first cider, chatted with the locals…  Tomorrow we’ll be doing the London Warner Brothers tour and whatever else we feel like… no plan yet.  I’m usually more prepared than this, but with LA right before this, it’s little more free schedule.  Not that I’m strict with a schedule, I just like to know that these things are in this area and could be grouped together, and these things are over here, so that we’re not wasting time going back and forth.  We’ll have to look at all of that on the train ride tmw.

It’s now about 2am London time (8pm at home) and I need to go to bed – that nap woke me up – and Patti just came in to check on me, she and Britt are up too.  We’ll see about this sleep thing and if we ever figure it out.