think i'll stay indoors today

More than 30 die in London blasts
A series of bomb attacks on London's transport network has killed more than 30 people and injured about 350 others. Three explosions on the Underground left 33 dead and an unknown number died in a blast on a double-decker bus. [source]

What the hell has gone wrong with humankind?

we are the champions

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming! I'm all agog, even though it's 7 years away. How fantastic - I cannot wait. One of the great things about living in a small (geographically speaking) country is that when the Olympics are held in your country, you can actually get to it without flying for hours. London is a mere 45 minute train ride away; we can attend events without worrying about booking travel and accommodation.

I'm already planning which events I'd like to see. Gay diving is near the top of my list, or as it's better known, pairs diving (sorry but two blokes in nothing but Speedos bouncing and pointing their toes in unison just looks a bit gay to me. Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Rowing might be a good one, especially if the Canadians have a decent team again. This brings up a dilemma: who do I root for? Do I wave my little maple leaf flag and risk being ridiculed? Or do I wave the Union Jack and risk being accused of Madonna-itis*?

*(Madonna-itis: the condition in which you are American and move to or visit the UK and develop an annoyingly awful mock English accent, and pretend to be British.)

the eyes have it

I went for an eye exam today for the first time in three years, and decided to avoid the big chain stores and go to an independent optometrist instead. One thing I learned in the past few months is that surgeons and specialists here are called "Mr." here instead of "Dr." (what's the female equivalent, by the way? Mrs? Miss?) To my North American self, it sounds like I got some guy who hasn't made it through med school yet, or due to staff shortages, one of the janitors had to fill in for the morning.

Mr. S did my eye test today and I was not terribly impressed. I had to bring Jack with me, and I thought he was treated a bit like a small suitcase rather than a human baby. Mr. S told me that I could leave Jack by the door and never even glanced at him the entire time. When Jack started crying, he said "You might want to pick him up and wind [burp] him." Thank you for your sage advice. Mr. S scolded me slightly for waiting three years between exams, even after I explained that I didn't go last year because I found out I was pregnant around the time I would have gone in (pregnancy can alter your vision, so it's not usually advisable to get an eye test done). I've got to go back and get a contact lens fitting done on Saturday, however the appointment is with a Miss F. Perhaps she'll be a bit more personable.

The whole reason why I didn't go to the major chain store - oh sod it, it was Specsavers - was because I thought they were slightly rude and standoffish. I've dealt with the shops in Cambridge and Huntingdon, and the customer service was fairly poor at both locations. I thought I would have better service at an independent optometrists, but so far, it's not been the case. Friends have complained to me about bad service at various opticians; perhaps it's the norm for the profession. Huntingdon has four opticians on the high street so I have other alternatives. Mind you at the rate I'm going now, it'll take me 12 years before I can give a verdict on all of them.

I'll have to get back to you on this one.

busy beaver

We've had a very busy, but very fun weekend. On Friday night, we looked after baby Lucy (one of our NCT friends is her mummy, and part of our babysitting circle) who is about a week older than Jack. Every time she sees him, she tries to eat his hand:



It was lovely having her here, but man, we have a whole new respect for the parents of twins. Everything went very smoothly until Jack made a noise and woke Lucy up (they were both upstairs sleeping in Jack's room). Lucy started crying her little eyes out, which of course got Jack going too. One would quiet down, then the other would start up again, prompting the Screaming Baby Chorus once again. I walked around with Lucy and gave her a bottle while Paul calmed Jack down. How on earth do single mums of twins do it?!

On Saturday, we had our Canada Day BBQ which was huge amounts of fun. My aunt and uncle come here almost every year to their timeshare in the Lake District, and they were able to come down to see us at the end of their holiday. On Sunday, I did the Race for Life in Cambridge, but for some strange reason, prams/strollers were not allowed so Jack had to stay on the sidelines with Paul. You could carry your baby on the walk, but I think my back would have snapped in two if I carried Jack in the Active Carrier for 5k.

Jack has been blowing raspberries throughout the day and night lately, he's been stuffing everything into his mouth, drooling, and being slightly cranky - could teething be on its way? I went to the doctor's today to get an inhaler (my allergies have gone completely nuts this year and my asthma has returned) and I need to go back to get some blood tests. He's checking my thyroid (some women get thyroid problems after pregnancy), liver and kidneys, and doing a blood count to check for anemia. I've been very tired and pregnancy puffiness is still plaguing me, so he's trying to rule some things out (an underactive thyroid might explain this and my wonky periods). In the end, I could just be a sleep-deprived mother with fat hands and ankles, but it's nice to know for sure either way.

And finally, apparently this is a comfortable position in which to watch television:

a good d'eh was had by all

Although grey skies loomed overhead, the Canada Day +1 BBQ went off without a hitch. We had way too much food (how does that happen?), dogs and kids mingled without (m)any tears, the Canadian beer was met with approval, but sadly, Jack couldn't find his "Tabarnacle!" t-shirt in time for the party. Pictures can be seen here. I didn't take nearly enough pictures and I didn't manage to get photos of everyone. Sorry!

for grandma

Caroline, her daughter Phoebe and I did the Race for Life today, as shown by this photographic evidence:



Although I thought we were going at a decent pace, we almost managed to come in last. Go us!



Most importantly, I raised £588.42 for Cancer Research UK (including the money matched by my employers). Thank you so much for donating; you're all amazing and I am grateful for your generosity. My goal for next year is to run (or jog, or something resembling a trot of some sort) the 5k. This year however, I am more than pleased to have managed this walk, even at our slow pace. After feeling very physically fragile for the past 4 1/2 months, it's very satisfying to have completed this race unscathed.

I'm pretty sure I burned off last night's tiramisu and maple syrup cheesecake.

poutine for everyone!

Happy Canada Day!



"How do I get into this thing?"