A regular update

 I've been busy with dog-walks, house stuff and the kids stuff. Let's see if I can remember what has happened since October.  

I'll start with school stuff.  Bert has done very well with the transition to middle school.  The only class he consistently has homework in is Advanced Math.  And that was the only class he seemed to really have to "work" at.  The rest come without much extra effort, and no extra studying.  And as such, he got As in all his classes, except math, which he got a C.  We weren't disappointed though, because he worked hard for that C.  And he made honour roll, which he was really proud about.  He made a new friend, Julian, as well.  Mostly, though, it's all the same kids from elementary school, which is good too.  I'm very happy he has a good group of boys to be with.  My only beef is: he is (apparently, I haven't confirmed) the only one in the group without a cell phone.  6th graders don't need cell phones.  Especially smart phones.  Anyway, this semester is almost 2 months in, and he's doing well again.  As in everything except math, which is currently a solid B (84%).  So far, so good.

Bronwyn has been hit or miss about school.  Nearly every morning is a struggle though.  She doesn't want to go, she needs a mental health day, etc.  She doesn't want to get dressed, or go out the door.  Occasionally, the stars align and she is pleasant.  Once she's at school is hit or miss as well.  Some days she does a lot of work, she participates, and is happy to be there.  Other days she does little to no work, is grumpy or disruptive.  She is hitting all the goals, testing wise, except writing.  She is a little behind in that.  She signed up for the after school ceramics class at the beginning of 2026.  Bert took the same class when he was in 4th grade, I think (maybe 5th).  She's really enjoyed in, and has some talent in it as well.  I think she could be very artistic, if she let herself.  But she has a lot of issues with perfectionism, which doesn't let her try.  

More on Bronwyn.  She was formally diagnosed with ARFID, which is a restrictive diet eating disorder.  We were not surprised, though, it took a long time to get the diagnosis.  And anorexia was a possibility for a bit too, which was scary to think an 8 year old could have those kind of body issues.  We certainly never talk about being fat as a bad thing (not that she is anywhere near fat either).  In her psychology appointments, she's been working on food exposure exercises and trying new foods.  It's a VERY slow process.  We're supposed to be practicing at home too, but she refuses. I found it a little funny that the dietician/nutritionist was way less helpful than the psychologist has been, but I guess it makes sense. 

Bronwyn has gotten into roller skating.  We found a sports complex in South San Jose that does open skate on most Friday and Saturday nights.  So most Friday nights, she and I go and skate for 45-55 minutes.  (The session is 90 minutes, but we get tired).  We went as a family once, but Bert couldn't believe Bronwyn bested him at something, and vowed never to skate again.  And so far, he hasn't been back.  Thus far, knock on wood, I haven't fallen yet.  With the exception of the first time I put my skates on at home.  

She in currently doing social skills once a week, and ABA once a week.  They're trying to add in another day of ABA, but there isn't a BT that fits our schedule yet.

Way back in July, I had a deep cleaning at the dentist, which caused/quickened a tooth breaking.  It wasn't bothering me, aside from the fact that it was broken.  Amazingly, it didn't hurt at all.  I went to the dentist to get a referral for an oral surgeon.  But when they were looking at the tooth, discovered the one in front of it needed a root canal.  I dragged my feet on that a bit, but eventually got the root canal in September.  I kept the temporary crown on longer than I should have because, as you likely know by now, I HATE dental work.  But again, it wasn't bothering me.  Eventually the dental office called me and said we need to get that crown on.  So I did that.  My old dentist retired suddenly for health reasons and a new one (Dr Reza) took over the practice.  I like the new dentist.  I'm starting to suspect maybe I do numb up ok, and my previous dentist was not exact enough with his shots.  Anyway, I got the crown done, and at that appointment, they x-rayed all my teeth.  The results were bad.  My jaw bone looks way older than is should.  Which means, I have bad genes, I have bruxism, and/or I don't take care of my teeth.  I know I have bruxism and bad genes, and I do care for my teeth.  Even when we didn't have dental insurance, I still went every 6 months.  Aside from the deterioration in my jaw, I had tooth issues as well.  One with a broken root.  The original broken tooth and 2 possible other candidates for extraction.  I have receding gums, with deep pockets.  I have a cavity that needs a filling.  My dad had very similar teeth issues at a similar age.  So far, for this year, I'll have spent $1250 on my teeth.  I haven't gotten the bills yet, just the EOBs.  This doesn't include however much extractions and anesthesia will cost.  And I imagine I'll hit my yearly max before too long and have to push things back to next year.  (It's only February!)

On top of this dental mess, stuff is happening at work for Aaron.  There were a round of lay offs.  He didn't get laid off per say, but his position will likely be taken by someone else, and he'll have to change to a new job code.  Somehow, 10 years seniority isn't enough.  I don't quite understand all the moving parts.  And it'll be a couple weeks before we fine out what his new job will be.  He is bummed because he likes his job, team, and boss.  I am optimistic because I'm hoping he'll get moved to a closer office.  Right now, he's about as far away as one can be (13 miles, which can take up to an hour each way, but is typically 45 minutes).  He's previously worked at offices that were about a 20 minute commute.  (Really, he's practically in Milpitas at the current office).

Bertram's birthday is on Friday.  We're having a friend party at the bowling ally/arcade in Eastridge.  Then the family party on Sunday.  I can't believe he's going to be 12.

Last January I was 218lbs, I am currently down to 184.  I am no longer obese!  Woohoo!  There is a long way before I'm in the normal range, according to BMI, but I'm happy with the progress.

Snow Trip

(I wrote the majority of this entry when I couldn't sleep during the trip)

 Bert was not enthusiastic about the trip from the start. The drive was mostly unremarkable. We stopped in Sonora, which is the foothill to the mountain. We went to Walmart to buy a scraper/brush for the car. When we started back up the mountain, a wintery mix was in the air. We had to stop about 5 miles from our destination to put chains on. It took a while to get there, since we had to drive slowly with the chains and the slush on the road.

When we arrived there was a backhoe plowing the parking lot, and a good amount of snow on the ground. We figured we'd stay for the rest of the day, and tomorrow go out and do the fun things. We realized we had no cell reception at the hotel AND their Internet was down. (Minor to big problem). We parked the car, brought our stuff in and the kids went to play in the snow. There was probably 2 ft-ish on the ground. They enjoyed trying to knock icicles off the gutters.  

I realized I neglected to bring a few things, namely, things for me to do. I didn't bring a book, sudoku or my sketchbook. I didn't download any tv episodes, as there was supposed to the Internet. I had assumed we'd be busy, and I wouldn't need those things. I also didn't bring any drinks (fizzy water, diet coke), because I assumed we'd be in and out everyday, and we'd get drinks. I did think to pack food, mostly snacky things, cinnamon rolls, muffins, a pack of spaghetti and sauce. So we had dinner. Kids were bored off and on. I was bored. I had a lot of time, and nothing to do. And because the hotel Internet was out, the TVs in the cabin also didn't work. I didn't think to bring games aside from cribbage. Aaron and I played a lot of cribbage. And some gin, as well. We went to bed fairly early, with plans to go to the snow park in the morning.

However

It snowed overnight, probably 8-10 inches. So we said, well that's ok. The plow will come and we can leave the parking lot and go to the snow park. At 11 we asked when the plow was coming, and he'd been called. We waited. I did a lot of napping, for lack of other things to do. The kids were in and out. Around 2, Bert started panicking. We were never going to be able to leave. By the afternoon, we'd decided once the plow came we would just go home. It was getting too late for the snow park, and everyone was bored. So we waited. Bert panicked more. At 4, Aaron went back to the office to ask about the plow. We were told "any minute now". We packed the car. Aaron tried to see if he could get out without the plow. Then one of the chains broke (you had one job). So we waited more. Is started getting dark, we unpacked the car. At 6pm the plow showed up. Fortunately by then, the snow was nearly done, we only got 1-2 inches after that. We had snacks for dinner, since I only brought one real meal, assuming we'd be eating out most of our meals. We went to bed fairly early, 830 ish, because there was nothing else to do. Which brings us to now, 3:46am. Bert and I can't sleep, so we're in the living room. Oh, and we woke up at 2, because Monty was barfing. So, fun trip.

840. Aaron successfully extracted the car. We are nearly packed and ready to hit the road. I'm ready for this to be over 

During our de-brief after we'd been home for a bit, we talked about what we'd do differently next time.  Bring more "just in case" food, and/or stop at Walmart on the way up for things like a frozen pizza, milk, yogurt etc.  While at Walmart, buy snow things for the kids, shovel, sled etc.  Bring more things to do: family games, download tv episodes, more books for me and Aaron, art stuff.  We would buy chains from the auto store, not Amazon (even though they had good reviews).

London Calling

 TL:DR - London is amazing.  I want to go back. I want to live there.  Everyone should go, it's amazing.

Saturday, September 27th.
At 5pm, we left for San Francisco Airport for our 915pm flight directly to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic.  I have been flying my whole life, and I have to say that check in and security were one of the smoothest I've ever gone through.  There was no line at Virgin and we were through TSA in less than 10 minutes.  After that we got some dinner at Boudin and played cribbage.  The flight boarded a little late, which was not a big deal, as we didn't have a connection we needed to make.

On the flight we got 2 meals, a dinner and breakfast.  Other than the time I flew first class, I couldn't tell you the last time I got a meal on a plane.  There was in seat entertainment, but nothing much I wanted to watch.  Aaron and I watched one episode of Severance then we both dozed off and on.  The flight was very smooth and uneventful.  

Sunday, September 28th
We arrived in London around 3pm.  Heathrow is a ginormous airport.  We walked for ages to get to customs.  But once we were there it was easy and quick.  You don't even talk to a human.  You just scan your passport and off you go.  We collected our suitcase and found our way to the Underground.

At the underground

Paddington Station

In the tube

We stayed in a less tourist-y area, in Blackfriars, which is more of a business district.  Near the hotel were 2 grocery store "expresses" Tesco and Sainsbury.  After dropping out stuff off, we got some breakfast fixins' and began to wander.  We were right by the Thames, so we walked along there for a while, and just marveled at everything.  We could see Big Ben and The Eye. 

We found a small (I think it was) Chinese restaurant and got dinner before walking back and turning in for the night.
 

Monday September 29
Our first full day in London.  In the morning, we headed out towards the British Museum.  You could easily spend days exploring it.  It's huge and houses so many different things.  

After spending some (not nearly enough) time in the museum, we made our way towards Westminster Abbey.  We walked, so we could see more of the city.

Display at an anime shop

Big Ben

10 Downing Street

Sad I couldn't sit on the lion

Trafalgar Square

Lunch before out Abbey tour

The tour of Westminster Abbey was really interesting.  It would have been more so, if I knew anything about British history.  

Sir Isaac Newton

A "porcupine"

The oldest door in Brittan

After that we took the underground and went to Harrods.  While we were there we ate at Gordon Ramsey Burger.  It was very disappointing.  The burger was not good, everything was just very underwhelming.  Definitely not worth the price.  But, Harrods also has a Food Hall with just about everything you could imagine.  We got some pastries which were very good, and worth the price.

We walked back to the hotel around the park and found Buckingham Palace.

Tuesday, September 30th

Tuesday we got an early start, because it was our big tour, via coach day.  We took the underground and walked to a coach station.  Our guide was really good and gave us a lot of interesting information along the way.  

The first stop was Warwick Castle.  I really wanted to see a castle, so this was the express point of the tour.  Part of the castle had been lived in through the 1800s, and part was just maintained.  We walked up the turret, which was very tight, and a lot of steps.

The next stop was Stratford upon Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare.  We saw the house where he was born, and lived for the early part of his career.  After we saw the house, we walked around the town and got a quick lunch.

At Shakespeare's house

This is a very old house.  200+ years older than Shakespeare's house

Then we drove through the Cotswolds.  It was really pretty, but I missed most of it because I was feeling super carsick.  (I bought some Kwells on a subsequent day, but should have thought of it for this day).  So I rode with my eyes closed and Aaron described things to me.

The last stop was Oxford.  The guide took us on a walking tour of various universities and parts of the city.  We had a few minutes at the end to wander a bit.

Then it was back to London.  The guide gave us a recommendation for good fish and chips.  It was amazing, but too much food.  And served with mushy peas, which taste like peas, lol. 

Aaron got a pie, he doesn't like fish.

Wednesday, October 1

We started out on Wednesday with a trip to the NHS walk in clinic.  I got a UTI from letting myself get too dehydrated on the plane.  We visited a pharmacy earlier in the week.  But since I'm on Humira, she wasn't able to give me antibiotics and gave me an over the counter to try.  (The pharmacy can give a 3 day course, but if you're on Humira a 7-day course is indicated).  I wasn't sure how much it would cost, but I was assuming either a lot, or not much.  Haha, no middle ground.  We were only there an hour.  (Side note: the "cup" they gave me to pee in was about the size of a test tube.  Seriously, the opening was probably 1.5 inches wide!)  The visit cost nothing.  Then we went to the pharmacy to get the antibiotics.  After a 5 minute wait, we got the meds along with a box of Kwells (Dramamine) and a pair of nail clippers for 22 pounds (About $30).  (Side note: all the medicine boxes in the UK, over the counter and Rx have braille printed on the boxes.  Very cool).  I was very pleased and impressed with the NHS (US, get your shit together).

After that, we walked over to the John Snow water pump.  If you're unfamiliar with his story look it up, it's very interesting.  He was able to find where a cholera epidemic was stemming from, in one of the first uses of epidemiology.  

We then walked to Piccadilly Circus.  Not much there, aside from a lot of shopping. 

(I found "Dignity". (Simpsons joke))

Then we walked though St James Park, which was huge, amazing, and beautiful.  We saw pelicans, swans, and surprisingly parrots!  We got a snack, and fed some brave pigeons.  Then walked around.

Parrots! and pigeons

pelicans

some kind of crane

We walked past Buckingham Palace where the Changing of the Guard was happening.  The crowd was massive.  We saw some guards on horseback, but that was about all.  The band played Bohemian Rhapsody, which was very cool.

Me and Fergus

We stopped at Gregg's for a sausage roll lunch.  I think we both ate and had drinks for 7 or 8 pounds.

Then we walked to the Natural History Museum.  (Side note: nearly all the museums were free, and had a suggested donation of 5 pounds).  The museum was gigantic and amazing, and probably too much to see in one day.  

Me and Darwin

Archyoperyx

This huge room was all rocks and minerals.

Aaron and a slice of giant redwood.

Then we went to Evensong at St Paul's cathedral, before getting some amazing Indian food at a  place near our hotel.  

We finished the day walking across the Thames on the Millenial Bridge.  And we saw a fox!  No pictures though, it was too quick.

St Paul in the background

Tower bridge in the background

A cool sculpture near St Paul

Thursday, October 2

Thursday was Train Day!  We took the underground to a train station and rode the train to Birmingham then a smaller train to Bournville, which was originally a company town for Cadbury.  We did the Cadbury World factory tour.  The kids would have loved it, as it is very much aimed at kids, but we had a good time.  There were different demos and hands on parts too.  Plus there was a lot of free chocolate.

Unfortunately the only Cadbury Egg I saw

We went back to Birmingham Station, which was basically attached to a mall.  We went to Nando's for lunch.  (Side note: Nando's was the only place I saw, outside of Costco that had fountain soda.  Everywhere else was bottled).  

At Nando's

A bull sculpture in the station

Then we took the train to Nottingham.  When we got there we walked along a canal for most of the way.  The canal had lots of long boats, which you can live in, and not pay land taxes.  

Then we got to Warhammer World.  Aaron was in nerd heaven.  He geeked out, I tried to be present, but played on my phone.  We got dinner at the onsite pub.  I got a salad, which would have been good if I like vegetables.  But it had beets and onions chopped up all throughout it.  Aaron did a hot wings challenge and won a little pin.

They also had a near beer

The spicy wing pin

On our way back to London, there was a fatality on one of the London lines.  So our train was delayed.  This wouldn't have been a big deal, except both our phones were nearly dead, and the train we were on had no ports for charging.  That part was boring. Then we had to switch trains, but the new one had ports, yay!  We sat for a long time before taking off again.  We didn't get back to the hotel til almost midnight.

Friday, October 3rd

We started out the day with a walk along the Thames towards the Tower of London and Tower bridge.  We decided not to do the tower tour because it was something like $60 per person.  We walked across Tower Bridge, passed the Globe theater and went to the Tate Modern.

Tower of London

The Globe

One of my favourite pieces from the Tate

I really wanted to visit a Primark (which is kind of like if Target's clothes and H&M had a baby).  The Primark did not disappoint.  It was 3 or 4 stories and had clothes for baby, kids, men and women.  As well as an adaptive clothing section for each and a gently used clothing section as well.  And on the top floor, within the store was a Gregg's.  So we got drinks and cookies during out shop.  

Aaron on the Gregg's sausage swing.

We went to see a play that evening, a drunken take on Pride and Prejudice called Plied and Prejudice.  As we were walking there I really needed to pee, and like other large cities, there aren't a ton of public bathrooms, with the exception of the transit stations.  So we mad a detour to Waterloo station.  I think that was the most crowded, busiest place I've ever been.  It was like a nightmare.  But I got to use the bathroom, so it was fine.  

We got some Thai food for dinner before the play.  That was very tasty.  

The play was pretty good, very funny.  Though, I missed my closed captions.  Haha. It was raining pretty good when we left.  We walked back to the hotel.  Aaron made the bad decision to try some "authentic" tacos, which were terrible.  Then we got some sweet rolls and called it a night.

 Saturday,  October 4th

We traveled to the North of the city to Gilwell Park, in Epping Forest.  We took the above ground to Chingford, then walked about 30 minutes on country roads to Gilwell, which is a Scout camp and the birth place of Scouting.  We did the self guided tour, and spent money at their shop.  And I got to stand in the eastern and Western Hemispheres at the same time.

2 Hemispheres!

Then we took a bus ride across Chingford to go to Costco.  I think there are 4 Costco's in London, and they are all on the outskirts of the city.  This was the closest we would be, and I wanted to go.  I wanted to see how similar it was to US Costco.  Plus, I'd heard that international Costco's have cool food menus.  We walked for a mile or so, across less pretty scenery.  

Trying not to get lost

Found it!

The menu did not disappoint.  In addition to the hot dog and soda combo and pizza, there were California rolls, mango smoothies, chicken salad, baked potatoes, caramel sundae and a double patty chicken sandwich.  

We wandered around after lunch.  We got a couple books for the kids.  We took a double decker bus back to the train station and went back into London.  We walked around more.  And got dinner at a traditional pub.  

We walked along the Thames one last time, and went back to the hotel to pack.

Sunday, October 5th

We left the hotel before 7am, pushing and lugging our bags across the city.  The local underground wasn't open at that time, so we had to go to a farther away station.  Once we got there, we paid a lot to take the express train to Heathrow (I think it was about $50 for both of us).  We got checked in and got through security very quickly.  Then they do things different.  Everyone goes to this holding area, like a mall, almost.  And an hour-ish before your flight, you're assigned a gate.  Once your gate is assigned, you just board the plane.  No zones, or first class bs.  It makes it very un-harried, which is nice.  While we were waiting, we went to the shops for last minute souvenirs.  

The flight was uneventful, boring.  The food was surprisingly good.  

When we got back to the US the line for Customs was horrendous.  The line for international travelers was 3-4 times as long as the citizen line.  This was a big difference from us, checking into the UK.  We didn't have to talk to any one, just scanned the passports and off we went.  We were in our line for an hour, I'd guess 3-4 hours for international travelers.  Ugh.  Our suitcase was waiting for us when we finish.  Then we were home again.  The kids were very happy so see me.

All in all, it was an outstanding trip.  I loved it.  Too much.  I want to move there.  And with the exception of seeing the kids, and family, I was not looking forward to returning to the US.  Usually, after a trip, I'm happy to be home.  Aaron has been looking for UK jobs off and on since we got back.  He is a "skilled worker".  I loved how walkable everything was.  How great the public transit was.  The people were very helpful when we had questions.  I love that it was a huge city, but didn't feel overwhelming.  I love that there were pieces of history everywhere.  Also, we walked over 70 miles, the week we were there.