PS

Forgot to mention..the most momentous of things during my American stay is and was Barack Obama ..the lead up to the election was so exciting and the collective sigh of relief from millions of Americans was amazing.
Also joining a book Group full of great ladies and not to mention learning to play tennis blah blah the list goes on.
I have to say that when I first came here three years ago I was truely appalled by the lack of ready-made shove in the oven meals that you could buy in the supermarket. unlike England where you need never have to look at a cook book.what me cook ??come on now!!.The only place that seemed to do them was Trader Joes and being a vegetarian we were limited to Aubergine parmigian and frittata but after you have eaten these two dishes every night for 2 weeks you want to start sticking pins in your eyes. How I longed for Tescos Finest or Waitrose gourmet dishes for two and of course the Grand Dame of ready made s Marks and Spencer..how I grieved those dishes..I have been forced to cook since being here..yes actually cook from scratch and read recipe books and chop up vegetables and by doing so have rediscovered a certain joy of cooking..it was either that or give the children wheat poisoning from having pasta every night.There is a huge gap in the American market waiting to be filled.

3 years

This week I celebrate being 3 years in America. We arrived on the 6th of March 2006 and lets just say my mental health was not at its best. I was suffering from post traumatic stress after packing up a house , a studio and our whole life in England to move here having just given birth to my 3rd child.It took a good year just to feel slightly settled and now after 3 years it feels sort of normal and yet not.
I have become desensitised to the huge monster trucks that I found so offensive when I first moved here. I am no longer appalled at the huge distances i have to travel in my car to get from a to b ..usually a 45 minute trip.I no longer attempt to walk everywhere like I was in New York or London nor do i feel my buttocks start to clench when someone I dont know very well tells me "I love you".
I am now genuinely shocked when I come across someone with "bad teeth" and consider it my God given right to have a manicure and pedicure every month..( it is very cheap here too)
Highlights of my 3 American years
Watching children have fun in the street
Making friends with our neighbours(IN England if your neighbour dropped dead you would step over the body and be on your way)
Getting Married in Vegas by Elvis
Seeing the LOve show in Vegas
Going on hikes in the canyons
cycling along Venice and Santa monica seaside paths
Seeing the Culver city open night for gallerys
Learning to ride again

Birthday week and Oscar Week

As I drove to Burbank the other day to ride my trusty Steed Ranger..I was horrified to find that Hollywood Boulevard (otherwise known as "Horrible Boulevard" as termed by my 4 year old who thought and still thinks that is its correct name) had been closed down 6 days prior to the Oscars causing havoc to people like myself trying to get to the valley. What where they preparing for.?.A World Summit with Heads of State trying to sort out world peace , the Global financial crisis or a cure for cancer?? No ..a load of actors wating to have their photos taken or pick up an award..the only crisis would have been an outfit crisis. Its the one time of the year when its all going on here and I have to say I was glad to see Slumdog get recognition although I have to say I thought Frost Nixon deserved best screen play..and I am not biast!!!
We celebrated 2 birthdays within 4 days ..Gabriel turned 8 and Esther turned 4 wow ..I no longer have a baby !!!Hopefully no more until I am a Granny. We had a low key celebration with Gabe this year and went to have "ribs" the favorite du jour and see the unbelievably bad "pink Panther" Unsurprisingly the kids were bored within seconds and the theatre was empty -again unsurprisingly so Woolfie and Gabreil spent their time climbing over seats and playing spies in the the auditorium ..they danced they ran around , they played pranks they crawled along the isles without having to spend a second watching the atrocious film.
Then Esthers birthday was on friday and we chose the park as the venue as last year I recall some difficulty getting rid of the parents at 6 oclock ..I invited 30 4 year olds and at the last minute decided to call in a Princess of Esthers choice for the WOW factor. Eshter wanted Ariel . I had underestimated the effect that Ariels presence would have on these children ..as soon as she arrived and just as things were getting out of hand the children went totally quiet and stared agogue. They did whatever she told them ..played games told them stories and a $140 well spent I thought . Every one was packed off by 6 but I was catatonic for two days after. Over for another year thank God.

Professional Parents

After an epic break in posting i am back,,truth to tell there has been so little time..between managing the various family dysfunctions..painting applying ,for High schools worrying about the economy...the list goes on. I have yet again been doing the rounds of visiting schools , trying to enthuse my teenager to study for tests and filling in application forms. One thing I have noticed ..America loves red tape ..it is even more beaurocratic than India. Alot of the forms I dont understand. For independent Schools here one has to fill in a manual of maybe 30 pages..then send a manual to her current school where they have to fill in forms asking about your releyability as a parent and if you have contributed communally to the school..did you bake enough cookies for the school fundraising commitee meeting?.In England I would occassionally come across what I would call a "professional Parent" these people would have their child enrolled for every club from cooking to learning Cantonese. They would hot house their kids 3 years prior to applying to other schools..they would always be 1st to volenteer to be on the cake baking committee at school , on first name terms with the head mistress.. What I found miraculous is that they found time to do this..were they spending all night making the costumes for the school panto? Unsurprisingly most of these professional parents were American.
Although in England I would admit to scoffing at the enthusiasm of these parents I now admire their willingness to take an active part in the community. The British way is that we do not like to appear "too Keen". It is uncool and also why not let someone else take care of it . So I have joined the ranks here in America of providing Snacks for the School play rehearsal , doing playground duty and clearing up after fundraisers because here in America everyone mucks in.

Christmas Cheer

A difficult week..glad to see the back of

Last week started as I gathered with some of my lady friends on monday evening..I had bought a wedding present for my friend M, whose wedding party I had attended the previous friday. I was horrified to hear she had been burgled the night of her wedding as she stayed in the honeymoon suite of a Beverly Hills hotel. It was made all the more terrible by the fact that we all expected her to be in post marital bliss rather than in post traumatic stress.She was very dignified and philosophical about it all.
It was the coldest week I have ever known in California which brought my attention to the fact that our central heating was not working as we shivered in our arctic like living room. When I tried to tell our far from sympathetic landlady she said it was tough , this was a maintenance problem for which we would have to pay. I rushed out to buy a heater and guess what ?? most stores had sold out of heaters as it seemed like my fellow Angeleans were having the same problems as me. I went back to the house and thought I would bottle up my troubles by hanging out the washing in freezing cold and feel virtuous about still being Green..alas I discovered a mangled set of head phones and worse ..a nearly new ipod broken and soaked. I had thrown in a dirty old sweatshirt of my daughters without checking the pockets.It was now beginning to feel like I was lurching from one crisis to another. Things could not get worse but they did....
The next day I managed to find the last heater left in K mart..hallejulah ..at last good luck ..I took it home and switched it on immediately..within minutes the whole electric system had fused and would not mend...no power, no heat 3 children ..it did not feel pretty and the POOR MEs had begun in earnest. I rang our trusty plumber Edwards who came to the rescue and then the electrician hoping they would restore order in the home..It was now friday ..Philip was due to fly to Vermont from Van Nuys airport..after driving to what seemed like the nieghbouring state ..I dropped him off only to have to pick him up again 30 minutes later due to bad weather on the East coast.Once back in central LA , P went to take Grace to her doctors appointment in West LA ...half an hour later Philip called to say the car had been impounded due to lack of smallsticker (car tax) on the number plate and why I had I not paid...but I had paid...bla bla bla ..there then began a farce like chase across LA trying to get the relevent documents in order to get the car released..sadly we did not manage it and the car stayed the weekend in the pound and I have the task of getting it back tomorrow.
On a good and final note ..the heating was fixed and so was the electrics and I managed to get our wedding photos after 2 and a half years at a discount price....

holiday season

This has been far from a holiday for me , i have been trapesing around a multitude of highs schools, attending open -days calling admissions officers etc all in the hope of getting our lovely teenager into a descent school for 4 years. My preference would be to put her into a tunic wearing make-up banning all girls convent( my inner Nun dictates here) but I have been told that imposing my will on her future might lead to rebellion. All I know is that private school is out and trying to find a public school which is not dominated by gang warfare is my goal...me and a load of middle class parents who are victims of the credit crunch and looking at LAs public school alternatives.
As well as the High school debacle i have been doing my tax returns for both the English and American Tax man. There is a curious irony about me paying tax in the US given that I am not allowed to vote, work , have a social security number or do jury service, or have a Target store card. You may have no rights here but you may pay tax thank you.!My 03 visa has just been renewed for another 3 years .
i have not bought or wrapped one xmas present , I have not sent one card and am hoping to cram it all into one day before the end of term .It feels increasingly odd not to be in a cold crisp climate for xmas and to be honest i miss it. Xmas lights and palm trees just dont mix and there is an orgy of sentimentality that goes on around here that makes me gag.I thank the heavens for small mercies , that Philip still has a job, that there is no strike, and that we have no involvement with the stock exchange.Things could be alot worse