Jacks latest...

Almost 3 years have passed since my last thoughts and many things have happened..
I came across my blog as I was looking for something and I must admit it was quite cheerful to read back on my old memories.
Jack is now coming up to 6 years and the end of the month and has soon completed his second year at school. He is still a lively little character and fills our life with so much joy and sunshine. I can honestly say I have never come across a happier chap.
He still comes out with the most hilarious comments and has an opinion about everything and everyone.
Looking back on all the episodes I wrote about him I am so sad I didn't keep up the momentum, it is so valuable to capture those comments and moments. I am writing down the ones I can remember from the year just gone

The first Christmas we celebrated in the UK after coming back from Budapest, Jack was 3 and a half.....it must have been a few weeks before Christmas. Jack walks backwards and forwards in front of the fireplace and curiously looks around whilst looking mighty concerned. I look at him and ask " What's up trouble?" after some umming and aaing he says "Mummy how is Santa going to come through the fireplace?" ( we have a closed gas fire.....)


"We were in Asda, and it is around Christmas time and Jack spots a dwarf, he shouts out quite loud "Mummy, is that one of Santa's helpers?" Unfortunately it was so loud that I believe even the trolley collectors in the car park heard him, I was so embarrassed I must have been scarlet colored I tried to come up with a quick response to shut him up, but could only utter sounds....fortunately for me the gentleman (he truly was) replies "Yes I am Santa's helper and I am on holiday, I have worked really hard over the last few months to get all your toys ready, have you been a good boy?" All of the other customers at this point breathes a sighed relief and all laugh and smile. Jack complete god smacked replies back "yes I have, did you get my wish for a ruby red DS?"

Gareth and I was stood on top of the landing sorting out some clothes Jack was in the bedroom playing with his toys. Gareth trough out a cheeky comment to me as he was picking up all my clothes and I replied back as a joke "Oi, do you want a smack". Suddenly from Jack's room with a closed door " Yes mummy, give daddy a good old smack"

One sunny Saturday morning in January 2010 we had, had guest staying over the night before and we were all in the Kitchen talking. Jack walks past in his wellies and pyjamas and opens the back door, Rick (One of the guests) asks him "where you off to?" Jack looks at him completely oblivious "Outside of course" Rick replies "Why" Jack: "I am getting fresh air it is good for you, everybody knows that"

After speaking to his teacher Mrs Warren. She told us that they had been discussing history and were talking about the poppy and the reason for why in October people wore these red flowers, Jack eagerly puts his hand up "Mrs Warren? Did you know that alligators can get up on their back feet and walk?" Jack is in his own world the majority of the time.....
When they sing Jack would rather roll around on the carpet....We have though been informed despite his little interest in numbers and letters he loves general knowledge and is way beyond his years in knowledge...

Update

To all my long lost friends.......
I have not been online for a month or even longer as I have been cut off from the universe. I.e. no Internet no phone and the rest......I do not understand how people survived b.f the web?
Anyway last day at work was awful in the sense I cried all day long and it was a lot harder than I thought. I go through it and then We spent the Saturday and the Sunday cleaning an packing. The apartment was inspected on the Monday and all went well. It was a nightmare getting to the airport with all the luggage we had and also we got stung badly with overweight. Jet 2 are not very generous at all........160 Euro. But we gladly paid up as we were so ready to go home. We stayed with Gareth's parents the first 2 nights as it took some time to get the furniture in the house and put together. We have re carpeted the house which was a treat. The days flew by and before we knew it,it was time to pack up again and head for the USA.

Last day

After days of waiting and counting the hours the day has finally come. D - DAY. I woke up this morning feeling an emotional wreck and I still feel ill, how I am going to get through this day without crying, I do not know. And I just don't understand? Why am I feeling like this, despite wanting it for so long? I can only answer my own question, that it is insecurity, leaving the known to concur more challenging things. The whole comfort zone, stepping out of it. I have been with the company for 5 and a half years where one of the years have been spent her, I think I have grown to attached to the company. I have always loved the work and I have met some great people and despite all the ups and the downs (believe me there have been a few mega downs) here in Budapest I am grateful for the opportunity that I was given and I am sure that I will look back with fond memories. I do think everyone should try living abroad for a bit it does open your eyes and it also gives you a sense of achievement. I have been living abroad now for more than 7 years, but I consider the UK as my second home. I will always be Norwegian and it will always be my home. However this was Gareth's first year out and I think he has come beyond far. He is more confident and he now knows what he wants out of life more in the long term goals. Jack will always be able to say I lived in Budapest a year and although he doesn't probably remember much, I remember when I was a kid we were always amazed with those that used to be ex-pat kids. He is only 3 but he is confident and he has experienced so much and I do think and believe it has formed his really funny attitude.

I certainly will miss the weather and I will miss the fact that it only took me 20 minutes to get to work and home. I will really miss the person that took over my position, as she is probably the nicest sweetest person I have ever met. I will miss my babysitter Beri and of course all my other friends I have made here, and I am sure that because of them I will come back one day.

Packing up

I thought leaving the place would be the easy part, but oh no........ I am convinced I deserve a diploma in logistics after this last year, with the amount of sorting out, organising and coordinating everything takes. It is all driving me crazy. It is probably my own fault as I am trying to fit everything into the agenda at once or in one week. We are currently busy packing up the apartment her, and I can not believe the amount of stuff we have, and I am having to give away all our stuff and so many of Jack's toys. I pray to god that he will not notice, but he does have a really good memory and he will suddenly ask for a toy that he has not played with for months............At least it is keeping us a little busy in the evenings as there is not much else to do, and it takes away the attention to how flipping' hot the apartment is. We have all these fans on at full blast, but it just seems to blow hot air around. I can not wait to come home to rain......I miss my English weather and to snuggle up on the couch watching the soaps whilst the rain is bouncing down outside. Yes, I know I am not normal, but then again I have never claimed to be. Then there is cleaning the apartment and I obviously have to do a great job as I would like the deposit back. And then when we get back to the UK on the 9 of July we have to start all over again, but in the reversed order, clean the house and pack out. Gareth is sick and tired of moving so think we will have to settle down for a few years before we even consider going anywhere ever again.

Croatia

16-23 June. We spent a week in Croatia, Trogir to be more precis and it was breathtaking,stunning. We also went to Bosnia for the day which wasn't that exciting but yet another country.......We stayed in a gorgeous little apartment in Trogir with a beautiful view over the ocean from the balcony. The owners of the apartment were so friendly and nice.We also rented a car for the week so we could go off to other places and see more of the country. We drove up to a national park for the day and it was amazing, they had these royal blue dragon flies and they were every where. The water was turquoise and you could see fish,frogs and snakes swimming around. I was by the way not to impressed with the snake part.......Jack was beside himself so excited.We walked through the park on these wooden slats and bridges over ponds, lakes and amazing waterfalls. It just looked like this other world nothing you could imagine. It was also so peaceful in the park and I think I could have stayed there forever. We also spent a lot of time by the beach. Jack loved it in the ocean, and I think he was wearing every floating device possible. He also loved to catch little fishes with his net which he stuck in his bucket, we later let them go......On the Wednesday we decided to take full advantage of the fact that we had rented a car and decided to drive down along the coast to Dubrovnik, which is by the south coast. it was supposed to only take 3 hours as it was only 230 km, but the roads were so narrow and bendy it took 5 hours. It was a beautiful drive and Jack was happy enough with his little DVD player in the back. Again the scenery was just gorgeous and we were happy to be sat in a air conditioned car as the temperature rose to 38-40 degrees (104F). When we eventually got there we parked the car and walked into town, but it was so hot it was just unbearable, the sweat was just dripping down Gareth's back. So we didn't stay long. We got back in the car and drove around instead and then headed back to Split. Split was also an amazing place, it was this old town that had a castle wall around it, and lots of little tight walking streets, you could get so lost. It was also nice to walk down these little alleys as it protected you from the heat and the scorching sunshine. Jack also had some funny little episodes whilst we were there, one morning we were taking in our room and Jack came stomping into our bedroom and blurted out and really shouting. "Will you to be quiet, I am trying to sleep and you are keeping me awake, I can not handle this!!!!!!!!!!" He was waving his hand out whilst holding the other on his hip, I felt like a little schoolgirl again, and as he left Gareth and I burst out laughing, but that set him off again.........." Stop it, or I will give you time out"

Another afternoon we were sat having dinner and he blurted out " Daddy I am grumpy I want to go to bed", again Gareth nearly lost it with laughter and had to go into the bathroom 'cause he was beside himself laughing.

It is so obvious we really have to watch what we say as he copies everything and he is turning into this old little man........

We really enjoyed our time in Croatia and I definitely would like to go back. I believe the place is a hidden gem and lets hope it will not be ruined by tourists invading the place as it is an up and coming hip holiday destination.

Lake Balaton

It was time to look around beyond Budapest so the obvious choice was lake Balaton. It is Hungary's largest lake which stretches across 72 Km of the country and it is about 25 km at its widest point. We decided to go down to the far side by train. It was a gorgeous train journey as it was alongside the lake. We stayed at this great resort with a swimming pool and Jack loved being in the water. On the second day I think he spent about 6 hours in total in the pool, when he came out for some dinner he was so tired that he fell asleep in my lap before his food even arrived. We went down to the lake using a small footpath from the resort and spent a day swimming and just chilling by the water, which was lovely and hot. And even though it was a lake the bottom of the water was covered in nice sand and it wasn't to deep. We also find the people there so friendly and I got even get by with my little German. We had a lovely weekend and I would definitely go back

Like a pregnancy.........

I was moaning to my mum the other day, that time is just dragging now, the motivation is draining out of me little by little. And I think my mum summarised it perfectly it is like at the end of a pregnancy without the high blood pressure and water retention.... I really want to give a great handover of my job and position to my follower but it is getting more difficult by the day. I think I would rather watch paint dry. Apparently I am normal as all my other fellow colleagues that have moved on to better pastures have all felt the same. Arg..........only 13 days left. I am trying to keep busy by organising my life back in the UK, I did not know there was this much to do? I am more stressed now then when I got married.

I just don't know how they do it

We all now, have heard about the disappearing of the gorgeous little girl Madeline, and I think people must have a heart of stone if they haven't in someway found the story heart wrenching, I mean everybody knows somebody that would have a child the same age as Madeleine. I can't even begin to think what those parents are going trough, I have been following the case since her disappearance and every time I read up on her case I fill up with tears and get a huge lump in the back of my throat. I have also been following the Blog of Madeleine's parents and I just don't know how they do it, I take my hat of for them, how they find the strength. If this was my gorgeous Jack I think I would just brake down completely and there is no way I would be able to function. I just can't imagine despite all the evil in this world how anyone could be so spineless to steal or abduct a child??? It makes me loose faith in this world that there are such cruel people out there. This case has really got to me and I urge my friends and family to pass on the blog link below for Madeleine's parents to anyone they know,these parents need and deserve to find her, I just pray to God that nothing has happened to her. http://www.findmadeleine.com/ I also believe visiting the web side proves to the parents people are still out there supporting and praying for her safe return, so they don't loose faith.

Along came the friends

As you all know we came down in August and our first visitor was Hilde. Gareth and Jack went back to the UK for the weekend and I stayed behind entertaining my good old friend. We had a really nice girlie weekend and although it was October enjoyed some nice warm weather.After Hilde there was Beate she came down for my Birthday weekend and we enjoyed Budapest SPA in late November outside. It was so weird being outside in our costumes and it was snowing and steam was coming up from the thermal waters which hold a temperature of 30 degrees all year round, apparently the SPA water is so hot when it comes from underneath the earth surface it has to be cooled down. We also went for a Thai massage which was somewhat interesting. I thought it was supposed to be nice.......Me and Beate were in pain for days, but somehow we managed to still go shopping and Beate but a whole new concept to spending money "Good, on you girl". And then there was Victoria just nearly as spontaneous as me. I spoke to her on the Wednesday and I think she was her the next day. Again we had a great weekend with sightseeing and we even made it in for the Van Gogh exhibition. Later in February my brother TM and his girlfriend Camilla came for a week and they travelled over to both Vienna and Bratislava and we all had a fab time at the Spa again as my friend Sarah made it from the UK during the same week. Me and Sarah went to the Inter Continental for a 5 hour brunch and we saw Budapest in a whole different light...... Then we had peace for some weeks and the visitors started again with Beate and Hilde that had such a good time that they came back for more. We had such a lovely girlie weekend all three of us and I think it was the first time only the three of us was together. Closely followed Janine who came for a long weekend and she got introduced to all the splendid Budapest bars, Szimpla being favoured the best. Only days after Janine's departure came Peter and Sheelagh (Gareths parents) which stayed with us for 6 days. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed some great sightseeing. And then Catharina and Rune came for a long weekend and I think we all overspent dramatically that weekend, but it was so worth it, the weather was gorgeous and we made it to the SPA again......And we all went to Inter Continental for the famous brunch. It was a really nice weekend.

Bratislava

We went to Bratislava on 26th of May as we thought we should see it before we went back. It was only 2 and half hours away on the train. The train trip was quite pleasant as it was nice to travel across Hungary and see more of the country, it also did help that we were on first class.......Jack was also enjoying his time as he has his own portable DVD player very convenient for little monsters. The weather was very hot, I would probably say a bit to hot, and we felt quite sticky as there must have been a lot of humidity. We got there and it was just a short walk and we where in the city. It was not very big and it probably only took a couple of hours to walk through it. We went up to the castle and there was a beautiful view over the city. People where very pleasant. But I am sure we saw more British people there than Slovakian as there where STAG parties every where. The city was colorful and lots of little "cosy" streets, but we didn't find as cheap as we thought. I really do think Eastern Europe is now catching up with the western Europe rapidly when it comes to money, although the salaries don't seem to be growing as fast. By the time it was time to go home me and Gareth were very tired after all the walking. Jack was just himself as he had been pushed around all day in his buggy. We contemplated several times to get in that buggy ourselves. Jack was as pr usual in his fine prime form winging and whining for the sake of it. I thought the terrible twos were supposed to give in at three?He would argue that black was white just for the sake of it......

Our Friends and Family

As you know we have been in Budapest over the last 8 months and we have been up to all sorts of great stuff, but I felt we needed to mention all the visitors that have been over and shared some of the fantastic experiences with us. my great old friend Hilde was the first to arrive closely followed by Beate. Victoria made a hasty decision on the Wednesday and literally dropped everything and came the following day. My baby brother TM and his girlfriend Camilla came for a week at the same time as my dear Sarah. Then Beate and Hilde decided they wanted a second go and came for a fab girlie weekend together (Girls.....lets not forget our "Pink Cadillac"). Then we had aunti Neni (Janine) and Sheelagh and Peter. And our great friends and Jack's godparents Rune and Catharina. And up and coming is Nick followed by my baby sister Steffi and Hans. So a great Thank you to you all for coming and being with us and reminding us of our life's back home. Please note pictures will follow of the fab events........so watch this space

Vienna November 2006

This Posting is so belated, but I felt I had to include our trip to Vienna just for the memory. We went down late November and it rained the whole time. But it was still a really nice trip and it was a stunning city. We went down with the train and it was supposed to take 3 hours......Unfortunately we got stuck in this place called Goyr in Hungary for ages as our connecting train was so late. It was so frustrating to be stuck in this place and not know what was going on,we could not find anyone that spoke English or German until some beggars came along and asked us in Hungarian for money,Gareth explained we where English and suddenly they switched over to perfect English asking for money. So, how is it that the homeless speak better English than the so called "educated"..........Due to being so late we got there several hours later than planned and all the shops where shut. Mummy was not happy. We eventually found our hotel which was central Vienna, and I found Starbucks (hurraaaaay). The following morning we got up and found a tram that took us around Vienna great compensation for the normal costly tourist buses and a great escape from the rain. Jack was in his usual "happy" mood and only threw 4-5 rock star tantrums. They where busy turning the town hall into one massive Christmas advent Calender and all the Christmas market stalls where being put up, and you really did get that Christmas feeling. At least I got to eat Sacher cake (sachertorte) in Vienna, one of the million things listed to do before I am 50......... The Sunday was spent looking for Christmas ornaments as me and Gareth have this little family "tradition". Whenever we go places we try and find something from that place to hang on our Christmas tree, but it is not that straight forward as I am a freak for needing things to match. So it can only be white,silver or dark blue........but I found something and was eventually satisfied with my trip to Vienna. It was also nice to be a place where I actually understood the language and I could communicate with my little German, I was really surprised how much I actually remembered from my school days 10 years ago. It was nice to go and me and Jack have been back a couple of times since. Going home we managed to change our train to a direct one.

My pictures

For anyone that would like to see pictures from our every day,please check out my flickr link. It is a great web site where you can upload about 50 pictures for free each month. And it is a safe place to keep copies if they where to get lost from your computer. Yet another great feature Elin taught me. So just click on the link below and it should automatically take you to my photo album.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracytracey/
I try and update them as often as I can, but I have not been as good as I should have.......Anyway enjoy.

Polen 6-9 April

Me and Jack in the old town, Jack went for a snooze........ He was very snug in his pram,whilst me and Gareth was somewhat very cold

Pictures from Polen.
I really love the picture of the old door so I had to include it on my blog.....

This is a picture of the old town that had to be rebuilt after the second WW. Also our hotel we stayed on the 25Th floor (great view)

I have been really lazy with updating the blog, but have finally got around to uploading my pictures. So we went to Warsaw Easter weekend, it was a really nice trip and we stayed in a gorgeous hotel. The Polish people are so friendly and helpful and they all speak English which was refreshing.......Due to the history and the capital getting completely wiped out about 3 times, the buildings are fairly new. After the second world war they had to rebuild the city, but it was done on a replica basis. The old town was gorgeous with lots of colorful buildings and so much character. Dizzy me though managed to fall over in the middle of the town, for no reason what so ever and I cut my knee really badly and for those of you that know me "You, know I can not handle blood" So I was feeling terrible sorry for myself. And my gorgeous little boy was giving me plenty of sympathy. Talking of Jack, he was so hilarious in the hotel room we had to shout at him for something, so we got down on his level and looked him in the eyes as we where explaining to him that what he had done was wrong he replies back "Don't shout at me, I am only little and I can't handle it anymore. You need timeout" We where wetting ourselves with laughter but had to keep a serious face and take it in turns to talk with him as we had to walk off to the bathroom to laugh. On Easter Sunday we went for a brunch at the hotel and it was great. Jack as well had a fab time as there was a children section with clowns and face painting and their own little buffet and it was soooo posh. The one thing we were not aware of was how cold it would be. We just assumed that it would be as warm as Budapest. We where sooooo wrong. We only brought very little luggage and warm clothing was not one of them,so thank god for H&M. It was freezing, but Jack was snug as a bug in his little pram.The strangest thing was on the Sunday I met an old classmate from Junior High school that I hadn't seen for 15 years in the hotel breakfast room, I can only say "it's a small,small world after all" We had a great time and it was such a nice experience to see Poland. Hopefully next time we get to go to Krakow.

Budapest Teddy Bear sanctuary-Amazing

This great yellow bear was so yummy,and I think he looks just like Winnie the Pooh

This Teddy Bear was just chilling, look at the size of his paws. On the above picture it looks like the bear really would like some of Jack's sweeties. Jack really got into feeding the teddies honey. This bear was just a cub and he was so playful he was running after other cubs when he wasn't licking honey

I picked up the Budapest Times the other day, and in there was an article on a park were poor little cuddly teddy bears were being looked after, after years of torture or use as Circus attractions. This Bear sanctuary was looking after them in a several acre enclosed park, and for 200Huf (50p) you could visit the 42 bears. It was one of the best outing days I have had in ages. I don't particular believe in keeping animals captured but these bears were having the time of their life with people coming feeding them Honey on large wooden spoons and getting lots of apples and carrots. Jack loved it and desperately wanted to cuddle them and even go for a ride on them......uhm.....maybe not the best idea. Although they where gorgeous I was seriously glad there was a rather tall fence between them and us. Even Gareth was amazed with how well they where looked after. They had tons of space and there was woods for them to hide and man made ponds for them to go swimming in. I so recomend anyone to go. You also get to borrow wooden spoons and you can feed them honey, and they love it.

What are the chances........?

So last week my dad decides to join a football match to play against my brother and only 5 minutes into the match, he keels over in agony and it turns out that he has snapped his Achilles. Off he gets sent to hospital and has to have an operation. He is now hopping along on crutches and will be for the at least the next 10 weeks with his leg in plaster. Yesterday I come back from a weekend in the UK to several missed calls and loads of text messages from my family. My mom is in hospital after our 200 pound family dog Cesar decides to play hide and seek whilst my mom is still holding his leed. Cesar gets a bit beyond excited and decides to run off with my mom. She goes up in the air spins 360 degrees and lands on the floor. As she regains from pain she looks down at her legs only to see her right ankle lying next to her leg (nice....) It was a seriously nasty brake and my mom has 18 pins to hold it together...... again plastered for at least 10 weeks. So with this I would just like to say "I really do feel sorry for you guys and hope you both get on your feet soon" But what the hell are the chances?

Jack's progress report nummer 2

Got to work today and this was the email from Busy Bee ( Jack's nursery) that met me........


JACK
Jack is a very active boy. He is forever on the go. He is restless and fidgety; he has a hard time sitting still. He is already able to sit while he is eating, but he stands up immediately when he thinks he is finished with his mouth full and without drinking. I always ask him to swallow the food and drink at least a little bit. And do it in a sitting position. (He doesn’t like to drink.) Then he needs to tidy his plate, cup etc. away. And after that I let him go. I think he already developed a lot in this aspect, because previously he had bitten twice from the bred and dropped the rest in the bin and run to play. And few minutes later asked for some breakfast again.
The other thing he has to learn is that he has to sit still during dressing time which is I can say better than it was before. We teach him to do or at least try to do everything by himself. For example "dressing alone": he tries to take off his sandals alone, and sometimes he manages. J
The sleeping time is a very hard time for him and for us as well. He prefers jumping on the beds to staying still on his own. Sometimes he just falls asleep easily, but when he is in a mood nothing can calm him down. So quite often he is not sleeping at all. Only when we go to sleep he is looking for his tummy and keeps on talking about it.
He is so cheerful. He brings sunshine into the class when he arrives with a smile on his face in the mornings.
He loves playing in the garden, riding a motorbike. We have a tractor in the garden; what if he wants to drive he needs someone to push. They are good friends with James, they like playing together; they get on well with each other. I was so amused to see how they cooperate when they playing with this tractor. They discussed who is driving/pushing, which way to go and they AGREED, and also swapped. It happened between two of them, without any help from the teachers.
Jack likes playing with his Pingu. He has a good imagination. He plays role-games with Pingu. Usually Pingu is a little boy and Jack is the carer. The girls often join him.
Jack refuses to wear a bib. He says he doesn’t need it and won’t make his clothes dirty.
He participates in craft activities more often than before. But it is still not his favorite, since he needs to sit while he is doing it.
He likes participating in circle-times, when we sing some songs and make movements connected to the songs. But he can’t participate for a long time. He usually jumps in for a while, because he wants to have a go, and out, because he can’t wait for others turn. He really enjoys singing and sings very loudly. He has so much fun when we play "theatre-game": he stands on a stage (the table) and performs a song. He is loud, brave, and confident and doesn’t want to stop singing. J
He is friendly, extrovert. He opens to everyone. Children follow him a lot. They consider everything he does is interesting and such a fun.
He knows the names of his classmates and teachers. And he realists when they are absent from school, and asks where they are.
He can be very helpful to his friends and teachers as well. He tidies up well.
He gets on well with other children. But sometimes it happens that he hurts someone. After that he seems to be ashamed and apologises for doing that.
He is curious and exploring; he wants to touch and try out everything.
We love him!!!
Best regards,
Anna Nagel, Tomo Kati, Heni

Spring!!!!!!!

Spring is finally her and I am greeting it with open arms. Not that Budapest winter has been that bad. It is just the whole dark nights that I just can not cope with. Sunday I woke up to clear blue sky and when Jack and I got outside we did a quick turn and went back in and loaded off the coats. I think everyone just gets that bit more happy and more tolerant when the weather is so much brighter. Not only that, but Budapest just opens up to this whole new world and all these new activities are available. We went to the park and I think the entire Budapest population was there. Feeding the ducks, sailing their electric boats on the pond,musicians were playing kids were laughing and running around. We went to the zoo (yet again, I should have just got a season pass) and even the animals just looked so happy. Although the office is like a sauna......But the boats have started moving up and down the Danub and Margit Island has suddenly become the weekend hotspot again offering a beautiful place to go for walks or rent 4 wheel bikes and again swings and slides for the kids (and adults that never grew up.....)
This week I think we are all going to go to Slovakia for the day it is only 3 hours on the train to the capital and such a good day experience and really cheap less than a tenner for a return ticket. We just need to fit everything in as the next weekends until we migrate back are going to be jam packed with visits and ourselves going away. We still have a weekend in Warsaw booked a week in Barcelona and a week in Croatia to look forward to. On top of that there is also 6 lots of visitors arriving all at different times - so all in all not much time. It is great having friends and family visiting and it is at the same time allowing ourselves to really get to know Budapest. I am just sad that we have not really had the chance to travel around the rest of Hungary-there just is no time.

Ti amo Roma

The 10th country for Sir Jack. He is really not doing bad for his age at all,considering only being 2. Gareth and I got to the airport and realised we had forgot Jacks pram/stroller not good considering all the walking you have to do. So the very first thing on the agenda was to locate the local baby shop. With lots of help from the hotel we found a shop and got his little lordship a set of wheels ( And it turned out to be the wisest thing we did that holiday)

Ti amo Roma

Soo Roma, I can not get enough. I love it, I just do. The Italians just have this great way of living and Roma is like an open air museum. Walking around and just getting lost in those small beautiful side streets I could stay there for months and not get tired of the place.

We left on an seriously earlie flight on Wednesday 07/02/07 and came to a sunny warm Roma about 10 in the morning. It took some time to find the hotel, but it was worth it in the end. for 3 and a half days we just walked around taking in the gorgeous sights,unfortunately it rained for two whole days, but at least there was no ques for the Colosseum and all the other attractions....I think Jack liked it to, at least he was nice and snug in his little pram with rain covers on. We went to the Vatican on the Thursday and Jack managed to knock over a pole that actually chipped the floor in the Vatican, I was completely mortified and I was convinced we would get arrested or at least fines. But luckily the Italians love the little "bambinos" and ignored the unpleasant experience (Or they just did not notice, the big chunk missing of the 100 of years old marble floor.......) Oh well not everybody can brag that the chipped the Vatican floor. We went to all the usual sites like the Spanish steps, the different fountains, Colosseum and the rest. I think we could have spent weeks,or at least I could have. Jack and Gareth managed to get hold of matching Rome Football shirts (how Sad......If you ask me......) So, happy days for the boys. Other than that we just enjoyed the Italian life of pasta,pizza,Italian ice cream and little Espressos in the morning,afternoon and evenings.......I just love Italy.

Am I getting to old....?

I have decided, this is it! I have hit my first midlife crisis and so with a bang. I have noticed since taking on this assignment I am totally hung up with everything and every ones annoying habits. Or am I just misunderstanding culture ? I thought with my travels and my experience of living abroad I would have some lea way of understanding my surroundings? But I am instead turning into that grumpy person with one million pet hates. I will have to retire earlie to some secluded cottage up in the Norwegian mountains

Pet hate five Why is it people stop when they get to the top on an escalator? Why?
They just stand there and scratch their head or they decide that when they get to the top that is the time to take the flippi'n decision where to go!!!!!! Hello!!!!! what a about the rest of us, us behind you? Ever heard of the "domino effect"

Pet hate four: People jumping ques. I get to the office in the morning and I am stood nicely awaiting my lift to the 6th. floor. And as the lift arrives everyone runs for it and i get left behind. Hells teeth I come from a country where "if you see a que, you join it". And whilst on the subject of lifts what is up with the people getting the lift one floor???? ONE FLOOR?? there should be a law against it. I hate it!!!

Pet hate three: Why I ask why? is it so difficult to avoid poking peoples eyes out whilst handling an umbrella???????

Pet Hate two: The Nokia ring tone should be banned!!!!!!

Pet hate One: I have always wondered why the waiter asks you have the meal is whilst you have your mouth full of food?

Budapest

4 months into the assignment and I really am not sure if I am indeed getting any wiser or if my world is spinning out of control ? We have our highs and we certainly have our lows......You just can not find the middle ground nor is it possible to settle down, because there is always changes people are coming and going and you really do not want to invest to much money in getting the apartment nice and cosy? There is just not much point

I must say though, that Gareth is coping very well, he is not used to living in the city and he is plodding along and adapting well considering he is used to the more tranquility up in the Rossendale hills. I on the other hand have learnt to appreciate the countryside and am looking forward to going back to rainy England. Probably on the basis why on earth would I be into sunny places considering my pale but interesting complexion? I do know for a fact that Gareth is missing his car badly, and who could blame him with the public transport. There is always a metro arriving every 3 minutes but they're always so crowded that your personal space does not exist. Jack is of course loving it as his obsession for public transport has just not worn of yet

Anyway we should not complain, we are now in the middle of January and it is 15 degrees outside, I say 15 degrees/ 59 F ? Helloooo? What is happening to this world? Well I can not say other than that the Tracey family had prepared themselves for a somewhat colder Hungary and spent an absolute fortune on thick clothes before we came down, You know....that saying of being well prepared and so on.......? Yeah whatever!

So let me talk about Hungary and Budapest. Great people and if they know you, they so want to please. Food is different and we do miss our English cuisine. They like to deep fry everything and anything, so you really need to keep an eye on that waste line. Sometimes you just have to take a wild guess regarding what you order in the local cafe where I have my lunch, so no room for picky eaters in this place! Gareth got kinda disturbed when he found pizza's with cauliflower and broccoli.......
Alcohol is cheaper than milk in the shops, and for some reason there is only a very small section with a few bottles of milk in the shops,do they not drink /use it?
I will NEVER take the quality or the service for grated when it comes to my local ASDA ever again. the shops are the size of the bread section in a local Tesco/Asda store. So the choice is not exact vast and it is possible cheaper to go out and eat, than buy all the ingredients to cook a well balanced nutritious meal. Unfortunately also the English language is not widely spoken amongst the population in this country, so it can get somewhat interesting when you have finally managed to prepare a meal..... and you realise what you thought they gave you as tomato paste actually is chili paste and you have already added the whole tube.........And my poor,poor,poor husband is gulping the soup to please you with tears in his eyes because his head and throat is on fire.
The best part of the shopping is if the product doesn't have a bar code "You don't get it" simple as that. The amount of times silly me has got to the till and there has been some "vital" ingredients that I am not allowed to have due to missing bar code. GREAT!

Jack's world

I thought it was important to capture memories,episodes and not least Jack's funny words and felt the need to dedicate a huge section to the most important little man in my life. He is currently 2 and a half and finding his feet and his personality, the days are passing by and he has so much to say, and it is just absolutely hilarious. He has me and Gareth in stitches every day. He certainly knows what he wants and is developing into a determent little man. He is also at the stage where he not only copies what we say but our gimmicks and our behaviour. I have learnt one major thing and that is never underestimate a child!

Tuesday 13/02/2007: Jack thinks Salami is Lama, and we are trying to explain the difference but he is not having it.........Also yesterday we put him to bed and he would not go to sleep, so Gareth went in for the third time to tell him off for singing and jodling. He must have heard him approaching the door because when he got into his room he was sat on the bed with his legs crossed his eyes shut and his fingers in his ears repeating over and over again "Don't shout daddy I am not listening....."


Friday 19/01/2007 The morning starts fantastic with all of us running around with our normal getting ready routine. Gareth goes into the Jack's nursery bag to check that he has a set of clean clothes and finds his nursery report. Aaaaww..... Jack's very first report. We open it with huge enthusiasm and we are greeted with the following;

Jack is by far the most energetic boy in the whole pre-school. He is bright and very loving,although sometimes his energy can be a problem. He always wants to play and be moving,and does not have enough patience to even participate in song time,which is an active time. He is a sweet boy and tidies up well. When we ask him to apologize to someone, he does. We just can not get him still even when we are changing his shoes to go outside. Jack is lovely and all the teachers like him,he just has trouble cooperating. Even though he doesn't listen to lessons there is no doubt he is soaking up information like a sponge. He talks well in English and is picking up Hungarian very quickly,without being thought in Hungarian. He just seems to understand what the other kids are saying in Hungarian and repeats it. Jack gets on well with the other kids except for one girl who has caught his habit of hitting,we are trying to teach both of them that hitting anyone is wrong. Jack is staying out in the garden longer and having lunch with the big kids. This has improved sleeping time a lot,and Jack is already making friends with the other kids he plays with, When he wakes up in the afternoon he is a lot more cooperative and friendly.

Oh my god we have produced a monster, was my first thoughts this morning after reading this, I quote the first line "Jack is by far the most energetic boy!!!!!!" and my next favourite "Jack gets on well with the other kids except for one girl who has caught his habit of hitting," HIS habit of HITTING?????????? I was completely mortified when I read this and I am already looking forward to school. I will probably be one of those parents that receive a phone call at least once a week "Mrs Tracey? we have your son again in the headmasters office, can you please come and pick him up?"

Oh well what can I say ? He didn't come with a instruction manual, it's just obvious that we are failing dramatically as parents........That was until I confided in some more experienced parents which just laughed at me and my concerns and told me to stop focusing on the negative and look at all his positive feedback. And it is true he is the most beautiful little man I have ever met

Thursday 18/01/2007 There is wake up calls and there is wake up calls. We currently have a guest staying with us, and he is occupying Jack's bedroom. So Jack is sleeping in a spear bed that we have bought and is placed in our bedroom with us. This morning I woke up with Jack being sat nicely on my head with a cold wet soggy nappy singing nursery rhymes, minding his own business as you do!!!!!

Sunday 14/01/2007 So we are out and about doing family stuff and pushing Jack down Vaci Utca in his pushchair Jack is singing and mummy and daddy are talking. Out of the blue Jack screams out " Mummy, daddy shut up! I am singing"

Saturday 13/01/2007 Gareth was flicking through the Hungarian channels on our TV when he finally found some sport. It was handball Norwegian v. Hungarian woman Handball. Jack was playing in the living room, and when the TV eventually caught his attention he stops up looks very thoughtful for a few seconds and then blurts out " Oh.... MY GOD!, Daddy !!!! they are doing it wrong" referring to the fact that they where holding the ball and not kicking it.

Friday 12/01/2007 Jack was carefully slipping his pennies into his money bank and when he had ran out of pennies he shouts "Can I please have some more money! " Gareth replies "No, Jack there is no more pennies" "But, Daddy I need some" "Well you will have to go out and get a job" So he looks at me and daddy, puts is head on the side looking very thoughtful for about 3 seconds and replies very chirpy "Okay" "me Jack go to work, bye,bye"

Saturday 06/01/2007. So Me and Jack are at Budapest Zoo looking and learning about all the animals. In the zoo they also have a farm section where they keep pigs, horses and a rather large and old cow........Jack is fascinated by the cow which at this point is trying to lick Jack's face. At the same moment the cow lifts his tail up and starts to pee, Jack at this moment nearly falls over with amazement and his huge big blue eyes are nearly popping out of his round face, in the next second the cow starts doing it's number two business and at this point Jack nearly passes out. And with no warning he stomps off to the zoo keeper starts pulling his top and shouts frantically and with a complete panic in his voice "Excuse me, excuse me you need to change his nappy, it is going every where and the cow is dirty"

Tuesday 02/01/2007
"What you do'in daddy"
" I am trying to get the shutter down"
" ohh.........."
(a few seconds pass....)
"Is it stuck,daddy"
"Looks like it"
" Ohh............give it a good bang, daddy"

My Elin

So my dear friend Elin which I have had the honour of working with for 3 whole years is finally Pioneering her way out of Budapest. Being the first guinea pig testing the water and making her way through as the first Power User in this country. You can not have anything else but respect for that girl! Damn, she has showed nothing but girl power and she has certainly not only made my experience her more pleasant but also she has been my rock and my mother hen........So I am dedicating my very first Blog message to Elin. Elin I love you and thank you. I seriously whis you all the best. And I can not wait until our next photo session. Saturday 13 January 2007 will always stay in my Heart

It was also Elin by the way that opened my eyes to the world of blog and to even taking my up and coming photo hobby to the next level. So thank you again. And the result of our photo sessions you can see on this BLOG all marked with date 13/01/2007