Our Kitchen

I spent most of the day today in the kitchen, cleaning and getting it back to being the way I like it (things tend to move when you're gone:-)). Then, much of the afternoon was spent grocery shopping. Since we don't have a car, I have found that it is much easier and more cost-effective to have our groceries delivered in the UK. I'm not the best online grocery shopper, though, so it takes me a long time to think through what I need and find a way to compare prices. This is easier for me in a store.

For dinner, I found that we had almost everything needed for Shepherd's Pie, which is one of Kagi's favorites. I have made a few modified versions of the one shown on this video and we have really liked it. http://allrecipes.com/video/577/irish-shepherds-pie/detail.aspx.

Our house still isn't totally presentable. I still need to finish cleaning up our living room, which has a few odds and ends and my suit cases and our second bedroom which is also Kagi's study and the room with all of our closet space. But we're getting there, slowly but surely.

Note as I post -- I wrote this last night and thought I published it! While getting to work on today's post I just found it, so here you go.

Unpacking

Today I have not followed my usual "get over jet lag fast" routine -- I slept until 1:30pm! So I haven't unpacked and gotten the house back into order yet. I feel very differently about that job than I do packing. I LOVE unpacking. It is literally one of my favorite tasks.

However, I think it'll be best done in the morning. Kagi finished his exam and we are planning to get pizza and watch a movie tonight. I'm looking forward to it, and to finishing unpacking tomorrow.

So I'm off to have a nice relaxing night with my husband:-).

Irrational Exhaustion

I am now in Bradford!!! I'm working to stay awake at least until 8pm and also trying not to distract Kagi because he has a very big exam tomorrow. I did take a nap today but think I'll be fine tomorrow -- I'm plenty exhausted to sleep through the night no matter what the time difference!

The trip really went well and Kagi and I are very happy to be back together.

I was given some extra time today during which I wrote what you see below:-). I actually found my extreme emotional reaction to a series of things a little comical at the time, I hope that comes across.

Exhausted Fit

You know when kids get to that point where they start weeping and scream, “I just want to go home!”? 

Well, I almost just did that right in the middle of Manchester Airport. If I had caught Kagi on the phone I would have burst into tears and done just that. But it wasn't that easy – the phone company doesn't like my American credit card and therefore I have no way to get online or to call anyone.

Kagi will call me when he gets out of his class at 11.

But wait. Wasn’t I supposed to be home by then? Didn’t I have dreams of being showered and maybe even having lunch made by the time Kagi gets home from class? Yes, yes I did.

But alas, after about 20 hours of travel and my body running on about 4 hours of sleep since Saturday night, it didn’t go that way. In my exhaustion I have been quickly unraveling over the last several hours.

First, I’ll acknowledge that my travels went really well. So I know this is irrational. As I’m experiencing the crazy irrationality I kind of think it’s funny, so I’m writing about it. So for the record I do know that things are fine. They just don’t feel that way at the moment.

First, I got held up for questioning at the border again. Yes, even with my visa, I got stuck in the “further questioning” section, wondering if they were going to reject me again. Not a huge deal… I’ve been there before, but I have grown an irrational apprehension for those borders and so the level of impact it had on my emotional state was more than necessary. Apparently I will continue to need further questioning every time I try to enter this country for quite a while, even with all my paperwork squared away. Once blacklisted you’re blacklisted. Awesome. At least the guy was nice.

The last from my flight to clear customs, I went to claim my bags and immediately noticed that something was wrong. They were both there, but one of my bags was slightly opened. The smell of one of my brand-new, expensive, skin-care items permeated from my bag. At first glance I could tell that my closure of the bottle was still in-tact, but the smell and sight of my brand new, wonderfully clean-laundry smelling sheets covered in this toner. Apparently it was not sealed at the bottom of the neck. Great.

Then I began trying to walk with all three of my bags. They total well over 100 pounds and don’t fit together very nicely. I don’t know where I have pounds, so instead of getting a luggage card I began dragging them as best I could. It didn’t work well, and in normal conditions the walk is about 15 minutes. At one point, the bag I had stacked on top of another slipped off, narrowly missing a man’s foot and causing him to dodge it like a meteior aimed at him. “I’m sorry!” I exclaimed. No response other than ticked-off walking away.

I did have a hero appear soon after that, though. An African lady passed me and then said, “Do you need this?” with a cart. “You don’t need it?” I asked. “You need it more than I do,” she said as she took her bags off and gave it to me. I felt bad, but I couldn’t reject her offer. As the situation was I was likely to kill someone.



Finally, I made it to the bus station. I knew I had missed my hoped-for 9:05 bus, but was hoping for a bus in the next 15-30 minutes for about 10GBP. The guy told me that it cost 13.40GBP. “And when is it?” I asked. “11:50,” he said.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost screamed it in the airport. What I actually said was, “OK, I’m going to go check on my train options and I’ll come back if I want to take it.”

As I stood in line, I knew it was hopeless. I can’t move all of these huge bags around a train transfer. I checked anyway. The result was that for about 30GBP (a CRAZY amount of money) I could get a train with one transfer. For a more reasonable fee, I could take a train to Manchester Piccadilly, take a trolley to Manchester Victoria, and take another train to Bradford (which might also require a change in Leeds). On a normal day that would be fine. With these bags, no way. So 11:55 it is.

This is when I frantically tried to put money on my phone so I could call Kagi crying. No go. And worse, the guy selling bus tickets found me right before I started weeping so instead of throwing my temper tantrum I calmly bought the ticket.

The agent must have read me right and told me to come upstairs to a nice café and get a cup of coffee. That was a really good idea—I can kind of pretend I’m not still in an airport. I am here in the coffee shop now, writing. I’ll post once I’m home with internet access

I am really excited to get home!

Travels

I am sitting in Minneapolis and just wanted to give a quick update. Traveling has gone well so far. Yesterday I was surprised when I checked in with the airline to find out that I was allowed two checked bags, which was awesome! I was able to pack the denim picnic quilt my mom made for Kagi and me for Christmas which I didn't  think I could fit. That was a very nice surprise!

I've had a nice opportunity to talk with my family who is still in the States over the last few days. I got to talk to Allison and Jesse and Grammy yesterday and today have talked to Jesse more and Jenni. So fun.

Anyway, there isn't much else to report. I'm thankful that things are going well thus far.

Pictures!

I moved the pictures from my camera to my computer today and thought I'd share some of the fun ones with you.

Here are some from Christmastime:

My beautiful and fun sister +Allison Fritz.

Sisters!

Fritz kids with our soon-to-be brother in law. +Peter Hedlund +Jennifer Fritz +Allison Fritz +Jesse Fritz +Laura Phaladi 

Playing around on Christmas Eve.

Now, fast forward to last weekend when I went for a drive and ended up taking some pictures:

Can anyone guess what this is?

That bird was sooo cool looking. Too bad the picture doesn't do him justice. If only he would have posed for me!

 Sunday, Pops and I went for a walk and found some fun things along the way.

This beautiful dog stood as a century guarding his house.

Haha, no caption necessary!

Happy Saturday, everyone! I may take Sunday off as usual but will try to write while in-transit on Monday. I leave Spokane at 6am Monday and arrive in Manchester on Tuesday morning.

Sales

Today I went shopping for makeup and skin care products, something I have almost never done. I ended up in Sephora where I tried all kinds of fun things. I was interested in buying some makeup and/or skincare but didn't find anything spectacular so I left without making a purchase.

I tried on glasses in another store and took a pic to remember them. I was trying to be incognito... hence the bad picture. Regardless, you can see the results of playing at Sephora:-).

On my way out of the mall, a man from one of the kiosks pulled me to a booth where a young woman washed my hands with a salt scrub. It was nice, but I clearly wasn't interested. She used our initial interaction to segway into a conversation about her other products.

She brilliantly asked me questions like, "are you more interested in taking care of the skin on your body or your face," and, "are you more drawn to a product for your whole face or your eyes." Difficult to say "no" to those types of questions.

I ended up purchasing a toner product. As I was checking out I mentioned to the sales girl that she caught me on a good day because I was looking for something along those lines. I didn't mean I wanted more, just that it was cool that I found a good product along the lines of what I came for. She got the point.

Even so, even though I had already signed for my purchase, she whipped out an eye cream and serum and had them on my face before I knew it. It was really nice stuff, taking away my eye puffiness visibly and instantly. I had a feeling it would be expensive, but the price was about ten times more than I would have dreamed of spending on something like that.

She asked enough questions to understand that, although I liked it, there was no way I could afford it. She asked another question, "do you care more about crows feet or bags under your eyes," which I wasn't sure how to answer (neither sound good). She looked hard at my face and decided the cream could suffice. Then she brought the price down. I asked for her card in case someone wanted to get it for me for a gift. She brought the price down more. I said I'd call my husband and talk to him about it, which I did. Ultimately, Kagi surprised me by telling me to purchase it, which was very unexpected and generous of him.

It stood out to me what a great salesperson that girl was. I'm a very tough sell. I hate feeling pushed into buying things. I'm also great at getting out of a situation when I feel pressure to do something I'm not sure about. I like thinking through my purchases, and feel confident that I can find what I want when I want it.

This girl did catch me on a good day with a good product. But it was more than that. She helped me see that this product was what I wanted. Then she read me well enough to offer a price I could be happy about, even if it was much more expensive than I imagined I would spend.

I am really fascinated by the way good sales works. It was a major part of my occupation for several years, and during that time I gained a huge appreciation for the art of selling and admiration for those who can do it well. I think it's like playing a sport -- anyone can do it to some level, but it takes talent, practice, and confidence to really do it well.

The things that particularly stood out from this interaction was that, although she clearly had an objective, she worked to understand where I was coming from. I legitimately felt like she was working with me. She didn't seem stressed or afraid of me walking away. She was driving forward, but not pushy. She had time for me, but wasn't going to waste my time.

Ultimately, she left me very confident about the wisdom of my purchase. I'm convinced I got something great which answers a need. I feel pampered and look forward to using this product. I also feel like we both got a good deal, which is perfect!

Blast From The Past

Today I had the opportunity to be a "community judge" at a speech and debate tournament. It was very fun in and of itself, and it was also a blast from a mostly forgotten part of my past.

I was a debater for one year in high school. In fact, I think I lettered in it (gives some insight into the kind of high schooler I was:-)). Truth be told, I don't think I was very good. I participated in cross examination (CX) debate, which means I had a partner. My partner was Tabi and she was (and I assume still is) brilliant. Seriously seriously smart girl. Because of her, we made it to the state championship our sophomore year.

During the last few months I have had a few reminders of the past. First of all, we cleaned my parents' basement over Christmastime. That brought back lots of memories. Old clothes, notes from school and notes from friends, and etc.

Beyond that, it's 2013, which means it has been 10 YEARS since I graduated from high school in 2003! This is crazy. It has been fun to hear from the other officers from my class and be privy to conversations about how to plan a reunion. That group and I planned many many events back in the day, and although this time it's over facebook and I'm not really involved (since I'm not in Colorado) it is really fun to hear from them. And it brings back lots of fond memories!

This is Deb, my mentor, with me sometime during high school.