Behind on Blogging!

Hey!

NOTE: This is the blog that I started to write before I went to Greece and was too sick to finish it. I'm back from Greece now, but I thought I would finish this blog before I start my Greece one and catch everyone up on what I was doing BEFORE I went to Greece. The Greece blog will be coming soon. How many times can I write "Greece" in one paragraph. "Greece. Greece. Greece!"

So, I get to write this blog in the morning because I am home sick. How many throat infections/strep throat/tonsillitis do I have to get before doctors start to wonder if there is something they can do to prevent it from happening in the future? I went to the walk-in clinic this morning when it opened (though I debated the emergency room last night) and I cried in the office like a child. Seriously, being unable to control your emotions due to pain is a very humbling experience. The nurse wanted to know why I "waited so long to come in." And, it's this catch 22 with doctors, because, if you come in too soon they tell you you haven't waited long enough, but when you come in when you are too sick to open your mouth, they tell you you've waited too long. I always vote for the latter: it probably comes from my father and his procrastination when it comes to doctors. That, and the fact that when you are REALLY sick, they don't pussyfoot around giving you medicine to make you feel better. (And this time, the nurse felt so bad for me, that she gave me all sorts of trial medicine from the cabinet and didn't make me pay for it. YES!!) In any case, my throat is almost at the point where I can swallow water without immense pain, but I also can't feel my feet. Or my elbows.

So, since I've last written I haven't taken any photographs...and not for lack of opportunity. I just keep rushing out of the house these days without my camera! Life has been pretty stressful lately, but I'm trying not to let it get to me. Let me get organized...here's the situation on the house:

We are moving on Friday. Which also happens to be the day I am getting on a plane to Greece. Which also happens to be while I will probably still be deliriously sick. The new house is right down the street though, which is a huge bonus in terms of moving. I don't love the house like I have grown to love this one, for two main reasons--it is all carpeted (no wood floors :( ) and the kitchen is TINY. I keep having actual nightmares when I go to sleep thinking about where we are going to put all the kitchen stuff we own. I know, I know...totally lame reason to be having nightmares. ha.

Alright, so, before getting sick and stressed about the move (and lack of funds), things are pretty positive here. I'm back on the up-and-up when it comes to London. I worked at a school practically down the street from me for a week and a half and it was awesome. I taught my kids how to play kickball, and it was quite the sight. Kids here play ROUNDERS not BASEBALL, so they didn't get the idea of base-running. They kept trying to stand on the same base together, or "round" each other on the bases as you do in rounders. It really was a spectacle. Good craic though.

I recently got stopped on the street and asked for directions. I have FINALLY graduated to LONDONER status. You know what I mean, New Yorkers...I LOOK like the kind of person who LOOKS like they would know how to get places. YAY. (And furthermore, I actually WAS able to give proper directions.)

*It is extremely difficult to write this blog SO far in the past tense, by the way. It all seems mundane now. Ha. My life probably always seems mundane to you guys :) *

The last real catch-up point before Greece was that the weekend before Greece Eric came to London, again. He's awesome, and moving to Argentina, and that makes me kind of sad. Why do all the cool people always leave the places that I live? (NOT that he REALLY lives in London, anyway.) It was a cause for some SERIOUS trouble. He, Jason, and I did a Monopoly Pub Crawl...as in...you go to pubs around the London monopoly board. I was the pub-crawl baby-sitter, as I have decided that pub crawls are a generally bad idea...but it was serious trouble for pretty much everyone else involved. (Let me just say...did you KNOW there are 26 spaces on the Monopoly board?) Incidentally, we fiiiiinally saw Synecdoche, New York with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, which was recommended to me by Sarah Caufield, and, I can't say that I loved it. I know it was "acclaimed" and all, but I think it was just a little bit too odd for me...and a little bit too depressing. Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts?

Oh, that was supposed to be the "last real catch-up point," but also, I went with Adam and some others to a festival called the Stag and Dagger in Shoreditch. (Shoreditch, for all you non-London-o-philes, is where all the cool kids hang out.) I braved a queue without the boys because they couldn't handle waiting, and I got to see the Cold War Kids up close. It was pretty bad-ass...and luckily, I DO actually have a picture of that, to reward all of you who braved it to the end of this blog.

Look, the dude from Cold War Kids is conducting us in a rendition of "Hang Me Up To Dry" for an upcoming live album.

Love you all, and much more interesting blogs about Turkey and CRAZY recent London happenings to boot. (I PROMISE the upcoming two blogs will be juicier, to say the least.)

Love,

Hammer

New Address!

Hey all,

I will post pictures of the new place when I get back from Greece, but if you want to send me things :) :) :) here is my new address:

Sarah Hammer
89 Lothair Road
Finsbury Park
London
N4 1ER

Cheers,
Sarah

New Photos...Turkey, Finally

Hey Everyone,

This is a quick reminder about my photos on snapfish. You DON'T have to become a member or anything. Just follow the steps below.

1) Go to www.snapfish.com
2) Type in email address: sarahinireland@yahoo.com
3) Type in password: ireland123
4) Click on album: "Turkey..."


Cheers :)
Sarah

Why I don't blog anymore

Heya!

Nate SMITH. That video is AWESOME. AWESOME. And, cough, nothing like my life. (And entirely parent inappropriate. Whoops ;) )

Speaking of my life, sorry it's been so long....has it been so long? I can't really keep track. The reason why I don't blog as much anymore is because I am settled here. And, I don't mean Settled with a capital "S." (No husband, No dog, No house, No Permanent Job, but a life resembling normalcy nonetheless.) SO, it just seems that life is a bit boring, and therefore not really reader-worthy. (I woke up this morning, I had some instant Quaker Oatmeal, It was gross, I went to work at a school near my neighborhood, I attempted to teach subtraction to a bunch of japesters, I reminded myself I want to skip being a mother during the 8-12 age range, I came home.) Nonetheless, here goes my blog attempt.

I've been comforted by the fact that, though everyone at home seems to be getting capital S-ed, everyone here (and Caufield too!) has been life-crisis-ing. Now, I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, but it's nice to know that I'm surrounded by people who don't have a CLUE what they are doing next year/where they are going to live/what job they are going to have/and so on and so forth and so on and on and...yea.

I'll continue where my poem left off. Andrew didn't come to France and I did not road trip. Three weekends ago we had our first "mixed hockey" tournament. Basically, mixed hockey is a co-ed summer team. And I am THRILLED that I am on it. It is a complete blast. (And girls and Mike, the boys on my team are a WHOLE lot of Mc.Steamys. Ow-Ow!) We play hours and hours of hockey in the sun (yes, English SUN), and then we have pints! (Not to mention the fact that it's a mixed ability team, so we are actually GOOD, and we won our first tournament.) It is nice to win after being on a team that won zero games all season. Additionally, it's a chance to improve my skills by playing with people who are so much better than I am.

After our tournament, Eric came down from Milton Keynes to hang out for the weekend. I LOVE having people visiting the city because it is an excuse to play tour-guide. (I heart playing tour-guide.) We ate awesome burritos and watched the London Marathon and went out in Camden and lazed in Hyde Park in the sun. (Have I mentioned the sun? Don't worry, apparently, it is supposed to start raining today and last all week.)

I started a pottery course, finally. An official one, at the YMCA, which incidentally is the first YMCA! The pottery teacher suuuuuucks. We are definitely paying for use of the space and materials, and not actually paying for the tutelage. Unfortunately, since I have no pottery experience, I can be assured that anything I make during the 8 week course will be lopsided and ugly. However, it is FUN, and I'm already looking forward to when I can sign up for a proper course somewhere else. I am in the process of making Evan and Paula a wedding gift, and it is going to be ugly, but it is made with love so it's okay, right? (PS: They got MARRIED last week. Whoah. Shout outs and congrats to Evan when you finally get around to reading this ;) )

In my attempt to give England a chance, during our long weekend (for May Day), I went to the Peaks District with Juliet and Rebecca (and Juliet's horribly annoying from Josh). Seriously, I'm a lover, but he was THE single most grating person I have ever met. Camping was good fun, despite the fact that it was oh-so-cold and rainy. We were able to get a few good hikes in, though.
I just really like this photo...but also, it captures the essence of hiking in England. Lots and Lots of farmland. The Peaks district doesn't really have any peaks, as it turns out.

Unfortunately, most places in England do not allow you to have an "open fire" so we had to make our s'mores using specially imported graham crackers over a disposable grill, instead of over a fire. They were still bad-ass though. (Did you know S'mores were solely a North American thing? As are graham crackers? As is the term "bad-ass?" As is the term "hater?" Don't even get me started on how I have had the misfortune of using these terminologies to embarrass myself.)
PHOTO

Last week I had a rougher time of teaching. I spent a couple days in a REALLY rough high school replacing a teacher who has been out for two months so the classes have basically had a string of substitutes. They were horrible, but how could I blame them? They have been completely failed by the system (sigh). And, speaking of school, if I hear ONE more student complain about how they are going to get SWINE FLU every time another student sneezes, I am going to Go-Go-Gadget self-destruct.

Luckily, this weekend erased any negative thoughts of England and its forsaken children. On Friday I attempted to get into a sold-out-in-five-minutes Beirut concert, but there were SO many people there trying to buy touted tickets that the police were EVERYWHERE. And for Beirut? I was shocked at how big they are in England. Needless to say, we didn't get in.

Saturday started off with five hours of hockey followed by three hours of clubhouse funtime (where I learned about the nectar of the gods--Pimms and Lemonade, while simultaneously learning the rules of cricket, which, by the way, is the most absurd game ever. What kind of sport gives you a TEA-TIME BREAK?! And makes you wear a frickin woolie-vest?!) After that, I went out for Juliet's birthday. We danced at my favorite cheesy club, Feeling Gloomy, where they only play pathetically emotional indie music like Idlewild and Morrissey and Blur. (It's the best place to dance ever, I swear!) I should have known it would be a long night when Adam and company showed up, but I foolishly assumed that I could still get to bed at a reasonable hour so that I could go running on Sunday morning. I watched the sunrise. I got home at 7:15am. I did my laundry. I washed my face. And then I rode my bike back over to watch football with the lads. My Saturday night didn't end until Sunday at midnight. Whoops! (But like a good daughter, I still managed to call my mother for mother's day. ;) )

So, that is pretty much catching you all up on the fairly mundane happenings of my life lately.

And finally, a list of my future locations--You can play "Where in the World is Sarah Hammer:"

1. Greece with Julie--May 22-May 31
2. Minneapolis, MN for Dan's wedding--June 26-June 29/30
3. MAYBE Seattle/SanFran/Portland??--July 1-4/5
4. Connecticut (or Bust, baby)--until July 30th
5. Israel--July 31-August 9
6. Spain (staying for FREE at my friend Jill's parents' place if anyone wants to come to the beach???)--August 10ish-August 25ish
7. England? Argentina? New York? Northern Ireland? Scotland? (In all seriousness, I'll probably be right back here come September...though I did find a place with 3 of my housemates and we are moving in two weeks pretty much right down the road. I have requested to be in a non-binding contract so I will not be paying for July or August, and I don't have to come back in September...)

Love and Miss you all,
Hammer