Road trip essentials

Past blogs on the road and me being alone and what i can't live without

I won't lie, I like to road trip alone. LOVE IT as a matter of fact, and I know that I have blogged on this before, so this will not warrant a large answer to the Plinky.com question. This list is based on the many a lone road trips I have made.



Besides all the safety car check list stuff:



1. Camera



2. Music, including back up music for when your radio decides to die in the middle of nowhere.



3. Tent and camping equipment.



4. Good old fashion map. No GPS for this stuff. I have never gone in for a GPS for a road trip, it ruins it. I would rather be fighting with myself than with a stupid machine.



5. Water and nibbles and a plastic bottle...trust me.



6. The ability to not care if you get to where you were going. That is my favourite part.







It has been so long since I have been on a lonely road trip that I might have to force one on myself, however I think my husband might object.

Redundant writing

I love this.  The Daily Post prompt was about redundant writing errors, and I love this because my blog is full of them before I edit, and even then, redundant writing errors slip in.  It made me realize how wordy our everyday speech.  Richard always says "basically" before he describes something in less than basic terms and it always drives me crazy.

The Daily Post wrote:

An added bonus of blogging on WordPress.com at the present time is that occasionally your blog will come under close scrutiny by an Automattic staff member, who may choose to reblog one of your posts at a time when he’s in a rush and short on ideas of his own. He might not even collaborate together with you, choosing instead just to provide an example of the point you make in the blog post in question. Of course, one of the basic fundamentals he would need to keep in mind is that when using another blog’s content as a source, it’s polite to refer back to the originating blog.
How many redundancies did you find in that paragraph? Count them and then compare the ones you found to the neat lists Lisa J. Jackson, who writes for the scrutinized blog in question, has written about here and here. Did you find them all? Can you come up with others?

I went to Ms. Jackson's site and read about common redundancies and it amazed me how common those mistakes were made and how, at first glance, they seem perfectly acceptable.  That is until you think about it.

Why would you say "added bonus," or "close scrutiny"? They mean the same thing.

Anyway, this was just something to think about and another thing to worry about as I write.

What I love about my home town

Gig Harbor and Mt Rainier

There are a couple of things I love about my home town, Gig Harbor, Washington (State, as I always have to add). I love the water, the trees and the fact that you can live on a 5 acre plot of land but still get to town in less than 10 minutes and the thing I love the most, is the awesome view of the great MT. RAINIER.



I have been away from my home town for 6 and a half years now and SO MUCH has changed. There are things that I used to love that don't exist anymore like the "quaintness" of the Harbor itself (downtown Gig Harbor doesn't seem to exist anymore and has been moved up town where a mass conglomeration of grocery stores, banks and shops are. (They have new terminlogy like "uptown", I don't even know if I used the right place). The population has EXPLODED. Gig Harbor was always a growing, shall we just say it, suburb of SeaTac, but I never expected it to grow the way it has.



When I was young, I always cursed the new houses being built, especially housing developments. I hated all the mini vans, which led to SUV's (wow I have been gone that long that I had to google the term "HUV" because it didn't look right and it wasn't, I was looking for "SUV") that carry soccer mom's and their 2.3 children. I still gurgle under my breath and I probably let out a huge agonizing sigh of depression at the sight of these things, but I try not to let them get to me, mostly because my parent's retain their 5+ acres that are in the trees, near a beach access where there is a great view of Mt Rainier, and is about a 10 min drive to town (and Target and Costco if you wish). We don't even have a view of our neighbours.

A difficult choice I am glad I made

Here is today's prompt from Plinky

Share a story about a difficult choice you're glad you made.

Moving to the UK was incredibly hard, however I was able to do it in baby steps, to a point a guess.

I originally made the move to attend a Master's Course at the University of Bradford. About a month in, I met my future husband. As the year went on, many decisions had to be made revolving around our relationship in order to keep it going.

Unluckily (but a crucial cog in my decision making) my grandmother died. Before I left for Uni, I had been living with my grandmother, so not only would I be returning to no grandmother, but also to no real home. I suppose it made for the perfect excuse not to return. However, I was lucky that my future husband liked me enough to want to marry me. So we got married and we have remained in the UK. I have been here for 6 and a half years now.

I can't say that I love living here, but I guess I have gotten used to it. My preference is to return to the States, but most of that is because I miss my family and hate that they are missing seeing my son and missing seeing me be a parent. I also miss my brother and seeing his kids grow and being there for support. Something I miss allot though, is seeing my grandparents because, let's face it, we all don't appreciate grandparents until they are gone and that's a real shame.

So the choice to stay in the UK isn't exactly perfect, but it isn't necessarily set in stone and I got a loving husband, a kid, a cat, and a job out of it. Not too bad.

Pottery gardening

If you had to make a living by creating art, what would you do?

There are so many things I like to do that could be considered art. I love to knit and sew. I LOVE cross stitch (black stitch is my favourite) but I haven't done much lately. My new thing is patchwork and small crafts. The only problem is that all of these things need hands to do tiny movements and recently my hands haven't been working so well.



I love making a mess. I love puddle jumping with my son. I love throwing mud about and being muddy. I think I could do mud art. Mud...Jackson Pollock style. Mud...living art style.



Oh how fun. I guess I could throw in some gardening and do some kind of landscape/mud art. Gardening and mud art.



Why am I not a pottery artist, that would be perfect.



Oh, there we go...pottery (for the mud) gardening. Make the pots and fill it with a landscape garden. Perfect!

Weekly photo challenge: peaceful

This weeks Weekly Photo Challenge over at The Daily Post is about something peaceful.  Although I can think of many things, at the moment this represents peacefulness; an empty Costa Coffee.  We have been absolutely smashed at work and the sight of no line at the shop makes me happy.

Read a book

The last thing I do before turning out the lights is read.  I love reading in bed, however, I don't usually get very far.  I tend to either start nodding off or my vision blurs the words in and out (I have increased the font size on my Kindle).  It's too bad that my falling asleep whilst reading doesn't transfer to falling asleep when I am not reading.  Kind of like when I fall asleep on the couch; if I get up to go to bed, I won't fall asleep.

That's so funny!

Revisiting Britmom's prompts of the week

• One thing I do that makes my child laugh is…
• One thing that my child does that makes ME laugh is…

The Sprout is sooooo funny (as I am sure most little ones are, but mine is funnier...).  We are going through a rough patch, not only because we babied him whilst he was sick, but also because he is 2.  So we need to do things that make us laugh.

He loves tickles!  Richard and the Sprout can tickle each other till the cows come home.  He also enjoys jumping from the table to the couch and anything dangerous.  But his favourite thing is to be chased.  He will run in circles for ages and laughs and laughs and laughs.  A commercial that ALWAYS makes him laugh is the IAMS cat on the IAMS cat food commercial.

He also likes the Pedigree Dentastix Doggie Denture commercial

There are a million things he does that makes me laugh.  But what gets me every time (and he knows this) is when he gives me this little mischievous look.  I wish I could describe it.  He squints his eyes and gives a little mischievous smile...it is so cute.  He knows it makes me laugh because he does it when I am mad at him, or thinking about something seriously or when I look concerned in general I think.  He tilts his head into my view and gives a little "Puck Smile".

Another thing that makes me laugh is his little dance.  He seems to dance to everything, from my ringtone to a commercial jingle.  We have recently incorporated Nick Jr. into our TV watching (moving up from Baby TV).  They have allot of energetic songs on the shows they play.  Besides Dorra the Explorer, they also have a program called Bubble Guppies (link to one of the songs, Outside song) and Umizoomi.  They are full of annoying songs that kids love.

Although we seem to be playing allot of tug-o-war of wills, there is allot of laughter to help balance it all out.

I love being alone.  Especially when it comes to doing stuff.  I can only shop alone.  Being with other people when shopping drives me crazy, I feel like I am taking too long or in the way.

I love road tripping alone or travelling alone in general.  My favourite road trip ever was in October 2004 when I drove around the 4 corners on my own.  I decided that I needed to take a huge detour in celebration of me leaving the Forest Service.  It was over 1,500 miles of driving on my own and I took a week to do it.  I was super sick with the flu so I had to stay in hotels instead of camp sites, but it was the best thing ever.  I didn't care when I got lost.  I got to choose what I wanted to do and stay, or not for that matter.  It only got a bit lonely at night at the hotel, but I suppose if you are a drinking kinda person, you could always hit the bar.  My car was a champ!  The only thing that broke was the cassett radio I had.  I immediately got the CD player I always wanted.

I went to Arches National Park, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and the Grand Canyon.  I drove through the Painted Desert and did a little driving on Route 66, 666 and the Extra Terrestrial Highway (didn't see any UFOs).

 I met up with my Brother in Las Vegas and we drove together back to my place in Bishop, CA, grabbed my things and drove another 1000 miles because we took 101 after Corvallis, OR to Quilcene, WA and then to Gig Harbor, WA.

The whole trip was just over 3,000 miles.  Good thing that was back when gas was "cheap".


View Larger Map

That same year, I took a weekend trip to Las Vegas alone, and it was the best thing ever!

I miss being alone.  You don't get much time to yourself with kids.  I always loved that Cosby Show episode where it is the first day of school and all the kids are gone and Mr. and Mrs Huxtable do a dance and are so excited that the house is empty.  I assume I will feel the same when the Sprout starts school.

Traumatized

Oh man, I could go on and on, but I will write about something that has dissapointed me.


I have always liked learning. I have never been that great at school, but I got by. I completed High School because I wanted to go to college.  I went to college for a total of 10 years, starting in 1995 as a junior in High School.  I attended Tacoma Community College, got an AA degree in 1997 (the same year I graduated High School) and also almost completed a Criminal Justice AA as extra between 1998-1999 and 2002-2003.  I attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1999, but moved to Central Washington University in 2000.  I graduated CWU in 2002 with a BA in Anthropology.  I actually took some time off, but took some classes as personal enrichment during 2003-2004.  I finally went to the University of Bradford in the UK in 2005 and got a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Osteology and Paleopathology in 2007.  That's where it all ended, and now I am $40,000 in debt and working at a coffee shop.

Getting my PGD ruined my want to attend any more schooling. I never want to go to University again.  It was the hardest, most stressful and most depressing thing I have ever done.  I loved what I learned, and it was nice to be pushed  hard and I felt I was doing something important, not to mention I was getting to do something I loved.  The time I had after school hours was amazing.  I met my husband and my best friend at Bradford and I even still live there.  But the experience was enough for a life time and completely traumatized and ruined further education for me.  (I guess it didn't help that my grandmother died during that time).

I have had a little one for 2 years and we are still trying to figure out how we are supposed to balance husband/wife time with parent time.  Luckily, we both have the kind of jobs where there isn't much to bring home except all the stress that has formed through out the day, and the physical exhaustion that comes with it.  

The Sprout is a huge job.  At 2 he wants 100% of my attention 200% of the time, and when he goes to bed, I want to go to bed.  I think Richard and I spend about 2 hours alone together each day and then I go to bed.  Those 2 hours are usually filled with watching TV or browsing the internet or maybe I actually do some sewing.  The last time Richard and I spent REAL time together was in June when we drove to the Washington Coast for the day while my dad looked after the Sprout.

I am stuck in marathon mode.  As soon as the Sprout hits the pillow, I am off doing all the house work I can before he wakes up.  At night it is the same, only I feel that if I don't get to sleep then I won't be sleeping.  Not only am I not paying attention to Richard, but I give no time to myself.

However, yesterday we went into Bradford to go to the book store (Waterstone's) to get the Sprout some books with his birthday money.  The Sprout has little experience in stores because I get everything on-line.  He was everywhere, which I knew he would be.  It was such a good idea to have Richard and me go together.  Richard went after the Sprout whist I looked for books (we ended up with Fox's Socks, Rabbit's Nap, and The Odd Egg).  Then we went up to my old work (Kirkgate Costa).  We got to see Santa's reindeer!  Then we went back to Shipley to have Sunday Dinner.  The Sprout was really good (although all over the place).  No real tantrums.  It was so nice to do something as a family.

Pen or computer

What do I prefer when I write, a pen or a computer?

It all depends really.  I used to like to write with a pen, and I do keep a journal with blank pages in my bag that I jot down silly ideas for my blog and paste pictures in.

I use the computer to write my blog.  The ideas that I outline in my journal rarely make it to the computer.  I don't like transcribing my ideas.  I like it all to be organic.  I did enough note taking in school for research papers, I never want to do that again.  Transcribing ideas ends in censorship anyway.

I am almost reluctant and fearful of the pen.  I kept a diary from the time I was 10 years old until I was about 20, and they hold scary things.  If I feel I need to write real thoughts out on paper, I nearly always throw it away (I used to burn it).  I don't really know why.  I guess I see the pen as more personal (more permanent) than the computer.  When I write with the pen, there is no editing or thought process.  I just let it flow out, most of the time it is unreadable; a total free write.

When I use the computer, I use more thought, worry about sentence structure and spelling.  There is allot of editing and rewording.  Blogging is quite difficult because you have to put your tone of voice in the writing, and let's face it, it doesn't always go over well.  It also takes one click of the mouse and your words are deleted forever, and I always assume someone else is going to look at whatever I have on the computer.

So my answer is that I use both, but they are for totally different reasons.

Music and Lyrics

Can I listen to music and write?  What song did I hear today?

Here is the kind of question I don't like to blog about because it is silly and doesn't require a long answer.  Yes I can listen to music and write. Most of the time I am watching TV and writing.

The only songs I hear now a days are songs from Babytv, CBBies and commercials (the Halifax ones are driving me crazy and I always get the Timmy Time song in my head).  The only time I listen to real music is when I am walking to work, and while I am at work.

 I want to listen to more music at home because the Sprout has taken an interest in dancing and he dances to everything.  One reason I haven't been listening to music at home is because UK radio stations drive me mad (mostly because I hate this new pop and dance music).  They don't have stations dedicated to one kind of music (except classical), so you have to listen to ALL music over and over again.  The other reason is because I don't really consider my music to be appropriate for a little one.  I have a couple of things I don't mind trying out such as Jamiroquai, The Beatles and disco type music (I suppose some Scissor Sisters would be ok, as long as he doesn't listen to the lyrics) You know things that are light hearted and fun to dance to (totally opposite to the majority of music I listen to).

What kind of music do you think is appropriate for a toddler (please don't say nursery music because that is a given)?

Last meal

What would my last meal be?

I don't know.  There are many things I like to eat, most of which I don't get to have here and so things like Taco Del Mar and Pho from the 36 Ave Pho place come to mind.

I think what I would want as my last meal though is a nice thick cut, juicy steak with a baked potato and salad with blue cheese dressing.  For dessert I would have to have my mom's F**king chocolate cake in a bowl with milk.

Yummmmmmmmmmmm

Add, subtract and delete

I thought I would pick up some NaBloPoMo (the daily writing prompts).  I have been really bad about writing, I haven't even written about the Sprout's birthday, but there wasn't really that much to say.  At the moment I would do a better job at posting Wordless Wednesdays (where you just post a picture that sums up what's happening instead of writing an essay. I might do that).  Honestly, I just don't have a need to be on the internet.  It sucks my life away.  However, if I am doing something like writing, it isn't necessarily a waste of time.

What is your favourite part about writing?

I enjoy writing because I get to project my inside voices outwards.  Have you ever noticed that sometimes the only way to get those thoughts to go away (good or bad) is to write them down?  I have a major case of that.  In most cases saying those thoughts just makes them worse.  When I write them down, I can add, subtract and delete.  When I write down a thought I may find the true meaning of the thought.  It may be more important than I thought, or it may be something I need to let go.  The thought becomes naked and real.

That is why I enjoy writing.

Britmom's prompt of the week

This weeks prompt of the week is:

What is the one thing you can't live without?

This is a completely vague question because there are loads of things I can't live without, ie money, air, food, water...you know.

I decided to answer this by thinking of an item that I cannot live without and the answer is kind of ironic.

The one thing I cannot live without is a car!  This is hilarious considering I have not owned a car in six years!.  However hear me out.  I believe that not being able to drive here has made my life allot more miserable than I should have been.  I don't get out much, there are tons of places I should visit and I have had missed job opportunities all because I don't drive.

We are lucky to have the train and bus lines close to our house, and even if I did have a car, I would not drive to work, petrol costs £1.35/ litre at the moment and the traffic is horrible.

On June 5th, 2010 I wrote:

As someone who has never known anything but freedom, I can say that freedom is driving.  The only confinement I have ever had, has been here in England where I don't have a car or a British license.  Evey time I get in the car, I get the urge to go.  I just want to drive and drive and drive and drive some more.  Driving is one of my favourite things.  My favourite place to drive is in the Great Basin.

So now six years down the line and still no car.  I have been doing really well on my driving lessons and see no reason for the test not to go well, however, there is no way I can afford to own a car.  I am hoping to beable to rent one every once and a while.


If I were to have a car I would want a car that is on the smaller size but has a big boot (trunk), which is actually not a common feature of a British car.  I have loved my Subarus in the past and would really love a Forester, but they aren't very cheap, if I were to move to the States, I would get that.  I also like Citroen C3 Picasso or Fiat Panda.  But in the end a Volkswagon Golf would be fine too 

Citroen C3 Picasso

Subaru Forester

Britmom's prompt of the week

Ok so maybe if I do another one of those prompting sites I will write more.  For the most part it isn't that I have nothing to say, but more about the time and effort, and that horrible feeling when you find out you have wasted a whole nap on the computer.

So, here is the Britmom prompt of the week:

 "If I could start my blog over, I would...."

• What might you do differently?
• Would you choose a different url?
• Would you change your blogging platform?
• What would your header look like?
• What technology related gagets/widgets/etc would you employ?
• Would you leave everything the same?

Luckily I have had the opportunity to start a new, 2 times actually, once with my original site "Jessika in Nevada," and then with this one which the original title was "Jessika Lives Here."

"Jessika Lives Here" was pre-Sprout and was about living in England and all about my thoughts and feelings about things.  "But I Digress..." is post Sprout and is mostly about being a new parent and the stuff that goes along with that.  All of my sites have focused on letting my friends and family know what is going on, and if someone random happens to come across the site, COOL, but it isn't my main purpose.  I don't think I would change my platform because I write what I know.

I may have changed who puts out my blog (blogger vs. wordpress) because other sites let you have more control on the way the site looks, but then I would spend more time on the way it looks rather than the content of the blog.

So really, I wouldn't change anything.  I like the background, the legs with the striped socks and the coffee mug...that is me to a T.  The one thing I don't like is the way it sites a website, I have to put it in bold and underlined so you know it is a site.

Well that is a pretty lame entry, but it only took 15 min, and that is a good start to get me going again.

This summer I am...

This weeks question from Katie:


Are you already making plans for summer? Do you have any great trips planned or special events to attend? What will your kids be doing over the summer?


We are happily going to the States to visit my family in June for.  We are flying from Bradford to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Seattle.  This is the best way to go with a baby because you don't have to go through customs when you connect in the middle of the U.S.  I hate having to pick up my bags, go through customs and then re-check the bags.  Too much hassle.  So we are going to be on the plane for 10 hours.  Luckily the Sprout has his own seat.  Although this was expensive (70% of the adult ticket), it will be worth it.


When we are in the States, we will be going camping with my dad and then attending a family reunion/memorial service for my great aunt who died in November (I think it was November).  I haven't decided if Richard and I will be going on a mini vacation without the Sprout.  We will see.

My favourite room

Project Blog: Question Two.

What is your favorite part of your home and why?  Interpret as you may- it could be your favorite room or a piece of furniture or a feature of your actual house.  

There are so many areas of my house that I really like.  Our kitchen/dinning room somehow feels like you have cut yourself off from the rest of the world because it is at the back of the house.  The square footage is the same as Richard and my first apartment in Bradford.  And the lighting is so nice.  It also has a beautiful view of the back yard and park.

Dining room

View from the dining room

I also love our spare room.  Because it is also at the back of the house, it is quiet and has the awesome view.  I also love the blue that we painted it.

Spare room, which doubles as the computer room.

View from the spare room

But my all time favourite room in the house is my Sprout's room.  I love the walls.  It is so calming and it is the only room that isn't shared with our neighbour's.  I wish the room was in the back of the house and it had a bigger window, but I do love that room.

Now that it is being Spring and almost Summer like outside, I have to say my favourite place in my house is our back garden.  I love it.  It's only downfall is that 3 houses have a view of what we are doing, so we  are thinking of some hedges at the bottom.  Also when the neighbours are outside, I feel as if we should all be doing something together, I at least feel the need to acknowledge their presence.  But other than that, I love it.  It is big and gets tons of sun.  I love that I can watch the Sprout from the house.  I love that because the park is next to it and there are no roads, it is quiet and you hear birds chirping.  I also love the grass and that my cat has a real boundary.

Where would I go?

I will bite and wrote about the Project Blog question of the week.

Project Blog: Question One.

Where would you chose to live if you had to leave this country?

Well let's just get this out of the way...we all know that if I am getting out of England, I am going home to the US, but let's just say that I don't have to worry about American family or English family and I am just leaving it all behind.  It is really hard to choose a country that I haven't been too.  I have so many romantic ideas of places like Thiland and Spain, So really I am limited to places I have been...Holland, Australia, Antigua/Barbuda, Ireland, Scotland and Canada.  

I really loved Antigua and I wasn't there for a holiday either.  I was working hard on the beach digging up a skeleton.  Gotta love the laid back "Island time" and the fact that their money is worth less than ours.  So if I wanted to treat the rest of my life as an island getaway, I would go with the Caribbean.

 These were taken in 2001 way before I had a digital camera, 

so these were all scanned in.  

This is of 2 ft bay in Barbuda, where we found the skeleton I was excavating.

This is the terrain inside the island.  

Wonderful tropical desert, that is the only way to describe it.

 However, if I wanted to pick up sticks to start again, I would go with Australia.  Many English people have a thing for Australia, and I know why.  The people are so friendly and, like the States, they have all of the climates you could ask for, sun, surf, desert, jungle and they have winters in the southern end.

My brother and I in Sidney 2003 (we were having a better time than it looks). 

Bondi Beach

 These were the only pictures I had scanned on my computer of Australia. 

 I have tons of animal pictures spread throughout the house.