Our container was released today, into storage for three weeks! But, there's a certain relief in knowing that it's here and our stuff isn't stuck at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. This does mean that when we move into our rental house we shall have everything ready to move in and can therefore get sorted quite quickly. Hooray :-)
I can't wait to be in the proper rental house now. This one is lovely but it's not ours and the furniture etc. in it isn't ours and I'm now ready to have all my stuff around me again. I think I will really appreciate all our bits much more than I did before. I may even be forced to appreciate having my own computer back and not having to take it in turns with Andy!! We have three weeks before we move in..........not that I'm counting :) The other advantage of the rental is the space we will have, it's a fair bit bigger than the house back in the UK, which will be lovely - although I do predict a visit to IKEA looming!
Daily life now seems to be settling into some kind of routine. The last week has been pretty similar to the previous one. Steph and I now seem to have a bit of a pattern to our three days at home, with at least half the day out meeting people or at groups and then the other half getting things done or just playing around the house. As well as heading to the library we've been included in a group of local Mum's that have just started getting together every couple of weeks; a really nice group of ladies with similar age children to Steph. It will be interesting whether I keep getting invited to this one, as we will be moving out of this area to Louisville in three weeks! Last week we joined a new group on a Thursday. This is a group that have randomly formed and all seem to be fairly new to the Boulder area. It did feel good to go to that group and not feel like the only newcomer.
Strangely though all the people we have met so far seem to have mostly boys around Steph's age!
Steph seems to be settling into nursery too. When we picked her up on Friday she greeted us with a huge grin. Apparently they had made smores and Steph couldn't get enough of them. Today when I picked her up I was told that she hadn't stopped talking all day; a clear sign that she has settled. Apparently she entertained them greatly at lunch time. She finished eating, looked around and then said "This table's filthy!" I'm not sure she could have sounded more English if she had tried.
It's been great having Steph in nursery as it's meant I can do all the jobs that take time and discussion without having to worry about her. Last Friday I had to take the hire car back to Denver and then bus it back to Boulder. Today I caught up on emails and then visited the birthing centre at the hospital for a quick tour. Wow, perhaps I should say hotel. Each room is equipped with all the normal paraphernalia but also has a fridge, hairdryer.........a very different experience to the UK. During this visit I met an English nurse there who was so friendly. She lives round the corner from where we will be living and has offered lots of help and advice for when we move. She also has an 18 year old daughter that works with children and has been offered for babysitting, and potentially, for looking after Steph while I have t'other one :) She's going to come round and sit for us on Saturday so we can meet her and see how it goes.
It's just dawned on us that although we have baby stuff over here we do actually need to pack a bag or two and get ready just in case baby does come early. At 35 weeks I should really be prepared!! I think I now have my jobs sorted for Friday! ( this also included the car seat inspection we have to have before we're allowed to put baby in it!)
We have been learning about the "Boulder Bubble" these last few weeks. It's something that we have heard people talk about and seen reference to on posters. Now it's something we seem to be experiencing ourselves. It seems that Boulder is a little world of it's own. It's quite difficult to explain the how and why, it's more the experience of life than anything else I think. Life is very laid back, for example you could find yourself sitting at the traffic lights when they turn green and sometimes no-one moves for several seconds and no-one beeps horns or revs engines. Everyone just takes their time and moves when they're ready. I think peoples priorities in life here are to maximise quality of life and you can really feel that vibe. I certainly hadn't appreciated the Boulder Bubble effect until I went to Denver last Friday. I suddenly hit real roads again, with real traffic and then crowds of people at the airport. I felt like I needed a large glass of wine upon my return to our little sanctuary. It's a good thing there's a great wine shop next to Andy's office!
Another weekend of discovery was had last weekend. We found a small children's museum in Lafayette which Steph loved. It was a couple of huge rooms with lots of role play areas set out, including a bank, a train station, a theatre with costumes and a food store. There were also lots of interactive displays on basic Science concepts. I was very impressed with the display for the water cycle and the one for demonstrating how the planets orbit the sun - Linda you would have loved them :) There was also a slide and small sandpit which Steph spent ages playing on. I suspect this will become a rather frequented place, along with the climbing wall that was given a second visit last weekend.
We also managed another walk. We climbed a small peak and were able to eat lunch with some glorious views. I think the walking part of our weekends is still giving life very much a holiday feel for us as the only time we did any decent walking in the UK tended to be on holiday as proper hills were so far away. It will take us a good bit of time to adjust to being able to pop out for a mornings walk up a mountain and for it to feel part of our lives rather than just a holiday moment. It's at times like these I realise how lucky we are to be here.
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