Well today goes down in the books as another one of Ben & Ash’s Super/Ridiculous/Crazy Sunday Adventures. I’m not sure what it is with us and Sundays, but they have a thing for fulfilling at least one if not more than the adjectives just listed. Last Sunday was Ben’s birthday and amongst the celebrations was a Jack the Ripper tour, where we were guided through a walking tour around London where all the murders happened, during a drizzly and after-dark evening. Loved it.
This Sunday started off with a job interview in the morning…. for another Au Pair position, this time with an English family instead of Italian. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys I got fired from the pub I was working at. Well, fired/let go/a mutual agreement that it was better I didn’t work there anymore. There was a Brazilian chef who worked there, and long story short, he got busted by the Feds, so the manager and I both felt it was best I didn’t work there anymore. Anyway, I’m pretty desperate for a job now, which is how we’ve come to the interview I had this morning with the English family. Good news is, this family has 2 kids instead of one, which we established in Italy was a misjudgment on my part. Instead of being the entertainer for one kid, I’ve heard (as I have no experience to draw upon as an only-child myself) that when you have 2+ kids, they are simply entertained by each other instead of needing me to be the clown. So I met the family, and first impressions were great. One of the very first things that happened was that the 8 year-old daughter walked in and said “Daddy, you haven’t made my Challah yet!” Automatic plus. If he can make matzo ball soup, I’m sold on this family. The mother is apparently a comedy actress on television, which I’ll have to investigate asap. Beeeautiful old-style London home, very narrow and very tall. The top floor bathroom has a free-standing massive white (porcelain maybe?) tub with claws for feet, and updated stainless steel faucets. The girl and boy were watching animal planet, and when I asked if they liked animals, the girl responded excitedly, “Yes, I have FOUR!” I was like oh shit, I’m going to have to clean up after a hamster and iguana and who knows what. She took me up to her room to meet them, and introduced me to her four goldfish. So, I left the house thinking I may or may not get the job. They said they really liked me, and obvs the daughter and I were immediate BFFs, but I can’t drive a manual car, which was a big issue as they wanted me to drive to pick up/drop off the kids at- what Ben has informed me is- one of the most prominent elementary schools in London.
Two hours later I got a call from them asking me to start tomorrow. So that should be fun, I’m thinking. They really do seem like a nice family, and the hours are great too: Mondays and Weds, 4:30-6:30pm, then Th 4:30-10:30. The kids go to bed at 7:30, so for the next 3 hours I’ll be sitting in their 12-foot-high-ceiling living room watching their brand new 42-inch plasma tv. Not too shabby.
Around midday Ben and I went to one of the local farmers’ markets to pick up some items needed for the Sunday Roast we had planned today, which turned out fabulously. I’m serious, both of us decided our families wouldn’t believe us if they saw us– a whole damn chicken roasting in the oven, stuffed with rosemary, butter, garlic and lemon, complete with roasted veggies, potatoes, we even made a gravy from scratch. And everything turned out so perfectly, we ate the entire chicken between the two of us. Two complete non-cooks. Who could have guessed?
It also so happened that today marked only the 2nd time snow had fallen while being in London. The absence had been seriously starting to piss me off, because really, what a tease. Snow is the only thing that makes the freezing cold acceptable to me, that way it’s at least cute cold instead of just miserable cold. Well shit, did London decide to make up for lost time today. Luckily for us, a light snow fell right before we had headed out to the farmers market, and pretty much as soon as we got home, it decided not to stop. After our lovely roast dinner, we (I) thought it would be a good idea to go play in it. So we bundled up and ran outside, started to build a snowman and soon gave up and decided to throw snowballs at the W3 buses passing by every few minutes. We also tried picking a snowball fight with our neighbours, but the fools didn’t take the bait. Lame. After about 20 minutes or so we thought it best to head back inside since it was starting to fall pretty heavily, and we had a farmers market’s massive brownie waiting for us inside. Except then Ben found out that what he thought to be keys in his pocket were actually just his headphones, and we were stuck outside until one of his two roommates came back home. Both were out at a performance. So, basically we were locked out of our house, while the snow began to fall heavier by the minute, for an undetermined amount of time. Ben also neglected to bring his phone or any money, so we were pretty much f*cked. I would have been mad as all hell had the snow not been so pretty, and I was still giddy about it, I think both of us were, so it was alright. Also despite forgetting all the other things of importance, somehow he managed to have 1 cigarette and a lighter in his pocket. Priorities.
After about half an hour of waiting, to our immense relief, the kid who cleans the nursery occupied on the first floor of our flat showed up and let us in. He was momentarily confused why we screamed in delight to see him.
Since that random stroke of luck (Sundays I tell you), we’ve been cuddled up in bed drinking tea and watching W. the movie, which I absolutely loved. Watch it immediately. Now I’m sitting here writing this, and B is still in bed but now watching some Superbowl action, and he’s adorably way-too-entertained by all the foreign American Sporting action. I, on the other hand, am extremely bummed that we do not get the same commercials here, and I thus can’t be bothered to sit through it. Really though, the only disaster about today.
Other than that, it is becoming increasingly white outside, and according to the latest BBC weather update, ”forcasters predict the heaviest and most widespread snowfall for the past 6 years.” We’re keeping our fingers crossed for B’s work being cancelled tomorrow morning. There are more snowmen dying to be made.
