My new site is up

I have moved to hiromistone.com.  Here you can find my blog, cooking classes and translation info all in one place.  I  would love your feedback.  Come visit me and leave me comments. 

Recharging batteries

Every year, my family meets up in Hawaii.  We have been getting together like this probably for the better part of 20 years.  My kids have gotten to know their cousins even though we have never lived close by.  My parents get to see all the grand kids at the same time and I get to spend time in a place I love.  I have also had the pleasure of seeing my nephews grow up into thoughtful, funny people who are also great athletes. 

When I was younger and the kids were little, the entire vacation was spent "doing".  We'd have activities for the kids, pool, beach, museum, something to keep them occupied as well as the futile attempts to get them to nap.  My parents were younger too so came with us on a lot of the outings.  Then everyone got a little older and the pace slowed, there was less activity, kids wanted to sleep all the time and my parents wanted to sit more.

I think this year, we may have entered a new phase.  The kids are grown ups now, capable of doing things on their own and familiar enough with the city that I don't worry.  Their cousin drives too, which adds a whole new dimension to their activity.  

For me, it's been a welcome change from the extremely hectic life I lead at home.  There's nothing to do but hang out and enjoy my family.  Of course it is a multi generational family vacation, there are tensions and a fair amount of negotiating and coordinating before things happen, but I think our days of getting together like this are numbered as the children begin their lives away from us and my parents become less mobile.  

So I grab a little me time before anyone wakes up and go walking on the beach.  Then the rest of the day unfolds in a leisurely fashion, where does the time go?  Before you know it, it will be time to go home and resume my life. I hope to remember with gratitude the warmth, fun and aggravation that is my family.

Teething pains

I have been wanting to consolidate my cooking and blogging under one roof for awhile now.  It was also recommended that I buy my own domain and pay for hosting.  That was the easy part.  So now what?  I managed to get my posts moved over, come up with some tabs, decided there should be a tab on translating as long as I'm at it, then the problems started.  It turns out that if you have a non methodical mind, these things are very hard to comprehend, let alone navigate.  Who said this blogging software was easy and anyone could do it?  I couldn't figure out how to add photos, I could upload them, but the same stupid tree that came with the template just wouldn't leave.  And that was just the beginning.

So I decided that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay someone.  Now for those of you who've read my Scammed Again post know that paying people online has not worked out that well for me lately.  So an anxious few days ensued when I realized that I was going to have to pay this so far very reasonable and friendly person my internet budget.  It seems to have worked out, and I think we are on our way.

What this whole exercise has made me realize is that I am heading towards branding myself.  Now, I've heard all that talk about personal branding and I always thought it was hooey.  But, now it is starting to make sense to bring all the different things together under one label.  Maybe there should be a tab for Dress for Success?  I have volunteered there for 4 years and it is very much a part of my life.  While I don't think that I need to share my entire life with the internet world, maybe there's information that I can share which would be of actual interest to people.

I'm planning to give it some thought over my holiday and hopefully come up with some decent content.  I need to work out a schedule for my autumn classes and maybe even do a bit of marketing.

My next post will probably be about what a relaxing time I'm having.  Fingers crossed.

Oh, by the way, I just signed up to participate in the second Underground Gourmet farmer's market. in September.  I will be doing a demonstration and potentially selling some stuff.  I think I took a monumental step doing this, but as with most of my decisions, I didn't think that much about it, it felt right.  So I hope everything comes together, I'm not sure I have any time to be lounging around on the beach.

A great weekend

The kids and I went to Prague to visit hubby last weekend.  He's been there for about a month now, lured by an interesting new job and a chance to live in a new city, and  I thought I was the one with the wanderlust.  I've stayed behind in London and so began our commuting marriage.  With a daughter at uni and a son just graduated high school, I feel like our days of family trips are numbered.  And so it was that the four of us had a wonderful weekend in the blazing heat of Prague, exploring and discovering a new place together.

We walked 10km on Saturday, just seeing the sights.  Prague is a small enough city so that it is easy to get around on foot in the touristy parts.  We climbed the 208 steps up to Prague castle, toured the cathedral and bought the most expensive bottles of water ever.  I took some arty shots of the cathedral, here is one.

No holiday for us is complete without lots of eating, and this was no exception.  We tried local Czech cuisine, a little hearty in 30 degree heat but still great, Chinese, Italian and even Mexican (I opted to sleep and skipped that expedition).

But mostly we enjoyed spending time with each other.  I am so proud of my kids, how they noticed and appreciated the gorgeous architecture, the enthusiasm they showed for getting to know a new city and the ability to embrace new experiences.  They have matured into thoughtful interesting young people and I love knowing them.  Okay, enough mom gushing, I'll talk about something else now.

All too soon, we were back at the airport, saying good bye to hubby/dad.  We'll all be together again in 2 weeks time, in a different city.

Beginnings and endings

Looking back on the first half of this year (okay, it's a little over half) I've noticed that this year has been full of beginnings and endings.  I thought I would recap some of them to see if I can see a pattern.

Hubby took a job in another country, thus ending a period of self employment.  It is also the beginning of a commuting marriage although so far he's doing most of the commuting.  It is only a 1 hour time difference but still makes communicating a bit tricky.  

I started teaching cooking classes at home which signals the end of many years of raising children and thinking up crazy schemes.  It turns out that the simplest idea is the easiest to launch, go figure.  

Because I am such a great time waster, I have also started doing translating work.  The deadlines force me to plan my time, something of an alien concept for me.

My son graduated from senior school, or high school to those outside the UK.  We went to the ceremony, got a glimpse of what his life has been like the last 5 years and loved that he has made such great friends.  He is home now for a gap year after having been away at school.  I'm sure this will take some adjusting on both sides, but I am looking forward to it. 

My daughter finished her first year at uni and is moving into a house for the autumn.  She will really have an address that has nothing to do with home.  

I began a new exercise regime.  Now this is brand new.  I had joined a gym last year when I overhauled my eating to get into shape.  I was lucky enough to meet up with a great personal trainer who really knew his stuff.  But the gym itself wasn't great and it became harder to get to once we moved.  I realized that for the last couple of months I was only going to the gym to see him.  So it was a waste from both a financial and fitness perspective.  Then a new gym opened in my neighbourhood.  I had been watching it being built for months, since it is so close to my flat.  But when I told my son it said it was a mixed martial arts gym, he said to me, "that's cage fighting, mom".  Well that didn't seem at all like the kind of place I belonged.  But when they finally opened, I went on their website and saw they had classes for women.  I 

e mailed them basically saying that I am a 51 year old female, is this the gym for me figuring I would either get no reply or a polite this is for hard core athletes kind of answer.  Instead, I got a very friendly e mail back inviting me to come down and have a look around.  

To make a long story short, I went, I saw and I took my first boxing class.  It was lots of fun, the instructor was very patient and nice and made sure I was doing things correctly.  Everyone on staff has been really nice too.  Now I have no interest in doing any mixed martial arts, but I understand how the training could be really beneficial even for someone who doesn't want to stomp on the other guy.  Since all the classes are included in the membership, I plan to take advantage of it as long as my body holds out.  Who knows, I may finally shed some of the fat that's been covering my muscles for decades.

So I guess it's a big transition year for me, this blog is a new thing too.  I've been in contact with lots of different people through this blog and am following some truly fun blogs.  There are lots of talented people out there.

I hope the rest of the year is as action packed as the first half.  Stay tuned.

Me and my computer

photo: http://www.ehs.net/info.htm

I am sitting in front of my computer for the first time since Friday evening.  Now, that may not seem like a long time for you but it is ages for me.  If I am home, I am never far from my computer. It's not that I get that many e mails or have that much to research, but there always seems to be something I can do.  Let's face it, it's a habit.  So on Friday evening, when a computer whiz suggested that I needed to reload my operating system, I blithely said yes without really thinking through the consequences.  Well, what followed was about 36 hours of being without a computer, more accurately, the internet while hubby figured out where the wireless modem was which is supposed to be there at start up.  

On Friday evening, I was seriously stressed out about it, thinking about all the things that I had forgotten to back up before he blew up my computer.  Then, I thought, it's a brand new start.  Do I really need the 5 years worth of data and other programmes that I no longer run on my computer?  So I just decided to approach this as having gotten a brand new machine and instantly felt better.  

I have an online back up system which I have yet to access so I'm not sure that my data is all recoverable.  But I have already learned that what I thought was absolutely essential for my computing life turns out not to be.  Just old patterns that were familiar and therefore felt essential.  

I'm sure there are many aspects of my life to which I can apply the same principle.  Hmm, I wonder what I should blow up next?

Real estate bug

We have lived in 6 properties in 8 years since moving to London. So for the first couple of years, it seemed like I was always looking for a place to live.  I've looked at both rentals and sales in a lot of different neighbourhoods.  Everyone has different definitions of a desirable place to live.  I tend to value hubs where many different tubes and buses converge, very convenient for getting around but not necessarily the prettiest neighbourhood. The amenities that many people look for, like a park and quiet streets, are not as important to me as the ability to get places quickly.  My list of requirements has been honed over the many searches we have done.  But there comes a time in every search when you have to decide what you are willing to compromise on.  That too changes depending on your circumstances and time of life.

When we first moved here, the priority was finding a place where I could walk both children to school even though I had picked schools in different neighbourhoods.  That was a "location above all" house and it worked very well for that which was the most I could say for it. The only thing I remember about that house was darkness and it was so small, half our stuff was in storage.  We rectified that with the next house where we had lots of light and lots of space.  The trade off?  20 minutes further from things.  20 minutes may not seem like a lot, but in London that 20 minutes could easily be an hour depending on traffic or tube reliability.  That's when I realized that I could not be at the mercy of a capricious tube line and a single congested road to get from the centre of town to home.

So after we were done with that house, we decided to buy so we could stop moving.  That involved being in temporary accommodation while we looked for something to buy.  Well, what started off as a three month let in a tiny, dark but incredibly convenient flat turned into 8 months.  Since it was meant to be a short let, most of our things were in storage including clothes. It was a boring winter from a clothing standpoint, you can't replace your entire wardrobe when you know it's sitting in storage.  I think it was a reaction to living in such cramped quarters that we ended up buying our first place in London.  It was a bit oversized but I loved it.  It still wasn't great from a light perspective, it had one sunny room where I spent a lot of time.  It had a lot going for it, location, space and services.  When it was time to move on from there, once again we ended up in a rental, this time big enough that we didn't need to rent extra storage.  Instead, we lived for 14 months with random stacks of boxes in the flat, hardly relaxing. We should have learned from the last time but once again, what we thought would be a short rental turned into 14 months while we looked for, then renovated our current place.

I love the place we are in now, it combines my must haves, light, space and convenience.  I feel like we've hit the jackpot, the compromises I have made have been very minor.  Having laid out the space ourselves, it works with the way we live.  I understand now why people build their own houses, it is very pleasant to live in a space designed for your life.  But I can understand when we go and sell it, that the next people will find it not as convenient and they won't love it as much as we do until they've moved some things around.  I hope I don't take it personally when that happens.

During our many years of looking, I have developed a fascination for property, the way people live in them and how much of their emotions are tied up in it.  I remember a place we almost bought that was just lovely until the survey came back.  When we brought it up with the owners, they were incredulous since they had lived there for 23 years and never noticed any of the things that were red flagged.  The longest I've ever lived in a house I've owned is 4 years and still I could no longer see all the things that needed doing that was obvious to an outsider, so I can imagine what it would have been like after 20 years.

I subscribe to many property websites that e mail me with updates when new properties come on the market fitting my parameters.  Even now, more than a year after we bought our place, I can't bring myself to unsubscribe.  I live vicariously through the listings, looking at floorplans, thinking about how I would redo the space to suit me.  I saw a listing the other day where a house had been overdeveloped with a price tag to match.  I remember looking at it thinking it was probably done by first timers who got carried away and overspent and now they have to ask this outrageous price so they could at least break even.  Have they never watched Property Ladder?  I would love to have the opportunity to try it myself, I'm not sure I would be any better but it would be fun to try.  But since I didn't win the roll over jackpot on Saturday, I'll have to content myself with doing over floorplans virtually for now.