Olfactory Fatigue...Unfortunately Only in my Dreams

The little town in which we currently reside has a sugar beet canning factory in it. It's about three blocks from our rental home, across the street from Tesco (the grocery store, my favorite place in the world).
This week, the entire town reeks of beets. Now, for those of you who know not of my beet aversion, let me say this: I'm not fond of beets. Actually, I detest them. They are gorss. Travis does not seem to mind (He says, "it smells like...dirty bread.") Lego is similiarly uninterested.
I, however, see the town and everything in it in a sort of reddish-purple haze. Our beige car looks maroon, our grass looks burgundy, Lego has taken on a sort of cabernet hue. I cannot stop thinking about beets. They are everywhere, and I think of beet pickles, steamed beets, chilled beets, beet roots, beet sandwhiches, beet salad, and beet soup (and also watermelon pickles, because I associate them with beets...both were gross things that Mom used to eat out of a jar from the fridge during my formative years). All food sort of tastes like beets (my Red Bull has never had such a beety flavor), and the stench of beets is permiating my skin. As I type this, I am eating a cheddar rice cake and a mozzerella string cheese stick...both taste like yucky, icky, gross, purple, stinky, horrible, squishy, staining, gritty, grainy, DISGUSTING beets!!!

On a more positive note, we exchanged contracts on the new house yesterday! We have paid our downpayment and the lawyers have switched signed contracts...the mortgage is set and we're just waiting for them to finish the building now! The best part about the move will be the lovely new little village to which we'll be moving--quiet, calm, peaceful, and best of all...NO BEETS!!

The Deliciousness of British Food...really.

Travis and I don't see each other much these days, due to our crazy conflicting work schedules. I work night shift on a Panama rotation (work two, off two, work three, off two, work two, off three etc.) and Travis works 8 hour shifts Monday through Friday. With our 30 minute commute, this results in us meeting each other--by which I mean "driving past each other" in Tuddinham village on my way home, his way to work. Then, we pass each other again at the pig farm on my way back into work, on his way home. When we see each other in time (and it's not too dark to recognize each other's cars) we flash our lights at each other as though to say "I love you" in headlight-morse-code.

This last weekend, however, was one of those rare, lovely times, when we were both not working at the same time. Now, I'm still on a night sleep schedule and he's still on days, but if we stretch a little, we can be only slightly sleep deprived while we spend about 10 hours together. We had the most beautiful, lovely Italian dinner together (we tasted a new kind of goat cheese on baguette that was so delicious it literally brought tears to my eyes) and saw a movie, we went running (at midnight, since our sleep cycles get all messed up during these times off) and spent the weekend in general appreciation of each other and our time together.

On to more universally interesting things:

I am really getting into cooking the British way. I realize that this may sound terrifying--if you believe all the garbage about how gross British food is (I think that is one of those things where people say, "Don't try these delicious, er, HORRIBLE chocolate cakes...they're TERRIBLE. You won't like them," in order to keep others from partaking in deliciousness). British folks really know how to do sausage RIGHT. Travis and I had pasta with marinara sauce and Apple Pork sausages...it changed my life.

I've ranted and raved about the grocery stores much before, I'm sure, but honestly, shopping here is a whole different experience than at home.

Tesco is my favorite place in the world--it's the general, in every town grocery store, but it is my favorite part about England so far. Most of the store is "prepared foods," but not like you think of them in the States. They're all from within the UK (so nothing could have travelled for more than about 8 hours, max) and they're all prepared fresh (and deliciously), so that if you would like to feed your family something tasty and relatively good for them, you can buy a little Tupperware container of mashed potatoes (but actually really GOOD, fresh mashed potatoes) and a little baggie of mixed vegetables (but actually fresh, green, the-ones-you'd-pick vegitables) and a couple steaks, all for about 8 pounds (or $12). Then you have a great dinner for the energy it takes to steam pre-trimmed veggies and broil a ribeye, not do all the prep work! There's a whole different attitude about dinners and how much work should be involved in making regular ol, everyday meals. There are isles of prepared foods and sides (from many cultures and countries), so it's easy to vary our diet without having to learn how to make Vietnamese food. In fact, I have come to trust even their pre-cooked desserts. I can BUY a pie at the grocery store for the equivalent of about 4 bucks--that is actually good. It's not the same as eating a pie that Laura just made, but it is a good quality pie--certainly as good as a restaurant or friend who doesn't make pies with quite the dedication that the Boehlkes do. :)

However, for special occasions (or when one feels like spending a lot of time and energy cooking a great meal), the selection of produce, meats, cheeses, breads, etc., is increadible. We've been eating the most amazing food, for pretty cheap, and without me pulling my hair out because I have to start a meal from scratch after 14 hours of work on my feet in the hospital. It's a good system, that's all I'm saying.

Travis got Lego a new stuffed toy--his last one, George (the Giraffe) had zero ears, no horns or eyes, one leg, and his face was torn open...it was time. The new one (Toni the Tiger) is very large. I'm not 100% sure that Travis didn't get it in the child toy section of the store, it's nearly as big as Lego! However, Lego fell in love with Toni. He drags her everywhere he goes, though with some difficulty, as her legs are ropes that are anchored into her body, and she weighs quite a lot. Lego will attempt to jump onto the couch with Toni in tow, which he usually cannot do. Then he will try to jump on the couch, reach down, and pull her up with him. She's too heavy. Then he will jump down to Toni, pull her up, and puuuuuuuuuuuush with his nose and straaaaaaaaaaain with his neck until Toni is safely on the couch, where he follows. It's an adorable, exhausting process.

The house process is coming to an end!! We were originally scheduled to close on the deal last Friday, but searches and paperwork held things up a bit...we should be official house-owners tomorrow or Wednesday-I'll keep you posted!