Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Jamie is moving... just like that one time on...

As mentioned multiple times to date Jamie has done the very adult thing and bought a house. Jamie has lived with her wonderful roommate Meryl for approximately 6 seasons, not including the college years. (I say seasons, not like seasons of the year, but as in television seasons in case you didn’t understand my chose of words.)

This is significant change in life “setup” and of course I can only think about if how it’s like on Friends when the roommates changed and it was referred to as “the end of an area”.
So without further introduction to my chosen topic….(because I’m sure you can guess now) Here are some of my favorite television episodes revolving around moving in honor of Jamie’s big move:
Friends:  Truly the inspiration for this blog, it must be first on the list. Rachel leaves Monica and Chandler leaves Joey (and Monica and Chandler move together). Monica and Rachel fight over things to mask their sadness and Chandler tries to find ways to give Joey money because he’s worried about Joey. The move marked a turning point in the show because until then the show had been in large part based around the original living situations. It truly was “the end of an area” (although the show continued for a few more years).
How I Met Your Mother: There has actually been a few moving episodes, because these characters have played revolving apartments.  But I have 2 favorites…The first time Ted tries to move out of his and Marshall’s apartment, Barney ends up stealing the U-Haul and using it as a portable apartment. In another episode Lily officially moves into Ted and Marshall’s apartment, which prompts an argument about the future of the apartment. Eventually Ted and Marshall do the only sensible thing and have a sword fight and Lily ends up getting stabbed.
That 70s Show: Perhaps one of the more important episodes is when Hyde moves into the Forman’s house. No matter how tight living is getting for the Formans, Kitty still manages to convince Red to take in orphaned Hyde when he’s got nowhere else to go. Hyde acts put out about the move since he was free-living until then… but ultimately he gets cookies and coco from Kitty which makes it all worth it.
New Girl: So nobody has actually moved out… but the whole premise of the show is Jess needing a place to live and she moves in with these 3 dudes. The second episode of the series involves Jess needing to  get her remaining belongings from her ex-boyfriend and it ends up with her three male roommates standing in the front yard putting on ridiculous hats and helping her stand up to her ex-boyfriend. It truly is a bonding moment for these 3 dudes and the strange new girls that has entered their lives.
Cosby Show: This one gets honorable mention, because there are many episodes having to with Cliff and Claire’s children either moving or not moving out of the house. But Cliff always said the goal was to get the children OUT of the house. He would be ecstatic if one of his children actually bought their own house!
Since I am so far away and cannot be part of the Jamie’s moving process first hand I have had to only imagine that there has been fighting over belongings, swords fights, funny hats…but ultimately because of television I expect them to meet up in the same bar/coffee shop regularly (never mind how long it takes them to get there).

Coming Soon: After helping Jamie paint  her new house,  Sarah writes a how-to about painting the interior of a house using non-traditional tools.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Kacey Misses the USA...sort of.

2 posts in Jan! Wohoo!! Well done Jamie. We’ve both been slacking quite a bit… so here’s a brief life update…

Jamie bought a house and still counts all the money, I still live in Abu Dhabi teaching children and after all her travels Sarah is attempting to perfect teleportation.

So I have been here in Abu Dhabi for 6 months now… and according to my countdown app on my iPad I have 140 days until school is done and I get to go home for the summer. (But who’s counting?) It’s not that I don’t like it here and can’t wait to leave… because I do intend to return a second year pending a lottery win…but there are many things I do miss about home. AND some things I don’t miss so much.

 
What I miss:
Obviously my friends and family, because no matter how many Skype conversations we have it’s just not the same. And you begin to realize how much time you spend saying “I can’t see/hear you” or “You froze.”
What I don’t miss:
The questions and continuous conversations about my career path and having no answers.

What I miss:
American television- the predictability of the programing, no edits for content, and watching it on a big screen TV.
What I don’t miss:
American television- specifically reality TV and all the commercials.

What I miss:
Living in a western country with lots of freedoms (especially for women), where I can wear tank tops without feeling over exposed, drink openly without the fear of deportation and having a frank open discussion about the policies of government and religion.
What I don’t miss:
Living in a self-centered overly divided country, where children fear guns at school, and people choose to stay ignorant about not only the rest of the world, but their own politics as well.  (Seriously people here know more about American politics than people at home)

What I miss:
Pork (and not having to go to a special back room at one certain store to buy it).
What I don’t miss:
Nothing counters Pork…I just miss it.

What I miss:
Football (American), college basketball and soon baseball.
What I don’t miss:
Stupid commentators (getting the information I am missing from my dad and Jamie is much better), athlete scandals that overshadow the sport and having near heart failure while watching a game (actually I do sort of miss that).

What I miss:
Rain, snow and any other form cold, wet weather.
What I don’t miss:
Living with grey skies for 9 months of the year; going to the beach in January is pretty nice.

What I miss:
Having a physical address and getting mail at home.
What I don’t miss:
Junk mail.

What I miss:
Snow covered mountains and tall green trees.
What I don’t miss:
Feeling like a slacker because I don’t ski down the mountains or hike in the trees every weekend.

What I miss:
Driving myself around and not putting my life in other people’s (sometimes not-so capable) hands in moving vehicles. Driving here can be quiet crazy at times.
What I don’t miss:
Having to take care of and pay for a car.

 
All-in-all it most things balance out (but certainly not all). I have become slightly more patriotic during my time abroad, although I find myself around lots of Canadians and gladly lump myself in with them rather than people from the USA… I love Canadians. (A love that does not completely spring from years of watching How I Met Your Mother, but it has helped.)

Coming Soon: In honor of Kacey’s birthday, which is also Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, Sarah writes a poem about Kacey entitled “Kacey as President Would be Babe-raham  Lincoln”.