It's a New Year, journaling hasn't worked yet, keep hearing about blogs and decided to give it a try- I think. My only reservation is the rest of the world being privy to my thoughts, so we will see. Why Quaint Jackie? My imagination was not flowing so I borrowed a hint from my instant messenging name, and that was borrowed from my hubby Dick in the first place. 'Quaint' referring to being English in an Amercian world. It is quite a part of my identity here, being English in the Southern Bible belt. My accent is frequently commented on even now, when I am told I have mellowed out a bit. As I always say, most of the time it is a good thing to stand out- people remember me easier, especially when I phone them but if I complain or forget to call someone back, then they always remember it was me they spoke to! Just occasionally it is frustrating, for example when some people insist on telling me all about their English heritage at inappropriate times. I still get asked how I have kept my accent after just over 6 years here. I think it is because Dick is English too, and so we hear English spoken often. I often do tease Dick about his 'Americanisms' though, and I confess we both talk about taking out the trash these days instead of emptying the bin.
Having spent 4 hours in the emergency room last night with Dick, I am grateful that we have health insurance. It all started with a phone call from Dick saying he had fallen off his bicycle on his way home from work, and would I come and collect him as he was a 'bit banged up'? I rushed there and the first thing I saw was that I could hardly see his eyes- he was having a severe allergic reaction to something that was manifesting itself in his sinuses. All he could remember was having a huge sneezing fit after he 'woke up' having fell off his bike. 'Woke up'?? He couldn't remember hitting his head, although the scrape on the right side of his forehead showed he'd definitely banged his head. His first concern, naturally, was that the bike and his laptop were ok. However, we did not hang around to check them over, we just loaded them into the car- after he taken an anti-histamine that I always keep in my bag. For Dick to say he is hurting is unusual enough,...
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