Random Thoughts

I know I haven't blogged in a long time as we have been off island and busy in the month of March. As I was thinking about my blog, I had many random thoughts to share.

We are gearing up for baby Crawford, 53 days until his due date! I like to put it in days and weeks because it seems to make it closer. Two months still sounds like a long time to wait. We just visited Pennsylvania and had a wonderful baby shower. We somehow managed to get back 4 suitcases, 2 carry-on bags, and two boxes. One of the boxes had a Pack N Play which will be baby Crawford's bed for as long as it works. We don't have room for a crib right now. Our house is small, so we are making due the best we can. We wanted to keep the futon in the guest bedroom/baby room for Grandparent visits and anyone else who should be visiting us in beautiful Bermuda. The most frustrating part of this process is paying duty and getting through the airport with your items. During this last trip in we paid $300 in duty, this included paying on all gifts that we received! While we don't have to pay taxes in Bermuda on income, duty always gets you. The government feels that you should be buying your items here to support the economy, and if you don't, then you are stuck paying 20% duty on all items that you bring in or are mailed to you. For being a resident of Bermuda we get $100 free each time we enter. While that is nice, it isn't exactly generous as I think you can bring in almost $800 of items duty free into the USA each visit. I was also looking at car seats at a store in Bermuda this week. The car seat I wanted cost $200 in the USA at Babies R Us and $350 in Bermuda. It is still worth bringing in items and paying duty.

We are taking birthing classes at the hospital and were able to tour the maternity ward yesterday. I feel better after seeing the ward, but let me tell you it is no 4 seasons! Most insurance coverage in Bermuda covers a semi-private room for your after delivery stay. A semi-private room is TINY and has two beds separated by a curtain. You also share the bathroom and shower. There are 4 semi-private rooms, so there would have to be 5+ women staying in order for you to have to share. We were told that it is likely you will get your own room even if it is semi-private since there are not that many births per week. There are two private rooms which you can upgrade to, but the cost is around $250 a night. We were also told that the babies stay with the mother at all times. The babies will be in the room all day and night for easy feedings. I like this concept as there is no need for a nursery stay unless the baby is sick or needs special attention. The mother and baby will stay for 3 nights or 4 nights for a C-section. While we are excited about the arrival of our little one, the birth process does seems a little daunting. I am sure we will pull through with no problems. The midwives in the hospital seem excellent, and I have heard the care is great.

My work permit has officially been submitted to immigration. I was told it would take around 6 weeks to hear back. I am not holding my breath on a six week turn around. When a non-profit submits a work permit application they are exempt from paying the $500 application fee. While this is great, I was told that this moves your application to the bottom of the pile. They like to process their paying customers first. I will not officially start my job until September, so I will have over 3 months with the baby before starting up. The job will also be under 15 hours per week, so it will not be too time consuming.

Monday was World Water Day and I heard a lot of good things about conserving water on Monday. Of course Bermuda does not need to push water conservation as much as the USA as we know if we don't conserve then we just run out! Since family and friends started visiting, two people have taken water conservation to heart. A shout out goes out to Chuck Wissner and Christian Beyer as they do not flush the toilet every time. Since visiting Bermuda, they have seen the benefit of the saying, "If it is yellow let it mellow..." The average toilet uses 1.6 gallons of water each flush. Think how many gallons you can save per year buy not flushing every time. Okay it is kind of gross, but a valid point!

We have now lived in Bermuda for over a year. I arrived in Bermuda on March 8th, 2009. A year ago today on March 24th, 2009 I wrote in a blog that Bermuda finally feels like home. We just finished unpacking our crate of furniture a year ago. It is amazing how time passes by so quickly. We are gearing up for another fun summer. A different summer with a baby in tow, but as the weather is getting warmer and sunnier, I cant wait to get out to the beach and play some volleyball. For those of you who are still considering visiting, summer is the best time. Anytime from June-October is absolutely beautiful! You are always welcome as long as you don't mind sharing a room with a baby!

Until next time...

Soup Winner!

I decided a few weeks ago to enter a soup competition. The event was called Soup-A-Bowl and it was a charity function to raise money for the needy and hungry in Bermuda. The charity putting on this event is called The Eliza Dolittle Society of Bermuda. I wanted to attend the event because the proceeds went to a good cause but also because you were able to eat soup all night and at the end of the event you took home a hand painted bowl from The Island Shop. The Island Shop is one of my favorite stores in Bermuda. The artist for the shop designs island inspired dishware, plaques, ornaments, and other beautiful pieces. All of the ceramic items are hand painted in Italy. They are expensive, so before this event I only had a small hand painted plaque.

Anyways, I entered the soup competition in order to hopefully receive a free ticket to the Soup-A-Bowl event. If your soup recipe was listed in the top 3 then you were given a free $75 ticket for the event. I found out a few days before the event that my wild rice soup recipe was chosen in the top 3 out of the 30+ entries! All I had to do was submit my recipe and the chefs at the Fairmont Hotels would prepare the recipe on the night of the event. At the event there were over 30 soups to try that were prepared by local restaurants. Then there were the 3 soup winners of the competition. I was up against an Italian Wedding Soup and a Banana Curry Soup. Everyone enjoyed my wild rice soup and in the end I was announced the winner of the competition! I was given 8 bowls, a platter, and a soup tureen with a ladle! It was an amazing gift that is valued at over $1,000! Ryan is the most excited about my winning! Ha...he said that if I won I would have to get rid of something else in the house to make room. That is not going to happen, I will be happily displaying my soup tureen where ever I can find the room!

For my soup recipe, click on this link and it will take you to the Eliza Dolittle page where it was announced that I was the winner.

Until next time...