Two Roads Diverged...

How rude, I know. No goodbye, nothing.

My blog is having an identity crises. It doesn't know what it wants to be... a travelogue? A Mommy blog? A Military Wife blog? A Craft/Art/Things-I-Do-With-My-Own-Two-Hands blog? A Bare-Thy-Soul blog? Which direction do I go with this?

The said blog owner is fine. Great actually. Probably because there's been lots of traveling involved (sightseeing!) and her good friend CREATIVITY has come back (hopefully to stay, she's been missed terribly!). Feeling connected again.

Don't delete me from your blog rolls yet, I'll get this figured out soon.

For now, a little about where I've been since we last talked:

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
 

White Hart Lane, home of the Tottenham Hotspurs. 

You may remember hearing about Tottenham with the riots recently. Plenty of buildings nearby are still boarded up.

 This is the face of a boy who didn't think we could beat them

 But beat them we did!

 This is at the end of the game as the players were clapping to us and we were cheering to them.

If the Hubby had taken photos when we scored, you would've seen a half-nekked young man next to me (who had ripped his shirt off, jumped over chairs and ended up in our row). 

A guy in front of the Hubby jumped down a 

couple of rows. No one minds, and

it's not odd to be hugging strangers at goal time.

The next morning, we woke up and had our English breakfasts (eggs, fried toast, beans, tomato etc) and drove by Stonehenge...

 Yes, "drove by". No sense in stopping a third time. Seen it, done it.

Drove some more....

I love Spring in England. There's bright yellow fields of Rapeseed everywhere and Claritin is my best friend.

As The Man drives, I fiddle with travel books and phone apps. I can't stand the thought of getting home and discovering we were right next to some special place that we could have taken a few minutes to go and see...
like how Chatsworth House was RIGHT THERE as we drove around for three days in the Peak District in 2007.

As we drove through the gorgeous English countryside towards our Devon and Cornwall destination,

we saw a sign that I vaguely remembered from somewhere...

We gambled, took the exit and am so happy we did!

But,
 I'll have tell you more about that incredible place later.

Here's a hint:

Sorry about the ads, there's nothing I can do about those.

Hope you are all well and happy and enjoying your summer.

Ta ta for now!

Dream a Little Dream

It's like that nightmare where one dreams that one has signed up for a college course and completely forgot to attend any of the classes. I popped onto my blog yesterday only to find that it's been an ENTIRE month since I last posted. How can that be?  

I blame Pinterest. Who sent me to that evil place anyway???

"What's been going on?" you ask.

Well, since you asked...

Terrible news. The wonderful photo editing site, Picnik, closed down! So now I'll have to actually use my Photoshop. Boooooo. Like I have time to edit my own photos.

Unedited photo from my garden

School just broke out for Easter Break, (although no one calls it Easter break anymore--even in CHURCH of England schools. Funny how the teachers and staff all wish us a happy Easter as we walk away loaded down by our children's paper mache eggs. Pssst, YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ANYONE with the "Spring Half Term" name).

Did I mention that Pinterest is evil? When I leave my computer today I am going to construct my own padded camera bag, a marshmallow trebuchet, some Peanut Butter cup brownies, and finally start working on my artist's journal. Key words to that sentence are "when I leave my computer today..."

Hubby ran another Half Marathon down in the London area. Because that's what he does for fun. I, on the other hand, did not even run to the mailbox at all this month. I was busy looking at how to dye Easter eggs with silk scarves on Pinterest.

Ok, obviously I wasn't there with him. I would have NEVER let him leave the house in black shorts with a navy shirt.

The youngest child finally succumbed to the Fifth Disease virus running rampant in our school (every year, every Spring). Supposedly you get it once and your body builds antibodies against it.
My daughter probably got it from her best friend who has been hit with it several times (as has her sister who is in my boy's class). Bless.
I used to say, "Oh, don't worry about us, we're immunized!" because I had read somewhere that it is a strain of the Chicken Pox virus (which the British kids don't get vaccinations for)...

Well now I will say,

"Back off Typhoid Mary!!".

Ok, I really wouldn't say that. I adore that family.

cursed with her Dad's sense of color coordination

My oldest boy and his wife will be here in 25 days. Not that I'm counting and booking every tour and several shows for my new daughter to do with me. She, unlike the Son #1, does NOT want to sit around for three weeks playing video games in the house. We're going to see Highclere Castle (filming sight for Downton Abbey) and a couple of shows on the West End in London. We've got a dance performance booked in Norwich and crafts lined up for whenever we're home. Poor thing has NO IDEA what she's married into...

I applied for a job.

It's a non-paying job, so is it really a job?
I don't think I'm getting it since I haven't been contacted and it's been a full week since I turned my "package" in.

Whether I hear from them or not, I am a better person for applying because A) I REALLY stepped out of my comfort zone by going for it and B) my being gutted!! disappointed about not getting it is actually a great thing.
After so many years of my dreams taking a back seat to my husband's military obligations and my kiddos' activities, I was afraid I didn't have any dreams left.
I WANTED this job even though it scared the soggy Cheerios out of me.

At the beginning of putting my "package" together, the voices in my mind whispered the usual, "I'm not good enough"s and "I don't have the experience they are looking for"s, but by the end of my two-day process the voices had transformed to: "Heck yeah! I could not only do this job well, but my unique perspective would be an asset!". 
Yeah. The transformation was into hillbilly, but the positive voice? That's a good feeling.

Until they call and tell me that I am indeed the bomb, 
well, I'll just start dreaming again...

What have you done this week that stretched your belief in yourself?

Problem Solved!

I no longer have to worry about the annoying bird waking me up by six am.



Our back fence-sharing neighbors have acquired a rooster... a really early rising (3am) rooster.
The squeaky bird at 6am doesn't seem so bad now.


Perspective.

 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, Warner Bros.

Which kinda reminds me about a conversation I had with the husband the other day.

"I have a confession... we need to chat."

He smiles, "That's the kind of thing that leads into an 'I've cheated on you' conversation."

Isn't it great how lightheartedly he approaches this? Does he think no one would be interested in me????

"That would be bad, wouldn't it! That would really suck to get news like that!"

Smile slips slightly, "Yes..."

"Or if I told you I smashed the car, that would be bad, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, that wouldn't be great news..."

"So in the grand scheme of things, you probably don't really care that I've been using your razor to shave my legs."

He thinks I'm crazy.

"I'm only telling you now so that you don't cut yourself on the dull blade."

In my world, that makes me a good, caring wife.



That stinking rooster is still crowing and it's 3pm. Surely he'll sleep sometime and I can go shout in his ear for a couple of hours. Do roosters have ears? Am I just bringing on something worse by posting about it?

Friday's Song

Apparently I will continue to wake up before the sun because of some dawn-challenged bird that sounds like the squeaking, rusting wheel of a tricycle.

I groan out of bed to face the usual tedium of the day... but wait, it's Friday! I'm filled with extra energy.
Lunches: three regular sandwiches (2 cut into squares) and one special order--which is insane since I have found past special-ordered lunches in the bushes outside and in the laundry room trash can.
2 kids will have cheese in their lunch boxes, 2 will not. They will all get fruit, but some have bigger portions than others. No reason to bid a sad farewell to the crackers since they will be coming back in the door after school.

The 8 year-old starts practicing his trumpet. His self-set practice schedule is as follows: Any hour.
I'm really beginning to hate the Cancan.

I start the load of laundry that I meant to start last night-before I discovered Man U was on the telly. I just want to watch them lose. It rarely happens.

I push the washer's start button. Grind, grind, grind, begins the drum. Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle comes the energy saving 10 oz of water (I keed), "Hey Mom, is my rugby kit ready yet?"

"Wha...? You don't have rugby on Friday."


"Yes I do."

Well cuss. Brilliant me thought I was Mom-of-the-Year by dumping out his PE bag Wednesday night to wash the cussing thing.

I point at the washer that has just begin to slosh muddy water up on the door...

His frowny face is reflecting mine...

"Can't you wear your brother's kit?"

I know it's pointless. How can two boys only 18 months apart be so greatly different in size?

Trumpet Player wanders into the conversation sporting shirt, socks and underpants. "I have no trousers".

"Seriously?!"

So my leisure Friday was spent pushing a wash cycle to finish in half the time, swearing at a dryer that kept kicking itself off rather than tumbling said Rugby kit dry, hand washing trousers and staring at a clock ticking away precious alone time.

There might have been a woman in a large people mover going a little fast into town... she may have looked a little perturbed that there were NO parking spots to be had at the school, but rest assured Karma bit her in the backside for parking on a double yellow line. The ding in the door from opening it into a concrete pylon will forever remind her of this glorious day...

Anyhoo, Happy Weekend everybody, it's Friday! Can't stay grumpy when faced with a weekend of lying in...

Wait, do birds take Saturdays off?

Britain's Got Sites

The Husband is happy to announce that he has no announcements to post on this blog regarding my premature death by treadmill.
Yes, I survived, and bless them, I had the BEST medical staff EVER (no snickering at me or making feel foolish for not exercising in a year). They were brilliant. Thanks for the moral support everyone.

I have ENGLAND photos to share!!

Remember, I am determined to see a lot of England in this next 16 months and even asked you all to suggests places for me to go.
Well, because my husband has a more exciting life than I do, we went back to a place we have already been, the midlands, so he could run in the Hell in The Middle race.

Our hotel and the lovely view:

oooooh, aaaaahhhh...

pretty...

We took a little drive out of the way to see the Iron Bridge because the maps and guidebooks seem to think it's important- including a little sketch of it at every chance.

The world's oldest Iron Bridge

and from the other side...

River Severn. Yes, the sky WAS this gray

Best part of their day was running up and down the curve of the bridge.

We didn't regret the diversion. The landscape was gorgeous. Coming from farmland Norfolk where flat is where it's at, I was so pleased to see hilly terrain.

gorgeous building that has unfortunately been converted to flats

a pub

 We walked around the little village by the bridge until the kids were tired and then headed back down to....


Cadbury World!

Look at the size of those chocolate footballs!

If you've been once, I can't imagine you would ever feel the need to go back again, but since Miss Ky was too young the first time and they give you so much chocolate as you tour around, we figured it would still be a treat for the kids. Well I was wrong.

Poor boy had another lesson on how competitive his momma is- I STOMPED him in Connect Four!!

Apparently there is a need to go back again because we all had a really good time. How could you not like a place where everything is purple?

The kids are pleased that for the first time in a lot of school half-term holidays, they will be able to go back to school and say they went somewhere.  

I'm just pleased because the week wasn't just about THIS:

Bless him. Isn't he a nutter? 

If I didn't hate running so much, 

I might've joined him for the one he's planning for November.

 
You've got to admit, this does look like a fun group of people...
 

Master of Ceremonies. Have to give the guy credit, it was -7c and he was walking around on the icy ground on stilts!

Yes, I did say -7c

Yeah, they're nuts. I think I'll stick to being the warmly dressed photographer of the group.