I don't know how many women would actually take the Hubby to meet their new love, but believe it or not, I did (shoot me now).
With my first extra-marital diversion, I should've learned when he wouldn't let me name baby #3 Liam. For some reason he didn't want me naming our child after Liam Neeson (oh, and you should've seen the joy on his and J1's faces when they came back from Star Wars Episode I--"Mom, your sweet heart dies!").
I should've taken the hint in Venice (my distraction #2) when I was forced to hold my video camera above my head, video-ing the shops (filled with glistening Murano glass) we were whizzing by as I desperately tried to keep a view of Hubby's back in the pressing crowds. "But you said you wanted to see the Rialto Bridge..." "Yes, and maybe a few things in between there the train station!" (We sometimes don't have the same opinion of how to travel).
But, I don't learn. I am afraid I am heading down the path of my Grandmother, who currently remembers very little of her life after she had children except in rare instances. She is living in her blissful years of girlhood with dear friends who have long since passed away. I keep scrap books because I know there will come a day when I will need them. I have an amazing memory for birthdays, your favorite chocolate or what you like to drink by the pool, but my memory is very selective about everything else.
Memory (or lack of it) is NOT what I am blogging about. Well, not really anyway.
I took my Hubby and entire pack of wild animals to London, you know, my new love interest.
When my husband suggested we go see this fantastic place I keep blubbering about, somewhere back in the recesses of my shriveling mind a little red light seemed to be flashing....
It may have been the memories of the great holiday I planned for the last school break the boys would have before J1 moved back to the States: a stay in a Bed and Breakfast (that was an actual working farm) and hikes through the Peak District--surrounded by breathtaking scenery...
Those photos are filed on my desktop under "Trip From Hell".
Or it could have been the reminder of the family camping trip in Carlsbad Caverns in NM, hiking under a bright blue sky (what's that?!) and wading in crystal clear streams--the highlight for everybody was coming home early via McDonalds.
But I didn't understand the warning I was receiving from a previous me. I couldn't imagine why I wouldn't want to go into a city (with a population of NINE MILLION people that sprawls over 600 square miles) with 3 very active boys and a 14-month Destructonator.
"London! I love London! You'll love it too! It's gorgeous! The kids will have a great time, sure honey, let's go!"
It's still gorgeous, it's still exciting and breathtaking and fantastic, but I took my husband (who's idea of a great time is figuring out why the Camino won't 'Force Quit' and perusing the latest issue of
Mac Format) and my circus act-- children that have to juggle, kick, dribble everything they come in contact with.
Now,
I really have to be honest, even if it does take the fun out of the post-- the kids were actually very good and amazingly well-behaved--and my husband, other than being driven to arrive there quicker than any other human being had ever entered the city, was well-behaved as well. But I wasn't.
I was a neurotic mess about getting separated from them and therefore snapping at them like a she-dog after her puppies. So sad.
The Hubby's first Tube ride, first view of beautiful London will be forever tainted by the nagging of the schizophrenic love-of-his-life (and unfortunately, I do mean forever--his mind is as sharp as my tongue).
Anyway, I saw
Piccadilly Circus (with all of the Theatres!) this time and the British Museum was great :-}
See me and three of the four wild beasts? We're on the steps. The Hubby took this one.
This photo shows you the complexity of the Greek and Roman Civilizations. They had psychic artists! This mosaic is of me--far into the artist's future-- taking her family to London. 
Beautiful Museum-- to the right,
to the left,
in the middle
...well, you get the idea.
Right now there's The Terra Cotta Warrior Exhibit from China, but the only tickets available are late in the evening and we have to rely on the Tube schedule and then another 3 hours' drive home.
But we did see the Rosetta Stone!
I did say when we moved here that I wanted to ride on the broads before we left. Every time I crossed a bridge in the Norwich area, I restated that goal.
Monday (Labor Day to you, nothing over here), we hopped on a boat and toured the broads. The first two hours were fun for the kids. 
The second two hours (I know, what moron sticks her young children on a four-hour saunter down a river?) weren't so much so. They were tired, coming off a sugar high (they had pocket change and the boat sold sweets) and itching to get home to kick a football around with their friends. But I'm glad we did it.
I'm hoping the kids will have selective memories.
