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Back in the Rock

Heading Home

Being picked up to head to the airport in about an hour. In that last two days, Maddie and I have hit her favorite store, seen Sister Act and spent a day at Lego Land. It was nice to have finished our good-byes a couple of days ago and to have her focused on all the fun waiting for her in "America".

Can't believe we're wrapping up three years abroad. We have been blessed by this opportunity and are also glad for the chance to come home. I'll have to talk with Maddie and Skip to assemble a "highlights" entry of our time here and in Germany.

On our final night in London, we got the word the Jim Mosley had died. Jim was my pastor all through my school years and had a role in our wedding. In the Arkansas Presbytery, he may have been bigger than Michael Jackson. I got to visit with him last summer and now I will make it home in time for his memorial service.

This a.m. I've got to roust Maddie to get ready to head out.

Hot Hot Hot

We got an extra fan in our hotel room today. It helps, but an extra window but be better!

Skip had a great time at the walk through on our house. Turns out it was an almost two-hour deal where they went through this ridiculously extensive checklist. I had asked him if he wanted Maddie and I to meet the people, and (both of us thinking it would be a quick thing), he said he would go. I'm kind of glad he did. Sorry he had to endure the long process, but after how unresponsive that same management company has been to all the problems we've had in the house, I think I really would have blown up if they had a problem with anything. I think we're in the clear on it all.

Oh, and this was his bonus. I had cleaned out the fridge, removed all the shelves and cleaned them--even put the acrylic door shelves through the dishwasher. It sparkled. In all of my efforts, I totally neglected the freezer! It was full when he arrived at the house this morning and he had to throw everything out! So he has had a super day.

Maddie and I braved the heat and the train systems and took an hour-and-a-half trip into the city. Living way out here in Teddington this week makes me so glad that we went for the smaller, closer-to-the-city house. We met Maddie's friend and her little sister and brother at the Museum of Childhood, where there is a special Roald Dahl exhibit and then we hit the Princess Diana Memorial Park. They had such a good time, in spite of the heat!

Maddie and I had to shower and change by the time we made it home after two tube lines and a train (all without air conditioning). They are making announcements and posting signs urging commuters to always travel with a bottle of water. We were so sweaty and dusty and gross by the time we made it home. We are going to arrive at my in-laws with a ton of super smelly clothes.

Getting There

Yesterday, Maddie and I went back to the house and let the bunnies run around in the rabbit run while I cleaned out the cage and got it out to the curb for pick-up. The bunny pick-up man arrived and took them away. It was only after I got all the debris swept up that Maddie began to cry. Even though I have severe concerns about how well the bunnies will fare on this trip, I thought I had kept those from Maddie. I told her that we've been away from the bunnies for a week before, but she's smarter than that. "Not when they have to travel, too." After she calmed down and I hoovered and mopped and cleaned the one shelf in the refrigerator that I had somehow missed on my first go-round.

Skip is going back today to meet the rental folks for a final walk thru and to turn in the keys.

From the house, Maddie and I went over to see her friend Ann and my friend (Anne's mom) Fin. We ended up spending the rest of the day with them and had a lovely time. Ann's dad was working from home, so Fin and I went to see the Ham House. Not what you might think, but rather a 400-year-old country home out in Richmond. Fin's background is in interior design and the history of decorative arts, so she knew all the right questions to ask. It was really interesting and probably nowhere I ever would have just gone on my own. The most interesting story was about the ice house. The Thames River used to freeze over and they would break off big chunks and store it in the icehouse and have ice all summer long to cool the wine for parties. This was back in the 1600s. Wild.

Skip had a late phone call, so Maddie and I didn't even come back to the sweatbox hotel room until late. She's sleeping in this morning, but will have to get up in a little while as breakfast at the hotel stops at 9. Today, we're meeting her friend Kara at the Museum of Childhood where there is a Roald Dahl exhibit and then hitting a playground. It's hot here, but it's not so bad outside (especially in the shade). It's the indoors and the public transport where there is no air conditioning that are so oppressive. They have signs up all over the tube stations encouraging commuters to keep water with them at all times.

I posted the following on Facebook on a night that I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd share it here, too. I think it helped.

So I'm in an un-air-conditioned, cramped hotel room with my husband and daughter. I can't sleep because someone is snoring. I have been a total Negative Nellie since this moving process began, so in my sleep-deprived state, I decided that a song was the best way to snap out of it.

Here's a little ditty I came up with. It's to the tune of "Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.

Wicked good theater and free museum passes
Finding a good spot and watching the masses
Big Ben, St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey
These are few of my favorite things

Big, bright red buses and matching phone booth-ies
Indian, dim sum and meals at Yo Sushi
Top Shop and Boden and Olive magazine
These are a few of my favorite things

When the rain falls
When the tube strikes
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Hitting Portobello and avoiding Hamleys
Friends from all over who treat you like family
Kennsington park on a sunny day in spring
These are a few of my favorite things

V and A blending of fashion and history
Fortnum and Mason for afternoon high tea
Natural History museum (love the building)
These are a few of my favorite things

When I can’t sleep
When the pipes leak
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad


There. That should do it.

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

Most of the weekend didn't do much for adjusting my attitude. Every weekend the Tube has some line closures or partial line closures and this weekend, the closures were exactly on the lines that we needed to get all the places we needed to go. We employed some round-about routes that included buses, above ground trains, unfamiliar tube lines and car services. It was really ridiculous! But tomorrow, all lines should be up and running. Whew!

Saturday, we went and did some last detail things at the house and checked on the bunnies (who are being picked up tomorrow). Then Skip and Maddie headed to the Brit Oval for Skip's final cricket match.



Free Face Painting at the Oval



the pitch at the Brit Oval

Then we attempted to meet up at the Ealing Broadway station to head to the Mulgrew's house for their going away party. But two of the three tube lines that go to Ealing Broadway were closed. We eventually all three arrived. And made our way in the rain (which came up shockingly fast) to our friends' house. Fun evening with friends, and we avoided the trauma and drama on the way home by just calling up a car.

This morning, Maddie and were going to try to take a combination above ground train/bus to church, but we got the times wrong and ended up having to call another car. Ugggg. Our Ghanan friends from church gifted each of us with traditional Ghanan clothing and I even received a stole to wear with my robe. Maddie went home from church with friend Christabelle.

When they brought her back to the hotel, they stayed and visited for awhile and we learned a little more about life in Ghana. We'll have to add that to our travel list--although Skip was a little put off after hearing about all the shots required before you visit.




Maddie and her buddy Christabelle



Me and Christianne (Christabelle's mom)

Negative Nellie

Good grief! I am in desperate need of an attitude adjustment!

The movers (who should have been done by noon) left at 4:30 p.m. They almost couldn't get everything in the truck. To my shame and mortification, they were stunned by the sheer amount of stuff we had crammed into our little house. I TOLD the estimator guy about that, but clearly, he did not believe me. Our family needs a possession overhaul in the worst way.

Then Maddie and I catch a cab with six suitcases in tow to the hotel near where Skip works. When he first booked the hotel, I objected to a seven-day stay at a hotel with no pool and no gym. He said we could change if I wanted, but that the hotel was really convenient to work. He's had such a lousy commute during his time here, I figured he deserved an easy one for a week.

So we get here and find that not only is there no gym or pool, the hotel room is small, un-air conditioned and without a refrigerator (to house Maddie snacks and drinks). Even better, the room overlooks the outdoor restaurant/bar area which means that keeping the window open (a must with no air conditioning) is quite loud. I have done well through two days of movers, cleaning out of dingy corners and cupboards, dealing with bunny arrangements and trying to figure out what to pack to bring home, but after getting to the hotel, I just had to have a good cry.

I feel like Judy Moody. "Judy Moody was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood." I hate being in a bad mood. It is no fun at all, and not how I want to exit this European adventure. But I am hot and tired and cranky. Thank goodness I packed the Tylenol pm. Hopefully that will let me sleep through the noise (outdoor revelers and indoor snorers) and tomorrow will be a better day!

It always takes longer than they say

It's one p.m. here on Friday and the movers are still moving. Yesterday, they only worked until 3:30 because they had to have the truck back in "the yard" by 5 and apparently it takes that long to get to the yard in London traffic. They showed up here at 9 a.m. today to finish packing and begin loading. They still have a couple of odds and ends that aren't truck ready, but they've started loading the truck. They say they'll be done by half-past two, but I'm really doubting it.

Zaklina is here totally scrubbing the kitchen and is then going to hit the bathrooms. I'm hoovering all the carpet and working on baseboards and window sills. Nothing too horrid emerged when the movers starting moving the big stuff. Whew!
I am taking a break because I've cleaned all the places that are clear enough for me to clean. Fortunately there is a vacuum that came with the house and we'll leave our mop and mop bucket and cleaning supplies.

It took me three calls to car services to find one who had a big enough car available to carry me and Maddie plus four suitcases and assorted bags to our hotel for late this afternoon.

We'll leave the bunnies here with plenty of food and water and hay and then come back tomorrow or Sunday to feed them again before meeting the pet pick-up people on Monday.

I liked this house much better than I liked our Germany house, but I still don't feel sad about leaving it. Will be glad to be back in a home with central air to keep the dust down and my very own bathroom counter space.

Just paid the balance on the cost of sending the bunnies over via Pet Air. Am feeling a bit queasy. Was it the pizza I ordered for the movers or the price tag of the bunny trip? Hard to say at this point.