Halloween in London

Halloween, as we celebrate it in America, is relatively new to England. And because it has fallen in the fall break for ACS, there are no activities through the school like there were in Duesseldorf. Trick-or-treating has only just caught on, and we only found about one out of every four households participating in this part of the holiday. But then we headed to my health club for a Halloween Disco for the kids. It was really well done. They had a DJ who played music and then led games for the kids. The nice thing was that the limited trick-or-treating and the party netted much less candy than an American Halloween. Maddie's teeth may thank us later.

We're all going to try to hang out and relax this weekend. Mom and Dad are about touristed out and leave on Monday morning. It has been really fun to have them here.

Mom and Dad and a Little More Scotland

Mom and Dad saw quite a bit of London while we were in Scotland. They went to Westminster Abbey for services on two different days. The explored St. Paul's cathedral and trolled some of the London streets on a really cold day. They even hit a grocery store--which is always a little different in any foreign country. Dad, of course, has loved the leaves and the turning colors and has also enjoyed the architecture.

Yesterday we all went to see Wicked. Skip and Maddie and I saw it last May when we came for our relocation visit, but Maddie has been asking for six months when she could see it again. And it did not disappoint. It's fabulous.

A couple more things about Scotland. When we were in Glasgow, we noticed that a large number of churches had been turned into restaurants and bars. When I remarked how sad that was, our friend Greggo told us it wasn't as sad as we might think. Apparently, in the heyday of Glasgow when it was filled with wealthy merchants the way they made their mark was to build a church. So Glasgow got filled up with "vanity churches". So the fact that not all of them did not remain houses of worship is not all that surprising.

And then the highlight of our time in North Berwick on the coast was breakfast at Buttercup Cafe. It was a tiny place and everyone else there was locals. They asked where we were from and hoped we enjoyed Scotland. The cook in the back kept calling out when scones were out of the oven. "Cheese scones. We got hot cheese scones." A little old lady sitting at a corner table came over to tell us that her mother grew up in Inverness which is way up north in Scotland and when her mother was a girl, her mother would pour the leftover porridge in a drawer and let it harden. Then they would cut it up into bars and take it out to the men working in the factories and fields. We all decided these must have been the first granola bars.

Scotland

The view of Edinburgh Castle from our hotel room window. Edinburgh (pronounced Edinborough) is a beautiful city. Really stunning. The Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle all the way down to Holyroodplace Palace where Mary Queen of Scots lived. Even got to see the room where Lord Darnley and his henchmen stabbed her secretary Rizzio to death. Can't really go anywhere in Great Britain without a little blood and gore.



Me in front of the special dog cemetery at Edinburgh Castle. Had this made especially for my dog loving friends. Since the 1840's, this has been the burial place for the mascots and officer's pet dogs.



Maddie and Skip at the top of Edinburgh Castle.

The neatest building in the castle (which for some reason I didn't get a picture) was St. Margaret's Chapel. It's the oldest building in all of Edinburgh, built in 1130 by David I as a memorial to his mother Margaret. She died in the castle in 1093 after the death of her husband Malcolm the III in an ambush. For years the chapel was used as a gunpowder store and it's original function was re-discovered in 1845 and restored. It's tiny, but still used for some weddings and christenings.

My favorite thing in the castle was the Stone of Destiny. It was the coronation stone of Scottish Kings that was stolen and taken to England by Edward the 1st some 700 years and only returned to Scotland in 1996. Legend says that it was actually the stone that Jacob laid his head on at Bethel. I think I just like saying the words...Stone of Destiny.



The Royal Mile at sundown



Maddie on my lap at John Knox house. For you non-Presbies, John Knox was the lead guy in the Scottish Reformation and a founding father of the Presbyterian church. I've got on robes like the ones Knox would have worn and am in front of his chair by his fireplace. I'm sure the idea of a female pastor would not sit well with him. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.



The pulpit in St. Giles Church where the Scottish Reformation began. The steps to the pulpit were roped off. If Maddie hadn't been with us, I would have climbed up to it anyway, but I didn't think it was a very good example to set.



Here's Maddie in front of a pub in Glasgow. It was established in the 1800's, but women weren't allowed until 1973 when a group of women stormed the place and demanded access.



Edinburgh street





Maddie twirling off the coast in North Berwick, home of the Scottish National Seabird Center



It is SO cold--even Skip is cold



The picture doesn't quite capture the beauty of the coastline.



The rock in the middle of the inlet attracts scores of seabirds every year. Sometimes it is so covered, it looks snow-topped


We had a great time in Scotland, even though we just scratched the surface. We hope to make it back there some day.

Scotland

After a harrowing trip up here that lasted about 4 hours longer than anticipated because of weather and traffic, our time in Scotland has been realy nice. We're staying in Edinburgh (pronounced Edinborough), but Sunday we trekked the hour east to Glasgow where Skip's college roomate Eric Greggory works at the University. We spent the day with Greggo and took Maddie to the great science museum they have. It was a fun day and much appreciated after the long travel Saturday.

Our hotel in Edinburgh looks out over the Edinburgh castle and is has a great indoor pool which, of course, is Maddie's favorite part of the vacation. They even have a WII video game system set up in a lounge and that's what Skip and Maddie are doing now as I update the blog and get ready to hop in the shower after a morning swim.

I am writing from Skip's computer as I left mine at home with my folks who are exploring London and looking after our bunnies and fish. So I'll have to post pictures when we return. Today we explore Edinburgh's Royal Mile and I'm even going to make Skip and Maddie take a turn through the house of John Knox, one of the founding fathers of Presbyterianism.

Skip and I were so sad this morning to learn that Anne Pressly died following her attack last week. We didn't know her at all and really hadn't even watched her on television, but it's just so tragic and frightening. It's also a reminder of how quickly life can change. We hope we are doing what we are supposed to be doing with ours.

Peace

Stunned

So I finally caved at day five of my headache and tried for a doctor's appointment. The clinic I've been assigned to opens at 8:30 and you can only call for an appointment the day of, two days before or a week before. So I started dialing at 8:35 and finally got through by 8:43 and they were booked for the morning. If I wanted an afternoon appointment I would need to call or come by at 3 p.m.

Dad and I walked down to be there when the doors opened at 3 and after waiting in line a few minutes, I had an appointment for 4:20. Walked back home for awhile and then headed back. Mom was going to be home for when Maddie arrived on the bus.

The doctor called my name at 4:25 and ushered me into a regular office (not an exam room) where she sat behind a desk and I sat in a chair across from her. She asked what the problem was. I told her. She did not take my temperature, look in my nose or throat or ears, take my blood pressure...she didn't even shake my hand. There was no sense of concern that I have had a headache for five days. She told me that if it was sinus it would probably go away on its own, but since I was leaving for holiday, she would give me a prescription for an antibiotic if I wanted one. She told me that they don't write decongestant scrips, so if Sudafed wasn't working...So after three minutes and no exam whatsoever, I walked out with a piece of paper for some amoxicillan.

Hope it's not a brain tumor. Nobody here would ever know. And that clinic is my only option for medical care unless I want to go to a walk-in center. Surely this is not the answer.

Headaches and Pumpkin Carving

Been behind on the blog as I am on day three of a headache. I have tried the pharmacist, the healthfood store guy, changing my diet, drinking tons of water, aromatherapy, yoga and today I go for a massage in the hopes that the root cause is a kink in my neck that I just can't feel.

Skip is in Poland for a couple of days and Mom and Dad get back from Ireland tomorrow. Their tour looks great. I think Skip and I may try to retrace their steps when we go over Spring Break. But first, we will be heading to Scotland on Saturday. I've got to root around for all our scarves and hats and gloves. Just a short drive north makes a big difference in the temperature.

On Sunday afternoon Maddie met up with her Girl Scout troop (the overseas division) at a farm to carve pumpkins Odds Farm. It was about a 45 minute drive from us, but quite the spot to pet animals, play on a giant playground and, of course, carve the pumpkins. I have had to spend way too much time in the car lately battling London traffic. Maddie's schoolmates are scattered far and wide, but even when they're close it can be rough. On Monday, Maddie had a friend come over after school and I took her home after dinner. It was dark and rainy and it took us 35 minutes to drive 2.5 miles. On the way home, traffic wasn't so bad, but while I was at a dead stop someone hit me from behind. It was pouring down rain and the end of day one of my headache, so I got out, looked at the car, didn't see any damage, and just got right back in my car and drove home. Am really homesick for the Little Rock traffic scene.




Maddie in her cowgirl costume



Coming down the giant slide at Odds Farm



Carving pumpkins with Dad



Petting stranger bunnies. Hope Rosie and Riddles don't get jealous

And They're off!

Drove Mom and Dad to the airport this morning to catch a plane to Dublin to hook up with their Ireland tour. It looks fabulous. And they're going to be in so much better shape than all of those Americans who will just be arriving from the States. I told Mom when she gets around parents who are bragging about their children, she can tell them that she has a daughter who braves Heathrow Airport traffic and lives to tell the tale. Actually, it's not all that bad getting there, but the getting back into the city at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning was a little slow going.

Yesterday, Mom and Dad took it easy and packed for their trip and then they stayed with Maddie so Skip and I could go out to dinner and a movie. This was MUCH appreciated as Skip has been keeping horrendous hours and we haven't had much time together. We wound up at an Irish pub near the movie theater (later we spotted a Morrocan restaurant and made a note to try it next time). At pubs, you can have food delivered to your table, but you have to order everything at the bar. They give you your drinks to take back with you and then a server comes later with the food. So while Skip was waiting to order, I had a chance to watch people in this pub. In the States, particularly in the South, we tend to characterize bars as seedy places where unsavory characters hang out and bad things happen. And of course, that is not without some basis. But this pub was clearly a neighborhood gathering place. People were waving to one another, greeting one another with hugs. Everyone looked happy and relaxed and at home. It made me wonder if any one has ever done a study on church attendance in a community with thriving neighborhood pubs and compared it to church attendance in communities where such establishments don't exist. Here in England, church attendance is extremely low. There are 60 million people in Great Britian and only 4 million claim to attend church regularly. But I saw the same kind of interaction at that pub last night that I have at any church coffee hour. Hmmmm.

Anyway, on Wednesday, it was rainy, so I took Mom and Dad to Harrod's. Wow! It is a must-see for any visit to London. Alas, Maddie will not see it on this time around in London. There's no way I'm taking the queen of "I want" to the ultimate shoppers heaven. Basically Harrods has many shops within a shop selling everything from Jimmy Choos to Christmas crackers. There's a chocolate bar AND a champagne bar. There's an entire shop that only sells items with the Harrod's logo on it. No community atmosphere here--it's every one for themselves. We also got to see the memorial to Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed. The owner of Harrod's was Dodi al Fayed's father.

Of course the big news here in London is the split between Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Poor Guy. He's the native and all the media are lamenting that Madonna may now move away from London and they'll lose their most colorful and famous celebrity. Although I must admit (not to benefit from the misfortune of others), the coverage of their break-up does provide a welcome respite from news of the US elections and worldwide economic disaster.

The way the "credit crunch" has affected us so far is that our trip home for Christmas has been totally rearranged because Delta has cancelled so many flights. We will be enjoying a nine hour flight to Atlanta followed by a four-hour layover before we can connect to LR. So basically the failing economy is inconveniencing us. I'm sure the people who are losing their homes to foreclosure are really feeling our pain.

Nana and Papa John Do London

At Big Ben--the bus is obscuring the view of Parlaiment. This bridge is not far from the roundabout made famous by Chevy Chase in the "look kids! Big Ben! Parlaiment!" scene in European vacation


At the Tower of London--where Anne Boyelyn and many others lost their heads. Also home to the Crown Jewels


At the Globe Theater--the original burned down years ago, but this is a replica and the only building in London with a thatched roof, as thatched roofs were outlawed in London after the Great Fire.


At Piccadilly Circus. It is said that if you stand in Piccadilly Circus long enough, you will see everyone in the world because everyone will pass through here eventually.


At Buckingham Palace



Mom can't see the changing of the guard, so decides to climb a wall

Dad helps


Her final vantage point


Some of the guard

Anne Boleyn before beheading

On Saturday, we visited Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn where she was courted by King Henry the 8th. One of the things we discovered about the castle is that it was most recently occupied by the Astor family, so the home has quite a history. It is a beautiful castle surrounded by even more beautiful grounds. There was a huge playground for Maddie and a water maze (which we managed to avoid as it was a little cold to be getting wet). The gardens were beautiful and will likely to be even more so next spring.

They've maintained a number of the rooms as they were and allowed you to get much closer to the furniture and decorations than other castles and palaces we've been in. There were please do not touch signs everywhere, but no real barriers to prevent you from doing so. Probably the most interesting item was Anne's Bible that had a note in her own handwriting. Some of the rooms have been turned into an exhibition about King Henry the VIII and his six wives. How irked must Anne be to know that pictures and histories of all six of the wives are now dwelling in her childhood home for tourists to come and see! Poor Maddie. It seems like everywhere we go, she learns about someone else who had his or her head chopped off. She's getting a rather skewed view of history for an American girl. She has trouble remembering the name of the President of the US, but she can almost name the six wives of Henry the VIII by memory.

We have been really fortunate with the weather for Mom and Dad's visit. They're about to get over the jet lag and we're having a really good time.



Maddie and Skip in front of Hever Castle



Mom and Dad in the castle gardens

They Made It

After an unscheduled 24-hour layover in Atlanta, my mom and dad made it to London today. Weather problems and Delta policy are to blame. Get this--they missed their international connection by 10 minutes and were told it is Delta policy never to wait on passengers if it means the plane will be late departing. However, after standing in line for two hours to finally make it into a musty hotel room at 2 a.m., and then waiting around all day for their flight, the pilot announced that they would be just a little late on take off as they were waiting for a couple of passengers to arrive. I'm encouraging them to sent a nasty-gram veiled in polite tones to Delta and see what kind of vouchers they can get for their next trip. Maybe an upgrade to first class on their way home!

They not only brought themselves, but they brought my new computer. It's just like my old one--only it works! I backed up everything using the Mac time machine and absolutely everything reloaded exactly as it was on my old computer. All of my I-tunes stuff, pictures and even my internet settings. Really easy.

I made bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) tonight for dinner. I've never made them before, but I wanted the parents to have an authentic English meal on their first night here. I also bought scones for the first time, along with clotted cream and lemon curd. Our guests may end up having a more authentic "English" experience than we do.

Everybody in my house went to bed early tonight and I've been on the computer for about three hours now. Between catching up on the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy, doing a little Facebooking, browsing through e-mails and even attempting a little bit of writing, I'm finally feeling normal again. It's clear I have a problem--much like an alcoholic, a smoker or a compulsive gambler. I need my computer much more than I should. Perhaps when I'm not living the ex-pat life, I'll attempt to address it, but now is not the time.

I applied for a part-time holiday job at a local stationery store today. I love it. The economy is tanking, but a store that sells fabulous things that no one actually needs is hiring extra help. How embarrassing will it be if they don't even call me? I would really like a job--even if just for a short time and even if it's just stocking shelves or putting price tags on things. I've learned that I don't really like being a volunteer (probably shouldn't put that in writing), and I'm certainly a lousy housewife. I am doint some writing, but it's nothing that's paying anything and it's a pretty solitary endeavor. And I'm tired of justifying expenses when the credit card bill comes. "Yes, that was the vacuum cleaner." "That was our tickets to the play." "I bought a sports bra there." I could really go for a little independent purchasing power--especially when my husband got the bill for his own birthday present. Uggg.

Tomorrow we plan to take Mom and Dad to the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. It was recommended by friend Nancy Hicks and when I checked it out on the web, it looks like a place that Maddie will enjoy as well. It's supposed to be a nice day, so if Mom and Dad can shake off the jet lag, it should be a good time.

Enlgish Stuff

Have really gone native with the purchase of an electric tea kettle. True English people can't be bothered waiting for a stove-top tea kettle to heat the water. An electric kettle does the work in about a minute. The speed of the kettle makes up for the time you have to wait for the tea to properly steep.

There's a new Simon Peg movie out in the states (the one about how to annoy friends and alienate people, or something like that). Peg is fairly new to the States scene, but has been making movies for years in England. See if your local video store has Run, Fat Boy, Run. It's hysterical. Not a kid flick, though if for no other reason than the language. But it will leave you rolling.

Celebrity chef Jaime Oliver is trying to make-over the way Great Britian eats. Don't know if they're playing it on the BBC-America channel, but it's called Jaime's Ministry of Food. He's going into very blue collar towns and teaching the townspeople how to cook and make healthy meals. The funny thing about it is that he's going in to places where people don't care that he's some celebrity and are, in fact, a bit annoyed by his intrustion on their eating habits.

Had the first compliment on my accent since being here. The guy who was checking me out at IKEA sounded Jamaican or from another Carribean-type island. He asked me if I was from the states and told me he loved the American accent, it sounds so friendly. I wonder if you are a laid-back islander type if the British accent sounds snooty rather than elegant?

Anyway, that's all I have time for from my post at the Park Club computer. Mom and Dad get here on Thursday and have been kind enough to lug a new computer across the ocean with them. Maddie is counting the hours til they get here.

A Rich White Girl's Bad Day

This is what a bad day looks like when you're me.

After having my computer at the shop for more than a week, I find out that there's something wrong with the main board. This is very bad. To fix it would cost a little more than half of what a new computer would cost and, in fact, the tech guy does not reccommend it. Apple will offer no help as my warranty expired 3 months ago. They did not seemed phased by the fact that their computer had basically crashed after only 15 months. So my channels for communication, creativity, American television and basic goofing off continue to be cut off.

So then, wanting further Yuppie punishment, I head into the traffic of the west London suburbs, guided by my Tom Tom navigation system, seeking shopping centers where I could find coordinating shower curtain, bath mat and towels that might possibly make a hideous looking bathroom somewhat acceptable for guests. I succeeded only in giving myself a headache fighting traffic and circling roundabouts. Still no bath mat.

My daughter comes home on the bus, makes a beeline for the bathroom and then promptly breaks into tears because she wanted brownies for an after-school snack and there are no brownies (just a note: there are rarely brownies). I suspect that the tears weren't really about the brownies, but have been unable to ascertain their true source. Soon the tears were forgotten as I unveiled the one purchase my shopping trip had yielded--a board game of Battleship. A heated match followed.

There are several items lost in my house that I have been unable to find, and I have ached all day following the "Body Pump" class at my over-priced health club yesterday.

I'm sure the BBC will be calling any day to do a documentary on how I make it through.