O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We decorated our small, but festive Christmas tree tonight.



Maddie standing beside her handiwork



One of our favorite ornaments from Germany



Our newest ornament--a teddy bear Beefeater



We should probably look cheerier here. It's been a busy weekend.

Turkey Day in England

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night with friends Bart and Jessica Geiser and their friends Craig and Dannette Dunn who were visiting from Arkansas. Bart and Jessica's baby boy Caine and Maddie's friend Ann rounded out our table. Naturally everyone ate too much food and there was still much left over. I think I calculated pounds per person for the turkey, but turkeys in the UK are weighed in kilogram, so there was about twice as much turkey as we actually needed. We also had an overabundance of desserts. I received raves on my pecan pie, but I finally had to come clean and tell everyone it's just the recipe on the back of the dark Karo syrup bottle.

Right after we finished eating at about 6 p.m. on Friday evening, the Christmas tree that I purchased on Tuesday was delivered. Our guests thought we were terribly efficient to have our tree delivered at the exact time we finished Thanksgiving dinner.

We had traditional English Christmas crackers for each person. (I should have taken pictures!) When you cracked them open there was a bell in each one. Each bell was a different color and had a number. There was music included and so when dinner was over, we had our own little handbell choir and attempted to play several Christmas carols. If only we had a video camera!

Today, Maddie's friend Ann had her birthday party, so I took both the girls back to Ann's house and her parents took the girls to the party and then Maddie came back to their house to play for awhile. That let Skip and me have some time to do some Christmas shopping. Then we spent about an hour visiting and drinking tea with Ann's parents when we went to pick Maddie up. It was a really nice day. A cold day, but a nice one.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday, our very first think to be thankful for is that my friend husband was safe and away from the violence in Mumbai. He is due back here in London this morning. She may never let him leave again! It is just too tragic what is happening there.

It's always odd to spend a major holiday in a country that doesn't celebrate said holiday. Life went on as usual here in England yesterday. And that's a good thing, as it meant I was able to pick up my car. Am SO thankful to have it back.

Called a cab to take me to the car dealership and hauled my cupcakes and cookies with me and then drove directly from the service center to Maddie's school. I spent the next four hours helping at the German table at the International Fair for ACS. It was a lunch thing for the junior and senior high school students and the lower school students ate lunch in their rooms and then came in for snacks. There was all sort of food: American, Canadian, English, South African, Swedish, Spainish, Egyptian, South African, Greek, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. The most interesting thing about it was that there were very few "purebreds" at any of the tables. Helping at the German table were a German woman who really has spent most of her life in Germany, a Japanese woman who graduated from the same school Maddie went to in Duesseldorf, another German woman who has lived abroad (Houston, Kazahkstan, Romania, Moscow and England) for the last 15 years and yet another German woman who has lived most of her life in Canada. Several of the women helping at some of the Asian country tables aren't from those countries but have adopted children from there. And there were people like me who helped out at tables of countries that have lived in, but aren't originally from.

Came home and helped Maddie with her homework and started in on the cooking for our dinner today. My first pumpkin pie turned out really ugly, so we just had to go ahead and eat that one. I was following the recipe on the Libby pumpkin can and it said to cook it at a higher temperature for 15 minutes and then a lower temp for the next 40. In my oven, that makes the top bubble up and brown like the top of a toasted cheese sandwich. I made another one for our guests without the altered temp that is much prettier. We're also having pecan pie, apple pie (maddie's request) and little mini-mince pies in honor of our country of residence. Our guests are bringing traditional stuffing and I'm making cornbread dressing. We'll have mashed potatoes, carrot souffle and cucumber/tomato salad, bread and, of course, corn. I didn't think of the corn, but Maddie said that this is a traditional Thanksgiving food because that's what the Indians brought to the first one. They also supplied deer meat according to one of her books, but she opted out of that tradition.

Just put the turkey in the oven. This year, for the first time, I have the advantage of a double oven. Awesome. It will still get dicey when we try to get everything hot and on the table at the same time! Hope everyone had a happy Turkey Day in the US.

Let Go and Let God

Okay, I give. I'm tired of fighting it. Clearly, I am never getting our car back. At 3 p.m., they said it would be ready for me before 5 p.m., so I called a cab to pick me up at 4--giving me plenty of time to get the dealership, do whatever paperwork and still pick up Maddie at the late bus at 5:40. But no, I got to the dealership to find out that the service center is actually 3 miles away. They have a courtesy van, but it is stuck in traffic due to an accident. By this time, I was so fed up that I just walked out of the office without any explanation. But that was better than yelling at people who were innocent bystanders.

So I walk to where I'm supposed to pick Maddie up to cool off and her late bus is actually very late--by almost half an hour due to traffic (possibly caused by the same accident). Our friend Sonja gives us a ride home and I have a message from the service center to call them. Not a message that the car is ready as promised, but just to call them. Of course, by this time, they are closed.

BTW, Sonja's husband is in Mumbai on business and I just read online that 80 people have been killed by gunman in various locations there. I don't want to call her tonight and worry her in case she doesn't know this, but am anxious to talk to her tomorrow to make sure all is well.

I also bought a small Christmas tree that the nursery was supposed to deliver, but hasn't yet because they don't have anyone available to deliver it. Again, how this country once ruled an empire is beyond me.

The news of Ann and Nick Tillman of Hot Springs who were killed in a plane crash this week has me thinking of Pat and Lenny Segal who were also killed in a plane crash over 20 years ago. I have such clear and awful memories of that day, and at the same time, such great memories of Pat and Lenny. I laugh every time I remember Lenny returning a borrowed suitcase to crusty Dr. Bennett in front of a crowd of people at his retirement dinner. And Pat and Lenny always made the dinner for youth group for the first meeting of the year. It was fried chicken and this amazing cheese bread that I still have the recipe for. And then it's funny to remember all the ways the Segal/Evans kids ditched the wheat germ that Pat and Lenny wanted sprinkled on everything when they were going through that health kick (never mind that Pat kept a not-so-secret stash of chocolate). One of my goals in life is to someday be as elegant as Pat was.

I've got about 150 Lebkuchen cookies and 30 Black Forest Cupcakes to contribute to the international fair tomorrow. I'll get them there one way or another.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We all have much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving and other stuff

Am already working on Thanksgiving--even though we're not having dinner until Friday. It is much easier to cobble together the necessary ingredients here than it was in Germany, but it's still an American holiday, so the stores aren't exactly stocked with all the stuff you need for the day. The Whole Foods here really helps since it's an American chain, and even Waitrose stocks a special (and priced as such) American Thanksgiving supply that includes a pricey box of Stove Top Stuffing!

Last night, I made 70 Lebkuchen cookies for international fair German booth. Skip says they taste suitably authentic. May make another batch today. ACS is a nut-free school, so the cookies are too.




Some of my Thanksgiving ingredients. Cornmeal. Will have to make my cornbread from scratch as I neglected to have mom bring me more Martha White when she came in October. Cranberry sauce. Tiny little jar. Will need more than one. The biggest bag of pecans I could find. Need three to make one pumpkin pie. Mom and Dad have a ton of pecans in Arkansas that Mom got in Louisiana. If only they could beam me some.


I talked to my friend Mary in Germany this morning. Something she said reminded me of a conversation I had on the Tube about a week ago that I meant to share here. Maddie and I were coming home from church on the train last week and a young man heard our American accents and struck up a conversation. He had just returned from living in the States for 18 months. He traveled all around the country doing soccer clinics. He is back to finish up his degree in Physical Education, but really enjoyed his time in the US and hopes to return some day. He said he really enjoyed the sense of school spirit that American kids have. He said that kids in England aren't attached to their schools like kids in America are. I hadn't thought that school spirit was a uniquely American thing, but he seemed to feel like it was. Wonder where that comes from?

It is really, really cold here. I can't get Maddie to wear gloves to school because she says she can't play on the monkey bars with them on. Priorities. Gotta get the kid in a dance class. She's dancing all over the house. No ballet for her. We're hitting the street dance class at the Park Club.

Weekend

We hit the Christmas fair at St. Michael's Church in Chiswick this Saturday. Picked up a couple of Christmas presents and Maddie got her face painted. We planned to come back home, play with the bunnies and clean out the bunny house, and then head into central London to the Oxford Circus area where all the shops are decorated and the lights are up. Then Maddie and Skip decided to spend a little time at the park, and by the time they got home, it was really COLD. So we opted to hit the worlds largest urban mall for some indoor holiday entertainment.



Lots of people at the gi-normous mall, but most were carrying one or no bags. Skip bought a scarf. That was our contribution to the economy.




On Sunday, we woke up to a light snow. It didn't stay very long, but was pretty while it lasted. We played hookey from church. Still no car and the snow turned into rain. Plus, the kids in Sunday School are working on a Christmas pageant that they will put on on the 21st--when we'll already be in LR. Maddie does not like missing a chance to be in a play, so the next two weekends of church are not going to be all that fun for her. But I did just get an e-mail from the pastor asking if our family would like to light the Advent candle on the second Sunday of Advent. She'll like that.

We ate odd meals all weekend long as I was trying to get the frig and freezer cleaned out for my Thanksgiving food delivery. The grocery store I order and/or buy most of my food from is closing down starting tomorrow for a week for remodeling. Imagine! Closing a grocery store the week of Thanksgiving. It's positively un-American. Got the delivery today and all fits. Although I may have to find a way to get to another store or do a last minute order from somewhere else to get a few more things. We won't have Thanskgiving dinner until Friday night as Thursday is the big international day at Maddie's school and I'll be there most of the day.

I have come just short of threatening the people who have our car, and the guy told me that if my car is not ready on Wednesday, the will get me a car to borrow even if they have to hire one. I'm going to have to take about 200 baked items to ACS Hillingdon on Thursday, and I'm not hauling them on the train...or the bus.

Catching up

Wednesday, I painfully went about the business of running several errands around town. It was painful as I was recovering from the Bikram (aka sweatbox) yoga class I took on Tuesday. So sore and ended up walking back and forth into Chiswick several times that day. On trip was to pick up two prints we finally had framed. Without a car, I had to walk them to the closest bus stop and I thought my arms (already hurting) were going to fall off!

Skip was working late Wednesday and Maddie takes the late bus home from German class that day. So when I picked her up (another long walk), we went to her favorite restaurant, Giraffe, for dinner.

Yesterday, I was the "Mystery Reader" for her class. To get there without a car required two trains and a taxi and took about an hour-and-a-half for a trip that takes about a half-hour in the car. My commitment to the value of public transportation is waning the longer it is my only option. The good news is that, to get home, I just hopped the school bus with Maddie. She thought that was pretty cool. I imagine that won't be true for much longer. I'll enjoy it while I can.

The news here is dominated by the "credit crunch", the hijacked oil tanker, the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe and the Strictly Come Dancing controversy. If you haven't heard about the last one, Strictly Come Dancing was the British precursor to the US Dancing with the Stars and it's a big, big deal here. This season, one of Britain's most beloved broadcasters and authors, John Sargeant, is on the show and is apparently not one of the best dancers. But he continues to get huge amounts of votes. This week, he decided to quit the show as he feared he might win and didn't think it would be fair. The BBC received so many messages on its web site message board it had to close down the site for fear it would crash. Fans accused the judges of bullying Sargeant and called for all of them to be fired. Sargeant, clearly no dummy, left with his wife for a cruise the day he announced he was quitting the show.

As for all that's going on in Africa, we get much more coverage here than in the US because of our proximity and the number of African immigrants here in GB. The situations in Zimbabwe and Darfur and Nigeria and other areas are just horrifying. And the problems are so massive, one wonders what can ever be done. But I do have to give props to George Bush. Skip told me about a news story once where Bob Geldhof thanked Bush for all he had done for Africa, and I did a little research to find that under the Bush administration the US aid money to Africa doubled. So I think I'll try to remember Bush as the President who vetoed the bill to abolish the clergy housing tax benefits and who helped Africa. I hope he will follow in the footsteps of Carter, Bush senior and Clinton and use his status provide aid for the people who need it most.

The Sad Truth

I still don't have my car which means I have to walk to the gym which is about a mile-and-a-half away. So pretty much by the time I walk to the gym, I don't really need the gym. The truth is that you have to wrap up so much to guard against the cold and the rain, you can only sort of amble your way there. Now the sad part is that the thing that motivates me to continue going to the gym is that when I go, I shower and the change there. That is one less shower in my own bathroom, which extends the time until I have to clean it. Because the only thing I like to avoid more than exercise is housework. Pitiful.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet friends at a Bikram Yoga studio. The first session is free, so it can't hurt anything (except my muscles) to try it. Don't be fooled by all my talk of exercise. I don't look any slimmer or more fit than I did three months ago. It's a little disheartening.

Got an e-mail from my on-line grocery store that starting today I can begin to book delivery for the days leading up to Christmas. Thank goodness we're coming to the States. I'm not sure I could plan that far in advance!

The lights are up in downtown London and the many of the store windows are decked out New York-style. I'll try to get some pics in the weeks ahead and post them.

I'm thinking of going ahead and decorating the house for Christmas. Haven't decided what to do about a tree. Mom and Dad are going to put up one in Brodie Creek and help us decorate when we get there, but I'm not sure what to do here. Last year, I hung the ornaments on our open staircase, but Maddie was none to keen on that. May have to stop by a nursery and see if maybe a cone shaped topiary might fit the bill.

Fun Time with the Germans

Ahh, not so whiny any more. Have had a really great time with the German cousins--Joerg and Annalie who came from Lubeck. They got here on Thursday and I made hamburgers and french fries for them. Lovely people they are. So great with Maddie and incredibly kind to me and my bad German speaking!

On Friday, Skip took the day off and we took them to Westminster Pier to see the ubiquitous "Big Ben. Parlaiment." Then we all went up in the London Eye on an unusually sunny morning for great views of London. After that, it was a short boat trip down the river Thames to the Tower of London where lots of famous people lost their heads. I came home to meet Maddie's bus and Skip and the cousins went on to the Borough Market (where celebrity chef Jamie Oliver likes to hang out).

On Saturday, we all headed into Chiswick for some coffee and a light breakfast before heading into London to the Portobello market in Notting Hill, made famous by the movie of the same name. I knew it was big, but I was not prepared for the size of the market or the size of the crowd. The weather was unseasonably warm and dry, so that made the crowds even larger. The breadth of the merchandise available here was staggering. Some really cool stuff. Skip bought a 30-year-old cricket bat that he plans to hang on a wall somewhere.

For the afternoon, Joerg and Skip were heading to the Fulham football game and Annalie, Maddie and I were headed to see the Lion King. We were just going to get back on the bus we came in on and keep going into Piccadilly Circus and walk to the theater. But there was an accident involving a bus and a pedestrian that had stopped traffic going in the direction we needed to go. It looked as if the pedestrian was not badly injured, but we guessed there was some law that they or the bus couldn't be moved until medical care arrived. Police were on the scene, but no ambulance had arrived. Not to be insensitive to the victim waiting for assistance, but Lion King tickets are pricey and we couldn't afford to wait. So the three of us hauled to the closest tube (underground train) stop and got as close as we could on that particular line to the theater. Then we hoofed it (keep in mind one of us is a seven-year-old) for many, many blocks and made it to the theater 12 minutes before curtain. Just enough time for Maddie to go to the bathroom before it got started.

Wow! An absolute visual and musical feast. The Lion King was just magical. I can't even begin to do it justice by describing it. Maddie was mesmerized.

After the play, I realized that if we got on the train at the nearest station, we would have to change two more times to get home, so we decided to walk back to Piccadilly Circus to catch the 94 double-decker bus that takes us through the city and directly to the street where we live. The walk was about 30 minutes long. Between the market, the sprint to the play and the walk back to the bus and the short walk home, I guess we logged at least 4 or 5 miles on foot today. Maddie may never wake up tomorrow and Annalie may never come back to visit!

On the other front, Fulham won and Joerg and Skip and a fun and logistically unchallenged time.

Joerg and Annalie go home tomorrow, but we have all really enjoyed their visit.





Skip, Joerg and Annalie in front of Big Ben/Parlaiment



Skip, Joerg and Annalie in front of the London Eye



The Tower of London



Skip, Maddie and me at the Portobello market




One of the many booths at the market



The pastel houses of Portobello Road

Making the Most and Ear Callouses

This whole London adventure was really supposed to be more fun than it is turning out to be, so I've got to work on making the most of this opportunity. Skip is working ridiculously long hours, so he is not home much at all during the week. Maddie may see him for about 20 minutes in the morning and is often asleep before he gets home at night. He is doing a great job (and gets continuous feed back to that affect...effect?) but is worn out. If only he weren't so impressive and valuable, he could have more free time.

Maddie has not developed the relationships with friends here that she has in LR or in Duesseldorf because her friends are so spread out and extremely overscheduled. Most of her friends also have siblings, so after school and on weekends, parents are juggling to get kids to one place or another and there's not a lot of time to just play. We invite her friends over after school, but (with the exception of one friend who lives in the same town) those offers are rarely reciprocated. She still loves going to school and she has a fantastic teacher. We have been so fortunate on that front. And she just got her Brownie vest and we ironed all the patches on last night. She is really into that. I'm taking snacks to this months meeting. Don't know what I'll do about that if I still don't have a car.

It seems that since we've been here, there's some minor problem that has to be chased. First it was the 8 week saga of the pipes in the shower, and now, our car has been in the shop for almost two weeks. I can't believe this country once commanded an empire. Take note, America.

The weather matches Duessledorf, so you really have to pay attention to how the weather is affecting your mood.

And then, of course, I have an attitude problem. I grow weary of being the stay at home wife and mother. I even tried to get a part-time job at a stationery store for Christmas, but couldn't even land that. And I do appreciate the time I have to write and play the guitar and exercise and see London. A normal person would just relax into that, but apparently, I am not normal. I need to be doing something useful. Something that generates a modicum of positive feedback. A place to go where people might notice that I've had my hair highlighted and cut (it was two days ago and not one friend or family member has).

Okay, enough already. This is London. A fabulous place with infinite possibilities. Sorry to whine. These days, I should be grateful that one of us still has a job! Cousins Joerg an Annelie are coming today and we are going to show them London. They are such fun and we will have a great time with them.

I do have an ear problem. Our inexpensive German stereo is no longer working. And because of the icky weather outside, the lack of central heating and air and the hard water, the house stays dirty. You have to dust and sweep and vacuum a lot. And I abhor housework and simply cannot do it without some music. So I use my I-pod with headphones. The car being gone means I walk a lot more and, again, take along the I-pod. I little overkill I think, as I have developed a small callous inside my left ear. Is this a new syndrome that is affecting people now? Do you think it's dangerous?

Apologize for the blog-venting. Too early to call anyone in America and friends in Germany weren't home. I had to tell someone. I feel better now.

You Get What You Pay For

the perks of a private school.

Just realized that Maddie's lunch is here on the counter and not in her backpack. Last week, she ate in the cafeteria one day because she thought she didn't have her lunch, when in fact, it had fallen to the back of her locker. So I was worried today that when, she in fact, did not have her lunch, she would continue to search believing it to be somewhere. So I called the school secretary and share with her my somewhat odd and over-protective concerns. Mrs. Baker knows exactly who I am and who Maddie is. Didn't even have to ask what class she was in. So the school secretary is at this moment going down the hall to Maddie's class to let her know that she needs to eat hot lunch today. Seriously. Ahhh, the things money can buy.

Weekend

Still without a car. They thought they had it fixed, but when the garage folks took it for a test drive, the problem came back. So not sure when we get it back. Hoping it's before Thursday when Skip's cousins Joerg and Annalie come to visit. I need to pick them up at the airport.

Sunday, we train-ed it to church. It was remembrance Sunday. Here that means remembering all veterans, specifically but especially the ones who dies in World War 1. Tuesday is Remembrance Day. It's the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day. The story is that on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, the guns fell silent after four years of warfare. Apparently on Tuesday at the that time everyone in GB observes two minutes of silence while everything stops. I will be in the middle of a hair appointment, so it should be interesting to see if the stylists pause mid-rinse.

Everyone is wearing these little red poppies on there lapels in honor of Remembrance Day. Poppies only grow after the soil they are in has been tilled or uprooted. They can lie dormant for years. There is a field in Flanders, Belgium where a great deal of fighting occurred and there was much devastation. But all the traffic churned up the poppies and in the middle of devastation, the poppies begin to bloom. A poet named John McRae wrote about what he saw in a poem called, "In Flanders Field" and since then the poppy has become a symbol for soldiers who died in battle.

On Sunday afternoon, I took Maddie to see High School Musical 3. A fairly short bus ride takes us to the movie theater and into a much more urban area than our little neighborhood. As I was pulling Maddie along the crowded urban street to get to the movies, I saw all these other families weaving their way through the crowded sidewalks and I had to wonder what it must be like to be a kid who only knows this. A kid who has never lived in Little Rock or Kaiserswerth. I don't know that I know anybody who grew up in a city like London or New York. I have some friends who are raising their kids right now in big cities. The opportunities are great. We see kids studying art in the National Museum or going to see theater in the West End or seeing classical music played in churches all over the city for free. They have friends from different countries and cultures. All that to balance out the crowds and the pollution and yucky weather and the sky-high prices. Every place has its pluses and minuses.

It's has been raining all day long. I kept waiting for a break, but I don't think it's going to come. I called Skip to see if the dry cleaning he needs can wait another day and he said it could. So I settled in to do some cooking and laundry, which is the smart think to do here on a cold, rainy day since it keeps the kitchen and den area nice and cosy warm. When you're dryer is in the kitchen, you toss some clothes in it, some soup on the stove and some cookies in the oven, you create a nice warm place to do a little writing.

Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night

One of the reasons Halloween gets a bit of short shrift here in England is that Guy Fawkes Day hits on November 5.

Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

Though the holiday was officially on the 5th, there are many fireworks displays over the weekend. We hope to take in at least one of them. Maddie is helping me tonight to describe what Guy Fawkes Day is all about, as she learned about it in school and checked out a library book about it.

Novemer 5 is Bonfire Night. There are fireworks. And on top of the fire sits a dummy that looks like a guy. The dummy is always a dummy model of Guy Fawkes. They burn him in the fire to be happy that he was killed and he didn't blow up the house of Parliament. It happened in 1605. There was a plan to kill the King of England by blowing up the house of Parliament. It was called the Gunpowder Plot. But the plot failed and since then, people have celebrated every year.

In those days, people were told that they had to belong the Church of England. James the I was King and head of the Church of England. Some people who were Catholics were punished for thinking the Pope should be head of the church. Many Catholics were angry with James I because he treated them badly.

A man named Robert Catesby (who was a Catholic) led the Gunpowder Plot. He was known for being a kind man, so he was able to get people to help with his plan. He thought if the King was killed that Catholics would no longer be punished. The idea was to put gunpowder underneath the houses of Parliament and light it the next time the king was there. Guy Fawkes was chosen to light the gunpowder. One of the reasons he was chosen was that he was a gunpowder expert.

The night before King James was coming to Parliament, Guy Fawkes went to the cellar where the gunpowder was, but someone had sent a letter to a Catholic, Lord Monteagle, warning him to stay away from Parliament. And Lord Monteagle told a friend who warned the King. So the plot was found out. The King's guards found Guy Fawkes waiting to light the gunpowder. Fawkes was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Many of the other plotters fled London when they found out what happened. But it didn't take long for the King's men to find them and kill them.

Guy Fawkes and the rest of the plotters were put to death two months later. The King said that this should never be forgotten. After the gunpowder plot, things got even worse for Catholics. Some people even went into hiding. But today people are free to be Catholic or whatever religion they wish to be.

In the past, celebrations used to be a bit rowdier. Groups of boys used to fight each other for the homemade Guy Fawkes dummies. Some towns have special celebrations where people get all dressed up and carry torches. But fireworks have become a very important part of the celebrations. The powder that explodes is the same kind of powder that Guy Fawkes used in the attempt to blow up Parliament, and it reminds the people of England what would have happened if Guy Fawkes had lit the gunpowder.

Skip has a work dinner tonight, so I'm taking Maddie out to her favorite restaurant to celebrate the Obama victory. Since we're not in the States, she's not getting a sense of what a big deal this is, and I want to mark the occasion with her some how. I know that not everyone who follows this blog is celebrating, but for me, and I think for the country, it's a happy day. It's certainly, as the commentators keep constantly reminding us, an historical day.

People in London are certainly happy about the results, as apparently are people in our former country of residence. Here's an article from CNN. Germany

I'm sure everyone back in the States is relieved that all the campaign commercials, stories and headlines have finally come to an end. I do hope that the next presidential election doesn't go on for two years like this one has!

Now that the election is over, I need to start looking ahead to the holidays. I've just looked at the calendar, and it's all about to sneak up on me!

Wow!

We got up just in time to catch the last half of Obama's speech. Really impressive. Great to see so many excited about the possibilities for America's future. Great to live in a country where people vote on a candidate and not a color. Great to have a daughter who doesn't even understand why this is a big deal.

If Obama can lead a country half as well as he can make a speech, we should be in good shape.

Really, we're going to bed

Today I went to Europe's largest inner-city mall. It's just down the street. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. I don't even think we covered the entire square footage. There are several huge anchor stores and in between are chain stores from all over Europe. There's a champagne bar, a milkshake bar and even a cupcake bar. A grocery store. Scores of restaurants and coffee shops. My friends lamented that there didn't seem to be a kids play area, but that didn't bother me. I'm not taking my consumer-crazed kid anywhere near that place!

Grazia magazine (the UK answer to US mag) was set up in the middle of the mall and my friends and I got to be part of a group that put together holiday looks from racks of clothing from M and S department store. Then people walking by would vote on the best outfit. One of my friends won and walked away with a free purse. Too bad she didn't get to keep the outfit!

When not at the mall, I have been reliving the presidential campaign online with video montages from CNN, ABC news and the New York Times. We haven't been so inundated with the constant campaign messages, so I've had a chance to actually reflect on the term that Wolf Blitzer will use about a gazillion times tonight--historic election. How amazing is it that people who used to have to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of their skin will most likely see a black man elected President tonight? And if he isn't, perhaps with the election of Sarah Palin as VP, all those churches who supported her will let women into their pulpits. I have really enjoyed this election. I am thrilled about the excitement it has generated. Packed campaign rallies. Record voter turnout. Unparalleled Saturday Night Live skits. I think this election has been good for people.

I would like to stay up all night and watch CNN, following every little nuance of all the exit polls and following the votes as they come in. But Skip and I are hanging it up tonight and planning to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow to watch election coverage and find out who won.

Back in the Swing

Mom and Dad headed off for the airport in a hired car about 9 a.m this morning. It was really nice to have them here. I see by Delta's web site that they are somewhere over Maine right about now, and their flight is even scheduled to arrive a bit early. Hopefully their time in Atlanta will go much more smoothly than it did on the flight over. They will get home just in time to go vote tomorrow.

At 10:30, Steve the tow truck guy came and took the car to the dealership. They can't look at it until tomorrow, but said I could go ahead and have it brought in. Hopefully, it won't take long to fix.

To celebrate election day tomorrow, I'm meeting friends at the newly opened Westfield Mall. Europe's largest inner city shopping mall. Nothing says "I love America" like consumerism.

Maddie was glad to to back to school and had a new girl from Belgium start in her class today. She doesn't speak a lot of English, and I reminded Maddie that a lot of Belgians speak either French or German in addition to Flemish. So tomorrow, she's going to see if they can speak a little Deutsch together.

Skip could have used another week or ten of vacation, but he, too, headed back to his regularly scheduled program today.

Transportation Trouble

Wow, after our bus debacle last night, we barely made it home from church today (in the car) before the transmission on our car went completely kaput. We're going to have to hire a car to get Mom and Dad to the airport tomorrow and get the dealership to come and tow and fix the car. The good news is that, even though it's a used car, it's still under warranty. Whew! I wonder if we just have some bad transportation mojo? Do you think? Hopefully, we won't have to be without one for long. Thank goodness for warranties, school buses and online grocery shopping!

In other good news out of bad, I got in touch with the bus pass people and they were able to cancel the card I lost and transfer the balance to the new card they're sending me in the mail. I couldn't believe no money was lost on that one.

Maddie is at our neighborhood park with Nana and Papa John. She wanted them to stay another week, but understands that they need to get back.


Here's a link to an article that appeared in the London Times this Saturday. I think makes a commentary on two things: how easily we get go along with things politicians say because they give good sound bits and how difficult it is to BE a politician because someone is going to take issue with whatever it is you say. Palin Wrong to let Fly.






Maddie jamming with friend Megan at the Park Club's Halloween Disco party



Mom in front of one of London's endangered phone booths.

The Glamorous Ex-Pat Life

Ahhh, the excitement and glamour of living in a big European city. Mom and Dad said they would keep Maddie tonight, so Skip and I headed out in the rain and cold to go to dinner and a movie. We walked down to the end of our street to catch the 94 bus. And it doesn't come. Doesn't come. Doesn't come. And it's raining. Oh, wait. Here is the 272. It will take us to the movie theater, too. The route is a bit longer than the 94, but at least we won't be standing in the rain. As we get on the bus, I realize that I have dropped my bus pass somewhere along the walk to the stop, so I dig up two pounds for the trip and make a note to cancel my pass when we get home.

My dad gets out in the rain to see if he can find the pass, but to no avail.

Traffic is awful. The bus crawls through the streets before stopping well before our destination at the East Acton stop and announces that this bus terminates here. So we get off in the rain and wait for another 272 bus, which comes in about 20 minutes. So, off we go, into more traffic. When the bus gets stuck in traffic just shy of a stop and as passengers get impatient, one braniac hits the emergency exit button so he can get off. That makes the driver have to turn the bus off for a couple of minutes to get the door to re-set. Then after about two more stops, the driver informs us that everyone will have to get off at the next stop and he will not be going all the way to Shepherds Bush (our destination). We get off with all the other angry travelers and wait for ANY bus that will get us to Shepherds Bush. Turns out to be the 283.

The movie theater is probably about three miles from our house and it took us over an hour-and-a-half door to door to get there. At least dinner and the movie were good and we when we came out it was no longer raining. Woo Hoo! After about a 15 minute wait for the 94, we head home.

When I log onto the London site where I manage my bus pass, I can't log in. My password or user name is incorrect. So I get them to e-mail me my user name. It's the one I used. I ask them to e-mail me a new password. I use the correct user name and this new password that I've just been sent, but still, I can't access my account. And no one is available by phone until 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Ahhh, life in the big city. Lots of fun to be had, but you better be willing to work for it!