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.