The Greatest Day

Today this could be the greatest day of our lives
Before it all ends, before we run out of time
Watch the world come alive tonight

Tonight this could be the greatest night of our lives
Let’s make a new start,
The future is ours to find
Can you see it, can you see it in my eyes
Can you feel it now, can you hold it in your arms tonight

- The Greatest Day by Take That

It's here! He's here! As I type, it's five hours until the big moment. Owen is home with a cold today so he and I will be on the couch watching the inauguration and then I will sprint to pick up Evan and Finn and sprint home to watch some more.

My Posse

Hey all you ClanMcCarter readers - I want YOU to become part of my posse! You need to sign up for a Google account and all you need is your email address and password. If you don't have a Google account, the easiest way to sign up is to make a comment on one of the posts in this blog and it will ask you to sign in and it's very self-explanatory. Then once you're signed up with your Google account, click on the area on the left where it says "Follow this blog" and Bingo! you're done.

In the Writing Mood

I am in the mood to write today so I thought I'd jot down some things that have been swimming in my head. A very good friend of ours from Louisiana, Sonny DeVillier, sent me an email this morning about elegant insults. One stood out for me as something I hope no one can ever say about my children or myself. But let me preface this by saying that when the kids were little, my guys used (and still do use) "big words" when they spoke because I really tried to use "big words" when I spoke to them and being a linguist, words are important to me. Friends always commented and joked (in a good way) about the kids' vocabulary. Now that the kids are bigger, they tend to insult one another with ordinary words like "stupid", "idiot" and the like. Just yesterday afternoon in the car, Finn was in a foul pre-adolescent mood that only a brand new 11 year old can have and continuously told Owen to shut-up and that he was an idiot. So I calmly said that Finn was not allowed to say "shut-up" or "idiot" and that if he wanted to call Owen names, he had to find a different way to do so. Finn's response was: "Owen you are mentally challenged and loquacious. Please refrain from disturbing me!" I think I've done a pretty good job, eh?
The quote from Sonny is: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway) and since there are two sides to every story, Hemingway responded with, "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"

Evan is the Star Student

Last night was Year 9 Parents' Evening which is a fancy way to say "Parent Conferences". Allow me to describe the process. Evan's December Assessment (aka report card) is mailed to the house in early December. Before term break (12/17), a letter came home asking if a parent planned to attend Parents' Evening. I responded 'yes'. At the beginning of this term, Evan was given an appointment card that looked just like an old-fashioned dance card from a cotillion, I swear! It was his job to discuss with me what teachers I'd like to see and then he had to ask them for an appointment time which was written into the dance (oops!) appointment card. I thought I'd just see a few teachers and leave, but Evan decided that I needed to see a lot of his teachers, so I just went with his suggestion because surprisingly he was very eager for me to meet them. (This has never really happened before and I am still in a little bit of shock.) So anyway, he hands me the card on Monday afternoon (for Tuesday meetings) and I see that I am basically booked from 7 PM through 8:20 PM with short five or 10 minute breaks between some of the appointments. Now let me backtrack by saying that these appointments only are to last for five minutes. Hmm... do the math: five minutes into an hour and 20 minutes, how many subjects is he taking??? The answer to THAT question is a whopping 18, let me spell that out - EIGHTEEN! Here's the list:

Art
Biology
Chemistry
Classical Civilization
Drama
English
French
Games (rugby, football, with a separate games kit/uniform)
Geography
History
ICT (Computers)
Maths
Music
P.E. (swimming, ping pong, badminton, hockey, etc. with a separate PE kit/uniform)
Physics
Religious Ed.
Spanish
Technology (home economics - yes COOKING - and shop class)

There is a method behind this madness. Year 9 is the last year of "Key Stage Three" which is basically middle school/junior high. Years 10 and 11 are GCSE years which is like a mini-college course of study where the kids get to choose what they'd like to focus upon in their learning and take big exams like SAT's and AP course exams. Then they do Years 11 and 12 which is A levels and 6th form which can be even harder and more focused. So Year 9 is packed with classes so the kids can get an idea of what they excel in, what they don't like and just basic strengths and weaknesses identification for the teachers to note.
So I went to the Main Hall and there are at least 40 teachers in this huge cafeteria type room each at their individual stations. The parents queue up or sit in the seats provided to wait and compare appointment times to see each teacher and it's all very orderly. Students walk around asking the parents and teachers if they'd like a coffee or tea (served in teacups and saucers) or a biscuit. It was just so interesting and well, British.
All this said, I had a wonderful evening hearing about what a great student Evan is and how much he is interacting in class and my brain says, "WHAT?!". It seems that Evan is a font of information (well, we KNEW that) but that this font actually spews over, out loud, in the form of class participation. All of his teachers feel that he has really settled in nicely academically, but that his handwriting is atrocious (we KNEW that also). His science, maths, classics and geography teachers were all impressed and will steer him into those directions for GCSE. Everyone also noticed how much he reads, which I applaud but he uses it as a crutch sometimes to avoid socializing and we discussed this as well, but Evan is Evan and this is nothing new. He's just not a group guy and never has been and is much better 1:1.
Of course, none of this is really "news" but it's just nice to hear someone else say what you already know as a parent and it's refreshing. And now I have to admit that it seems to be OK that he spends a lot of time with his iPod and computer games because they do not seem to be adversely affecting his academics and that it is OK to "cool down your brain" (Evan's words) when you come home because your brain does seem to be working a lot when you are in school. Yes, that is officially in writing, Evan. I am finished bragging and gushing, well at least for now.

Cultural Differences

Something we've noticed while traveling is the difference among cultures regarding their storage of dairy items.
America
Eggs and milk are highly pasteurized and are refrigerated in the supermarkets. Eggs are pre-packaged in cardboard or styrofoam cartons.
Britain
Milk is pasteurized and refrigerated in the shops and costs about the same as in the US. The containers are smaller than a gallon and there is skim, whole, etc. but it's a different term. I will look at that. (Note: The terms are "skimmed", "semi-skimmed" and "whole".) I am not sure about the pasteurization process of eggs here, but their shells are not as thick and the eggs crack easier for sure. They are pre-packaged in either cardboard cartons like in the US or flimsier see-through plastic cartons, but they are not refrigerated.
France
Milk is super duper pasteurized and it is not refrigerated. It comes in white plastic bottles with screw tops resembling large smooth Gatorade containers. You can buy it in a six pack. It is really inexpensive (60 Euro cents which is less than $1) and very creamy. There are no skim, 1%, 2% distinctions as far as we noticed but the milk is not as "whole" as whole milk like in the US. We think milk is government subsidized in France. Eggs are like British eggs, but are in one very large carton and you get to choose your eggs and place them into smaller cardboard cartons, no plastic ones here.
Germany
We did not go into a supermarket during our trip so I don't know their system, but I will get back to you on this one.

Colors

I was driving the other day and there was what looked to be ice on all the branches of the trees on the roadway however, I think it was frost but that's sort of irrelevant. The sun was weakly shining through the omnipresent fog and looked colorless or gray as in a gray-scale photograph. The light from the sun was reflected in the frost and the flora had a lavender pinkish glow around it. It was a magical sight, something I had never seen before. The only way I can describe it is through a visual memory I have of the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. just before they truly burst out into full bloom. Tinge of pink, but not fully there yet. The contrast to the gray day was just perfect.

Happy New Year Hoarfrost and Snow

Happy New Year everyone! The wee bairns have returned to their institutions of higher learning and I have unimpeded computer time once again. So here goes...
On New Year's Eve, we experienced a beautiful layer of hoarfrost just about everywhere we could see.

This is my favorite plant in the garden and it blooms for Christmas.

On Monday, we experienced about one to two inches of snow and ice just about everywhere we could see. Owen and Finn were in heaven to have snow before returning to school. Unfortunately, most other kids returned to school on Monday and were sad to miss the snow. The snow is still on the ground, but it is so cold here I am not surprised.