Feeling Appreciative For...

- Family and cousins
- Crickets
- Wide parking spaces so I don't cringe every time the kids open a door
- NPR
- Ice
- Drive-thrus
- Target
- Michael's (except for the gaggy cinnamon spice smell)
- $1 = $1
- Cashiers who understand the concept of swiping a credit card and strike up conversation
- No parking in the street, imagine that, hunh
- Strangers who smile at you and talk to you for no reason - Americans really do smile a lot
- Roomy & decently priced hotel rooms that have free internet and a pool
- Neighbors who spontaneously gather in the front yard to chat and joke
- Being recognized by a grade school/high school friend that I haven't seen in YEARS
- Restaurants that are open when you are hungry and serve you in minutes
- Root beer
- The unspoken notion of walking on the same side of the aisle/sidewalk as everyone else going in your same direction. I really like this one because I hate fighting the swarm of people coming at me.
- All new Myth Busters
- Old friends, young and old, who fall right into step

I could probably write a blog on each of these but I won't. To paraphrase Kookie in 77 Sunset Strip, America, you're the ginchiest.

We are feeling jet-lagged today, so we took it easy. We had dinner with the family and had some good cousin time. I am looking forward to seeing the gals for the next two nights, playing tourist with the kids in Baltimore, celebrating a cousin's birthday and doing some major shopping with my Mom and the kids.

America - Day 1

7:35 PM - Our arrival at BWI; There were long queues for US immigration and US Customs as well.
9:30 PM - We obtain a rental car. The girl at the counter was afraid the car I rented (Chevy Aveo) was going to be too small to fit all of our luggage. It all fit in the trunk easily. I chuckled at the American sense of 'small' car. If she could only see the cars in the UK.
9:52 PM - 1st stop at Chick-Fil-A for sweet tea and nuggets. We just made it!
10:00 PM - We check in at hotel quickly.
11:00 PM - We fall asleep because it feels like 4 AM to us.
5:30 AM - Owen is awake for good - UGH!
9:00 AM - We hit the Target and I couldn't get over the number of choices I had for shampoo!
10:00 AM - We visit Grandmom, Pop, Cole and Jack. :-)
12:00 PM - We eat lunch at Panera.
2:00 PM - We visit neighbors :-) & get treats :-) from neighbors.
3:00 PM - We meet my cousin, Tim & walk through our house.
3:30 PM - We go to Opie's for snowballs and milkshakes & visit more neighbors. :-)
5:30 PM - We head back to Kate & Tim's to see Tim and Troy. :-)
7:00 PM - We have dinner at Bob Evans; Owen almost falls asleep at the table.
8:00 PM - We get back to the hotel and sleep.

Dyrham Park with Toni

My excellent friend, Toni, came to visit me for all of this past week.
One thing we did was to drive to Bath and on the way, we stopped at a National Trust property, Dyrham Park.

Portions of the house date to 1692 and its present day look was begun in 1704. It was the house of William Blathwayt who was the Secretary at War to William III. It remained in the Blathwayt family until the mid 1950's and was acquired by the NT in 1961.
Dyrham Park was one of the houses used as a filming location for the 1993 film The Remains of the Day. An aerial view of Dyrham Park was also briefly featured in the opening title sequence of the 2008 film Australia. In September 2010, the BBC started filming episode four of the new series of Doctor Who at Dyrham Park.
Enjoy the snaps.

I want this on my grave. Seriously.

Praying hands on a sarcophagus
Pretty
The church
The dairy room was covered in delft tiles like this one.
Hermes
A 'cow'ardly creature hiding in the bushes.
The house had a lot of eagle statuary.
Deer were everywhere on the grounds.
Servants' bells.
We have something similar in our house but alas, no servants.
Wallpaper
Huge book
It must take a lot of Dutch words to say the same thing as in English or else it was large print.
The chairs had hooves.
Ancient glass

A Good 24 Hours

It's been a really enjoyable 24 hours. Here's why:
1. I had a really good lunch with two friends yesterday at a favorite pub;
2. The school run worked perfectly yesterday;
3. No child complained about a leftovers dinner;
4. I saw Stephen Sondheim, lyricist of West Side Story & many other shows, with another good friend;
5. We went out for drinks and good discussion after whilst the kids behaved at home;
6. We all woke up on time this morning and everyone was off to school on time;
7. Finn didn't have a coronary when I took him in to get a tetanus shot & he said it didn't hurt a bit;
8. I spent some quality time on the bus chatting to a neighbor I haven't seen in ages;
9. I went to a book reading and had a free cuppa coffee and afterward spent a half-hour talking to a very nice Irish woman in the cafe;
10. I found everything I wanted to get on the High Street today including a book that my "I have no interest in reading books" Owen actually requested that I purchase;
11. My new shoes are so comfortable that I walked home!

Kookoo for Cocoa Puffs

Recently, some friends and I made the long haul to the RAF base to shop and they had not only Count Chockula but also BooBerry and Frankenberry cereals. It took everything I had to resist getting them. Remember the taste of BooBerry? I think I would gag if I ate it again, but jeez, nostalgia really makes you forget that.

It has been a little kookoo here. I am just running around like a crazy person lately. One thing for which I did relax was the Literature Festival. It started Friday and Finn and I went to a discussion regarding the book Annexed by Sharon Dogar. She took the story of The Diary of Anne Frank and created a fictional version of Peter van Pelt's viewpoint based on what Anne had said about Peter in her diary. We are going to Amsterdam in November and will undoubtedly visit the Anne Frank Museum (the actual annex) and both Finn and I are looking forward to reading this before we go.

Last night, I went to see Philip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials trilogy and whose first book in the trilogy, The Golden Compass (which is entitled Northern Lights here), became a movie. He has a new book out, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. I am so eager to read this book! It was so refreshing to hear someone say in words exactly what I believe in my heart. His voice has an amazing quality to it as well and I was mesmerized. If you ever have a long road trip, I would truly recommend getting The Golden Compass from the library and listening to it in the car. You and your kids will be thoroughly entertained by the story and the voices.

It's just before 6 AM and I am wide awake because I had to get up to take Craig to catch the coach to Heathrow for yet another trip. This time it is a class and it's for a week. But I won't be lonely because my good friend, Toni, is London-bound RIGHT NOW and will be at my house in about seven hours. I cannot wait to see her and spend a week together before we all head back to the USA.

Banking & Finances

Craig gets paid in dollars so we have a US bank (at the RAF base which is now one and a half hours away) where we have a US dollar account and a sterling (UK pound) account. The bank transfers money between the two at our request but only in person or over the phone for no fee. The rate is higher than the actual daily exchange rate, yet not as high as a normal bank charges and we get a preferred rate (one cent less = woohoo) if we transfer over $1000 and keep it in there overnight. So yesterday, I called to transfer an amount of USD into GBP and asked for the amount of GBP that would be credited into our sterling account. The teller on the phone says to hold on and she will calculate it. After five minutes on hold, (yes I timed it) she tells me, "Oh, it's about blah blah pounds." About? ABOUT?? Why was I on hold for five minutes for you to give me an ESTIMATE of what the credit will be? You work for a BANK where exact figures might be important every once in a while. Now, it's not the biggest deal, because we are not scrimping for every penny, but I checked online today and the amount she quoted me is so off, it's laughable and that's the reason for the post. I guess she was doing the math on paper. Whatever.

Also, here the credit cards use the 'chip and pin' system, much like a debit card in the US but we don't have the chip in the US. Our US credit cards do not have a chip, nor do we enter a pin, but must sign. Every time I go to the shops, I tell the cashier that my card is a 'swipe card'. They look at me, examine the card, some attempt to put it into the chip and pin machine, others just look puzzled until I indicate that they need to swipe the card (hence the term 'swipe card') in the actual swipe area which I indicate. Some aren't as clueless, but many are. Then they attempt to find a pen which I have learned to carry with me at all times. I have stood in the queue for a period of time waiting for the appearance of a pen and I plan to never do it again.
On top of that, our credit card charges us a 1% fee on every international transaction which I have just come to accept since it's cheaper than other credit cards and it's way cheaper than going to a cash machine.
It is very difficult to establish credit in the UK. By the time we had a credit history here (bills, rent, UK bank account, etc.), we'd be on our way out. Our US credit reports do not transfer to the UK which is a ridiculous shame. If they did, we'd have a snazzy chip and pin credit card in the snap of a finger. So I pay my fees and move along...

One thing that does make up for the fees is the ridiculously low price we pay for gasoline. We get a Texaco gas card here and there is an international agreement or something which states we don't have to pay tax on petrol. For example, the Pilot needed about 3/4 tank of gas. I filled it, charged about 75 GBP which equates to approximately $115. When I got the bill which fiddles the numbers, the total spent to practically fill my tank was $45! So a few credit card fees here and there can be forgiven, I suppose.

His Own Biggest Fan

Let's just say that Owen is not lacking in the area of self esteem. Tonight was the first disco of the school year and Owen spent about two hours off and on preparing "his look" as he called it. He also said it was "important to look good for his first Year 6 disco". When I asked why, he shrugged and said, "It's a big deal" and I left it at that.
You've got to admit, he does look rather handsome.

He had a great time and came home a little too hopped up on sweets, but that's par for the course.

Speaking of par and course, The Ryder Cup golf competition is taking place in Cardiff this weekend. I hope the weather cooperates. Today was beastly. I think we got some of what the Eastern US had. At least it has stopped and Craig's flight should arrive as scheduled. In fact, it has just taken off. Yay!