Holidays are Here

We leave for France tomorrow morning! We are taking the ferry from Dover to Calais (the town at the very top of France nearest to the UK) and driving pretty much straight down aaaall the waaaay to the south to Perpignan right near the border with Andorra. It's a really good thing the kids don't mind being in the car. Craig has planned on taking two days to get there with stops in Le Mans and Uzerche (south of Limoges) and then two days on the return with stops in Orange (north of Nimes) and Reims (east of Paris).

Cheltenham Literature Festival

The Cheltenham Literature Festival began last Friday and we have plunged into it. Last Friday, the entire family went to see Mal Peet and Meg Rosoff. Mal Peet wrote two sports-related books, Keeper and The Penalty and his newest is Tamar. He was quite impressed at the book signing that we had brought a hardcover American edition. Meg Rosoff wrote How I Live Now, Just In Case and her newest is What I Was which I am reading right now mainly because one of the main characters is named Finn. They had a very interesting discussion about writing for teens. We had dinner at one of our favorite pubs, The Beehive, and then Craig and the boys headed home while I went to see Anita Shreve. She was muy fabuloso! So very well-spoken and a nice breath of fresh American air. Her newest is Testimony which was inspired by the Duke lacrosse team sex scandal and sounded very intriguing. Be warned that the first chapter is graphic but after that, it's all novel.

On Saturday, Craig took Owen and Finn to a comics workshop. It was two brothers who made their own weekly comic called The DFC. They had a great time watching how the brothers concoct ideas and characters.

On Sunday, we were all excited to see Eoin Colfer, the great author of the Artemis Fowl series as well as many other books for kids. He was the best! He definitely had the kids hooked from his first sentence and he was just hysterical. He also has a son named Finn (weird!) and told a story about his Finn being obsessed by Pinocchio as a young child and Craig and I shared an OMG moment because our Finn was obsessed by Pinocchio as well. So much so that we went to Disneyworld and booked a character breakfast with the (un)real boy. When I was pregnant with Owen, Finn used to say that he has "a baby in his tummy too named Pinocchio donkey" and his favorite part of the movie was when Pinocchio smoked and turned green.

This week, I have gone to see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Half a Yellow Sun ~ fabulous ~ and Purple Hibiscus), Simon Armitage reading his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and I just got back from seeing Geraldine Brooks (March and People of the Book) and Katie Hickman (Avery Gate) all of which I plan on reading. All of the women have led amazing lives and Simon Armitage said "poem" exactly like my Mom does ~ "poim" except with a more English accent.

The best part of the festival was going to different venues around town and looking at the architecture of the grand ballrooms in the Everyman Theatre (think Hippodrome) and the Town Hall which we think used to be a collection of spa rooms for "healing water" treatments. The literature festival is every year in mid October so plan a visit during that time if you are interested. There's also a big jazz festival and science festival. All of them can be viewed at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com.

Happy Reading!

Six Degrees of Separation, Kind Of

Bear with me on this one.

Craig and I were talking about how Sarah Palin referred to John McCain as a 'maverick'.

And then how Joe Biden then was calling McCain Bush's 'sidekick'.

And then we were saying how Palin is McCain's sidekick.

And then we were talking about one of our favourite schmovies (so cheesy movies), Top Gun, and Tom Cruise's call sign being 'Maverick' and how his sidekick and wingman was 'Goose'.

So I had a brilliant revelation what McCain and Palin's call signs would be if they were pilots:

Cadaverick and Moose

C'mon, can't I get at least a courtesy laugh???? It's sort of a cross between Weekend at Bernie's, Top Gun and The Deerhunter.

He even has a creepy Kelly McGillis look alike wife (notice the USMC lapel pin):

P.S. We are watching the England v. Kazhakstan football match and my most favourite British hottie just graced the telly screen - David Beckham, lookin' good!

Editor's Note

Please scroll down past the "Get Ready to Laugh" post for an older post that I had drafted about Bude.

It's a beautiful day...

It is a beautiful day and I am going into a town called Stroud to see what it's like and look at their pottery. I have decided that I do not love exploring on my own mainly because it's nicer sharing it with others but that I do like the flexibility of going when and where I want and learning how to get places without the added pressure of having someone there. Come and visit. We will go on day trips a-plenty.

The school system here seems similar. In Maths, it all seems review so far. Owen's lessons are definitely easier, but he needed that. They have him writing with this special pencil and his handwriting has improved DRAMATICALLY! Plus, he's more into writing now - had no use for it last year. Finn's doing a lot more creative writing and in-depth answers to questions, just a lot more writing period and I find that to be fantastic. Hillcrest doesn't have them write enough. I love his English teacher. He is this typical really old guy who teaches English, but he is perfect and likes what he does. They're reading Oliver Twist and Finn is really into it. The kids really like the two gym periods in the week and long recess; I can't say enough about that. And the school meal program is phenomenal. I would eat there everyday if I had the chance! Evan is really into history so far (and his teacher is American from Virginia), enjoying Maths, not so much in the languages (French/Spanish) but a lot of the kids have taken French since Infants (1st/2nd grade), I guess and he feels behind. Owen on the other hand is a French magnet. He can speak in simple sentences in three weeks and we can actually have a conversation! He's got my talent for that. Finn is hesitant to speak it, but understands the gist of what I say about 80% of the time.

Owen is making friends quickly and has kids call to him on the playground. Finn a bit slower because he really is my one who wants to fit in, plus it's hard to come into a class of kids who have been together for all of their schooling and it's the last year for him/them in the Jr. school. In hindsight, it may have been a better idea to have popped him up into year 7, but then he wouldn't have gotten the "big man on campus" experience and I do think that is more important because the Yr 6's do get privileges that the rest of the kids do not - bike safety, a week-long trip (like North Bay in Middle School), field trips. And really, next year, all the kids will be on the same level as new 7's and that will help and there will be many "new" kids who did not attend St. Ed's Jr. Evan got invited to two girls' birthday parties (they are having a joint party) at some night club until midnight on the High St. but we will be in France. Yesterday, I picked him up from school because he has so much stuff to carry on Tuesdays and all the boys were returning from the Jr school's fields where they go to play rugby - I think they had to walk. Anyway, Evan stopped at the car to drop off his gym kit and about 5 kids stopped to wait for him. It was very nice to see that since he is not a social butterfly. Although I have a suspicion that the boys had never seen a car as old as ours and stopped in amazement! Just kidding and yes, the car did start around noon. It's got my personality & is just not a morning car!

We have booked a place in the SE France in Perpignan which is near the border with Spain and Andorra for the half term break (10/18-11/2) from 10/20-10/29 and are planning on taking the Chunnel across then driving down with a stopover or two on the way there and back. We were going to try and hit Paris (not Hilton altho she may need a whack on the head) on the way back, but have decided to save that for later and fly or take the train there instead because we wouldn't need a car. Can I just say half term breaks are the best thing????? I am so excited to go! I have wanted to visit France since high school and 7 years of HS and college French is still swimming up there in my head. A bientot!

Get Ready to Laugh!

I believe no day should start without coffee.

However, this morning, mine did and here is what happened:

1. Finn has "bike safety" this week so Craig had to ride into school with Finn on their bikes. Owen pitched a fit because of course he wanted to go too. The roads are way too busy in the morning though and Craig and I said no which led to an even worse fit. Craig leaves me with fit-stricken Owen who wanders into the garage to have a sulk.

2. Owen finally gets into the car which I had to pack with: two backpacks, two PE bags full of PE stuff for the week (they change for gym and have a separate uniform for 'Games' i.e., rugby, soccer and 'PE' i.e., swimming, gymnastics, etc. including separate 'boot bags' with cleats and running shoes, shin and mouth guards, glasses cases, etc.) and Finn's guitar because he has lessons on Mondays.

3. The car won't start. I hate this car! We bought it from a family who was leaving so we would have a junker get-around-town car which is exactly what it is and it really was a great deal and came in quite handy, but it has done this twice now when is it wet outside, and people, we live in England, it's wet outside a lot here. It's a 1994 Honda Civic. It is older than Evan. We have since purchased another car from another leaving family which is a 2002 Mazda and is fabulous compared to this piece of crap. We'll get it at the end of the month. We intend to sell or give away (really) the crap car on base to a young Air Force guy who likes to take things apart because it's the only thing it's good for.

4. I load everything into the Pilot. I then have to back out of the tight parking area we have into rush hour traffic. It's like my sister Katie's driveway situation only like 1000 times worse. Owen is still a crab. I manage to get on the road with a quick driving manoever which actually impresses Owen so his mood brightens but he is sitting in the front seat which means all he wants to do is distract me by pushing EVERY button known to boykind for like the entire trip.

5. We finally get to the entrance of the school and as I am driving down the windy, crowded area where everyone thinks the road is their own personal parking space, I clip another car's side mirror because Evan is calling me on my cell phone to let me know he's arrived at school, Owen is touching EVERY button known to boykind and my wide American car just isn't made for this. I couldn't stop, their mirror was fine (I hope) and I could see that it didn't fall off. It was actually another Honda, a CRV I think, but needless to say, I don't ever think I am driving the behemoth car to school anymore and if I have to, we are going through the second entrance or I am parking in the street and walking in. Mainly because I don't want that owner to ever find me and I am very easy to find because there are no other Honda Pilots in England - none!

6. We luckily see Finn. Owen dashes off across the parking lot without any of his gear so I am carrying all the crap to the walkway for them to retrieve.

7. Finn has to take his bike to the designated area and refuses to push it up the hill just adjacent to the steps because they are supposedly not allowed however every other child is doing it. So instead, I lift the bike up the 30 stairs as Finn carries his stuff. At the top, Finn says he is not feeling well, because of the bike ride and I think he is going to pass out but luckily he didn't. We get the bike matter sorted, all the kids have their gear, Finn is better and I leave for home.

8. I make coffee and sit down in silence to vent via this blog.

Have a wonderful day!

Bude is Beautiful, Dude!

I have been waiting for Craig to write this post, but since he hasn't I guess it's up to me (as usual.... LOL). Over the Labor Day weekend, we drove down south and west to Cornwall and stayed in a small town called Bude which rhymes with 'dude'. This tickled my funny bone since it is a surf mecca and I picture all these English surf blokes talking about caravaning to Bude, dude. It was chilly the first day, but we hit the beach anyway and the kids actually swam. We parked in town and walked to the beach (very short distance) and spent about two hours there. On our return, we noticed that the walkway we used getting to the beach had disappeared as it was now underwater! Funny things, those ocean tides. So we had to hoof it around to the main parking lot (where we should have parked in the first place had we known it was there) and eventually got back to our car. We (the kids and I) were all a little skeptical at first with our fearless leader's uncanny directional sense, but Craig never fails in leading us in the right direction. Plus, it helped that he had visited Bude on one of his trips before we moved.

A ginormous sundial filled with coloured sand erected to commemorate the position of the constellations on a certain date. The star pattern of the night sky was laid out on the base of this cone pillar. I will get back to you on the significance of this after I see if Craig remembers what the purpose was. After a family discussion, we all agreed that it was to commemorate a day when the planets aligned. None of us remember the date though.

These steps lead from the water to a saltwater swimming pool built into the rocks of the coastline just like ones Craig and I saw in Australia too many years ago. The waves crash over into the swimming pool which makes for some extreme swimming on wavy days!

The next day, we headed to Sandymouth Bay, a National Trust site, and well-worth whatever price the NT had to pay for it! It was extremely wild and gorgeous and so out of the way. As soon as we arrived, we ate lunch and then as we started down to the beach, it began to rain and then it began to pour and then it began to pelt us with some of the hardest rain I have ever felt. However, we were well-equipped with our raincoats and really were just enjoying the scenery and the tide pools. You get wet at the beach anyway and well, we got wet! The most interesting thing was the tide. We knew that the tide was going out, but within an hour the tide must have receded 1,000 feet to give us a huge swath of sandy beach. There was wildlife a-plenty and we explored everywhere. Finn and I found some sort of barnacle that looked like a kelp pod and fairly alien, but was definitely alive. There were snails, mussels, limpets. It was a blast and eventually did clear up, allowing us to take off our raincoats.

You can see the lifeguard shack back in the distance to the left. A family in wetsuits actually came to boogie board and a lifeguard walked out that distance to guard them. After dragging out a large set of flags that he set up on the beach to denote a "safe swimming zone" and a rescue surfboard, he sat in a nook in the rocks in the wind and rain. Needless to say, he did not look happy.

All of this flat foreground to just below where you see green was underwater when we arrived.

After we left, we took a side trip to visit Tintagel Castle where King Arthur supposedly lived but by that time it was raining so hard and was so windy and we were all dried out and tired and it was a hike too, so we decided to nix it for that day and return in the summer.