Lifestyle
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Disappointed…Again
Today was not the best of days. (I wonder how many posts I actually start like that……) F Where was I? Oh, me. For someone that has less innate parental talent than even I anticipated, today went pretty badly. Oh, sure, I didn’t initiate the trouble, precisely – the kidlings handled that all on their own. They faught. They squabbled. There was a lot of screaming and scratching involved. At times, it was not unlike the snarling, scrabbling fight scenes in “Fantastic Mr. Fox”…. Yup, it was that bad. But in the end, it was the screaming at each other that got to me. I’d done time outs. I’d separated…
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If it Makes Me Hip, Does My Hybrid Makes My Butt Look Big?
As someone who never learned to drive a manual transmission*, driving an automatic car in the UK could be a costly undertaking, what with petrol (that’s gasoline to my American peeps) running about £3.60 a litre. That’s right, a litre. (You do the math, my whiny American friends – that works out to roughly (mumbling)…3.69 litres to the gallon times 1.34 a liter…so £4.95…(mumbles)….but that’s pounds…so…about… $8.05 a gallon.) A GALLON, people. However, it really wasn’t enough to motivate me to learn to drive a stick-shift. It’s the whole shifting-with-the-other-hand thing while clutching with the same (left) foot. A Right brain/left brain issue. Whatever, I can’t do it. So I drive…
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Dear So and So: The Late (Saturday) Travel Edition
As I started to write this post, I realized that I was really racking up a list of grievances I had against my fellow travelers (and miscellaneous people I met) on my last two holidays, and that, really, I didn’t want to rant to you about this crap. I want to rant to them. But I can’t, not really, since most of them were strangers. Then I realized that they would make perfect “Dear So and So” posts. Only, see, Kat does her “Dear So and So” on Fridays. And it’s now Saturday. But then I realized that it is still Friday in parts of the US. So sue me.…
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Sweet Corn and Summer
What is summer without a parade? Well, it’s not the same. Since I’ve yet to find a proper parade here in the UK, when my brother reminded me on our first night back in Illinois that the Mendota Sweet Corn Festival was going on , I dragged the kids there. Never mind that it was hotter than blazes and we were all seriously jet lagged… …especially when there is cotton candy to provide a much-needed sugar boost!!! To me, a summer festival in rural Illinois means: John Deere caps and …fair food (definitely not Weight Watchers friendly, my friends – and no, I still haven’t tried a deep-fried Twinkie. Or…
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There’s No Place Like Home….
Having just returned from a trip back to the States (driving the Hubs crazy when I say “go home”, I’m sure, because my hometown isn’t really home – Hay is home….or is it Barrington?) I logged on to WordPress and was floored by how long it has been since I have posted. I think it must be a sign of a good trip when I can actually disconnect from all things social media. I haven’t much been on Twitter or Facebook (of course, not being able to use my iPhone internationally does play a major roll, as well) and obviously, I’ve been lax about posting here. It has become a…
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Phoning Home
I had a laugh, really, even as I picked today’s topic for my post for Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop. It’s actually not hard to recall “who I last spoke to on the phone for 30 minutes” – it could only be my mom. And not just because she is my mom. Mostly because I don’t think ANYONE here actually uses their phone to call people, unless it is for business- it seems like everyone here texts. (Which I do now, constantly, and never did when I was in the US – thinking that it was for teenagers….) Ok, so that is an exaggeration, but that is how it feels to…
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Simple in Barcelona
My little family unit is well into the first week of our “Great 2011 Med Adventure” – which I’m thankful we have the opportunity to experience – but I’m finding that the things that are sticking with me the most are the simple things. The quiet moments sitting on a park bench enjoying the view. Walking hand in hand with my 5-year old, listening to her chatter about what she sees. A family dinner, enjoyed at a slow pace because there is nothing to distract us, no pressing chores to do and no urgent need to be anywhere (sorry, Macy-pup, we love you, but your need to pee can cock…
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Colors of La Boqueria
I dragged a reluctant husband and one tired child (Boo) and one surprisingly bouncy child (Pea) down Las Ramblas in Barcelona yesterday because I wanted to see La Boqueria. It was completely worth the long, crowded walk ( although I’m ultimately pleased with our hotel choice in the less crowded L’Eixample neighborhood.) The market was energetic and colorful – I wanted to take in (and take home one of) everything! While I don’t think the Hubs much liked the crowds, I loved the colors and flavors of the market (and the kids loved the fresh juices). And this is my gratuitous photo post for myself.
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A Morning in Barcelona, or How I Nearly Missed The Big Picture
We started our day with a visit to what must be Barcelona’s most famous building, the Sagrada Familia. Work on this Roman Catholic church began in 1883 and is still ongoing – a point with which Boo was extraordinarily impressed (but any building surrounded by tower cranes is a sight to behold, at least in his eyes…) We all had audio guides, and the kidlings had a version just for them. Which sounds like a good idea… …until you are stopped 11 times with “Mommy, where is the ____?”. Which you cannot answer, as you have a completely different version and so the questions Pea was asking made no sense.…
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And Away We Go….
Earlier this week, I wrote a post about travel. I love to travel. I also love to plan trips. I’m very good at the planning bit. Typically, there are lists involved. Lots of them. I like lists. What I don’t like is packing. Once upon a time, in a time long before nappies, schedules and car seats, I could throw things into a bag and go. (My favorite kind of trip is still the last-minute kind, I will admit.) Somewhere along the line, however, (quite possibly after I had been vomited upon during a flight, where I remembered to bring a change of baby clothes, but not mommy clothes) I…