Lifestyle
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I’m Sailing….Sailing Away
Today is the day. The day that has got me through this dreadful winter. Through 70+ inches of snow and who knows how days of many sub-zero weather. (Ok, Tom Skilling from WGN probably knows, but whatever.) Through the down coat, the pale, dry winter skin and hair electrified by static. I’m in Florida. Port Canaveral to be exact. And I’m boarding the Disney Fantasy. For seven days, I won’t be cooking, washing dishes, scrubbing toilets or folding clothes. I won’t be making beds. I will be kicking back, reading my book, splashing in the pool, trying not to eat too much fattening stuff, and generally turning off my brain.…
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Some Kind Of Cake
There is something about being holed up inside the house, fingers curled around a hot cup of tea for both heat and caffeine, a worn afghan wound around your legs, while the wind blows wildly outside, slipping through unseen gaps in the windows as snowflakes swirl in hazy late afternoon light . There is something about being all cozy and warm…that made me crave cake. (This is me, not getting skinny.) I wasn’t sure what I wanted, other than something I could dig into while it was warm from the oven. I think what I had in my head was an old memory of a cake, perhaps made by my…
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Mango White Sangria
Of the many things you may know about me, one fact that you don’t know is that I tended bar in college. The place where I worked was a combination nightclub/bowling alley/outdoor bar with sand volleyball courts. We wore white tuxedo shirts with bow ties and cumberbunds (even for the ever popular “teen night”. I kid you not. We were classy.) As you might expect at a college bar also frequented by locals, we served a steady mix of beer (college boys) and frou-frou drinks (college girls), and so had what we termed the “funky drink list”, which we worked our way through with the waitresses when stuck on volleyball…
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The Great Noodle Rescue
It’s a terrible thing to lose a dear friend. It’s even harder to bear when you are completely responsible. Of course, I’m speaking of the untimely “loss” of Pea’s favorite stuffy, Noodles. The original post can be found here. I’ll wait while you go read it…. You’re back? Excellent. Fast forward two years where we find ourselves at Brookfield Zoo, Noodles’ first home. Boo reminded Pea of this, and sadly she responded “I loved Noodles – is he still down the hole?” “Yes, my lovely, he is.” This exchange slipped from my overburdened mind until the other evening, when Pea sighed quietly and whispered “I miss Noodles”. Now to backtrack…
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I’m Leaving On A Jet Plane…and I’m Looking Back
Today is the day. Today, we leave. Possibly, as you read this, we are far overhead already. Today is a tough day. This post is for all my lovely, wonderful friends here in the UK. Thank you. Thank you for taking us into your homes, into your hearts. You are well part of ours. There are no words to express how I feel right now, not really. And I can’t say goodbye, because this is not goodbye. We have been blessed. Blessed to have this experience. Blessed to have had so many adventures, blessed to have made such lovely friends. So today, I wilJl not be sad. Today, I will…
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A Letter to My Friends and Family Back “Home”
To my dearest family and friends in America, In a few short days, we will be making the second most difficult flight we, as a family, have ever made. The first was in August 2009, when we left all of you behind to start this amazing adventure. The second is the return flight back. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and re-establishing our life in B’ton. But. This is not an easy transition for us. We are leaving the friends and “family” we have created in Wales over the past 3-1/2 years. For Pea, who was only three when we arrived, THIS is her life – the one…
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You’re Not ALL That (aka the “things I won’t miss” list)
Yesterday, I wrote about all the things I will miss when I move back to the U.S. In the interest of fair disclosure, there are a FEW things that I won’t be so sad to leave behind. Head lice. The lack of mesh window screens. If I had a pound for every bee/wasp/fly/dragonfly I have killed in the past few years… People snickering when I “mispronounce” words ” ” “” when I say “pants”. Rain Spiders. everywhere. Spider webs. EVERYWHERE. Hard water Not having a shower in my house. (A bath is nice every now and again, but not first thing in the morning.) Cool summers/summers without sunshine…
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Things I Will Miss
The first question on anyone’s lips to me, lately, is “are you excited to be leaving?”. The second most asked question is “what will you miss?” The first is an easy question to answer, as the answer is “no”. Of course, if you had asked me if I was excited to be going back, the answer might be “yes”. (If I was moving back into my own house, it would be a slightly more confident “yes”. But for now… think I am. And yet not.) As for the second, well, it is a silly question. First and foremost, I will miss my friends. I will miss my hairdresser (see, Nadine,…
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In Which I Make A Big Announcement. And Try Not To Cry.
I have BIG news. And, OMG – NO – I’m not pregnant. (Hell to the NO, those of you who thought it….) It is with a conflicted heart that I share this: We are moving back to the US. At Christmastime. That’s 12 weeks away. While we figured this would be our last year here, we thought we had until mid-July, or at the minimum, June. However, with management changes back in the US, the Hubs has been offered a new position which will have the majority of his responsibility based in the US. It was a tough decision to make, but if he was to be in the…
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Playing Tourist
A few weeks ago we attended a friend’s wedding. In the course of a conversation with some acquaintances, they asked what we had planned for that weekend. I don’t recall what in particular we were hoping to do if the weather held out, but the fellow we were talking to said “I don’t know why we’ve never been there ourselves!” He went on to comment how too often people take places/things for granted and never get around to seeing what is right in their own backyard. How true. Yesterday I was having a post-football bite of lunch with my son at HIS favorite sandwich shop. A friend, walking past, asked…
