Pictures (because Kelley is good at those and I am really not, so I'll take advantage of her goodness now, kthxbai.)

Kelley is here, trying not to catch our sick-bug and snapping photos of the interesting things we are doing. She is much better at posting pictures than I am. Obviously. Just to pretend that I am not quite as bad as I actually am, I'll post a few here for you all. Not the interesting ones, of course, but only the ones of us, because there are fewer of them and all.

Day 1: B00's Birthday

Kelley arrives. B00 (not my Boo-bear, but a friend) has birthday dinner at pizza express. Then there is a pub involved. Don't worry - Amy drinks water.


Day 2: Deal Castle

We go and check out my new school, see my classroom, and meet the headteacher. Then on to Deal where we have just enough time to tour Deal castle before needing to head home so Amy can go to a dinner thing with the people she will be working with next year. It is at a casino - Amy is not impressed. And again, don't worry - Amy drinks water (though they really tried to get me to drink champagne and wine and cocktails.)



Day 3: Bodiam Castle

We all 4 brave the hour and a half trip to Bodiam castle, and have way too much fun in the stocks while we are there.

Kelley sad in the stocks.


Amy, well pleased, stealing Kelley's shoes.


Stephen in the stocks.


Amy getting herself in trouble again.

Amy finally gets put in the stocks herself.


Ashley not even pretending to be sad. She likes it, that one.



"Hey - let's put our heads in!" says Amy.

"Ash - I think we are stuck and its your fault!" "Wait a minute, this was YOUR idea!"

Again, Amy decides that she is the queen and Stephen is the king and that she could live happily in a castle. She also asks Stephen if they can build one. And again, he says no. On the way back, Kelley tries out her hands at driving on the wrong side of the road. Her thoughts? "It's absolutely nerve-wracking and not a little confusing." she says. (She did pretty well, if I may say so myself.)

Well, that's it thus far. Maybe more pics later.

When Mom says it's been a long time - then it's been a long time!

This is a very quick post to give a preliminary report on our trip to Wales a few weeks ago. We'll have photos to attach soon, but for the time being just a few links to give a bit of background.


View Larger Map

Above is a map showing the approximate route we took from Canterbury to Rhos on Sea - the place in Wales where we were staying.

We saw a lot of scenery and such, but the thing we did most was visit castles. The four castles we visited were Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, and Denbigh. The links point to Wikipedia (and open in a new window) and give some info and history on each castle. These castles were built by Edward I (King of England upon whose tombstone the motto reads ‘Hammer of the Scots’) to subjugate neighbouring Wales to English rule in the 13th century.

And now for something a bit different...

As I have been tired, busy, and promising someone a chance to be a published blog author for almost a year now, I am very happy to finally offer the chance for a guest writer (as opposed to a GHOST writer, and I am glad for that, let me tell you, as I would never sleep well again after being so well-haunted...) to take over for a bit. Kelley and I have been friends since we were small, and my sister Kelli introduced us. She is here on a visit, and I am happy to put our family blog in her so-very capable hands. (Or so she says, though we haven't actually experienced that massage magic as of yet. hint hint.)

Hi there! Kelley here. Amy thought it might be nice for a small change, so you are to temporarily to be exposed to my version of a little thing we like to call "return to the motherland." Just teasing, I have never actually called it that before, but since this is my second visit to Amy and Ashley in England, and Amy promised a blog from us last time (she lied, naughty girl) I promised that I would write this time. (She just thinks it will be once. I intend to milk her for every word.)

After a long flight from Dallas/Fort Worth airport to London Heathrow (9 hours) and then a trip on the tube to the train station (1 hour) and then a train trip down to Canterbury (1.5 hours) I arrived here on Friday the 2nd. Note that if you should visit from America, these sleep Nazis will NOT allow you to escape your exhaustion and jet lag until what they consider an appropriate evening hour. It gets dark here at four. Tor-ture. (In the infamous words of Sir Stephen: no pain, no gain, so deal with it. Or something like that.)

On Saturday, the 3rd, we visited some friends of Amy and Stephen's for dinner. Here are Stephen and the Transplants (that's actually the name of their band):


By the way, he doesn't always smile like a serial killer in photos. Andy and b00 (the friends) made us a lovely meal, (involving eating anglerfish for the first time, and blood, gore, and medical-grade superglue, but not on any of us) and we played a few rounds of a new game called Bausack. It is a really challenging game where you make a tower of these odd-shaped wooden blocks. The catch is that other players choose your pieces for you. The last tower standing is the winner. The rookie (that's me) won the first round with this creation:


Ashley had a lovely 2nd place masterpiece with this one:


We stayed quite late past dinner, and walked home in the dark (very dark) and cold (really, really cold) and snuggled into beds with hot water bottles and many blankets.

Today, Amy and I went down to the High Street (yes I said down, then high), which is a short, quite scenic walk from their flat. (She says short and quite scenic NOW, but when we were actually walking it she sang quite a different song involving lots of 'Are we there yet'esque statements.) This is a school field nearby.


See the little black hills of dirt? Mole holes. Stephen says to call them mole hills, but I will let you decide. (Kelley and I both called them mole-holes until Stephen corrected us. I suppose I know that they should be called mole hills, and I don't know why my instinct is to call them mole-holes, but it is.) As you stroll down the path alongside the river, the Canterbury cathedral pops up in between the trees and over rooftops like a creepy stalking historical monument.


(Just look at those creepy stalker-building spires. You can't miss those, it's how you differentiate between a regular historic monument and a creepy-stalking one.) I kid. It is really quite stunning, but for some reason never fails to surprise me when I'm walking down the road surrounded by buildings and all of a sudden, Bam! No, it doesn't mow you down. It's more like, Boo! Here I am! Again! This is the creepy wooded path that Amy will not go down in the dark unaccompanied. Can't say I blame her:


(That picture may well be the favourite one that Kelley took today. I love the muted colours and it actually looks just like a creepy pathway should. Well done, Kel.) Here are a couple of buildings within town. This is a synagogue on one of the side streets (Story: This building used to be a synagogue, and it has since been bought out by The King's School, a swanky private institution that charges more in tuition for the boarding children than my tuition does. It is now a recital space used for music performances.):


This is an official Canterbury Historical Building (according to the sign)--there are quite a few of these in town. (In the midst of a variety of small shops, this house is actually residential. I almost feel sorry for the people who live there, as every tourist in the area has to stop and take a picture of this house. One time I actually saw someone taking a picture of the residents as they went in.)


Not sure if this sign is old, but it was on a historical building and I just liked it.


And this lovely old building houses...the Gap.


Here is a shot of the high street (also called the Parade) (Or at least 1/3rd is. There is St. Peters, The Parade, and then the High street all as names on this one straight, 1/2 mile stretch of pedestrianised road.):


And just around the corner, this sign wishes you a Happy Christmas. (On January 4):


And here is the cathedral again. I think it's following me.


Before we left town to head home, we made a couple of stops, one of them at Tesco, which is one of the groceries.


Now, the grocery stores amuse me, because one of the first things my mother said to me when I told her I was visiting England was "Yuck. You'll hate the food." (She doesn't yet hate the food, because no one here eats English food. We all eat Thai and Indian and American food, and French and Chinese and Spanish food. England is all about World food, anymore.) And it's not that it's just different, but they have odd names for things. For a complete mental perv like me, it is a joyous place.

For instance, there is an entire aisle dedicated to biscuits. Don't care that they are covered in chocolate or cinnamon flavored, they call them biscuits. Check out my picture of the cookie aisle. (I love biscuits. And cakes. Darn them. And this picture looks as bright and colourful and makes me want to bring them all to a much better home: namely mine.)


And this is the pickled portion of the store. Never seen so many pickled things in my life. And guess what wasn't in this section. Pickles. (Though there are pickled eggs, and onions and beets and garlic and sauerkraut, and lemons and shallots. English people like their pickled foods.)


And here is mince. Supposed to be ground lamb or beef or pork or whichever, but tell me truly. Doesn't this look like the bits in 'Kibbles n Bits'?


(If you don't think that looks like kibble, go HERE and look. I have thought that it does ever since I saw it for the first time, and I was so glad when Kelley said she thought so too.) For those of you curious about the edible porn, there are cans of things like this:


The can says things like "Everyone loves a pair of bangers!" and "Size isn't everything!" and "Hide the sausage!" These will henceforth be referred to as "Porn and Beans." And this:


Now, I saw the movie "The Full Monty", and I think that its funny that this is a can of sausage and beans. I'll let you run with that one. For those of you that haven't seen the film, and this joke is doing a complete flyby at the moment, go HERE. You'll see what I mean. (The Full Monty, in this case,refers to the full English breakfast, which the English have held onto tooth and nail despite being a culture of world foods. The full English breakfast consists of as many of the following items as possible: Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, mushrooms, black pudding, hashbrowns, fried bread, and tomatoes. The Full Monty=coronary heart disease. In a can.)

And after the Tesco, we stopped by the candy shoppe, called the The Sugar Boy, where you can see these:


Ahhh...Uncle Joe's Mint Balls. They keep you all aglow. You say immature, I say nevertheless amusing. Our last stop was to get kebabs, which are lovely pitas stuffed with meat shaved off these huge roasters, like this lamb one:


They are really yummy, I totally recommend them (mom's advice be darned). Afterwards we headed home and had dinner, including a yummy custard desert, which is like pudding, but a bit thinner, and served hot. We are now all huddled in Amy and Stephen's bed as Amy reads aloud, and I will shortly have to haul myself from the warmth to my own bed and hot water bottle (Best. Invention. Ever.) Thanks for letting me hijack your favorite blog, and I hope you will let me share again. Cheers.

No, Kelley, thank YOU. We all hope that you will hijack this blog again in the near future. Even Stephen is happy. Ill and delirious with fever (no Dearest, I am not a reindeer and I don't need to eat another carrot...) but happy nonetheless.

The Post-Trip Update (A Long Time Coming...)

Well, it is about time that I catch you all up on what is going on in my neck of the woods.

The trip to the States was nice. I enjoyed seeing my family. I enjoyed spending time with Tristan. I enjoyed the weather and driving on the right side of the road. Tristan’s birthday was wonderful, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that he is 7 years old. That is practically grown up.

Boo had a bit of a hard time with the amount of time he was with me. It is so hard for kids to transition back and forth, and he was very homesick. I understood: I was homesick too. I didn’t expect to be, but I was.

We did quite a bit of shopping, and Ashley should be all set up with new clothes and new glasses for the year. Tristan got a lot of new clothes too, and I even splurged and ended up with some new work clothes and a few tops. I stocked up on things I can’t get in the United Kingdom; things like Malt o’Meal, corn syrup, and green chiles. To be honest, I didn’t foresee that packing two empty suitcases wouldn’t be enough, but after I left Ashley 3 boxes of Malt o’Meal to bring back with her, I only had ½ lb. to spare in 1 suitcase. The other was packed up tight and exactly as heavy as it was allowed to be without paying extra.

There is a story to go along with the topic of suitcases: in London before I left Stephen and I discovered that one of the wheels on my large suitcase was almost broken. We readjusted the packing, and the plan was for me to have it repaired in El Paso. Well, El Paso does have a repair shop that does not service my type of luggage under warranty, so I had to pay for it myself. Plus, they couldn’t give me a time line because they had never worked with that company before and were not sure how it all was going to happen. 3 days before my flight home I called them to find that they had sent a wheel, and it was the wrong side, then sent another one that did not fit. The put a different brand's wheel on it as a stopgap for me.That wheel didn’t even make it to my landing in London, for when I got the luggage off the luggage rack, the wheel was completely gone. So the 2 hour trip home from Gatwick airport involved a 50 pound huge suitcase with an essential wheel missing, and another 50 pound suitcase, plus a backpack and a laptop bag. By the time Stephen met me in Canterbury, 2/3 of the way home, I was exhausted and sore, and the wheel on the smaller bag was broken. By the time we actually got home, it was trashed. There is a lesson here:Pierre Cardin luggage is rubbish.I hope Ashley does not have the problems getting back that I did.

There is an ending to the computer story from an earlier post also. My computer did not arrive back in time, though it was en route. (A few more days and it would have made it back in time.) They allowed me to exchange it, and I had the amount of money that I originally paid for the old laptop. Since laptop prices have gone down significantly in the last few years,I have a new high-end laptop, and I only had to pay the amount of the 3 year extended warranty that even covers accidents.It was a small investment for a new laptop. I ended up with a Sony Vaio, which apparently Sarah and some other family members also have. Stephen approved, and is happy with the choice.He occasionally putters on it and seems content.

Let’s see… what else. For my birthday, Dan and Christie gave me a Palm Pilot, and it is being put to good use. Stephen was quite happy to find 300 or so games to put on it. It is synched with our home computer, and he is still looking into ways to connect it with my Google calendar. There is time yet to figure it out. The airline didn’t care at all about my birthday, and actually didn’t even look closely enough at my passport to discover that I was flying on my actual birthday. The man at airport security noticed, though, and told me to have a nice day because of it. I got lucky in sitting on the plane, too. The first short flight from El Paso to Houston, the man who was sitting in MY aisle seat told me that he was ‘packing heat’ and then showed me his gun. He was a federal marshal. He didn’t give up my aisle seat, so I sat in the window. Thank goodness for scopolamine, because otherwise I would not have been able to get to the toilet. The flight from Houston to London I was sitting next to a very nice gentleman flying to Dubai for a skiing trip. He was very friendly… but took off his shoes thus releasing intense foot smell, had severe body odor, and snored emphatically the entire flight. He must have slept very well. I didn’t.

Jet lag has been kicking my tush. I am still having a hard time falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning.

The house unpacking thing is coming along, slowly but surely. Poor Stephen must have been just drowning in boxes. I am not yet comfortable posting pictures of the new house, but I intend to eventually.

Ashley should be getting her A-level results in the next few days. I’ll let you know how she did.

I cut my hair. It ended up being between 8 and 10 inches chopped off. To be honest, no one has noticed.

Stephen left yesterday for his 10 day family holiday in Austria. I have to be honest and state that the biggest reason I didn’t prioritise an ‘I’m home’ post was because of wanting to cram in as much time as possible in the 5 days that we were both home together. Being in the house completely alone is a little nerve wracking, but I am surviving. I know things will get done around the house because there is just nothing else to do. And work is nice because it means that I have something to do during the day rather than just sit at home and mope. I have been invited to a BBQ this weekend, and may go. Plus, as of today there is a first aid class I am being sent on in another city.

So Stephen comes home on the 25th or so, Ashley comes home a few days after that, and then we all gear up for school again. Fun fun, I tell you. But being my last year of school for a little while, I can suck it up.

Computer Adventures, Among Other Things

So, yesterday was a busy/good day.

I went to lunch with Chris and Marianna at a Thai place in El Paso. I had green prawn curry (though they didn't know what prawns were, and I forgot to just say shrimp.) It was HOT. Way hot. So hot I wasn't able to finish it and I'm not sure that I want to touch it today. Yum... but ow! We went to their favourite bakery afterwards for empanadas, and I had their 4 year old Ciara in the car. And wouldn't you know that I left my phone behind.

Since I had Ciara and didn't know where we were going, I couldn't turn around when I figured it out (almost immediately.) So I drove all the way to the bakery before turning around to go and get it. The people in the restaurant had it... but there is a funny story that I didn't know about until later. While my phone was AWOL, the people who found my phone called my sister Anna to ask if she knew who my phone belonged to. She said that she did (thank goodness this was not one of those times that she disowned me!) and asked them to leave it with the Thai restaurant people. She then sent my nephew Pat to go and fetch it. I beat him to the phone.

We still can't figure out how they called Anna's number. It was not the top number, nor was it in my called list. Strange.

So, back to the bakery for pumpkin empanadas, which are my favourite. I think I will have to make some at Samhain this year. I'm guessing that Stephen and Ash both will enjoy them. I brought home apple ones too, but not pineapple, because Anna is "allergic" (meaning she hates them.) Mom was upset at the lack of pineapple. They are her favourite. I can't win for losing with the empanadas. ;)

In the afternoon Anna and I went to Best Buy (to deal with broken laptop stuff before my warranty expires on the 25th of August) and Barnes and Noble. (They are right next door, and Anna goes gaga over books. Not me, of course. Never me.) The lines were long at Best Buy but to make a long story short, they took my laptop to repair it. It is not due back until the 24th... BUT since I fly back to the UK on the 7th, if it is not back by the 5th then they will give me a brand new one, free. I will be able to buy an extended warranty on it also. It may not be the best that they have, but they agreed that none of the specs will be less than what I had on the old laptop. They can, and most likely will, be better. I also found out that, if need be, they can make repairs overseas.

The downside is this: I couldn't lose my documents folder, and had no way to back it up at home, being that it was about 27 Gigabytes large. The least expensive external hard drive they had was more expensive than it would have cost for me to have Best Buy back up the folder, and the offer they extended to me was not going to happen if I didn't leave my computer then, so I felt that I had to pay them to back up my documents. It is money I didn't count on spending, nor is the money that I will spend for the extended warranty on a new computer (if it works out that way,) but I think both were/will be vital.

Barnes and Noble afterwards was nice because it was the first time I have gotten time to spend /with/ Anna. We browsed; she bought a whole lot of books. I ended up with two. This trip has been heavy on the reading, and I am really enjoying being able to read for pleasure rather than reading to learn. Perhaps another post I'll give you the lowdown on what I have read and what I think of them.

Tristan and I are really enjoying our time together. I am starting to dream of packing him into my suitcase and taking him home with me. I have dreamed things along those lines every night for the past 4 nights. I don't need a dream interpreter to know what that means. I am really going to hate leaving him.

Enough for now.
*kisses*

Hello Bluebells!

Hi Bluebells!

I thought you might want to know what I have done so far on my holiday, so I am sending you this blog to tell you, and to show you pictures.

Mr. Amy and I left on Wednesday night to go to London on a train, because I had to go to the airport VERY early and it was a long way away.

This is me on the train. Mr. Amy took this picture so I could say hi to you!

This is one of the stations that the train stopped at on the way to London. The train stops so that people can get on and off. Can you see what the town is called?

I got up and left our house to go to the train station so early that Mr. Amy was still asleep. I had to catch a bus, then another train to get to the airport.

This was the place I was sitting on the train. My luggage is strapped into the wall of the train so it didn't roll away when the train stopped. I watched it the whole time. It didn't do anything interesting at all. It just sat there.

This is a funny picture of me that I took for you. I was so tired that I forgot to smile.

These are some pictures of the planes I saw. The long tube is where the people walk to get onto the plane. You can see some steps that the people who maintain the planes use to put the luggage and the petrol into the plane and check to make sure it is safe to fly.

Can you see how many wheels are on these planes?

This is the plane that I flew in. I walked through the tube and through a door to get in the plane. It was full of lots of people. Each chair had a TV and I got to watch a film called 'Nim's Island'. I sat on the airplane for a really long time, all day long. Then I was at another airport and I had to wait a long time so I could get on another airplane. When I got off, my family was waiting for me! We all cried, we were so happy to see each other. Now I am at my Mummy's house.

This is a close picture so you can see how many wheels there really are on an airplane. Can you count them? Remember that some are hiding on the other side of the airplane too.

I miss you all, Bluebells, and will write to you again soon. You can ask me questions or write back to me if you want. There is a place at the bottom that says 'comments'. You can write there and I will see it!

The Truth is... Heavenly Hell

The truth of the last 36 hours is that they have been extremely difficult, but all for a good reason. I am in El Paso, I have Boo in my arms, and I never want to let him go. I have had little sleep, I cried more than once (actually, once in each airport) and I discovered that 1. I really hate traveling, especially alone, and 2. I think of England as home. I didn't realise that.

The reason that I am posting this little tidbit of truth is that I am going to use this blog to write to my kids at school about the trip. So you will see the gooshey everything-is-nice version, including pictures. But you all deserve the truth, too.

People so far have been difficult for me. I guess that I developed some sort of larger personal space rules, because everyone seems too close and too loud. Family has been wonderful, though. It is the random strangers that I am talking about. I didn't actually have a decent cup of tea until I got to Mom's house, and I needed it. My body hasn't adjusted to the time at all - I was exhausted and went to bed in El Paso by midnight. I was up at 3. Could not sleep. Because in my head that was 10 and I just couldn't bear to lie abed any longer. So I'm up. Now it is 5 am and I feel like my day is half over. Part of me wants to wake Tristan up and go and do stuff - but it is not exactly fair to make a kid change his schedule just because mine is out of whack.

So, enough truth. Onto the gloss!

The Long Silence... an Explanation.

Yo ho ho friends and family. It has obviously been quite awhile since I have last spoken to you all. Last you heard I had many papers left to go. As of right now, I have one left for the year.

So, the quick update and explanation of my distance. Lots of papers to write, and a new job to boot. I am working at a 'nursery' (aka daycare) here. It is a daily experience. There are many things that I would change, but it is a lesson instead in keeping my opinions to myself. It makes me often miss Christi. I daydream about an early childhood center with her...

Anyway, on top of that, I have been really really sick. I am still not entirely over it. It started with the flu (or so I'm told) and happily moved into my chest and made a home there. I still hack and cough things up, and I still feel like there is a tight band around my chest. I make it through the night without coughing, which is an improvement. For a while, I thought I was fighting off pneumonia.



And while all of this has been going on, Kelley came for a visit. We had grand plans to post blogs while she was here; you can see how well that worked out. I am hoping that she still will help me post at least 1 blog. Until then, enjoy the few pics.


I don't want to post too many on the off chance that she will still post a blog with me here about her trip. She and Stephen spent most of their time together, as I still had school and I still had to work while she was here. (Insert sappy face sucking here...)


She and Stephen spent lots of time exploring London: she now has seen more of it than I have. Lucky for me she took lots of pictures, so I could see things too. She saw awesome changing of the guard stuff... I hope she tells all of you about it.

Mother's Day came and went, and it was a hard day for me. I feel it on a daily basis not being closer to Tristan. It doesn't get any easier the longer it has been. It just aches in my chest all the time. (And no, it ISN'T the cough!) I'm sure some of you will say that I brought it on myself. I'm not looking for sympathy, just commenting on the falsity of the 'it gets better with time' statement.

Related to this, it is definite that I am coming home for a visit this summer. My plane flies into El Paso at 10:45 pm on the 17th of July, and I leave to come back at 10:45 on the morning of the 7th. I'm grateful for the chance to spend time with Boo. And I will spend my entire 34th birthday on a plane. I won't even get home until the day after my birthday. Lucky Stephen... he can forget the day and it won't be a big deal at all.

While I am in the States, Tristan and I will be staying at Mom Holen's house. The plan is to go crazy with seeing everyone. I am not going anywhere or doing anything that doesn't involve spending time with the people I love. And Tristan's 7th birthday. I'll have my old cell phone number while I am there, at least until the beginning of August. I would love to see everyone. I am really looking forward to seeing people. But most of all, I can't wait to hug my little boy (who is not so little and graduated from 1st grade yesterday.)

Hope this fills everyone in on what is going on in my world. I hope to get back into the swing of posting, especially as there is so much I could be telling to you. One more paper to go, and then it is just the day to day things. Hopefully there will be a post from Kelley soon, and I intend to force Ashley onto the computer to fill you all in on what is going on in her world too. She has been a busy little beaver lately too.

kisses, and missing every one of you...

Gila

Today we went to Gila national park. We hiked several miles through a lovely canyon cut into some pretty rocks by a still vigorously flowing river.

We got to see a woodpecker, a squirrel, many spiders, lizards, huge bumble bees, some fish, and even a few other hikers.

In addition we got our feet wet, padding in the almost freezing river water to cool our feet down from the walking.

Afterwards we stopped off at a picnic spot overlooking Gila park and consumed a quick sandwich.

What's Been Goin' On...

Don't worry, we have not forgotten you. It has been SO BUSY at casa de Stephen and Amy that there has been little time to check our email, let alone blog. But there is time now, and This is the official Check in and Update.


After an incredibly busy Tuesday, in which the movers came and emptied out my house of items going to England, I drove to Mom Holen's. A hot night in which I had many nightmares about spider webs and being trapped while the millions of tiny spiders descended to eat me alive left me groggy and out of sorts on Wednesday. But it was a busy day none the less. An airport run to pick up a friend on mine and Stephen's, and then we hot-tailed it to the house to clean like crazy. During the trip and cleaning craziness, there was the silly little girl meltdown. What if what if what if. I can only think it must have been pre-arrival jitters in the worst way. I had a sudden new sympathy for all those brides who freak out at the last minute and change their minds. Thank god someone was there to hold my hand and let me cry, and talk me through it.

Stephen's flight out of Newark to Houston was delayed by 35 minutes, leaving him worried that he'd be unable to make his connecting flight from Houston to El Paso - a connection for which only 40 minutes had been scheduled. Some time was made up in the air, and Stephen had to race across the airport to arrive panting at the El Paso flight's boarding gate with only minutes to spare. That flight was supposed to arrive at 10.20... and we figured we had plenty of time to get there. We didn't. His flight was early, and there was no time to go back to the house and change from grunge clothes into something nicer, let alone shower off the moving stink. We arrived in time, but somehow missed him off the plane. We met up at the baggage claim and I felt as though I could finally breathe. That the hardest part was over.

We left the airport and hit Chico's Tacos for dinner. To his credit, he tried them like a trooper. His response after: "They tasted like nothing, like I was eating fried cardboard soaked in watery tomato juice." But at least he experienced them. Then home, and crawl into bed. It had been a long day, and we were all tired, but sleep was short for staying up, catching up.

Thursday was the start of family meeting time. All the Holens, then a trip to Stahmann Farms to buy pecans for Stephen's mum. They no longer make chile peanut brittle, which is what I specifically wanted to get for her, but they DID have chile dusted pecans, so that is what will have to do. I REALLY hope she enjoys them.

Afterwards was dessert with my mother, a cherry apple crumb cake. Yumminess. Stephen made quite the impression on my mother, who said he was so very smart and awfully cute. She may be as smitten as I am.

Dinner at Mom's - her chicken and green chile enchiladas. Then a movie: Stardust. It was good good good, and the main character has the same name as Boo, but it so late by the time we got home that we fell into bed. Still, it wasn't enough sleep, as we, of course, had to stay up talking until 2 am.

Friday was more family time. A late sleep-in, then rush to pick Tristan up at school on time, and a last conference with his teacher. We are going to be pen-pals with his class, sending pictures and treats to the kids, and able to answer questions. The teacher will definitely let Tristan email us from school, and may be able to work something out as far as IMing back and forth with his class. What an exciting prospect. Then Stephen and Tristan got to see the old house in all its emptiness; Stephen for the first time, and Tristan to say goodbye. It was a little sad.

Friday night was the big family dinner. We picked Ashley up from her Dad's and all of us, sin Mama, ate at a local diner that is older-people friendly. Stephen was amazing and charmed the socks off of every female there... including the ones under the age of 2 and the one over the age of 85. Then a night time hot-tub visit to my Aunt's house. Tristan got to hot-tub in his underwear. That was quite the exciting thing for a 6 year old boy. Again, we got home so very late.

Saturday was a trip to the approx 800ft underground Carlsbad Caverns. I had forgotten how lovely it is, and how much I enjoyed/enjoy such geek-y types of things. The cave decorations were as lovely as I remember them being. We walked the Big Room, which at it longest is just about a two mile walk. Tristan did wonderfully, only really getting tired during the last 10 minutes or so. Then fudge and cider (cherry non-alcoholic kind) and hometime.

Today Stephen and I began our week long trip to the grand canyon, beginning with shopping in Las Cruces, lunch (delicioso tapatillas de pescado y camaron con soda de Jarritos) and the Gila Wilderness. We are currently staying in a tiny (just a few casitas, but each one is relatively spacious) bed and breakfast in the Gila, and it is lovely. The cell phones don't work (nice for me) and there is high speed internet access (nice for Stephen). We originally planned to stay here 1 night, and head towards the Grand Canyon tomorrow... but it is so nice and there is so much to do that we have decided to stay here another day.

So far, Stephen has experienced hummingbirds and stink bugs for the first time. We are having elk with sweet vidalia onions, mexican squash, and purple potatoes for dinner, and he can continue to add to his list then.

We miss you all so much... but are happy to be alone in the wilderness for a bit. It's nice to spend time and just be in love. There have been no nightmares at all since he arrived.

In Which Amy Talks about Traveling for the Holiday... (Part 2) (Myspace Blog)

02 Jan 2007 00:19

In Which Amy Talks about Traveling for the Holiday... (Part 2) (Myspace Blog)

This is the continuation of a previous post... so if you haven't read (Part 1) you should do so... Christmas morning. My mother wakes Beth and I up screeching at 7 am... (that is 5 am my time, just in case you were wondering!...) "Girls!!!" (screech) "Get up girls!" (screech) "We have to hurry and eat breakfast and go so hurry up!" (screech). Not that I mind... ok. I'm lying. I minded. The kids could wait an extra hour to open presents... /I/ was tired. So breakfast, shower, lots of Earl Grey (Thank God for emergency shopping trips, even if they /are/ to Walmart, which I hate and refuse to shop at based on their lack of affordable benefits for their employees and their aggressive anti-union stance...) and an hour later, we are on our way. And the entirety of the Holen family estrogen squad meets at Marianne's house. Chaos. Beautiful, loving chaos. Kids running, screaming in delight over stocking and in anticipation of presents... Bustle in the kitchen baking crescent rolls and breakfast dishes... Cameras flashing, rustles of paper, sharp cries of 'Don't you open that yet!' Chaos. Pat and Nick are excited to not have to play Santa, and the job is delegated to the next generation of nephews... James and Nathan get a turn. Of course, they lose interest quickly, and, not knowing any of us, give me Bethy's gift and have no idea who Lizzie is, and Pat and Nick end up taking over again. It was wonderful. Lovely. Perfect. And passed far too quickly. The next day is Monday, traveling day. But first, family pictures. It is a rare thing for all the girls to be home for the holidays together, so pictures it is. (You can see some of them on my pictures' page...) Then a quick pack trip, a quick email to every family member with a nah-ne nah-ne to the boys that missed out, and into the car we go. I am the first to drive, being daylight and all. I experience my first round-about (apparantly these are very big in New England and Great Britain...) and lots of back roads to get onto I-20. I drive until dusk, when we stop for dinner at a Cracker Barrel somewhere in Mississippi or Louisiana, I think. This is important, so I'll say it again... Cracker Barrel. Thus beigns the nightmare portion of the trip. Dark, cant sleep, toss and turn. Anna and I try Serenity again... and if I cup my hands around my eyes just right, then I can't see the movement of the lights outside. This time, I actually manage to finish the movie with only a headache. But I toss and turn... and Beth is driving. I hope I talked about Beth driving in (Part 1)... I get a headache and my stomach rolls just thinking about talking about Beth driving... AND I got sent to the very back of the car beause it was dark and I hadn't taken my turn. Needless to say, the feeling good thing was out the window. 2 am we arrive in Dallas to drop Beth off, and noone listens when I say that Jim and Erin were expecting us to stop by... and I don't care enough to say it again. I half sleep my way through the night, and finally it is morning and I am tired and grumpy and achey and we are in Abilene... and /everyone/ is tired and grumpy and achey and Mom says "I want Cracker Barrel for breakfast." The groans and sighs abound. Pat makes a comment and the flag is thrown, it is official - the battle begins. We don't find a Cracker Barrel, and ended up eating at McDonalds (yet another place that I refuse to frequent based upon their treatment of employees and militant anti-union stance...). Funny how my morals go out the window... I don't say a word against their choice of meal at all. The rest of the trip is Pat making comments at Mom and Mom making comments at Pat and everyone else and I am texting Stephen saying "Only 300 more miles...." and trying to sleep and it is all a blur. BUT - The clear spot in the blur is Mom saying "Amy, when we get home you are going to sleep before you drive the rest of the way to your house, right?" and me saying "No, I'm going right home" and thinking "I cannot be around these people for another minute without exploding into little tiny bits hell no I'm not staying another night!" Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my family.... just consider the circumstances. So home to Mom's... pack my car, then home to my house. Bed. I want bed. I feel like I haven't slept in a week (sleeping on the floor and not sleeping in a car will do that, I guess...) and I just want my bed. It takes me some time to recover... but I do. So, a wonderful, well worth it trip, and only 28 hours in the car this time. Would I do it again? Absolutely. And that jumps me to New Years. On which I did nothing. I love the fact that I am allowed to avoid acknowledging the holidays in my own house.

In Which Amy Wants to Remember... (Myspace Blog)

Here are some things that I really want to remember about this holiday:

* Erin and her tiny baby belly. I think its a girl... I'm pretty sure.

*Outside of Marianne's house, Nikki walks up to me and leans against me and says... "Aunt Amy... you have a smell." Is it a nasty old lady smell? no. It is a good smell then? yes. Is it distinctive? yes. Will she smell it forever and identify it as my smell? yes. She says it is not the patchouly of my hair, or the lavender of my clothes... but ME. My smell. I have a smell.

*Wrapping presents with Marianne and Matt and talking. I miss talking with her... and she called me her best friend. I miss talking with her... I spilled my guts about current situations and it was nice... she was supportive... and I miss talking to her...

*Meeting Nathan and Ian for the first time... and the rest of the trip wherever we walk, Nathan reaches to hold my hand. I like Heathers' boys.

*The old rusty lawn chair hidden in the woods... and the hour I sat in it listening to the quiet and having alone time. Nice.

*Fuzzy vines mean poison ivy... and they really are fuzzy!

*Hide and Seek in the dark, but it is way too scary to play. I hide under the car and I am the first person Pat finds. That means I'm it... but I know everyone will hide in the darkest parts of the yard, so Matt offers to hunt with me. He actually does all the work, but I can pretend that I was it.

*Heart to heart with Mom... and I don't really like what she has to say, but it is valuable anyway. I'm so grateful that she cares enough to tell me things that are not so fun to hear.

*Lizzie comes to Matt and Marianne's house... and it is the first time I have seen her since she went into the military. She is not a little girl anymore.

*Sleeping on the floor... I really really miss my kids... and I'm homesick. Georgia is pretty, but I don't think it is a place that I want to live.

In Which Amy Talks about Traveling for the Holiday... (Part 1) (Myspace Blog)

So, this is part 1 of my holiday extravaganza! No... there is no part 2 yet... because part 2 hasn't happened yet. It will, starting tomorrow morning, when kids scream and throw themselves on presents... yeah.. you know how xmas morning looks.

So, the original plan was for me to leave on Yule... AFTER a circle with my coven. I was going to take laundry and other things, drop mi hija with her father, and pack at my moms' house. Circle at 7... plenty of time. Right? Right...

I don't actually make it to the circle. I don't actually make it to mi hijas fathers' house until 10... and my moms' until 11. Then laundry... 2 loads that won't dry. We are supposed to leave at 5 am... at 4 am I am dozing on the couch trying desperately to finish the laundry so I can pack, eyes red rimmed and tired... and 6 shots of Baileys Irish Cream in me. (Mom did it...I walk in and she says 'Have some!' and how the hell am I supposed to say no to that? Just because she went to bed and left me to drink them alone means nothing, I swear...) My lips were nice and numb.

Eventually laundry gets done and I shower and there is only time to rush rush rush and weren't we supposed to leave at 5? Maybe... but we ACTUALLY leave at 6:30... after I am told that 2 suitcases is too many and am forced to shove all my stuff into 1. Tight squeeze, but my nephew sits on it and we manage.

The plan is to make it to Dallas to pick up sister 3, see brother 2 and sister in law on day 1 (9 hours), then drive overnight into Georgia on day 2 (12 hours). Somehow, it doesn't seem to work that way.

Day 1 -So we leave, and it is fun, and exciting, and I am looking out the window... and by mile 250 I am wishing that I had brought my charcoals and a sketch pad (note to self: never go on a trip without your charcoals and a sketch pad!) and by mile 350 I am bored. We watch 1/2 of the movie Serenity before Amy gets sick. Like turning green sick. Pull over and puke sick. Ihatecars sick. We stop for lunch. Amy does not get to finish the movie, which upsets her, because she really really wants to. We finally get into Dallas 12 hours later. I wont detail the rest of that day, as it involved lots of laughing at Amy for being sick, and lots of Amy trying /not/ to be sick. Seeing brother and sister in law was so fun and perfect... and makes me miss them even more.

Day 2 - I drive in the early hours of the morning for a bit. Fun.. but it is dark and the road feels like it is coming out of nowhere, there is fog that falls from the sky, and the trees are dark and creepy at the side of the road. I can't think about it too hard without scaring myself. BUT - I go through 3 new states... Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Alabama. I seem to have an ongoing love affair with a restuarant called 'The Waffle House'. I see them every 2 miles or so.... the are following me in the dark. Really. Then breakfast time (not at Waffle House... they are stalking me...) and I'm done with my stint of driving.

Next Sister 3 drives.... and I get so so sick. She drives like she has to in Dallas... aggressive, quick movements that jerk us across lanes. No that this is bad... but I spend the rest of the trip asleep in a desperate attempt to avoid having to pull over to puke. I wake, she changes lanes, I turn green and promptly fall back asleep. My music is pounding in my ears to try to cover sounds of conversation that might keep me concious. Everytime I wake I groan and ask where we are... the car turns a corner, I groan again and turn green and fall back asleep. My nephew thinks this is the most amusing thing ever.

After getting lost, we make it to Georgia and the hotel by 1... (17 hours). They have a treadmill! yay! And I run a mile to make up for the fact that I have sat on my tush for the last 31 hours. A mile is all I can do... I am dragging so. I meet 1 nephew that I hadn't before, saw one that I hadn't seen since he was two, and hugged sisters that I haven't seen since mi hijo was an infant. Dinner at family's house and I am beat beat beat by 8. We get back to the hotel and I am asleep before my mom stops talking.

Wake next morning for breakfast, and go for a run with said nephew, who is 15 and thinks that all people should have the energy and stamina to run like him. I am dragging... so tired that I can't think. Plus I'm old. Which means he teases me about being slow and not keeping up. I think we managed a mile before I was stick-a-fork-in-me done. Everyone else went to go shopping... all I want is a nap. So I go to sleep... and my sisters have to go to the front desk to get a key because I do not wake up to answer the door. or the phone. or the hollering outside the window. I dont actually wake until my nephew is tickling my feet. (which I hate)

Then the afternoon with family and kids is spent playing and cooking and making candy and my baby sister gets there! and /all/ of the girls are in the same place so lets take pictures! and wrap presents and talktalktalk and hide and seek in the dark, but I am too scared to play long because it is so DARK! And there are monsters... BUT I now know what poison ivy looks like.

So, tonight Santa comes to Georgia. Amy wakes early... and part two begins.

Happy Holidays!

I miss my babies!