The First Day of Mid-Term

The kids get this week off school. It's called the Mid-Term Holiday, but I think it should be renamed the Recovering From Colds & British Summer Time Holiday.

It seems like everybody has been ill & the clocks fell back for fall yesterday. We are back on Greenwich Mean Time. It means that it's 9:41 in the morning & it feels like 2 in the afternoon. We've had more than one fight, a broken photo glass, & the four hours of tidiness I experience every day when Cami & Graham are at school will resume next Monday.

It's Not For Camping

Graham loves numbers. LOVES them. So, yesterday he decided to count to 100 for a bunch of educational professionals. He got to 40 before they told him that he'd done well, but that the meeting needed to end. (I just snickered the entire time.)

This morning Jason invited Graham to count up to 100 for him. Everything was going exactly the way you would expect, until:

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, tenty."

"Tenty? You mean one hundred."

"No, tenty. It comes next."

Views of Pemberley

I had promised more pictures of Chatsworth House last week. So, here's some of the house and grounds.



This is one of the State Rooms, not usually open to the public. When the house was constructed, this room was built specifically so that if Mary & William ever came to visit, they would have a throne room available. It would have been the seat of power whenever they were there. The room never had its moment of greatness.

I wish these indoor photos weren't blurry. I was trying to be good & not use a flash.

Once upon a time I thought I'd never see a library to covet more than one at Princeton. I was wrong.

Alright, movie lovers, recognize this?

I love the countryside. Sarah noted that I spent the most time standing at the windows instead of gawking at the lavish interiors.



Sarah & I were both in awe of this indoor vineyard. The grapes hang from vines planted in the 1920s. Just amazing.

Scripture Power Usurped

This morning Graham started flipping a coin to see if it would land "heads" or "knees." When it came up heads, he said, "It's the power to win."

Crying Right Now

When you find yourself, you will be beautiful. -- Ruth Reichl's mother.

I'm listening to a Fresh Air interview with Ruth Reichl right now. I've read her first three memoirs & she is currently promoting her fourth. The book is entitled, Not Becoming My Mother.

Who doesn't feel that? (Mom, are you surprised?)

I've been struggling with all the voices in my head. I've heard lots of negative things throughout my life & unfortunately, I've absorbed them to the point that my thoughts are now the self-destroying voice. Just in this week, I've been trying to interrupt the negative words & replace them with kindness.

So, this quote is something I'm going to write up on my wall. I keep trying to find out who I am. And then I will see that I am beautiful.

How Many Eyes Have You Got?

Triops has Three Eyes is an especially popular song with our numerically gifted four year old. Graham likes to cuddle in bed with me before the sun is up and talk about what creatures are called that have one eye, two eyes, three eyes, etc. We go up to ten & then my knowledge of Roman/Latin numerical prefixes comes to an end.

This morning Graham asked to see a bi-op. "Honey, look at me," I said. "I'm a bi-op."

"No, you are not. You are not scary. Bi-ops are scary."

Chicken with Apples

This recipe was a lifesaver tonight. I had NO brilliant ideas & then I found this. I had everything -- having bought the chicken breasts & Braeburns yesterday -- except the juice. Homemade chicken stock replaced that. And I reduced the Dijon to about 1/2 tsp. Little mouths can't handle the HOT English mustard.