So much....

..... to talk about.
I don't feel like it however.
I want to post pics but lost my camera cable (it is somewhere in the basement last seen around Thanksgiving!) and don't want to write anymore posts without pictures! I have so many that I want to share.

I didn't write about my second weekend in Carlisle.

I didn't write about getting shortlisted for interview at Teesside (I don't have pics for this one though!)

I didn't write about the snow.

Or the snow candy that Kerry next door made.

I didn't write about my Peyton Manning signed football.......

I guess you will all just have to wait!

Christmas

So. that time of year is upon us again.
I tell you, Thanksgiving here throws you for a loop because everything is geared up to that holiday and then all of a sudden Christmas is next week.

My parents are coming to see me. They are actually travelling over on Christmas Day (although I won't see them until the next day most probably). Nevertheless, I feel more homesick this year than I did last year. Maybe that is because this time last year Beth and my Mum were here. Or maybe it is because it has hit me that I didn't have Christmas at home last year either.

Who knows!

Here are the things that I am going to miss the most (in no particular order!):

1) The Marks and Sparks trimmings. I don't eat the turkey but I LOVE the trimmings!

2) The best roast potatoes EVER (my Mum is a genius).

3) The dog getting excited about opening presents even if they are not hers. She is very funny. She won't go and open them herself but she will help out, especially if it squeaks or smells like beef! Then she'll get excited about opening ANY presents!

4) The Santa sack that my Mum made for me when I was younger (I told you my Mum is a genius, right?)

5) The way we open our presents throughout the day not just all at once in the morning. Even at 7pm we have a couple of pressies each left under the tree.

6) Carolling with the GREBC lot. I love it! I miss Christmas carols. Somehow I missed out on singing ANY last year. I hope this year isn't the same! And what is this about Jonathan teaching parts to the carols?? When I am not there??

7) Beth. Well, I actually never see her at Christmas. I just miss her. She is the best best friend in the world!

I'm sure I will come up with more things that I miss as the week goes on.

Mum and Dad, I can't wait to see you!

My Week

On Sunday I decided to polish my shoes five minutes before having to leave the house. In my Sunday Best clothes.

Yes. I am that clever.

Shoe polish went everywhere. I had to change.

On Wednesday I lost the first sheet of my UCAS personal statement that I needed to type up. I blitzed my room to find it. I didn't. I rewrote it. I found it.

Yes. I am that clever.

I found it right beside my left foot.

On Friday evening I stepped on a needle.

Yes. I am that clever.

It hurt. A LOT.


Actually, all these little anecdotes include feet (or things that go on feet) in one way or another. At least I was clever enough to work that out.

The Writings of a Six Year Old

I am clearly extremely behind on my posting! These pics have been up on Facebook for a while so no doubt most of you will have seen them.
This is Michella's first foray into the world of writing......
Her first book goes as follows and it is a semi autobiographical work:

Michella is bad.

Sorry, Mom.
I didn't mean it.

Please note that she did put a full stop at the end of that sentence. So very proud!!

The second is a work of fiction (just kidding):

Michella is good today.

I was!

I am also planning to post a song that Julianna wrote about Valentines Day..... interesting topic for a then 9 year old!

Little Knitters

I recently got back into knitting. I hadn't done it for a while but now I am very much loving it (in fact, don't be surprised if you get a knitted gift for Christmas..... Beth, I am working on yours right now!!). The girls were very interested in the knitting and so I got Julianna a knitting kit for her birthday. Last week the girls had vacation for the Thanksgiving holiday so I sat down and taught them how to knit. Even Alex had a go, although it took me a while to persuade her. They all did very well, particularly Michella. I wasn't terribly surprised. She took to cross-stitch very well last year while Julianna struggled with it. Julianna also did very well with the knitting and she had much less help from me than Michella did. Michella was getting very frustrated that we weren't actually making a particular item at that point and were just practicing. She didn't quite get that we weren't making a cabled sweater yet. There is something called walking before you run, Michella!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

Wish List

Mum, this post is for you!!

I am directing you to two things:

One on the Radley site

http://www.radley.co.uk/en-gb/CategoryList/?cid=RACCHAT&language=en-GB

Meant to be??? Surely??

The other..... also on the Radley site!

http://www.radley.co.uk/en-gb/CategoryList/?cid=RTINY&language=en-GB

I should never have gone on this website!

The Campbells of Carlisle (PA!)

I rented a car early on Saturday morning and drove over 200 miles to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to visit the lovely Campbell family! I was very excited to see them. The journey took me about 3 and 1/2 hours and was pretty easy. The car that I got from the rental company was a black Mercury Sable and was fairly nice. Insanely spacious (which I didn't need cos it was only me in the car!), excessively sensitive brakes (but then again, most cars have sensitive brakes compared to the truck I drive here!!) and poor acceleration (stopped me from speeding too much!).

I drove through a lot of rain so I was worried that the weekend would be a wash out but I came through the other side to beautiful sunshine!

I arrived at Craig Lane at about 12pm. Meg and Mairi arrived just after me. Megan's practice (I still haven't worked out what for!) ran on longer than they expected so when I arrived there was no one there.

We had lunch and then Megan and I found a geocache on the school's cross country route. Since they live right next to the school it wasn't a very long walk!Megan found the cache. She was very happy about it!

Meg introduced me to her fish which she got recently. He is rather handsome and very much aloof. Can you guess which literary character he is named after?? Of course, it is Mr Darcy!

After that we walked round to the church to meet Tina who had been paint balling with the youth group. After that we drove in my wonderful rental to Wal Mart to copy a photo for Megan. On the way we played Lou Fellingham really loudly with the windows down and we were, of course, singing along too. Carlisle needed it. We then tried to find a couple of geocaches but only had success with one (a virtual cache). One of the others I knew was up a tree. Well, if ever you need a tree climbed the best person to have with you in Caitriona Campbell! Only, she was wearing crocs! She put on my trainers and we tried getting the cache but couldn't place it. Oh well.

In the evening we went to Bonanza. Such a great restaurant! We ate far too much but it was all so delicious!

Megan had homework to do in the evening so Tina and I watched Hello, Dolly! I've never seen it before, despite it being about Yonkers! It is so wonderful! Very funny! The only thing was that both Tina and I were excessively tired by this point and the film seemed to go on FOREVER!

On Sunday we went to church (fairly obviously seeing as David is the minister!). The girls went off to their Sunday School and I went with Mairi to a class on James. It was really great. James is one of my favourite books in the Bible and it is always good to hear more on it. In church we looked at the first 4 verses of Luke.

There was a church luncheon so we stayed for that. It was good fun and there was lots of good food. When we went home Megan, Tina and I played and sang our way through most of the Keswick songbook and then went for a walk.

Then I had to head home. The journey was fine and I made it home soon after 8pm.

What a great weekend!

10 today! and my new charge.....

I also forgot to say:

It is Julianna's birthday today! She is now 10 years old! Hooray!

We just had cupcakes with Mary and Sal (Vinny's parents) and are having a party with more family tomorrow night!

The cupcakes looked like neither of these pictures but they are pretty and they are cupcakes so here they are..... and I really want to eat another cupcake now!


The fun never ends!!


Their Uncle Joe got Michella a Tamagotchi yesterday (very similar to the one pictured!). Now I have another child to look after (because I so desperately need more!!! :-S) but Michella says that she will give me Saturday and Sundays off as well as the holidays that they have from school. So I guess I am getting a good deal..... except, of course, that I am not being paid!

She only got it yesterday and I already had to confiscate it this evening...... that didn't go down well! Especially considering that it went to sleep at 8pm and didn't wake up until she was at school so she actually hasn't gotten to play with it much at all!

*I edited this post about 7 times!!*

Visitors

I should probably have written this post a couple of weeks ago...... because it happened a couple of weeks ago. But, oh well! Better late than never as they say.

I managed to meet up with my Mum's cousin, Marj, and her family one Thursday night in NYC. It was so nice to see them. We met at Grand Central (thankfully I was able to get off work a little early because Michella had gone to a birthday party and Robbin dropped me off at the station on the way home.) and then had some dinner. We caught up on the football..... no one is too impressed by George Burley (really, he is awful!) and how the rest of their holiday had gone so far. Sounds like they had a great time. They flew into Atlanta and travelled round a few places before heading to Memphis. They know some people from there through church connections so I think they had a good time catching up with everybody. So, the last stop was NYC. They were staying in Hospitality House which is the hotel that my parents and I have always stayed in. Pure coincidence though! And to think how many hotels there are in New York!

Olivia with Hello Kitty

We ended up wandering the streets for the rest of the evening just catching up and chatting. I did force them to help me with a geocache though. It was Ali who eventually found it so thank you to him!! I'm not sure that they are convinced about geocaching (I think they thought that I was a bit weird!) but we'll see! Maybe we'll have hooked in somebody else!

Ali found it!

Mike, Ali and Marj with the log. It was really difficult to get it back in the cache. It was also VERY, VERY full!

At the Berlin Wall.... in NYC (l-r: Laura, Marj, Mike, Olivia, Ali)

Marj also found a new connection to Rachael (the au pair who was here before me) as our grannies used to go to the same bible study. All these connections are a little bit scary now! There are too many! Scotland is too small a place!

In other news, the infrared rubbish bin opened and closed by itself the other day. That is what it is meant to do, I hear you cry!............ But not when nobody is in the vicinity at all!!! Spooky! lol

My newest purchase

I bought some new boots yesterday. Aren't they wonderful?

The most random, unconnected post ever!

There is an outbreak of headlice at the girls' school. What joy! Yesterday's count was 22 kids and it rose again today but I'm not sure by how much. The nurses haven't even gotten round to checking all the kids yet! Unreal! We're keeping a close eye on things here. I got worried cos my scalp has been itchy, really itchy. This CANNOT happen! Robbin just checked me and I've been given the all clear! Yay!........ And my head has stopped itching! Miraculous!

We're trying all the preventative measures that we can. Tea tree oil apparently works to repel lice which is great because it is natural. I dislike the idea of the really strong lice treatments on the kids' hair. Today we got some hair care products from Fairy Tales. We got shampoo, conditioner and a spray. It works like bug spray. It repels the insects. Hopefully it works! I don't want headlice! I also don't want to keep my hair dirty. I hate it when my hair is dirty. It has to be clean........ which, of course, headlice love!! Well, fingers crossed for the shampoo!

Darlington played Bradford last night. It was on Sky and I even got a text from my uncle, Iain, who was watching it in a bar in Tenerife! We won 2-1 which was awesome. It saw the return of Barry Conlon (urgh!!) to Darlington. He drives me up the wall. This photo shows that he really hasn't changed one bit.

He is the guy in not in the black and white (I'm struggling to describe Bradford's colours!). This is the pose that he was constantly using when playing for us. Stop complaining and play football, Barry! Just get on with it!

Lastly, here is a pic of my Mum and Dad at Sophie's 18th ceilidh. Beth said I could use it so thank you, Beth! Don't they look wonderful! I miss them everyday but I spoke to them today so I'm happy!

I'm just wondering where the rest of the people at the party are!

Apples, Apples, and Shepherd's Pie

I have been quite the domesticated little housewife this week (despite the fact that I am actually unmarried!). Usually I don't spend anytime longer than I need to in the kitchen preparing food. It isn't because I don't like it but it is more that there is always someone, whether they be aged 6, 9 or 13, who needs my attention. This week I have spent rather a lot of time in the kitchen and have enjoyed it immensely.

Last Sunday Robbin took the younger girls apple picking (Alex had a softball game in Connecticut so she and Vinny couldn't go). Now I'm sure apple picking is lots of fun. There is just one problem. Apples. We now have what seems like a truck load! So, I had to come up with some apple recipes to use up some. First I made apple sauce (or as I would call it at home, apple puree). It turned out pretty well. I have made this before at home but this was different purely because the recipe called for cinnamon. I didn't use the blender (see previous post!) so left it lumpy which actually was fine.

The next apple recipe was an apple cobbler. I was a bit apprehensive about this one because I have never made a cobbler before in my life. Ever! The recipe was also a bit strange so I took a few liberties with it. I'm not sure that you are meant to do that the first time that you make something but oh well! It turned out GREAT! I'm not even kidding (nor am I humble!). Definitely a keeper and probably the first foray into the world of cobblers. What to try next? Peach?

My apple cobbler. Maybe it doesn't look so appetising but I can tell you, it was delicious!

With my masterpiece. I'm not sure if I should be able to hold it up like that but it doesn't matter cos it tasted good. Got that??

I also made a shepherd's pie this week. Technically it was a cottage pie because I made it with beef and not lamb..... but does it really matter? I love making things with mince (ground meat) because it is a great way to slip all those disliked (and therefore unused) vegetables in the fridge. Chop them up really small and they have absolutely no clue! This week I chopped up courgette (zucchini) and no one had a clue. Mushrooms and carrots are a favourite too. It always pleases me to see kids who don't like mushrooms or courgettes wolf down a portion without realising!! With this shepherd's pie I also mixed sweet potato into the mash. Michella wondered why it was orange and though not liking sweet potato gobbled it all up and told me it was the most delicious mashed potato she had ever had. She never realised about why it was orange. She thought it was food colouring.

I wonder what I'll make next week. Probably it'll just be back to normal and I'll spend as little time in the kitchen as possible!

Hooray for Glasgow

Check out this story on the BBC website. I love Glasgow. It is really a great city. Although I didn't enjoy my time at university there, I loved the city. There is so much going on and something there for everyone.

My favourite places in Glasgow are the Botanic Gardens and the Necropolis. Both are definitely worth a visit!

The Necropolis

The Big Whoopsie!

The girls had (another!) day off school today. It is Columbus Day. This is (obviously) a holiday that we don't celebrate in Britain so, here are some facts about Christopher Columbus:

Born: 1451 in Genoa
Died: 1506 in Valladolid, Spain
Nationality: Italian (Genovese)
First sea voyage: 1465 aged 14
First voyage across Atlantic: 1492 - arriving in October
Commisioned by: Spanish monarchy (esp Queen Isabella)
He thought he had found a new naval route to India.
He crossed the Atlantic 4 times in 10 years.
No one knows for sure where he is buried.

Not, it has to be said, that I heard anything about Christopher Columbus at all today.

The younger girls mostly played with Barbies.... pretty much all day. I did take them geocaching and we found two - of course we were helped by HSM Sharpay doll. Always in need of extra pairs of eyes when geocaching!

I had my first major accident in the kitchen today. It happened with a blender while making smoothies. Nope, no digits missing and nope, the smoothie didn't shoot out the top of the blender like it does in the movies (although this is actually possible with this blender. I know. I've tried.). Apparently, I didn't secure the bottom of the blender so when I lifted it up to pour it..........
Well, needless to say, it went EVERYWHERE!!! It didn't help that there were blueberries in it so when it got on the carpet, it was insanely difficult to get out! It didn't help that dinner was ready at that precise moment and, you know, we couldn't have overcooked broccoli.

It all ended well. The mess was cleared up, the carpet de-blueberried, and dinner served on time with no soggy broccoli. I made some more smoothies. I was nervous but you know what they say, if you fall off the horse you get straight back in the saddle! The new batch did make it to the glasses but wasn't as good as the first. No more blueberries!

Not sure what lessons were learnt.... maybe just that not everything is like it is in the movies!

Hallowed Harold

When you work with kids stuff happens that you really just couldn't make up.
Michella has just started to take CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine - yup I looked it up on Wikipedia because I had no idea what it stood for either! Actually, I still don't understand it!) which she was very excited about because it means that on Wednesdays she gets signed out of school early, like Julianna does. She even gets CCD homework and we were going over it one afternoon. They have started by teaching them the Lord's Prayer which they are having to memorise.
So here is how it went:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
HAROLD be thy name..........

Nope, you just can't make this stuff up. It certainly gave me a giggle!

The Jeans of Humility

Yesterday I came to the realisation that I have very few clothes to wear. With the cold weather (oh, so cold!) and the fact that I had pretty much worn out last years cold weather clothes, a shopping trip was definitely on the cards. I took myself off to Cross County Mall and there the damage was done!
I had some things in mind to buy - a body warmer, a fleece, some jeans and maybe a couple of shirts. Most things I got and duly wore them to pick up the girls from school.
My new jeans are a really dark wash, a size smaller than the last pair I got and fit really nicely. I felt so smart and I decided to wear my boots with them for added effect! So I'm strutting along... pick up Michella and then walk to the other end of the school to pick up Julianna. I was chatting to one of the mums.... for no less than 10 minutes!!..... all the while feeling really great about myself when she goes, 'Hang on a sec' and peels a label off my jeans. It was one of those long sticky labels which helps you find the size in the shop. Unfortunately it also helps other people see the size that you recently bought when you forget to peel the label off. Ooops!!! Most embarrassing and certainly put me back in my place!
What can I say? Pride surely does come before a fall!

God The All

O God whose will conquers all,
There is no comfort in anything
apart from enjoying thee
and being engaged in thy service;
Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to me
thou makest them, and no more.
I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is,
or should be in all respects,
And if thou bidst me decide for myself in any affair
I would choose to refer all to thee,
for thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss,
as I am in danger of doing.
I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,
and it delights me to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise,
and all I can do is to adore and bless thee.
What shall I give thee for all thy benefits?
I am in a strait betwixt two, knowing not what to do;
I long to make some return, but have nothing to offer,
and can only rejoice that thou doest all,
that none in heaven or on earth shares thy honour;
I can of myself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name,
but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee,
I know that thou art the author and finisher of faith,
that the whole work of redemption is thine alone,
that every good work or thought found in me
is the effect of thy power and grace,
that thy sole motive in working in me to will and to do
is for thy good pleasure.
O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much
about man's creaturely power and goodness,
when, if thou didst not hold us back every moment,
we should be devils incarnate.
This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught me concerning myself.

Taken from The Valley of Vision - Arthur Bennett

'I can of myself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name, but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee' This is something that I am learning...... learning slowly, but still learning.

Geocaching

I don't know how I managed to get into this game. I really don't. What I can tell you is how enjoyable it is!
I first came across geocaching when Rob, a man in our church, started doing it and then a few more started to get interested. My first real taste of geocaching was when I was home this summer and we spent an afternoon with the Hackers. We found two geocaches that day.
My Dad bought his GPS this summer and we found his first one (hidden by the Hackers) on my last night at home.
What is geocaching? I don't think that I could describe it better than it is on the website so give that a look.

I decided to look into how many geocaches were in my area over here in America. I found rather a lot. I thought, 'What better way to explore my surroundings?' So I got myself a GPS and started searching!
I took the younger girls to find one on Friday evening. They LOVED it!! I'll definitely be taking them to find another tomorrow or Wednesday when they have no school.
I also looked out a few in NYC on Saturday. It was so difficult because there were so many people about..... I felt very conspicuous! But I managed to get five!
I can't wait to look for some more!

From Liechtenstein To Darlington

This is a little article about one of our recent signings at Darlo:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2008/09/from_liechtenstein_to_darlingt.html#037148

I think his last five fixtures are definitely interesting playing Macclesfield one week and Germany the next!

The Shack

I was recently lent a book to read. It is called The Shack by William P. Young.

Now apparently this book has caused quite a stir (just look at the sheer amount of customer reviews on amazon.com!) but I hadn't heard of it until it was loaned to me. When I took it to one of the girls' soccer practices two of the mums jumped on it and told me that they had heard rave reviews on it.

I can understand why this book has had such an effect on people because it challenges so much about modern Christianity. The problem is that it really does not challenge it in a biblical way. The book left me confused as to what it was really talking about and when I came to discuss it, I was really lost for words. I felt so muddled up about it and I knew that The Shack didn't sit right with me but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I was also given this critique to read on The Shack and found it extremely helpful. It raised all the points that were nagging at the back of my mind and couldn't put into words.

I think the most worrying part was when he creates the idea that Jesus is only one of many ways to get to God. Here's the thing:

Jesus is the only way to God.... He is not just the best way but the ONLY way!

No doubt I am glad that I read the book. It gives me a new understanding on what I believe but probably not in the way that the author intended. He has challenged me to look more to scripture than to other people and books for what I believe (He hardly mentions anything in Scripture at all in the book). I just hope that those who read the book will not take it as another Bible or a holy book. That would certainly be very dangerous!

Trash Cans and Big Bottoms

Last week Vinny bought a new bin for the kitchen. It is not just any bin, however, oh no! It is an Automatic Infrared Trash Can! Who'd have thought that we needed one of those! The girls had great fun with it when they came home from school on Friday - who needs expensive toys like a Wii or a Nintendo DS when you have an Automatic Infrared Trash Can??
I say all this but actually it is quite a handy thing. No hands required! The only problem is that I walk passed it and my bum sets off the infrared causing the bin to open! Now that is an incentive to lose weight if ever there was one! I think I'll just try and give it a wider berth in the future... it really isn't good for the morale!

Summer 2008

Such a long time since I've posted!! Ooops!!

I had a great summer, despite the fact that Darlo didn't get promoted!!

Spent most of the time in Rhode Island getting very burnt at the beach. It was so fun and it turns out that I love the water... except when there are jellyfish! We went crabbing which was great! I caught four - I'm an expert already!! :-)

The highlight of the summer was my two weeks at home. I surprised my Mum, Beth and so many others by arriving a week early (it was always planned that way! Aha!).

I had such a good time surprising them all!!

We had a week at Keswick - wonderful as always! We went to the meetings, sang lots of Stuart Townend songs (cos he was leading the worship!!), went geocaching, rowing, had two birthday parties (for Beth and Meg), had a girly day with face masks, popcorn & M&Ms and Cranford! and finally made beautiful music with Beth's Boom Whackers! We got the William Tell Overture down!!Beth and Meg blowing out the candles!

Our girly day!

Geocaching with the Hackers. Ben was our guide!

Castlerigg Stone Circle. With Ben and Bethan!Boom Whackers! So Keswick was fun but there was more!! At home we had a 'Pudding Party' Open House - lots and lots of desserts! Wonderful! I made a chocolate meringue pie! Glad it worked out cos it was the first time I made it!

Over that weekend I met two new little people who I've never met before:

Molly, the third little one next door.

and Jack, Lucy's little boy.
On Sunday afternoon I drove up to Glasgow and went to church there in the evening. Then Dad came up by train on Monday morning and we drove up to Grandpa's. Grandpa took Dad, me, and the Dunballochs to The Priory for high tea, then I watched the girls dance in the Inverness Tattoo.

We drove home again on Tuesday (stopping at the Ross's in Edinburgh where Mum met us - not totally sure why!). The rest of the week was filled with seeing people and being places. Sarah and I babysitted Jack, I had tea at the Hackers' new house.

Mum, Dad and I went to Betty's and we had the prayer meeting at our house because of all the work going on at the church! I even managed to visit the shrine....... no shirts! Still waiting, Dad!!

All in all, an amazing trip home! I think I got the only two weeks of nice weather that Britain had this summer! Saw many people and many places...... felt like I'd never been away!

Back in NY we were visited by an old nanny, Liz (great girl!!) and an old friend, Sophie! (I love ya!).

With Liz we were in Rhode Island..... we went to Six Flags New England and Mystic.

With Sophie I stayed in the city for the weekend. It was awesome! We went EVERYWHERE!! It was so great to have a good friend around!!

Well, that just about brings me bang up to date. The girls are back at school, Michella turned 6 yesterday........ We're all just trying to get back into a routine!