State of the First Grader's Bedroom Address

Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln.


Certain members of this family are not on board with the current goals of this administration.


As this family moves forward and out of the country, it sometimes become necessary for the mental health of the mother to THROW THINGS AWAY.  Things that will be relocated to the Ginormous Contractor Clean Up Bag include, but are not limited to:  (these are hard facts of life, but now is as good a time as any to learn them)


1) garbage -- this includes sticker sheets with one sticker on them, dried out markers, lip balms with no lid, hair bows with no clip, past issues of Clubhouse and National Geographic Kids that have been so well-read that the pages are silky and scarce, AND empty doll boxes from past Christmases and birthdays.    


2) puzzles missing pieces


3) games missing parts


4) Barbie dolls and Polly Pockets with missing body parts


5) books that look like they were in a third-world mission barrel 15 years ago


6) socks missing mates


7) swimsuits (see previously listed criteria in last week's swimsuit post)


8) any toy or gadget that was at some point part of a fast food kid's meal.


9) "life size" Barbie doll with her dislocated, detached leg and home-cut hair


10) items purchased from the Dollar Tree or dollar section at Target that have helped fuel China's ownership of our future.


With these goals in mind, do I or do I not root through said black garbage bag that is sitting in the driveway to unearth the empty, torn Madeline doll box that apparently was serving as Madeline's bed; at the time of it's relocation, Madeline was not in the box-bed.

Inertia

I should be cleaning out, sorting and packing.  I should be guiding the girls through their Monday school assignments.  I should be dropping off the dry cleaning.  I should be walking the dog.  I should be working on the swim team coordinators' manual.


I am goofing off.  I am reading Edith Wharton "The Custom of the Country" and playing Triple Town on the Kindle.  I am going to "The King's Speech."  I am adding to the Ikea shopping list for stuff to tide us over in the new house until the crate arrives.  I am examining in minute detail the surrounding streets of the new house on google maps.  I am fiddling around with Facebook.  I am blogging.  I am stalling.


The movers arrive for the international pack four weeks from today.  We leave four weeks from Thursday.  

Kate Takes her Favorite Suit Tubing

My favorite suit in the Discard Pile was a royal purple halter-tie bandeau with a lightly shimmery band across the top where the halter straps attach.  I've had this suit for so long, and yet it has remained in the drawer summer after summer, quietly serving when needed and deteriorating in the interim.

This suit has a particularly fond memory.

Summer 2006: My dear friend Elaine has returned from their mission posting in West Africa for a short vacation in the states.  A girls' weekend to the North Georgia mountains is organized.  I'm remembering the crew as me, Elaine, Leigh Anne, Carol & Shellie; maybe others joined us later, but these are the primary guilty parties.

We've decided we are going to be more active than usual and plan to go tubing on a large creek/small river in the area, the Coosawattee.  Saturday morning arrives and we load up the trucks with semi-inflated and just plain flat inner tubes from the rental cabin.   They seem a little small, but we'll worry about that later. 


Now to get them filled and then we can go freeze our butts off in  the river.

The nearest place for air is a large Shell station at the corner of a busy intersection that leads into town.  This is the variety of southern convenience store that offers gas, ice, bait, ammo, sandwiches, lottery tickets, cigarettes -- everything you need at 10 a.m. on a sunny early summer Saturday.

We manage to get the tubes in a pile near the air hose and begin the process of filling them, discovering as we proceed that several are flat for a reason.  But we seem to have enough that may leak air slowly enough to get us down the few miles of Coosawattee that we plan to navigate. Enough small tubes.

It's hot work and I take my shirt off, leaving my shorts and the top half of my oldie but goodie purple bathing suit.  Now you have to understand, while I'm no swim suit model, this particular suit seems to highlight certain aspects of my physique.  And apparently the good ol' boys in the North Georgia mountains don't mind a "traditionally built woman" (anyone else read Alexander McCall Smith?)  So while every local in a truck at that intersection was overly interested in my assets, I was blithely giving them quite the show.  Nice to be appreciated in a little redneck corner of the world.

The fun really starts when we try to tube.  Not only was the mountain water a few degrees above freezing, Georgia was under drought conditions and the water in the river was just a trickle in several areas.  With rocks for that water to trickle over.  Hard, bumpy rocks.

 As the tubes slowly deflate, we float and pick our way down the creek.  Every shallow patch requires a "bottoms up" approach, followed by rolling off the tube and gingerly maneuvering among the slippery rocks until clear.  It takes us two hours to go barely a mile, but we reach the trucks with frozen feet, bruised bums and warm hearts.

And I will always be wearing the purple suit  in this story.

How to Throw Away a Favorite Bathing Suit

1) Plan to move to another country.  A colder country, where you will not need 12 bathing suits of various styles, comfort & colors; or 18 pairs of flip flops.


2) Sorting Phase I: Throw out husband's old suits to make more sorting room in the drawer.


3) Sorting Phase II: identify the five suits worn the most frequently during the previous summer.


4) Sorting Phase III: identify those suits  that are in physical distress from various plump body parts asking suit material to function at NASA-spec levels.  Pitch any with pulling, pilling, snags or unauthorized stretching areas.  As I do not treat my suits kindly with rinsing and careful wear, many fit this category.


5)  Sorting Phase IV:  identify and remove any suits that have nothing wrong with them, but "I just never loved it/wore it like I thought I would" because a) the underwire pokes in a funny place b) it rides up unbecomingly when getting out the water c) it falls down inappropriately when diving into the water d) "eh, why did I buy this suit in the first place?" and e) who am I kidding, I'll NEVER look good in this suit


6) Sorting complete, now evaluate those in the Discard Pile and engage in fond memories or shudders involving the various suits.


7) Read next post:  Kate Takes her Favorite Suit Tubing

The Wait for White Death

We are home in Marietta, waiting for the "Winter Storm Watch" to begin.  The region is expecting 4-8 inches of snow & ice over the next 36 hours.  The grocery stores have been packed.  Everything shuts down here and everyone is already rearranging schedules for Monday & Tuesday.    I reeeeeealllly need the hair cut & color scheduled for Tuesday, but it may have to wait.   Good thing I have plenty of diet coke.

Daryl & I had very busy but productive days last Wednesday & Thursday in Edinburgh.  We're all settled for a house (not the one pictured in a previous post);  Daryl will take possession early February and we'll all move in a few weeks later.

12 Blacket Place, Edinburgh

(we have the left side)

http://www.blacketedin.org/index.htm

Janie had her first Upward Basketball game Saturday morning.  I get so tickled watching the 1st & 2nd graders (particularly the girls) learn to play basketball.  It's like herding cats -- but terribly cute cats!  The ball only bounced off Janie's face once, and she was always at the right end of the court, so we're off to a good start.  She did make a sort-of-lay-up in warm ups.  

Fashion Report: Edinburgh

The vast majority of the women, from about 10 to 50, are all wearing very slim/skinny jeans or tights/leggings, with a wide variety of tallish boots.   The youngest are wearing tights under short winter shorts. (Not the winter bermudas/tights combo I sported in the early 90s) 

Maybe it's the bulk created by coats, but most women I've seen don't appear to be terribly thin; I seem to be fairly average here, for my age. 

This morning I walked to breakfast behind an respectable-looking 20-something. She seemed to be missing her trousers or skirt. Her coat ended mid-hip, her boots went to her knees but in between she was wearing either very thin leggings or very thick tights.   And we were treated to undies & bum at the Edinburgh airport -- young woman in nearly missing denim skirt, with very thin tights.  You'd think she be a wee bit chilly down there in that combo.  Sorry, couldn't figure out how to get a picture of either without looking like a pervy creep.

Either way, the effect was such that these women appear to have forgotten something when dressing. I can see that the maxim: "Tights are not leggings and leggings are not pants" needs to be followed here as well as stateside.

You Only Eat Haggis for the First Time Once

I wish I had remembered to bring a pedometer.  My feet are tired by the end of the day.

Today's lunch was breakfast:  fried egg, haggis, black pudding, potato scone, broiled tomato half, marinated roasted mushrooms, toast, beans, bacon & sausage.  That was a stick to your ribs meal.  The haggis was served in round slices, the taste reminded me of the mid-Atlantic version of pork scrapple I grew up on.  The texture was a bit gummy, I liked it best with the yolky part of the egg chopped into a bite.  The black pudding was not to my taste.  We ate in Bruntsfield just north of Merchiston (anyone read the Isabel Dalhousie novels?) after we walked around the outside of one of the prospective houses in Merchiston.

Merchiston Avenue

Then we hiked over to the Castle and spent the rest of the daylight hours (dark by 4:30) roaming around this fortress.  The views from the battlements are astounding and history fascinating.   We used the audio tour commentary, which provided plenty of background and interesting stories to accompany what we were seeing.  I just love old stuff.

Daryl & Kate:  Edinburgh Castle

And I started a conversation with another large family group, taking their picture.  And just as I press the shutter button on their camera, the battery goes dead.  So ..... I get their email and take a picture with my camera.  They were from Spain and after all adults searching their bags for a pen, we come up with a blue crayon from the little girl's pink pencil bag.  

Random Family from Spain

One yummy highlight:  after a delicious Thai dinner, we had pineapple & banana fritters for dessert.   Mmmmmm, fried fruit .....

Cold Bum, Warm Heart

I'm in the hotel room ... and I'm freezing. 


We checked in around 11:30, did a quick turnaround and hit the streets.  It didn't snow or rain; we walked all around the Princes Street tourist area before heading across the Royal Mile a few blocks for a fabulous lunch at Mother India.  We 1) bought a cheap pre-paid local mobile to use for this trip and to have on hand for visitors :) 2) bought a local prepaid 3G SIM card for the ipad and 3) ATM'd some pounds.   Very traditional Scottish stuff ..


After lunch we walked up to the Castle, but just went into the courtyard and enjoyed the views, planning to return for the whole enchilada tomorrow.  I did take your advice and was my usual non-filtering self, and thus enjoyed a friendly exchange with two families in front of the castle.  I asked one of the dads to take our picture, and one of the moms came over to make sure he took a good snap -- apparently after I asked him, and he walked over to take it, the kids said "oh no, she shouldn't have asked Dad!"


 So then I offered to take their picture -- the two families were together, one from Scotland, one from England.  The Scottish kids said they like haggis, the British kids said they weren't going to try it.  The kids were all under about 10 or 12, and they all looked like they were having so much fun. 


Tomorrow morning:  breakfast at Le Marche Francais, almost across the street from our hotel.  If it's not raining cats & dogs, we may walk to look at a few of the prospective neighborhoods.


Edinburgh is stealing my heart.

Houses, Schools, Freezing Rain & Food

Tomorrow I get to meet my new hometown.  Hubby & I are spending a few days looking at housing and schools.  Hope I don't look like a total cracker idiot and can keep my trap shut when appropriate.  


To visit a city knowing that I'm not truly a tourist will be a new experience.  In past travels, I've tried to imagine daily life for the people that live and work in tourist destinations, noticing that the buses and subways I'm using are populated with shoppers, office workers and students.   I'm about to become part of that daily life --  what fun!


The weather report is not brilliant: lots of mid 30s with precipitation.  
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/UKXX0052


I tend to plan my days in interesting places around "What can I eat today that will be amazingly delicious and how far will I have to walk to get to it?"  I've already plotted a list of places, ranging from traditional Scottish to Indian, French, Thai & Italian, even subs (cranberry & brie, anyone?)  I'll just eat my way across Edinburgh.