Anna Catherine Turns 15!

15 years ago today, our first child and the first grandchild on both sides, was born! She came on her grandpa's birthday (Paul Thompson) while he and Mom were in Cuba. I remember being so excited to have "the baby" in our life though I was apprehensive about the parenting journey. We did not know what gender AC was, we wanted God's surprise. She came into the world on her own time schedule of 13 hours labor with much pushing and pain. Yet the moment they brought her up to see face to face - it was a moment too big for words - only tears could express the overwhelming joy. A daughter so precious!

We named her 'Anna' which means full of grace and 'Catherine' meaning 'pure'. It was our prayer for her to be a woman full of grace, pure and true.

We see God fashioning her into that woman and we are still excited with God's surprise of her to us. She is affectionate, fun, adventurous, creative and giving. She's a tremendous big sister and great friend. If you've ever talked to her you know, she thoroughly enjoys talking a mile a minute.

She's being pushed over here in England academically, relationally, and spiritually. Though there is still lots of 'parenting' going on and redirection, we are thrilled with the ways we see her growing.

For her birthday and as part of their mid term break, we went to Glasgow, Scotland, 2.5 hours away to an indoor ski place with ropes course and rock wall center. We had a session on the ropes course which was a first for all of us. We dangled five stories high in harnesses. AC, Julieanne and Dennis seemed to have no fears but Nathan and I were hesitant after they flung us on the zip line and we headed for the suspended rock wall. Anna Catherine met her challenge when we moved to the free fall. You stepped off a platform and 'fell' 5 stories with a gentle landing at the very end. She faced her fears and with a loud and long scream took the leap of faith off the platform.

We enjoyed dinner at a Tony Roma's and splitting this chocolate volcano among the five of us. The next day we returned to give a try at snowboarding in the indoor ski place. Too bad we don't live closer - it would be a good place to learn.

When we return to the States for a visit this July , Anna Catherine will get her driver's permit and we'll try to get as much driving practice in before returning to England. (Obviously, she won't be practicing her driving over here - I have a hard enough time)

15.....She's growing up!

43 Years Young or Is It Old?

How have I changed since moving to England and adding another year to my life? One of the most obvious is that I've added lots of black to my wardrobe. Years ago, my mom insisted I have my colors analyzed (you know check skin tone, eye, natural hair color) I am an 'autumn' which means I look best in colors like burnt orange, mustard yellow, cantelope,teal green, yellow, sienna. (no, these are not Crayola crayons) Black is not one of 'my colors' but it is now - black shirts, jacket, boots, scarf; I'm fitting in over here. Not that they don't wear bright colors because you do see some lively colors but drab is popular here. (I say drab just because I'm totally southernized when it comes to colors.)

Another change is that after 20+ years of frying my hair daily with curlers, I'm going au naturale! The houses here are very dry due to the radiators so my hair was becoming quite frazzled therefore, I decided to drop the curlers. How fun is that? Every once in a while I pull out the ole curlers or even more shocking, I use AC's hair straightener. Funny thing how fashion changes our perception of what looks 'good'. When I look back through our photo albums and see pictures of my hair, I cringe and ask, "Why did you let me think that looked good? Ugh, it was awful!"

I remember my first perm in 8th grade. We didn't have the money to get a professionally done perm so Mom decided she would do it. (You can already imagine where this is going) We got the 'kit' from Eckerd's, read all of the directions and we were good to go. When Mom was done, I looked like a freak or someone who had stuck their finger in a light socket. I, of course, cried and never wanted to see anyone. It was so frizzy, kinky. (It was the 80's so you get the picture) Anyway, it was so bad my dad sent me flowers to appease the disaster. We should've just used the money from the flowers to pay for a real perm instead. Oh well, I can laugh about it now and it was sweet of my dad to sympathize with me. All that to say, I've gone from 'poofy' to 'flat'. (This picture of me and my brother, David, was from the 80's Farah Fawcet era. I didn't quite look like Farah though I tried with the hair thing.)

I've slowed down a bit because of the schedule change largely from not homeschooling. I've read more which has been nice. I'm more able to sit and 'give a think' as they say here. My family says I'm cooking more but really it's just that I'm cooking more from scratch which is just out of necessity. I communicate more in writing than I ever had time to do. In a new culture, away from what is familiar and comfortable, I'm being stretched which causes growth. I don't ever want to get more 'settled' in my ways and self absorbed which appears to be a natural decline of human nature so being 'uncomfortable' is a good fight against that. It seems that when you can control life or manage it to the point that you don't have to be uncomfortable and stretched, you can get stuck in a rut and think life is all about you.

I suppose I've got more wrinkles and a few more gray hairs to document my new year. Thankfully, I am content where I am and that makes each day brighter. The Lord has been exceedingly gracious to me this year and I feel and see the effects.

Thank you for the thoughtful cards, emails, gifts and phone calls wishing me, "Many happy returns of the day" as Pooh would say. It was indeed.

British Terms of Endearment

On this Valentine's Day , which by the way is not nearly as jacked up as it is in the States, I'm sharing some British terms of endearment we've been introduced to. Over here, you might be called words like 'pet', 'love', 'ducky', 'petal' and 'chicken'. You could be called these words by people you don't even know and irregardless of gender. So if you want someone to be 'gobsmacked' call them 'pet' or 'petal'.

Taste of Home

I have come to realize that there are certain foods that are 'comfort foods' to you. Though that probably isn't the most healthy way of looking at food, it is true. Spaghetti, mac -n- cheese, baked potato soup, pancakes, sweet tea, chocolate chip cookies; these are some foods that make us relax a bit because they are familiar.

Each week I head to the grocery armed with my list for my chosen recipes. I have scoured the stores looking for American products or equivalent ones. After browsing all the aisles at least once, I break down and ask, "do you have...?" They usually stare at their colleague, then at me and tell me they've never heard of it, to which I reply a courteous, 'thank you'. At this point, I either scrap the recipe or try to improvise. I substituted polenta for cornmeal, Thai green chilies for Mexican ones -whoah, Thai chilies are MUCH hotter which we didn't find out til we bit into our enchiladas. When we first moved here it took a full 90 minutes to do a grocery run trying to find things. They categorize differently like I finally found poppy seeds in the nut section at a store about 30 minutes from here. They also had Oreos and plain M&Ms. Often the kids would get in the car after school and ask how my day was. I'd say, "Great, I found....pumpkin or whatever food treasure I had discovered." They weren't as excited as I was over my finds but I had to drive 45 minutes to get the pumpkin. Bonus on that trip - I found Pillsbury crescent rolls. I've since found out that was a seasonal item. Space is a limited commodity so they choose carefully what products they carry. Sometimes it's just a matter of calling it something different like tomato sauce is tomato passata, squash is fruit juice.

We've made do with what they have in the stores and learned to enjoy some of their dishes too. I have to say we do miss our grits and we'd really like some banana pudding. I found this place outside of London that sells American food but not for the American price. (Remember, for every British pound it's $2 so we pay double for everything.) They do ship for free so that was nice. I was excited to buy cornsyrup for some pecan pie, Nilla Wafers to make banana pudding for AC's upcoming birthday, Graham crackers, Ranch salad dressing, Old Bay Seasoning for Gumbo and cornmeal for some Mexican dishes. (They don't do Mexican up here except what they call 'fagitas' and 'qua-za-dillas' - that would be fajitas and quesadillas.)

So, we're doing just fine - no one has lost weight over new foods. Since they consider french fries, jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) and mash (mashed potatoes) their staple - one of them is served with most everything even if you are already having pasta or rice. You get fries too. Kids like that.

Though I won't be shopping at the American food store often, it is a treat to have a few unavailable items that are a 'taste of home'.

Man's Best Friend...or not?

We had to leave nine year old 'Buddy' back in Augusta due to the crazy tax and fee assigned to the import of domestic animals and because our landlord wouldn't allow it. There were many tears shed during that good bye. Dennis, as you may know, was the most upset. Whenever we see a cute white fluffy dog, the children and I break out into our dog language remembering our little Buddy. Thankfully, he is happy and healthy with my mom which we are very grateful for. He is a great little companion, always so eager and ecstatic to see you.

Dogs are everywhere here; allow me to illustrate their place in society in Cumbria. The grocery store asiles tell a shopper what is important to the people of the land. The main two grocery stores here have a small floral section, a mini baking section with maybe four cake mix choices, 4 oz bags of chocolate chips (no other types of chips) two brownie mixes, some extracts and decoration type candies. You have a nice bakery, produce and meat dept. one side of an aisle for cereal, both sides of an aisle for juices and sodas, one and a half full aisles for wine, beer and liquor and then... the dog section, ranking just under the alcohol and drink aisles, it has one full aisle - both sides. Dogs are a big deal. They seem to treat them very well as you see them on the beach playing ball, tied up outside stores waiting for the owner to return. Dogs take a big commitment over here, bigger than we in Augusta were used to, at least at the Thompson household. It seems that most people have a dog whether they have a yard or not. This requires walking the dog several times a day to go to the bathroom. Keep in mind the leash laws are striclty enforced and you rarely see a stray. (I have yet to see one not attached to an owner except when chasing a ball on the beach) Okay, now remember it rains a good bit over here so that means rain or shine you walk the dog. None of this open the back door and let the dog into the fenced in backyard like we did at Regent Place. Dennis' personal favorite is the 'dog muck laws' where you are required to clean up after your dog while on your walk. Note the guy with the little black 'goodie' bag. Gag, don't open that. Instead place it in the dog doo-doo trashcan. How would you like that job? Dog-doo-doo sanitation physician. Ugh! So dogs rank high over here. Is it because dog is man's best friend?