He's Back!

The 5th graders at Nathan's school got to go to Edinburgh for a week! I know, you are thinking, 'brave teachers' especially if you could see all of the health and safety forms they have to fill out over here to do this sort of thing. They had a packed schedule in order to keep the kids constructively engaged so as not to get into mischief.

Day 1 travel to Edinburgh, have bus tour and then

do team building activities at the Scout camp type place they were staying outside of the city. They even got to go grass sledging or sledding which Nathan said was a blast. He was pretty pumped to be in a room with his friend Oliver and 4 other guys but after a loud night he opted to switch to a room with only two other guys so he could sleep. I was surprised too.

Day 2 was castle building at the beach then onto the aquarium for the day ending with a movie at the cinema.

Day 3 took them to the Camera Obscura to see cool optical illusion stuff and Planet Earth. The night ended with a Ghost Walk down the Royal Mile.

Day 4 They were able to get their fill of Scottish history at the Edinburgh Castle and the National Museum of Scotland, letting off some steam that night at their disco!

Day 5 All were up early to pack up, clean up and load up with time for a shopping spree along the way before reaching Whitehaven by 4:00. Unfortunately they got a flat tire which took so long to fix they had no time to stop at the outlet stores they were so counting on.

What I found so entertaining was the headmaster's talk to the parents the week before they went on this

trip. He goes with the kids each year and knew the drill backwards and forwards. He said they try to plan many educational and fun activities for the kids but in the end all the kids are most excited about are the little trinkets they are able to buy in the various gift shops. He said you'll ask them how they liked the Castle or the Aquarium and the kids will say, "yeah, it was okay but I got this really cool pencil at the gift shop!" The next day you'll ask, 'What did you see at the Scotland Museum today?" "Oh well, saw some interesting stuff but what I really liked was this glittery pencil sharpener!" I found myself laughing because he's exactly right.

When Nathan left I told him he had to come home with two facts per day. He hadn't been off the bus 5 minutes when he was showing me the incredible trinkets he came home with: a bucket of goo, 'Noisy Putty', that makes fart noises when you pull your finger in and out of it, a green ball with penguin in it that grows when you add water, and a whoopie cushion. He is such an eleven year old boy! Could he remember the daily facts, well, not really but he had a great time and he did bring home a little trinket for each of us as well!

The headmaster talked about making sure the kids did their own packing so they would know what they actually had in their suitcase when they got there. He told us not to be alarmed if the boys came home without a shower or had somehow managed to never brush their teeth. He assured us it was a great 'growing up' experience to go on a trip without your parents. I couldn't agree more although at bedtime the night before

leaving, Nathan, who had been anticipating this day for months was now getting cold feet. Realizing he had not ever been away without some family member along too, he began to fret. I played it off as if it was no big deal but I had my doubts...mostly about the showering and teeth brushing. So as not to be without us, the four of us had each written Nathan a little note so he would have a word from home each day when he got his little envelope with spending money in it.

The girls didn't miss him terribly as their days are long and full at a different school but I really missed him. He's a chatty, thoughtful boy so it couldn't be anything other than quieter, calmer, neater but definitely lonelier without him.

They had a fantastic trip and I have to agree - Nathan did take some big steps in the growing up department. He came home with everything he took with him, he took a shower every night and actually brushed his teeth. Wow -- now that is progress!

Exasperated

Generally, I am a rather patient person but there have been a few occasions in England that I have been totally put out. Once was when we were moving out of our first rental house here. We had been exemplary renters - always paid rent on time, didn't ask for much from the owner, improved the place by adding accessories and landscaping which the landlord found 'unnecessary'. She owed us £100 towards a table we all agreed on back before we moved in. Valuing the bottom line only in this business deal, she decided to dig in and didn't want to pay the £100 but she expected us to leave the house spotless, have the carpets shampooed and the house repainted. While I was planning to leave the house extremely clean, I felt it was out of line for her to expect us to pay hundreds of pounds to 'redecorate' her house when for nine months we had patiently waited for her to have the leaking roof fixed. In the end water was running down the girl's bedroom wall, bathroom, hallway, and office walls. I was very understanding and undemanding the whole time yet this was how I was thanked?

Well, I just don't operate that way and I fussed and fumed to Dennis about it. I typically believe the best about people and apparently expect them to do likewise. I don't look at people for what they can do for me so to be viewed as 'business only' upset me. 'Why did it upset me so much' is the real question? Did I feel taken advantage of or was it the fact that I value relationship over money when the landlord was the opposite? Or perhaps something I'm unaware of?

I had another exasperating moment the other day. Dennis had finally replaced our french press with a coffee maker which he ordered on line. We received emails that it had been shipped but it never appeared. After three weeks of the coffee maker being MIA, the company decided to ship us another one at their cost. Within days, the

new coffee maker was in business on our kitchen counter. 7 weeks later, the original coffee maker made it to our house. Now, we had two very nice espresso/filter coffee makers but had only paid for one. On Saturday, I lugged the rather large, cumbersome box to the nearest Debenham's department store as you could return online purchases to the store without having to pay return shipping costs. When I explained the story to the cashier, she just shook her head and said they couldn't take it back because it would mess up their inventory since I didn't have a receipt. What? You don't want this coffee maker that I am giving back? I really didn't think I was hearing correctly. She called another associate over to confer - now they were both stumped. Nope, they said I needed to call the courier to come get it... Ridiculous. Anna Catherine wrestled the box back down the three floors and out to the car to take it back home.

On Monday, I called the phone number they gave me and explained the story. The customer service person then asked for our contact details, etc. She asked if I was Dennis Thompson. Duh? No, he was at work of course. She apologized and said she needed to speak with Dennis, nothing could be discussed with me as I wasn't authorized. In disbelief I told her that her company obviously didn't want this £100 coffee maker as I felt I was being punished for being honest. She put on her pleasant customer service voice to say she understood...yada-yada-yada. At this point I closed my ears and told her maybe I would have Dennis call back, said thank you and hung up. I was MAD! That was ridiculous! Dennis says I was mad because yet again I was told I wasn't authorized to discuss things with Dennis' name as the primary name on an account. (This has happened numerous times over here) How sad, that you can't be trusted even to return an extra coffee maker because people have screwed one another as a result of lying, cheating, bitter divorces and split ups.

I have since calmed down but just writing about it gets me riled up. I think I may have some 'unresolved issues' lurking in there - why else would I get so exasperated?

Loved Then...

I loved those crazy three then and I love them even more now!

They keep me young, humble, laughing, tired

and in prayer. Sometimes I look at them and break out in a huge smile -

I am just overcome with joy at who they are while other moments I shake my head and wonder if they were raised in a barn. At all times, I count it my highest privilege to have been chosen by God to be their mother. I am such a better woman because of them and their love. They are creative, forgiving, fun loving, sometimes helpful and thoughtful, gifted, smart, adventurous, affectionate, and accepting of me. As I said, they were loved then, and loved now even more.

Book of the Year

Unfortunately I used to be the kind of reader that sat down to enjoy a good book only when all the other work was done, I was on vacation or in bed barely awake. Being the 'lady of leisure' that I apparently am here in England, I have been able to do much more reading. I started thinking back over this year's books:

The Number One Ladies Detective Agency Series,

To Kill a Mockingbird,

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,

Three Cups of Tea,

The Woman in White,

Revelations of a Single Woman,

Authentic Beauty,

The Inklings,

Noughts and Crosses,

Knife Edge,

The Color Purple,

The Blind Side,

My Sister's Keeper,

The Last Song,

currently I am reading William Wilberforce by William Hague

Relationships: a Mess Worth Making.

I have enjoyed each book I've read but my book of the year is Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This New York Times Bestseller, is a true story which I always appreciate, and thought provoking. It's not a happily ever after book - very realistic but powerful; love always is!

One of my favorite quotes:

“But I found out everybody’s different– the same kind of different as me. We’re all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain’t no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless– just workin our way toward home.”

Several of the books I've read have been made into movies proving once again that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. Take two for example: they completely changed the ending in My Sister's Keeper, The Blind Side shows the Tuohy family motivated by benevolence to invite inner city kid, Michael Oher to be in their family rather than their very real faith in Christ the book so clearly shows. The point is, always read the book first, it's better, whether it's a regular book or your book of the year.

Three Weeks or Four?

What started as a whirlwind three week trip back to the States to look for universities for Anna Catherine, turned into four weeks due to the unexpected eruption of a volcano in Iceland. Eyjafjallajokull's plume of ash left northern Europe at its mercy, completely shutting down the air space for over a week. Like us, most of the UK was on Easter break, trying to get home just when the air space closed leaving tens of thousands of people stranded all over the world. People had a few choices: wait it out in an airport, spend extra time at the current location at their added expense or make their way home via bus, ferry, train, taxi, etc. For many this involved horrendous journeys homeward; for us this meant an unplanned week in Augusta. Mentally, this took some adjusting as we were all packed and ready to return home. The kids and I had already been away from Dennis for three weeks which is a long time.

The morning we were due to fly out Mom went with me to the Augusta airport to begin the process of finding a flight back home

for four people. I knew we would be joining the worldwide que of stranded travelers trying to find return flights home. It took two and a half hours for the patient and winsome Delta agent to find four empty seats. However this required an override confirmation from the management as the only seats were on business class which we did not pay for; this would be

on Delta's dime. She received the confirmation and we were booked on the first available flight from Augusta to Paris, Paris to Manchester, a week later. (maybe I'll wrote more on the 32 hour trip home)

When we say we are going to the United States people over here think 'holiday' but in reality other than the refreshment from seeing precious friends and family, it leaves us worn out because we pack the day from morning til night enjoying people, running errands and seeing dentist and doctors.

Dennis and I have wracked our brains trying to come up with a more relaxing way of doing it but short of not seeing people we can't think of a solution. The reason I go home is to see people so that option is out of the question.Having this unplanned week allowed us to do some more normal things in an unhurried way. We were able to do schoolwork in the mornings, Anna Catherine was able to shadow a pediatric PT friend of ours, as well as reconnect with the youth group, we got to have some relaxed evenings with Grammy and we even got to sit by the pool for two hours.

We had had a marvelous trip home celebrating my dad's 70th birthday, sweating it out in Atlanta Centennial Park with Shelley and the kids, visiting cousin Jess in the hospital, Julieanne getting to visit Katie in CT, goofing off in the mountains with the Willis family, catching up with Grammy and Buddy, a well as many meals with special friends. We loved worshipping at First Presbyterian for three Sundays though it was a bit tricky in the beginning. The girls said they felt like strangers in the church they had grown up in.

It takes a while for people to settle in as we come back completely off their radar and just enter their sphere. In the end, Julieanne went to a girl's soccer match and birthday party for her year group, AC went to High Life and weekly prayer breakfast while Nathan settled back in without skipping a beat.

It is an unsettling feeling to not 'belong' anywhere.

We don't really fit in in England even though we are well connected; at the end of the day, we are still different.

In Augusta, though people love us dearly, life has gone on without us. People are connected to one another through

the shared experiences while we have been away, they have grown and we have too. It is one of the realities of living away that we will address once we return. It gives us a taste of the longing to fully belong as we will someday in heaven where we will be truly 'home'. As was evidenced while we were there, we will do the relational work of reconnecting and plugging in but for now we have to slide in as best we can, relationally soak up all that we are afforded and then pack up to say good bye again.

The University Search

Anna Catherine has now joined the ranks of the countless high school juniors considering the big university decision. Up to this point the idea of university was literally an ocean away rendering it a bit allusive for her. Due to the different school calendars, our only chance to visit universities in session back home was this Easter break. Thankfully we had three weeks off school which made it doable though packed.

Dennis and I had spent a considerable amount of time reading about the process, looking at college websites, and talking it over with others who had recently looked for schools. He even went so far as making a spreadsheet with key information for the schools that were a consideration. We talked with Anna Catherine about all of our findings but she seemed to have no leanings or ideas of where she wanted to go other than in the south. She took the SAT once with little prep and did okay. Still, there just wasn't any momentum or keen interest on her end. Maybe it was overwhelming, possibly it was too far away, or maybe she just has too many other 'more urgent' things to consider. Regardless of her response, we booked the appointments to seven schools, in three states over three weeks. In between, school visits we would see friends, family, dentists, shop for things to take back and eat American food. Our prayer was that being there would bring it all into focus and she would come away having some energy and enthusiasm for the next step in life.

I have to say, my whole view on the college thing has shifted since beginning the process. Originally, I thought we would be open to any place all over the US. As I began reading and

asking questions, I kept hearing, "you will get out university what you put in." For undergraduate school, it seemed she could get a very good education at any number of schools all within a few hours drive. I also came to the conclusion that schools with prestigious names didn't necessarily deliver a product equal to the dramatic price increase. In fact, it honestly seemed hard to compete with a Georgia HOPE Scholarship price at the University of Georgia. A few thousand dollars a year vs. $30,000 -45,000 seemed like a no brainer to this girl. Nevertheless, I wanted to give the search a thorough chance. Since AC didn't seem gung-ho any particular school, we decided to show her one of each type of school to provide a framework to consider the options. Therefore, we looked at large public universities in and out of state, small state schools in and out of state, a private school, a Christian school and a Bible college.

We started at our alma mater, the University of South Carolina. USC had changed quite a bit since Dennis and I were there in the 80's. It was fun to point out special places to me and dad as we dated through college there. When we went in the student union building, Anna Catherine took one look at the dining hall with it's own sushi bar, Mongolian grill, hot line, salad line, dessert line, juice and smoothie bar, as well as about 10 fast food restaurants-all included in the meal plan and exclaimed, "This is why I am going to university in America!"

Though she appreciated the pretty campuses of the small schools, she determined that she is a big school kind of girl opting for the chance to continue playing field hockey, possibly orchestra, campus ministry, and the myriad of other fun things a big university has to offer. Having the chance to be a part of the college football frenzy seemed pretty appealing as well. A memorable quote from the UGA student tour guide was, "You can make a large school feel small by getting involved but you can't make a small school feel large."

The only anomaly in the equation was Covenant College on top of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee which was small but offered field hockey and orchestra among other fun organizations as well as a strong Christian student body and staff.

Each school was different offering it's own pros and cons as well as free t-shirts, pens, or drink bottles but

in the end she settled on applying to the University of Georgia, University of South Carolina, Clemson University and Covenant College.

It was a worthwhile trip filled with information. Honestly, it left me feeling like I'd like to go back to college. There is still much work ahead in the process but at least the distance between university and Anna Catherine has closed considerably with the decision coming into clearer focus.