May’s Good Things

1 – Finally begun ordering hard copies of photos from Snapfish. Novemeber and December done = 342 prints!

2 – Bank Holiday! We had a nice breakfast, walked to a nearby nature reserve, had brie for dinner, and Simon rolled from his back to his belly!

3 – Organized Simon’s dresser (which made me super happy) and Simon showed off for Grandma on Skype and rolled from back to belly.

4 – CK brought home special treats for me: ice cream and Coke!

5 – My 342 photos from Snapfish arrived! I spent a bit of time in my office organizing shelves and hanging pictures.

6 – CK brought me pretty flowers home AND fish and chips!

7 – Simon gave me some candy in honor of US Mother’s Day, we painted the living room purple, and it rained!

8 – US Mother’s Day and CK showered me with peacock gifts. Hung things on our purple walls and CK’s cousin came to visit for the afternoon.

9 – Mother’s Day card arrived from my mom with some scrapbooking supplies and I decided to complete a photo edit challenge a blog I read hosted (which I later won!!).

10 – Had time to create a scrapbook page after CK came home from work and totally destroyed my tidy office (it was well worth it).  We enjoyed tacos for dinner.

11 – I took a delicious afternoon nap with my boy and after CK came home from work, I scrapped a page.

12 – CK brought me ice cream home.

13 – Went into campus to have lunch with CK and afterwards had a little photo shoot in the garden (which yielded lots of nice shots!) AND he left work and came home with us!

14 – Took a train into nearby Wokingham where we had wonderful sandwiches (mine was bacon and brie!). I went to the charity shops, had a nice rose cupcake, and we ended the afternoon with hot chocolate.

15 – Went to Pret a Manger for the first time after church where we had delicious sandwiches and Simon sat in a high chair for the first time (though he didn’t eat anything).

16 – It must’ve been a slow day because the good thing I have written down in my date book is, “Felt good about cooking dinner.” Ha!

17 – I found out I won the photo edit contest, CK brought me a Snickers ice cream bar home, and he put Simon to bed all by himself.

18 – Another ice cream treat and another night of Daddy putting Simon to bed.

19 – I spoke with my friend Sharon and asked her and her husband to be Simon’s godparents as CK and I decided to have him baptised when we go home.

20 – CK took the morning off and we went to Woodley to take care of some banking business. We had THE BEST experience at HSBC (we’re still kicking ourselves we didn’t start out banking with them when we arrived) and had THE BEST lunch at Gregg’s (bacon + cheese twist and a fresh cream apple danish).

21 – Simon turned 6 months and we celebrated by introducing him to food. He “ate” an apple on Skype and my mom got to be part of the experience, too!

22 – We went to a couple’s home for lunch after church. Lunch was delicious, the company was great, and we were sent home with beautiful peonies and roses from their garden.

23 – CK brought me a Coke and an ice cream bar (this has been a very indulgent month).

24 – Bob Dylan’s Birthday! Simon fell asleep on my lap as I watched Bob videos on YouTube.

25 – Simon began to smile every time I sang “You Are My Sunshine” and just when I thought I was finished with Glee, they sand “For Good” and I cried and cried.

26 – Simon took a 3 hour nap in my arms. So sweet.

27 – I put Simon in the Sleepy Wrap and walked around reading to him from my Flannery O’Connor biography. And, I saw a tooth bud.

28 – Went to a National Trust property, The Vyne, where we got in for free! We enjoyed nice cake in their cafe and a nice, cool walk through the woods. On our way home, we stopped in Sainsbury’s (a grocery store) where we unexpectedly found the perfect little outfit for Simon to wear for his dedication.

29 – Simon’s dedication. It was perfect and lovely and the three couples who mean the most to us were there and all involved in some way. They had even gone through the trouble of making a special surprise cake for us.

30 – Bank Holiday! We spent the day in town where I was trying to find something to wear (fail). Instead, I bought CK a Father’s Day present!! We had a wonderful lunch at the Forbury Hotel and a fabulous piece of cheesecake and delicious hot chocolate at a great coffee shop that somehow manages to stay in business even though it shares a corner with both Starbucks and Costa.

31 – Went to Woodley and had another pleasant banking experience. Got Green & Black chocolates on sale at Waitrose.

 

April was a pretty great month.

I thought it’d be a good idea for me to chronicle all the good things that happened in April before the end of May (when I hope to chronicle all the good things that happened this month).  So, better late than never!

April was a pretty fantastic month mostly because CK spoiled me both for Mother’s Day weekend and because he was home for 7 days straight because of the Easter school closures! 

1 – Oh, what a fabulous first day of April!  No fooling around here!  CK brought sweet flowers home and I got my first Mother’s Day card (as Mother’s Day in the UK is linked to Lent and therefore never falls on the same weekend as in the US).  There were sweet coupons in the card (that I’ve been holding on to!) for bathroom cleanings and leaving work early!  He also brought home ice cream and we watched the musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy (which we both loved and still don’t understand why it got so much criticism).  Oh, and to top it all off?  Sweet, silly Simon laughed out loud.  Whew!  What a great day, right?

2 – CK cooked bacon and pancakes and Simon gave me a sweet Mother’s Day card with four Divine chocolate bars.  AND, we FINALLY got around to hanging things in the bedroom and I organized Simon’s bookshelf.  It was a gloriously relaxing-while-still-being-productive day!

3 – My first Mother’s Day!  CK got up early allowing me to sleep in until 9 am!  He cooked another fabulous breakfast.  I got sweet Mother’s Day presents and we had lunch at a couple’s house after church during which Simon behaved beautifully!

4 – The grocery delivery was 20 minutes early!  This NEVER happens.  It usually arrives at the very last minute of the two hour delivery window.

5 – CK got a paper accepted for publication!  After speaking with the Home Office, we figured out how to apply for Simon’s immigration documents in the US *huge sigh of relief AND savings!*.

6 – I got 101 free prints from Shutterfly and we had brie for dinner.  Oh, and my new wet bag arrived.

7 – I captured Simon demonstrating his latest skill (foot grabbing).  Simon got his final round of immunizations until his first birthday and I was able to wear him in the Sleepy Wrap the entire time (which meant he did just fine).  He was asleep by 7:45!

8 – Worked on and finished up a mini scrapbook for my mom and Simon took all his naps in the Sleepy Wrap.

9 – Went to Toys R Us and bought Simon the LeapFrog caterpillar.

10 – Simon went in the Johnny Jump Up for the first time and seemed to enjoy it.  I had a delicious salmon and brie sandwich for lunch after church.

11 – Art work ordered from etsy arrived!

12 – My friend Susanne took Simon and me to Dinton Pastures for a walk and nice lunch in their cafe.  Then we had tea and chocolates at her house.

13 - The weather turned chilly again and I got a call from my friend Karen who shared the name of her daughter due in August.

14 – Went into campus to have lunch with CK and then a purple-y family photo shoot in the campus gardens.

15 – Went to Woodley where I got pictures printed (always fun!) and was finally able to put together my Mother’s Day frame present.  Found a wonderful book for CK for an Easter present and an entire season of The West Wing for just £2.99 at Oxfam.  CK brought fish + chips home for dinner!

16 – Enjoyed a lazy Saturday which included a bacon and egg breakfast and enough time in my office to make CK a special mini scrapbook and card to surprise him when he went away for a conference.

17 – We had brie for dinner (always a highlight for me!).

18 –  CK left for a conference and Simon and I walked him to the bus stop (which isn’t the good thing about today).  On our way home from the bus stop, we went in a charity shop where I found a cute Hawaiian shirt for Simon for a mere 79p.  Then, Simon and I took a three hour nap together.

19 – Took a 2.5 hour nap with Simon and gave him a bath all by myself!

20 – CK got  back from his conference!  Yay!  I finally reached the bottom of the laundry basket and I found out The Help was made into a movie!

21 – Simon’s passport arrived (at long last!!).

22 – Did lots of organizing and rearranging at home in the morning and then went into town where I got a peacock folder and some scrapbooking supplies.

23 - Took the train to Oxford and had a wonderful time!  Lunch at The Eagle and Child, a decadent block of fudge, books at Blackwells, pastries from Patisserie Valerie, and brie for dinner!

24 – Easter Sunday!  CK surprised me with a wonderful Flannery O’Connor book I didn’t even know existed.

25 – Easter Monday which CK had off.  Even though Simon was super fussy all day long, we had a nice time together watching lots of The West Wing.

26 – Slept in a bit because CK got up with Simon.  We went into Woodley where I scored a peacock shirt from a charity shop.

27 - A box from my mom arrived and Simon sat unassisted for the first time.  Among the box’s treasures were a cute bunny outfit and Simon the chipmunk.

28 – Pay day!

29 – CK had the day off because of the Royal Wedding (which we caught the tail end of).  Bought paint for the kitchen and living room and ate at McDonald’s.

30 – Went to Dinton Pastures together where we had a wonderful lunch in the cafe.

 

The last of the layout challenges (for now)

The fourth layout challenge for National Scrapbook Day (hosted at www.shimelle.com) was to create a page around a photo with a hidden story.  This challenge should have been a piece of cake for me — for I love to tell a good story.  But, I labored over what photo to choose, what story to tell, and I finally settled on this photo as the focus of my page:

This photo was taken just days before Christmas and Simon is in fact wearing his first of several festive outfits (Santa’s Little Helper shirt gifted by friends from church), but I decided to step away from all the Christmas papers and stickers and embellishments and so I turned to a few pieces of paper from K & Company in the Blue Awning line that I’ve been saving.  I wanted to include some photos other than the one with the hidden story and this is what I came up with:

I remember this day like it was yesterday!  It was just a couple days before Christmas and we spent the afternoon shopping in town.  I needed to find a place to nurse, and fast, and so that meant tea or coffee somewhere.  We decided to give the cafe in Marks & Spencer a whirl…and it was fabulous!  My mom enjoyed a slice of Victoria Sponge and I gambled on a slice of Sticky Toffee Cake (and was SO glad I took the risk).  We enjoyed tea and then snapped some photos of sweet Simon, trying to capture his festive attire.

We headed to the bathroom to change his diaper and this is where the hidden story comes into play.  Up until this point, Simon had cried his way through every single diaper change.  No, I’m not exaggerating — every.single.one.  We went into the baby change room and fully expected a screaming fit, but much to our surprise, he didn’t make a peep.  I was dumbfounded and immediately reached for the camera because I just knew at any moment the screaming would commence.  It never did.  Our little boy made it through an entire diaper change without making a single sound.  I guess he decided all was well in the world right there in Marks & Spencer.  I left the bathroom in utter disbelief and awe and reported the fantastic news to my mom — who promptly cheered for Simon as any good grandmother would do!

I wish I could say that he never again wailed through a diaper change.  He has on several occasions since screamed bloody murder.  He’s gotten a bit better now (thank goodness since he’s staring down six months next weekend!).

A few more details about the page: I love the journaling cards and sticky border tape, both by K & Company.

I don’t have a fancy border punch yet (I plan on using a Jo-Ann’s or Michael’s coupon for one this summer when I’m home), so I made my own border by punching several one inch circles, inking the edges, and then just assembling them in a straight line underneath a photo.  I am pleased with how it turned out:

This layout took the most time to put together and I’m so grateful to CK for giving me so much time in my office this afternoon and evening!  It’s been such a fun week of scrapbooking and creating these layouts to participate in the Scrapbooking Day challenges.  I hope I don’t lose my motivation.

 

Layout 3: The Owl and the Pussycat Tea Party

I first saw the Owl and the Pussycat cookies at a Starbucks during our visit to the US last summer.  My mom had her eye on them, so I bought a box and we had them at a special tea party

It was a great excuse to break out the special Wind in the Willows plates, too.  And, since I just got a new camera, it was fun to pull out all the Owl and the Pussycat things to take a picture (or two or ten):

The little Golden Book that is propped open is what started my love of the Owl and the Pussycat.  It was one of a few special books my mom gave me when I had the chicken pox back in 1984 and I remember looking through the book and falling in love with the illustrations. 

Anyway, it was a nice tea party we had together back in June.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the Owl and the Pussycat cookies in my neighborhood Waitrose!  And, for just £1.99, which seemed like such a bargain compared to the $5.00 price tag they had at Starbucks.  I promptly bought three boxes, sent one to my mom in a back-to-school box, and kept the other two in the back of my cupboard squirrelling them away so we could have a tea party when she came to visit at Christmas.  I was just sure that Waitrose was going to sell out of the special cookies (of course, they did not).

Then, one day while I was searching eBay for cute Owl and the Pussycat things (like onesies and pajamas, both of which I scored for Simon), I stumbled upon a set of Royal Daulton plates (just like the Wind in the Willows ones my mom has) and so, on a whim, I bid on them.  It was a ridiculously low bid for the set of four and I never thought I’d actually win.  I did.

The plates and the cookies sealed the deal: we were going to have an Owl and the Pussycat tea party when my mom visited at Christmas.  I was going to dress Simon in his Owl and the Pussycat pajamas, we’d eat the special cookies off the special plates, and I might even christen my cupcake maker and make owl cupcakes (that has yet to happen).

I had no idea that my mom was going to gift Simon with some wonderful Owl and the Pussycat things: a beautiful quilt, a double handled baby mug, a pea green boat, and two wonderful copies of the book.  Those gifts served as the decorations for our tea party and on December 29, 2010, we enjoyed those sweet cookies on the sweet plates…along with some other sweet treats. 

I chose to scrap the pictures from that tea party for this next challenge.  The mission was to create a layout with a border between two photos.  We could use as many photos and as many borders as we wanted, but the border had to go between the photos – not off to the side or above or below.  This time I just tried to come up with something on my own and not try to completely copy Shimelle’s example.  Here’s the end result:

I wanted to use all four photos, so I came up with this layout -a grid of sorts, with four pictures and four combinations of borders.  My favorite border, of course, is the sparkly, glittery TEA PARTY against the sparkly, glittery blue snowflake paper:

I used a stocking embellishment that says TREATS which I tied in with a glittery sticker on a plate full of treats:

Aren’t the pastel Owl and Pussycat plates the perfect dish for this tea party?  And those sweet little teapot lemon cookies added a nice touch, I think.  The border between the plate of goodies and the silver plate of the star of the party (macarons) was a simple pale blue ribbon and gingerbread house embellishment:

The final border on the page is the journaling space – a stamp from the 7 Gypsies set I just discovered I had:

I’m so happy to have these photos scrapped so I can look back and remember the great tea party I shared with my mom.

 

Numbered Days

Simon has never slept particularly great – not since he woke up from his post-birth-and-initial-nursing 14 hour coma at around 9 pm the day he was born.  CK and I think back to those first hours and chuckle to ourselves.  He remembers thinking on that most blissful of days how shockingly easy having a newborn was going to be!  We marveled at how sweet his little coo was while he slept, we took pictures, we took video, and then we sat on the edge of my hospital bed peering into his little cot just waiting for him to stir.  And he never did.  He just kept sleeping, and cooing.

But once he woke up from that 14 hour first nap of his, we’ve been absolutely amazed ever since by how little he’ll sleep or how long he can stay awake or how he just needs one of us to hold him, wear him, or lay down with and cuddle him in order for him to go to sleep.  I think we’ve stopped trying to figure out how to fix Simon’s sleeping and we’ve accepted that he’s a bit of a sparkler – that is, he’s a bit difficult when it comes to sleep (and a few other things, too). 

We had a few deceptively amazing moments back in February when we were sure he turned the corner and began “sleeping through the night.”  For a two week stretch, Simon was going 5-7 hours every night before waking.  I remember once waking CK up and saying, “Look, he went 7 hours!”  Maybe he was just sleeping through a growth spurt or something, because no corner was actually turned, it was just a fluke.

And so we press on with our little sparkling Simon and many of my mornings are spent under the weight of this growing boy

His deepest, soundest, longest sleep happens when he’s nestled in the Sleepy Wrap or lain across my chest.  Sometimes I think of all the scrapbook pages I could be making or things I could be doing and I just wish Simon was the baby who could be put down awake and moments later be soundly asleep for a nap or at the very least transfer easily from arms to bed (that practically never happens; once we attempt a move, game over!).  But then I hear his heavy breathing or I feel the wet puddle collecting on my bare skin from his sleepy drool and I realize that these days are so, so numbered.  I don’t care about good intentioned warnings that we’re creating bad habits (we don’t believe it’s possible to “spoil” a baby nor do we believe in letting Simon “cry it out”).  The scrapbook pages can wait and the laundry, dishes, and dinner certainly can wait while I help my boy sleep a bit more soundly.  We spent money on the cutest IKEA crib bedding that goes with the curtains and the bright walls of our bedroom and I wonder if we’ll ever use it because Simon is happy as a clam sleeping in bed with us.  Sometimes I wish he was the baby who’d go down for the night in his own bed and stay down for 12 hours, but it seems that as soon as CK and I tip-toe out of the bedroom and try to avoid the creaky floor boards just outside of the bedroom, I look over at CK and say, “I miss him already.”  I snuggle up next to Simon in bed each night and while I am tired a lot of the time, I’m grateful all of the time that I get to lay next to my baby because I know the days are numbered.

I’m going to try to remember in the middle of a bad night like we had yesterday.  I’m going to try to remember in the middle of a bad day when I look at the clock and find out it’s only 1:00 and CK won’t be home for hours still!  I probably won’t do a very good job of remembering in the midst of it, but it’s there.

 

Layout Challenge #2

CK came home from work and after greeting him with just a diaper-clad baby at the front gate I said, “Just give me 30 minutes, ok?”  Well, I needed 46 to create (and completely finish!) this next layout for another Scrapbooking Day challenge hosted  by Shimelle.

My office is still a wild mess, but it’s what I like to call an organized mess.  Only Christmasy things are strewn about: pretty papers with names like Peppermint Twist and Swell Noel; big, chunky, cutesy chipboard stickers that say HO HO HO and BELIEVE; and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of photos taken in the last two weeks of December.  It’s definitely putting me in the mood to deck the halls and put on some Christmas music already…and it’s just May!

Anyway, this challenge was a bit more difficult to tackle than simply making a layout on a piece of patterned paper.  The challenge was to create a triangle, which seems easy enough  because I could’ve just arranged three photos on a page in a triangular format.  But, I wanted to copy Shimelle’s layout and have three things such as an embellishment, a title, and a journaling spot that together create a triangle if a line were drawn connecting the items and to place my photos within the triangle.  Apparently, once upon a time, this technique was widely used (maybe it still is?) in the scrapping world.

So, here it is:

I created this layout on the backside of the page from the last challenge (I love double sided paper!).  I also used all Peppermint Twist and Swell Noel supplies, so both pages are similar in color.

The page is all about Simon’s Christmas presents from Grandma and the triangle effect comes from the title tag that I stamped using my handy 99 p alphabet stamps from The Range

the gift embellishment to tie in the Christmas presents

and the journaling circle that I stamped using a set of 7 Gypsies stamps I got on the scrapbooking cruise I went on back in September 2007 and just now opened for the first time!

 

First Layout Challenge

It took about a week for me to straighten up my office and organize my scrapbook supplies and then it took about 30 minutes to mess it all up.

I wish I had a before picture, but you’ll just have to trust me that everything was in its proper place and looked beautiful.  While I loved the clean look of everything, I think I love the mess even more because it means I’ve been able to dive into embellishments and stickers and pretty papers and stacks of pictures (oh, my!).  With CK’s help yesterday, I stole away into my office for 30 minutes (though I might’ve stretched it to about 40) so I could create a layout for one of Shimelle’s Scrapbooking Day challenges.

The challenge was about as simple as could be: create a layout on a piece of patterned paper.  I already knew I wanted to do a Christmas page, but I always have such a hard time getting started.  I spent all of Simon’s hour nap yesterday just looking through photos trying to decide which one/s I wanted to use.  Did you get that?  I spent an hour just trying to decide what photo/s to use!  By the time CK got home from work and took Simon on a walk around the yard for 30 minutes, I knew I had to spring into high gear if I wanted to get anything accomplished and chose the only two photos from Christmas day that had all three of us.

With no guidelines other than using a piece of patterned paper, I was having a bit of difficulty starting.  I kept staring at the piece of paper and two photos I chose and just didn’t know where to start.  So, I decided that I would just do my best to copy Shimelle’s layout and by the time CK and Simon came back inside, I was just about finished with my page.

It took just a few more minutes after Simon went down for the night to finish adhering everything to the page and to add the journaling.  All in all, I’m thrilled with how it turned out.  I love the sparkle and I also love having lots of different items from the same line that complement each other. 

I can’t wait to put a layout together for the next challenge!

I used paper, chipboard letters, grand adhesions, and stickers all from K & Company in either Swell Noel or Peppermint Twist.

 

My introduction to photo editing

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a new blog that made me absolutely, positively giddy!  It’s predominantly a scrapbooking blog with a sprinkling of cupcakes and travel and other craftiness.  Making me even giddier was the little detail that the blogger is an American living in London, so I felt instantly connected – like we were automatic friends because we’re probably the only two scrapbooking Americans living in England, right?  (I know I’m definitely not right, but sometimes it just feels like I’m the only one!)  Her designs, layouts, tutorials, and just general splendor have definitely inspired me.  The photo she posted of her stack of near-700 4×6 prints, along with the monthly class that she’s running during 2011, have motivated me and now I have my own stack of near-400 4×6 prints just waiting to be scrapped (which just about covers November and December 2010).  I spent last week cleaning up my office and organizing my scrapbook supplies and today I even went so far as pulling together all my Christmas papers, stickers, and embellishments.  My point is, we’re talking serious inspiration and motivation.

But, before I dove into scrapping Baby’s First Christmas this evening, I thought I’d take the plunge and give one of Shimelle’s challenges (from the great National Scrapbooking Day/Weekend this past weekend) a whirl.  I’ve seen challenges posted on other blogs and have always, always been intimidated by them.  But, this particular photo editing challenge seemed completely approachable – afterall, Shimelle even posted step-by-step instructions. 

This first is a photo I took in Giverny, France in Monet’s garden.  Monet’s home and garden are so, so beautiful and I have several hundred pictures of willows and flowers making it hard to choose just one to play around with.  But, I do love yellow:

And here’s the edited photo I got from playing around with a few things on Picnick in flickr, following Shimelle’s instructions exactly:

I couldn’t stop with just one photo edit (I’m afraid that this is going to be very addictive!).  I decided to choose my favorite picture of the Eiffel Tower that I took on our trip to Paris in August 2009.  It was a bright, extremely hot August day:

I’ve always liked this picture because I thought it was perfect – the bright, blue sky, the green trees…and then I played in Picnick and got this even brighter and prettier picture:

So what if the sky *might* just look a little fake.  This photo editing business sure is fun.  I had to do just one more before calling it quits.  This photo was taken at the very near-to-where-I-live Palmer Park.  I remember taking this photo during our first spring here, totally in awe of how these trees were completely bare one day and seemingly overnight they were bursting in color:

And here’s the edit (again, following Shimelle’s instructions):

I’m feeling absolutely thrilled that I’ve actually edited a photo (three, even!) using more than just the crop feature; I’m feeling absolutely proud that I’ve gone ahead and given a blog challenge a try; and I’m feeling absolutely inspired to begin scrapbooking our family’s special Christmas (tomorrow).

It is now time for an episode of The West Wing and a bit of ice cream!

 

Ten on Tuesday (a day late)

I’ve never done one of these Ten on Tuesday questionaires, but when I saw this one on a blog I read, I couldn’t resist…even if I am a day late.

A few of my favorites that I have here with me

1. When someone asks you for a book recommendation, what is your go to book?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and/or The Help by Kathryn Stockett are both totally and utterly amazing.  I used to, without hesitation, recommend The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver or The Everlasting Story of Nory by Nicholson Baker.  I still absolutely adore both of those books, but The Book Thief and The Help have replaced my top recommendations.

2. Do you buy your books, or are you a library patron?

Most recently I’ve become a library patron as there are two libraries within walking distance of where I live.  Since Simon’s been born, I consider a walk to the library a big outing — especially because they have a really wonderful baby changing station in their “local loo” (the UK way of saying public restroom!).  If money and space were unlimited, I’d buy all my books — even the ones I just casually thought might be good.  I think a room with wall to wall, floor to ceiling bookcases full of books is dreamy.  I also enjoy going into used bookstores — especially to pick up some books for Simon.

3. E-readers, yay or nay?

When they first came out, I was completely NAY!  Who would ever want to pass on a paper book?  But, I’ve come to see the merit in them.  Since I spend a lot of time sitting in a chair feeding a seemingly-always-hungry baby, I think an e-reader would be very convenient.  Also, I love all the e-reader covers I’ve seen on Etsy!

4. What was your favorite book as a child?

When I was 5, I fell in love with The Velveteen Rabbit through an audio cassette book  that I completely wore out.  At one time I said The Secret Garden was my favorite book, but I never read it and just fell in love with the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie version of it when I was in third grade.  As far as paper books go, I remember absotlutely loving my Cabbage Patch books because of their large size, “silky” pages, and the map that was in the front of each book.

5. If you could be any character in a book, who would you be?

Nory from The Everlasting Story of Nory — because she’s so eccentric and imaginative and special.  Had Simon been a girl, she would have been named Eleanor (after Eleanor Winslow from The Everlasting Story of Nory – and Eleanor Roosevelt and Elinor Dashwood).  I really love Elphaba from Wicked, too, but I don’t think I’d want to be green.

6. What book would you love to see turned into a movie?

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I’ve heard rumors that this might be happening! [Edit: My mom told me today that she just saw an advertisement last night on the TV for the movie!  A bit of digging revealed that it's coming to theatres in August!  I'm so excited, yet heartbroken because it opens just days after I leave the US.]

7. What is your all time favorite book?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  If Simon had been a girl, Harper was the middle name we’d chosen.  We seriously considered Atticus as Simon’s middle name.  That’s how much I love this book.  I have read it 7 times and the first time I read it, it knocked my socks off.  I had stumbled upon it in my junior high school’s library and checked it out.  I was reading it at the beginning of my science research class one day (instead of doing nothing and listening to my teacher drone on about something or other) and Mr. Regan took my book away!  I was distraught because my mom was checking me out of school that day to drive to Atlanta to see my brother who was on military leave and I needed my book.  I was so wrapped up in the story and I needed to know what happened.  In a brave and desperate move, I turned to Mrs. Regan (my science research teacher’s wife and my Biology teacher).  I told her what had happened and she went and got my book back for me!  I remember sitting in my grandmother’s living room and literarlly not being able to put the book down.  When I finished it,  my mom told me there was a movie and she’d rent it for me when we got home.  I felt like I had won the lottery.  It was an absolute privilege to teach the book years later to five years worth of freshmen.  And, it was so much fun to introduce CK to the movie. 

8. How many books do you read at once?

One.

9. What is your favorite book genre?

I suppose if I could only read one genre for the rest of my life, it’d be fiction.  But, I love memoirs and personal essays (An American Childhood by Annie Dillard, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion,  and Bill Bryson books are among my all time favorites).

10. Which Harry Potter book is the best?  Or haven’t you read them at all?

I haven’t read them…and I’ve only seen two of the movies.  I’m not a fan.  Though, I walked myself ragged at 38 weeks pregnant all around London in the cold and relentless rain to go on a Harry Potter movie tour (definitely not my idea!).  The tour (and the enthusiastic tour guide) put me in the mood to watch all the movies…and the thought of beginning to read the books crossed my mind.  But, I returned home and six days later had a baby, so that never happened.

 

It’s the little (good) things…March edition.

An internet friend posts a list of daily good things at the end of every month and I decided to join her for March.  It’s no secret that CK and I long to move our lives and family back to the US and so often I dwell on that — complaining and longing for what I see others doing through their blogs and Facebook updates.  I decided it was high time I knock it off (or at least try to) and try to focus on what good we have in our lives right now.  So, here is a list of little good things that happened in March — may it serve as a reminder to me how much I have to be thankful for, how much my life is actually filled with good things even though it’s missing a Target and root beer.

1: My mom, brother, and I began our joint 365 picture project and I used my cupcake maker. 

2: I won an eBay auction that I really wanted and the weather was good enough to take a stroll in the backyard once CK got home from work.

3: I went back to Time Out (women’s group at church) for the first time since Simon was born (where many women told me what I already knew, that I have one cute baby!) and had a fun time in town with my boy afterwards.  Also, CK got another paper accepted for publication!

4: Simon rolled over for the first time and we went into campus to have lunch with CK.  After lunch, we walked around the lake and CK surprised us and left work early.

5: We made our way to Costco.  We joined and then pigged out in their café American style and bought in bulk, feeling more grown up than ever.

6: Simon let us sleep in a bit so we ended up staying home from church and had a lazy day.  I was able to spend a bit of time in my office crafting.

7: A biggie — bought our plane tickets for our trip home this summer!  Spent a lot of time organizing photos on Flickr and it felt great.

8: Went out with my friend, Susanne, to Dinton Pastures where we walked around a lake and had lunch in their café.  Then, she took me to Costco where I filled a shopping cart with lots of good things!

Laundry detergent and rice in bulk = favorite purchases.

9: I used the cupcake maker again to make pumpkin cupcakes for Time Out and Matt took Simon out for the first time without me – down to the corner shop for some butter.

Ready to go out together!

10: I shared my pumpkin cupcakes at Time Out where five were eaten (I was a bit nervous that none would be eaten because the English don’t do pumpkin).  I bought patterned toilet paper and got Simon’s super cute passport and visa pictures taken care of.

I'm so glad he'll be stuck with this photograph for the next five years.

11: FINALLY got to the bottom of the laundry hamper (it was a three month process, no lie) and took a three hour nap with my baby.

12: Matt made a glorious breakfast of bacon and eggs and toast and hash browns and pumpkin cupcakes.  Walked to Tesco where we bought Krispy Kreme doughnuts and our baby his first teething toy.

13: Simon slept for 8 hours straight (first time ever, and little did we know it’d be the last).

14: I took a three hour nap with my boy (I guess with a baby, one’s “good things” will often include sleep!).

15: We made our way to London and had a wonderfully delicious Thai dinner with Matt’s cousin, Stephanie.  We snacked on Combos and almonds and watched Jersey Shore, took glorious showers in Stephanie’s amazing bathroom, and slept in her very comfy bed.

Setting out for our first 24 hours away from home...with just the Sleepy Wrap.

16: We made our boy an American at the embassy and celebrated with Stephanie over “salt beef” sandwiches, gherkins, and ice cold Coke at a New York style deli in London.

Our little American, appropriately dressed.

17: Simon and I took a two hour and then I discovered that Coke Zero tastes just about as good as the real thing.

18: Simon spent much of the day napping, I watched two episodes of Glee, and CK brought home a delicious, though greasy, dinner of fish and chips.

19: Simon took a 5 hour nap!! and CK figured out how to unlock our DVD player allowing us to watch both region 1 and 2 DVDs.  We celebrated by watching the series finale of Dawson’s Creek that my mom picked up for a bargain and a joke. 

20: Stayed home from church and had another lazy (kind of sick) day.  We spent the whole day watching and pausing Food, Inc. and I made banana muffins.

21: Simon turned 4 months and I found a UK company that sells Rockin Green laundry detergent so I ordered some – and a cute cloth diaper with owls!

Dec 21, Jan 21, Feb 21, and Mar 21

22: A box arrived from my mom including lots of good treats!

23: My laundry detergent and cloth diaper arrived!  I took Simon to the doctor who confirmed he was not sick, just teething.

24: I spent the day running back and forth to the bathroom in desperate need of the toilet – that is not my good thing though.  My good thing is that my sweet husband was able to stay home from work and take care of Simon while I slept the day away.

25: I felt much better and Matt brought me home Haagen Dazs ice cream as a surprise!  We kicked off the weekend by watching the best episode of The Office…EVER!

26: Had hash browns for breakfast and watched Amazing Grace together.

27: Enjoyed a Skype conference call with my mom and brother.  Simon stayed in church for the entire service – the first time I didn’t have to leave with him!

28: The sun came out so I was able to dry clothes outside!  And, I took Simon outside for some Bumbo seat time twice.

Enjoying some sun in the backyard.

29: I was able to get a doctor’s appointment same day for my sore throat that’s been lingering for two weeks and my suspected conjunctivitis.  The good thing, really, is that both my prescriptions cleared up my throat and eye lickity split!

30: I watched Mansfield Park while Simon slept in the Sleepy Wrap.

31: One of my best friends joined Facebook!