st. patrick's day

We have so many people in the US with family ties to Ireland that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated nation wide.  This year it fell on a glorious spring Saturday, so we rode the bikes down to Old Town and watched the parade, ate some ice cream and visited a couple of microbreweries before heading home to play in the garden and fill ourselves full of corned beef and cabbage that Mom brought to us. I think we were outside for at least ten hours.  We have this silly tradition, that I believe is entirely American; please correct me if I'm wrong: if you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day, you'll get pinched.  The most interesting explanation of this is that leprechauns, can be invisible, pinch people who don't honor St. Patrick by wearing green, so we pinch people to remind them to get their green on before a leprechaun shows up and not only pinches them but causes general mayhem.  If you get pinched but can prove you're wearing green, you get to punch the pincher.  I think that only school children practice these rituals, but I made sure everyone had some green  clothing (albeit rather muted shades of green) just to be sure.

on the poudre river trail

at the parade, we saw no pots of gold

in old town

enjoying the parade. my shoes are green (sandals)

part of the parade

part of the parade

yes, that's a cat on his shoulder (in the parking lot of new belgium brewery

tim made friends with tony, luke played with the wood chips and we enjoyed some  craft beer

in the back yard after the parade

awaiting the much anticipated fire for marshmallow roasting

livin' large with amy d

Amy has been living in Steamboat Springs for about three years now, but always with the idea that it was just temporary, so she never bothered to buy a home.  This made it very easy to move into million dollar accomodations when she was made an offer to rent/house-sit that she couldn't refuse.  A family living on the east coast bought a stunning log home in Steamboat last year but won't be ready to move in until this summer.  They knew Amy and asked her to live there while they got their things in order.  She's had a run of visitors non-stop and we were among the lucky to be invited. 

If you've ever wondered what a million dollars can buy you in a small resort town in the Rocky Mountains, the answer is 'a lot.'  The wow factor on this place just does not stop.  The ground level consists of a two car garage, an entry/lobby perfect for depositing all kinds of winter equipment like skis, clothes, snowshoes and boots, two large built in closets and a huge bedroom suite with jetted tub.  Our friend, Martin, who was with us for a ski holiday from London, got to enjoy that room.  It has French doors leading out into the front yard and a small pot bellied stove.  Very cozy.

The first floor houses two living areas, the kitchen, the dining room, the master suite, a sauna and acesss the deck and hot tub.  Luke took to the hot tub immediately, but it took Tim a day before he decided it was something worth exploring.  We kept the temperature down for their visits in the afternoon while the men skiied, and Tim told me that it wasn't a hot tub but a warm tub.  When Martin and Paul joined them, they slowly increased the heat so that by the time the boys were ready to leave the men were able to enjoy a long, hot soak with mulled wine to boot.

the front room with walk around fireplace

the tv room with deck out to hot tub, taken from the loft

the tv room

the boys enjoying the hot tub - the outside temperature was below freezing

tim and luke with their new best friend martin

The second floor has two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a loft all connected.  There is another loft off of the tv room that can only be accessed from the tv room.  The amount of space in the house is disturbing at first but by the middle of the following day, we'd grown into it and were full of ideas for how to use the now empty lofts.  My favorite room is the kitchen with a connecting laundry room.   I could spend whole days there and not even cook a thing. 

paul enjoying the famous champagne powder of steamboat springs

There hasn't been much snow in our mountains this year, but as usual, Paul's luck held and Steamboat got several inches of fresh snow just in time for our trip.  While he and Martin got to know every inch of the slopes, the boys and I luxuriated in Amy's home.  Thank you Amy for a great holiday.

a holiday inside a holiday

Jenny, Neville and Melissa were more than willing to watch the boys while we took a 24 hour break from parenthood in a lovely hotel in Camps Bay, which is a must-see beach in Cape Town.  A gorgeous, groomed beach, picture perfect views of the mountain range called the Twelve Apostles, cute shops, and the perfect restaurant or cafe at every turn make this place a favorite among locals and tourists (I wrote that even though it sounds like I took it out of Lonely Planet.  The boys stayed with Jenny and Neville and Melissa drove us to the hotel, visited the boys the next day, then collected us in the afternoon.  Thank you Attridge family for the little holiday inside our holiday

the afternoon of our arrival - going out for a coffee

shops, restaurants, palm trees, and mountains

sundowners on the pool terrace of our hotel

sunset

steak for paul, of course and seafood potjie for me; yummy

our morning coffee on the terrace

A note about commenting because several of you have said you don't do it because it's too complicated.  You don't have to log in to be able to leave a comment on the blog.  Just type your message, then your name, and check the box for anonymous.  It will then post you as anonymous, but because you've written your name, I'll know the message is from you!

homesick times two

tim, luke and mom in front of the clock tower and the houses of parliment

I feel very fortunate to be able to call London home, and I feel very fortunate to call Fort Collins home. They couldn't be more different, and that's what is so wonderful. London is, well, London. Enough said. Lately I've taken to calling Fort Collins provencial as I've been homesick for the city. Our trip into London's center yesterday satisfied that homesickness and created a lovely sense of homesickness for Fort Collins. While living in London, always at the back of my mind was the awareness of how much time in a big city is spent waiting: waiting (in line) to use the ATM, waiting (in line) to buy Tube tickets, waiting for the Tube, waiting on the Tube to move, waiting, waiting, waiting. This gentle awareness turned into a raging pain in the ass when we did it with the boys. Waiting is not on the itinerary of children. The Clock Tower is a major feature in Cars 2, Tim's current love, so we took advantage of the long layover to get out of the airport, get some fresh air, and show the real one to Tim.

on the tube

We waited in line to buy our Tube tickets only to discover that our credit cards didn't work for some reason. They worked in the shops and restaurant. So we waited in line to use the cash machine. We waited on the platform to get on the train. Tim's jetlag was starting to kick into high gear. The ride on the Tube was exciting at first and then we all fell asleep to be woken by the announcement that the entire Piccadilly line was closing for repairs. The ugly head of jetlag raised its head and started to growl. After the walk through Green Park to another Tube stop and another journey to Westminster, the beast had completely taken over Tim's body and was spitting, screaming and raging as we climbed the stairs to the street. Our son returned to his body the minute he spied The Clock Tower and we got a nice photo. Luke slept in his Ergo baby for most of the trip. Our return trip was a bit quieter and easier.

lunch at denver airport

Through all of it, I managed to soak in the essence of London. The sounds of people talking in their lovely Brisish accents, and Indian accents, and eastern European accents and all sorts of different languages. The smells and sounds of traffic: buses ("Look Daddy, a double decker bus. And there's another. And there. And there. And there!"), motorbikes, cars, bicycles, cabs, pedestrians. Mothers and nannies with prams in the park. M&S grocery stores with all kinds of tempting nibbles. Old buildings, new buildings, churches, pubs, shops, terraced houses. Ah London.

asleep at the start of our 11 hour flight from london to cape town - no, he wouldn't take off his boots

And at the same time I felt the pull of my provencial Fort Collins. The ease of getting into my car in the garage and driving at my own leisure to wherever I need to go. The smell of autumn leaves. The sounds of school buses. Watching the boys play in the front yard where neighbors drive past and slow to a crawl when they see us just in case a ball or child goes into the street.
Yes, I am fortunate.

going back to work

Last spring I applied for a job at a local high school.  I wasn't really ready to go back to work, but there aren't many job openings in this district so I thought I better take what I could get.  I had an interview with the principal, head of the English department, and a member of the English department.  The interview went well. My friend Tanya who works in the district filled me in on all the new catch phrases.  The principal called me five days later and gave me the news: "It came down to deciding between you and one other candidate.  It was a very tough decision.  We went with the other person because this candidate had experience with which we were more familiar."  What does that mean?  That's what he told me AFTER I asked if he could give me some advice about how I could do better in future interviews.  I asked Tanya what she thought.  She thought it meant that they hired someone who either did their intern teaching with them or a substitute from the past year.  Another friend of mine suggested that it was my overseas experience that put them off.  I can't do anything about the latter but I can make myself more familiar in the district, so I started substitute (supply) teaching in October.

I'm only working two days a week because they don't pay enough to cover the cost of full time child care, and we're not ready to have Luke in all day, five days a week anyway.  I'm working at a slight financial loss as it is.  I've signed up to work in grades 6-12, any subject, at all the middle schools and high schools in the district.  So far, I've worked in three of the four high schools and two of the many middle schools.  It's been great.  I love being back in the classroom where I know exactly what to do 99.9% o the time as opposed to when I'm a mother and feel like I'm making it up as I go 90% of the time.  I've covered four English classes, a math class and one PE class.  The teachers are all so well organized and the students polite enough to respond to my all-business approach that the jobs have been easier than my day to day work was as a full time teacher:  no lesson plans, no marking, no meetings, no parents, no grades, no on-going drama.  The teachers have even been good enough to leave me things to actually teach like grammar, literary terms, and ratios (yikes!  She'll have to go over that lesson again).

All of this has been possible because Paul has been so willing to help me and because Luke has been ready for nursery school.  When we first took Tim at age two, we quickly discovered that he would have benefited from it at an earlier age.  That knowledge along with Luke being the second child has made it easier to put him in school three months earlier than Tim.  I have to be at work as early as 06:45 on some days, so Paul takes on the job of getting the boys ready for and to school.  He took Luke for his first day, which pulled at my heart a little but also made me feel so fortunate to have a husband that can and will do such things with ease and joy.  Luke's taken a liking to school.  He's familiar with the place because he's been going with me to take and collect Tim since birth.  Except for a couple of tearful drop offs, he happily runs for the toys the minute he gets to his room.  When we collect him, usually both of us, he is busy playing with the toys and often doesn't leave them when he sees us.  Tim always stops whatever he is doing and runs to us.  There are some little things that we're overcoming with Luke.  He didn't eat anything at school the first two days.  Slowly, he's starting to eat there.  It also seems to shut down his bowel, but it doesn't seem to bother him.  It's just a bit messy to deal with him when he's home again.  I guess that's how he copes with change.  Maybe he's saving it all for me as a kind of protest statement.

 Paul says that it's obvious that I'm happy being back at work, and I am.  It's a break from the boys, a chance to talk Shakespeare instead of Disney, and a time to tend to my needs a little.  I'm very lucky.  I've been able to stay with the boys for so long and even now I get to be home with them most of the time.  I'm lucky that I can go to work without earning a living.  Paul takes very good care of us that way.  I wake up every morning, happy with what the day will bring.  If it's the alarm that wakes me for work, even if I've been up in the night with Luke, I'm pleased to be up and going to work.  If it's Luke that wakes me for a day with the boys at home, I'm happy that I can sleep a bit later and enjoy the slow beginning of the day that staying at home brings.

maybe that's why we call it fall

Autumn is a gentle word, even genteel.  It evokes images of firelight and golden sunsets.  It's hues are warm and comforting, the color of pumpkins and the golds, reds, purples and oranges of the leaves.  It feels like the knits and wool sweaters that I take from the shelves and start to wear, like the flannel sheets that I put on the bed.  I love autumn.

Fall is abrupt. It is harsh and final.  It sounds like breaking glass and feels like wet, stinging wind.

We've had autumn for about a month now and it has been glorious.  We had fall this week.  It did some damage to our trees but not our property.  It did this kind of damage all over town and many people were not as lucky as we were.  Some people couldn't get out of their homes. Some people were without power for a day or two (unheard of here).  Some people couldn't get their cars out from under the broken limbs.  Some people will have to get new cars.  

Fortunately, fall is on it's way out and autumn is returning today with the sun and bright blue sky.  I don't know the etymology of the word fall.  I think it's an American thing.  I could look it up, but I prefer to imagine it's origins.  It's one of the things I like about the English language: all these words.  Marrying a South African and living in Europe has given me so many more words, fun and funny words.