LONDON SUMMARY

We're home!!! I never thought I'd say this, but I LOVE the Texas heat! I couldn't believe how cold and damp it was in England. We took more cabs than Joe wanted, because my lips were chattering in the 40 degree night air. Overall, it was a great experience, and I think I could live there! Here is the trip summary:

We found London to be a bit crowded and busy for us. After living in the suburbs for so long and feeling “safe” letting our kids play outside, the city had some drawbacks. I told Joe I felt nervous when I thought about getting the kids to and from certain places, like school, sports, the park,and even church. There is no such thing as a "quiet street" in our price range in London!!!

We saw 11 properties in the city, in areas where Paul McCartney lives & works out, where Elton John owns a home, where the guy who dates Kylie Minogue lives (we would have been his next door neighbor!)… so all areas that we would consider upscale. The downside was the size of the properties. It would be a foreign experience to live in a 5 floor home with 1700 sq. ft. of living space. I noticed at all the properties each room was separated from the hallway by a door. That is because it is against fire code to prop open ANY doors. Well, you KNOW my anxiety kicked up a notch when they mentioned "fire" and I thought about climbing 4 flights of stairs to get to each bedroom... HUGE deal breaker!!!It is fair to say that we saw a couple places that we could make work for us, but nothing that just knocked us out. And in that price range, I want to be IMPRESSED!!!

City schools are also different. Very secular, child-centered (to the point that I actually thought the kids were running one place we visited), and DIVERSE. Again, that’s not a bad thing, depending on the diversity. For example, at the American School in London, I saw at least 3 classrooms where teachers had prominently displayed the rainbow symbol. All were male teachers (music, drama & Kindergarten - surprise!!) working with young children. That creeped me out. Another school told us that our “religion” would be “celebrated,” along with the Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, etc., who also attend the school. The same school also told us to prepare our children for some “lively debates” on faith… no, thank you. I am pretty certain that Ross could hold his own in an apologetics conversation with someone, but Chloe is still being molded. And Emmy? Please. There are days when she wakes up and says she doesn’t want to “be friends with Jesus” today. Another drawback to the city schools was their availability for our kids – one place had potential spots for Ross & Chloe, but nothing for Emmy, one other could handle Chloe but not Ross or Emmy, and at one place, the kids would be on campuses that are 20 minutes apart. They would be bused back & forth.

After 2 days of searching, our relocation person took us out of the city to Surrey. Think downtown Dallas to Celina, distance-wise. It is the quintessential English countryside, like you’ve seen in the movies. It is about a 20 minute train ride into London’s Waterloo station, and all in for Joe, the commute would be about 45 minutes– 1:20, depending on the time of day. We visited and fell in love with the American Community School, which is a little more what we’re used to, minus the Christian influence. The SINGLE campus is on about 700 acres and has tennis courts, a swimming pool, a track, and rugby & soccer (football) fields. They offer GYMNASTICS as a sports option for Chloe, which is beyond necessary at this point. They also have a chess club and a robotics club for Ross. Ross mentioned in one of his "why you should let me come to your schoo" essays that he would like to play tennis, which they also accommodate. Wimbledon is a 15 minute drive from Surrey. Their school calendar is very similar to the American school calendar – time off for Thanksgiving & Christmas, spring break, a fall break – and a nice, long summer. It sounded as if they had availability for all 3 kids (Emmy would go a half day), so we applied online & sent school records & references there.

Next, it was time to house hunt. We saw 3 properties and could live in any of them. They are very similar to Texas housing in size and scale. All have garages, yards (gardens) with year-round GARDENERS, and are on streets in neighborhoods. Interesting tidbit: the houses have names! One is Mayflower Manor, one is Hydrangea Place... very fun! The last home we saw was our absolute favorite. It used to be a manor house with 5 bedrooms and an annex for “the help,” as the landlord said! I laughed and told Joe I’d move up there by myself!! The major upside for me was that it had an American refrigerator and an American washer AND dryer. I felt like we’d struck gold when I saw those!!  It was beautiful – all remodeled in the last 3 months – and on a street that gets Joe to the train in about 5 minutes and me to the kids’ school in 10. The bigger bonus? Our next door neighbors have 3 kids, similar in age to our three. I felt like we were following the breadcrumbs like Hansel & Gretel right into the house God chose for us!! It was way cool.

Downtown Cobham (the name of the council/city)is this tiny village that is so quaint. It has all the necessities – coffee shop, book store, gift shops, grocery store, gas station, clothing stores – and was on a cobblestone street that was amazingly quiet, a very sharp contrast to London!!! I knew we were in “THE PLACE” when the relocation person told us there is a COSTCO about 20 minutes from Cobham!! Hallelujah!

So, we think we have two winners! We’re just waiting for the company to decide exactly where they want us. It could be that we stay right here. But if we don’t, I feel certain the Lord went before us and showed us exactly where he wants us.

We will definitely keep you posted. And, if y'all ever get to London, which is a must for this thing to go through, we have PLENTY of room for your sweet families! How fun would that be?!

SCHOOL DAZE!

Here is a brief summary of our school visits. There are many, MANY more details that I'd love to share, and I might in a later post. But for now, I'll just hit the highlights!

American School in London: 40 year old, well established, well endowed school. The admissions director had his act together and led us through a very concise, but packed with information, tour of the upper and lower schools. There is a heavy focus on fine arts here (in general, not just at this school), and we saw state of the art equipment and facilities. Their lower school library had 17,000 volumes, 20 computers, and touch boards (like the smart board). The kids were very engaged and seemed happy to be at school. One negative: no uniform. We have decided that the general atmosphere of the school changes when you don't require a uniform. The kids, especially upper school, were a little too comfortable at school! ANother negative: we knew it would be "secular," but this was amazingly indifferet to any faith, as far as we could tell.

Woodside Park: Older school, new headmaster (sound familiar?), enrollment is down because of the direction he's trying to steer the ship. He actually moved from Houston to take this assignment, but he is a native of England. His wife, the registrat, led us on a VERY thorough tour that lasted about 3 hours. We loved the IB curriculum and the lower school, but the upper school didn't seem to have its act together. The school has 41 countries represented and is extremely diverse. We can't decide if it might be a bot too diverse for us.

Southbank International: The admissions director looked like a 20 year old kid. He did not sell the school, even though he is a former student back there to work. That surprised me. They are also an IB school, with 60 countries represented. NO UNIFORM. Two separate campuses for Ross & Chloe that are about 25 minutes apart. Again, the diversity might be a bit overwhelming for our kiddos. Not sure.

So, ASL might have space for Ross, and Chloe has been wait-listed. Woodside Park practically begged us to come, and SOuthbank didn't show their hand at all ( they want the $300 application fee before they commit!).

We ate at a fabulous steak place last night, La Pampa Grill, with one of Joe's colleagues, Amy. We have also visited the Tower of London and are thinking of taking the train to Paris tomorrow for my birthday! How many gals can say THAT?

I spoke with Nahnee & Pookie tonight and all is well at home. They have been swimming every day, and Emmy is going under water in the spa all by herself! Miracles do happen! My dad got in a little negotiation with her before nap time yesterday when she insisted on wearing her princess nightgown. Ross' play went well. Chloe made it to gymnastics on time. Everyone is happy and cooperating. Thank you, Jesus!!!

More later - must go get ready for the house tours!!!

Kate

LONDON DAY 1

We arrived safely but a little later than we expected. Joe is a pro at this overseas traveling thing, but me, not so much. I think I slept about 2 hours on the 9 hour flight, and even THAT was dicey because any time we hit turbulence, I was sure we were going down!! I took a Lunesta and downed a margarita at the airport, neither of which had the usual sleep-inducing effect on me. I watched 27 Dresses three times, and LOVED listening to my new IPOD. I have to give a "shout out" right here to Leslie, for her FABULOUS playlist, and Melanie, for the amazing BOSE headphones! I'll never go back to the earbud!!

We went to dinner last night at Mike (Joe's Markit contact) & Sue's house over in St. John's Wood. Think Highland Park to get the picture in your head. They have a 3 story, 5 bedroom home that is really neat. Hardwoods throughout, beautiful leaded glass windows, a small garden (back yard) complete with a gardener. We enjoyed having American food (chicken and pork tenderloin on the grill) and sampling delicious salads from Sue's favorite deli.

Today we have a full day of school interviews: American School in London, Southbank, and Woodside Park. Please pray for clarity. We are both leaning toward one school, but we want to be open to the Lord's leading. We can "mess up" the housing part, and easily correct that, but we owe it to the kids to get the school piece right from the beginning!

Can't wait to get home!!!

Cheerio!

FINAL THREE

It's finally here! The moment we've all been waiting for! After tomorrow
night, IDOL will be down to two people. I can't decide if I'm excited about
that, or if I'm just relieved. What a whip the last few weeks have been!
You know IDOL is hurting when they can get Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond,
while Dancing with the Stars has USHER for their finals next week! I
thought for sure Simon Cowell had more clout than Tom Bergeron!!!

Random comments about tonight:

Paula chooses David Archu's first song, hoping it will show off his range.
He calls it a "pretty song," and says he was "excited" to sing it. I was
excited when he stopped singing.

David looked uncomfortable singing his 2nd song. I think this is the kind
of song he'd like to be known for singing, but it just didn't work for me.
Randy was right when he said it was not believable. And, I agreed with
Simon's comment about the chihuahua and tiger comparison. Laughed when I
heard that!

Song 3: LONGER THAN... DAN FOGELBERG. Wish David Cook had been
singing it to me!!! That would have been more believable! Archu is a great
talent, but he's not what I would consider an Idol. That being said, he
sails to the finals tonight, with the help of the "judge love" the last
several weeks.

Ultimately, he needs to team up with Josh Groban and go on tour opening for
Celine Dion. THAT is his audience. I don't care HOW many teenaged idiots
vote for him, I promise you they won't be buying or downloading his albums
(until they can get the blue hair special at Denny's).


I think the deck was stacked against Syesha. To begin with, Randy gives her
Alicia Keys to sing. Isn't that similar to giving her a Whitney or Mariah
song? Haven't they told her ALL freakin' season to steer clear of the big
artists?

Her 2nd song was much more Broadway, which is right up her alley. I almost
expected her to do something nasty with that chair! J Her vocals were the
best on this song tonight. She has inherited Brooke's inability to shut up
and take the criticism from the judges, saying "it's okay!" any time the
audience boos!!

The producers' song selection for her was a total waste of air time. She
sounded weak, out of breath, and surprisingly unenergetic. I think she went
out there knowing she's going home tomorrow. I wish she'd given it the
"devil-may-care" type performance we've come to rely on from her. She's in
serious trouble. I fully expect to see her in The Color Purple on Broadway
by the end of the year, ala Fantasia.


David Cook. Rock on, dude! Simon chooses The first Time Ever I Saw Your face...
subliminal message? And seriously, do y'all think David even knew who
Roberta Flack was? Simon said David had the chance to show originality...
hasn't he done that all season? He didn't need that platform.

His 2nd song was fabulous. He is such the rocker, and he looks like
he's very comfortable up there doing his thing! SWITCHFOOT is one of my
favorite groups! The judges seemed to dog on him a little bit tonight, but
I couldn't really find anything extremely noticeable (and off) about his
performances.

Song 3: Don't Want to Miss A Thing. Me, either, especially when he's
singing!!! He is the complete package. I think he might outsell Daughtry.
And, if the 2 of them ever tour together, we've all got to go to that!!!

So, tomorrow, we'll see Syesha sing her swan song, hopefully sans the chair, and then it's on to the David Squared final.

Please, Lord, help David Cook be the Winner!!



Widner, Out

The Feverish Earth?

I wrote this last Easter, but thought I'd add it to the blog. I'm sure any mom who has ever painstaking assembled three outfits for three children can so relate!!!

I’m not buying “the earth has a fever” line from Al Gore!!! It is springtime in Texas, and Easter is later than usual this year. I painstakingly purchased Easter clothing for my children, based on the irrefutable evidence that April in Texas should absolutely be warmer than March. My plans were to try to get a decent picture of all three kids in clothing that coordinates but doesn’t necessarily match. To that end, I have a cute little blue smocked dress for Emily with some precious tiny white sandals. Chloe has a yellow polka dotted dress with strappy sleeves and white flip flops with butterflies on them. Ross is wearing navy shorts with a very “mature” John Ashford shirt from Dillard’s and his $65 Born sandals. I should add here that for once, I had all these outfits purchased and ready to go more than two weeks ago, which is, in itself, something of a small miracle.This plan, of course, was before I heard the weather report for Easter weekend. Tomorrow’s high temperature is 43 degrees. Tomorrow night, the temperature will hover right around freezing, and –this is the part I just love – there is a 40% chance of rain mixed with sleet and snow into Sunday, when the high temperature will be 40 degrees. Fabulous. I guess it’s time to recycle the Christmas wardrobe. Maybe I can get one good snapshot of all three kids in their coats that don’t quite fit anymore building a snow bunny in the front yard Easter morning. That’ll be one for the photo album.Global warming? Whatever. I’m freezing my butt off in Texas in April!!!