So sad...............

...............my dad died this morning at 8:30am GMT.

I am flying back to the UK on Monday.

RIP dad, we will all miss you!

I am waiting...............

I have been thinking on this today. We all spend a lot of time waiting.

Waiting to see the doctor

Waiting in line at the grocery store

Waiting at a stop sign or traffic lights

Waiting for Christmas to come

We are a patient people!

But the waiting I am doing now is causing me much stress and is very, very difficult. I am waiting for my dad to die.

I should explain that he had a massive stroke on Sunday, so massive there is no chance of his recovering. The right side of his brain was so severely starved of oxygen and permanently damaged that the doctors are not treating him. He is effectively brain dead. He is on oxygen and IV fluids only. All his medications have been stopped, so we are waiting to see what happens, to see how long his frail body can hang onto life.

My stomach is 'funny', I am sad and stressed, just waiting. I want to be in the UK right now, but I have to wait until he has gone, then book a flight home for his funeral. So very sad and so very hard to do.

Time for change............

................I need a new photo, but would need to put makeup on first!!

I got my hair done today and I was SO ready for a change. So ready for something different!

And I got it! My hair stylist Erika is the best ever. No matter what I say when I go in I always, always come out with a fantastic hair cut and a fantastic color and I have never, ever disliked what she has done.

I can go in to the salon - as I did today - and say "I have no idea what I want, but I want something different. You can do whatever color you want, whatever style you want, anything!" She loves it!

So my shoulder length, blond-ish hair is now chin length and deep, dark red!!

It looks great, although it will take some getting used to after so many years of being blond!!

Thanks Erika, you are the best!!

Happy Halloween!

I must be completely Americanized!

I just walked home from the elementary school wearing slippers, pajamas, my hair in pigtails and tied up with big, pink ribbons and a cuddly toy stuffed under my arm.

And I wasn't concerned about it one little bit!

How did that happen?

Some women note that it happens when they turn 40, some when they turn 50.

Not me, didn't happen at 40 or 50, it came about when I was 57! An odd age, but I have suddenly, unexpectedly become comfortable in my body!

I no longer feel I have to wear makeup whenever I go out! I am looking my friends bravely in the face and don't care that my face is bare of foundation, mascara and lipstick!

WHY?

Why did it take so long?

Why did it happen now?

What triggered this change in my mentality?

Life suddenly seems so much easier! I am saving a ton of money on makeup and makeup remover, to say nothing of time! It's pretty easy just showering and going! No worrying about how I look all the time! I know that I do look better with makeup, but before I thought I looked totally AWFUL without makeup, now I don't really care if I do!

I am thinking it's perhaps that so much stress has now been removed from our lives. We love living here, love watching the wildlife and seeing the boys trot up the street to school. No bus, no car, just walking. Pretty much everything we need is right here, the grocery store is not far away and things seem so much more relaxed and friendly.

And I guess that's all there is to it!

Except that it's about time!!

FIVE DAYS!

Just five days, I can barely believe it! When the twins finished kindergarten I was convinced one, two or all three of us would not survive the long, long summer vacation. 13 weeks of vacation to be precise! In my opinion that's way too long for children to be out of school, in the UK the summer holiday is generally around 8 weeks. It makes me wonder if the school districts get a kick back from the summer schools that ramp up over the months the kids are on break!

(Same deal with car manufacturers and the oil companies, but that's another topic!)

But yes, we survived. We went to the park, had a picnic or two, had some play dates and visited the library every Wednesday for the Paws to Read group. Chuck took the boys hiking which allowed me to rest and we all went out in the evening to visit local restaurants, sample ice cream from the Rock House and generally enjoy our summer. Jamie lost 4 teeth, Oliver is still hanging onto all his and they both got really great, short haircuts!

We had friends over to enjoy the fireworks on July 4th and we all loved watching the deer come into our garden each evening to nibble our plants and eat up all the bird seed! We didn't like the bear demolishing our humming bird feeder however, although his nocturnal visit has prevented us from forgetting to bring the feeders in again!

Now the school supplies are sitting on my desk, I have 72 pencils to sharpen (sigh) and final appointments to fit in before the new term (semester) begins next Tuesday. It's a huge landmark for the boys, being at school for an entire day, staying for lunch and not running out of school into my arms at noon, eager to show me their latest piece of artwork.

Some parents bemoan this time, but I am excited for my boys. I am excited for them to get started on their education and discover all the fun things that are out there waiting for them!

And to be honest.................I'm also excited to get some time to myself for a change! For over 6 years the three of us have been inseparable, I know it will be a little tough for us all at first, but it will be SO good too!!

Things to fight over!

As any parent knows, kids fight about everything and anything. Who goes first, who gets the first slice of cake, who gets the first story, who gets out of the bath before the other. My twins seem to have made a career out of it though, and they started almost as soon as they could talk.

They fought over who would be first to be fastened into their car seats, and who would be first to be taken out, who would get their milk cup filled before the other, who got a dish of food put onto the table before the other. They sit in the car arguing over the fact that one of them is looking out of the other's window! Really? And the DVD screens, they have one each but..... "Jamie's looking at my TV!" It's the same movie, does it really matter?

I can recall similar fights with my brother and sister, although as a kid we didn't have in-car entertainment, we had crayons and coloring books, no such thing as MP3 players, we had to listen to the radio station our parents selected - if the car had a radio! Now our children seem to have every convenience at their fingertips, but the old fights remain. "I am not sitting in the middle on the sofa!" or "I want a seat by a lamp, why don't I have a seat by a lamp?"And "Oliver's cup has more juice than mine!"

It was (and still is) totally and completely maddening. I have ignored so much of it, tried - often in vain - to ensure they each receive drinks at exactly the same time but now I think they have reached new highs............or would that be lows?I cannot believe what they are fighting over now!

BUBBLES!

Yes, bubbles! They fight over who has the most bubbles in the bath! They demand I share them out (I refuse) and argue if a bubble 'fort wall' should inadvertently and innocently float over to the 'wrong' side of the bath! I can't get my head around it. Why fight over bubbles? What importance do they have?

Does it really matter? Well, obviously in the world of my twins it does. I can't wait for this all to stop, and I just really, really hope it DOES stop and soon, because I have no idea how much longer I can deal with this type of sibling rivalry!!

Bubbles.............!