Adventures Are Just Around the Corner...

I'm a firm believer in keeping life exciting. or making it exciting. last week i found myself sulking in a coffee shop, crying over emails from family and friends. i missed everyone from back home and i just couldn't shake it. i decided to go out and MAKE it a great day. besides, who else is going to make your day great if you don't figure out how to make it great on your own. i walked out of the coffee shop and said a little prayer, "Lord, be with me to today." and after walking about 50 feet more, my mobile rang. (the british say mobile, not cell. and they say it with the long i sound, just a tid bit.) it was a girl i met from the kids' school. she wanted to grab coffee! so, back to another coffee shop i went! she is also here for a couple of years, only been here two weeks so far and is from New Jersey! Yes, Leigh, i know are proud! we shared coffee, a lot of laughs and even a few tiny moments of what we were missing back home. it was just the refreshment i needed to get me on track for a great day.

so, here it was, around 11 am and all i'd done the whole morning was drink coffee. 3 cups to be exact. i'm usually a one cup a day gal, but now i'm running with the big dogs..the big "coffee" dogs. so, i drink more. gotta love the british!

after coffee with Anabelle. i walked out with a little skip in my step. (and some jittery hands...hmm, maybe one cup too many.) i remembered that i had an address in my purse that would take me to an area of town that i had no idea. so, i grabbed a taxi and gave the driver the address. about 20-25 minutes later, he dropped me off and told me if i wanted a cab back, to go down on the corner to the main street. clearly he could see the look of anguish on my face when he dropped me off. i had no clue where i was! i was a little nervous, but it was a fun kind of nervous. this was an adventure!

i went into the store and got what i needed. reese's tiny ballet shoes. they are so cute. and i took so much pride and felt so much happiness as i bought them for the little girl who's been asking for over 2 years if she could take ballet. finally, i had said yes. finally our schedule could allow for us to take classes like ballet. and judo for maddox! it is a great feeling to have children involved in things that motivate them and make them happy. and might i add that she's been so excited about ballet, that she comes home, changes into her leotard, and practices each day. love it. just love it. (she sometimes forces maddox and zane to perform a show with her.)



when i came out of the store, i went to the corner and saw all the rushing cars, the taxis and......the buses. the bus? hmmmmm, the cab ride here was over 12 pounds....a bus ride is only 2.20.....i can probably find my way back. who am i kidding, i still don't know my way around marietta and i lived there for over 5 years! alright, bus it is! i can't even go into detail about how i walked from street to street trying to figure out which direction i needed to go. i was a little dizzy over it. and although, i seem to "fit in" in my own area of kensington, i was clearly an outsider in this part of town. pull up those big girl pants, mistye. you can do this. and with the help of my trusty little mobile, the glorious iphone, i was able to chart my way back. i found the bus and the direction that i needed and jumped on. it was such a rush of excitement! i went to the top of the double decker bus to celebrate my victory and grab the best view possible! and after more than 30 minutes of riding around and seeing so many sights, the bus dropped me off, right in front of my flat! victory! whew.....

after school, the following day, i decided to surprise the kids with their scooters. on fridays, they are released 15 minutes early from school. they have begged to ride their scooters home. it's over a 20 minute "scooter ride" for us to get back home which is not too bad, but inevitably, we always come home with at least one bloody knee after a scooter ride. but, i was determined to give them a little adventure of their own. i loaded echo up in the front of the stroller and then under it loaded up three scooters and 3 helmets. or at least, tried to load those things. i looked like a bag lady walking to the bus with all my crap falling left and right. echo completely oblivious to what was going on behind her. when the bus pulled up, all i thought was "how am i going to get all this onto THAT?" so after a backbreaking display of loading my own version of a bus onto the bus, rolling over a ladies toe (who yelped, in fact) and accidentally grabbing another ladies shirt with scooter handle bars (we almost took her whole shirt down the isle with us) and we were on! once the bus jolted forward, i realized that in my scurry, i'd forgotten to lock echo's stroller and the whole thing went rolling! i quickly grabbed a handle, another girl helped me pick up the three scooters and we were off. whew! there were only a few eyes baring into me as we drove on. oh well, the crazy american strikes again. they can stare all they want, they haven't seen anything yet, just wait till i pick up my other three kids. now that's something to stare at!

when we got to the school, a woman asked me i shared pick up duty with another mom...she was looking at all my scooters in the back of the stroller. "no, just here to pick up my children." she paused and then said she only had two children and could barely manage them. my relpy was, "yeah, i can only manage about two at a time also, there are usually at least two fending for themselves" and laughed. she did not laugh. sigh.

the kids were pumped to see their scooters waiting for them. and off to the park we went to ride home! after only one bloody knee, we came upon the gate that allows us to exit the park and get home... locked. kensington palace was locked? why? and how will we get home, unless we go this way? unless.....we have to go BACK! ugh...i went up to the sign on the gate that said something to the effect of 'due to safety, the gates are locked'. safety. huh?

so back around we went and out onto the street. busy kensington high street. a stroller, 3 scooters, 4 children and all those helmets..."here kids, keep your helmets on, that will keep us safe" i confiscated the scooters and put them back into the back of the stroller. what i noticed when we came out onto the street, was cops. lines of cops. rows of cops. shoulder to shoulder cops. my heart started to race. and i, without thinking, turned to a cop and asked him if i should be concerned. what was going on, was i in any danger with my four children? his reply was that there was a demonstration going on, that it "should" be a peaceful one but that if i wanted to take my children to a side street, it might be best....uhhhh, come again? say what?! and that's when i looked over my shoulder and heard someone on a loud speaker chanting something in a different language. tons of people dressed in all black, some in all white, with only their eyes revealed. oh crud.....

at that moment, i grew about 4 more arms on my body and grabbed all 3 of my walking children and pushed echo along until we reached a side street. we waited there. i couldn't help but turn around to watch some of the demonstration as well. i mean, this was, after all, the most protected i'd been in 7 weeks, standing behind about 50 cops all lined shoulder to shoulder. when the kids started to ask questions, i gave them a little lesson on demonstrations and then we headed down the side street to get home. i must admit, it was a bit scary but it was also pretty amazing. what an adventure.

i'm starting to realize why kids' minds are so full of information. and why their memories are so amazing. it's because everything they experience is new and exciting. everything they see and hear ignites their imaginations. that's how i feel, here in london. so many new and exciting things. i want to see so much, to take it all in. to remember it all. there is an adventure around every corner, as long as i choose to see it. there is something to learn in almost every moment.

here's to keeping life exciting and always looking for adventures. here's to MAKING our days great. and thank you, Lord, for being with me today. and all my days.


cheers!