Happy New Year

Over the last few days the snow has been thawing and we've even seen the odd patch of green in the yard. However this morning we awoke once again to a winter wonderland - about eight inches of snow had fallen overnight.

So we sent the Boy out first thing to shovel a path to the road (the Man helped a bit too). Meanwhile I was indoors nursing a still poorly Girl. On medical advice she has subsisted all day on a diet of Ritz crackers and Gatorade, and as I write this she really does seem much better. Fingers crossed that's it now.

Here's a little list of top stuff (according to me) that I've enjoyed over the last year but haven't mentioned elsewhere in this blog:

Top Fiction: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. A favourite of the book group in Linton of which I am still (sort of, I think) a member.

Top Children's Music: Sandra Boynton's Dog Train (various artists). It comes complete with songbook. I especially like the Ramones-style track (Don't Give Me That) Broccoli.

Top Film (actually about the only one I've seen this year, and that was on an aeroplane, but it was excellent. Don't be at all put off by the fact that it's in German with subtitles. No, honestly): The Lives of Others

Top Website: www.stitchymcyarnpants.com leads to the Museum of Kitschy Stitches. It makes me laugh.

Happy New Year!

Skate expectations

The Girl had no appetite today, and little energy, but with her usual stoicism she put a brave face on things and didn't seem so bad. When the idea of skating was mooted she was eager to give it a go, having never tried it before.

Off we all went to the YMCA ice rink, and quickly strapped on free-hire skates (ah, the perks of expensive membership!). The Boy declined, suggesting he would rather try next week, or perhaps when he's seven (in 2009) - though by bedtime he was thinking maybe tomorrow... Anyway, he was very happy to sit watching and waving from the bleachers with a packet of M&Ms for company. The rest of us wobbled round the perimeter of the rink, gradually gaining confidence and by the third circuit hardly flailing about at all. But by this point the Girl was beginning to flag, and in any case it was the end of the open skating session, so we left it at that.

As soon as we got home the Girl took herself off to bed and slept for an hour, then was demonstrably unwell before returning to bed. However when she emerged two hours later she was in fighting form and able to chase her brother all over the house.

How do they do it?

'Snow' place like home

What with hardly a day going by without someone showing symptons of the mysterious tummy bug, we have been rather keeping ourselves to ourselves since Christmas Day. A fantastic opportunity to enjoy lots and lots of family time together! What a treat!

So it was with great relief that we welcomed T and S (one of the Man's colleagues and his wife) to the house for tea this afternoon.

They brought with them their adorable baby, still at that perfect not-answering-back stage, and much useful advice on where to look for furniture and electrical appliances. We're a bit short of both, the most urgent requirement being a fridge (there is a working one in the house, but it's down in the basement and too small for the kitchen fridge-space). I guess we'll be looking for a TV, too, though it has been very pleasant without one since we moved in here.

Meanwhile the unpacking process continues, slowly. Today the children got creative with a table base still encased in bubble-wrap which they turned into an 'ig' (that's an eskimo's house without a toilet for those of you who haven't read the Horrid Henry Joke Book).

Pet Shop Toys

Granny and Grandad had kindly sent the children some money for Christmas, so this afternoon we set out to Crossgates, our local mega-mall, to spend some of it.

The Girl was after one of those cuddly toys which comes with a code that gives access to a website. She chose a fluffy white kitten which she has named, uniquely, 'Ferret-ette'.

For once the Boy wasn't paralysed by indecision but went straight for 'Pete the Repeat Parrot', something he'd taken a fancy to on a shopping trip before Christmas. As you can see, it's a parrot. It repeats everything you say to it. Twice.

Between you and me, if Pete doesn't wise-up and stay out of my way he'll be lucky to make it into the New Year...

Quick shots

The Man writes...

"Take it easy" was once again the general theme of the day due to ongoing ailments. There was nevertheless a long held appointment at the paediatricians for jabs ("shots"). Both kids were apparently quite brave: the Boy cried only momentarily; the Girl laughed and said "that tickles".

More snow fell this afternoon and more snow games were enjoyed. However, once again we failed to build a decent snowman. Last week the snow was like sawdust and wouldn't adhere. Now it has turned crusty and icy and can't be moulded!

The kids (and parents) continued to enjoy their new things, including all manner of interesting gifts in a large parcel just arrived from England. Albaniana studiously completed a 500 piece jigsaw - a present from herself. Can anybody think of a more pointless pasttime than a jigsaw?

Illuminate me

We've had another low-key day, without any illness (hooray!).

I spent some time back at the rented house retrieving the last of our bits and pieces and making sure the place was clean and tidy. Later I took the children to the library to exchange books and pay a small fortune in overdue fines, while the Man stopped by at our absent friends' house and did a little snow shovelling, just to keep his hand in.

We've inherited a washer and dryer with our new house, and I've just discovered that the dryer has a light inside. That's strange. And come to think of it, the vacuum cleaner at the last house had an integral searchlight which lit up when you switched it on. Am I missing something? Do Americans like to do their household chores in the dark?

Christmas heave

Another Christmas nearly over (no Boxing Day here).

Was it a white one? Yes - if last week's snow still being around counts.

Did we get through the day without anyone throwing up? Err, sadly not. It was the Man's turn this time. He spent most of the day in bed.

But apart from that it has been a good day. We enjoyed exchanging festive greetings with family via skype/web-cam. Peace broke out between the kids - they were pleased with their presents (for once Santa had got them what they really really wanted, instead of fobbing them off with second-hand stuff from the Linton Mothers' Union toy sale). They played happily all day and didn't have a single argument, which was remarkable and refreshing. We played board games familiar from our childhood, but with a local twist: 'Clue' (the US name for Cluedo) and the Albany version of Monopoly. The kids stayed in their pyjamas all day, because why not?

With the Man not eating I decided to keep Christmas dinner simple and had veggie sausages and baked beans (Heinz, from Britain, a real treat because I don't like the local sort). I'm just hoping that I don't get to see them again in the middle of the night.

I hope you have all had a happy, healthy, peaceful Christmas.

Merry one

So in this blog posting I was going to share with you a few words of wit and wisdom to suit the festive season. But I've been drinking champagne at a party, so all I'll attempt for now is...

Merry Christmas!

Sick note

Well, last night was the Boy's turn to be sick again. So it goes on. I don't know if I should worry or not, as when he's not actually heaving he seems as fit as a flea. I'll just have to monitor the situation.

We spent the morning hanging out in our house, then headed out for some last minute Christmas shopping. This involved splitting into pairs and acting furtive which is always quite enjoyable. On the way back we stopped in at the rented house to pick up yet more odds and ends we'd left behind, and the children jumped at the chance to watch a bit of telly (we don't have one of our own yet, so they'd gone about sixteen hours without and were suffering withdrawal symptoms).

It has rained constantly today, reminding us of British winters. I'm hoping it won't melt all the snow because since we moved out here I have been dreaming of a white Christmas and up until now it really looked like we might get one. Though right now I don't much care what colour Christmas is, so long as it's a healthy one.

Christmas caption competition winners: Anonymous (whoever you are), closely followed by Ninja Shoetrees Pop. Congratulations!

Sleep over

Albany looks different at half past three in the morning. A few lights twinkle downtown, but the normally busy network of freeways is spookily dark and deserted. The odd car that passes sets you wondering, 'What can they be doing out and about at this hour? Where can they be going?'

Maybe they were wondering the same about me. Maybe you are, too. It's a sorry tale.

The Girl was so excited to have been invited to her first real sleepover party at a classmate's home. I left her enjoying dinner with about nine other giddy girls, and I gather games and crafts followed, with lights out around ten. But it all went horribly wrong in the wee small hours when she started throwing up. Poor poor Girl. She really didn't want me to come and get her, but obviously her classmate's mother did the right thing in ringing us. Hence my mercy dash across the darkened city.

All's well again now, the Girl back in fine and feisty form, though I'm a bit squinty and haggard myself. I really hope the other girls (who slept through the drama) or that kind mother (who didn't) don't come down with the same thing.

Tonight our family will all be sleeping (I hope) in our own new home. That feels good.

Thoughts from home #2

Another in the occasional series of guest blogspots. Insanely Livid (alias the Santa Ranta) shares her smashing Christmas with us.

Roy Wood may wish it could be Christmas every day, but he obviously doesn’t do the shopping.

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to beat the crowds in the supermarket and all was going well until I dropped the brandy sauce with a splat at the checkout. It was okay as some poor holiday-job lackey had to clear it up – though it being Waitrose, he was almost thanking me for the opportunity of wiping up brandy gloop on his hands and knees. Then I arrived home and one year old son picked up the brandy sauce and dropped it with a splat on the floor. Lackey karma.

Tried to instil some festive spirit into the house of tiny tearaways and jaded parents by playing my CD of medieval carols. The children declared it ‘rubbish’ and ruined Gaudete by chanting along with ‘poo, poo, poo’.

But enough bah humbug. I’m going to crack open a bottle of Advocat, sit in front of the fire and work out how Father Christmas is going to get out of the woodburning stove, and avoid being burnt alive.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Holiday houses

Not content with living in two properties, and another to our name back in Linton, today the Girl, the Boy and I attempted to build an igloo in the front yard. We only managed about a quarter of it before the Boy got snow in his eye and wanted to go indoors, still it was quite satisfying work. Despite there having been plenty of snow around for a while, up to now it has been too powdery to build with. Today however it was just perfect for snowmen, snow penguins and winter residences.

More work at the new house (here it is) tidying stuff away in the kitchen. No doubt cooking etc will be frustrating for a time as now I'll have to try and remember where I put everything.

The other achievement of the day was to buy a Christmas tree. All month we've been seeing people driving around with fir trees loaded on top of their cars, and today it was our turn. I was a little worried about how I was going to get the tree onto the roof-rack by myself. Silly me! I'd forgotten that I'm living in America now, so of course someone helpfully did it for me.

Thank you, Royal Rockfish and family for the skype this morning - it was good to see some friendly Linton faces again.

Last day of term

Had a rough night. The poor Boy was sick again.

The Man babysat the Boy and worked from home in the morning while I went into school for the kids' end of term 'show of work' - some quite impressive stuff, especially the pop-up book of native animals in their habitats that the Boy's Kindergarten/1st Grade class had made. Seriously, I'd have paid good money for it if I'd found it in a bookshop. The Girl's class is working on turning the walls of the corridor into the Hudson River, and that project is coming along nicely too.

Home again - by which I still mean the rented house. Although our things are all at the new place we decided we'd stay here for a couple more days to give ourselves time to unpack some of the boxes.

The Man took himself to the office and I entertained the Boy (too sick for school, not sick enough to fall asleep on the sofa) and tried to get a few odd jobs done. I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow renewed and refreshed and ready to spend happy hours unwrapping cutlery and mugs with the children, who are now on vacation.

What! That means Christmas will be happening any day! Oh, lawks.

Enjoying your captions for yesterday's photo. Keep them coming.

Elf advice

Ok, here's my hot tip for a cheap Christmas: in about August get someone to wrap up some of your possessions that you like but can do without for a few months. Then in December, unwrap them! You'll be amazed by what you've forgotten you had, so you won't miss out on surprise and excitement. Plus you liked the stuff before so chances are you'll like it all over again. Brilliant. Do this for your immediate family members and think of the savings!


Time for a Christmas caption competition - any suggestions?

Not picky

I'd gone to bed feeling decidedly ropey and tossed and turned all night, but in the end it was the Boy who first thing this morning threw up all over the kitchen floor. This, in addition to the snow now standing a foot deep round the house and no sign of the driveway clearing contractor, didn't make for a promising start to our removal day.

But it could have been much worse. The overnight winter storm didn't hit our area with nearly the force that it had the Mid-West - yes, it was blowy and snowy, but it didn't live up to the dire predictions. The removal men were still able to get to us safely, and the Man managed to clear the drive himself with a shovel in time for their arrival (in fact he finished just seconds before the contractor turned up with the snow-plow).

By the time the van was loaded ready to go over to the new house (where the Man had once again been valiantly shovelling snow off the drive) the Boy had rallied and was able to come along and 'help' with the unloading process.

In fact he spent the couple of hours there running madly round every room, and as he proudly pointed out later he was 'so excited I didn't pick my nose at all!' Lovely.

The Girl has a lilac bedroom, the Boy has space for his trains, the Man has a 'den' and I have a crafty corner. So we're all very happy with the house. It is light and bright and spacious and will be easy to live in, with plenty of room for guests (take that as an invitation, friends and family).

Now, just the small matter of two hundred boxes to unpack...

Packing in

The Man writes...

A quick post from TG, TB and me as Albaniana has gone to bed feeling sick.

We have effectively been snowed in today. Between packing for our move, the back yard has seen more of the Winter Olympics. We built two sledding (luge) runs, named "tubor" and "shooter" by The Girl. Shooter has two Man-made bumps to make things more interesting.

Our neighbour called over that he had seen about fifteen sets of kids sledding down that slope over the years. But he had never a grown woman doing it before.

We are forecast further snow falls overnight. The removal men are due to turn up tomorrow morning at 8am. I guess I shall be busy moving snow at both this house and our new one. Should make for another interesting and challenging day...

Just skidding around

Cramming a lot in

The kids ploughed their way through the yard to the bus this morning, a mere eight inches of snow not being enough of a reason to close any schools. Of course, people are used to snow here. A vast army of snow-ploughs/plows gets manoeuvred and the roads are clear almost as soon as the last flake stops falling. Here at our rented house a contractor had been round and cleared our driveway and footpath before we knew anything about it.

I followed the children to school to attend a 'Peace Assembly' (the school doesn't observe religious festivals, so no nativity play or anything of that sort). It included contributions by just about every child, so it was enjoyable (especially some of the 2nd & 3rd graders' idiosynchratic stream-of-consciousness poems) but quite a long occasion.

I then went on to do some snow-related shopping, which left me with just enough time for lunch before I tootled round to collect all the Exiles and take them to the airport.

Five Exile passengers (three in car seats) plus their luggage was quite a squash, but we managed it. I have to admit, our trusty old Nissan Micra would not have been up to the job.

Important newsflash for Boy wardrobe-watchers: he wore his coat today! And new snowpants! And hat, scarf and gloves! If he hadn't gone and left his snow boots at school again he'd be all set for the major snowstorm due this weekend...

White here, white now

With the usual morning business seen to (kids onto the bus, Man to work) I decided to look in on our new house. I wandered around the empty rooms, tinkering with the blinds, thinking about what to put where, blu-tacking colour charts to walls. Sometime after 10am I glanced out of the window and noticed the first flurries of snow.

Uh-oh.

We were expecting this. I didn't hang around.

In the ten minutes or so it took to get home every surface turned white. The snow fell and fell, and kept on falling. Powdery snow, like icing sugar. The garden disappeared. Still the snow fell.

I began to wonder how everyone else was going to get home. The Man eventually got a lift (thank you, Exile) and was back at the house before the children.

Where were those children?

It went from getting dark to being dark, and the snow kept on falling. The bus was half an hour, forty minutes, an hour late... And suddenly there it was, chugging slow and yellow along the whited out road, the ever-smiling bus driver (my heroine!) at the wheel.

How glad I was to see them! And yet just ten minutes later I was wishing them back on the bus...

Not really. Well, only a little bit.

Here is our rented garden table, complete with eight inches of snow.

Closure

The long awaited day finally came: we closed on our new house.

It was quite a weird experience. Up to this point all negotiations had taken place via third parties, chiefly the realtors (who do slightly more for their money than estate agents do in the UK). But today we actually met the people selling the house to us (they were very nice) in a conference room together with the said realtors, lawyers and a financial advisor.

Our lawyer took us through the paperwork. My oh my, was there some paperwork - pages and pages to be signed or initialled. It took about two hours. A small forest is sacrificed for every realty transaction in this country. The sellers and the others didn't have so much to do while we developed RSI in our wrists, so they chatted amongst themselves about family matters. Between our lawyer explaining things and the background chat all I can really remember now is a flow of words about things beyond my experience: 'blah blah blah escrowed taxes blah blah liens blah blah my daughter's prom blah blah'.

Anyway, cutting to the chase, we presented the sellers with a hefty cheque (check) and we are now international persons of property. Hooray! We move in next week.

Cable Knitwork News

I tend not to watch telly during the day. I can't imagine reaching the end of my life and thinking, Darnit, I wish I'd watched more daytime TV. But today I stuck the box on while I had my lunch, flicked through the channels and came across the DIY Network.

Wow! Craft-tastic TV!

Now, I'm as keen on crafts as the next person you'll meet wandering mesmerised through Joann's.

But a knitted poinsettia wreath? Why? And who? Well, obviously devotees of Knitty Gritty that's who. Awesome!

A n'ice day at home with the kids

I'd prepared myself for ‘snow days’, but was caught out by this morning's conditions. It had rained heavily in the night, then frozen, leaving a lethal slick of ice over every flat surface. The majority of schools, including our children's, closed for the day. How was I going to entertain them all day indoors?

Luckily the Girl’s classmate from round the corner was in need of a place to play, so he came and joined us for several hours. The three kids managed to expend a lot of energy around the house in one way and another, without causing too much damage. After lunch they put on a dance show. Or at least it was more of a show about a show, in which the Girl type-cast herself as the control-freak artistic director. So that was hair-raising to watch as it wasn't always obvious where acting ended and the real Girl began. Thank goodness everyone managed to remain friends, even after the director quit.



This evening the Girl and Boy spontaneously dressed up and put on a Christmas parade, which was very...very... hard to describe in words. The Girl looked delightful as an elf, and the Boy made a charming reindeer, complete with twigs for antlers. Later he put in an appearance with a sheep-shaped tea-cosy on his head. He also briefly disguised himself rather convincingly as Santa, with beard and boots and all, but sadly for this blogger he turned camera-shy and managed to dodge the paparazzi.

Hair today...

The other week a waitress in a cafe addressed the Boy as 'Young lady'. A few days later a small child in a shop asked him if he was a girl or a boy. And just look at him last weekend at the train show... When he announced this morning that he wanted a haircut I seized the moment.

Unfortunately by the time we reached Supercuts he'd had a change of heart. It was a woeful little Boy who watched his 'bangs' (fringe) falling in clumps around him. Ah well. He managed to get over the shock of seeing his own ears and eyes again eventually.

Later we headed up to Thacher State Park for our weekly outdoor adventure. It was the usual story from the kids - howls of anti-hike outrage - but once we got there they loved stomping and skidding about in deep snow and half-frozen streams.

This evening we 'dined out' at home. The Girl had started the ball rolling by decorating the kitchen table with a Christmas candle. The Boy built a circular traintrack round it. The Girl added some china cottages, and the Boy threw in an elephant and some colourful fabric scraps. Inspired by this centrepiece, the Boy then set the table (with surprising competence for a person normally so uninterested in dining) and invited us all to his restaurant. He even put on music. After her main course the Girl danced for us. One of those moments when the day-to-day frustrations of parenthood melted away.

Abroad thoughts from home #1

And now introducing a new occasional feature, the special guest blogspot. First up we welcome Maths Expert, from Linton:

Call me an anorak but I freely admit to being just a tiny bit obsessed about the weather. 'It's your favourite programme!' the children cry and I rush in just in time to see that it'll be cloudy in the west and slightly above average temperatures in the east. I now work at the local school as a teaching assistant and particularly like the Year 8 Geography class because we (sorry, they) are studying weather systems. 'This is so interesting!' I commented the other day as we studied cloud formations - happily establishing myself as the classroom nerd. I can tell you that Linton is a great place to spot a weather front moving in, and it gets very humid in Java.

I was once caught red-handed looking up the 5-day forecast for Dubai. 'Why?' asked Mr Maths Expert. Why not? I am also not a great person to ask how my holiday went. Instead of 'yeah it was great, bit rainy a couple of days' you will get chapter and verse of 'wet on Saturday, cleared up Sunday, hot on Monday...' As those of you who suffered my return from a dreary week in Cornwall will testify. I knew all about the effect of the jetstream during our recent long wet summer and can assure all Lintonians that we are going to have a dry Christmas.

I was discussing the beauty of Western Australia recently and declared that, however lovely, I would never live there. The reason? The weather's just a bit too, well... samey. At least here, for the next few years at least, we still get windy Novembers, crispy Decembers and one week of sun somewhere around mid-July. The UK snow last made a significant appearance around about 1979 and this winter is set to be wet and windy (again). Not so for Albany, where the snow will lay deep and crisp and even for about 4 months. My only worry for our friends across the Atlantic is that one wintry day in December they will lose their snow shovel and disappear completely until April.

For the reader in Devon who wanted more about trains

You wouldn't believe how many home-made videos there are of Thomas the Tank Engine on YouTube! And some of them have had over a million viewings! I particularly like Widescreen Thomas Meets the T-rex, though it has a scary bit in it so don't show it to your under-fives. But it's ok, there's a happy ending. You can also watch highlights from Thomas Live! on Stage.

On Kawasaki Jack's recommendation I typed in 'gramophone records' and found dozens (make that hundreds) of videos of 78s being played on wind-up gramophones: fine if you like dance-band music, but for the rest of you probably a bit like watching paint dry.

So I typed in 'paint drying'. There are over 450 videos featuring that.

Would I say this has been one of my most productive days?

Not really.

No.

Home for Christmas?

Completion on our house purchase has slipped yet again. We're now trying for next Wednesday, with the aim of moving in the following week - just in time for the kids to break up from school and Christmas to well and truly bite us on the bottom. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

The Girl presented us with a letter to Father Christmas a few days ago. It opens: 'Dear Santa (you don't exist)...' Not the wisest gambit you'd have thought. I wonder what she'll say when she looks in her stocking on Christmas Day and finds nothing but a note saying 'Sure about that?'

The Boy is a true believer - no fool he. A propos of nothing, his favourite word at the moment is 'poop'. I'd like to say he means the noise of a small railway engine, but I'm afraid it isn't so. He tells me the favourite word of another kid in his class is 'inappropriate'. I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that, though I'm thinking best not to go there.

Prepare to be moved

Here are the Girl and Boy this morning, busy de-icing a tree as they wait for the school bus. Note that the Boy is wearing snow boots and gloves, but still no coat.

With our move potentially imminent I made a start on packing today. Not that there’s all that much to pack, really, since most of our stuff is still in the boxes delivered here however many weeks ago. The kids have had toys and books out, but for the most part we've been living with the furniture and equipment that came with this rented house.

For several weeks I've been telling people how much I'm looking forward to using our own things again. That's still true, but I'm realising there's another side to it. Up until now, using borrowed furniture and china, it has felt rather like being in a holiday house. On holiday. Once we're established in our own home, with our own familiar things around us, that'll mean we're in this for the long haul. We'll be settling. OK not forever, but it does in so many ways seem a whole lot bigger commitment than just coming to America did. We're happy and it still feels like we're doing the right thing, but...

Gulp.

We received our first Christmas - or should that be Holiday? - card today. I was quite excited, until I realised it was addressed to The Current Occupant and came from from a random local real estate firm. What a delightful festive gesture, I thought, tossing it into the recycling bin.

Tempuramental interlude

It was never going to be easy, buying a house over here. These past few weeks we've had so many hoops to jump through - proof of this, evidence of that. Today, with the end almost in sight, we were once again sent scurrying around after yet more pieces of paper to show that we are bona fide purchasers and not laundering drugs-money. But finally the bank has approved our loan, so completion should follow later this week.

An upside to the scurrying around was that I got to have lunch with the Man at a Japanese restaurant. The portions had gone native in scale - I'd never seen so much tempura on one plate before - but the flavours were authentic as far as I could remember (I lived in Japan for a while, many years ago).

Other periods of the day were spent attempting to Christmas shop. I wandered round the vast Crossgates Mall for as long as I could stand the relentless Xmas muzak. Then I moved on to fair-trade store Ten Thousand Villages where at least the music, though still Christmassy, was in Cajun.

But enough of this Christmas talk! Happy Hanukkah!

Do they mean us?

The other night we were dozing in front of ER when there was an outbreak of argy-bargy on the screen. Even before they said a word you could tell that the new arrivals in the emergency room were central-casting Brits.

Just not as good-looking as the usual actors. Bad teeth. They had a tottering high-heeled woman in tow who looked a lot like Posh Spice.

When they did start speaking it was with a mangled mockney sort of accent, so I expect they were meant to be from Manchester. At least one of them actually used the phrase 'Cor blimey guv'nor.' Perhaps it was the one who had hurt his ankle during an acrimonious cheese rolling contest - a popular pastime amongst ex-pat Britains in Chicago, we were led to believe. There was a dispute as to the rightful winner of the cheese.

The cheese in question looked suspiciously like a large Camembert.

They communicated with quaint olde English banter ('You slag!', 'You pillock!' etc) and were only silenced by one of the emergency doctors crying out 'David Beckham is a w**ker!'

It made us so proud to think that this is how America sees us.

Train of thought

It wasn't first among our concerns when making the decision to move from Britain, but it did cross our minds that there might be a lack of model train exhibitions over here. What impact would this have on our train-mad Boy?

Well, we needn't have worried. Not only are there model train exhibitions but (this being the USA) bigger, better train exhibitions! We are used to the scout hut variety, or maybe a village hall if the organisers are feeling flush. But today we attended a mega-event at Albany's Empire State Plaza Convention Center, no less.

Although mainly a vendors' market, there were some huge layouts and excellent trains. A forty-wagon freight train! A super-speedy bullet train! The Boy's face lit up with delight.

Even the Girl ('I hate trains') found diversions in the layout scenery (a working miniature fairground and a model play-park with swinging swings), and she was fascinated by the model-maker demonstrating the art of painting teeny workmen.

What impressed me most about the event was how happy everyone was. The men there (and they were mostly men) had that same joy in their eyes that I see in the Boy's whenever he so much as thinks of trains. To be born with a love of little engines is clearly a blessing indeed.

White Rabbits

Though one of them is turning blue - it's flippin' cold out.

We woke to a ...well, not quite a blanket of snow. More of a light-weight tablecloth. But snow nevertheless, enough to make snow angels, and as the Girl said 'Just right for the first of December.'

To my relief the Boy submitted without a murmur to long sleeves, a hat and gloves, and a double layer of fleeces (though still not the coat). Unfortunately he'd left his snow boots at school, but at least he volunteered to wear two pairs of socks inside his shoes. Maybe he won't freeze this winter after all.