October (the best month of the year)

We went to see U2 at Scotts Stadium in Charlottesville. It was fantastic. I really didn't have very high expectations. I knew it would be very good, I just wasn't that excited. It was great, they played great songs and played for a long time. We were on the lawn, I think we were the oldest ones there, we were surrounded by khaki and button down UVA students.

We also went to Palm Springs California for my Kristin's wedding. It was so much fun. Great weather, great company and very good scenery and food. We went into the mountains and they were crazy high, just large shoots of granite. You rode up on a gondola sort of thing that rotated around, pretty nice and a little unnerving. . They just shot out of the ground like a massive wrinkle in foil (that is an odd way to pout it, but it is hard to describe) It was breathtaking.

I had a birthday (it's not necessary to put the age in here) it was a nice day. The boys were supposed to go camping overnight (which was very exciting - a whole day on my own!) It rained though. It was a great day anyway.

Now things are crisp and smell like crunchy leaves. Halloween meant we had 2 Buzz Lightyears. They were adorable. Sam got a fever on Thursday night. SO he had to miss his school Halloween parade and a school Halloween party, he was better on the actual day though. We went down to Hanover Ave in the fan to see their street fair. It was incredible. Really large and well thought out house decorations. One made itself into a pirate ship with Pirates of the Caribbean costumes and music playing. There were so many people they had o wait in line to get candy. It was really nice. My only Halloween complaint is that since we weren't around to man our house and hand out candy we have a LOT of it left over.

End of Summer '09

The summer is over and fall is here. I love fall, the boys can play outside without the bugs or the humidity and I get to look at the leaves and rake them into a pile so that they can get thrown all over the place again. It's great. Sam is 5, we had his birthday at Maymont park. It was cold and drizzly but all the superheroes ran around and had fun anyway.

We all went to England for Jonny Moore's wedding. The boys were very good on the plane (sort of). They had a great time in England. Grandma and Grandad's house had apples on the tree and berries on the bushes. All the Simpsons took a spin around Legoland. It was nice for everyone to get a chance to catch up. The actual Legoland Legos were insane! They must have certified Lego architects that can put together all of the major European cities in Legos. Sam's godfather gave Sam a Lego set for his birthday and it is ridiculous how complicated it can seem. Those pieces are just so small, it's really absurd. Needless to say we made the motorcycle and airplane but they did not survive hurricane Oliver.

I also got to see my wonderful friends who moved away from Richmond over to England and see their families. The Peak District of England is much more beautiful than I would have imagined. The kids seemed toplay all together lke they hadn't seen each other in 4 days, when really they hadn't all been together in 2 years. It was wonderful.


Sam started school at Reveille Preschool. He seems happy enough there. Iwas worried that he wouldn't like the switch, but he really doesn't seem to be that bothered. Pretty laid back I guess. Oliver is at St Matthews twice a week, he seems pretty happy too. I decided to teach ESL to adults on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7-9. I like it. The students are really inspiring. They have difficult situations and they manage to come to class for 2 hours after work and struggle through Verb structure and learning kitchen appliance words. Humbling really. Especially when I feel like i can't even find the time to get a shower in on some days.

Lucy

Today was the day that Lucy has left us. She has been sick for quite a while and her abdomen got so swollen that she was having trouble walking. eating and just moving around. She stayed in the basement and under the bed until the kids went to sleep and then she came upstairs to watch TV. She was so uncomfortable and unhappy and today was the day that we made the decision that her quality of life was not good and was certainly not going to improve. Goodness this is hard.

You don't really realize what friends they are. I sort of think that pets are pets and you enjoy them etc but I don't really equate them to friends so much. They are. She used to come to our car when we got home, run to one of us when we were sad, sleep (hog) the bed and even drink and eat our food. She is greatly missed already. The vet was extremely compassionate and I suppose it went as well as it could be. We are sad. Just sad. At the same time, I am happy that she is no longer uncomfortable and I am grateful that I got to love her. When we told the kids I didn't think they would get it. Immediately Sam started REALLY crying and saying that he just wanted her to come back. I didn't expect that. I thought they would hear it be confused and then a little while later ask a lot of questions and then understand, not instantly. I told Sam that she went to heaven where Pabert was and he said, I sure hope Pabert likes Lucy when she gets there. Maybe I should just go and get her back."
These kids are quick. Rest in Peace my dear friend Lucy.