Home Sweet Home

Although it is nice to be able to visit other places, there's nothing quite like being at home. I always feel like I have to hit the ground running when we return as there are usually a list of tasks that need to be done as soon as possible such as doing laundry, putting away the suitcases, mowing the lawn, calling the orthodontist to reschedule the boys' appointment for June as it conflicted with Ian's work schedule, and buying eggs, milk, and produce. Ian and I were affected by jet lag the most as we were both waking up far too early the first few days after we returned home. Susie's 22nd birthday was on Wednesday, but due to jet lag plus the fact that she's in California, I waited until Friday to talk with her. The only thing on our calendar on Wednesday was Bible quizzing for all three kids plus Nadia's small group met after that. On Thursday Ian and I went to the high school to get him a work permit. Nadia worked the morning shift on Thursday, and Ian worked his very first shift that afternoon. Abby and Faith came over in the afternoon on Thursday and stayed until Friday afternoon to spend time with Nadia. She is seizing these opportunities before she heads off to work at Camp Susque and then moves to Virginia after that. The boys both had a tooth extraction on Friday at the dentist, which was at the request of their orthodontist, and Oliver also got his first filling. Nadia and Ian haven't had any cavities yet. Nadia and Ian worked a shift together on May 30 which was special. Nadia has worked at the kennel since November 2024.

Being at home also meant a return to our church. On May 3 and 10 we attended only one service at our church, and we were in Europe on May 17 and 24. This meant Paul and I had missed four weeks of our Sunday School class. We're studying the book of Acts currently. We were able to attend both services on May 31, and I was asked to play the piano in the foyer after both services. And being at home means Ian has his first piano lesson today since May 8. It will actually be his only piano lesson this month. Next month he is scheduled to have five piano lessons and four voice lessons. I also was able to go to the library and get a DVD for us to watch as a family (Soul on Fire) and also a book for myself. I've been busy preparing for Nadia's graduation party which is this Saturday. I've put MANY hours into making a 16-minute slideshow that will be playing on repeat during her two-hour party at the roller-skating rink. I've taken thousands of pictures of Nadia over the last almost eighteen years. I selected about 400 of them for the slideshow.

Although we are back at home, at least for Nadia and Oliver, they are not back to doing schoolwork. Ian is still finishing his precalculus class through ASU. We shall see if he finishes it by the end of the month or not. Oliver knows that I expect him to do three things every day - read, study I and II Corinthians, and get some exercise. He has really enjoyed listening to audiobooks for some time, but thankfully he has recently become more of a reader and has progressed to reading longer books. Nadia has begun the process of going through her bedroom to figure out what to give away, throw away, leave at home, and take to college.

My faith in the USPS has definitely fallen over the past several months. I had an incident awhile back where a Christmas card I sent to Annapolis took more than six months to come back to me. In December I mailed a 9x13 envelope to the PA Dept of Treasury with tax documents from the trust. It came back to me about one month later. The accountant showed the image of the envelope to someone at the PA Dept of Treasury, and they couldn't understand why it wasn't delivered because they said it was the correct address. They gave an alternate address to use, and I mailed it again in January. Unfortunately, the accountant accidentally put an extra 1 in the zip code. The employee at the Post Office caught the error, but instead of deleting the extra 1 in the middle of the zip code she just took off the list digit. That 9x13 envelope has yet to be delivered OR come back in the mail to me (4 months later), and we only live a 90-minute drive from the state capitol. At the beginning of May I mailed the documents a third time, but this time I used UPS instead of USPS, and they delivered it the very next day. Similarly, I mailed Susie her birthday card before we went on vacation, and while we were away it came back in the mail to me. I showed her a picture of the envelope. She said I had addressed it correctly but that she frequently has the issue of mail bouncing back. So, I took a picture of the card so she could see what I had written, ripped up the check, and sent her money by Zelle instead. I remember debating with my friend, Joanna (who is a lawyer in Annapolis) back in the early 90's that I thought the USPS should be privatized, and my opinion has not changed over the last 30+ years! 

Here are some additional random observations from our trip to Europe:

1. I was never asked to show a credit card or ID when checking into a hotel or any other type of lodging. I remember 20+ years ago being asked to show a passport, and of course here in the US I'm usually asked for a credit card and a driver's license. 

2. Often when traveling to a foreign country you have the issue of encountering a different language. The only time this happened on this trip was during our day in Paris, but English was easily spoken by ever person we spoke to on the trip. In Ireland and the UK English is spoken, but of course with a different accent than we have here in the US. In our experience, the Scottish accent was the one that was the strongest and sometimes made it harder for us to understand what was being said. While we were on vacation, I started listening to a book series (The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion) which is read by a British actress. There are eight books in the series, so I've continued to listen to them since we arrived back at home. There are also instances where different words are used than we typically do here in the US. Garbage is rubbish. The place where rubbish goes is called a bin (not a trash or garbage can). Bathrooms are either labeled toilets or WC. Traffic circles are roundabouts. Parking lots are car parks. Chips are steak fries, and what we call chips are called crisps. 

3. We did get confirmation on Friday that our second parking ticket would be cancelled because we submitted proof we had paid for parking prior to the ticket being issued. We were very grateful for the rare instances when we had free parking. This happened in Alnwick and also when we visited the C.S. Lewis Square in Belfast. 

4. As I said, we usually attempt to curtail how much we spend on food on our vacations. One way we did this on this trip was to buy meal deals at some convenience stores. They varied in price but were often around 5-6 pounds per person and included a main dish (ex. a ham and cheese toastie) plus a drink and a snack (usually candy or crisps). The kids would often choose an energy drink in this instance. When we were punting on the River Cam, our tour guide informed us that it was actually illegal in the UK for Oliver to have an energy drink because he was under the age of sixteen. Oops! They let kids have wine at a meal starting at age sixteen, and they can have any liquor at age eighteen, but they are stricter with energy drinks.

5. Nadia and Ian definitely consumed more caffeine than they usually do. Nadia and Ian had coffee almost every day, and Nadia also had many cups of hot tea. Ian almost always orders a mocha. One time he had a double shot of espresso in his mocha. Nadia had at least one latte in France, Ireland, Scotland, England, Norther Ireland, and Wales. All but one time she had a vanilla latte. She broke that trend and had a caramel one the last time. The coffee machines available with the Holiday Inn free breakfast even made lattes and such. I'm the only person who didn't consume any caffeine on the trip. I had only two hot drinks - hot chocolate both times. The first time I was grateful for the warmth it provided my hands because I got it after we climbed to the VERY cold and windy summit of Snowden Mountain. I wasn't keen on the taste, and after I had a free cup of hot chocolate at a Holiday Inn I then came to the conclusion that I like hot chocolate better in the US, so I just stuck with water from that point onward.