Glory, Glory, Summer's Here!

Ten days ago, my little temperature gauge on my deck registered a chilly 3C(37F) in the morning.

On Sunday afternoon, it reached the heady heights of 31C(88F)...

Full on summer has arrived. There were no leaves on the trees on Friday morning. Most of them are out now! We spent the entire weekend outdoors, smothered from head to foot in factor 40, and had a blast. It was so nice to have great weather for the softball opening:







It was nice to get away from the computer for a bit too. I'm back to feeling pretty well (isn't that always the way, when you've finally got around to telling the doctor how crap you've been feeling?!) and it was so nice to just get out and about and enjoy being with my children.

Busy Bumble Bee Weekend

Softball opens this weekend. Tomorrow is the opening ceremony. It starts at 9am sharp. All the Little League Baseball and Girls Softball teams will be there. There will be a rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game over a crackly PA sung by the team that the president of the Little League's daughter is on. There will be lots of shrieking girls and lots of sniggering boys. The field will be a muddy mess by the time they all leave.

At 11am, Miranda, my five year old, will be having her inaugural game. She will attack a ball on top of a pole with a metal bat. She will enjoy trying to smack it. She will run round the diamond thinking she's just scored a home run, while everyone cheers and claps. Later, she will try to catch said ball, running after it, before it reaches the next diamond over and try to throw it back at the adult who is pretending to pitch it to them, whilst being cheered.

This is fun.

On Sunday, at 12pm sharp, Imogen has her inaugural game. She has already been practising since the beginning of April, though the weather's been so bad, they've done very little practise. She will take on a team from another local town. The game lasts for about an hour an a half but, if they start an innings twenty minutes before the end, in reality that 90 minutes can turn into an aeon.

There will be cheering and clapping. It will be worthwhile this time. There will be much chanting of 'Good eye, good eye' which, as far as I can discern, is some arcane linga for 'Well done for not trying to hit that one as it was a foul ball and that's one less strike'. There will be much groaning as the girls miss hit, fumble catches, and fail to throw to first.

This is also fun.

The weather at the weekend will be 80F (27C) with clear skies and possible thunderstorms on Sunday. Hats, sunscreen and plenty of water will be de rigeur. I will be responsible for entertaining the two non-players on both days, for 90-180 minutes, one of whom will not be content to stay in his pushchair for most of the time as he did last year.

Joy.

;)

Spring Thoughts

Spring in New England is a bit like Americans in general. It's kind of all or nothing. One minute, it's perishing cold and the next minute it's 25C and everyone's in shorts. One minute there are bare branches, the next...wait for it...wait for it...and GO! *Bam*, the leaves are out! It's frenetic. Flashy even. Two weeks flat and it's over and you're into the sweltering heat of summer. Like any good American, Spring goes in, it gets the job done, it gets out. Mostly.

Spring in the UK is much more genteel. A steady plodding progression of gradual eruption. Bit like the English then. We might be slow, we might take the long route but we eventually get there. Spring in the UK is considered, maybe even polite. It knocks on the door with a quiet *ahem* and, without even noticing, the general populace are turning up after lunch looking like a bunch of lobsters. Like a good butler, the British Spring does its thing in the background and all you notice is that your Summer is ready for you, sir.

I wonder how much the place where you live affects how you see the world and how you react to it.

Spring is in the Air

Well, mostly!

Things are starting to green up outside now April is here, though it's still perishing cold. I started Miranda on Clarityn a month ago so I'm praying that her tree pollen allergy stays under control this year. I've just got rid of the bacterial nightmare we had last year and I could seriously do without her getting infected eczema again this year. Having MRSA is pretty frightening. I'm just glad that she cleared it out of her system pretty quickly.

I'm off back to England tomorrow for my lovely friend's wedding on Thursday. On my own. Until Sunday, which should be wonderful - a proper break - although I'm bricking myself as I've only done the flight once on my own! I don't leave the children very often. I had a period of three days last year while I had my radiation treatment and couldn't be near anyone for 3 days, but as I felt so rotten I couldn't really enjoy it. The time before that was when my Grandad died. I went to his funeral 8 months pregnant with Gabe and it wasn't really enjoyable, nice to see everyone and give him a good send off, but not enjoyable. So I'm planning to enjoy this. I have my instructions to have a good time...I'm unlike to get another break like this for a while!

I'm still sad that I couldn't get to my Grandpa's funeral, last year.

I'm currently sitting down with a cuppa and typing this while I'm going through my list of things to do, having run round like a blue bottomed fly all morning. I think I'm mostly there. Just have to make a lasagne, a cake, some hot cross buns and a list of what to put in their sandwich boxes! Oh, and finish the laundry, pack my bags and make sure that he can find everything for Easter Day...

Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse...

..it does.

Just that.

I think someone took my very special specs, you know the ones; the pink tinged ones that were apparently glued to my face circa June 1973 (approx. the time I stopped screaming about the fact I had been born). Someone took them and has hidden them and I want them back, you bastards!

Miranda, bless her. I love her very much. She comes out with some corkers though. Yesterday, she looked at me, slightly miffed at the fact that I had just told her in no uncertain terms that I really didn't care about the fact that her tamagotchis might die if I didn't put them on pause (only because I don't know how to...I haven't been bothered to learn), and said 'When I'm a mummy, I won't spend all day on my computer. I will play with my children.'...

...

I was so utterly mortified that I literally spluttered...

I resolve to spend less time on my computer. When I feel a bit better.