G R O S S E L I E B E

This is what I got from the kids last night as they were taking showers:

Henry, upon noticing something like a muscle on my arm: “Wow, Papa you have muscles like Captain America when he was young and skinny and dreaming of being Captain America.”

Later Wendy, referring to an incident from the morning, said, “Well, I guess that’s it for the parachute. Henry was setting a bad example for me.” (Henry was biking with his ski helmet on and a big parachute trailing behind like a drag chute. When Wendy tried it the chute for stuck in her chain and she wiped out.)

When I was a little kid, Santa’s elves came to my house and watched me and my sister Christie. They reported back to Santa on our behavior, and we were good enough kids to always find the Christmas tree stocked with gifts on Christmas day. Eventually, the elves stopped coming to our home; I’m not sure why.

Now 30 years later they (or at least one of their kin) is back in our home. The elf, about five inches tall, clad in red felt, and always smiling, takes up positions from which he (she?) can see the children. And more importantly, the children can see him. He caused great excitement last year when he first appeared. This year has been even more eventful.

On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, Wendy asked me if the elf would be back this year. I don’t know why I did this, but I replied, “You know, I read in a magazine this summer that the elves have new magic this year, and that grownups can’t see them. So I don’t know if an elf will visit us, you’ll have to tell me.”

Sure enough, later that day the children started screaming “He’s here! The elf is here!” “Where?” I said. “I don’t see any elf.” The kids told me exactly where they saw the elf, but i could see nothing. Neither could Katrina. A mystery.

We are enjoying our first fall in Sharon. The color from the changing leaves was exceptional, and we went on lots of walks with the children. On one hike we discovered Sharons famous Devils Head rock and climbed on it. Wendy took some nice photos of us with our jive camera, which she truly enjoyed.

The kids really like school and are making good friends. Wendy is really budding academically, learning how to write and read. Henry, though slow to accept the requirements of our daily routine, continues to surprise us with his thoughtfulness.

Our home is finally becoming cozy and a little lived in. Now that cooler weather is here we spend more time inside–something we minimize in better weather because our environs are so pretty.

Katrina is busy living two lives: project manager at a company, and mom to two kids who are still set loose at 3p.

We’re very much looking forward to the holidays in our new home.

Finally this weekend we had what approximates our new life! Wonderful weather, everyone in a good mood, and everything working!

I was afraid I would have to replace the car we just bought the weekend before–it failed to start the first day we needed it to. The only way it’s failure could have been more comical and ill-timed would be if it spontaneously combusted right after I put the license plate on.

But now we all have clean clothes, food in the fridge, and some semblance of order and predictability.

Saturday morning we took the kids to a great playground, and they held hands and giggled on the way home. Wendy wore a princess dress and butterfly wings all day (quite naturally) and got lots of cute remarks from people. Mama made a wonderful board of bites for lunch. We finished the day with a sunset swim at the beach… We are so thankful and happy.

There are a lot of different bugs here!

The more we have to write about the less time we have to write. Today marks the first full day of our new life in Sharon, Massachusetts. We found out how much stuff we had by measuring it against the volume of a 26 foot uhaul. Our new house–our new home–is a suburban oasis filled with trees and children and a lake.

This morning I dropped off the kids at their summer camp, and then cried a little bit. They are really great about all this change and I would have been a much poorer sport about being ditched in a big group of strangers in a strange town. It seems they had a great time, overcoming their initial misgivings.

This summer has so far been quite challenging. To name just a few hurdles:

Going from zero to new house in about 40 days, with all sorts of plot twists along the way
Katrina starting a new career
Complete disruption of our kids’ routines (see items above)
A flu that knocked out 3/4 of us for about a week
No bathroom in our apartment
Heightened pressure at my job

We have on the other side of the ledger enjoyed unflagging support from out family and friends. In particular Uncle Bernie, who concieved our nest egg as it were, and Hope who has been our all-around superstar “fifth beatle”–at the ready with financial, emotional, tactical, logistical, and childcare support. Clearly we would not be so happily installed in our new home without their help.

My train ride is coming to an end, so must this post. Looking forward to things settling a bit…and Life 4.1.

After weeks of buildup and two days onsite to coordinate, finish, and produce, the show has finally started.

I’m a little sleep deprived but feeling good. Things are going well and we are well prepared.

I finally got to to out for a walk last night. Windsor is really great. We should bring the kids. A super castle, lots to do and see, without the overhead of the city. (And I’m not just rationalizing!) I posted pictures on my facebook page.

Cheerio!

Roger and I are en route to Windsor England for a weeklong meeting. It’s going to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun.

We’re staying at a hotel that the convered home of Sir Christopher Wren, who was the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral and other important buildings (I’m told). We will be just a few steps from Her Highness’s country pad, Windsor Castle. The castle appears to be made from about. A trillion stones.

My only unspoken-for time is on Tuesday night, so I hope to explore Windsor a little bit. (There’s not enough time to go into London.) I am also on a mission to get a very Baroque tea cozy for Katrina,

Click here or the photo above for a Flickr set…

This is Wendy’s illustration of the legendary lightsabre battle between Obi-wan and Anakin. Obi-wan is trying to help Anakin renounce the Dark Side of the Force, and Anakin falls into a volcano. He is rescued by agents of Emperor Palpatine and transformed into Darth Vader.

This is a subject of endless fascination for the children. The struggle between good and evil between one another, and within ourselves. Anakin’s fall into darkness and his ultimate redemption by his son, Luke Skywalker. Also, Wendy thinks someone should have built a better cover over the volcano.