This week is rather special in that we have guests scheduled for dinner every night from Wednesday to Saturday. Those guests run the gamut from neighbors who live just down the street to visitors from England.
We get to start with the English visitors first. Tonight one of Tim's old work colleagues from his RAF days came to dinner. She had come to San Diego on business, and Tim managed to persuade her to come eat at our house. Brave woman! I had never met her personally, but she had been a great support to Tim in his last job, so it was nice to meet her at last. And it was so nice for all of us to have someone connected to our past life in England in our house.
She has moved to the US for a time as well, so we commiserated about the challenges of moving from Britain to the US. At dinner we ended up taking about the royal family and the royal wedding, and the kids reminisced about what we were doing on that day (I made them a royal tea party with little canapés and cakes and tarts, etc.). We talked about what a mistake it is for Britain to continue to cut its military forces. And, because we're parents and the kids were there, we also talked about minions and Frozen and the Lego Movie.
Then I had the distinct pleasure of sitting up with my sobbing seven year old while she finished off her homework for tomorrow. This happens a lot in our house, actually. There is a lot of sobbing over unfinished homework late at night. There is no sobbing over unfinished homework right when they get home from school, of course. The sobbing begins the minute they realize they are up against a wall and running away from me is no longer an option. Aaahh, joy.
Wednesday 26 March 2014
Sunday 23 March 2014
It's been a good weekend. It started early because Abigail was invited by some friends to go see a preview of the new movie Divergent on Thursday night. The showing was at 9pm, so better than a midnight showing, but still it was a school night. I racked my brains for a reason to not let her go but couldn't think of one, other than the fact that it was a late showing on a school night. So, she went.
I didn't see her until Friday afternoon, when she came home from school, packed an overnight bag, and went straight back out again to attend an overnight 'youth conference' with our church. All of the teenagers in our church between the ages of 14-18 who live in about a 30 mile radius from Poway were invited to attend this event. It was at a campout-type place near here. They had all sorts of activities, which included team building exercises, a dance, and religious devotionals where the teenagers had a chance to express their faith in what we call a 'testimony'. They don't have to, of course, but it is very encouraging as a parent when you hear that your teenager gave their testimony. Today Abigail said to me, 'I bore my testimony at youth conference. You're welcome!'
Abigail came home late last night, having had VERY little sleep on both Thursday and Friday nights. She was exhausted! This happens to her a lot, actually. She goes to these events and she comes home with fatigue and some kind of illness. Being a social butterfly, she just wears herself out.
Imogen also had a big weekend. She had an all-day track meet up in Los Angeles. I think she ran very well. It was her first ever track meet. I dropped her off at the school at 5am, and she didn't come home until 9pm. Then it was off to a sleepover at friend's house.
We had a great blessing this weekend. We had been looking for a double bed, but couldn't find anything in our price range. On Saturday Tim found a double bed, a mattress, a box spring, a dresser, a bedside table, and bedding, all for 200 dollars. Fabulous! We also bought some bunk beds for the little girls. So, all of the children have beds, and it no longer looks like we are camping in our new home.
This morning we had choir practice before church. I am the choir director, and we are working on a big Easter program, which has songs and scripture readings detailing the events of Easter from the Last Supper to the Resurrection. I love the songs we are singing. I've selected some songs from Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, and others from Mormon composers.
Then it was off to church - for three hours! Imogen gave a talk in church about the importance of choosing good friends, and being a good friend. She did really well.
I didn't see her until Friday afternoon, when she came home from school, packed an overnight bag, and went straight back out again to attend an overnight 'youth conference' with our church. All of the teenagers in our church between the ages of 14-18 who live in about a 30 mile radius from Poway were invited to attend this event. It was at a campout-type place near here. They had all sorts of activities, which included team building exercises, a dance, and religious devotionals where the teenagers had a chance to express their faith in what we call a 'testimony'. They don't have to, of course, but it is very encouraging as a parent when you hear that your teenager gave their testimony. Today Abigail said to me, 'I bore my testimony at youth conference. You're welcome!'
Abigail came home late last night, having had VERY little sleep on both Thursday and Friday nights. She was exhausted! This happens to her a lot, actually. She goes to these events and she comes home with fatigue and some kind of illness. Being a social butterfly, she just wears herself out.
Imogen also had a big weekend. She had an all-day track meet up in Los Angeles. I think she ran very well. It was her first ever track meet. I dropped her off at the school at 5am, and she didn't come home until 9pm. Then it was off to a sleepover at friend's house.
We had a great blessing this weekend. We had been looking for a double bed, but couldn't find anything in our price range. On Saturday Tim found a double bed, a mattress, a box spring, a dresser, a bedside table, and bedding, all for 200 dollars. Fabulous! We also bought some bunk beds for the little girls. So, all of the children have beds, and it no longer looks like we are camping in our new home.
This morning we had choir practice before church. I am the choir director, and we are working on a big Easter program, which has songs and scripture readings detailing the events of Easter from the Last Supper to the Resurrection. I love the songs we are singing. I've selected some songs from Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, and others from Mormon composers.
Then it was off to church - for three hours! Imogen gave a talk in church about the importance of choosing good friends, and being a good friend. She did really well.
Thursday 6 March 2014
We have moved to our new home - San Diego, CA. If all goes well, we shall be here for a very long time.
The kids for the most part seem happy, but it is fair to say that I didn't realize how much of an adjustment this move to the States would be for them, and in fact for me as well. Indeed, the only one who doesn't seem to need much adjustment is Tim, the only pure-blooded Brit among us. 'I just live in the moment - I'm happy wherever I am', he says.
I, on the other hand, have frequent, vivid memories of the UK, which make me feel as if I'm being pulled back there. Yet, I know that after 18 years in a foreign country, living away from my family, it was time to come home. It's just that things here are a little bit foreign for me now, which is a very strange feeling.
Anyway, the adjustment for the kids is in everything - the accent (even though they are used to mine), the television shows (they miss Horrible Histories SO MUCH), the food (don't even get me started!), the design of the house ('Why don't American houses have doors?'), and most especially, the schools.
Yes, the schools. There have been a lot of factors out of my control concerning this move - for instance, the timing of the move - and I just had to go with it. We moved right before Abigail, our oldest, was due to embark upon her GCSE exams in England. On the one hand, the move was a good thing, because Abigail was really struggling in school and I wasn't sure what her GCSE experience was going to be. On the other hand, she was in a system in which she understood the expectations and was somewhat on track to at least pass her exams.
When we moved here, however, it was clear that, at least as high school is concerned, Britain and California have two very different approaches. Abigail can cope somewhat with the humanities, but when it comes to math and science, unfortunately the material is completely unfamiliar. We've had a spate of conversations and phone calls and emails this week between Abigail, her school counselor, her chemistry teacher, her math teacher, and myself. Abigail's chemistry teacher is almost certain that she will fail the class. Her math teacher is shocked at her lack of skill. Her counselor, although lovely, blamed me for encouraging her to put Abigail into the wrong classes (as I really had no idea how Abigail's English education was going to match up with her California one, I just did my best).
So, if things don't improve rapidly, Abigail could very well lose a year of high school. The other problem is that Abigail never really takes these kinds of situations seriously. I'm usually the one pushing for a solution to these kinds of issues, and that just makes her even more uninterested and in denial about the gravity of it all. I think now it might be sinking in. But whether that leads her to push herself enough academically remains to be seen - her endurance level was never very high in these matters.
Part of me considers at times the idea that maybe I have ruined her future by having her change schools at such a critical juncture. But I also know that God sent us here, to this particular place at this particular time, and so I have faith that things will work out.
The kids for the most part seem happy, but it is fair to say that I didn't realize how much of an adjustment this move to the States would be for them, and in fact for me as well. Indeed, the only one who doesn't seem to need much adjustment is Tim, the only pure-blooded Brit among us. 'I just live in the moment - I'm happy wherever I am', he says.
I, on the other hand, have frequent, vivid memories of the UK, which make me feel as if I'm being pulled back there. Yet, I know that after 18 years in a foreign country, living away from my family, it was time to come home. It's just that things here are a little bit foreign for me now, which is a very strange feeling.
Anyway, the adjustment for the kids is in everything - the accent (even though they are used to mine), the television shows (they miss Horrible Histories SO MUCH), the food (don't even get me started!), the design of the house ('Why don't American houses have doors?'), and most especially, the schools.
Yes, the schools. There have been a lot of factors out of my control concerning this move - for instance, the timing of the move - and I just had to go with it. We moved right before Abigail, our oldest, was due to embark upon her GCSE exams in England. On the one hand, the move was a good thing, because Abigail was really struggling in school and I wasn't sure what her GCSE experience was going to be. On the other hand, she was in a system in which she understood the expectations and was somewhat on track to at least pass her exams.
When we moved here, however, it was clear that, at least as high school is concerned, Britain and California have two very different approaches. Abigail can cope somewhat with the humanities, but when it comes to math and science, unfortunately the material is completely unfamiliar. We've had a spate of conversations and phone calls and emails this week between Abigail, her school counselor, her chemistry teacher, her math teacher, and myself. Abigail's chemistry teacher is almost certain that she will fail the class. Her math teacher is shocked at her lack of skill. Her counselor, although lovely, blamed me for encouraging her to put Abigail into the wrong classes (as I really had no idea how Abigail's English education was going to match up with her California one, I just did my best).
So, if things don't improve rapidly, Abigail could very well lose a year of high school. The other problem is that Abigail never really takes these kinds of situations seriously. I'm usually the one pushing for a solution to these kinds of issues, and that just makes her even more uninterested and in denial about the gravity of it all. I think now it might be sinking in. But whether that leads her to push herself enough academically remains to be seen - her endurance level was never very high in these matters.
Part of me considers at times the idea that maybe I have ruined her future by having her change schools at such a critical juncture. But I also know that God sent us here, to this particular place at this particular time, and so I have faith that things will work out.
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