Finally on maternity leave...

...but did not envisage spending most of it waiting for, and trying to be patient on, unreliable snow-hindered buses.

A stitch in time would have saved nine

I found myself with three pairs of gloves in my pockets at the shops today. All have holes. All of which I'd made a mental note to stitch up some while ago when they were the start of holes. Looks like a job for when there's something on TV. Another well-worn phrase much in my mind today is the one about getting back on the horse when you fall off it. In this case exchange a bicycle for the horse. It's quite annoying that we were snowed in again today - it has caused a delay in my getting back on my bike after being knocked off it yesterday. I chose to walk to the shops rather than get on my newly fixed bike. Hmm, I'm not keen on getting back in that traffic, I thought. Bother, I hate that. I think it'll be a few weeks of taking the river path (which I love, but which is longer) before I get back into the fray. It reminds me of when I got a hockey ball (grass hockey) right in my eye. After that I found myself strangely conscious of how high girls really swung those sticks. Mind, I got some serious kudos from rugby types for my face of brown, purple, green and yellow. A real picture. Shame I was trying to sell graduating students photographs at the time.

Don't travel unless you have to

This is the universal message to the southern UK today. My husband told me it applied to me, as he would have a heart attack wondering if I made it back from work in London, even if I had made it in. Yes, the country is paralyzed by 6-10 inches of snow. And, I have to admit it, I'm embarrassed given the snow conditions we were travelling considerable distances in over Christmas in the US. But, seeing a ray of hope, perhaps the US trains are as badly affected by snow as in the UK? But that would not be a rescue from embarrassment. The county will be rightly full of Poles saying "You call this weather?!" I dread to think what will happen if the Gulf Stream does get diverted, although the husband has said we'll have moved to near Mile High Stadium by then. In the meantime I have requested a moratorium on cracks about the inability of the UK to deal with weather. As these had already began before 7am I don't hold my breath, but the husband did promise to try...

Reporting back from three weeks stateside

This is most easily done in the form of lists I think. Lets start with what seemed most important: food. The number of meals I declined to count, as they were more than three a day if you include snacks (of which there were many), but, in addition to eating chez les in-laws, we ate at:

• the brother in-law's (Christmas Day = 27 people, Boxing Day)

• the aunt's (New Year's Day = 13 people); and, in order,


• Culver's (on the drive to Wisconsin), where I was culverized


• MacDonald's (on the drive back from Wisconsin)


• Perkins (which was a little less than mediocre)


• Dynasty Buffet (Chinese all you can eat, which I don't particularly care for)


• Ruby Tuesdays (my choice, it has a good salad bar)


• International House of Pancakes (a breakfast meal following a mass on New Year's Eve)


• Lone Star Steak House (to get the boy a steak)

Whilst we mostly stayed at my parents-in-law's condominium, we also visited:

their house in Wisconsin

the brother-in-law's house (or mansion, since, as the boy likes to point out, it has pillars)

the Grandma's house several times

an Aunt's house once

and the duplex of the Grandpa's girlfriend several times

Further we went to a number of church services, and took in three churches, viz:

• the first Sunday (although on TV from a chapel in La Crosse, as the roads were too bad to drive in Wisconsin)


• Christmas Eve (at St. Vincent's, the usual church for this trip)


• the second Sunday


• New Year's Eve twice (once a mass said for the repose of the soul of the deceased Grandpa, once for the vigil of the Solemnity of Mary, both at St. Philomena's)


• the third Sunday

I learnt two ditties, both the eldest and youngest female members of the clan; respectively:

• I'm old and grey and have lost my way, and all my tomorrows are yestersdays (a repeated refrain), and


• a, b, c, d, e, 1, 2, 3, Thank you Lord for feeding me (the timing of which should require little explanation)

I also witnessed plenty of weather (as well as plenty of worrying over said weather), including:

• an ice storm (which put the kaibosh on a intended jaunt out to eat at Hometown Buffet for the father-in-law's birthday)




plenty of snow (leading to plenty of sledging until I finally impaled myself too painfully on a tree to continue)and cold temperatures (down to -25 C)




and a tornado warning (not that I knew it was a tornado warning at the time, being out by myself and hearing what sounded like air-raid sirens).

And finally, in a list of one, I went to a New Year's Eve dance with the aforesaid Grandpa and girlfriend (aged 88 and 91 respectively) at a Senior Citizens' Centre somewhere in central IL. Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip.

Fancy dress season

In a couple of weekends it will be the Cambridge Christmas Head. In addition to the usual prizes, there is a prize for the best fancy dress. Obviously (especially as my crew don't exactly train) this is the prize we are most in contention for. So, forget what I said last time, we are apparently going to be snowmen. That might just be the case again this weekend anyway as the weather forecast is for more chill factor. My chillblains from last weekend are already complaining just at the thought of it.

Brrr, it's cold out there

Today I could have paid for the privilege to sit freezing cold on a river in Bedford, being marshalled for a Head Race. Having experienced the Siberian winds, hail, snow, rain and sleet for free in Cambridge this morning, however, I admitted to a moment's gladness that my crew had bailed on me for the said race. Brrr, it was cold. And when no-one will peel off any layers, the rowing is *bad* as snowmen aren't renowned for their flexibility or manual dexterity. Indeed, I'll prove to you it was cold. I actually put the heating on for a couple of hours today and got the flat up from 10 degrees C to a roasting 14. Mind, I feel decadent now.