Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

Summer was a bit late to arrive this year.  When I last sat down to write, there was a bit of panic coursing through my fingers as they tapped on the keyboard.  I was suffocating under a blanket of doubt.  Would summer ever properly arrive?  I felt that I urgently needed to leave the country and possibly leave the state of Michigan permanently.  I didn't know if I could cope for one more day without the warm sun on my face. Shortly after I wrote about escaping back to Great Britain (a foolish retreat location for a sun seeker), summer finally did arrive, and ever since I have been happily drowning in it.  I cannot begin to describe how much better everything is during the warm, sunny, summer months for me.  I am still myself.  I do not suddenly have organized drawers or find myself cheerfully putting away fresh smelling stacks of folded laundry early each morning.   I am still an introvert who feels more than a bit...

I can remember the exact moment it hit me.   I was sitting on the rubbery play surface at our local outdoor playground on an unusually warm and sunny British afternoon.   My young children were playing some sort of imaginative game that required them to gather pebbles, dandelions, and blades of grass which they spun furiously in the gravity bowl while they chattered back and forth in high pitched voices with elfin British accents.   The sky was blue and a jolly red post box stood in my line of sight as I gazed across Llantrisant Road.   On the opposite side of the street, there were vibrant, verdant hills dotted with sheep and sluggish, grazing cattle. Right then the notion hit me like a stepped upon pitch fork hits a stooge between the eyes.   We would eventually move back to the USA, and, when we did, I would feel homesickness for Great Britain in the same way that I yearned for my American home while living abroad.   I would forever be torn betwe...

I do not advertise over the Internet when I am planning a trip just in case my stalker is reading this blog or checking my facebook status.  But now that I am back, I can tell you that we had a lovely long weekend away in North Carolina visiting family and my BFF's new baby Claire.  It is indeed a very special thing when someone you love has a baby.  All of us thought little Claire was rather fabulous... Emma loved her. Sophie did too. I had a difficult time sharing her. Lili liked Claire, of course, but she was even more smitten with this Coconut Macaroon; And George had tons of fun playing Pac Man with Claire's Dad. Imagine four days in Greensboro with five Carsons in one hotel room.  It hardly gets much better.  Every night was like a slumber party with our toddler wide eyed and bushy tailed until eleven o'clock.  Everyone had their toenails painted an exotic color (including Dad), and we also experimented with temporary body tattoos.  The love...

I have a new backpack!!  It is so comfortable and allows me to carry a heavy load with ease.  Made by American mountaineers in Boulder, Colorado at Nap Inc. , it is ergonimically fantastic and worth every penny.  I cannot wait to try out my new backpack when we all head down to North Carolina this weekend.  The best thing about it is that I am extremely confident carrying my most precious valuables inside... Did I fool ya?  In all seriousness, this Boba baby carrier is great.  It is made for older babies weighing 15-40 pounds, and since, sadly, the Baby Bjorn is no longer comfy on my aching shoulders with a 20 pound Lili, it was time to find a new carrier.  (Y'all know putting that mumsy little punkin in a stroller reguarly wasn't going to happen.)   I scoured the Internet for reviews on baby backpacks and was seriously impressed with Boba.  It can be worn as a backpack or front carrier.  I have worn it for...