July 31, 2006

Hello, all!

I've been running around with my parents and haven't
written lately. Your inboxes were probably happy to
have a break! I'm back at it again, as my parents
have returned to the States for some much needed R and
R!

My parents arrived in a jet lag fog. The big kids
were in school and Aidan, seeing my mother arrive with
suitcases, assumed that I was leaving and that my mom
was going to babysit for an extended period of time.
He was less than warm in his welcome! The day was
rainy so we went for a drive. My mom and dad loved
the quaint villages, gardens and countryside. Aidan
kept an eye on my dad in the back seat and every time
he nodded off, Aidan would yell, "WAKE UP BOMPERS!"
(the grandchildren call my dad "Bompers" and my mom
"Maga"). Aidan had put himself on official jet lag
patrol: no sleeping until bedtime!

Getting them acclimated to the house meant showing
them where the stray cat lives in our garden and how
to chase him out of the house when he gets in, how to
flush the toilets (each one is different and the
handle fell off altogether when my mom flushed the
first time!), where the lights are and which ones are
temperamental. The hot and cold taps are reversed,
the shower tap needs explanation and you'll be trapped
inside the shower room if the door fully closes. The
smoke alarm goes off when we make toast. When it's
damp, laundry is hung all over the kitchen with fans
blowing on it. We have one regular cut key, the
others are skeleton keys, windows are propped open
with blocks or bricks. No coffee maker, just a coffee
press...It's like living in the fun house at a
carnival!

The Saturday after they arrived, Jim and I left Aidan
with my parents to attend the Parents' Day picnic at
Cheltenham College. We attended chapel in the morning
followed by tea. The clock struck noon and off we
went to the Corinth House marquee (tent) for "house
drinks". It was an elegant affair and the labor was
cheap: the boys were bartending! I did a double take
as a 12 year old classmate of Michael's asked it I
wanted a refill on wine. Of course, it comes as no
surprise that Ryan and Michael rolled up their sleeves
and were right in the thick of it. I find 9-13 year
old boys to be very heavy handed with wine. After
house drinks we tailgated with a few other families.
This was WAY too much fun. The kids participated in a
mile run for charity and the parents continued to
socialize. Later, the headmaster announced the
winning house and it was the kids' house, Corinth!
The Corinth house hadn't won in five or more years. I
attribute it to all the red entries the Pierce kids
earned. The entire day felt like a movie. It was
casual yet elegant with women dressed in lovely
dresses wearing gorgeous and impractical shoes (it was
a picnic, after all- I wore a white linen dress with
my very best, most formal, beaded flip flops) and men
in suits. Tents dotted the cricket pitch, the kids,
all in their Sunday Best uniforms, ran around
celebrating school's end. The rolling hills, wooded
area and pond with vintage row boats and its ornate,
cream colored iron foot bridge and the old brick
school buildings as a back drop were just too much.
At one point, Jim turned to me and said, "How the Hell
did we end up HERE?!"

My parents' stayed for nearly three weeks and we
enjoyed our time with them so much. We went to
Ireland about half way through their stay. Ireland
was in the midst of a heat wave and consequently, we
enjoyed hot and sunny weather the entire stay!
Undoubtedly, we spent more time at the beaches than
most tourists! We stayed at Jim's family's farm.
Jim's grandma (who Siobhan is named after) was born
and raised on this farm. The big kids and I (Jim had
met her several times before our visit) also were
blessed to know Jim's great aunt, Sister Ambrose, who
was also born and raised on the farm. We had the
opportunity to visit and get to know her while we
stayed with her many years ago at her convent in
London. She died just months after our visit. Jim
met Michael Buckley, his great uncle, while visiting
Ireland in 1989. Certainly there is a strong sense of
place at the Buckley Farm. Jim's twin cousins,
Phillip and Michael (Jim's age) each visited us with
their families.

The farm and house were given to Jim's great grandma
and grandpa as a wedding present from her parents (It
is only a farm away from the Pierce's farm and
house-now derelict). It looks typical. White house,
chimneys on both ends. The house has been lovingly
restored and is used by the brothers as a holiday
home. The exterior stone walls are two feet thick and
exposed in some rooms, allowing for deep window seats
and sills. The kitchen is heavenly with its pine
floors and dresser, harvest table, exposed stone walls
and its butter colored cooker tucked into what was
obviously a massive fireplace. Peat is still used in
the cooker for heat. It's a large home and even with
the eight of us and Jim's cousins, there was plenty of
room. The kids played with their cousins on the same
hill that their grand parents and great grandparents
played as children. It doesn't get much better than
that.

We saw breathtaking sites. The Irish coastline on the
Dingle Peninsula in the sunshine could have been
Greece. Green and blue water and rugged cliffs. We
went to Abbey Feale, where the Prindiville family is
from and to a Prendiville pub in nearby Castle Island.
Not sure if
the Prendivilles are related, but it was good for a
pint, anyway! Guinness is so much better in Ireland!

We visited a little old lady, Mary Ellen, a cousin of
the Buckley's who knew the Prindivilles (cousins to
Jim's grandma). Jim and I have known that we're
related since before we were married. (This concerns
the children...) Mary Ellen's sparkling eyes, brogue
and her 90+ years makes her cute as can be. Never
mind that it was before noon on a Sunday: we're
shuffled into her ancient parlor and out comes the
whiskey! She told my dad about his relatives in
Limerick who sold their farm because, "they weren't
fond of the work". That was good for a belly laugh!
We walked down to the end of the lane to a well/stream
where pilgrims have been coming for thousands of years
to drink the cool, clear water that is supposed to
cure throat and eye problems. My mom filled up all
the water bottles we had in the car-maybe that will
cure her cataracts! Mary Ellen put on her best dress
and hat and we took pictures.

The most memorable part of the trip was, hands down,
the good crack (lively conversation) and occasional
ghost story, shared each night around the harvest
table. Lots of stories and laughter. Kids, dogs,
cats getting "shooed" outside, cows and the Shannon
River in the distance and a Buckley VS Pierce,
disturbingly competitive soccer game (We had to donate
a kid to their team to even things out. We were
weighted down a bit by our three year old team member,
but Aidan was countered by the Buckleys' small
horse-sized puppy who played on their team and who bit
Siobhan in the rear end at one point-I told you it was
competitive!). All made for an unforgettable
vacation.

Spending time with my parents was just what I needed.
They enjoyed being here and seeing the kids. They
thought Michael had really matured, they loved seeing
the normally mature, Siobhan, acting silly and were
amazed at Aidan's speech. My dad managed to laugh
'til he cried almost every night as he sat back and
watched what he referred to as the T and Ry show.
Ryan is a talker and is INCAPABLE of doing what he is
asked without stopping (or never starting) to talk
about something that is completely irrelevant (his
piano teacher Adel, can attest to this, as can his
school teachers- I feel for them). I remind him 10
times to get back to fill-in-the- blank: sweeping,
washing dishes, taking out the garbage, getting into
the shower, going to bed, etc. Doesn't matter what it
is, Ryan must stop and say, "Just one more thing. Did
you ever see the Tom and Jerry where the cat...". It
made for some very funny evenings, but as I search the
dark and dusty corners of my mind, I do not recall one
time as a kid when not following directions was met
with such laughter on my father's part! My dad
assures me its only funny because Ryan is MY son and I
have to raise him!

It was hard to say good bye to my parents. Aidan
started wailing as they pulled out of the driveway!
Obviously, he warmed up at some point! Jim dropped
them off at Heathrow and picked up Asa Goldsmith a
friend of the kids from back home. Asa was spending
time with both sets of British grandparents near
London and is here for 4 or 5 days. The kids are in
heaven. Lots of kid giggles and 10-12 year old humor
going on. Caught them in a spitting contest out the
3rd story window. Yuck.

Love,

T-Ann

July 5, 2006

Hello, all!

I trust you all had a wonderful 4th of July. I hung
American flag bunting across the front of the house
and the kids went off to school. It was sports day at
school (the afternoon spent competing in various track
events) so the day had a different fun filled feel, at
least. The school flew the American flag-loved that!
We came home and grilled brats (from Costco-the most
American place here outside the American Embassy in
London). Siobhan informed me that it was the worst
4th of July she'd ever had. I agreed with her and
then she told me it annoys her when I agree with her
like that. Hmmm. Thankfully, we are now on the 5th
of July and our moment of self-pity has passed.

Last week, Jim took Michael and Ryan up in a four
seater plane that was piloted by a colleague. The men
all enjoyed the views of the cotswolds and while the
pilot avoided flying directly over GCHQ (the British
version of the CIA building here in Cheltenham), they
were able to fly near it and it was pretty cool. Its
in the shape of a donut-all steel and glass. Everyone
here assumes that Jim is working for the GCHQ. Its
the first thing people ask when they hear the accent
and find out we are residents, not tourists. This
pleases Jim to no end. He does this really bad, suave
voice (like he is James Bond) and says, "If I told
you, I'd have to kill you..." This coming from a guy
whose most dangerous mission each day is getting the
Volvo out of its parking spot! Anyway, the boys had
great fun flying, stopped for a pint on the way home
(which both Michael and Ryan love to say) and, as
Siobhan and I will take our turn in the small plane
next, I've started praying we don't meet anyone who
owns a hot air balloon!!

We also joined the Sandford Park Lido which is a very
dignified way of saying, "Public Pool". It is a
wonderful old facility. Built in the 1930's, it has
retained a very nostalgic feel. It reminds me of a
venerable country club. Hedges, fountains, flower
gardens, flagstone pathways, red tiled roofs,
manicured grass. Having said that, I assure you
that not one of you has ever swam in a pool as crowded
as this pool gets. It is the only outdoor pool around
for miles. EVERYONE was there during our recent heat
wave (85-90 degrees for days). The lack of parental
supervision rivals McDonaldland play areas, only with
water, but Aidan loves the children's pools (made
before the concept of zero depth or people suing for
falling onto flagstone surrounds), so I'll be happy to
take him. Jim and the big kids weren't as
enthusiastic as Aidan and I were. Apparently, there
was one too many floating band aids in the big people
pool.

The heat wave was lovely. It was perfect summer
weather. The only day it really got to me was
Thursday, when I spent 4 1/2 hours defrosting my tiny
little European freezer. It was so hot outside, the
sun from my conservatory beating in on me and there I
was with steaming pots of water, scraping the inside
of the freezer. I felt like I was in some kind of a
time warp. Who defrosts appliances anymore? I felt
like going home and apologizing to my cramped
side-by-side that I have wished would die since the
day we moved into our house. Lesson here: don't take
for granted your spacious, self-defrosting freezers!
Don't take for granted a fridge that can hold more
than three meals!

We went to Blenheim Palace on Sunday and enjoyed a
picnic. Blenheim is the birthplace of Winston
Churchill and is still a family home. It was
breathtaking. I've decided that I'm more of a palace
kind of girl than a castle kind of girl. Castles are
too drafty. Truth be told, though, the interior
decorator that lives inside of me really wanted a go
at the boat house. What a glorious conversion I could
do...

My parents come tomorrow! I cannot wait! It will be
fun to share our new life with them. The kids will
give them a tour of the school and we'll bum around
the cotswolds. My mom is used to being holed up with
our kids for long periods of time. My dad, not so.
We'll put him in charge of the grill. No doubt
they'll return to the States with a heightend
appreciation for peace and quiet!

Saturday is the last day of school for the kids.
Summer officially begins for the Pierces.

God Bless,

T-Ann

June 27, 2006

Good Morning Everyone!

I have a new email address. Our SBC account closed.
My new address is:
tapierce14@yahoo.com. I enjoy every newsy and
not-so-newsy email I get from you!

It has been all about Michael and Siobhan this week as
they enjoyed two school related overnights in one
week! British prep school at its finest. The first
overnight was an "outdoor experience" or as normal
people call it: camping. The kids enjoyed lots of
out door activities and then camped on the campus of
Cheltenham College right in front of the headmaster's
home as chance (?) would have it. They had a blast.
They were poorly chaperoned by "gappies" from New
Zealand. Gappies are kids in their "gap" year or year
off between senior school and university. Not all
kids take advantage of the gap year, but any kid who
is lucky enough to convince their parents that his/her
life will be richer by backpacking through Europe or
taking an easy job in another country and drinking for
a year has the time of their lives. So anyway, there
were a couple of teachers, but mostly the gappies were
supposed to be keeping all the 12 year olds in line.
Well, the gappies drank so much (mixing beer and
champagne I understand from Siobhan) they passed out
and the headmaster himself had to come out at 1:30a.m.
and 3:00a.m. to tell the kids to stop playing football
and go to bed. The kids woke up in the morning and
because they were hungry, finally had to wake up the
gappies who were, shall we say, "sleeping in"! Hard to
imagine a world where that can happen and people don't
lose their jobs the next day.

Our interviewing process for the schools here was
grueling. Each interview was four hours long (we
interviewed four schools). Cheltenham College's
interview was more than 6 1/2 hours because we liked
it enough to set up a separate interview at the senior
school. Believe me, there was plenty of time to ask
questions. At Dean Close, another fine prep school, I
asked about drug use. The answer didn't surprise me.
They didn't tolerate it, blah blah blah. When I asked
about underage drinking (the drinking age is 21), the
housemaster replied, "Well, we monitor how much we
give the kids and always offer non-alcoholic options."
So there ya go! I was stunned! Jaw on the ground.
That is Cheltenham College's policy as well, but by
the time we got to that interview, I was able to hide
my disbelief. And don't think I can't hear all of you
chuckling about my concern over underage
drinking...its different when its your own kids!

Saturday, the boys and I spent the day at our friends
the Shortts house out in the country (Siobhan was off
with friends). Their home has the most spectacular
views of the cotswolds. The boys, along with Charlie
Shortt, the very cool 14 year old friend, disposed of
a dead fox on their property. This was done by
stabbing it with a pitch fork and tossing him into the
woods. In Boyland, its pretty hard to top that and
just when the day couldn't get any better, Dennis
Shortt (the dad) took us all for a helicopter ride!
It was wonderful. At first, I was a bit nervous.
Lets face it, the newspaper articles always start
off, "It was supposed to be a fun sight seeing ride,
BUT...". I relaxed after seeing how beautiful the
countryside is from the air! The manor homes,
castles, hillsides, sheep, poppy fields and lavender
fields in bloom...It all made me realize that there
are worse ways to go than plummeting to your death
into a field of English lavender! Ryan, the night
before, told me that he was missing living in a
neighborhood, running around with all his friends
during the summer. That evening, he told me it was
one of the best days of his life! There are trade
offs.

Sunday, Michael and Siobhan went to the senior school
for their "24 hours". It is actually, a 28 hour taste
of life at the senior school intended to have the kids
have so much fun, they choose to go to senior school
at Cheltenham College. They had the whole senior
school at their disposal and did all sorts of sports
and fun activities. They slept at their prospective
"houses". The houses are alot like our fraternities
and sororities. They are free standing beautiful
homes run by housemasters (well Queens, Siobhan's
house, is lovely anyway. Southwood, although beautiful
from the outside, is like a sparsely furnished frat
house without the stale beer smell). Being day
students, they go there to do homework, practice
piano, eat, change into sport uniforms, relax,
hangout, etc, but not to sleep over normally. The
kids had so much fun and were WELL supervised. Just
before he left to go to the 24 hours, Michael realized
he lost his track suit bottoms which he was supposed
to be wearing (actually, he accused ME of losing them
which I found to be a new and interesting twist on the
taking-responsibility-for-your-actions policy) so life
here at home was a bit ugly before he left, thus
making boarding school life even more appealing than
it already is! And, it was bound to happen to one of
us in public sometime: Siobhan was served spotted
dick as a snack. There are so many jokes there I
won't even waste your time...

Life at school is winding down. The house
competitions at school, however, are heating up. Like
in Harry Potter, each child belongs to a house (in the
junior school there isn't a physical "house" they go
to). Our kids belong to the Corinth House. The
houses compete for points throughout the term. House
sporting events earn you points as do red entries
(getting caught doing something good). Demerits (like
getting caught with those pesky, droopy, wool socks or
mud on your trousers) will lose your house points.
Both Ryan and Michael have earned red entries for
their houses. Siobhan has not and you can imagine how
much this bothers her! The last day of school is
parents day and the last day of competition. The
families all picnic together (aging rock stars,
fashion moguls and the Pierces) and the kids change
into their house competition uniforms and compete for
their final points. It is so Harry Potter! Hopefully,
there will be no dragons to slay. Truth be told,
Corinth isn't even close to winning, but it is really
storybook, nonetheless.

Jim returned home safely from the States last night
with bags bursting with tennis racquets, books and
sheets (much cheaper back home), lots of cinnamon
which we cannot get here and Dunkin Donuts French
Vanilla coffee. My world just got a little better!

Lots of love,

T-Ann