Sunday, April 10, 2011

Whining About My Blessings

Normal life is going on here. I’m working at my job, making dinner, shopping for food and soap. I’m sleeping a bit and filling the bird feeders. Normal stuff. But THIS is what is filling my head:

London


Oxford


The Cotswolds


Avebury


Stonehenge


Lyme Regis


Beer


The New Forest


Winchester

And:

Paris

We leave in just over a month for our two week trip to England and Paris. For weeks I’ve felt chained to my computer – researching routes, advice, restaurants, etc. etc. ETC.!!! Its half fun and half brain exploding stress. I can’t wait to get there and see and experience everything. But I worry what we’ll miss in our ignorance. What if we stop at a tea room and just a block over is the BEST cream tea in Devon??? What if, in our two day Cotswold wanderings we miss the MOST charming and perfect village? I am not at all a package tour kind of person, but I completely understand the temptation. I can imagine how easy it would be to just let someone else arrange everything – where to go, what to eat, what to see. Being in charge of what Mr. Kim and I see and eat on what is quite probably our only EVER trip to Europe is a BIG responsibility! Yes, I’m a ninny, I know. And I’m NOT whining (or whinging, as they say in England) – I know just how fortunate I am do be able to do this and I am thankful beyond measure for the opportunity. It is truly the dream of my life to go to England and when I look at youtube videos of the little villages of the Cotswolds that we will be visiting I get a little emotional. So I do appreciate the treats that are coming for me, even as I grumble about the work involved.

Nothing to do with England or the trip, but look at the loveliness sitting at my elbow as I work on our trip:

I put these on the table last Friday when my MIL, Jo came for dinner. These ranunculus seem to get lovelier every day.

Posting this is an attempt to mitigate my piss poor efforts lately and to excuse in advance my likely absenteeism until after Memorial Day!

10 comments:

  1. You might want to get this David Lebowitz book on eating in Paris. He's a former pastry chef at Chez Panisse and now lives, eats and writes in Paris.

    The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/076792889X/davidleboviswebs

    His writing is a lot of fun.

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  2. Since you wont know you missed it, you wont miss it!
    Enjoy the trip, try not to cover too much real estate. You need time to move slowly. England has so much even in the blank spots on the maps...

    And Paris. Well. Enough said. :)

    I wish I were going too.

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  3. Rachel - come on in, the water's fine!

    Anon - Mr. Kim ordered the Lebowitz book from Abebooks last night - thank you for the recommendation.

    Kouign Aman - I keep telling myself that exact thing - you don't miss what you don't know!

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  4. LONDON? I thought we were going to Loudon County, VA for the music festival......

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  5. That's ok - you go to Loudon - I'll take my boyfriend to London.

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  6. Ok, You TWO!!! Don't make me come up there!!!

    I have one tiny question---do you simply HAVE to have SOME kind of cover at night in order to sleep?

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  7. Anon - the Lebovitz book was equal parts delicious and hilarious! Thank you for the recommendation!

    Rachel - um. Mr. Kim does - I don't if the air temp is comfortable, but Mr. Kim has a 'thing' about being covered by something.

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