Month: October 2005

I’m scheduled to do a Mothering Magazine live chat on October 19.

Hope some of you join in and ask me good questions!

The tricky part of having a two-career egalitarian relationship is all in the details. For the most part we take turns traveling and rarely have any conflicts. Unfortunately, we both have events and meetings in the states in November and December.

No matter how we tried to arrange the schedule, there was simply no solution available. We can’t take the kids out of school and our friends here are all busy with work.

Normally I refuse to play the If we were in Portland…. game but could not resist the allure this time. If we were in Portland, my friends could help…

But wait! If I asked, wouldn’t they help me regardless of where I live? And might one of them actually quite enjoy visiting the UK?

The answer is yes: Marisa cheerfully agreed to come stay with the kids for a bit, and spend some time with us upon our return.

Marisa is one of my all-time favorite people.

Last night we went to see Howl’s Moving Castle; the children attended the world premiere during the film festival this summer, and insisted that I should not miss seeing it in the theatre. I resisted because I’m a cheapskate but they persevered; they said that we would have fun.

My son couldn’t read the captions fast enough so I craned my neck over his seat, whispering each line. Walking home from the (very good) movie, we stopped on the Jesus Green to look at the stars. He pointed out the constellations, and I saw the Big Dipper for the first time.

In other news, it was “Walk to School Week” and my son interpreted this to mean that he must not ride his bicycle.

This morning on the walk to school we watched as a cyclist was hit by a car. It could have been much more bloody than it was; the bus that could have run over him stopped.

I would have preferred not to have this object lesson to reinforce my fundamental views, namely, that it is important to strive for safety but also enjoy life when possible.

Anything could change at any moment.