I feel… out of practice writing these posts. It’s only been a few weeks since I prepped a Happy Things Friday missive, but I seem to be living in a bizarre time vortex where I get confused about what day/week/month of the year I’m currently living through.
That said, I’m cognizant enough to realize we are currently calling Wales our temporary home. Today the kids and I took a bus into the heart of the city. Indy and I were marvelling at how delightfully friendly everyone seems. The bus driver greeted each and every person with an enthusiastic hello, and it was always reciprocated with a sincere greeting.
Indy, who hasn’t had a haircut since we left Canada and has morphed into a fluffy sheepdog, was overdue for a trim. We navigated to a barber shop in Cardiff only to discover they didn’t accept credit card payments. I didn’t have a debit card on me to get out cash. So much for a haircut.
I was ready to leave, when the barber said he thought we could pay at the little market next door with card (and then he could get cash back from them). But, if that didn’t work, then the haircut would be on the house. The payment plan worked and I was very happy to pay but, also, can you imagine a barber saying not to worry about paying for a haircut in most big cities??
I have fifteen minutes to write this post so let’s talk Happy Things.
RACHEL
It was truly wonderful to have a familiar face greet us in Wales and we’ve spent time together every day since we arrived. I don’t have any pictures of the two of us yet, but promise to be a good blogger and make sure to take some. We have a few fun adventures planned together over the coming weeks; stay tuned.
Her family is lovely and Belle is smitten with the kids. She was braiding (or, should I say plaiting) Lily’s hair yesterday and reading books to the Clara and Aubrey.
ENGLISH
It is SO nice to be in a place where almost everyone speaks English and signs are in English. While we adapted well to living in foreign countries with equally (to us) foreign-sounding languages, I can feel my brain relaxing in a fresh way here. No Google Translate needed… although my Welsh is non-existent.
FREE ART
After leaving Munich, we didn’t expect to see more van Gogh paintings. So imagine my surprise (and delight), when the kids and I wandered into the National Museum Cardiff this morning and stumbled upon a Van Gogh. And several Renoirs. And works by Picasso, Kandinsky, and Monet.
SLEEP
My sleep statistics haven’t been great lately. Early mornings, LONG days, and late nights. I am finally making up for lost shut-eye now that we’re in Wales. I took a glorious nap yesterday, my first in over a month, followed by an early bedtime and deep sleep.
MEMORIES
At various points on this trip my experiencing self has been exhausted or grumpy. But I really appreciate how you get to enjoy adventures in three ways: anticipation, experiencing, and remembering.
Sometimes all three are equally delightful, sometimes anticipation is more fun than the actual event, sometimes you’d do anything to transport back to a particular moment in time… and sometimes reminiscing is an even richer experience.
We have some epic memories!
Looking at my clock, it is time to go! Belle headed out an hour again to join Rachel for the post-school pickup run, and the rest of our family is joining them for supper.
I’ve run out of time to post pictures, but I’ll be back with photo overloads soon.
Your turn.
- I’d love to hear a few of your Happy Things from the past week.
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Have the best time with Rachel and her family! I bet she is loving having Belle around to entertain the kids! I bet they are all enamored by her! There’s nothing like a “big kid” for little kids!
I can see why you struggle to know what day of the week it is! There isn’t a huge difference between weeks and weekends for you guys! That said, I’ve struggled to remember what day it is this week as well for some reason.
Sounds like a great time! We have to ask ourselves what day it is every day now the kids are out of school.
Happy? My daughter enjoys her little summer school, and I don’t have to drive her. And I’m getting a hot shower every day.
Enjoy your interlude in Wales!
I can only imagine how weird time and space is for you right now! Traveling for a long time – like you did – is a weird place to be… oh, and I can only imagine how relaxing it is for your brain that you’re in an English-speaking country now. I remember the early days of living here in the US and how exhausting it sometimes felt to live my life „in a foreign language“ 24/7. Sometimes your brain just wants to shut down.
I am so happy to hear you’re spending such a lovely time in Wales… with RACHEL! I am jealous (I want to meet both of you!) .. and how crazy that the barber was going to do Indy‘s haircut for free (but also, what a lovely gesture!).