10 Things I Hate About Manchester

Two days to go and counting. Overall, I've enjoyed being back in England. We got to see old friends and explore a different part of the country. But, we can now say definitively that we are NOT city dwellers. Here are my lists of 10 things I hate and love about Manchester, if I can think of that many.

10 Things I Hate

1. Outdoor smoking

2. Pidgeons

3. People in a hurry

4. Gum on the sidewalk (but thanks for the blog title)

5. Street racing at all hours of the night

6. Noisy drunks turned out of pubs at 3 a.m.

7. Street sweepers cleaning at 4 a.m.

8. Sunrise at 4:30 a.m.

9. Hand-carrying our groceries home (Our arms are at least an inch longer!)

10. British TV programming

10 Things I Love

1. No smoking indoors

2. Falcons adapted to city living

3. Strolling around town, not needing to be anywhere in particular

4. Flake 99 (soft-serve) ice cream sold in street-side stands

5. Odeon movie theater five minutes away from our apartment

6. Wagamamas

7. Street sweepers (that work during the day) cleaning up the cigarette butts

8. Sunset at 10:30 p.m.

9. Using re-usable shopping bags

10. Our clean, well-appointed, central apartment that looks out on the city

Remembering Wayne

Today is my older brother Wayne's birthday. He died at the age of 23 after living with Leukemia for 10 years. I think about him a lot at this time of year - not with sadness, but with sweetness and reverence. His illness shaped our family in so many ways. It made us closer to each and taught us to depend on God for his peace and strength and to wait on his plan for our future. We couldn't have done it any other way.

It was an honor knowing my brother. He grew in godliness throughout his illness and became an inspiration for those who came in contact with him. But I like to remember his as the orny big brother he was before he got sick - Wayne the Pain, we called him. Thank you, God, for his life.

End of Season Sale - 90% OFF

I hope we made the most of our summer, because it it GONE. The days are getting shorter, the sun seems to be taking longer and longer breaks behind the clouds, and the summer clothes have been sold, making room for the drab winter clothes that they wear. Black is the next black. Everyone in Manchester wears A LOT of it. It would depress me to have so little color in my wardrobe. Even my summer clothes looked out of place here because I like to wear yellow and green, pink and blue!

Unfortunately I have no photos to post this time because my camera battery died, and it seems silly to buy a new one with only a week left. Brendan and I are leaving on Sunday and Bill will leave the following Saturday. We made the most of our last weekend, though. We took the train to London to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at the O2 stadium. I felt a little deja vu as this was the same exhibit that toured the US about 30 years ago, about the time that my youngest brother was born. There was a huge publicity blitz and lots of excitement surrounding it. London is the only place in Europe to see the exhibit this time around, and Brendan loved it, so we were fortunate to get there. They didn't have the burial mask or his mummy, as we had hoped, but it was still very interesting. They had several of the personal effects, like an intricate inlaid dagger that was placed in the folds of his wrappings, near his hand to protect him in the afterlife, and some beautiful jewelry that adorned his body. The one fact that I came away with that was startling to me is that by the time Tutankhamun came to the throne, the pyramids in Giza were already 1000 years old!

London seems so familiar to us. We've been a least half a dozen times now, and still love to come back. It's funny to see the first-time tourists riding in the top of the open-top sightseeing buses, huddled under umbrellas and wearing disposable ponchos, determined to see the sights even though it's raining buckets. We were there once.

We stayed in a wonderful hotel just off of Trafalgar Square, which we walked to several times a day to watch the Olympic coverage on the giant Plasma wall that obscured Lord Nelson's monument. No one could get near the lions, much less climb them. But the atmosphere was festive. There were even live performances throughout the weekend.

Now, summer really does feel like it's coming to a close, because we're focused on getting back to Texas, registering Brendan for school, buying school supplies and new clothes. He'd rather stay in Manchester. He's enjoyed being a junior couch potato, playing Wii and watching the Olympics all day. I did manage to get him interested in a book about young James Bond, which he's almost completed - one for the whole summer (shameful!). He wants to get the sequel, so that's a good sign. I'm ready for him to get back to school and I can't wait to see how he takes to athletics. He wants to run track, which is only one season out of the year. Maybe he'll decide to take up another sport as the time comes around (hopefully not football).

He'll have a lot of anxiety around the first few days of school. Unfortunately, he has to go to a different middle school due to rezoning. It's a bigger campus at an older school since this used to be the only High School for the whole district. Fortunately, many students from his old school have to move, too, so he will know some of the kids, but he's fretting about finding classes and getting there on time. I need to download a map for him and maybe walk the halls when he gets his schedule.

Lord, give me patience and understanding, and give him courage and confidence. And please heal Bill's sciatica soon.

Comfortable Shoes

The thing Brendan had been looking forward to and fretting about all summer finally came to pass this last weekend. We made plans even before we came to Manchester with all of our old friends so that we could see each other on 2-3 Aug in Northampton. We lived there for three and a half years before we moved back to the US, and it's been just a little more than a year since we left. Brendan was afraid that everyone would have grown apart and not have anything in common. I have to admit I worried that we'd run out of things to talk about in the first half hour and stare at each other uncomfortably for the rest of the day, with nothing to say.

But we needn't have worried. We fit right back in just as if we'd never left, just like a pare of comfortable shoes. Brendan said of his friend Daniel, "He may look different and sound different, but he's just the same." I think that's the sign of a true, lifelong friend, when you can pick up where you left off as if no time has passed. The friends we made in Northampton are such friends. It made me realize how special they are, and how much I want to be sure to stay in touch with them wherever we go.

Brendan and I took the train to Northampton on Thursday. Helen picked us up, we met up with Sandra and spent a lovely long lunch in Little Brington, near the Althorp estate (where Princess Diana grew up). We drove through the countryside, past beautiful fields and sheep pastures. I miss the lush green-ness of the summers here, the trees and flowers, the brambles and rabbits.

Thursday evening, we had dinner at the Pedels. Tom came home after a long day of playing cricket and played with Brendan with a reserve of energy that came out of nowhere. They played cricket in the garden until they couldn't see the ball anymore. I hated to peel them apart.

Friday, we went to Stanwick Lakes with the Pedels and Pointers. Ben, Brendan,Tom and Jess stopped long enough to eat a fabulous picnic lunch before heading back to the climbing frame to play tag. We walked a good ways and they played on an assault course, fake rock, zip line and swinging tires. The entire day was windy, but when the dark clouds moved in, we quickly headed for the cars and just made it before the rains fell.

Friday night we picked Bill up at the train station and had a great, huge Chinese dinner with the Messoms. By the time we'd finished with the large plate of appetizers, and our soups came, I was full. But I still had to try the crispy duck and the mains. Delicious! Wonderful conversation!

Saturday, we had breakfast with the Hutkos, another American family that we had met during our time in England, who are still living near London, and were in Northampton visiting friends, too! It was great to catch up and find where our other American friends had ended up.

Saturday morning was rainy and blustery. We were afraid our BBQ would be rained out. But at 1:00 on the dot, the sun came out and we headed to Sandra and Paul's for a day full of play and conversation. The kids never stopped. They swam, sat in the hot tub, and bounced on the trampoline all day. The adults didn't stop talking. Honestly, in the seven hours we were together, there was never a noticable lull in the conversation. Sandra and Paul were gracious and generous hosts. They kept us in wonderful food and drink all day long. Even though these friends came from different groups, they all came together and seemed like old friends. It was a brilliant day. I hated to see it end.

Sometimes, absense makes the heart grow fonder. But sometimes, it's as good as you remember it. I felt like we could have taken up house again in the lovely little village and had our fast friends back as if we'd never been gone. It was a special time in our lives, living in Northampton. And we came away with forever friends.