Mary's Muse

Health Craze or Crazy Health

I'm ... well, I won't tell you how old I am.  I'm 4 months from having had #9.  Therefore (no excuse, I know), I've got a tire somewhere between a bicycle tire and a car tire around my middle.  My 11 yo, Zoo Keeper, calls it a motorcycle tire.  Isn't he sweet?

So I decided to start running on my treadmill.  By mid-September, I combined walking and running for an average of 4.25 miles.  In October, I ran up to 5 miles.  I was flabbergasted, until I realized that running on a treadmill and running outside were two very different things.  Especially when you live on a mountain.  Besides this, the pounding on my knees running 8.5 minute miles gave me funky burning twangs in my knees.  It lasted for a few weeks.  And the tire's still around my middle.

I started again.  I ran 2.5 miles and walked another mile and then some.  I intend to hit the treadmill for a few miles every other day.  The other days, I'll do crunches and push-ups or the few pilates I've learned.  I have a long way to go.

Still Homesick

Is this crazy or what?  I'm a tried and true red-blooded American.  So why am I homesick for England?  Well, there are several reasons.  First, it was incredibly family-friendly.  Let's just do a quick scan of some of the fun things we did that I miss.

• Warwick Castle includes authentic period indoor tours, outdoor trebuchet demonstrations, archery shows, birds of prey, jousting, iceskating.  Full of history.  Tons of fun.
• Leeds Castle we had so much fun outdoors that we never made it inside!  This castle has gorgeous grounds with two mazes and gardens galore.
• Ickworth House has an outdoors almost as fun as Leeds.  We walked a long path that led to a little chapel in a sheep field.  They also had a shaded place for kids to play close to a picnic area.
• Oxford Museum of Natural History was so much fun and free to boot!
• Pitt Rivers Museum was another museum we visited in Oxford.
• Walsingham has Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Shrine and the Slipper Chapel.

When we moved back ot the U.S., we thought that we were moving to a child-friendly, family-friendly state.  Not true.  *Family* activities for which you can buy a membership here include three people.  If you have any more than one child, you pay ... MASSIVELY.

While driving in England can tax your brain and your patience, gardening does not.  I so love that.  Basically, you buy some seeds and plant them.  The earth is rich.  Rain waters seeds steadily.  And you have a lush garden before you know it.  Yes, weeds can take over if  you're not careful.  They'll take over no matter where you live.

I would so like to be relocated to England again, even if it means letting go of half of what we own.   We missed Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and ever so many little things. We never managed to navigate through Cambridge. We never ice skated at Warwick.  We barely missed the Jane Austen Centre in Bath.  Oh, and to think that I had a chance to see Mr. Darcy's house from Pride and Prejudice and missed it!  Three years was not enough.