The Willimers in America

Rainy Bank Holidays

Watching the news today, I was reminded how the English have a reputation for talking about the weather, and our particular fatalism regarding rain when it comes to Bank Holiday weather. Nothing of course compares to the approaching Labor Day holiday here, for which we are bracing ourselves for the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto, currently dropping buckets of water up the Carolina coast, and expected here on Saturday. We are certainly feeling for our friends the Olsen's, who probably had their Florida vacation disrupted by this weather. Last time they went to Florida, they were evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ivan. I remember how people used to ask Mum and Dad when they were going on holiday, as they had a knack for picking the only two good weeks of sunshine in a lousy summer. We'll be checking with the Olsens next time they plan to go to Florida, and then head north.

Normal service is resumed

So, as I was sitting in the Emergency Room last night, it occurred to me that this episode - along with about a hundred other things that have happened since February - are excellent material for a blog, particularly one which is supposed to be about our different life in America. But if you try and read this regularly you'll know that nothing has changed here for a while. Despite Linda's constant entreaties (or nagging, as I tend to think of it) I just haven't felt upto writing. The words flow smoothly through the keyboard to the screen when I feel good about myself, and that hasn't been the case for a long time.

But now light is at the end of the tunnel, and I feel like I can write again, and include a brief recap of what you've missed. Let me see - what has happened since February ? Well, the Goddards came to stay, we missed an appointment in London for our Green Cards, Tom tried out for the local Travel Soccer team, we finished decorating our spare room, Mum came to stay, we spent three weeks in England actually visiting the US Embassy, I lost my job, Tom finished 3rd grade, we finally did get our Green Cards and are now Permanent Legal Residents of the U.S.A. - oh, and then this week, I got a kidney stone and Linda had to cart me to the ER in Princeton at 2am in the morning.

So I have a lot of catching up to do - which I won't do all at once, and we have lots of pictures to show you (I'm trying to get our Flickr site upto date first) - but be assured - normal service has been resumed.