Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Day 3 Europe Trip

We had a great bus tour of the city this morning. London is amazing! We got a group picture at St. Paul's (see below). We ended our tour at the British Museum which was super cool.  Joe & I went out to lunch at a small deli with a couple of kids while the other chaperones took other kids else where in the city. We got in more British museum and then went the National Portrait Museum which I loved. We got some shopping in and a Gelato.

Dinner was fish and chips but our tour guide, Lucy, got me a salad since she saw that I refused to eat last night's pasta dinner. It was so very nice of her but Josh was very jealousy of my vegetables!  After dinner we all split up to do different things but I led a small group back to the the hotel. I needed to put my feet up and of course, blog.  I've uploaded more photos as well on Facebook. 

Breakfast in London

I slept well but by 4 am my body told me it was time to get up and get busy. I tried to get a few more hours but by 6 am I needed  coffee and food. I went to the lobby to find Josh waiting for breakfast as well.  We were the first 2 to set up shop and greet our group as they entered the dining room. I'm still figuring out how to use my photo editor program- its not photoshop and so quite inferior.

We start the day with a  bus tour then we have free time for the afternoon and I have no idea what I am in for. I came with no agenda or expectations.  I'll just see what others are doing and wing it. I'll let you know tonight what we ended up doing.  Josh wants to go to bookstores & Churchhill'a war room. I think I prefer the portrait gallery & outdoor monuments.

I am in London!!!

We rolled into London at 7th an got onto a bus to get to our hotel which is pretty darn nice but it was too early to check in yet.  We dumped our stuff off and got onto the subway toward Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. We lost one kid who got sick on the way to the hotel and lots were dying of hunger and fatigue but we all survived.  I decided to upload all my photos onto Facebook onto a photo album there but I'll have to organize things betters once I am home with a computer.  

After  Buckingham Palace we had lunch and then made our way to Big Ben & Parliament on the Thames. It's hard to believe it's only 5.20pm & we have free time till 6 when we go to dinner. I am hoping everyone crashes tonight-- Joe & I decided Josh is in charge of the kids who want to go out later!! I'm passing out after dinner. 

We've Landed!

7 hours confined in very small space made for not ideal sleeping conditions. Most of us will start London with less than a couple of hours of sleep. Dinner & breakfast were good but it will be wonderful to eat w a bit of elbow room!

We are under way!

Sunday Brunch

I had the most wonderful time today spending time with my girls. I offered to take them out on my last day home and Erika told about a new place downtown that was wonderful; Bassett Street Brunch Club. We had a ton of fun. I love to hear the girls laughing. They laugh a lot when they are together. They argue a lot too, but I try to ignore that.

It was a steamy day in Madison, so I wasn't very motivated to get much done. I ran a few errands for the girls, went to the pool to get my last swim in for a couple of weeks and then got to packing. I had piles of stuff organized but I needed to get it in my suitcase and backpack. It all fits but I'm not sure about my carry on stuff. I have until 10am tomorrow to figure it out. For now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy some Netflix with the fan blasting and hope it rains.

Saturday Preparations

Balt and I started the morning at the dog park. There were lots of other dogs there so it made the walking a bit more fun for Balt. I chatted with an aquaintence from church about Jessi's Naval Academy adventures. People really like to hear about that. I spent some time in the morning with Jeannie's dogs (the photo is of Muddy) and then went to Costco to stock up on food for the girls while I am away. I made sure to get dog food, just in case and lots of frozen pizza and pasta. I spent way too much and still have to go to the grocery store tomorrow for other stuffs. 

I spent some time setting up a new tablet I got for the trip and testing my camera and posting a test blog post. Starting Monday I will posting on the go. Once I felt everything would work out fine, I made my way to the pool. The weather today was much cooler than yesterday and bit windy, but the water is always perfect. I got a great swim in and then came home and got ready for a grad party. I had a nice dinner chatting with lots of moms. I came home and took Balt for another good walk. I am afraid he may not get as much walking in while I am gone. I spent some time on my self portrait painting. I left it in the kitchen and something spilt on it, so now I have a lot of fixing up to do. I was tempted to toss it and start over again, only, I knew I would not start again until next month and it would not look the same. We'll see how it goes.

Happy 4th of July

I spent the morning checking on dogs, picking raspberries, sipping coffee, watching the news and then making a big flag cookie that Balt eventually ruined. Erika asked about having a BBQ for dinner, so she made her list and I went to the grocery store to get burgers, brats, buns, watermelon, chips and dip. I refused to buy beer. I told her that her friends could take care of that and they did! Monika invited a few of her friends too and there was plenty of food for all. Erika did all the set up and cooking.

I spent several hours at the pool in the afternoon which was quite glorious. I finished my book and now need to decide on what to start reading for my Europe trip. I went out to dinner with an old friend and got back in time to hep with clean up. Of course I was stuck with most of the clean up (although Monika's friend, Sylvan, helped out, which was super nice). Everyone left for fireworks and I took Balt for a nice long evening walk with the mosquitos. I can hear the fireworks going off, but I'm exhausted and glad to be laying in my bed ready for sleep.

Beautiful Day

I slept in this morning. It's was the first time I got 8 hours in a very long time. I've been averaging 6-7 hours a night, which isn't enough. I don't know why it's so easy to wake up so early during the summer time. Balt and I walked to Starbucks for breakfast and enjoyed some time in the sunshine outside side chatting with my mom on the phone. I went to the pool to get a good swim in and enjoy more sunshine. It never got very hot today (a high of 76 around 3pm) but the sun was out and the sky was blue.

I ran a few errands and then this evening Jessi and I went to a Spinning class. It may have been 10 years since I had been to a class. Jessi had been to one in high school. We both got a great work but I am going to be sore tomorrow. Jessi did not like that it works primarily her legs as she likes to get a total body workout. I just need to get my heartrate up and burn calories. As much as I love yoga, spinning does a much better job of giving my heart the workout it needs. 

Taking Care of Business Day

The day started with a 7am dentist appointment for Jessi. She had 3 fillings to fill from last year plus a teeth cleaning. I walked Balt while I was waiting for Jessi and got a call from Erika that she had locked both of her car keys in her car last night. She left the car downtown and went home with a friend. I met her downtown with her friend to wait for the locksmith. This is the second time she's done this in less than 4 months and yes, I was frustrated. The whole idea of having two sets of car keys is to keep them both out of the car when it gets locked. The only nice thing about the situation is that I got to spend a bit of my morning with her. 

I finished up the final touches on the school's parent newsletter and then went into school to check on the last of my orders. I really cut things to the edge this year in spending all of my funds and even ended up with a unspent funds for the first time since I started teaching. Josh and I pooled our money to purchase tablets for the computers so that we can use them in our digital classes next year. It will certainly be an exciting addition to our teaching. I came home and actually started packing for Europe. It's early yet, but I needed to know what I was wearing and whether I needed anything. I wanted capris and didn't seem to have any. I'm not sure what happened to all the ones I used to have, so I did a bit of shopping. I ended up buying another skort and a nice pair of kahki capries. I got the oil changed in my car so that while I was gone I would not have to worry about fluid levels since the girls will be driving it around.

I made a really nice indian veggie saute with brown rice for dinner. Jessi is house sitting for friends and Monika passed out early since she had a sleepover last night. I spent some time reading my book, "Wheat Belly" and relaxing. The day was too cool for the pool. I'll be happy to see it warm up for the weekend!

Maleficent (2014)

After a pretty boring Summer day doing all the typical Summer stuff-- early morning coffee, dog walk, clean up, errand running and big swim-- I finally got my first summer movie in. Tuesdays at the Point are only $5 for any movie. I was invited to join in with my gal pals KG & PD. We bumped into plenty of students and alumns which always makes it more interesting. 

The movie is good; slightly over-produced and totally overly exaggerated checkbones and eye glowing, but it works. The story is a "Wicked-like" re-write of Sleeping Beauty where the villainess has been misunderstood in the original and now we are getting the real story. There's an unmistakable feminist undertone. Maleficent turns into the "bad guy" after her wings are cut from her body while sleeping under the influence of a potion given to her by the man she loves. "It's a symbolic assault with sexual overtones, specifically an attack that occurs after a woman has passed out. Maleficent doesn't just lose her wings; they're stripped from her, against her will. The attack is also a maiming or disfigurement that, in this context, feels like a gender specific physical "message," drawn from a continuum that includes everything from the punitive hacking off of a woman's long hair to clitoridectomy." (Matt Zoller Seitz) 

Angelina Jolie is really good and I'm not even a fan. I read somewhere that her daughter played the young Aurora-- the scene is adorable. In the end, it is not the young prince's kiss of true love that awakens the sleeping Aurora from her cursed sleep but a mother's kiss (okay, it wasn't her real mother but it was mother-like figure). I didn't see that coming, but it made perfect sense. In the end there's only ONE person who will love you as unconditionally and unwaveringly to help you from the curse you've been handed. Yes, it's your mother (or the woman who you see as your mother), because true love really doesn't exist.