Minnesota Ice

Our first experience of black ice today. Except we were coming down an enormous hill at the time, and really had no idea it was quite that bad. Luckily we were sort of able to limp down the road using the gutter and grass verge for grip. Curtailed our day out though – obviously the reason why we were the only ones on the road.

We are due one foot of snow this evening. If I slide down my drive backwards tomorrow morning, I am getting out and we’ll have a snow day. After all, T and I are getting quite good at the learning at home. We are now onto the ‘ch’ sound. “Think of a word beginning with ‘ch’”, “Don’t know”. “How about something you are sitting on?”, I prompted. “Ch….ottom?”.

Reinforcing my idea that T is, in fact, the reincarnation of someone’s Nan, she very seriously piped-up from the back seat this morning “Mummy? You know, when I turned 5, I was happy, but very sad to say good-bye to 4”.

We received a parcel for one of the other neighbours at our address yesterday. I wanted to take it round, but quite frankly I have been put off that sort of neighbourly behaviour since we went next-door and realised they were butchering that morning’s hunt from a tree in their back-garden.

Instead I looked up the name on whitepages.com. Not only did it say “Kurt xxx, Aged 43. Is this correct?”, but also had the name and age of other adults at the same house. Bit intrusive.
Last Thursday was T’s cross-cultural training day. She had great fun talking about how she felt when she left, and how she feels now, and making a book called “T goes around the world”. She took it into school the next day, and it was lovely to see all the little kids gathered round as she “read” it out.

The teacher took us to eat at Chipotle, a fast-food Mexican place. It's pronounced Shee-POHt-lay" and you just know that there is some unfortunate three year-old who is constantly being introduced as a testament to their parents' ability to get on a plane.

Her school play was on Friday. It was about a child who goes to sleep and time-travels through different periods. T’s was the 1970s. It was a great success, marred only by one of the young dinosaurs laying out a pterodactyl. It was fun for me too, as I got to help out with the costumes and scenery.