Bill returned safely home on Friday. We are so glad to have him with us. He was gone for two weeks and we were worried he would have to stay in England longer due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. I'm very grateful to have Cindy Carver living with us. She has been a blessing to me. She does all the dishes and laundry before I can get to it. Plus, she's very patient with the children and they have lots of fun with her. I have to admit I get jealous sometimes because she is doing all the things I should be doing but can't. She has a possible job opportunity caring for an elderly lady and, although I would like to have my family and home to myself, she will be greatly missed.
Our back yard has been improved with raised planters and brick work. It's amazing how much bigger it seems. A lot of the renovation was done while Bill was away. Cindy and Mize, my elderly neighbor, are good workers and worked for two days shoveling dirt into planters. Mize is retired and when he saw us shoveling, asked if he could help. I'm very blessed with good neighbors on either side.

I am going to start working on getting my Young Women medallion...finally. It wasn't important to me when I was young, although I probably earned it. I just didn't bother to keep track. My goal is to read the Book of Mormon, of course, but also to focus on aquiring new skills that I can use as a mother. I have a feeling I will need to sew better since my girls will be tall and will probably have a difficult time finding modest clothes.

My brain is not functioniong well. By this I mean that I am more forgetful than usual. I went grocery shopping on Saturday and must have left my wallet in the shopping cart because I have not been able to find it anywhere. All of my credit cards, debit cards and checkbook were in it as well as my drivers license, hospital volunteer ID, new library card (the other one is lost) and health insurance card. I'm so mad at myself. I have such a sweet husband, though, who just squeezed my hand and pointed out that we don't have any money anyway because of hospital bills and backyard remodeling. So whoever took my wallet is going to be disappointed!

This was a discouraging week for me because my endocrinologist told me that I have two suspicious looking lymph nodes in my neck that might possibly be cancer and that I have another nodule in my lung that could possibly be valley fever or cancer. I just keeping putting my trust in Heavenly Father. I know He has a plan for me. I just hope it involves me seeing my children grow up.

Cambridge

As this is my first post, hopefully it will be a good one. As I do not yet count myself among those stranded in england due to the volcano eruption in Iceland, seeing the trend, how every day they expand the flying ban for another day, I expect to soon be caught in turmoil.

Well, I've spent enough time in Cambridge, UK, for it to start feeling familiar, so I decided to spend my day wandering around. I've collected a few pictures to post here, so those who read this who have not had the chance to visit Cambridge may live vicariously...

First of all, what do you need to know? Cambridge is in England. If you don't know where England is, it's the island that has a huge volcanic dust cloud hovering above it. OK, moving on...

Cambridge is North-North-East of London, about 50 minutes by train, 1h 30m by car. It is the home of the famous and highly-esteemed Cambridge University. Like Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series, it consists of many mostly-independent colleges that have grouped together under the banner of "Cambridge University". A student is not accepted to Cambridge University, rather, they are accepted to one of the colleges (King's college, Queen's College, etc). The main differences between these colleges are their emphasis, and how majestic their buildings are.

Cambridge is also very old. It was founded in 1209, a good 500 years before the U.S. They have lots and lots and lots of history. It is named after the river that runs through it, the Cam, and the first bridge built over the river (which I'll conveniently call The Bridge). Put them together, and Viola! Cam-Bridge. makes sense now, doesn't it?

One of the favorite pass-times here is Punting on the Cam. That's right. I said Punting. on. the. Cam. As you can see below, punting involves a boat, a long pole, and usually a lot of people running into other boats and getting their pole stuck in the mud.

Another interesting attraction is the large golden clock, seemingly ruled over by an oversized metallic grasshopper that seems to be right out of my bug nightmares. Not that I have bug nightmares, but if I did, I'm sure he would be the king of bugtown.

If you were to stand in this spot, looking at the clock, then turn around, you would see King's College Chapel (see the first picture in my post). This is not the oldest college in Cambridge, but it certainly is the largest.

Just around the corner is one of many pubs that serve beer, stout, draughts, and more beer. oh, and Fish N Chips and Bangers N Mash. And I've eaten both. Not at the same time, that would be crazy.

This is called The Eagle. It claims to have been around since the 1200's as well. It was a favorite hang-out of both English and American pilots during the world wars. There is a room inside where the ceiling has been 'graffittied' with squadron numbers and other messages that these pilots left for us.

Well, not much more to say right now. I'll just leave with another picture. I took it while walking, so now you know why.