Visiting Greatdaddy

Today was spent mostly on the road. There was a Blackburn Institute breakfast event featuring former HEW Cabinet Secretary David Matthews this morning at 7:30 AM, so we left Monroeville at the crack of dawn in order to make it to the event. Dr. Matthews' talks and discussion groups are always interesting, and this one proved to be no exception. He asked the group to describe and discuss our generation, and he asked very questions and took notes throughout the discussion. It was fascinating to hear to commentary of some of the Blackburn student fellows, many of whom were clearly more interested in sounding smart than in coming up with accurate descriptions and others of whom were sincerely trying to give thoughtful, well-reasoned responses. All-in-all, it was a very worthwhile hour and a half.

Following breakfast, we met my grandmother, Maw Maw, at Books-a-Million and preceded towards Birmingham for the real purpose of our trip north. I really wanted to be sure to see my great-grandfather, Greatdaddy, before going back to England. He is 93 and lives in an assisted living facility outside of Birmingham- but he was older than 90 when he moved there! For most of my life, Greatdaddy and his wife Nana lived together in their house in Eutaw, Alabama. He was in perfect health until she died a few years ago, after which he began to slowly lose his memory, though his physical health remains excellent. He knows who most of his relatives are but gets some of us confused with each other at this point. Thus, I decided it would probably be a good idea to ask Maw Maw, who is his daughter, to go with us to see him. She agreed and also invited her sister, Aunt Judy, and brother-in-law, Uncle Wayne to join us. They came and brought their young grandson, Holden, whom I had never met before. 

Though Greatdaddy was somewhat confused about who some of us were, he seemed to enjoy having us stop by. I took the Creative Memories digital wedding album that Mom made for my and showed it to him. He was at my wedding, but he doesn't remember it, and he liked seeing pictures of everyone. 

After completing our visit with him, the six of us (Maw Maw, Aunt Judy, Uncle Wayne, Holden, Will, and me) went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, after which Will, Maw Maw, and I headed back south.

Visiting Granna

Today we drove down from Monroeville to Gulf Shores to visit Granna. We had planned to leave Monroeville early enough to get to Gulf Shores in time for lunch; but we had a bit of a surprise this morning. As we were getting the car packed, we got a call from Dad, who called my phone and asked to speak to Amanda. I handed the phone over to her, and I went back to what I was doing, and a few minutes later she informed me that her Aunt Cydell was in town. Apparently, she showed up at MawMaw & PawPaw's hotel room this morning to go to MawMaw's doctor's appointment with her. After the appointment (where we got very good news), all six of us (MawMaw, PawPaw, Dad, Aunt Cydell, Amanda, and me) went to David's Catfish (one of the 100 Places in Alabama to Eat Before You Die; so far, I've been to nine, including David's). I was boring and got a cheeseburger; Amanda was equally boring and got a bowl of gumbo. Everyone else got something fish-related.

After finishing at David's, we hit the road to come down to Gulf Shores. We made it to Granna's about an hour before dinner, and are now camped out in her living room.

Visiting Cullman

After we checked out our brakes (the brake light was on, but it's apparently nothing serious), we headed north to Cullman this morning. We arrived around lunchtime. We've had a good visit so far, and we're planning to stay tonight and tomorrow night and then head back down to Monroeville on Saturday morning.

Nobody Likes a Funeral

Today was Grandmommy's funeral. Brother Mel did a very good job with it. It was sad.

After the funeral and the trip to the cemetery, we went back to Ethelsville Baptist Church for a reception. There was a lot of good food there. At the end, we went back to Grandmommy's house, where Amanda and I will spend the night. Tomorrow morning, we'll headed to Tuscaloosa for MawMaw's liver biopsy.

We did get a chance to meet Maranda's new boyfriend Cody tonight. He seems like a major improvement over the last few.

Getting There Is . . .

We left home at 7:40 pm GMT (1:30 pm CST) on Sunday, 18 January 2009. We arrived in Ethelesville at 12:15 pm CST (6:15 pm GMT) on Tuesday, 20 January 2009. It took us just under two days to make the trip, Exeter to London Paddington to Heathrow to Detroit to Atlanta to Monroeville to Ethelesville. The only time we weren't on the go was when we took six hours to sleep from midnight to 6 am on 20 January.

Christian Unity Sunday

Today was Christian Unity Sunday at church. As a result, Rev. Sails was off at another church, and we had an Anglican priest in his place. The priest is an Anglo-Catholic, which means he is an extremely high-church Anglican, much in the vein of Henry VIII (who was ardently Catholic in all but name, and just wanted to be in charge). He reported that he asked Rev. Sails "What order of service do you use?" and Rev. Sails replied, "Use whatever you like." The guy wasn't a huge fan of that answer. He was even less thrilled when he found out that he was expected to preach at 25-minute sermon in addition to planning the service. Apparently, he typically gives a 15-minute sermon, and isn't responsible for planning much, because he is Anglo-Catholic, and just opens a book, and *poof*, he knows what to do.

Much of the sermon was concerned with how much the Methodists and Anglicans need each other. Apparently, back in the 1970s, there was a movement to merge the two groups; however, the Anglicans voted against it. There seem to be some limited efforts to that effect in the works now; however, the broader effort is to promote understanding between the groups (as evidenced by groups like MethAng at the University of Exeter).

Pressed Flower Cards

Today, my schedule worked out so that I could finally make it to another meeting of Global Gathering, the group for wives of international students that I participated in some last term. I really enjoyed getting to see everyone again! Our activity of the day was making cards from pressed flowers. The flowers came from the garden of the group leader's father. Apparently, he loves pressing flower but never does anything with them afterwards. Last year, he gave her 11 telephone books full of pressed flowers, and she brought about four of those books to the table for us to use in card-making. Some of the flowers were absolutely gorgeous, and making the cards was both easy and fun. I plan to give mine to my mom, because she really likes pretty stationary. 

The Too-Cold Tour

Today, we went on the Heart of Exeter tour, or at least the first 30 minutes of it. We had planned to take the whole tour, but it was freezing cold outside, and the tour guide wasn't all that good.

We knew it was cold when we started on the tour, but it got a little bit colder as we went, and when we stepped in the shadow of the cathedral (which was several times on the tour), it was way too cold! We bailed out on the tour after a little over 25 minutes, after we had completed the circuit of the cathedral, and the tour was about to head for the High Street. We went into Waterstones, and through to Marks & Spencer for a few minutes to warm up. After that, we began our trek home.

The tour guide on this particular tour wasn't one of the better ones we've had. He was constantly having to rifle through his notebook because he forgot where he was and what he was supposed to be doing next, and he also didn't have answers to any of the questions that anyone asked him (which is rare). We're going to try the Heart of Exeter tour again sometime in the next few weeks, hopefully when it is warmer and with a better tour guide.

Last Day

Today was the last day of my temp position at Build-A-Bear Workshop, and I am a bit glum. I never thought I would miss working in a retail shop, but I really did enjoy my time there. What's not to love about a job that primarily consists of stuffing bears and bunnies and making up hilarious heart ceremonies for kids to do? It also can't have hurt that BABW was already one of my favorite places before I worked there. Happily, since I worked today when the new seasonal shirts were distributed, I got a Valentine's Day t-shirt to go with the Christmas one I got when I started working there. The shirts, along with the moose I got for Christmas and my lanyard will serve as great reminders of the fun I've had there. 

Yesterday, I marked the end of my tenure at BABW by buying one of the new "Lil Bunny Big Ears." I wanted to get it while I still worked there, because I was able to stuff it myself rather than having someone else do it for me. Afterwards, Nadia made up a heart ceremony for me to do, and Will took pictures and video of me doing it. I named my bunny "Devon Kaye," a combination of the British county in which Exeter is located and my middle name. I had a lot of fun with it, and the bunny is really cute.

Now that I officially no longer work at Build-A-Bear, I'm planning to join the Stuff Fur Stuff Club so that I can get discounts on my future purchases. After all, it's still one of my favorite shops, so I'll definitely be back soon. 

New Year’s Eve 2008

Tonight, for New Year's Eve, we decided to go out to a pub. So, around 10:30, we headed over to the Bowling Green, the pub across the street. We didn't have any cash, so we left in search of an ATM after we found that they charge 50p on debit card transactions.

Next, we stopped into the Horse & Dray, which, despite the sign in the window that said there was a party from 8 pm to midnight, was having a private party that began at ten. Flustered, we headed on down to the ATM outside Somerfield, which is about halfway up Sidwell Street. Once we got there, we pulled out £10, and began the walk back toward the Bowling Green.

On the way, we passed the Duke of York, and we decided to pop in. Now, the Duke of York is a much nicer pub than the Bowling Green. The Bowling Green looks like a late-20th century attempt at "rustic," with lots of raw wood and dim lighting. The Duke of York appears to have been built in the late 19th century, and is quite Victorian. It looks like it underwent its last major renovation in the late 1940s or early 1950s, which fits, as that would be appropriate to repair World War II bomb damage. There have obviously been some minor upgrades since then, such as the installation of a TV, replacement of light fixtures, and installation of new bar equipment, but the décor hasn't changed much. The Duke of York also has a fully equipped bar, which is another difference from the Bowling Green. Despite the aesthetic differences, the clientele of both pubs is pretty much the same, although those gathered at the Bowling Green tend to be a bit younger. From what I gather, the Bowling Green is more of a popular hangout for late teens and early 20s, whereas the Horse & Dray is for over 60s, and the Duke of York gets a little bit of each, plus all in between.

No idea what kind of people go to Henry's Bar, which is at the far end of Blackboy Road, but I assume that it's mostly middle-aged men, based on what I've seen outside smoking before.

After coming back home from the Duke of York, we took up position on our balcony to watch fireworks. At midnight, between ten and fourteen fireworks displays promptly began. We watched outside for about ten minutes before we were too cold (it was below freezing) and retreated back behind the shelter of our sliding glass door. We counted at least twelve fireworks displays, and there may have been as many as 15, one of which was less than 500 feet away (I believe at the school behind our building). Most of them were pretty far off; however, there were a couple that were within a mile. There were probably another half dozen or more in the other directions that the building kept us from being able to see from our balcony. We can see about a 190 degree arc of sky from where we are, including all of the city centre and the Streatham campus. We can also see fireworks from the outlying areas to the south. All in all, it's a pretty good seat!