Tuesday, July 10, 2018

July 10: The Cotswolds + Lucy at Camp

I have a really wonderful husband. He has his quirks, and even after almost 23 years of knowing each other I often cannot understand why he does the things he does. But he is so, so kind to me. He really listens to me. He really cares about the way I see the world. He really wants to make me happy.

I seem to be going through a significant life transition and facing some sad times ahead, so I was crying again this morning as Erik and I drove to the Cotswolds, which is a beautiful area of rolling green hills dotted with picturesque towns. I spilled out all my feelings and he did such a good job just listening and trying to understand and then expressing support and compassion and validation. By the time we arrived in Chipping Campden I felt so much better, and just hugged him all day long.

He had to do some work during the day but I was so grateful to have him with me. I thought I would enjoy time alone this week the way I loved exploring alone in Spain, but I am finding that the last thing I want to do is venture out by myself. Maybe that's because in Spain I had four very young kids and never got time to myself. But now my kids are so independent and I know Lindsay is leaving me soon, and I get plenty of time by myself during the school-year. I miss the kids so much it hurts and I feel so lonely and melancholy with them gone. So anyway I was so grateful that Erik came with me on this adventure (the other option was me taking the train by myself, since I do NOT want to try driving on the left side, especially on the freeway!). We started in Chipping Campden, then went to Stow-on-the-Wold for lunch, where we had sandwiches and learned that they call curried chicken salad "coronation chicken" because it was invented for the queen's coronation, and we also ate a glazed lemon cake that we agreed was the best thing we have eaten on our whole trip, and we ended in the beautiful ancient Roman city of Bath.

Here are photos, none of them containing people because Erik was working on his phone while I wandered around and I didn't feel like taking selfies. :) It ended up being a beautiful day, and we had delicious Greek food on the way home, which reminded me of my beloved siblings and our Greece trip exactly one year ago this week. I miss and love them!!!

Here is the stuff I saw. It was all very Stanford-golden and I loved it. And then Courtney texted me while I was sitting in the cathedral so it was like she was sitting there next to me. Boy am I grateful for my sisters.

Also, I told the kids to share something about their summer camp, and characteristically, Lucy is the only one who has done it so far. :) Here's a journal entry from Lucy, followed by pictures from the Cotswolds.

(July 10, 2018):
We woke up today at 6:30 and got ready for the day. For breakfast, I ate a chocolate croissant, beans, a hash brown, orange juice, and lots of sausage. After breakfast, we went to our first class. My Shakespeare teacher and I spent almost the entire time reading Twelfth Night. Reading it with her really ensured that I actually understood what was going on, so that was nice. We did, however, start from the beginning which I found strange because I had already read the entire first act the night before. But it didn’t really matter because we got through almost all of act 2 as well. In the next class (The History of the Tudors), it was basically the exact same as yesterday, but I took four pages of notes instead of three. For lunch, Lindsay and I went with the same group of girls to Subway, and then to Sainsbury’s where we got Magnum bars. Linz and I bought a box that had three inside so I suggested that we give the third one to a homeless man who was sitting right outside. He was very grateful :). After lunch, we went back for our elective class- mine is called Profile Your Personality. It’s a psychology class where we talk about personalities, memory, mental illnesses/disorders, etc. It was fascinating, and even though it was three hours long, I was never bored! I was one of seven people in my class which seems tiny but felt huge in comparison to the other classes. After class, we went back to our rooms and had dinner soon after. For dinner, I ate a sort of chicken curry thing, some flatbread, rice, broccoli, and potatoes. It wasn’t very good. After dinner, we went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was maybe one of the worst shows I have ever seen. I know that the play itself is amazing, but this production was absolutely pathetic. It was some of the worst acting, costuming, and everything… I had ever seen in my life. It was also painfully long. Some people left at intermission because it was so awful. When it finally ended, Lindsay and I speed-walked back and got to the rooms before anyone else, and showered. I then organized my desk and put all of my clothes into the closet. It felt very nice to clean everything up and feel prepared for the next day. I’m now going to stretch, do my physical therapy, and then go to bed. Goodnight! Or as they say here in Great Britain, “YEET YOTE”. 

















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