The Weekend: the one I almost didn't survive.

Early last week we said goodbye to my cousin, Ben and his girl friend Emelie who stopped by before they closed off their two month long trip to Europe. That marked the end of our visitors…for just over two weeks anyway, until Ben’s parents come mid-November. With the exception of a few days we had gorgeous weather for our guests and Autumn was, truly, at its best.

It was so nice to see familiar faces and share Cambridge with them but I have to admit, it wasn’t until we had others get an inside look at our lives that I realized our life is somewhat peculiar and not-so-typical….and suddenly my many nights without Ben started to bother me. I might note, however, that this is nothing new. In Alberta, I had the same complaint: I felt trapped, like a prisoner in my own home (I know, I am so extreme). That is how I felt in a town where I had endless support of friends and family. So this weekend when I was unsuccessful in finding a babysitter for Friday or Saturday night my attitude turned pretty sour. After a very busy week Ben was to conduct Vivaldi’s Gloria on Saturday night. Being Guy Fawkes day, I recognized that babysitters might be hard to come by so I thought I might try to take in some of the 10 hours of rehearsal that he had on Friday. No luck with that either. I preface the recap of our weekend with this sob story simply because I don’t want you to fall victim to the assumption that life in Cambridge is all roses (only 90% of the time) or that our picturesque, super-mom day was all daisies. I just tried to make the most of it and here is how it went.

Saturday morning was Open Day at Sancton Wood School. This is a morning where families can come and see the school, have a tour, meet the teachers, etc. They had asked the students if they could come so other parents could see what they do. I thought, since Jakob is always asking to go to school on Saturday that this would be a nice treat….for him.

It also gave me a chance to capture a bit of his day and share it with you.

While Jakob was at school however, Ben, Ella and I went out for coffee at Savino’s devoured chocolate croissants fresh out of the oven: a nice Saturday morning treat. We chatted about plans and what’s next even though, there is no real way of knowing until months from now. But of course, he was off in no time to rehearsal.

I picked up Jakob from school and told him he could have anything he wanted for lunch thinking his choice would be “fries and chicken and pop”. We have yet to visit the McDonald’s here and I felt that I had deprived him long enough. (Yes there is one but it is tastefully tucked away). Much to my surprise , however, he went for his second most requested meal: Pasghetti….until he saw Wagamama’s and we went there instead. As I have mentioned before Cambridge is a VERY busy city for its small size and Wagamama’s was no exception. I gathered up all my supermom powers and got them settled with “not so kid friendly nor kid sized” noodle bowls and thus began adventure number one. We survived. And I thanked my lucky stars that I put Audrey in an extra layer before shoving her in my diaper bag as usual otherwise I would have one apple-juice logged 60D.

From there we headed to the Library where I told Jakob he could pick a movie out to watch that night. The Library is always a success and my kids always love it. After a good play, we hopped on the bus up to Churchill College to say hi to daddy. Ben actually belongs to St. Edmunds college as pictured below.

But to be honest he has found his home at Churchill. He spends much more time at Churchill and it is where many friends have been made outside his program. One of which is a Fellow and the Director of Musical Activities even though he is a Chemist. Among many other aspects I love Cambridge because one person can and does wear many hats. Everyone has a job, such as wine steward, or dining room steward and there is camaraderie between Fellows, Masters, often Students, even staff. Ben has shared many meals at Churchill and I am thankful for his rapport there.

That being said the place is….not quiet what you would expect a Cambridge College to look like.

No amount of Photoshop knowledge can make this place look like anymore than concrete cigar boxes, which is what one tour guide said they were modelled after. It was built in the 60’s and is true to the time. I was reminded of this as I gazed at Andy Warhol’s rendition of Marilyn Munroe whilst I drank port and ate cheese last weekend at the Churchill Fellow’s dinner…which I just realized I didn’t blog about. Wow! What an experience. I don’t have any pictures of the evening but it was spectacular. The 6 course meal was delectable and each innovative dish was served with an appropriate wine pairing. The company was entertaining and pleasant and each one added their own dimension to the evening from the Fellow who recently auditioned for the TV show Wipe Out to the experiment conducted on the candelabras whilst we had our after-dinner port and cheese.

Anyway, carrying on with the weekend, after we said a quick hello to Ben we slowly, whinily (is that a word…it should be) walked a kilometre and a half back to the main area of Churchill and to the bus stop. Jakob asked me why daddy’s school (the chapel at Churchill) was so far away. To which I replied, “A man named Crick didn’t think they should have a chapel and so it was built as far away from the main college as possible” I admit, sometimes I just don’t have the right answers for a four year old.

We quickly grabbed some hot chocolate in town before opting out of the Fireworks display and headed home.

Guy Fawkes Day…one of the only…okay THE only Autumn holiday in the UK and it is to commemorate the burning of a man at the stake. Bigger than Thanksgiving…bigger than Halloween. Bonfire night (to represent the fire that burned him) and fireworks. I am sure it is a good time, that, like Halloween in North America builds community and gives an excuse for a big party. I am sure it would have been fun, but last year, my eldest threw himself face first into a snow bank because the noise was too much for him. I didn’t feel like chancing it given there is no snow here and just the river…or a bonfire. The fireworks, nonetheless went on late into the evening and we cozied up with popcorn and a movie.

Today, being Sunday, we headed to church and Ben was actually able to come with us. Which was good otherwise I probably would have marched right out of there, screaming four year old in tow. My exhausted boy, instead fell asleep on Daddy’s lap: a much better alternative.

I wasn’t ready to face anything else however and after church, when we would have normally headed into town for lunch, we came straight home and home is where we stayed…

Thankfully Ben prepared for the service at home I was able to do some crafty stuff which I can’t wait to show you…but this will have to wait.

And here I am, my daughter, stinky beside me, yawning away at 10:30pm. Yeah, you know the nap thing? Well she had a nap today… I put her down at 3pm and she didn’t wake up until 9:15pm. I tried to wake her up a couple times but she seemed so tired that I thought she might sleep straight through. But no. She woke up, ate her spaghetti, had a bath and is still awake. Oh Ella…I love you…but you will be the death of me.

So there it is. The weekend: if Ben hadn’t stayed home this afternoon I am sure I would be rocking in some corner but we are all alive and well. Tomorrow is a new day and a new week. Cheers!