Everything is Tickety-Boo

This morning I found myself at Granola, a most wonderful little coffee shop in Oxford. Yesterday my friend Joy introduced me to it and I fell in love.  So this morning.... I went right back.  I sat downstairs this time and felt happy in my cozy little corner reading and drinking coffee.  I sent a text to Joy telling her I was at Granola again because I enjoyed so much the first time.  Later she texted back saying, she'd forgotten her phone at home but at the very same time she had been sitting upstairs in the same coffee shop....

My cozy spot

Outside the window of my little spot

I think I may paint this on our bathroom door just for fun

I stumbled into a shop filled with handmade goods on my way to the market and saw this little book that said "Tickety Boo!"  I took a picture thinking I would look it up later to see what it meant.  I love new words and while I don't see myself incorporating tickety boo into my vocabulary, I was still intrigued.  

And what I found was this on urban dictionary....

          

tickety-boo
	1. Going smoothly, doing all right. Copacetic. 2. Proceeding quickly. This expression may have originated in Scotland, where it's the title of a popular children's song. A song called "Everything Is Tickety-Boo" was recorded by Danny Kaye as part of the film "Merry Andrew". This expression is heard more often in Canada nowadays. May have originated in the British military. Possibly related to the Hindi expression "tickee babu", meaning "everything's alright, sir". Some people spell it "diggity boo" or "tiggity boo". Everything is tickety-boo, tickety-boo, tickety-boo...

               

And this charming video of Danny Kaye in Merry Andrew.......

Everything is tickety boo, tickety boo, tickety boo, everything is tickety boo on such a dreamy day

Who could be persnickety poo, snickety poo, snickety poo with the skies so blickety blue

So apparently, the weather here has been tickety boo.  Blue skies, 75 degrees and sunny with a breeze~ my favorite! Before I even finished this post, I heard the thunder rolling and within minutes, the beautiful blue skies had turned to gray.  The wind is blowing, the rains are beating loudly on the roof above my head, and in just a few minutes I will put my wellies on, grab my umbrella and walk to get Max from school.  I really love a good thunderstorm and don't mind the rain at all when we've had a few days of sunshine!

So no persnickety poo over here.  We are tickety boo!

Dream the Dream

I know you've probably seen this before.  But some things, like a favorite bedtime story, can be listened to over and over again.

I honestly feel inspired watching Susan Boyle.  I'm imagining Susan in her little village, singing to herself and thinking she'd like use this voice that she has, but wondering how and when she would ever get the chance.  She hears about Britain's Got Talent and decides to give it a go.

I love her un-assuming way.  She walks out on that stage not really expecting much, but she is hoping.  If it weren't for hope, she never would've come here.  She seems painfully oblivious to the jeering and snickering coming from audience and judges alike.

She's been written off before she ever sings a note.  Maybe it was her dress... she looked like she could be going to a wedding, or a funeral, or church.  Maybe people wrote her off because she was older than most who dared to dream.  Maybe she wasn't very well spoken, or maybe she simply just didn't look the part and this seemed a waste of everyone's time.

Either way, most had likely planned to settle in for 2 or 3 minutes of laughing when the music started.  Some were nervous for her that she would make a fool of herself. Mockery was in the air.  

Then Susan, like she'd done a million times before (only this time people were listening to her),  opens her mouth and begins to sing.

And then.  Before the first measure of the song is over, the jaws of judges have dropped and their perception of her changes in an instant.  One swallows hard.  One breathes deep.  They are filled with awe.  The crowd is already going wild.  They had all been wrong about her..... very wrong.

I love this right to the end... and I'm reminded of the times where I too, have been in the seat of the judge that has decided too soon.

A Weekend Away

DTI (Dreaming the Impossible) is the UK Vineyard youth gathering held every year in May, 3 hours NE of Oxford.  Both Olivia and Luke left last Friday for this amazing weekend away, returning Monday night with endless stories of their experience.  This was the first time either one of them had gone to some youth event without either Jeff or myself being a part of it in some way, and we were excited for them to have the opportunity to get away from us and just be themselves in the wild and wacky world of teenagers.  Although the kids packed sleeping bags and air mattresses, it wasn't until arriving on the campgrounds that Luke realized he would actually be camping.... like in a tent.  Until that point he'd thought he was camping in a cabin.   Since we have had record rainfall this past month, it was a miracle that the rain held off for the weekend. Still it was pretty brisk and in Olivia's words, "I honestly don't ever remember being colder in my whole life."  In spite of freezing all weekend, Olivia and Luke both had great fun.

What youth camp would be complete without something really disgusting being fed, dumped or otherwise forced upon the youth leaders?  But these people took it to a whole new level.  Several youth leaders names were drawn for the ultimate camp challenge.  Eating things like hot peppers, baby food and dog food..... I've seen it all before... But then they were fed mealworms on toast, live locusts and pig snout, ear and heart!!!  And what's more, they got buckets of maggots thrown on their heads.  It's almost too much for me to write..... Maggots are one of the nastiest things on earth. I find them so repulsive that if I find them in the trash can, I'd rather buy a new one than clean them out.

Needless to say, the kids were exhausted after their camping adventure.  Tuesday morning I woke the kids up for school and was met with moans all around.  When Max heard me discussing with Luke the possibility of him staying home from school, Max's head sprang from the pillow and he looked at me and said, "WHAT? I never get to stay home from school."  He tried to come up with some quick and valid reasons why He should also be allowed to skip school (or skive, as they call it here). At the end of listing his reasons, he said "PLUS, Tuesdays are my worst day for school.  I just don't like the word and we have to do so much literacy on Tuesdays!"  I quickly buried my head in his pillow so he wouldn't see me laugh.  I have heard lots of excuses for not wanting to go to school, but not liking the word Tuesday has never been one of them. Max scored some points for creativity.

Every group participating in DTI made a video representing their group that would be shown and voted on at camp.  Below is the video that the Oxford Vineyard group created.  Much fun and well done!

Some of the youth working on the first phase of the video

*To watch in full screen click the YouTube icon in the bottom right hand corner

Childhood Friendship

***2 Disclaimers: 1) this post is about 2 months late  2) be forewarned that it contains at least 30 photographs.... I just couldn't narrow it down any further than that.

It's a beautiful thing.  Max and Dillon have been friends for 4 years, nearly half of their lives.  The sadness they've both felt with us moving was immense.  Since September, they have kept in touch through creative Skyping.  Have you ever seen boys 'wrestle' and laugh, play games and listen to music together, tell each other about their school day and watch Sponge Bob together.... all on Skype?  Even though miles separate, they have found ways to stay alive and well in each others' hearts.  They've traded animals and toys just to make sure the other has a piece of them with them at all times.

Shortly after we moved to Oxford, Dillon and his grandpa were having a conversation about where Dillon would like to go on their 'guy trip'.  When Dillon's idea of a Chicago Bulls game became doubtful because of their strike, Dillon said, "We could go to England to see Max." His grandpa said, "yeah, we could do that."  The tears started rolling down Dillon's face at the thought of that possibly becoming a reality.  After much thought, it was decided that Dillon would fly with his dad (Greg) and grandpa (Gary) to see his best friend in February.  Dillon discovered the plan was actually going to happen through a scavenger hunt his family made for him for his birthday.  The whole thing was set up with clues leading him to the final clue of a toy airplane with (real) tickets to England.  A few minutes later, Dillon skyped Max to tell him the news. I wish I had that moment captured on video!  After the initial shock and disbelief, Max ripped his shirt off, lassoed it around his head like a cowboy and took off running in circles through the house.

The months of waiting were made easier just knowing they would see each other soon.

Here are some highlights of their time together (many of the photos compliments of Greg):

Max- out of breath from RUNNING off the bus and through the city to get to Gloucester Green Station where he knew Dillon was waiting...

Walking on Air

Dillon getting his first experience on a double decker bus.... screeching all along the way as it looks from the top like the bus is going to hit people.

 Lots to catch up on....

 Dillon caring for animals, yes even the pigeons,  everywhere we went...

 Skyping mom and sister back home.

Blenheim Palace 

 Boys just being boys...

 And some serious video gaming....

Gary bought this for the kids (who had been wanting it for months)....

 Oh man, just look at those faces.

This was the saddest moment of all.  But we are all so thankful for the time spent with Dillon, Greg and Gary.  We had a wonderful time together and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Dillon's request was extravagant.  And his parents and grandpa gave an extravagant gift. It all made me think about myself as a child of God and how He loves for his kids to ask for extravagant gifts.  He's not bothered by our requests.  He's a Giver and a Lover and he loves to give good gifts to his children.

What I wouldn't do to go to Walmart

I'm not a big Walmart shopper.  I'm not saying I don't occasionally get sucked into their "Back to School" sale, or have to go there to find some random item I can't find anywhere else.  But in general, I like to avoid the giant superstore and the culture experience that it provides every time.  Let's not even talk about the parking.  

I find myself, however, wanting to go to Walmart these days.  When you go to seven different stores looking for a shower curtain liner and have scoured the country (without success) for a pitcher to make iced tea in, Walmart sounds like a dream.  

This video is probably funnier once you've lived in England for any length of time, but maybe it's funny just to see Walmart from a British perspective.  

I especially like the cheese and cereal comments because in England, the cheese section in the grocery store is as big as our cereal aisle and their cereal aisle is even smaller than our cheese section.  In case you don't find it funny initially that the boys zoom in on the sign "Try pork tonight.  And enjoy something extraordinary"..... just realize that they eat pork for just about every meal.  

Entire Cereal Section