My in-laws are currently in the air between London and New York. This means I can breathe again. The difference in my stress level is palpable. I'm sure theirs is going down too. They think I'm a magician by finding flights online and booking them, and I've been allowing them to perpetuate the mystery. If it takes people thinking I'm uniquely good at this online booking thing, then I guess I can handle it!
This is a picture of Lulu and her family at Heathrow. Compare this to the crazy lines in Marrakech. Lots of my facebook friends are now invested in their journey and have been cheering along as I post updates on their progress. I think we all can imagine getting stuck somewhere we've traveled and not feeling like there's a way to get home.
Now for a quick rant. The US Gov has finally started chartering flights from Marrakech, telling American Citizens in Morocco that they need to send all their info to the embassy via email and that they should only go to the airport if they receive a confirmation. Also, they're expecting the folks they fly out of there to sign a promissory note for about $1500 for the flight through London. This has angered many of the Americans stranded in Morocco b/c both the UK and the EU were on top of this way sooner, way more gracefully. Also because the US Embassy didn't provide any information for weeks and seemed only to be responding to the negative press about the situation, rather than proactively helping the stranded passengers (also closing all the doors and becoming impossible to reach via telephone and email).
Now that I spent 2 days working on my in-laws' travel, I'm back to homeschool. I took my friend Carole's advice and created little notes that Benjy could pull out of a bowl for a 45 minute activity. He loved that idea, and pulled playing a board game out of the bowl. We played Trivia Crack together and both enjoyed it. Alas, he doesn't know about the marathon Trivial Pursuit games we played when I was a kid. So far, though, he's quite good at it.
Also, Benjy's friend Simon has started a book club for about 10 kids on Harry Potter and Wings of Fire (which Benjy hasn't yet read). Next up will be grooming Ruby, cleaning the house, and maybe cutting Josh's hair. Ta Ta for right now. It might be time to get out of these PJs and maybe get some exercise. Stay tuned...more to come....
