Visit with Toni Buzzeo

                Toni Buzzeo, entering her writing cottage

I have writing space envy!  This week's favorite thing is my visit with Maine author Toni Buzzeo.  Toni is the author of several children's books and professional guides for teachers.  We had a lovely visit and she showed me her brand new writing studio; an adorable cottage just a few feet from her historical home in rural Buxton, Maine.

Toni explained that she was inspired to build the cottage after hearing from other authors who had established writing cabins for themselves and declared that it had "..changed their lives.."  I can understand why!  It would be easy to immerse yourself in creative thought in such an exquisite environment.  The hexagon cottage with domed roof has beautiful details, both inside and out.

To hear Toni explain how the cottage was built and see the interior, click on the link below:

Toni's Homepage

Thanks for the fabulous tour and the wonderful books to bring to the children at Bliss Charity School!

Visas

This week my favorite thing could easily be seeing the new Harry Potter film with my son, Andrew.  We're both huge fans and it was phenomenal!  However, as incredible an experience as this was - and as much as seeing the defeat of Voldemort stirs my geek soul - it pales in comparison to getting our visas.

Getting a visa is a fairly complicated process.  There are pages of on-line documents to complete with directions that are ominous but not always clear.  And our first trip to Homeland Security to have our fingerprints scanned was unsuccessful as I didn't realize Abbie needed her own form and appointment.  Back to the computer for more forms, another appointment, scans, pictures, documents, and overnight mailings.  An initial denial adds a little drama to our story.  More paperwork, documents, notarized letters, emails.....perhaps a therapeutic glass of wine, a few choice words muttered under my breath.  I try not to share my tale of anxiety and woe with people who would also worry.  I can worry enough for us all.  I am a champion worrier....headed for the Olympic Worrying Team but I went Pro instead.  But as of today Abbie and I both have visas and we are truly and officially going on this adventure!  Clearly, this would have been easier with a wand!

Maine Book Project

Summer days like these remind me of Barbara Cooney's beautiful illustrations of the coast of Maine and the wonderful story of Miss Rumphius.  This week's favorite thing is my Maine Book Project.  I thought it would be nice to bring a small library of books about Maine themes by Maine authors to the UK with me.  Fortunately, Maine has a wealth of talented children's book authors.  A big thank you to artists Jean Swan and Juliette Mitchell for their incredible artwork on the book bags, some of which are pictured above.  And thank you to local authors Mary Train, Jennifer Richard Jacobson, Kevin Hawkes, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and Toni Buzzeo for helping with books.

Also a big thank you to Delorme maps for a map of the State of Maine for my classroom and Representative Meredith Strang Burgess for both an American flag and a Maine flag to bring with me to the UK.  I truly appreciated not only the material objects, time and talent that people donated to my book project but also their kind words of support and encouragement on my teaching adventure.  Thank you!

The Town of Cumberland

Every journey begins at home, and our home is the idyllic town of Cumberland, Maine - this week's Favorite Thing.  As I write this on July 4th the weather is beautiful; our Maine summer is in glorious bloom.  The picture above, taken at the annual Memorial Day Parade a month ago, shows the American flags that line Main Street this time of year.  The parade is always led by a local boy in a Revolutionary War costume.  I hope no one across the pond still holds a grudge!

Cumberland has been a fabulous place to raise my children.  It's a place where when you say, "turn left at the light" people know exactly where you are because there's only one traffic light in town.  Food Stop is where people meet in the morning for coffee. And where they pick up their pizza on Friday night. High school sports teams are followed and people show up to the fall musical, whether they have children who are teenagers or not. Kay Fowler always has great stuff at the Saturday Farmer's Market. And Police Beat usually includes a skunk that has been "dispatched".

Being a teacher in this town is a huge honor.  I get to see the kids I've had in class grow and change. I make friends with a few families along the way.  And Jan, the children's librarian, lets me take out stacks of books at a time.  It is a privilege I don't take lightly.

I am enormously fond of this town. So, we are not running away, but rather adventuring to some place.  With fireworks and all, we head out from The Shire.

Beginnings

"Mom, I want to study overseas next year but I don't want to go by myself."  These are the words that started our Fulbright adventure last February.  After going to a high school meeting about studying abroad, my daughter was intrigued but not quite ready to leave her own nest.  So we decided to try and figure out how to move the nest instead.  And a Fulbright teaching exchange provided the answer.  

This blog will chronicle our adventures living in the UK for the next year.  For as long as I can remember my children and I have shared "good news" at the kitchen table every night.  Following this tradition, my posts will be the good news for the week, the top highlights of our journey.  As my son Andrew likes to point out, "Mom, that's not really a journal."  Andrew is a very good writer, but what I know from living a little longer is that I can remember bad news all on my own.....I don't need to record it.  And, as my other son Ian notes, "The rules have always been 'if you share a bad news then you have to say two good things'" That sounds like too much writing to me!