I'll Miss You, President Hinckley

President Hinckley has passed away. (For the CNN story, click here.) He was the Prophet and President of the Church during many of the defining moments of my life: high school graduation, my move to New York, my mission, my decision to attend law school, my marriage, James' birth, our move to London . . . . I think I'll miss his sense of humor most.

The Reason

I called my mother in tears last night. I was having a panic attack brought on by several things, including my recent involvement in a website called Goodreads, on which a bunch of your friends try to make you feel as unintelligent, uncultured, and poorly read as possible (that's not really the point, I just feel like it sometimes). Anyway, my saintly mummy (I'm in England, people) reminded me of this Carol Lynn Pearson poem:

The Reason

A certain panic
Finds me
When I see
A forest, a train
A library.
So many trees to touch
Places
Faces yet to view
And, too
So many words to read.

If I concede
All space to earth
All time to life
The disproportion
Is absurd
(My tiny taste
And the giant waste
Of all creation
I've not known).
What a wretched
Faithless view
Of God's economy.

It isn't true.
The forest, the train
The library--
Are why we have
Eternity.

Thanks, Mom. I can breathe properly again.

T. Rex!

These are from the Natural History Museum, where there is a life-size, robotic model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. James loves dinosaurs. It was a good evening.

That was Tuesday. Wednesday morning, we visited the Science Museum with my friend, Stephanie, and her daughter, Eva. James was so cute with Eva, at one point taking her by the hand and leading her to something he thought was particularly exciting.

Today, we went to our favorite, the London Aquarium, to see the fish and sharks. We went with Hanna, a friend from church, and her son, Henry. James and Henry enjoyed sandwiches together in front of the Pacific-Ocean-themed shark tank.

Life is good.

Check Out Elna Baker

So I was listening to my This American Life podcast, as I am wont to do each week, when one of the stories particularly caught my attention. The story was called "Babies Buying Babies," by one Elna Baker. It was brilliant and funny, and I recommend you listen to it - it's the third act of the "Matchmakers" show from last week. Anyway, then I realized from the show that Ms. Baker is LDS, so I went to her website to find out more about her. That led me to a video clip of her on MySpace delivering a hilarious monologue about attending an LDS Singles Halloween dance (at the Manhattan Stake Center, I might add - where yours truly has attended many an LDS Singles Halloween dance many moons ago). Basically, I have started stalking this woman. And I think you all should, too.

JamesTV

That really is what he's saying. I know that Micah and I may be the only ones who can understand him.

The Hogwarts Express

I made a pilgrimage to King's Cross station yesterday.

Top Tens

Alicia, because you asked me if I miss Alpine, I dedicate this list to you:

The Top Ten Things I Miss about Living in Alpine, Utah

10. My household appliances: garbage disposal, dishwasher, washing machine, & dryer.

9. My beautiful gray recycling bin. You just roll it out to the curb, and you're done. There's no shoving recyclables into impossibly small openings in a collection container three blocks away.

8. Walking in Burgess Park.

7. The convenience of having a car.

6. Being able to walk to church.

5. Having a temple 10 minutes away.

4. The bountiful availability of buttermilk, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and corn tortillas.

3. Cafe Rio. Oh my, do I miss you.

2. Are you familiar with a little something called customer service? 'Cause the Brits aren't.

1. Being close to family and friends. I miss you all much more than I have probably expressed.

Of course, this post would be incomplete without:

The Top Ten Things about Living in London

10. Public transportation rocks! And being able to walk almost anywhere is fabulous.

9. Being within walking distance of several community centers with free playgroups for kids.

8. Free health care!

7. Being so close to so many exhibitions of performing and fine arts.

6. Being so close to so many exhibitions of historical significance (like King Tut's mummy right now at the O2, or the Chinese terracotta warriors at the British Museum).

5. Being so close to Platform 9 3/4, The Leaky Cauldron, and other Harry Potter points of interest (they may be fictional, but that doesn't make them any less real).

4. Actually knowing the missionaries and having them over for dinner often (this doesn't happen in Alpine).

3. Easy access to "the continent." (The trains to Paris depart from a station that is a 25-minute walk from our flat.)

2. Ordering groceries online. This has revolutionized my world - and not just because it feeds my borderline-OCD affinity for list-making.

1. Meeting new people . . . all the time. I love being part of such a diverse mixture of people.

Parenthood means . . .

. . . repetition. Today, Micah bought James a train set (our third) that is a little delicate for a kid who wrote the "I ride roughshod over everything" book. So Micah and I took turns building and rebuilding the track for the better part of the day. This is similar to another of James' favorite pastimes - knocking down towers of blocks we build for him. Who do you think has the upper hand in this relationship?

On the other hand, the kid can also be very sweet and funny. Yesterday, when we were going out to run errands, he stopped on the stairs, sat down, folded his arms, closed his eyes tight, and said, "Say prayer." We said a prayer, and he then happily climbed into his stroller. I guess repetition reinforces all kinds of behavior.

Overheard in London...

Okay, here is as close as I can get to an exact transcript of a conversation I had Monday night on our intercom with someone who buzzed up to our flat:

him: Are you open?
me: Is what open, the restaurant? (We live above a Japanese restaurant.)
him: No, upstairs.
me: Open for what?
him: You know.
me: Uh, no I don't.
him: A massage.
me: Oh, I think that they used to do that here, but not anymore.
him: (sarcastically) Really?
me: Really.
him: You sure you don't do it?
me: Quite sure.
him: Oh, come on!
I hang up.

See, the story goes that there really was a "massage parlor" in this building at one time - only in the other flat, not ours. So this would seem to confirm the rumors Micah heard... what a colorful place we live in!

Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas

I thought I should mention that James and I flew to Arkansas December 8th to visit my dad and stepmom. The day we arrived, we immediately drove from the airport to my Aunt Kay's in Springfield, Missouri to celebrate some family birthdays and early Christmas. We had a great time there with aunts, uncles, cousins, and cats. James was very energetic and excited to meet new people... and to pet the cats.

After a great weekend there, we got to spend time with Grandpa Tim and his dog, Kirby, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. James had just come from Tallahassee, where my brother has a dog named Yoshi. So James's favorite thing to do was keep repeating "It's not Kirby, it's Yoshi!" to us. He really knew it was a different dog, but I think he saw the constant back-and-forth of us explaining over and over again that it really was Kirby as a game. Like so much of his life.

The next weekend we visited my Grandmother Ada in Emporia, Kansas. James and I drove over from Arkansas with my sister, Meredith. It was a nice visit, but very snowy outside and cold.

The remainder of our trip was spent back with my dad and stepmom, Holly. Holly even took James for his first pony ride! We all had some fun times together and were sad to have to say goodbye. At least I was sad... I think Dad and Holly had had enough of James terrorizing their usually quiet home.

Disneyland!

Yeah, so I'll be going in reverse chronological order for a few posts. We returned to London on Sunday, December 30 after being in California for a week for the annual Disneyland trip with Micah's family. Micah posted a bunch of pictures of our trip here. This trip was extremely satisfying for all of us - Tat got to check off the last ride at the Magic Kingdom she had not yet been on (the Fire Engine on Main Street), Micah got to eat at least four Dole Whips (pineapple frozen yogurt you get in Adventureland), and James got to meet Mickey Mouse. We all got lots of quality time with family, which was priceless. Thanks for the trip, Grandpa and Grandma Christensen!

Tat went to a play

Last night, I saw Sir Ian McKellen (among others) in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. For those of you who don't know, Chekhov is one of my favorite playwrights. The play was fantastic (thanks, Micah, for the ticket and for watching James), and Sir Ian was marvelous. The man didn't make one false move.

Ah. Someday I'll be back on the stage. Someday.