A Clean Heart and A Cheerful Spirit

I'm always noodling through what we will bring back from this experience to the States.  It is a given that much of it will be in home decor.  No one who visits our future homes will have to be told that we lived in London.  Our flat has a fair amount British icons and treasures collected along Portobello Road, and that's just 8 months in and long before the Queen's Jubilee next summer.


Undoubtedly the children will pick up British words, sayings, and accents.  I already hear myself asking people, "Y'aright?" but haven't quite caught onto "Hiya!"  I'm very much hoping the amazing style sense of the French moms at school will rub off on me.  Meanwhile, we've decided the best souvenir would be to adopt the motto of The Portman Estate (a huge Marylebone landowner since the 16th century):   "A Clean Heart and A Cheerful Spirit."  We don't even have to wait to repatriate.  We'll start now.


And it is indeed already the season for cheer in London.  We were treated to an abundance of it on our bus ride home from school as all of Oxford Street is now glittering with Christmas lights, baubles, and decorated windows.

We needed that cheer, too because moments after enjoying that lovely view, Big Brother had an upset stomach on the bus. (Dear 274 Driver:  Again, I am so, so sorry and greatly appreciate how kind you were to all of us!  Also grateful that we happened to be the only ones on the bus.  So happy, too that he seems fine now and even found some humor in the whole episode.)  My apologies that only a few days into blogging and I've already discussed a bodily function.


Anyway, there's a renewed focus here on clean hearts, cheerful spirits (and vigorous hand washing, too).