Days Like These

As with many jobs, being an au pair certainly comes with challenges great and small. But it's days like today that make me so thankful to be where I am for the moment… and a little reluctant to return home to try my hand at full-time professional employment.

When I woke up this morning, it was raining. Getting the children up and ready and driving them to school went quite smoothly, and I returned to the house around 9:00 with nothing but laundry to do for the next 5 hours. I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately (probably because the weather has been pretty low for the past few days and I seem to be easily affected by the lack of sunshine), so after letting the gardener in through the back gate, I took a nap. When I woke up, I changed the washing and had some lunch before cuddling up in my bed to read.

I finished Anne of Green Gables on Monday. It has now become one of my favourites and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, Anne of Avonlea. LM Montgomery's descriptions of Anne's world make me appreciate every scene of natural beauty I see. While traveling in Devon, I kept thinking to myself 'Anne would love this beach' and 'Anne would say this place has so much "scope for the imagination"'. My only problem when reading this book is that the cover of my copy features a photograph of Megan Follows, the actress who played Anne in the 80's miniseries. I'm sure her portrayal of Anne was great, but, in my ginger opinion, her hair was not nearly red enough! I tried to picture what Anne actually looks like and since I couldn't place myself in that role (as Anne is described as being very thin), I decided on my friend Laura. Laura, you are Anne. Anyways, I definitely suggest Anne of Green Gables for anyone looking for some summer reading!

When I was cleaning underneath Middle's bed on Monday, I found about six books. While most of the books were written for 8-10 year olds, I did find one that must have been left there by The Mum. It's called The Uncommon Reader and is a fictional story about the Queen and her growing obsession with reading. I am quite enjoying it so far, although it makes mention of many authors I have never heard of… source http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/2008/11/24/book-number-43-the-uncommon-reader-by-alan-bennett/