A warm winter vacation....up north.

I have always wanted to live in a big old Victorian-era House like the ones Anne Tyler writes about in her novels, the novels with the eccentric characters overwhelmed by life's unpredictability. This week for two days days I got my wish. Harry would not find this wish unusual because he tells me on a daily basis I am just weird enough to be a character in a Tyler novel: two standard deviations from the norm, is how he affectionately describes me. I wasn't able to live out my fantasy in the city of Baltimore where Tyler always sets her stories. However, instead, I unexpectedly found myself in Duluth fulfilling my long-held dream. I find it's always good to be a little flexible with your dreams.

For our 7th wedding anniversary this year, on December 26th, we went to the Ellery House pictured in the photo, a Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Duluth, for two nights. The B&B overlooks Lake Superior, and no, the lake was not frozen over! In fact it was downright balmy up in the north country as it was in Minneapolis, where a record high temperature was recorded on the day after Christmas. Thanks to global warming, one can now visit Duluth in December and not bother wearing gloves or hats or even a warm coat. Not to mention the complete lack of snow which meant you didn't need boots either.

The Ellery House, as it is know known, was built as a single family dwelling in 1890. It has four bedrooms on the second floor each with attached baths. We rented the "Daisy Suite" which was at the rear of the house on the second floor. The bedroom had an adjacent sun room which is furnished with a small free-standing gas fireplace, two cozy chairs, a day bed and a small table. Our bath was huge, with enough room for a chair, an oversize pedestal sink, another fireplace (not used), an old-claw foot tub big enough for two and a shower, also big enough for two (nice for folks celebrating their anniversary).

The main floor of the house included a music room, a parlor, a large dining room and kitchen. All the rooms are filled with antiques. The innkeepers live in a little matching house they built just behind the mansion, so they do not hang around much other than to cook and tidy the rooms, of course. When the other B&B guests were out or shuttered off in their rooms I found myself on the main floor imagining I lived in the house as I made myself a cup of tea or poured a sherry from the antique sideboard in the dining room.

Ellery House reminded me of my house on Abbott, with it's gold-painted walls, maple floors, oak woodwork, high-coved ceilings and red decor. The Abbott house was a 1904 Edwardian farmhouse, not a Victorian beauty like this one with all its ornate touches. I loved living in the old Abbott house, but I could have loved living in this house even more. I found myself feeling grateful and a little nostalgic for my old house years as I sat drinking my afternoon tea in the downstairs parlor next to the old tile fireplace. There is just something about these old places. They have the ability to wrap themselves around you and make you feel so cozy and elegant.

Breakfast was delivered to our room each morning by the inn keeper, Jim, on an antique trolley. Jim had no trouble wheeling this old rickety antique into our sun room. We found we had lots of trouble wheeling it out, so we picked it up and carried it to the hallway after breakfast. We sat each morning in our sun room at the small table eating a wonderful homemade feast. The sun poured in through the windows as a huge ore boat moved slowly across the lake. I decided this has to be the most cozy, spacious and comfortable place I have ever stayed in. I did not want to leave!!! Guess I will just have to re-read one of those Anne Tyler novels when I get home for solace and go back to my dreaming.

I have decided a new dream is now in order. My new wish is to stay for a few days in an English country mansion, similar to the one on the PBS series, Downton Abbey. It may take a while to accomplish this dream too, but when it does happen I will be writing about it, so stay tuned.

P.S. And I beat Harry, the old card shark, at cribbage!

I love you Justin Bieber!

To sub or not to sub the last days before winter break, that was the question. I decided in the affirmative and I was lucky enough to experience the last days before winter break in two school districts. I ended last week in St. Louis Park with three straight days in a 4th-grade Spanish Immersion School classroom. The class reputation with regard to behavior was not very good but the teacher left excellent plans and I had good support from the other 4th-grade teachers, so things went pretty well. Winter break in St. Louis Park started last Friday and I came home feeling great and ready to break.

Edina, however, unknown to me until I got the call early Monday morning, had classes for three days this week; and so I chose to spend the last three days at one of the Edina Middle Schools teaching Spanish. This teacher left no plans. She is pregnant for the first time, due on December 21st, and I guess had not really prepared herself for the fact that babies are unpredictable. On Monday morning, she woke up, coughed and cracked one of her ribs. The pain incapacitated her. I got the call Monday morning before six, arrived by seven and scrambled to make sense of what was going on in the classroom: not an easy task. Today as the school day and week ended, I learned she had been in labor since 3 am and there was no baby yet. And I thought I had had a rough day!

The day before a school break begins is always the worst day in a classroom and today was no exception. I did my best to stay on academic course, at least for the first four classes, then I gave up, telling the 5th class of the day they could just chill out and relax. I couldn't fight anymore. Suddenly a girl popped a Justin Bieber Christmas CD out of her bag and we found a CD player on a shelf in the back of the room. The middle-schoolers sat in small groups, coloring, talking quietly and singing along with Bieber. It was the best class period of the day. Oh, Justin, if only you had shown up earlier!

Harry and I are having a rather quiet Christmas this year, and after the last two weeks that might be a good thing. Our kids are not coming home, and we will celebrate with my sisters and their families Thursday night at my sister Ardee's house. It will be just the two of us together on Christmas Eve. Harry is going to cook us a duck using a recipe from Julia Child that includes a sausage and apple stuffing. Maybe next year we will have a houseful again and I will make a better choice: like baking cookies the week before Christmas.

We are going to Duluth on Christmas Day to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. I found on line a cute Victorian Bed and Breakfast overlooking the lake, make that a frozen lake. We will have an enclosed sun room off the bedroom with a little free standing fireplace where they will serve our breakfast if we wish. Harry leaves for England arriving for his Mom's 98th birthday on January 10th, while I am going to visit Alexis in NYC the first week of January.

Happy Holidays to all ... and thanks again, Justin for your unexpected but delightful appearance today.