JEANNIE'S BLOG

  • IMG_1350May 8th, 2012
    The End of One Dream; The Beginning of Others »

    When I lived in Manhattan, I had a recurring dream that I opened up a closet and—lo and behold—there was a whole other room there I never knew about. My recurring dream when I lived in Mexico was that Whole Foods was opening a store down there so I could get all those little extras [...]

  • Robb and Jeb (#11 and #10 finishers, respectively) after the race.December 9th, 2011
    The Mystery Continues: Where Will We Land? »

    Right about this time, I had hoped to be posting with news of an upcoming move—a next step in what is shaping up to be a restless period of our lives. But alas, we have a complicated relationship with real estate these days and our plans have been thwarted for the time being. So first I’ll tell you about plans that ARE on track.

  • Jeb with his new puppy Jelly Bean--the least disruptive of our recent changes.August 26th, 2011
    And So Year Three Begins–With a Twist »

    It’s Week One of Year Three of homeschooling and I’m trying to keep my frazzle factor down as we face two new challenges (of our own making).

  • The opening spread of the Budget Travel story--Gus in the Ecuadorian rainforest.August 18th, 2011
    Extreme Field Tripping–Budget Travel »

    Hi: This is a story I wrote for Budget Travel about how to work a homeschooling-and-traveling plan with your kids and how to do it as inexpensively as possible. Please feel free to pass this on to families who might be interested in doing the same. All best and many thanks–Jeannie http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/a-family-field-trip-around-the-world,7375      

  • Here I am with Marta--who was the boys' tutor--and her baby daughter, JenniferAugust 8th, 2011
    My Spanish High »

    On our visit to San Miguel, I had an out-of-body experience that represents a high point in my long and tortured quest to conquer the Spanish language. They say that when you’re fluent in a language, you’ll dream in, say, Spanish. Well it’s probably emblematic of my uneven history with El Español—which I’ve studied most [...]

  • The boys at the front door of our old house.July 28th, 2011
    Bliss, Mexican Style »

    Coming back to a magical place like San Miguel de Allende, which figures so prominently in our family history, is like drifting back to sleep in the morning and picking up on the same fabulous dream you’d been having. It’s such a relief to know you can find it again.

  • Schlepping our bags through the Madrid airport, one of 12 airports we had the pleasure of visiting.May 1st, 2011
    Go Figure: The Trip by the Numbers »

    Since we’ve been back we’ve been catching up on work here in Texas and adding up the costs of our expedition. I’ll spare you the financial details (yawn!), but wanted to share some other more intriguing numbers from the trip

  • mg_3180April 12th, 2011
    The Good, The Bad and Brad Pitt Too »

    On a big, rambling, multi-country, multi-experience trip like ours, it’s natural to play favorites. After 6 weeks, 5 countries and more museums than we can count, we present the superlatives (with appearances by Brad Pitt, Robert Goulet and Alfred Hitchcock).

  • The floor I'd seen over and over on film.April 7th, 2011
    And I Thought I Knew Italy »

    As our trip was coming to a close, I found unexpected pleasures among the well-worn tourist paths in Pompeii, Florence and Venice.

  • The Coliseum is right across the street from our apartment.March 31st, 2011
    Three Funny Things Happened on the Way to the Forum »

    We arrived in Rome on Monday and have gotten neck-deep in “SPQR” and Casear-mania, starting the minute we got out of the taxi at our apartment.

bio_jeannie

Jeannie Ralston

Jeannie Ralston (alias Mom) is a contributing editor at Parenting magazine, has written articles for many national magazines—including National Geographic, Life, Travel & Leisure—and has published a book, The Unlikely Lavender Queen. When she’s not writing or hanging with the family, you can find her nose in a book or a crossword puzzle. She loves to ski as well and counts her helicopter skiing expedition in Utah as one of her greatest sporting adventures. She is happy to report that she’s been to one country that Robb never has—Ireland.