The 15 Minute Version - Part 1

Hannah asked me this morning, "So Mom, how was You Nork? and what's that place with a pencil in the name? Oh yeah, Pennsylvania!"

I gave her a 4-year-old answer.

And now I'll try to give you a 15 minute answer.

New York was rainy. I'd been watching the weather forecasts, and I knew there was a slight chance of showers. Whoever predicted that was obviously unaware that I was coming on vacation, and that the weather for my vacations, wherever and whenever, is RAIN.

I had trusted the weather forecasters more than I had trusted my own history, so unfortunately I didn't pack for rainy days. Therefore, our first stop (after a red-eye flight across the country and a few hours of sleep at Doug's hotel) was the local mall near Jamaica, New York, to buy an umbrella, some proper shoes and socks, and a jacket.

Then we drove into the city. We drove (instead of walked, like we had planned) across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan. We parked (at a rate of six dollars and some change per half hour!) the car, and walked around the financial district. We had considered a Staten Island Ferry ride to get a closer look at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but instead we gazed at her from the ferry terminal, and continued walking. In Bowling Green, we bought a hot dog from a vendor who must have inspired the casting director of "Enchanted". It was kind of creepy, actually. It made me wonder if the hot dog guy was using a fake accent! He asked if I wanted "everything" on my hot dog, and by answering yes, this is what I got:

It was not my favorite hot dog ever. It might have been a meatless dog, but I'm not sure, and there were flavors in that "everything" that felt like a punishment for foul language with every bite. But hey, it was a NY experience, I guess. A couple of hours later, we walked into a little pizza joint and got this, which tasted much better:

Walking around NYC is entertainment in itself. There is so much to look at and listen to and take in! We were constantly being drawn to attractions we hadn't anticipated, like this church and graveyard.

I thought it was so crazy to see these green graveyards full of centuries-old tombstones in the middle of busy city blocks.

On the other hand, some of the places we had been excited to see were a bit disappointing. Like Ground Zero. I expected to feel sort of reverent or at least reflective there, but all it looks like is a big fenced in construction project. Maybe if I had been familiar with the Twin Towers before their fall...

We got back in the car and drove towards our hotel, just a couple of blocks off of Times Square. After changing for the evening, we took a cab to our dinner reservation at L'Ecole. Thank you, Angela, for that really great tip! We loved it! Our four courses included many tasty flavors, and we tried to be a little more adventurous than we usually are. I ate escargot and loved it! And the duck was more delicious than the steak! Doug and I agreed that our pre-dessert palate cleanser of cold cherry soup with mangoes tasted a lot like cough syrup. But everything else was delightful.

After dinner a cab took us to Gershwin Theater to see Wicked! I've been wanting to see this show for probably three years now, so let's just say I had great expectations. And you know that those are often hard to fulfill. Doug and I both enjoyed the show, but I have to admit that the biggest chills I got were just from entering the theater and watching the curtain rise. I'm glad we saw it, and it was entertaining, but (please don't hate me for saying so) as we left the theater, I was wondering if we should have seen Mary Poppins or Les Miserables instead.

Walking back to our hotel (in a light drizzle, but not too chilly) we were amazed at how alive Times Square was at 11:00 p.m. It's not surprising to see lots of people and lighted signs and restaurants and bars open, but the M&M store!? We never would have gone in if it weren't still open at that time of night. We looked, but didn't buy. The colors are pretty, but they taste just the same as the ones at my local grocery store, only they cost a lot more.

We entered the Marriott Marquis and took elevators up and down and up and down, trying to find the restaurant my cousin Jake had recommended for a great night view of the square. No luck.

So we left the crowds behind and returned to our hotel room (cozy and a bit cramped, with modern decor, and a view of brick walls outside our window--very NYC) for the night.

And that is how the first 24 hours of my weekend were spent. Busy, busy, busy! and Fun, fun, fun!

Jiggity Jog (across the country)

Just got back from these places:

With this guy:

It was a really great trip! I'd love to tell you all about it...later.

Not Least

Hannah started her preschool a week after the other girls had their first day of school, but she deserves a first day post and pic.

Before her first day, she kept reminding me that she needed a "boulder". What she really needed was a 1/2" binder, or folder, but she mixed the two words up.

Warning!

You do not want to go boating/skiing/knee-boarding/wake-boarding at the lake today.

Doing so might give you a double chin, or otherwise cause you to make ugly faces.

The sun might get in your eyes.

The water might spray your face.

You will have to share the water with fishies, not to mention let's-not-think-about-what-else.

Tomorrow morning, you'll probably wake up feeling like you rode a bucking bronco.

Water sports may give you a blast from the past! You might be humming the Carpenters' songs for the rest of the day, and smiling about the good times you shared with your BFF since kindergarten.

Oh, and I almost forgot...you might lose that farmer's tan you've been working so hard on!

No, really. Stay away from that lake!

Do as I say, not as I do.

(Thanks, Dad!)

Off to School

Do you see a theme to this year's First Day Fashion?

These three are attending 3 different schools. They each start and end at different times. We have to rush in the morning like we haven't rushed for....oh, about 3 months now. And the after the last one is gone and before the first one returns go by very, very quickly for me! Nevertheless, I've been looking forward to the return of the routine for quite a while now, and despite the chaos that accompanies this adjustment, I'm happy about it. I'm happy that my kids are busy with school, music lessons, and soccer, and I'm also happy when the day is done and life is quiet and still for a few moments.

Eleven

That's the number of checks I wrote yesterday for school fees: PTA, school lunches, P.E. uniforms, classroom donations, etc. I don't even know what the total amount spent would be.

It's also the number of extra spiral bound notebooks I bought, beyond what my kids actually needed to start the school year. But that's a total cost of less than $2.00, so there's no way I'm going to waste my time returning that merchandise to the store! They will make great scribble pads to last us the next six years!

I never imagined...

...that fourteen years later




we'd have five daughters and zero sons.


That we'd be living in Utah.


I certainly never imagined we'd own a dog! (Or that I would feel the tiniest bit fond of it.)


I'm sure I never imagined that we'd be spending our fourteenth wedding anniversary mostly apart, pushing through the daily grind. Spending the evening running girls to four separate Back-To-School functions, and soccer practices, and teaching nearly a dozen Webelos about Nature.


Did I imagine B.L.T.'s on the menu for a romantic fourteenth anniversary dinner?




When I decided to marry Doug, it sort of surprised me to realize that I didn't need a big, extraordinary, flash-of-lightning style revelation to convince me that he was the one for me. I just felt comfortable with him and confident about him from the very beginning. Consistently comfortable. That's us.




So when our fourteenth anniversary comes along on a busy Tuesday, I don't need a spectacular, extraordinary night on the town to mark the occasion. I've had hundreds of dates with this guy, weekly (if not more often), for the past fourteen years of marriage. I'll take steady over spectacular, for sure.



Well, ok, I do like spectacular sometimes. I'm pretty stoked about our "anniversary trip" to NYC, coming up soon! :)



HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Look what Hannah started...

After fixing Hannah's bangs, I got the itch, and decided to give Olivia's hair a little style.

*Don't remember what it looked like a few days ago? Scroll down two posts...

Isn't it enough, be-ink a blonde?

I bet only Doug will understand that title, but it popped into my head and I can't refuse. It fits so well. It's from "The Jazz Singer", when Neil Diamond's father wonders why his son has to keep chasing trouble, and rhetorically he asks his rebel son, "Isn't it enough, be-ink a Jew?"

All summer, Hannah has attracted comments about how blonde she has gotten. Her hair is so sun-bleached, and her skin is so tanned, and I must admit to my parental pride in this little cutie. I love her blonde hair. It is finer than most of her sisters' heads of thick hair, so I'm not very surprised to find some broken bits of Hannah's hair now and then, especially in the front where it gets pulled into elastics, etc.

But this afternoon, I noticed a lot of shorter pieces around her face. It almost looked like bangs...

Wait a second...

Yep, somebody has definitely been using scissors, here.

But how can I get mad at her when she says to me, "I just wanted to look like you, Mom. You always look so pretty."

Sneaky little manipulator!

And honestly, I'm impressed! She did a pretty darn good job! No strange, choppy chunks anywhere else. Just a carefully calculated cut resulting in actual bangs.

Mark my words, someday this little girl might just be styling my hair, and doing my make-up. She's got talent.

On Her Best Behavior

Olivia put on quite a show for her pediatrician today. During her 15-month check-up, she pulled cards out of my wallet to entertain herself, and said, "Mom! What's that?" (Actually, it sounded more like "Maam! Wazzat?") But to the doctor, it sounded like a complete sentence. And he surmised that she is quite advanced developmentally.





Who am I to argue with that?





Except, when we came home, and she pointed to the water dispenser and screamed really loud, I sure wished her scream sounded more like "Mother, may I please have another drink?"

"Does she climb on furniture?" asks the nurse. Uh, yeah.

Looking Back

Feeling nostalgic tonight.

For seven months now, people I meet here have been asking me if I miss my previous home, and (don't hate me for saying this, WA friends...) I've had to say no! I didn't miss it. Of course, I would explain, I miss people, but I wasn't missing that place.

But tonight, with Google maps, I find myself going back to the Northwest, and kind of wishing I could turn back time a year or so. It escaped me too quickly.

Maybe this sentimental mood was brought on by coming home from a little vacation today, and being greeted by cool temperatures and cloudy skies, and walking into a house that still feels (and even smells) somewhat unfamiliar.

I couldn't believe it when the thermometer told me it was only in the 70s outside. On an August afternoon?! Couldn't be!

When we pulled into the driveway, and I hopped out of the car, anxious to stretch my legs, I was unprepared to feel a chill in the air. My thoughts went something like this:
"Oh no! It's so cold! I had almost forgotten what cold weather feels like. I'm not ready for summer to end!... How can summer be over already? Am I ready for my kids to start a new school year? Our daily schedule is going to get so busy, with school, and homework, and soccer practices, and.... I can't believe it's going to be fall soon. I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up! Olivia is getting so big. Her first year is such a blur! Time is passing me by so fast!..."

I don't like the cold. Isn't it crazy that a cold afternoon sends me into a mental cycle that has me wishing to go back to a cold place?!