The joy of blogging.

I am excited and honored to have a small article in the latest issue of Mslexia a wonderful magazine for women who write.

If you found my blog by way of the article, thanks for stopping by!

It sure is quiet here.

Yesterday, we took Reed and Max to camp. Sleep-away camp. For

two

whole

weeks.

Reed looks ready to go! Max, well? Let’s just say that while he was very excited on the way up, he didn’t look quite so happy when Andrew and I left.

I sent an email to the unit leader just to check on my baby. He wrote back:

I also want to let you know that Max is doing very well. He is getting along with the rest of his bunk mates. This morning I saw him help some of the other kids clean for inspection this morning. I do not know if he does this at home, but he is one of the only kids that I did not have to ask to help each other. He slept soundly through the night, and there were no home missing issues. If anything does arise, I will be sure to let you know. I hope this helps.

Whew. I’ll sleep better tonight.

iParty.

Someone took this photo with Kristin’s new iPhone last night. I’ve read some very funny articles (like this one, An iPhone Changed My Life) about iPhones and was prepared to stick my nose up when I saw it. But I admit, it is pretty darn cool.

Though I am clearly not so cool, since when it was passed to me so I could say hi to Cyrus who couldn’t make the soirée because he was stuck in the DFW Airport, I couldn’t figure out how to hear so I just talked at it. Somewhat loudly, I suspect.

The story begins.

What should we do today? It’s hot. Maybe go for a swim? No, let’s have a destination lunch! What do we feel like? Chili dogs! No problem.

A search for best chili dogs turns up a place in Herndon, Virginia called Joe’s Dog House. If you click that link, you’ll see that Google told us the address on Alfred Mill Court.

So off we went! It’s an hour ride and we were up for it…

Until we pulled up to the address and saw this:

We stopped at a yard sale a few houses down. Turns out, that’s Joe’s house. You heard it, Joe’s house. Assuming he did not want the 5 of us over for lunch, we started thinking of another plan.

Turns out downtown historical Herndon has some great eating spots. We even got interviewed by a young reporter from the local paper, The Connection, about what we do to get out of the heat. (The article comes out on Wednesday!)

The kids got their chili dogs and Andrew and I split 2 sandwiches – beef on weck and a Philly cheesesteak with whiz, mushrooms and jalepenos.

Needless to say, I’m not feeling so well right about now.

If you don’t know anything about Herndon, Virginia, you are not the only one. But around here, it’s famous for some serious debates about day laborers.

You may not know that the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has a second location that is not in Washington, D.C. I didn’t. Well, I should have since Andrew has mentioned it and I’ve ignored it. But anyway, we next went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the “other” Air and Space Museum. To say I was excited would be a huge exaggeration.

But alas, it was wonderful. We got to see how air traffic control works. Went to an observation deck and saw for miles and miles and miles – including seeing planes land at Dulles. We saw planes and helicopters and spacecrafts and satellites and missiles. Oh my.

And we laughed and were together. It was a perfect day.

Note: We found out later that Joe’s Dog House closed last year. Turns out it was practically next door to where we actually ate lunch today!

Shaken, not stirred.

We had an experiment here at our house. Summer is here. As you might imagine, our house with three boys can get a little loud and silly. And sometimes (horrors) there’s even a little brotherly pushing and shoving. And inevitably, that can lead to one (probably the smallest one) sad and maybe even crying.

Yesterday, they banded together and asked if we would let them see the Simpson’s Movie when it comes out on July 27th. It is rated PG-13; so they wouldn’t assume we’d allow it.

We told them that we needed to know they were mature and responsible. They had 24 hours. No unkind words. No pushing. No annoying each other in any way. If they could do it, we’d consider the movie. If they couldn’t, we’d take away a privilege.

They bit. So at 2:17 p.m. yesterday, the contest began.

They were perfect. Absolutely perfect.

They were counting the minutes. And at 2:19 p.m. today, they started poking each other. I know they were just pushing my buttons. So I tried not to react.

What I learned is:

1. the boys are perfectly capable of being nice to each other when they feel it is important. (Understand, they usually are pretty nice to each other – it’s just the not-so-nice times that stand out.)
2. 24 hours is a very short time. On the TV show, it seems so very long – an entire season!
3. boys will be boys
4. they want and need to be loud sometimes

And I realize that next week – when the boys will all be elsewhere and we’ll be empty nesters for 7 GLORIOUS DAYS, I’ll probably find the quiet disconcerting.

Has your 7-eleven become a Kwik-E Mart?

You may have read about this promo for the Simpsons movie. They’ve turned a handful of 7-eleven ‘s around the country into Kwik-E Marts.

If you live near one of these, you might want to check it out. It’s a load of fun!

Burbank, CA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Lake Buena Vista, FL/Orlando, FL
Las Vegas, NV/Henderson, NV
Los Angeles, CA
New York City, NY
San Francisco, CA/Mountain View, CA
Seattle, WA
Vancouver, BC/Coquitlam, BC
Washington, DC/Bladensburg, MD

So after a nice brunch at our friends’ house this morning and the local 4th of July parade, we headed down to Bladensburg (about a 40 minute drive) for a look-see.

We had a great time. Bought some Slurpees (or Squishees, as they’re called now) and fought the crowds. We even bought some Krusty-O’s because the kids wanted them and it was just that kind of day.

There have been some write-ups about how some might be offended by the promotion – particularly since so many franchisees are Indian and Pakistani. I read reports that said most of the franchisees were thrilled with the tie-in. Not all, mind you.

But this was pure fun and capitalism at its best. The crowds and lines were managed with aplomb and there were even professional PR folks there to answer questions. (We asked how the stores were chosen for the transformation and that young woman was prepared with her talking points. And she was friendly and helpful to boot!)

I bet that this 7-eleven has the best month’s sales of all time.

And good for them for having a sense of humor.

Haircut.

Davis has long hair. Really long hair. I realized today when I was looking through some old photos that it is probably my fault.

Here he is at his first haircut. Clearly, he’s not thrilled. Sigh.

Maybe the trauma he suffered that day is the cause of his reluctance to cut his hair today.

Food for thought.

Speaking of hair.

Andrew about 20 years ago. With some hairy chick. If you ask me, he just keeps getting better looking. I just don’t know if I would have gone out with him with his hair like that. I know it was the 80′s, but I don’t know if that’s a good enough excuse.

The old neighborhood.

This morning, the boys and I met my parents for breakfast at a deli in Pikesville. It was delicious. I really love breakfast. At this place, Suburban House, they serve Bagel Bazaar (bizarre?) which is a bagel cut in thirds (rather than halves) and topped with egg, cheese and Canadian bacon. Yum. Trying to make up for the eating spree that I’ve been on lately, ordered a poached egg instead. Sigh.

A couple highlights: The boys had Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda and we brought home a box of Berger Cookies. Never had Berger Cookies? You don’t know what you’re missing.

After breakfast, I drove the boys past the house that I grew up in. See it up there? That was my house. It was a happy place. It looks almost exactly as it did when we lived there. (My parents sold it in around 1988.) The three huge weeping willows out back are gone. I think one or more died before my parents even moved. Oh, and there’s a flag decal on the living room window. That’s new.

But I was thrilled to see the iron triangle still hanging outside the kitchen door. The triangle that my mother would ring so we’d come in from whiffle ball or whatever to get ready for dinner or go to bed. I loved that triangle. It always seemed so cowboy to me.

Over the summer before first grade, a family with a bunch of boys moved into the huge old house across the street. It was the house that originally owned all the land. Adam was my age. The first time I went there, I met his father. His father was missing an arm. Being about 5 years old, I asked him where his arm was. And he told me he lost it in the war. I nodded. But it was years before I realized what that meant. I always wondered how one could lose an appendage. It was attached, after all.

One day, after school started that year, my mother was watching me walk home from school with Adam, from that side kitchen door. And, as she vividly remembers, she watched me lift my skirt to show him my underwear. I can’t remember why I did that, but hey, he probably asked. Nice, huh?

And then about a month later, he stopped picking me up to walk to school. It was just after Rosh Hashana. From what I gathered, he didn’t realize I was Jewish or he’d have never chosen me for a friend in the first place. And here, I’d shown him my undies. I made very sure not to show them to any anti-Semites after that. I’m a quick study.

So back to today. I drove the boys past my friend Sarah’s house. And showed them the houses of my grandparents, and my mother’s two sisters. We were all within a couple blocks – all the cousins. It was really nice. The boys were amazed at how close we all lived to each other. And they thought is was really neat to see where we all lived.

I work very hard to be sure my kids see their grandparents and their cousins. But it’s not the same as what I was so lucky as to have. When my parents were kids, most families lived in close proximity. They ran businesses together, ate together, were totally a part of each others’ every day lives. We were one step away from that growing up.

And now, we’re more steps away than I can count.

And I think it’s kind of sad.