Name Game
Posted: January 30, 2012 Filed under: kids, memories | Tags: boys names, brio trains, caboose, long train, thoughtful gift, wooden letters 2 Comments »
When each of my boys was born, my friends Risa & Howard sent wooden letters to spell the newborn’s name. (And a caboose and engine, of course.)
Think they’d be surprised to know that the long train with all three boys’ names lives in plain view all these years later?
It was such a wonderfully, thoughtful gift. Maybe I’ll pass the letters down with the brio trains someday…
Postcards from the Edge
Posted: January 28, 2012 Filed under: kids, memories, travel 2 Comments »
I’ve saved every postcard that our family has received since the kids were born. I thought the boys would appreciate having them.
Stored in a vintage wine bottle basket, they quietly sit on a high bookshelf in my bedroom.
But I know they are there.
The basket caught my eye this morning and I had to take it down. I spent time with every card and smiled as I remembered the boys’ excitement as they looked at the pictures and I read them out loud…
I’m a little ashamed.
Posted: January 19, 2012 Filed under: family, memories 2 Comments »I should have been glad to see her. I should have been friendly.
I should have said hello.
But I didn’t.
I should have asked how she’d been. I should have told her she looks so much like her mother did.
But I didn’t.
She couldn’t see me. But I could see her. It’s always been that way. And I let it stay that way today.
I’m not proud.
But I just couldn’t bring myself back to look into the past. Or rather, I chose not to.
I’m just a girl who loves her boots.
Posted: December 25, 2011 Filed under: memories 8 Comments »Back in January, 2005 when I started this blog, that was the tag line – “I’m just a girl who loves her boots.” A lot has changed over the years.
Lately, I’ve heard from some friends who said they miss the boots.
So the boots are back.
Call it nostalgia. Or whatever.
I’m not looking to write the blog I started a week shy of 7 years ago. But this does feel comfortable and familiar.
For now.
Happy judgment-free holidays to you.
Posted: December 23, 2011 Filed under: family, girlfriends, kids, memories, mood, parenting, work 8 Comments »I came across a post I wrote 6 years ago today. And it still resonates. I mean, really. What the heck is balance anyway? My boys were 7, 8, and 10 at the time. A lot has changed in our world.
But not that much.
Parts of Speech
[originally posted 12/23/05]
Judging others is a dangerous hobby. Without all the facts (and you never have all the facts) it is impossible to understand someone’s decisions, motives, choices on all fronts. Now that doesn’t mean that we can’t relate to others’ issues, challenges, etc. Two things I’ve learned over the years come to mind:
1) You don’t know what happens in someone else’s house.
2) Never say “I never would…” in reference to someone else’s choices. You might one day when faced with the same situation.
I’ve been stewing about something that happened the other day. In order to let it go, I’ve decided to write about it. I drove some kids (including some of my own) to an after-school class. One of the kids was unable to carry his stuff in, so I dropped them all off, parked the car, and, sans coat, trekked across the parking lot to bring the kid his stuff. I was cold. I had a sick kid at home I wanted to get back to. My father had a procedure that day and I couldn’t go sit with my mom while she waited because of my kid at home who needed me. My work was behind schedule due to the same sick kid and the construction noise at the house was really getting to me and to that same sick kid, who cried about his head hurting for hours. You get the picture – the day was not a cake walk. (I always wanted to say cake walk – I hope I used it correctly!)
Walking into the school, I ran into a friend. Not a “hang out all the time” friend, but someone I like and socialize with occasionally. After saying hello, she took a hard look at me and said:
Balance is a verb.
It felt like a punch in the stomach. She has balance so never looks harried? I am unbalanced? I am incapable of managing my life? What exactly was this wisdom she was (unsolicited, I might add) presenting to me? She had no idea what I had done for the past month, let alone for the day. I was really irritated. How superior.
After a day I asked a close friend, who I respect tremendously, what she thought. She said:
Bitch is a verb too.
Happy Erev Chanukah. Merry Christmas Eve. I’m planning on a judgment-free holiday.
Night #3
Posted: December 22, 2011 Filed under: family, memories 4 Comments »
When the boys were little, we had a part-time nanny named Sarah. She was wonderful and I was so grateful for her.
I believe she made these candles with the boys in 2001, though it might have been 2000. They’re colored cellophane and construction paper. Nothing fancy, but very clever.
Obviously, I liked them since I still have them. Every year, we put them up, one candle at a time. And they make me smile.
I wonder if Sarah imagines that we still embrace the wonderful projects she did with the boys all those years ago?
It helps to get it off your chest.
Posted: December 21, 2011 Filed under: family, Food, memories 4 Comments »
Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/daveg147
Those of you who know me know that I seriously dislike (read: despise or abhor) mustard.
It’s the smell. Oh, and the taste.
And while it’s not always been easy – as mustard is pretty darn ubiquitous – I’ve managed to keep it out of my mouth for the most part, save a vinaigrette now and again.
But life hasn’t always been this sunny.
And today, I confronted my demons.
When I was a kid, my mother used to make doctored baked beans. That means that she took a can of Heinz and added stuff to it to make it taste better. Or so she said. When directly confronted, she told me that there was no mustard used in the creation of this delicacy.
But it tasted like mustard to me. And one day I caught her.
Fast forward a bit and there’s the crab imperial. Another denial, but I knew better. There was definitely mustard in that dish. No doubt.
Today, more than 35 years later, I told her I knew what she’d done. And how it has affected my life. How I may never recover. And you know what? She doesn’t remember at all. (Though she did apologize.)
Of course, she is forgiven. (And I hope she realizes this post is all in fun.) But it’s a great reminder that our kids know what we’re up to and they’re hip to our game. (Always wanted to say that.)
So don’t lie to your kids. Not even about mustard.
50 lessons and 50 blessings.
Posted: October 5, 2011 Filed under: cooking, diet, family, friends, girlfriends, memories, mood, morals, pain, parenting, procrastination, Spouse 2.0, the boys, travel, Uncategorized, work Leave a comment »What is it about big milestones that make us want to make lists?
I was planning to write about 50 lessons I’ve learned over the years and tell you about 50 blessings in my life.
I’m sure I’ve learned more than 50 things and I can assure you I have more than 50 wonderful things and people in my life.
Instead, I’m going to go all minimalist here.
I’m grateful for all the people who have taught me anything – good or bad.
I’m grateful for the people who love me. And for the people I love. I think there’s a lot of overlap there.
I’m grateful for knowledge. And for being told I’m wrong so I can try harder.
I’m over the moon grateful for my sons. And my husband.
And for the ones who’ve stuck by me no matter what.
I’m thankful for the 9am phone calls. I’m thankful for the peace in my home.
I’m thankful for my work, which I love. And the clients who trust me.
It never occurred to me that I’d be 50 one day.
Crazy, I know.
But here I am.
And I’m grateful for where I’ve been and I can’t wait to see where I go.
Happy anniversary to my romantic husband of 18 years.
Posted: October 2, 2011 Filed under: memories 9 Comments »
Yes, folks. It’s true. My husband proposed by a tender offer.
I’m fairly certain that when he typed this up 19 years ago, he didn’t imagine I’d put it online on my blog. (I mean seriously, as if we all knew what blogs were going to be in 1992. Hee hee.)
But, yet, here it is. And I think it’s really sweet. Albeit a bit odd.
The agreement continued:
And I said yes.
However, I never sign docs without my attorney taking a look, so trust me…I didn’t sign that weekend. Or yet, actually.
We were at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin, Maryland. (That’s where Runaway Bride was filmed.) It’s really lovely. The hotel, not the movie. Well, the movie was fine, I guess. If you don’t mind that laugh. Or the predictability.
But I digress.
Eighteen years ago today, Andrew and I stood under the trees that made our chuppah, in front of our family and made a vow to each other.
אני שלי, האהובה שלי האהובה שלי
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
And eighteen years later, here we are. With three amazing teenage boys, healthy families, and a really nice life.
Happy Anniversary, Andrew.
I think our stock price has risen nicely. Don’t you?
What a long, strange trip…
Posted: September 25, 2011 Filed under: friends, memories, travel Leave a comment »
I cleaned my office today. I mean cleaned! I went through every file and purged. Because, really, who needs those meeting notes from March 2, 2003?
Since I moved here about a year and a half ago, you’d think the files wouldn’t be too bad. But you’d be wrong. My office was last on the packing list and I ended up packing them as is. Which, admittedly, is pretty good compared to a lot of people.
I don’t have Anal Retentive and Proud file folders for nothing.
But back to my story.
While I was going through old files, I came across an old atlas. It’s looking a little worse for the wear. A bunch of pages are not connected, the cover is long gone. But I remember this atlas. It’s the one I tracked my after college cross-country journey in. I traced the roads we followed. And yup. There it was.
Oh the memories. It was 1983. The bliss of heading out with a guy friend for a couple of months of exploration and adventure. We took turns driving my 1978 white Celica GT (with blue leather seats, I might add.) We turned each other on to new music. (It had a tape deck, after all!)
We chatted and planned.
And had a good old time.
Quick pitstop in Nashville for a root canal. Okay, this is a great story. I had a toothache in the smokey mountains. Not a little toothache. A big toothache.
A family friend had given me a list of people around the country that she knew. Sweet, huh? (If you’re reading this, Marcia, thanks!) Okay, so there was a sorority sister in Nashville. SCORE!
I called the house. Well, the next door neighbor answered. Turns out, they were on vacation but wait! Her husband is a dentist and he’d be happy to fit me in tomorrow.
I am not kidding.
So the next morning, in my smelly camping clothes, I went to a friend of a friend of a friend’s office and had a root canal. And he didn’t charge me a dime. (I guess I looked like I couldn’t afford it – which I couldn’t.) My mom was grateful (of course) and sent something. I can’t remember what. But this has always stuck in my mind of what community is. And mind you, this is long before social networking but I see some corollaries. Don’t you?
Okay, back to the trip.
Tooth healing and Rx in hand, we headed toward New Orleans. Still, life was grand. In fact, life was pretty great until close to Minnesota, which as you can see was after Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
By the time we reached our friend’s home in St. Cloud, we were pretty much hating each other. And by the time we hit Chicago? We were regularly in shouting matches. Even in public. Even at Uno’s.
I think that all that time in a 1978 Celica GT was just too…confining. Either that or his box score obsession, or my nagging about the speed limit, or the All-Star Game (tix were over MY budget) or a host of other things that it’s probably best if I just skip.
Needless to say, the 698 miles from downtown Chicago until the drop-off in Randallstown was quiet. Very quiet. And we didn’t talk for a year.
Truth be told, we’d talked enough that summer to last that year.
Crazy as it might sound, we’re great friends today and have been since we recovered from that trip. He and my husband are close. And we do business together.
So this is a long way around to get here, but I’m sharing and posting this map so I can remember that trip. I saw places I’d never seen, met people I’d never have met. It was an adventure of a lifetime. And fortunately, no friendships were permanently harmed in the making of these memories.
