Staycation update

Well, the first day of our staycation was not a vacation at all. It was hard work. We uncluttered the house, cleaned up the yard, cleaned up the deck, refilled the birdfeeders, did laundry, paid bills, and generally put our affairs in order. It’s all the things and more that we’ve been meaning to do for a while, but didn’t find the time or energy to do. By the end of the day, my back was hurting, but things were in much better shape.

We hosted a sleepover guest for my daughter. That did force us to order pizza for dinner. At least after all that work, we didn’t have to cook and clean up the kitchen after dinner.

Our daughter Zoe is turning ten years old on August 3. Where has that time gone? As dutiful parents, we have been trying to organize a birthday party for her. She wanted a sleep over with all her friends, and a traditional birthday party with streamers and balloons, and naturally a big cake.

Alas, most of her friends are actually away on real vacations. My guess is that the bad economy hasn’t hit the well-heeled crowd of Chapel Hill, NC. So, we’re taking her available friends throughout the week for smaller get-togethers. Last night, we had a sleepover, today a visit to Kanki, a local Japanese restaurant, tomorrow a trip to the museum, a trip to the water park, plan to see a movie later in the week, and maybe another sleep over. Phew! A weeklong birthday is more work and more fun for all.

Happy (week-long) Birthday, Zoe!

Soccer Mom

Owen and Zoe have joined the local soccer team. They have caught on pretty well with the basics of the game.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Well, I am now officially a Soccer Mom. We have the house in the suburbs. We have the mini-van. We have the two soccer playing kids.

Daniel's visit

I'm overdue to update several things to my blog. This draft will have to do. I will add more links.

We had exciting visitors. Our new little friend Daniel kindly brought his parents to visit us!

We had a great time. We had fun being tourists in our own town. We went to WholeFoods, drove through UNC's campus. We went to the Carrboro Farmer's Market, LocoPops, Franklin Street, Southern Season. We drove out to the country to see tobacco in the fields, visited Hillsborough, ate at a nice Mexican restaurant (yum) and back to the mall for the wonder that is Southern Season! Now, did I forget anything?

Daniel was a delight. He's a great baby. We had so much fun.

Gifts from down under

The other day we received a lovely surprise from our friends in Australia. We were all delighted with the surprise.

There was something for all of us. Chocolate and more chocolate!

T-shirts for the kids. They are perfect for them. They had some sport with me while I tried to photograph them together.

A gorgeous knitting magazine, Yarn. I may have to subscribe to this one.

Clip on Koala bears that carry the Australian flag. Zoe and Owen have already named theirs and are squabbling over the other two. Zoe quickly let us know that a Koala is not a bear but a marsupial. (Good to know!)

Carrboro Elementary School Fair

Zoe and Owen became tigers at the school fair. We had a fun time, but the weather was not good.

Owen is difficult to manage at things like this. He runs off and gets lost in the crowd. We lost him at least eight times.

We spent the whole day and a lot of money to support our school. I took pictures for the school newsletter, The Carrboro Chalkboard. You can download a PDF from the school website. I'm pretty happy with the results.

You like pencils and so do I

I found a scrap of paper at the bottom of Zoe's backpack. It lists some of the nice things that her classmates wrote about her:
"You are a great student. You often carry the ball outside for us. You are very cool. You have cool imaginary friends. You have a great imagination. You are nice. You are open-minded and a lot of fun. You like to share. You do your best. I like your clothes. You like pencils and so do I."

101st post

My last post was my 100th post. I meant to mark the occasion but I couldn't come up with anything clever. Then a lot of time lapsed. And, now I'm ranting again.

The reasons are many, and typical. My doctor had me worried for three weeks about some blood work. I had some nasty, brutal dental work with more to come. I got stressed out from that and then got sick. I enrolled in yet another computer class (Dreamweaver). My new job is harder. The book club I joined is reading interesting books that I feel compelled to read.

My kids are being extra difficult. Owen is screaming all the time. He's waking up screaming about missing blankets and scary monsters in his room. Zoe is having trouble with school. She avoids and deliberately looses her homework every week.

I had to go on a stressful, freezing business trip to New York City. The average temp was 12 degrees with a terrible wind bring it to -12 degrees. Even though I'm from Boston, I can't remember ever being so cold. And, my return flight was a nightmare. The plane was broken, and we had to get off, wait, wait, wait and wait. Then rush to another airport and try to get home. That flight was full, and then delayed. Are you surprised to learn that I threw up on the plane, and in the parking garage, and again in my car? (Their barf bags do work surprisingly well.)

And, my husband is working too much, and traveling more. Oy vey!

Of course, the things that I drop are exercising, sleeping, blogging, and knitting...not necessarily in that order. Just all the things that I do to help me relax.

Homesick

At this time of the year I do get a little homesick. I miss the traditions that I grew up with. They're simple things like the hustle-bustle of going shopping in "downtown" Boston, visiting Faneuil Hall, seeing the lights on the Boston Common, eating Chinese take-out with my family on Christmas, and just doing the same things you've done for years and years and years.

Project 351 gives me a chance to see some of the familiar sights. There are a lot of references to Boston on the internet to give me a taste of home.

And, luckily, next week I'm going to stop in Boston on my way to Canada for a business trip. I'll get to spend some time with friends and family. Even though it's only a couple days, it's nice to go home.

My Thanksgiving

I also didn't get a chance to express my gratitude, so here's my thanks:

First, my husband-- a man I am blessed to have in my life. My children-- I am so lucky to have both of them. As the circle widens: I am thankful for my parents and siblings. I miss them all the time. And, I'm grateful for our old and new friends, and our growing community.

On a global level, I thank the courageous people who work for peace and social justice, those who work to protect our civil rights and liberties, and those who help the powerless.

I'm thanful for the simple pleasures of life. I stop and smell the roses now.

I am thankful for those of you who read Dot Com Family and provide comments and encouragement. So, thank you. Thank you very much.

Kalil's 8th birthday party

Yesterday was Kalil's birthday party. We had a wonderful time. The weather was amazing, and the party was perfect.

There was a Pokemon theme to the party. The kids all had a great time. I brought Owen who played beautifully with Kalil's baby sister.

After the party, we took Kalil home for a playdate. That gave his family some time to tidy up and hopefully kick back for a few minutes.

painting the kitchen

Our friend Dave came to visit for a week. He and Bob go back over 30 years. He was a great house guest. He helped with the kids, and even painted the kitchen.

The kids spent some time today painting in the kitchen. Owen is a very interested in drawing and painting. He loves to color and paint. Zoe is picking up the vocabulary of an artist at the ArtsCenter afterschool program.

Zoe at the Fair

 

Heather and I took Zoe to the Fair. Heather was a good sport given that it was a day of all Zoe, all the time.

The weather was terrific, just a bit too sunny. We ate a mess of fried food. We wanted to try the Fried Coke, but we didn't dare. We saw the crafts, visited the gardens, tried some of the games, and rode the ferris wheel. We had fun, but Zoe had even more fun.

We had to walk so much. When we had had enough we were on the far side of the fairgrounds. It was about as far away from the car as we could get without leaving the fair. To steal a good line from Lenoard Cohen, today I "ache in the places that I used to play." 

family portrait

 
Thanks to Bob Miller for this photo. It's rare to get us all in one picture.