...for playing with her castle, after I broke it apart while trying to move it out of the corner and onto her rug (I did manage to put it back together):
"Rule number one: No saving the princess. Rule number two: No breaking the castle. Rule number three: Do NOT take anything out of place. And rule number four: They go on adventures and they do NOT sit around reading the newspaper like you were doing at breakfast, Mommy."
p.s. The prince and princess who come with the castle are brother and sister, not husband and wife, and the princess is 18 and the prince is 16, and she is constantly catching up in her arms when he does dumb things like try to shimmy up the roof (yes, Rachel used the word "shimmy" today) after his big sis and ends up falling into her arms.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Snow!
We've been socked by snow, sleet and freezing rain. My only comfort is that Portland is going through the exact same weather system, so we wouldn't be any better off if we were there than if we were here.
Yesterday was magical: Ruth and Steve stopped by for breakfast on the way back to Chicago. They brought the perfect Hanukkah gift for Rachel: a pink down coat!! Rarely do we get to use gifts immediately after we get them, but yesterday was the exception. As soon as they left, Drew raced out to buy groceries and other stuff we needed for the house, and I announced to Rachel that we'd be taking a walk (it had started to snow in earnest). We went outside and made footprints in the backyard, then slid down the snow-covered slide (it was really wobbly), then went for a walk and wrote our names in the snow on the sidewalk. I had wanted to walk along the bike path to the playground but poor Rachel was shivering in her boots -- they were rain boots, not the snow boots she really needs -- and even though we ran into a friend of hers from school, Marat, I told her we could walk back home if she really wanted to. She said yes.
As soon as we got home, I made us homemade hot chocolate and popcorn, and Rachel and I settled in for the entire three-hour version of "The Sound of Music." Drew, who can't stand the movie, unpacked the groceries, read the Sunday paper, and then I made baked chicken and shells for dinner. One of the things Drew picked up was a TON of wood, so perhaps we'll have a fire tonight. Or tomorrow.
This morning the snow was gone but school was cancelled (!). In fairness, the streets were still icy and there was ice on the trees, which is making me nervous because if one big branch falls on my car I am TOAST for transportation. Luckily I didn't have to work, so Drew went in while I tried to wake up. Rachel and I played with the approximately 10,987-piece plastic Playmobil castle Drew bought her for Hanukkah and finally assembled this past weekend. At one point I told her that I had to take a nap; she whined and pouted but I just went into my bedroom and crashed. After she gave up trying to get my attention (which included hiding in my closet for a while), Rachel climbed in bed next to me and we both fell asleep for about two hours, waking only because Ivy's mom called and said Ivy wanted to come over.
I broke up about three arguments between them before they finally settled down to drawing and then decided to go to Ivy's. So now I am desperately trying to get done everything I'd hoped to do with the day I'd assumed I would have all to myself. The house is filled with the smell of tomato soup, which is bubbling in the crockpot and we'll have for dinner tonight with homemade challah and latkes. Hey, the weather may be crappy but at least my family eats well....
Yesterday was magical: Ruth and Steve stopped by for breakfast on the way back to Chicago. They brought the perfect Hanukkah gift for Rachel: a pink down coat!! Rarely do we get to use gifts immediately after we get them, but yesterday was the exception. As soon as they left, Drew raced out to buy groceries and other stuff we needed for the house, and I announced to Rachel that we'd be taking a walk (it had started to snow in earnest). We went outside and made footprints in the backyard, then slid down the snow-covered slide (it was really wobbly), then went for a walk and wrote our names in the snow on the sidewalk. I had wanted to walk along the bike path to the playground but poor Rachel was shivering in her boots -- they were rain boots, not the snow boots she really needs -- and even though we ran into a friend of hers from school, Marat, I told her we could walk back home if she really wanted to. She said yes.
As soon as we got home, I made us homemade hot chocolate and popcorn, and Rachel and I settled in for the entire three-hour version of "The Sound of Music." Drew, who can't stand the movie, unpacked the groceries, read the Sunday paper, and then I made baked chicken and shells for dinner. One of the things Drew picked up was a TON of wood, so perhaps we'll have a fire tonight. Or tomorrow.
This morning the snow was gone but school was cancelled (!). In fairness, the streets were still icy and there was ice on the trees, which is making me nervous because if one big branch falls on my car I am TOAST for transportation. Luckily I didn't have to work, so Drew went in while I tried to wake up. Rachel and I played with the approximately 10,987-piece plastic Playmobil castle Drew bought her for Hanukkah and finally assembled this past weekend. At one point I told her that I had to take a nap; she whined and pouted but I just went into my bedroom and crashed. After she gave up trying to get my attention (which included hiding in my closet for a while), Rachel climbed in bed next to me and we both fell asleep for about two hours, waking only because Ivy's mom called and said Ivy wanted to come over.
I broke up about three arguments between them before they finally settled down to drawing and then decided to go to Ivy's. So now I am desperately trying to get done everything I'd hoped to do with the day I'd assumed I would have all to myself. The house is filled with the smell of tomato soup, which is bubbling in the crockpot and we'll have for dinner tonight with homemade challah and latkes. Hey, the weather may be crappy but at least my family eats well....
Monday, December 2, 2013
Happy Hanukkah!
Since my temp job has me working nights during the week, tonight was the only real night that we could all celebrate together and open presents. By some miracle I managed to get dinner on the table -- lamb chops, pilaf, reheated latkes, salad -- just as Drew walked in. We lit the menorah, Rachel said the prayer (as she always has this past week; I'm so proud of her) and we all ate dinner, then went into the study (the repository for all the gifts and our de facto hangout place in the house) to open presents. THANK YOU Tia Daniella for the fondue set, and Aunt Kay sent wonderful books, and Drew bought Rachel a fabulous game for kids 6+ that I at first thought was too complicated but she was really getting the hang of it by the end of the night. It involves a castle, rolling dice to find treasure along the way, remembering what trees the treasure(s) are under, and being the first to tell the king. Anyway, Rachel won the first round.
Rachel is also getting very, very good at reading. She read half of a book from the library today about four female animals, all of whom have different skills -- soccer, painting, dance -- and she was a real champ at sounding out all the words. After a while she got so tired that she asked if she could just look at the pictures and I said, sure. I kept asking her if anyone had read the book to her before. She said that Daddy did "a long time ago, but I forgot the words so I'm sounding them out." Really, it won't be too long before she starts burying her head in books and we have to yell at her to stop using a flashlight under the covers and GO TO BED!!!
Rachel also announced that she had a bad day today. She said it when I picked her up from aftercare and I kept telling her to hurry up. "Can you please not yell at me because I had a really bad day!" she said, bursting into tears. Turns out that Ivy apparently zoned in on one of Rachel's classmates during recess and indicated a clear preference for playing with Addie instead of Rachel, and Rachel said that was so unfair, and that she felt left out, etc. and started crying. I tried to tell her that just because Ivy wanted to play with Addie, it didn't mean she didn't like Rachel, she just wanted to play with someone else, and that she should try to play with other kids, too. And then she said she plays tag with the boys but then gets bored and runs away, and I said that she should stick with tag because it's a great way of building up her ability to run fast.
Later, at dinner, she said she'd had a great day. Go figure.
Rachel is also getting very, very good at reading. She read half of a book from the library today about four female animals, all of whom have different skills -- soccer, painting, dance -- and she was a real champ at sounding out all the words. After a while she got so tired that she asked if she could just look at the pictures and I said, sure. I kept asking her if anyone had read the book to her before. She said that Daddy did "a long time ago, but I forgot the words so I'm sounding them out." Really, it won't be too long before she starts burying her head in books and we have to yell at her to stop using a flashlight under the covers and GO TO BED!!!
Rachel also announced that she had a bad day today. She said it when I picked her up from aftercare and I kept telling her to hurry up. "Can you please not yell at me because I had a really bad day!" she said, bursting into tears. Turns out that Ivy apparently zoned in on one of Rachel's classmates during recess and indicated a clear preference for playing with Addie instead of Rachel, and Rachel said that was so unfair, and that she felt left out, etc. and started crying. I tried to tell her that just because Ivy wanted to play with Addie, it didn't mean she didn't like Rachel, she just wanted to play with someone else, and that she should try to play with other kids, too. And then she said she plays tag with the boys but then gets bored and runs away, and I said that she should stick with tag because it's a great way of building up her ability to run fast.
Later, at dinner, she said she'd had a great day. Go figure.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
fantastic holiday weekend
I'll work backwards, since Drew isn't here right now to fill me in on what he and Rachel did while I was away at my temp job. Yesterday we managed to Skype with PopPop, Mammaw, and Aunties Amanda and Jenn! What a fantastic time we had; we talked about camping, and housing prices, and Rachel got to show off some of her lovely artwork. This was after a lazy morning of us all sleeping late since I didn't get to bed until 2 a.m. the night before. Or was it the day before? Anyway, Rachel has spent the last two nights sleeping in her most excellent present from Tia Daniella and Darryl and Valerie -- a PRINCESS TENT! Yeah, as in most things, Daniella is better than me at Hanukkah gift-giving for kids.
Speaking of Hanukkah, Drew has made it a point to light the candles and have Rachel say the blessing every night while I've been away. She has absolutely loved her presents so far -- a Hello Kitty toy microphone, the tent, a light-up pillow pet, and she doesn't even know what we're building up to, although she has already guessed correctly. She's such a happy, unspoiled kid, it's so nice to be able to make her smile with gifts!
This morning we thought Ivy and her brother Liam were going to be coming over for breakfast, but they never showed. So, Drew used the eggs he'd bought to make us chocolate chip pancakes. Then we arranged a spur of the moment playdate with Rachel's friend Simone from school, and Drew went grocery shopping while I make some gingerbread and popped it into the oven. My friend from college, Charon, and her husband Wes and son Cameron are coming over for dinner tonight, so I'll be cleaning and cooking until they arrive at 6:30. Tomorrow Drew and Rachel go back to work and school, and I promised to make lamb for dinner and a pot roast for later in the week, since it's my day off. And after THAT, I'll probably take a rest from cooking for a while!
Speaking of Hanukkah, Drew has made it a point to light the candles and have Rachel say the blessing every night while I've been away. She has absolutely loved her presents so far -- a Hello Kitty toy microphone, the tent, a light-up pillow pet, and she doesn't even know what we're building up to, although she has already guessed correctly. She's such a happy, unspoiled kid, it's so nice to be able to make her smile with gifts!
This morning we thought Ivy and her brother Liam were going to be coming over for breakfast, but they never showed. So, Drew used the eggs he'd bought to make us chocolate chip pancakes. Then we arranged a spur of the moment playdate with Rachel's friend Simone from school, and Drew went grocery shopping while I make some gingerbread and popped it into the oven. My friend from college, Charon, and her husband Wes and son Cameron are coming over for dinner tonight, so I'll be cleaning and cooking until they arrive at 6:30. Tomorrow Drew and Rachel go back to work and school, and I promised to make lamb for dinner and a pot roast for later in the week, since it's my day off. And after THAT, I'll probably take a rest from cooking for a while!
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Proud mama moment
So, we got the results of a reading readiness test that the school district gives kindergarteners at the beginning and end of kindergarten. The test assesses things like whether the kids can recognize certain letter sounds, read certain words, recognize rhymes, sounds, know the alphabet, simple spelling, etc.
The benchmark score -- i.e., the expectation for kindergarten -- is a score of 28. The highest possible score is 102.
Rachel scored a 95.
This explains an exchange that happened at recess last week. Rachel noticed, in her words, that one of the 2nd grade girls was "excluding" another little girl. "You're being disrespectful," she scolded the 2nd grader.
"What's 'disrespectful' mean?" the girl asked.
See my point?
The benchmark score -- i.e., the expectation for kindergarten -- is a score of 28. The highest possible score is 102.
Rachel scored a 95.
This explains an exchange that happened at recess last week. Rachel noticed, in her words, that one of the 2nd grade girls was "excluding" another little girl. "You're being disrespectful," she scolded the 2nd grader.
"What's 'disrespectful' mean?" the girl asked.
See my point?
A troubling trend
Rachel is not the perfect child; she can get whiny and mopey when she doesn't get her way. Sometimes she even has a mild temper tantrum when one of her friends isn't home to play, or we won't let her do something she'd like to do.
Drew and I rarely yell at her and never spank her; we just speak sternly to her and tell her to knock it off. Or, we'll let her know that we're disappointed in her behavior. Her reaction is very interesting (and heartbreaking): usually she'll hug me fiercely and say, "I want MOMMY," and start to cry, and then she'll offer to do something dramatic, the worst thing she can think of to punish herself. Usually that involves throwing her favorite stuffed animals or her bathrobe in the garbage. Once in Portland she said she tried to hit and pinch herself as punishment (this was when Drew was in D.C. and I was trying to close out our life in Oregon and I flew off the handle at some tiny thing she did. I was so upset that she was trying to hurt herself that I took her into my lap, sobbed, and told her to promise me that she'd never, ever hurt herself again. She hasn't done that since).
Anyway, tonight she did something similar. She was upset at the end of "Angelina Ballerina" that there wasn't enough music on the movie for her and Drew to dance to (they usually dance at the end of all the episodes before she goes up to bed) and so she got whiny and said, "it's not FAIR!" Drew had to remind her that she'd had a very nice day and gotten her way on a lot of things, and that it didn't make sense for her to focus on the one thing she didn't get.
When it was time for her to say goodnight to me after her bath, she got all weepy, and said "I want MOMMY."
"What's the matter?" I asked her.
"I want MOMMY!" she insisted.
I hoisted her onto the counter and said gently, "are you upset at yourself that you made such a fuss after the movie?"
"YES!" she said, bursting into tears. "I told Daddy that we should stop celebrating my BIRTHDAY!"
I told her gently that I understood that she was upset she had acted that way and that she wanted to punish herself, but told her that instead of doing that, she should focus on how not to exhibit that behavior in the first place. "Can you try to remember that next time?" I asked her.
"Yess," she said. "I hope I don't cry on the way to school. I don't like crying in public. Everyone looks at you and it's embarrassing."
I told her a week or so ago, when she insisted on throwing her stuffed animals into the garbage to punish herself, that she shouldn't do that. I took her into my lap, looked into her eyes, and said, "Rachel, the world will punish you enough. Don't punish yourself, OK?" Evidently that didn't take.
Hopefully, our discussion tonight will.
Drew and I rarely yell at her and never spank her; we just speak sternly to her and tell her to knock it off. Or, we'll let her know that we're disappointed in her behavior. Her reaction is very interesting (and heartbreaking): usually she'll hug me fiercely and say, "I want MOMMY," and start to cry, and then she'll offer to do something dramatic, the worst thing she can think of to punish herself. Usually that involves throwing her favorite stuffed animals or her bathrobe in the garbage. Once in Portland she said she tried to hit and pinch herself as punishment (this was when Drew was in D.C. and I was trying to close out our life in Oregon and I flew off the handle at some tiny thing she did. I was so upset that she was trying to hurt herself that I took her into my lap, sobbed, and told her to promise me that she'd never, ever hurt herself again. She hasn't done that since).
Anyway, tonight she did something similar. She was upset at the end of "Angelina Ballerina" that there wasn't enough music on the movie for her and Drew to dance to (they usually dance at the end of all the episodes before she goes up to bed) and so she got whiny and said, "it's not FAIR!" Drew had to remind her that she'd had a very nice day and gotten her way on a lot of things, and that it didn't make sense for her to focus on the one thing she didn't get.
When it was time for her to say goodnight to me after her bath, she got all weepy, and said "I want MOMMY."
"What's the matter?" I asked her.
"I want MOMMY!" she insisted.
I hoisted her onto the counter and said gently, "are you upset at yourself that you made such a fuss after the movie?"
"YES!" she said, bursting into tears. "I told Daddy that we should stop celebrating my BIRTHDAY!"
I told her gently that I understood that she was upset she had acted that way and that she wanted to punish herself, but told her that instead of doing that, she should focus on how not to exhibit that behavior in the first place. "Can you try to remember that next time?" I asked her.
"Yess," she said. "I hope I don't cry on the way to school. I don't like crying in public. Everyone looks at you and it's embarrassing."
I told her a week or so ago, when she insisted on throwing her stuffed animals into the garbage to punish herself, that she shouldn't do that. I took her into my lap, looked into her eyes, and said, "Rachel, the world will punish you enough. Don't punish yourself, OK?" Evidently that didn't take.
Hopefully, our discussion tonight will.
Rachel the chef
Looks like I'm not the only chef in the family. Rachel, who has taken a cooking class this past semester after school, insisted on making us colored waffles this morning. Drew helped her with the dye, and so she and I had pink waffles and he had blue. (The actual waffles she had learned to make in cooking class were filled with whipped cream, but we started small this morning).
Oh, and last weekend she made us cinnamon tortillas, a dish she had watched the cook at her preschool make. They were excellent.
Of course, Drew helps her put together the dishes, but she is also a big help to me when I make things for dinner parties and special events. Yesterday she cracked the eggs for the chocolate silk pie without making a mess, and she knows how to punch down the dough (and knead it, too) for challah. We are just at the point when I can give her a couple of tasks and then do other parts of the meal, confident that she'll follow my directions.
One of my goals is for her to cook us one meal a week by the time she's 9. We figure that meal will be pretty simple: tacos, maybe, or spaghetti with meat sauce, but at least she'll be confident enough in the kitchen to have picked up the basic life skill of cooking for herself (and others). We'll also round out her education by taking her to the grocery store and having her comparison shop for ingredients and work within a budget. Maybe we're pushing her to be grown-up too soon, but I love the idea of her learning how to be on her own years before she has to do so.
Oh, and last weekend she made us cinnamon tortillas, a dish she had watched the cook at her preschool make. They were excellent.
Of course, Drew helps her put together the dishes, but she is also a big help to me when I make things for dinner parties and special events. Yesterday she cracked the eggs for the chocolate silk pie without making a mess, and she knows how to punch down the dough (and knead it, too) for challah. We are just at the point when I can give her a couple of tasks and then do other parts of the meal, confident that she'll follow my directions.
One of my goals is for her to cook us one meal a week by the time she's 9. We figure that meal will be pretty simple: tacos, maybe, or spaghetti with meat sauce, but at least she'll be confident enough in the kitchen to have picked up the basic life skill of cooking for herself (and others). We'll also round out her education by taking her to the grocery store and having her comparison shop for ingredients and work within a budget. Maybe we're pushing her to be grown-up too soon, but I love the idea of her learning how to be on her own years before she has to do so.
Why we are so lucky to live here
This morning we went to a bowling alley for a get-together with a bunch of folks from all the kindergarten classes at McKinley (there are four). I almost didn't go; I was tired, I knew we had a full day of clothes shopping ahead (in anticipation of the day I get a permanent job, I need to wear clothes that are more suited for D.C. and less fleece and jeans, which I was able to get away with in my old job) and I wasn't feeling very social. But, I went anyway. And, boy, was it worth it. Rachel got to BOWL (and she did pretty well!); Drew and I chatted up a bunch of parents and had a long conversation with the parents of one of Rachel's friends, Simone, who apparently talks about Rachel all the time and refers to her as "one of my best buddies." Simone's dad is a public policy lawyer for Bank of America and his wife is a professor in the communications department at American University (and knows a former colleague of mine from the Oregonian who teaches there). She teaches about social media and is very interested in the work Drew does. I told him on the way back that he should really offer to teach a class there about working with data as a journalist. They would totally eat that up.
Rachel has been wanting to play with Ivy for the last day or so, and we were all set to go shopping at an outlet mall about an hour away, when Ivy's mom called and asked if Rachel wanted to come over. We ended up taking her over there and Jenny, Ivy's mom, graciously offered to let her stay most of the afternoon while Drew and I raced out to Potomac Mills. It helped that Billy, Jenny's husband, said he loves that mall and has gotten great bargains on clothes, and after we repeatedly asked Jenny if she was SURE she was OK with Rachel being there the whole day, we left. At the mall we bought cookies for all the kids as a thank-you, and then Drew bought jeans and I bought a bunch of things that will serve me well when I fully rejoin the working world. Before we knew it was 6, the mall was closing and we raced back to retrieve Rachel. Jenny had some work to do (she's a freelance technical writer) and so she was happy that Rachel kept Ivy occupied (Ivy's brother Liam was at a Scouting meeting). Ivy invited herself over for breakfast on Sunday, and Liam chimed in that he wanted to come, too, so...we'll have waffles and cinnamon tortillas (which Rachel will make) and bacon and orange juice, and I will probably make homemade hot chocolate. Maybe if it's really cold, Drew can build a fire....
It was early enough when we got back so we could have family movie night, so Drew got pizza and we settled in to watch a couple of episodes of "Angelina Ballerina," a British cartoon series about a mouse named Angelina who loves to dance. Then Drew took Rachel up for a bath, she said a teary good night to me (more on that later), Drew went out to grocery shop and I am about to put away my new clothes and go to bed. We are so fortunate to have neighbors who will volunteer to watch Rachel when we really need to go somewhere to get stuff done. And it's astonishing that it has happened so fast in a place where we've only been living since August.
Rachel has been wanting to play with Ivy for the last day or so, and we were all set to go shopping at an outlet mall about an hour away, when Ivy's mom called and asked if Rachel wanted to come over. We ended up taking her over there and Jenny, Ivy's mom, graciously offered to let her stay most of the afternoon while Drew and I raced out to Potomac Mills. It helped that Billy, Jenny's husband, said he loves that mall and has gotten great bargains on clothes, and after we repeatedly asked Jenny if she was SURE she was OK with Rachel being there the whole day, we left. At the mall we bought cookies for all the kids as a thank-you, and then Drew bought jeans and I bought a bunch of things that will serve me well when I fully rejoin the working world. Before we knew it was 6, the mall was closing and we raced back to retrieve Rachel. Jenny had some work to do (she's a freelance technical writer) and so she was happy that Rachel kept Ivy occupied (Ivy's brother Liam was at a Scouting meeting). Ivy invited herself over for breakfast on Sunday, and Liam chimed in that he wanted to come, too, so...we'll have waffles and cinnamon tortillas (which Rachel will make) and bacon and orange juice, and I will probably make homemade hot chocolate. Maybe if it's really cold, Drew can build a fire....
It was early enough when we got back so we could have family movie night, so Drew got pizza and we settled in to watch a couple of episodes of "Angelina Ballerina," a British cartoon series about a mouse named Angelina who loves to dance. Then Drew took Rachel up for a bath, she said a teary good night to me (more on that later), Drew went out to grocery shop and I am about to put away my new clothes and go to bed. We are so fortunate to have neighbors who will volunteer to watch Rachel when we really need to go somewhere to get stuff done. And it's astonishing that it has happened so fast in a place where we've only been living since August.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Rachel wins over our dinner guests
We had a lovely dinner tonight for two friends of ours, Jeff and Crystal, who are expecting a baby girl in February. Jeff used to work with me at the Oregonian and we reconnected when I moved out here. They had us over for dinner in September and I've been wanting to have them back ever since.
So, tonight was the night. I spent much of the day cleaning the house (also in anticipation of Mom and Dad joining us for Thanksgiving...yay!) and preparing the dinner: roast chicken and potatoes, salad, chocolate silk pie with homemade whipped cream. We got just about everything done that I wanted before they arrived, and Drew even lit a fire -- the first one in our new house! -- to ensure that the fireplace does, indeed, work. We can't wait until Thanksgiving, when it will be COLD and we'll just keep the fire going for most of the day!
Rachel was especially sweet today; she cheerfully helped me with the pie crust (we're getting to the point where I can just give her tasks to do in the preparation of a meal and I know they'll get done), and then she did her homework. When I thanked her for doing her homework, she said cheerfully, "You're welcome! It's MY responsibility." Of course, I smiled hugely at that. Then Drew went out Hanukkah shopping -- Rachel is going to be very happy with her gifts -- and I continued cleaning and prepping while Rachel crashed out on the couch. (Friends of mine with kids in kindergarten warned me that kids are so exhausted at the end of the day because their brains are absorbing so much, that they end up sleeping really soundly). I covered her body with a blanket and just kept cleaning and cooking around her.
Jeff and Crystal came at 6:30 and at first Rachel moped around because she had thought that her friend Ivy would get back in time from running errands for them to have a playdate, but it was not to be. But she was cheerful by dinnertime, and after chatting with our guests she got down on the floor and busied herself with coloring. Turns out she was making a picture for Jeff and Crystal, which turned out to be a depiction of them with a turkey (gobble, gobble! she wrote helpfully) and I could tell they were really touched. Crystal immediately said she'd put it on their refrigerator, and I told Rachel later how proud I was that she was so well-behaved and made our guests feel so welcome. I can tell she's going to be a great hostess someday.
So, tonight was the night. I spent much of the day cleaning the house (also in anticipation of Mom and Dad joining us for Thanksgiving...yay!) and preparing the dinner: roast chicken and potatoes, salad, chocolate silk pie with homemade whipped cream. We got just about everything done that I wanted before they arrived, and Drew even lit a fire -- the first one in our new house! -- to ensure that the fireplace does, indeed, work. We can't wait until Thanksgiving, when it will be COLD and we'll just keep the fire going for most of the day!
Rachel was especially sweet today; she cheerfully helped me with the pie crust (we're getting to the point where I can just give her tasks to do in the preparation of a meal and I know they'll get done), and then she did her homework. When I thanked her for doing her homework, she said cheerfully, "You're welcome! It's MY responsibility." Of course, I smiled hugely at that. Then Drew went out Hanukkah shopping -- Rachel is going to be very happy with her gifts -- and I continued cleaning and prepping while Rachel crashed out on the couch. (Friends of mine with kids in kindergarten warned me that kids are so exhausted at the end of the day because their brains are absorbing so much, that they end up sleeping really soundly). I covered her body with a blanket and just kept cleaning and cooking around her.
Jeff and Crystal came at 6:30 and at first Rachel moped around because she had thought that her friend Ivy would get back in time from running errands for them to have a playdate, but it was not to be. But she was cheerful by dinnertime, and after chatting with our guests she got down on the floor and busied herself with coloring. Turns out she was making a picture for Jeff and Crystal, which turned out to be a depiction of them with a turkey (gobble, gobble! she wrote helpfully) and I could tell they were really touched. Crystal immediately said she'd put it on their refrigerator, and I told Rachel later how proud I was that she was so well-behaved and made our guests feel so welcome. I can tell she's going to be a great hostess someday.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
A restful Shabbat
So, yesterday we were invited to Shabbat lunch by a friend of mine, Andy Boltax, whom I haven't seen for, oh, 25 years or so. He and I worked on the Daily Northwestern together and he was always extremely nice to me; maybe because we're from the same part of the country (he was raised in Connecticut) and he was very disappointed when I decided not to seek the editor-in-chief's position (I was an African Studies minor and I needed to improve my overall GPA, plus I thought the position of off-campus bureau chief was better suited for me).
Andy reached out to be via Facebook. It turns out he has been living in the area since around 1997. He was raised a largely secular Jew and now has become quite religious and keeps strictly kosher. So, no way I could bring over a homemade babka. (sigh). He and his wife are both journalists -- she works on the website of AARP magazine and he owns his own company that advises news organizations on content management -- and they both work. They have four daughters, aged 17 to 10, but only Chana joined us. She's 13 and Rachel immediately took to her and her friend, Sheer, who joined us later in the meal.
It was one of the best kosher meals I have EVER had in my life -- even the cholent, which I have terrible memories of from the Chabad House in Portland -- and I helped myself to just about everything. Even Drew and Rachel found things to eat, although Rachel's portion was mostly the homemade challah, and we had a great time sitting around and catching up on two decades' worth of news. Andy read a d'var Torah portion about the futility of worrying, which was especially timely for me, and we ended up staying for 4 1/2 hours, even though Andy had to leave toward the end for closing prayers. We all agreed we'd had a great time and we had to do it again. I pledged to smoke a brisket for them at their house, as long as they provided the kosher smoker and I supplied the ingredients.
Then we went home and had a decidedly non-kosher evening of pepperoni pizza and cupcakes from our favorite bakery in Shirlington. We watched an Angelina Ballernia series of episodes with Rachel and then Drew and I watched a creepy but great movie called "Side Effects." Awesome day.
Andy reached out to be via Facebook. It turns out he has been living in the area since around 1997. He was raised a largely secular Jew and now has become quite religious and keeps strictly kosher. So, no way I could bring over a homemade babka. (sigh). He and his wife are both journalists -- she works on the website of AARP magazine and he owns his own company that advises news organizations on content management -- and they both work. They have four daughters, aged 17 to 10, but only Chana joined us. She's 13 and Rachel immediately took to her and her friend, Sheer, who joined us later in the meal.
It was one of the best kosher meals I have EVER had in my life -- even the cholent, which I have terrible memories of from the Chabad House in Portland -- and I helped myself to just about everything. Even Drew and Rachel found things to eat, although Rachel's portion was mostly the homemade challah, and we had a great time sitting around and catching up on two decades' worth of news. Andy read a d'var Torah portion about the futility of worrying, which was especially timely for me, and we ended up staying for 4 1/2 hours, even though Andy had to leave toward the end for closing prayers. We all agreed we'd had a great time and we had to do it again. I pledged to smoke a brisket for them at their house, as long as they provided the kosher smoker and I supplied the ingredients.
Then we went home and had a decidedly non-kosher evening of pepperoni pizza and cupcakes from our favorite bakery in Shirlington. We watched an Angelina Ballernia series of episodes with Rachel and then Drew and I watched a creepy but great movie called "Side Effects." Awesome day.
Friday, November 15, 2013
cold! cold! cold!
Yes, winter has definitely arrived here in D.C. It was 40 degrees this morning when Drew and I walked to the EFC Metro station, me in a miniskirt with tights, a jacket, a hat and gloves and I was STILL cold. I had two meetings downtown, though, that required formal dress so there was nothing much I could do. Spent part of the day at the National Portrait Gallery (ahhh....) and had a late lunch after my second meeting, then took the Metro home in barely enough time to change into casual clothes and pick Rachel up from kindergarten.
She threw a fit when the 2nd of her two friends on the block couldn't get together tonight (Lina's nanny was just about feed the kids, and said to come back at 7, and Rachel stamped her foot and said "I want to play NOW!" and I was so appalled that I said our goodbyes quickly and left). I was so exasperated when we got home that I told Rachel we wouldn't be going over there, even though I really wanted to talk to Lina's mom, Carol, and Rachel cried and pinky promised not to throw a fit again. Carol called after the kids had eaten and told us we could come over, but I explained the situation and said Rachel has to learn not to throw a temper tantrum when she doesn't get her way.
Of course, Rachel being Rachel, she then went sobbing up to her room and brought down two of her jewelry boxes with jewelry in them, trying to give them to me as a way of apologizing. I took her into my lap and we cuddled while I told her she really can't behave that way, and pretty soon she perked up and washed her hands, set the table, wrote in her journal and then we did some scrapbooking (I bought her a Hello Kitty scrapbook when we went to Target yesterday) before Drew came home. We had Scotch broth, challah and salad for dinner as soon as he walked in the door.
She threw a fit when the 2nd of her two friends on the block couldn't get together tonight (Lina's nanny was just about feed the kids, and said to come back at 7, and Rachel stamped her foot and said "I want to play NOW!" and I was so appalled that I said our goodbyes quickly and left). I was so exasperated when we got home that I told Rachel we wouldn't be going over there, even though I really wanted to talk to Lina's mom, Carol, and Rachel cried and pinky promised not to throw a fit again. Carol called after the kids had eaten and told us we could come over, but I explained the situation and said Rachel has to learn not to throw a temper tantrum when she doesn't get her way.
Of course, Rachel being Rachel, she then went sobbing up to her room and brought down two of her jewelry boxes with jewelry in them, trying to give them to me as a way of apologizing. I took her into my lap and we cuddled while I told her she really can't behave that way, and pretty soon she perked up and washed her hands, set the table, wrote in her journal and then we did some scrapbooking (I bought her a Hello Kitty scrapbook when we went to Target yesterday) before Drew came home. We had Scotch broth, challah and salad for dinner as soon as he walked in the door.
I'm raising her well....
On Monday, Veteran's Day, Rachel and I went shopping for clothes. We stopped at the Westover Market, a neat little grocery store in the "town center" near our house, and I got her a snack and me some brisket sliders (the market has a beer garden out back, so they're a restaurant, too, with surprisingly good food).
"Do you want to try some brisket?" I asked.
"No thanks," Rachel replied. "The only brisket I want to try is MOMMY'S."
"Do you want to try some brisket?" I asked.
"No thanks," Rachel replied. "The only brisket I want to try is MOMMY'S."
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
It's lonely around here
Anne and David left yesterday (sniff). We had a great time with them right up until the end. On Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, we hung around the house, me cleaning up and Drew raking the dead leaves off our lawn (my, there were a lot of them), running to the farmers market and then it was my turn to run to the hardware store for more paper bags to stuff the leaves into (we bag the leaves out back and sweep the ones out front into the street). At first we were going to go to Mt. Vernon and then say goodbye as Anne and David headed to the airport, but then David, Drew, Rachel and I decided to take a walk while Anne did some work outside on her computer in the sun.
Rachel and I hopped on our bikes and rode to the playground right near our house; when we arrived, David and I sat on a park bench and talked while Drew and Rachel played on the play structure and with the toys left on the playground. Then Anne called David and said she needed to get into the house; Drew walked back and returned on HIS bike. When it started getting really windy, we all went home, Anne and David packed up their stuff and left. I persuaded Anne to leave some of her things here for when they come for a return visit, probably the last week in March/first week in April.
The rest of the day was quiet: Drew and Rachel went grocery shopping and I took a nap and tidied up the house. We grilled mustard chicken out back -- it's great to be able to grill so late in the season without worrying about the rain! -- and then we went to bed late. But today was Veterans Day, and Rachel was off school, so we figured she and I would sleep late when Drew went to work.
This morning I worked on a friend-of-the-court brief that a law professor at Willamette asked me to edit; she's submitting it to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and will be in town for the oral arguments in January (and probably will be staying with us). My neighbor the FBI agent has already asked me if she should get me tickets to watch the proceedings (!) and I told her I'd get back to her on that.
Then, I took Rachel clothes shopping for serious winter gear -- this isn't PDX anymore and she needs a heavy coat, pants, stockings, etc. We struck out on pants; she is slim-hipped with a small rear end, just like me, and so all the pants that fit her legs are way too big in the waist so Drew and I have given up and she'll just wear leggings and dresses with stockings. I did manage to find a great coat at REI that should work in cold/snow/rain, plus a wonderful hat that actually fits her. Also bought her long-sleeved t-shirts, more socks, black patent leather shoes (for dressy occasions like the ballet and Thanksgiving), and a wonderful holiday dress and sweater that she looks just beautiful wearing. Since we really didn't have to be anywhere at any special time, we had a great day; I was relaxed, so was Rachel, and we finished up our time together at home, snuggling on the couch together and listening to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD (need to get more of them). We met Drew at the train station and had dinner at our favorite Lebanese restaurant in town, then came home and gave Rachel a bath and put her to bed.
Altogether, a really nice last couple of days!
Rachel and I hopped on our bikes and rode to the playground right near our house; when we arrived, David and I sat on a park bench and talked while Drew and Rachel played on the play structure and with the toys left on the playground. Then Anne called David and said she needed to get into the house; Drew walked back and returned on HIS bike. When it started getting really windy, we all went home, Anne and David packed up their stuff and left. I persuaded Anne to leave some of her things here for when they come for a return visit, probably the last week in March/first week in April.
The rest of the day was quiet: Drew and Rachel went grocery shopping and I took a nap and tidied up the house. We grilled mustard chicken out back -- it's great to be able to grill so late in the season without worrying about the rain! -- and then we went to bed late. But today was Veterans Day, and Rachel was off school, so we figured she and I would sleep late when Drew went to work.
This morning I worked on a friend-of-the-court brief that a law professor at Willamette asked me to edit; she's submitting it to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and will be in town for the oral arguments in January (and probably will be staying with us). My neighbor the FBI agent has already asked me if she should get me tickets to watch the proceedings (!) and I told her I'd get back to her on that.
Then, I took Rachel clothes shopping for serious winter gear -- this isn't PDX anymore and she needs a heavy coat, pants, stockings, etc. We struck out on pants; she is slim-hipped with a small rear end, just like me, and so all the pants that fit her legs are way too big in the waist so Drew and I have given up and she'll just wear leggings and dresses with stockings. I did manage to find a great coat at REI that should work in cold/snow/rain, plus a wonderful hat that actually fits her. Also bought her long-sleeved t-shirts, more socks, black patent leather shoes (for dressy occasions like the ballet and Thanksgiving), and a wonderful holiday dress and sweater that she looks just beautiful wearing. Since we really didn't have to be anywhere at any special time, we had a great day; I was relaxed, so was Rachel, and we finished up our time together at home, snuggling on the couch together and listening to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD (need to get more of them). We met Drew at the train station and had dinner at our favorite Lebanese restaurant in town, then came home and gave Rachel a bath and put her to bed.
Altogether, a really nice last couple of days!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
NEWS FLASH!!!
RACHEL LOST HER FIRST TOOTH! AT GREAT FALLS NATIONAL PARK! She was eating an orange when the tooth that had been irritatingly wiggly for about a week (and driving us all crazy by extension), fell out! It's in the lower right part of her mouth (left if you're looking at her face) and..just..wow!
Sniff. Even though the tooth is under her pillow (actually, Drew replaced it with a Susan B. Anthony dollar while she was saying goodnight to us) she is growing up! Ah, I will miss my little girl....
Sniff. Even though the tooth is under her pillow (actually, Drew replaced it with a Susan B. Anthony dollar while she was saying goodnight to us) she is growing up! Ah, I will miss my little girl....
A perfect fall day
It's funny how some things stay with you from childhood, even when you become an adult. When Daniella and I were kids, Mom and Dad used to take us to a place they called the "Private Park." It was private because you needed a key to unlock the big gate at the entrance, which was chained up except for members who must have paid an annual fee every year to join. We went to the park in all seasons -- winter, fall, spring and summer -- and it was entirely nature; no play structures or carousels or another distractions. Just trees and creeks and wooden bridges over the creeks. There was a network of trails that seemed to go on forever, but I'm sure the park isn't as big in reality as I though it was in my imagination. We'd go there a lot, sometimes on Yom Kippur, or around Thanksgiving. I saw my first frogs' eggs there; I got stung multiple times on my leg by a bee there; it was the place where I really learned to look inside logs and at leaves. Daniella and I ran races and held hands while we walked through the woods. It was a really special place and I've never found anywhere like it.
Until today.
This morning we decided (well, actually, we decided to this a few days ago) that because it was such a beautiful, sunny (if a little brisk outside) day, we were going to take a hike somewhere. We decided to go to Great Falls Park, run by the National Park Service. A friend of mine from high school, Ed Stephenson, had told me about it just before he moved away from here a few months ago. It's in McLean, about a 40-minute drive from our house, and after a big breakfast of bacon and pumpkin and cinnamon bread from Great Harvest, we set off. We got there around 1:30, clambered out of the car and began walking along the Potomac. The park runs along the river and there are three spectacular overlooks where you can see a magnificent set of waterfalls. At first we walked along the part of the trail that led to a dam where the water flowed uniformly over; there was an island in the middle of the water that we walked onto that Rachel announced we were "jumping to conclusions" because we had to hop amidst rocks to get out here (and the reference was a sly one, to a part of "The Phantom Tollbooth" that Mom and Dad gave to me a long time ago). We decided to turn around and walk toward the falls, and the view from the falls was incredible -- we got to see kayakers ride the rapids, and hang over the fence and just stare at the water. At one point Rachel turned to me, jumped in my arms and gave me a big hug. "THANK YOU for taking me here!" she exclaimed. "I thought it would be much boring!" You're welcome, sweetie.
I hiked for myself for a bit after the others decided to hit the visitors center, and I saw not one, not two, not three, but FOUR deer cross my path and head into the woods. Magical! And then I looked up with a bunch of tourists and saw turkey vultures in the trees. The weather was perfect, the leaves were magnificently colored and it was hard to believe we were only 15 miles outside D.C.
Then we decided to have an early dinner at a place Anne found called "Amoo's House of Kabob" in McLean. Totally unpromising name and decor but my LORD, the food was amazing. I have never in my life tasted Persian food so good. We are definitely going back there, even though Rachel refused to eat her chicken -- I told Drew we will force food on her if we have to, but we are going back. One clue as to how good it was: lots of locals eating there.
It was so early still that we decided to get cupcakes in Shirlington at a place near the hotel where Darryl, Daniella and Valerie stayed when they were here last month. The place we went to was called "Cakelove" (the place we had gone to before was wiped out of desserts by the time we arrived around 8 or so) and we picked up six cupcakes. Then we headed home and had "Family Movie Night," watching "Enchanted," a clever sendup of Disney fare with Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams. Anne and David had the right spirit and LOVED IT, as do Rachel, Drew and I, and Rachel cuddled in my lap, and Drew's, for most of the movie. When it was over, she and Drew danced around the family room and he lifted her up a few times -- she really does know how to pose like a ballerina in the air -- and then he took her up to bed while I cleaned up dessert. Altogether, a terrific, terrific day.
Until today.
This morning we decided (well, actually, we decided to this a few days ago) that because it was such a beautiful, sunny (if a little brisk outside) day, we were going to take a hike somewhere. We decided to go to Great Falls Park, run by the National Park Service. A friend of mine from high school, Ed Stephenson, had told me about it just before he moved away from here a few months ago. It's in McLean, about a 40-minute drive from our house, and after a big breakfast of bacon and pumpkin and cinnamon bread from Great Harvest, we set off. We got there around 1:30, clambered out of the car and began walking along the Potomac. The park runs along the river and there are three spectacular overlooks where you can see a magnificent set of waterfalls. At first we walked along the part of the trail that led to a dam where the water flowed uniformly over; there was an island in the middle of the water that we walked onto that Rachel announced we were "jumping to conclusions" because we had to hop amidst rocks to get out here (and the reference was a sly one, to a part of "The Phantom Tollbooth" that Mom and Dad gave to me a long time ago). We decided to turn around and walk toward the falls, and the view from the falls was incredible -- we got to see kayakers ride the rapids, and hang over the fence and just stare at the water. At one point Rachel turned to me, jumped in my arms and gave me a big hug. "THANK YOU for taking me here!" she exclaimed. "I thought it would be much boring!" You're welcome, sweetie.
I hiked for myself for a bit after the others decided to hit the visitors center, and I saw not one, not two, not three, but FOUR deer cross my path and head into the woods. Magical! And then I looked up with a bunch of tourists and saw turkey vultures in the trees. The weather was perfect, the leaves were magnificently colored and it was hard to believe we were only 15 miles outside D.C.
Then we decided to have an early dinner at a place Anne found called "Amoo's House of Kabob" in McLean. Totally unpromising name and decor but my LORD, the food was amazing. I have never in my life tasted Persian food so good. We are definitely going back there, even though Rachel refused to eat her chicken -- I told Drew we will force food on her if we have to, but we are going back. One clue as to how good it was: lots of locals eating there.
It was so early still that we decided to get cupcakes in Shirlington at a place near the hotel where Darryl, Daniella and Valerie stayed when they were here last month. The place we went to was called "Cakelove" (the place we had gone to before was wiped out of desserts by the time we arrived around 8 or so) and we picked up six cupcakes. Then we headed home and had "Family Movie Night," watching "Enchanted," a clever sendup of Disney fare with Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams. Anne and David had the right spirit and LOVED IT, as do Rachel, Drew and I, and Rachel cuddled in my lap, and Drew's, for most of the movie. When it was over, she and Drew danced around the family room and he lifted her up a few times -- she really does know how to pose like a ballerina in the air -- and then he took her up to bed while I cleaned up dessert. Altogether, a terrific, terrific day.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Rachel wants a sibling
Conversation between Rachel and me in the car on the way to get flu shots on Tuesday:
Rachel: I wish I had a sister.
Me: Why?
Rachel: 'Cause then I could play with her instead of just my toys.
Me (slowly, turning around from the front seat): Well, Rachel, you know that I tried to give you a sibling but it didn't work, right?
Rachel: (nodded).
Me: And besides...you are MORE than enough for us.
Rachel (relief flooding her face): Thanks, Mom.
Hope I handled that OK. It breaks my heart every time she says she wants someone to play with, because there's nothing more I would love than two kids playing with each other every night before dinner. But it didn't happen, and hopefully Rachel will be OK with it when she's older.
***
Totally forgot to mention that I voted in a booth Tuesday, the first time in 15 years. Oregon has vote by mail, and I missed getting a nonpartisan Voters Pamphlet to help me decide what candidates to vote for; the Washington Post doesn't bother with local races so I left one office blank because I truly didn't know about the candidates and didn't feel I could make an informed decision. Sigh.
As I approached the nice elderly woman at the check-in table, she said: "We have new technology." (Turns out you vote onscreen. No more levers to push or ballots to punch with a pencil).
"I'm from Oregon, and we vote by mail," I said smugly. "I haven't been inside a voting booth for 15 years!"
She didn't appear impressed.
Rachel: I wish I had a sister.
Me: Why?
Rachel: 'Cause then I could play with her instead of just my toys.
Me (slowly, turning around from the front seat): Well, Rachel, you know that I tried to give you a sibling but it didn't work, right?
Rachel: (nodded).
Me: And besides...you are MORE than enough for us.
Rachel (relief flooding her face): Thanks, Mom.
Hope I handled that OK. It breaks my heart every time she says she wants someone to play with, because there's nothing more I would love than two kids playing with each other every night before dinner. But it didn't happen, and hopefully Rachel will be OK with it when she's older.
***
Totally forgot to mention that I voted in a booth Tuesday, the first time in 15 years. Oregon has vote by mail, and I missed getting a nonpartisan Voters Pamphlet to help me decide what candidates to vote for; the Washington Post doesn't bother with local races so I left one office blank because I truly didn't know about the candidates and didn't feel I could make an informed decision. Sigh.
As I approached the nice elderly woman at the check-in table, she said: "We have new technology." (Turns out you vote onscreen. No more levers to push or ballots to punch with a pencil).
"I'm from Oregon, and we vote by mail," I said smugly. "I haven't been inside a voting booth for 15 years!"
She didn't appear impressed.
Family!
Well, we've been having a great time with Anne and David. A sampling:
--Tuesday Rachel and I got flu shots at a free health clinic in one of the local high schools, the one Rachel will be going to if we stay in the area. We could have gone to a pediatrician on Drew's health plan, but we've been so busy and frazzled with other things that as soon as I saw the announcement about the clinic, I jumped on it. It was a huge, huge relief for me to have us both get shots, because I've been feeling irresponsible for not doing so until now. On the way out of the clinic we ran into a bake sale and I got to chatting with the woman in charge of it, who happens to be a journalist and we had a long talk about the public affairs/journalism world out here. These encounters are what I'm beginning to call Quintessential Arlington Moments.
Then we all drove to the Ballston Metro parking garage, hopped on the train and David, Rachel and I went to the Air & Space Museum on the Mall while Anne visited some other museums. I got a great shot of David and Rachel under the Voyager, which David helped build, and he seemed to enjoy taking her around the museum and explaining the concepts of thrust and other engineering terms. We went outside to take a break at one point -- it was a beautiful day, in the high 60s -- then went back inside to see a movie at the Planetarium. At 5 we met up with Anne, having taken a pedicab from our side of the Mall to where she was, and then we continued on to the great Mexican restaurant they'd chosen for dinner. The pedicab driver was so nice, he was enchanted with Rachel and sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and threw some D.C. landmarks into the lyrics. She cracked up, she's so easily amused these days. Drew joined us around 6:15 and we all shared small plates.
The food was fabulous but on the Metro on the way home I began feeling queasy, probably because I don't eat Mexican food that often. When we got home, I had to go upstairs and lie down for a while until I felt better.
--Wednesday I had a lunch meeting, so Anne and David took the Metro with me. I got off at Pentagon City..only to have my lunch date forget about meeting me. Grumpily I decided to take the Metro into D.C. and meet Drew for lunch, which of course was great, and then when I got home the day was so gorgeous that I decided to take a late afternoon bike ride down the W&OD trail. I got almost all the way to Vienna. The sunset alone was worth it. I'm still in the Portland frame of mind that says I MUST be outside whenever there's sun because it could disappear all in one moment and I'll be facing six months of rain. Dad, this is probably a demented version of your 10 o'clock rule on weekends. If so, it's definitely working.
When we all got home, Drew warmed up the turkey soup he made from the carcass of last weekend's turkey at Dan and Beryle's. Paired with my parsley-flecked dumplings, it was a great meal and David and Anne were profusely glad we'd made it. We all had the last of the pumpkin cocoa cake for dessert.
--Today Anne and David were on their own; I considered going into D.C. to do museums with Anne but then got caught running errands in the morning (including FedExing a copy of the law school magazine to Montana for a contest) and then really wanted to swim this afternoon, so I ended up working at home (answering emails, organizing my list of jobs I want to apply to) and then making chocolate chip cookies for Ivy's dad, Billy, whose birthday is tonight. They weren't home when Rachel and I stopped over after school, so hopefully I'll be able to deliver them tomorrow. In the meantime, there's plenty left for us (including Anne and David, of course, who are staying until Sunday)....
--Tuesday Rachel and I got flu shots at a free health clinic in one of the local high schools, the one Rachel will be going to if we stay in the area. We could have gone to a pediatrician on Drew's health plan, but we've been so busy and frazzled with other things that as soon as I saw the announcement about the clinic, I jumped on it. It was a huge, huge relief for me to have us both get shots, because I've been feeling irresponsible for not doing so until now. On the way out of the clinic we ran into a bake sale and I got to chatting with the woman in charge of it, who happens to be a journalist and we had a long talk about the public affairs/journalism world out here. These encounters are what I'm beginning to call Quintessential Arlington Moments.
Then we all drove to the Ballston Metro parking garage, hopped on the train and David, Rachel and I went to the Air & Space Museum on the Mall while Anne visited some other museums. I got a great shot of David and Rachel under the Voyager, which David helped build, and he seemed to enjoy taking her around the museum and explaining the concepts of thrust and other engineering terms. We went outside to take a break at one point -- it was a beautiful day, in the high 60s -- then went back inside to see a movie at the Planetarium. At 5 we met up with Anne, having taken a pedicab from our side of the Mall to where she was, and then we continued on to the great Mexican restaurant they'd chosen for dinner. The pedicab driver was so nice, he was enchanted with Rachel and sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and threw some D.C. landmarks into the lyrics. She cracked up, she's so easily amused these days. Drew joined us around 6:15 and we all shared small plates.
The food was fabulous but on the Metro on the way home I began feeling queasy, probably because I don't eat Mexican food that often. When we got home, I had to go upstairs and lie down for a while until I felt better.
--Wednesday I had a lunch meeting, so Anne and David took the Metro with me. I got off at Pentagon City..only to have my lunch date forget about meeting me. Grumpily I decided to take the Metro into D.C. and meet Drew for lunch, which of course was great, and then when I got home the day was so gorgeous that I decided to take a late afternoon bike ride down the W&OD trail. I got almost all the way to Vienna. The sunset alone was worth it. I'm still in the Portland frame of mind that says I MUST be outside whenever there's sun because it could disappear all in one moment and I'll be facing six months of rain. Dad, this is probably a demented version of your 10 o'clock rule on weekends. If so, it's definitely working.
When we all got home, Drew warmed up the turkey soup he made from the carcass of last weekend's turkey at Dan and Beryle's. Paired with my parsley-flecked dumplings, it was a great meal and David and Anne were profusely glad we'd made it. We all had the last of the pumpkin cocoa cake for dessert.
--Today Anne and David were on their own; I considered going into D.C. to do museums with Anne but then got caught running errands in the morning (including FedExing a copy of the law school magazine to Montana for a contest) and then really wanted to swim this afternoon, so I ended up working at home (answering emails, organizing my list of jobs I want to apply to) and then making chocolate chip cookies for Ivy's dad, Billy, whose birthday is tonight. They weren't home when Rachel and I stopped over after school, so hopefully I'll be able to deliver them tomorrow. In the meantime, there's plenty left for us (including Anne and David, of course, who are staying until Sunday)....
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Happy pre-Thanksgiving!
Thank heavens for Daylight Savings Time, because it helped me make a great Thanksgiving dinner (if I do say so myself). Got up at 7:30 a.m., which was really 6:30 a.m., to prep the turkey before putting it in the oven this morning; we were due at Dan and Beryle's between noon and 1 p.m. I made the pumpkin cocoa cake last night, plus the cornbread and stuffing, so all I had to do this morning after the turkey was to prep the salad and make the gravy after the turkey came out. I was worried that a 9-lb. bird wouldn't be enough, but we had leftovers! Also leftover cornbread and stuffing! It's true what Drew says, I always make too much food even when I don't think I make enough. Anyway...David and Anne took great care of Rachel while I bustled around and Drew went out to the farmer's market. David, great guy that he is, loaded some math (!) games on his smartphone and Rachel apparently mastered all of them. She also did a lot of cuddling with David and helped Anne bring a chair in from outside where Anne had been sitting -- like me, Anne grabs at any chance to be outside when it ISN'T RAINING. I have to get used to the idea that there are lots of sunny days here.
We got to Dan and Beryle's at 1. David and Anne ran to the grocery store to get apple cider -- perfect with the dinner -- and we all made a toast before eating. Everyone loved the dinner, including Rachel who couldn't say enough about the turkey and the cake. We sat around and talked about the government shutdown, about the places Beryle has lived, about all kinds of things while it slowly grew dark outside. Rachel was extremely well-behaved, as usual, and gave a big hug to Dan and Beryle as we left. They really seemed to enjoy our presence, and we're hoping that we can do this again next year if Anne and David are in town around the same time as this year.
Then we went home and had an abbreviated version of Family Movie Night. Anne and David spent the night in Rockville; Rachel and Drew and I weren't hungry, so Drew went grocery shopping for the week while Rachel and I watched some "Angelina Ballerina" movies. Just as she was whining about Drew not being around to read a book to her and give her a bath, he arrived home. I cleaned up from the turkey (we brought everything to Dan and Beryle's, including knives to carve the turkey) and was dismayed to see that the lemons I'd put on the bottom of the pan to flavor the chicken broth had eaten through the coating on the pan. ARGGHH...yet another chore to deal with this week...
We will see Anne and David several times this week, and on Tuesday we're all going into the District to play during the day (the kids have off school for Election Day) after I vote and Rachel and I get flu shots. So great to know that Anne & David haven't forgotten us even though we're on the East Coast!
We got to Dan and Beryle's at 1. David and Anne ran to the grocery store to get apple cider -- perfect with the dinner -- and we all made a toast before eating. Everyone loved the dinner, including Rachel who couldn't say enough about the turkey and the cake. We sat around and talked about the government shutdown, about the places Beryle has lived, about all kinds of things while it slowly grew dark outside. Rachel was extremely well-behaved, as usual, and gave a big hug to Dan and Beryle as we left. They really seemed to enjoy our presence, and we're hoping that we can do this again next year if Anne and David are in town around the same time as this year.
Then we went home and had an abbreviated version of Family Movie Night. Anne and David spent the night in Rockville; Rachel and Drew and I weren't hungry, so Drew went grocery shopping for the week while Rachel and I watched some "Angelina Ballerina" movies. Just as she was whining about Drew not being around to read a book to her and give her a bath, he arrived home. I cleaned up from the turkey (we brought everything to Dan and Beryle's, including knives to carve the turkey) and was dismayed to see that the lemons I'd put on the bottom of the pan to flavor the chicken broth had eaten through the coating on the pan. ARGGHH...yet another chore to deal with this week...
We will see Anne and David several times this week, and on Tuesday we're all going into the District to play during the day (the kids have off school for Election Day) after I vote and Rachel and I get flu shots. So great to know that Anne & David haven't forgotten us even though we're on the East Coast!
Saturday, November 2, 2013
A perfect day
Anne and David are visiting us from Seattle, and today we had the most perfect day we possibly could have had. We all woke up late -- Drew and I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. -- and had homemade gingerbread for breakfast. Drew ran out to do some errands, Anne and David spent the morning working (David in the dining room, Anne outside because the weather was so warm and lovely), and so I decided to enlist Rachel's help in making a pumpkin cocoa cake for our early Thanksgiving celebration with Dan and Beryle tomorrow. I volunteered to bring a turkey with all the trimmings to their apartment.
Rachel was such a help; she now knows how to RUN THE MIXER ALL BY HERSELF! I was so proud of her. She's also a champion egg cracker, a skill I didn't master until much later than 5 years old. The cake isn't hard to make, but it's complicated because it involves multiple steps, so I was able to give her a task or two while I finished the rest of the cake-prep process. I really love having her in the kitchen with me, so much so that when she's not there, I feel kind of lonely.
When Drew got back we all went for a walk along a bike trail, although Rachel and I rode bikes. We can now do mother and daughter bike rides! Yay! I'm sure we'll do lots of rides together as long as the weather holds. Then Anne decided we should walk to the Metro station together; she was very impressed by how close it is to our house.
When we got back home, Drew helped Rachel do some extra math homework that her teacher gave to the kids while I made stuffing and cornbread. Then we all went to dinner at a Lebanese place near our house that I love. We had a fabulous dinner, I had a good conversation with David, plus two apple-flavored martinis that left me quite pleased with life in general. I think we've all decided that as soon as Rachel goes to college we're going to end up in a cool D.C. neighborhood together (Anne and David spending part of the year there, Drew and I living there, in Dupont Circle or somewhere else, full-time).
Altogether a perfectly wonderful, relaxing day!
Rachel was such a help; she now knows how to RUN THE MIXER ALL BY HERSELF! I was so proud of her. She's also a champion egg cracker, a skill I didn't master until much later than 5 years old. The cake isn't hard to make, but it's complicated because it involves multiple steps, so I was able to give her a task or two while I finished the rest of the cake-prep process. I really love having her in the kitchen with me, so much so that when she's not there, I feel kind of lonely.
When Drew got back we all went for a walk along a bike trail, although Rachel and I rode bikes. We can now do mother and daughter bike rides! Yay! I'm sure we'll do lots of rides together as long as the weather holds. Then Anne decided we should walk to the Metro station together; she was very impressed by how close it is to our house.
When we got back home, Drew helped Rachel do some extra math homework that her teacher gave to the kids while I made stuffing and cornbread. Then we all went to dinner at a Lebanese place near our house that I love. We had a fabulous dinner, I had a good conversation with David, plus two apple-flavored martinis that left me quite pleased with life in general. I think we've all decided that as soon as Rachel goes to college we're going to end up in a cool D.C. neighborhood together (Anne and David spending part of the year there, Drew and I living there, in Dupont Circle or somewhere else, full-time).
Altogether a perfectly wonderful, relaxing day!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Halloween night
Well, we apparently live in Mayberry. The day before Halloween I came home from a dispiriting day of running errands to find some cookies on my doorstep and a note: "Happy first Virginia Halloween!" signed by our neighbors. Immediately cheered me up. Then McKinley Elementary, where Rachel goes to school, had a school-wide parade Thursday at 2 p.m., the day of Halloween. I went, because I figured that if I didn't go, and next year this time if I have a job, then I'll kick myself that I didn't attend this school event when I could easily do so.
It was epic. Really.
The parade was led by the Arlington Police; they closed the surrounding streets. At the head of the parade was the Swanson Middle School band, wearing "help the homeless" t-shirts and playing "Louie, Louie," -- their "theme song," explained the band director. Each class had a banner, all the teachers and their aides were dressed up in costume, and Rachel and a classmate, Marat (who speaks Greek at home, he told me today) held the banner. Rachel looked adorable in her little Ariel costume. (She complained it was itchy last week, and Drew was really mad that he had bought a costume she didn't want to wear, so I offered to sew cloth inside the parts she said were itchy, which I did, which took three hours and all of my really bad stitching...only to have her announce on the morning of Halloween that she would wear a t-shirt underneath, which if she had agreed to do so last week would have saved me a lot of time and work and I never would have stabbed myself in the thumb with a needle. Suffice to say that, Mom, I can't believe you made all those dresses of ours when we were kids and I TOTALLY SALUTE YOU).
Anyway.
So, the kids marched around the block while I madly took pictures and teared up, because, really, where else does this happen? Rachel looked SO happy to see me when I just showed up (I had warned her I might not be able to come because I had a dentist appointment for a sore tooth, and even though it took longer than I thought it would, I was still determined to make the parade). I watched the parade with a mom whose son is in Rachel's class; she was there with her FOURTH child, a toddler, and I marveled at her patience and her slim figure. The high school band played a few numbers when they got back, including "In the Mood." They sounded pretty decent. When the band members were done I went to Rachel's class and watched her eat candy and make a pumpkin face out of an orange paper plate and some black construction paper, then went home to...
prepare for the onslaught of trick or treaters I just KNEW we were going to have. I lit two tea candles in the pumpkin Rachel and Drew carved last week, put the bowl of candy on the hall table and..waited...and...waited. Got the neighbor kids at 5:30, our across the street neighbors at 6:30 and a bunch 'o kids between 7 and 7:30. Drew, meanwhile, took Rachel out trick or treating with Ivy. They squabbled a bit about who would get to say "trick or treat!" first, and he noted later to me that while Ivy is a nice kid, she can be kind of bossy (she's in 2nd grade, I told him, of course she's bossy). We had a fast dinner of warmed-up brisket and cornbread, and Rachel got to eat two small pieces of candy before she went to bed. I kept away from the candy although I was sorely tempted to indulge. As a friend of mine from Portland said last year: must remember to keep away from the fun-sized candy if I want to have a fun-sized body.
And then Drew and I stayed up until 12:30 unrolling our new rug in the family room, hanging art and re-shelving the books, CDs and knickknacks, all of which had to be moved to get the rug in place. Happy Halloween, everyone!
It was epic. Really.
The parade was led by the Arlington Police; they closed the surrounding streets. At the head of the parade was the Swanson Middle School band, wearing "help the homeless" t-shirts and playing "Louie, Louie," -- their "theme song," explained the band director. Each class had a banner, all the teachers and their aides were dressed up in costume, and Rachel and a classmate, Marat (who speaks Greek at home, he told me today) held the banner. Rachel looked adorable in her little Ariel costume. (She complained it was itchy last week, and Drew was really mad that he had bought a costume she didn't want to wear, so I offered to sew cloth inside the parts she said were itchy, which I did, which took three hours and all of my really bad stitching...only to have her announce on the morning of Halloween that she would wear a t-shirt underneath, which if she had agreed to do so last week would have saved me a lot of time and work and I never would have stabbed myself in the thumb with a needle. Suffice to say that, Mom, I can't believe you made all those dresses of ours when we were kids and I TOTALLY SALUTE YOU).
Anyway.
So, the kids marched around the block while I madly took pictures and teared up, because, really, where else does this happen? Rachel looked SO happy to see me when I just showed up (I had warned her I might not be able to come because I had a dentist appointment for a sore tooth, and even though it took longer than I thought it would, I was still determined to make the parade). I watched the parade with a mom whose son is in Rachel's class; she was there with her FOURTH child, a toddler, and I marveled at her patience and her slim figure. The high school band played a few numbers when they got back, including "In the Mood." They sounded pretty decent. When the band members were done I went to Rachel's class and watched her eat candy and make a pumpkin face out of an orange paper plate and some black construction paper, then went home to...
prepare for the onslaught of trick or treaters I just KNEW we were going to have. I lit two tea candles in the pumpkin Rachel and Drew carved last week, put the bowl of candy on the hall table and..waited...and...waited. Got the neighbor kids at 5:30, our across the street neighbors at 6:30 and a bunch 'o kids between 7 and 7:30. Drew, meanwhile, took Rachel out trick or treating with Ivy. They squabbled a bit about who would get to say "trick or treat!" first, and he noted later to me that while Ivy is a nice kid, she can be kind of bossy (she's in 2nd grade, I told him, of course she's bossy). We had a fast dinner of warmed-up brisket and cornbread, and Rachel got to eat two small pieces of candy before she went to bed. I kept away from the candy although I was sorely tempted to indulge. As a friend of mine from Portland said last year: must remember to keep away from the fun-sized candy if I want to have a fun-sized body.
And then Drew and I stayed up until 12:30 unrolling our new rug in the family room, hanging art and re-shelving the books, CDs and knickknacks, all of which had to be moved to get the rug in place. Happy Halloween, everyone!
Halloween weekend, cont'd
...so the day after my friend Charon's Halloween party (exactly this time last week; I'm a little late catching up, I know) we had two other parties -- one, a neighborhood party from 10 to noon. Actually it was a parade around the Dominion Hills neighborhood, with a party and food at the neighborhood park afterward. I brought gingerbread and it was gone. I mean, GONE, within an hour. The guy who organized the event sounded very disappointed that he lost out on tasting a piece. Found out that the park is actually owned by the neighborhood association; the county helps maintain it but the neighbors keep it clean, mulch the ground, make sure the grass is cut, etc. They even leave toys near the play structure for the kids to play with! Anyway, I had a nice time chatting with some of the folks there, including one Jewish family who advised me what synagogue around here that would work for interfaith couples.
After the event we drove to a place that was having a gigantic sale on carpet remnants and bought one for the half-finished basement area, which we now refer to as "the family room." It's beige, with a wonderful pile, and we hung a bunch of really cool posters so it's a great space to watch TV and listen to music, rather than the pile of boxes and CD crates we worked around during "family movie night" on Saturdays (whereupon we make a special exception to the "no eating away from the dining room" rule, order pizza and maybe Drew brings home cupcakes, and we watch a Barbie movie, put Rachel to bed and then watch a grownup movie. This is how Drew and I catch up on movies that everyone else in the universe has seen, oh, three years ago). Lately Ivy has been joining us, so Drew re-named our routine "Family Fun Night," and we all have a great time together.
We dropped by a consignment store to get Rachel some winter clothes (alas, consignment stores here aren't nearly as good as the ones in Portland), and she started complaining that her stomach hurt, her head hurt, her whole body hurt, and when we got back all she wanted to do was cuddle with me on the couch and listen to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD. She insisted she felt well enough to go to the Halloween party Ivy's parents were having, but as soon as we got there I could tell it was a mistake. Rachel tried to play upstairs, but then came into the living room, put her head on my lap and started bellyaching so loudly that I finally scooped her up and we went back home. She crashed for two hours in her bed ("will you please check on me?" she asked forlornly, and of course we said YES), and then woke up, ready for family movie night. We watched a Barbie movie together, and then Drew and I watched "Django Unchained."
After the event we drove to a place that was having a gigantic sale on carpet remnants and bought one for the half-finished basement area, which we now refer to as "the family room." It's beige, with a wonderful pile, and we hung a bunch of really cool posters so it's a great space to watch TV and listen to music, rather than the pile of boxes and CD crates we worked around during "family movie night" on Saturdays (whereupon we make a special exception to the "no eating away from the dining room" rule, order pizza and maybe Drew brings home cupcakes, and we watch a Barbie movie, put Rachel to bed and then watch a grownup movie. This is how Drew and I catch up on movies that everyone else in the universe has seen, oh, three years ago). Lately Ivy has been joining us, so Drew re-named our routine "Family Fun Night," and we all have a great time together.
We dropped by a consignment store to get Rachel some winter clothes (alas, consignment stores here aren't nearly as good as the ones in Portland), and she started complaining that her stomach hurt, her head hurt, her whole body hurt, and when we got back all she wanted to do was cuddle with me on the couch and listen to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD. She insisted she felt well enough to go to the Halloween party Ivy's parents were having, but as soon as we got there I could tell it was a mistake. Rachel tried to play upstairs, but then came into the living room, put her head on my lap and started bellyaching so loudly that I finally scooped her up and we went back home. She crashed for two hours in her bed ("will you please check on me?" she asked forlornly, and of course we said YES), and then woke up, ready for family movie night. We watched a Barbie movie together, and then Drew and I watched "Django Unchained."
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Halloween!!
..seems to come early around these parts. On Friday, my college roommate Charon, who lives in Alexandria, invited us to a Halloween party at her country club. Face painting for the kids, lots of kids in costume, a haunted house (that terrified poor Rachel, who begged Charon to carry her through but when Charon wouldn't, Rachel just braved it and started crying at the end, and she was right, I went through it and it was SCARY) and free dinner. Charon's 7 year old son, Cameron, dressed up as a king. Charon ordered a princess costume through the Internet, and because she has the most fantastic willowy figure she really looked like one. Her husband, Wes, had a Napoleon-ish costume with a hat that looked like it was a British cap from the 18th century.
Charon called us that morning to invite us, hinting that she had a "special" costume for me. Rachel was going to wear a costume Drew brought for her of the Disney character Ariel, but she decided it was too itchy. Which made Drew furious that he'd spent the money for it, but Rachel didn't get a chance to try it on beforehand (the costume shop was out of her size so Drew just bought a packaged dress) and so I can't really blame her for finding it itchy. I ended up spending a few hours sewing ribbon into the sleeves so it wouldn't itch so much, and then decided to sew a strip of cloth into the waist (which I will actually get to do when Drew and I aren't consumed with the little home repair projects we have to do because the owners from whom we're renting clearly did not understand how to take care of their house. Or they didn't give a damn. Regardless, our days and weekends are being eaten up by fixing stuff that they didn't get to, or did badly, and as Drew noted -- it isn't even our house!!!)
Anyway, the costume Charon had for me was that of a bar wench. It was her costume from last year and amazingly it fit. I showed a whole lot of cleavage and it was quite, um, form-fitting, but Drew pronounced me quite fetching. We decided his costume (he wore khakis, a polo shirt and sweater) made him a Silicone Valley billionaire who could actually afford to hire a bar wench.
The event was lovely but went on a little long -- poor Rachel didn't get to bed until around 11 or so -- but she had so much fun making friends and running around with Cameron and his buddies. Charon said something so nice, that there's "something special" about Rachel, "something about her," and another woman commented on how she just jumped right into the activities with the other kids. At several points during the night we literally lost track of her, she was so busy making friends.
I'll continue this tomorrow because it's late and I need to get to bed!
Charon called us that morning to invite us, hinting that she had a "special" costume for me. Rachel was going to wear a costume Drew brought for her of the Disney character Ariel, but she decided it was too itchy. Which made Drew furious that he'd spent the money for it, but Rachel didn't get a chance to try it on beforehand (the costume shop was out of her size so Drew just bought a packaged dress) and so I can't really blame her for finding it itchy. I ended up spending a few hours sewing ribbon into the sleeves so it wouldn't itch so much, and then decided to sew a strip of cloth into the waist (which I will actually get to do when Drew and I aren't consumed with the little home repair projects we have to do because the owners from whom we're renting clearly did not understand how to take care of their house. Or they didn't give a damn. Regardless, our days and weekends are being eaten up by fixing stuff that they didn't get to, or did badly, and as Drew noted -- it isn't even our house!!!)
Anyway, the costume Charon had for me was that of a bar wench. It was her costume from last year and amazingly it fit. I showed a whole lot of cleavage and it was quite, um, form-fitting, but Drew pronounced me quite fetching. We decided his costume (he wore khakis, a polo shirt and sweater) made him a Silicone Valley billionaire who could actually afford to hire a bar wench.
The event was lovely but went on a little long -- poor Rachel didn't get to bed until around 11 or so -- but she had so much fun making friends and running around with Cameron and his buddies. Charon said something so nice, that there's "something special" about Rachel, "something about her," and another woman commented on how she just jumped right into the activities with the other kids. At several points during the night we literally lost track of her, she was so busy making friends.
I'll continue this tomorrow because it's late and I need to get to bed!
What every mom wants to hear
Scene: Rachel's bedroom. After weeks of fretting about the disastrous state of Rachel's bedroom -- and anticipating David and Anne's visit this coming weekend -- I was determined to clear away all of her old clothes, toys she didn't want anymore, etc. So we spent the last two days cleaning out her bins, her bookshelves, her closet and dresser drawers. We found a pair of sneakers I thought she'd lost and she got rid of a lot of her My Little Pony characters, which I never thought she'd do. "There's so much SPACE!" she said after we'd finished (I never throw away her toys without consulting her first) and I seized on that remark as multiple opportunities to say, "See? Doesn't it feel great to get rid of old stuff?"
The reality is, she has so few toys left that she really deserves a few replacements, which I think I may get her the next time we go to Target. At the very least, I think we'll head to a craft store in the next few weekends so I can get her a proper art bin and lots of stuff that she can I can do together ("a craft club!" she said excitedly) and things she can do with her friend Ivy, who comes over a lot and there's not a whole lot for them to do except draw on sheets of paper.
Anyway, while I was deep in her closet digging out her old stuff, she suddenly said, "You were right, Mommy. About moving."
I gave her a puzzled look.
"I DID make friends!" she said happily. "I HAVE new friends."
I couldn't help myself, I started tearing up.
"Why are you crying?" she exclaimed.
"Because there's nothing that mommies like better than to be told we're right about something," I answered.
***
I was expressing some frustration over something totally minor, so much so that I've forgotten what it was, when Rachel sat down beside me (I believe I was trying to pull a recalcitrant bowl out from one of our bottom cabinets) and said,
"It's OK, Mommy. Rachel's here, Rachel loves you, it's all fine."
Once again...who's the adult and who's the kid around here? She's an Oregon child....
The reality is, she has so few toys left that she really deserves a few replacements, which I think I may get her the next time we go to Target. At the very least, I think we'll head to a craft store in the next few weekends so I can get her a proper art bin and lots of stuff that she can I can do together ("a craft club!" she said excitedly) and things she can do with her friend Ivy, who comes over a lot and there's not a whole lot for them to do except draw on sheets of paper.
Anyway, while I was deep in her closet digging out her old stuff, she suddenly said, "You were right, Mommy. About moving."
I gave her a puzzled look.
"I DID make friends!" she said happily. "I HAVE new friends."
I couldn't help myself, I started tearing up.
"Why are you crying?" she exclaimed.
"Because there's nothing that mommies like better than to be told we're right about something," I answered.
***
I was expressing some frustration over something totally minor, so much so that I've forgotten what it was, when Rachel sat down beside me (I believe I was trying to pull a recalcitrant bowl out from one of our bottom cabinets) and said,
"It's OK, Mommy. Rachel's here, Rachel loves you, it's all fine."
Once again...who's the adult and who's the kid around here? She's an Oregon child....
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
A visit to a farm
In between filling out online job applications and scheduling information interviews, I've been trying to volunteer at Rachel's school as much as possible, since the day will come when I won't have time to do that because I'll be working full-time.
So I volunteered to chaperone a bunch of her classmates to a farm this morning. The weather was pretty unpromising -- cloudy and rain had fallen overnight, everything felt damp -- but by the time we got to Frying Park Farm, everything was clear and brilliantly sunny and crisp.
I had signed up for a virtual "career fair" sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education that started at noon, so I could only stay for two events -- the talk about cows (Rachel got to "milk" a cow, which was a wooden cutout of a cow with water in her udders instead of milk) and a scavenger hunt to find as many animals as we could within the allotted half-hour. I was responsible for Rachel and her buddy, Matthew, who turned out to be an incredibly nice kid. We actually had a lot of fun running around and seeing all the animals including an adorable newly born calf whose legs were still wobbly, and some piglets. Rachel really got into everything, she is so enthusiastic!
She sobbed and had a little temper tantrum when I had to leave, though, and I felt horribly guilty for the first few minutes...until one of her classmate's moms, Kelly, thoughtfully texted me a picture of Rachel hugging her classmate, Libby. "Rachel is doing great!" Kelly said. I was beyond grateful; it was such a nice gesture and made me feel less guilty for leaving.
So I volunteered to chaperone a bunch of her classmates to a farm this morning. The weather was pretty unpromising -- cloudy and rain had fallen overnight, everything felt damp -- but by the time we got to Frying Park Farm, everything was clear and brilliantly sunny and crisp.
I had signed up for a virtual "career fair" sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education that started at noon, so I could only stay for two events -- the talk about cows (Rachel got to "milk" a cow, which was a wooden cutout of a cow with water in her udders instead of milk) and a scavenger hunt to find as many animals as we could within the allotted half-hour. I was responsible for Rachel and her buddy, Matthew, who turned out to be an incredibly nice kid. We actually had a lot of fun running around and seeing all the animals including an adorable newly born calf whose legs were still wobbly, and some piglets. Rachel really got into everything, she is so enthusiastic!
She sobbed and had a little temper tantrum when I had to leave, though, and I felt horribly guilty for the first few minutes...until one of her classmate's moms, Kelly, thoughtfully texted me a picture of Rachel hugging her classmate, Libby. "Rachel is doing great!" Kelly said. I was beyond grateful; it was such a nice gesture and made me feel less guilty for leaving.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Cute things Rachel has said these last few days
Rachel has a new way of bidding me goodnight. First she tries to sneak up on me, and sometimes I pretend to be scared and sometimes I don't. Tonight I didn't, and her reaction was: "Drats!" Then she went through her usual routine:
"Kiss." And she gives me a kiss.
"Hug." And she gives me a hug.
And then: "I love you, good night, and NO bad dreams."
I reciprocate, of course. Funny thing about the dreams is that I've had some really weird/scary ones over the last two weeks. No idea why.
***
The brisket was a roaring success. Time-consuming but oh, so worth it. Drew kept telling me how good it was and thanked me profusely for all the hard work I put into it. (He also suggested I auction off a homemade smoked brisket for McKinley's PTA auction in April, which I thought was a terrific idea and I just may end up doing it).
Rachel commented on how great the house smelled this morning (I had put the brisket in the oven at 200 degrees after smoking it, so it cooked low and slow while we slept). She helped me make cornbread tonight -- she is getting to be a champ at cracking eggs, a skill I did not pick up in life until much later, right, Mom? -- and so we had hot cornbread and brisket for dinner.
The moment Rachel tried the brisket she said, "Mmm! Tender as PIE!" And then she demolished the meat on her plate.
I just may have to keep her 5 forever.
"Kiss." And she gives me a kiss.
"Hug." And she gives me a hug.
And then: "I love you, good night, and NO bad dreams."
I reciprocate, of course. Funny thing about the dreams is that I've had some really weird/scary ones over the last two weeks. No idea why.
***
The brisket was a roaring success. Time-consuming but oh, so worth it. Drew kept telling me how good it was and thanked me profusely for all the hard work I put into it. (He also suggested I auction off a homemade smoked brisket for McKinley's PTA auction in April, which I thought was a terrific idea and I just may end up doing it).
Rachel commented on how great the house smelled this morning (I had put the brisket in the oven at 200 degrees after smoking it, so it cooked low and slow while we slept). She helped me make cornbread tonight -- she is getting to be a champ at cracking eggs, a skill I did not pick up in life until much later, right, Mom? -- and so we had hot cornbread and brisket for dinner.
The moment Rachel tried the brisket she said, "Mmm! Tender as PIE!" And then she demolished the meat on her plate.
I just may have to keep her 5 forever.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Family day
Today we spent lunch and part of the afternoon with Uncle Dan and Aunt Beryle, who live in Rockville, MD, about a 20-minute drive from us. It feels odd to think that they're Rachel's great-aunt and great-uncle; I'm so used to thinking of them as MY aunt and uncle.
We had a great time talking about all kinds of things, including the gay marriage of two residents who live in the same building they live in. The men had been together for 55 years, and they finally made it official because Maryland recognizes gay marriage. Apparently they had a private ceremony and then a party for the entire group of people who live in the apartment building.
Rachel was very well-behaved during the visit; she actually ate some lunch (rare for her on weekends) and looked at some picture books and read some books with Drew while Dan and Beryle tried to show me an alternate "back route" to NYC during Thanksgiving. I think I've got it down, but I may want to check back with them before we go.
Then we did our grocery shopping at Safeway near their house and ran into...our neighbor! Actually, it was Luz, our neighbor's nanny, who was visiting a friend of hers who lives in Chevy Chase. Rachel gave her a big hug. We got home in time for me to put away the food and start dinner for us and for Ivy, Liam and their mom, Jenny, who we invited over for spaghetti with basil and cherry tomatoes -- a mercifully easy dinner to make. For dessert we had the babka Daniella brought to us last weekend from a Hungarian bakery in NYC. Thanks, Tia Daniella! It's delicious.
And then I got out a brisket I bought last week, made some rub for it and put it in the refrigerator. I'm going to smoke it tomorrow night and then finish it off in the oven overnight. Yeah, it's a hassle, but Rachel has been asking for Mommy's smoked brisket so who am I to refuse???
We had a great time talking about all kinds of things, including the gay marriage of two residents who live in the same building they live in. The men had been together for 55 years, and they finally made it official because Maryland recognizes gay marriage. Apparently they had a private ceremony and then a party for the entire group of people who live in the apartment building.
Rachel was very well-behaved during the visit; she actually ate some lunch (rare for her on weekends) and looked at some picture books and read some books with Drew while Dan and Beryle tried to show me an alternate "back route" to NYC during Thanksgiving. I think I've got it down, but I may want to check back with them before we go.
Then we did our grocery shopping at Safeway near their house and ran into...our neighbor! Actually, it was Luz, our neighbor's nanny, who was visiting a friend of hers who lives in Chevy Chase. Rachel gave her a big hug. We got home in time for me to put away the food and start dinner for us and for Ivy, Liam and their mom, Jenny, who we invited over for spaghetti with basil and cherry tomatoes -- a mercifully easy dinner to make. For dessert we had the babka Daniella brought to us last weekend from a Hungarian bakery in NYC. Thanks, Tia Daniella! It's delicious.
And then I got out a brisket I bought last week, made some rub for it and put it in the refrigerator. I'm going to smoke it tomorrow night and then finish it off in the oven overnight. Yeah, it's a hassle, but Rachel has been asking for Mommy's smoked brisket so who am I to refuse???
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Our first birthday party in Arlington!
Rachel got invited to the 6th birthday party of a boy in her class named Andrew. Andrew has a twin brother, Blake, so the party was really for both of them. It was at a Masonic lodge, of all places, in a lovely part of Falls Church.
Rachel had a terrific time, as usual. There was a bouncy house outside, and one of the moms I struck up a conversation with was very complimentary. "There were all these boys in the bouncy house, but that didn't bother Rachel!" she exclaimed. "She just dove right in!"
The kids decorated Halloween masks and pumpkins and there was quite a nice spread of food, enough for me to feel sated and enough for Rachel to turn up her nose at and insist on just crackers and goldfish. I let her eat one piece of candy and part of a piece of cake. I believe she burned it all off in the bouncy house, where she spent most of the party.
One of the gratifying things I noticed Rachel doing was whenever one of the kids in the bouncy house got hurt (one nice kid, Trip, got kicked in the head by mistake, ouch!) she sat with them until they felt better. When Andrew was hurt and went to the side and rested, she gently stroked his head and asked him if he was OK. I swear, she'd make a great big sister. Or a nurse. Or a doctor.
After the party we dropped off some library books, ran an errand or two and got home just in time for Ivy to come over for Family Fun Night. I reheated some pizza, and just about the time it was ready, Drew showed up early from the conference in Atlanta he went to late last week. Rachel and Ivy were pretending they were rock stars -- complete with the icky makeup Ivy put on both of them, kids' makeup that made both look like hollowed-out Goth kids, and yes, Dad, I'm remembering how Maria Tetens and I put on blue eyeshadow and you called us "blue eyed monsters" for YEARS after that -- and singing at the top of their voices. Rachel kept sing/yelling "Reach for the STARS!" while holding a Styrofoam ice cream cone she pretended was a microphone. Later she waggled her hips and strutted around in a way that made me nervous. She's not supposed to know how to do that!!!
***
I'm having a tough time getting around Arlington because the roads do NOT make sense, the traffic lights aren't synchronized AT ALL, and there are a lot of people here. So I was very frustrated when my GPS refused to recognize the address of the party. Luckily I found an online map of the place and by the time I reached the main drag into Falls Church, I felt confident enough to say we were fine.
"You still have to get home," Rachel reminded me.
"That'll be easy," I said confidently.
"You don't KNOW it'll be easy," she replied. "You can't see into the future, like Dionysus!"
Rachel had a terrific time, as usual. There was a bouncy house outside, and one of the moms I struck up a conversation with was very complimentary. "There were all these boys in the bouncy house, but that didn't bother Rachel!" she exclaimed. "She just dove right in!"
The kids decorated Halloween masks and pumpkins and there was quite a nice spread of food, enough for me to feel sated and enough for Rachel to turn up her nose at and insist on just crackers and goldfish. I let her eat one piece of candy and part of a piece of cake. I believe she burned it all off in the bouncy house, where she spent most of the party.
One of the gratifying things I noticed Rachel doing was whenever one of the kids in the bouncy house got hurt (one nice kid, Trip, got kicked in the head by mistake, ouch!) she sat with them until they felt better. When Andrew was hurt and went to the side and rested, she gently stroked his head and asked him if he was OK. I swear, she'd make a great big sister. Or a nurse. Or a doctor.
After the party we dropped off some library books, ran an errand or two and got home just in time for Ivy to come over for Family Fun Night. I reheated some pizza, and just about the time it was ready, Drew showed up early from the conference in Atlanta he went to late last week. Rachel and Ivy were pretending they were rock stars -- complete with the icky makeup Ivy put on both of them, kids' makeup that made both look like hollowed-out Goth kids, and yes, Dad, I'm remembering how Maria Tetens and I put on blue eyeshadow and you called us "blue eyed monsters" for YEARS after that -- and singing at the top of their voices. Rachel kept sing/yelling "Reach for the STARS!" while holding a Styrofoam ice cream cone she pretended was a microphone. Later she waggled her hips and strutted around in a way that made me nervous. She's not supposed to know how to do that!!!
***
I'm having a tough time getting around Arlington because the roads do NOT make sense, the traffic lights aren't synchronized AT ALL, and there are a lot of people here. So I was very frustrated when my GPS refused to recognize the address of the party. Luckily I found an online map of the place and by the time I reached the main drag into Falls Church, I felt confident enough to say we were fine.
"You still have to get home," Rachel reminded me.
"That'll be easy," I said confidently.
"You don't KNOW it'll be easy," she replied. "You can't see into the future, like Dionysus!"
Friday, October 18, 2013
Rachel tells Mommy a story that she swears she made up all by herself
As told to me two nights ago, pointing to the "book" she had made as part of some project before we moved, I can't remember:
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Sabrina. She LOVED birds.
"This is called 'The Girl Who Loved Birds.' By me, Rachel," she said.
"One day she saw a beautiful scarlet red bird. She heard it chirping and chirping. She said very kindly, "Please stop, bird, I don't like that.' But the bird STILL wouldn't stop chirping. So, she counted. One, two, three. four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. But the bird STILL wouldn't STOP chirping. Here's a picture of it."
(She showed me a picture she had drawn. The book she was showing me was actually a book of her drawings).
"So Sabrina tried to scare it away. She said, 'urgh, argh." The bird stopped chirping very quickly and then flew away. She stood there thinking in the beautiful bright starlight. The sky started to turn pink. It was sundown. As her beautiful black hair blew in the waving wind, she thought puzzledly when and how the bird would come back.
That night with her little Teddy bear under a warm comfy orange blanket in a wood bed, she thought how the bird would come back and when the bird would come back. She snuggled closely with her bear."
("Got that part, Mommy?" she asked, noting that I was taking notes).
"That morning, she woke up with a brilliant idea," Rachel continued. "She dropped her bunny and hurried out of her bed, even leaving the bed with the orange blanket scattered around it, and ran out of the room. She ran to the window and wanted to check if the bird was there. It wasn't. So she got her shoes on and ran outside into the blowing, sweet breeze. She didn't even see the bird there. She KNEW it must have been happy.
The end."
Then Rachel added this: "She went back inside, woke up her mom and dad, had a yummy breakfast, and ran outside again and played and ran and did all kinds of stuff. When she was a grownup she still thought about it and wrote about it, which is this book, called "The Girl Who Loves Birds."
And here is the last section of the book: "In 2013, Sabrina was a India girl. She was brought to America this very day. She made a bird book for her children Anne and Matthew and I heard of it and decided to make one of my own."
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Sabrina. She LOVED birds.
"This is called 'The Girl Who Loved Birds.' By me, Rachel," she said.
"One day she saw a beautiful scarlet red bird. She heard it chirping and chirping. She said very kindly, "Please stop, bird, I don't like that.' But the bird STILL wouldn't stop chirping. So, she counted. One, two, three. four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. But the bird STILL wouldn't STOP chirping. Here's a picture of it."
(She showed me a picture she had drawn. The book she was showing me was actually a book of her drawings).
"So Sabrina tried to scare it away. She said, 'urgh, argh." The bird stopped chirping very quickly and then flew away. She stood there thinking in the beautiful bright starlight. The sky started to turn pink. It was sundown. As her beautiful black hair blew in the waving wind, she thought puzzledly when and how the bird would come back.
That night with her little Teddy bear under a warm comfy orange blanket in a wood bed, she thought how the bird would come back and when the bird would come back. She snuggled closely with her bear."
("Got that part, Mommy?" she asked, noting that I was taking notes).
"That morning, she woke up with a brilliant idea," Rachel continued. "She dropped her bunny and hurried out of her bed, even leaving the bed with the orange blanket scattered around it, and ran out of the room. She ran to the window and wanted to check if the bird was there. It wasn't. So she got her shoes on and ran outside into the blowing, sweet breeze. She didn't even see the bird there. She KNEW it must have been happy.
The end."
Then Rachel added this: "She went back inside, woke up her mom and dad, had a yummy breakfast, and ran outside again and played and ran and did all kinds of stuff. When she was a grownup she still thought about it and wrote about it, which is this book, called "The Girl Who Loves Birds."
And here is the last section of the book: "In 2013, Sabrina was a India girl. She was brought to America this very day. She made a bird book for her children Anne and Matthew and I heard of it and decided to make one of my own."
Weird Rachel comments
Tonight, as I was making Scotch broth for later next week, Rachel said this as she was finishing a peanut butter-filled chocolate cupcake I made:
"You look like a daisy!"
"You look like a flower that's so beautiful I can't even name it," I replied.
"I'm an ambidextrous chicken!" she shrieked.
I love that kid.
***
"Mommy, I don't want to drive until I'm 17," Rachel announced at breakfast this morning.
"Seventeen?You can start earlier than that," I answered.
"I want to wait a year to think about what the driving test will be and who I'm going to drive with," Rachel said. "Just like Barbie. She started driving when she was 10 and it was way too early. The tires fell out, and KEN fell out!"
"You look like a daisy!"
"You look like a flower that's so beautiful I can't even name it," I replied.
"I'm an ambidextrous chicken!" she shrieked.
I love that kid.
***
"Mommy, I don't want to drive until I'm 17," Rachel announced at breakfast this morning.
"Seventeen?You can start earlier than that," I answered.
"I want to wait a year to think about what the driving test will be and who I'm going to drive with," Rachel said. "Just like Barbie. She started driving when she was 10 and it was way too early. The tires fell out, and KEN fell out!"
Monday, October 14, 2013
The cousins reunite!
Well, it wasn't just Valerie who came to visit us this long weekend -- Daniella and Darryl came too -- but, really, the visit was all about watching Valerie (Duckie) and Rachel together, which was beyond adorable. Between chasing each other around the house, shrieking with laughter and hugging and kissing each other, they were a sight to watch.
They all got to our house on Sunday around 11 a.m. for brunch. Drew thought about adding an extra leaf to our table, but I persuaded him not to because, we figured, the girls would sit down for about five minutes to eat, then get up and run and play again. I was almost right -- they informed us they'd have breakfast later, then just as Darryl, Drew, Daniella and I were really in a good conversation, the girls announced they wanted breakfast and stayed to eat for about 15 minutes. They played outside on the swingset for a while, then came back in and took all the toys from Rachel's playroom and brought them to Rachel's room. At one point they amused themselves by throwing all the stuffed animals and dolls from the top of the stairwell down the stairs and yelling as they did it.
So, this lasted a couple of hours until we all decided we really needed to get out of the house. It was a yucky day outside, so Drew found something called the Playseum in Bethesda, and off we went. It turned out to be a fantastic place for kids -- rooms and rooms of dress-up clothes, a pretend grocery store, a library area for reading, a pet room(!) with bunnies and birds, a "salon" where you could get your nails painted for $1 and mix up bath lotion for $3, etc. We will definitely be back there with Rachel when the weather is crappy and we don't feel like going to a museum one weekend. Admission was definitely worth the $7 per person. Valerie dressed up as one princess, Rachel as Snow White, and they had great fun with the wigs. They didn't even ask to get their nails painted (I was prepared to pay if they'd wanted to). All in all, a great way to spend two hours.
Then we went to dinner in Shirlington, near Darryl and Daniella's hotel, which turned out to have a terrific town center with a variety of restaurants including a great bakery (another place we will definitely revisit), an indie movie theater and a regular theater. We went to a restaurant that turned out to be so-so ("I want noodles!" Rachel said, so, really what choice do you have?) and then got frozen yogurt for dessert. Poor Valerie's tummy started hurting so we cut the evening short and agreed to go to "Super Park" today.
Turned out that was a good call. "Super Park" is Clemyjontri Park, a Fairfax County park rated one of the best parks in the country. The land was donated buy a guy who named it after his kids, and it was simply one of the most incredible parks I've ever been to...it had a carousel, a racetrack, lots and lots of climbing structures to play on, swings, a picnic area, walking trails, shade pavilions. We plan to take Mom and Dad there when they come visit, and we'll bring a picnic when we go again, probably when the weather gets crisper and more fall-like (it was so nice and sunny today, at least 70 degrees, a welcome refuge from the deluge of rain we've been having) and we'll bring a lunch with hot chocolate and sandwiches.
We stayed there for about four hours, and then it was time for Darryl/Daniella/Valerie to head back to their friends' house for dinner (they came to Arlington to visit Steve, the best man at Darryl's wedding, and to see us, of course). We agreed the visit was a little too short, so we're hoping they can spend more time with us the next time they're in town when hopefully all the museums in DC will be OPEN FOR BUSINESS and we can go back to our original plan of taking them into the District. Although I must say, we ended up having a terrific time anyway. Take THAT, government shutdown!
***
Rachel's priceless quote from this weekend, as she sat next to Valerie at the restaurant Sunday night:
"Valerie, I need to have good table manners," she said. "And YOU, my dear, need to eat!"
They all got to our house on Sunday around 11 a.m. for brunch. Drew thought about adding an extra leaf to our table, but I persuaded him not to because, we figured, the girls would sit down for about five minutes to eat, then get up and run and play again. I was almost right -- they informed us they'd have breakfast later, then just as Darryl, Drew, Daniella and I were really in a good conversation, the girls announced they wanted breakfast and stayed to eat for about 15 minutes. They played outside on the swingset for a while, then came back in and took all the toys from Rachel's playroom and brought them to Rachel's room. At one point they amused themselves by throwing all the stuffed animals and dolls from the top of the stairwell down the stairs and yelling as they did it.
So, this lasted a couple of hours until we all decided we really needed to get out of the house. It was a yucky day outside, so Drew found something called the Playseum in Bethesda, and off we went. It turned out to be a fantastic place for kids -- rooms and rooms of dress-up clothes, a pretend grocery store, a library area for reading, a pet room(!) with bunnies and birds, a "salon" where you could get your nails painted for $1 and mix up bath lotion for $3, etc. We will definitely be back there with Rachel when the weather is crappy and we don't feel like going to a museum one weekend. Admission was definitely worth the $7 per person. Valerie dressed up as one princess, Rachel as Snow White, and they had great fun with the wigs. They didn't even ask to get their nails painted (I was prepared to pay if they'd wanted to). All in all, a great way to spend two hours.
Then we went to dinner in Shirlington, near Darryl and Daniella's hotel, which turned out to have a terrific town center with a variety of restaurants including a great bakery (another place we will definitely revisit), an indie movie theater and a regular theater. We went to a restaurant that turned out to be so-so ("I want noodles!" Rachel said, so, really what choice do you have?) and then got frozen yogurt for dessert. Poor Valerie's tummy started hurting so we cut the evening short and agreed to go to "Super Park" today.
Turned out that was a good call. "Super Park" is Clemyjontri Park, a Fairfax County park rated one of the best parks in the country. The land was donated buy a guy who named it after his kids, and it was simply one of the most incredible parks I've ever been to...it had a carousel, a racetrack, lots and lots of climbing structures to play on, swings, a picnic area, walking trails, shade pavilions. We plan to take Mom and Dad there when they come visit, and we'll bring a picnic when we go again, probably when the weather gets crisper and more fall-like (it was so nice and sunny today, at least 70 degrees, a welcome refuge from the deluge of rain we've been having) and we'll bring a lunch with hot chocolate and sandwiches.
We stayed there for about four hours, and then it was time for Darryl/Daniella/Valerie to head back to their friends' house for dinner (they came to Arlington to visit Steve, the best man at Darryl's wedding, and to see us, of course). We agreed the visit was a little too short, so we're hoping they can spend more time with us the next time they're in town when hopefully all the museums in DC will be OPEN FOR BUSINESS and we can go back to our original plan of taking them into the District. Although I must say, we ended up having a terrific time anyway. Take THAT, government shutdown!
***
Rachel's priceless quote from this weekend, as she sat next to Valerie at the restaurant Sunday night:
"Valerie, I need to have good table manners," she said. "And YOU, my dear, need to eat!"
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Art camp!
Thursday and Friday were days off from school because of parent/teacher conferences. We sent Rachel to an art camp for the day called Lola's Lab. It was held at a nearby elementary school, and the kids spent their day making puppets, putting together a big paper dragon and watching a play. (They also got to watch a movie, and Rachel insists she is ready for "The Wizard of Oz." I don't know, Mom, what do you think? The flying monkeys scared the hell out of me right into high school).
When I went to pick her up on Thursday, Lola exclaimed, "Rachel was really out there! Most kids her age just hold back, but she dived right in!"
I ended up chatting a bit with Lola; turns out a friend of hers is a member of Potomac Harmony, a Sweet Adelines chorus out here. As soon as I get a job, I plan to get back to singing with some kind of group. I also met Earl, one of the "teachers" at the camp, who is a personal chef, and he showed me photos on his smartphone of all the food he has cooked. He also loves singing, and we got into a long discussion of why harmony parts are better than melody parts.
I continue to be amazed at how many points of interest I have in common with people here.
When I went to pick her up on Thursday, Lola exclaimed, "Rachel was really out there! Most kids her age just hold back, but she dived right in!"
I ended up chatting a bit with Lola; turns out a friend of hers is a member of Potomac Harmony, a Sweet Adelines chorus out here. As soon as I get a job, I plan to get back to singing with some kind of group. I also met Earl, one of the "teachers" at the camp, who is a personal chef, and he showed me photos on his smartphone of all the food he has cooked. He also loves singing, and we got into a long discussion of why harmony parts are better than melody parts.
I continue to be amazed at how many points of interest I have in common with people here.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
It's starting....
For the last day or so, Rachel has been indicating she wants to walk to school alone, or at least that she's looking forward to the day she'll be able to do so. This morning she begged Drew to let her walk at least part of the way solo, and he reluctantly agreed.
He made sure she got through the crosswalk with him (even Rachel was hesitant about doing it herself, since she doesn't quite know how to navigate the patrols, the older kids who help younger kids across the street) and then he let her run up the hill to the entrance of McKinley Elementary all by herself. Tonight at dinner she announced that she'd made it to class just as the bell rang.
And so it begins, her first steps away from us. What happened to my sweet, helpless baby? Where did the time go?
He made sure she got through the crosswalk with him (even Rachel was hesitant about doing it herself, since she doesn't quite know how to navigate the patrols, the older kids who help younger kids across the street) and then he let her run up the hill to the entrance of McKinley Elementary all by herself. Tonight at dinner she announced that she'd made it to class just as the bell rang.
And so it begins, her first steps away from us. What happened to my sweet, helpless baby? Where did the time go?
Monday, October 7, 2013
Pumpkin Patch!
It's October, so it must be...pumkin-carving time! Which means it's pumpkin patch time, 90 degree weather be damned. On Sunday we met my former college roommate (and bridesmaid, and longtime close friend) Charon, her husband Wes, and son Cameron for an outing to Butler's Pumpkin Patch in Germantown, MD. It was a lovely drive once we got off the highway, reminiscent of Oregon -- except, as I noted to Drew, the trees were all wrong -- and lots to do, although we were perplexed and annoyed that the entrance fee was $11 per person and all the fun stuff to do cost extra, like pony rides and the like. Still, we all had a great time. Cameron, who is almost 8, was very sweet to Rachel and she had the time of her life, jumping off bales of hay in the hayloft, going on a hayride to the actual pumpkin patch and picking out our pumpkin, petting some goats, leading me through a hay maze, going down a huge slide multiple times and refusing to be scared or let Drew join her.
Charon and her husband live close by, in Alexandria, and they are so happy to have us here. "It's so great to have you here, you belong here," Charon said, and the affirmation was great to hear since I still feel connected to Oregon somewhat. (One of Rachel's friends there, Lila Ann, was asked to draw a picture at school and drew a picture of Rachel). They have a cabin in the Maryland mountains and have talked about us going there to visit, which would be great. I'm having lunch with Charon later this week and she invited me to a wine tasting next week; we hope to convince Pam, one of my other bridesmaids, to come down from New Jersey and we can all be reunited again. Yay!
On the way home Drew got a bit lost trying to get us off the highway and to a grocery store, but he persisted and we found it. "We're a no-quitter family!" Rachel exclaimed, and if that's the most resonant lesson she takes away from her childhood, then I have done well as a mom, I think.
Today a storm rolled in and it has cooled down quite a lot. I'm still unpacking the house and am coming to the end of what I can do without Drew's help; he's in charge of shelving the books and I can only watch. So, I've set up some meetings with folks who may have job leads. I've also been cooking a lot, which I missed doing during the three weeks we were on the road. I made a phenomenal mushroom soup with parsley-flecked dumplings tonight that Drew and Rachel LOVED. Next up: Turning the half-finished brick grill outside into a working cooking station, and dusting off the old writing chops.
Charon and her husband live close by, in Alexandria, and they are so happy to have us here. "It's so great to have you here, you belong here," Charon said, and the affirmation was great to hear since I still feel connected to Oregon somewhat. (One of Rachel's friends there, Lila Ann, was asked to draw a picture at school and drew a picture of Rachel). They have a cabin in the Maryland mountains and have talked about us going there to visit, which would be great. I'm having lunch with Charon later this week and she invited me to a wine tasting next week; we hope to convince Pam, one of my other bridesmaids, to come down from New Jersey and we can all be reunited again. Yay!
On the way home Drew got a bit lost trying to get us off the highway and to a grocery store, but he persisted and we found it. "We're a no-quitter family!" Rachel exclaimed, and if that's the most resonant lesson she takes away from her childhood, then I have done well as a mom, I think.
Today a storm rolled in and it has cooled down quite a lot. I'm still unpacking the house and am coming to the end of what I can do without Drew's help; he's in charge of shelving the books and I can only watch. So, I've set up some meetings with folks who may have job leads. I've also been cooking a lot, which I missed doing during the three weeks we were on the road. I made a phenomenal mushroom soup with parsley-flecked dumplings tonight that Drew and Rachel LOVED. Next up: Turning the half-finished brick grill outside into a working cooking station, and dusting off the old writing chops.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Ivy, Ivy, and more of Ivy....
Rachel has made a little friend in the neighborhood. Her name is Ivy, she's in second grade, and she lives just up the street from us. Her dad, Billy, is in the Foreign Service -- public affairs, as it happens -- and her mom, Jenny, is a writer/editor. Ivy has a twin brother named Liam. The family moved here around the same time we did; they have been posted in Estonia and the Philippines, and the dad is getting ready to head to Afghanistan next April (the kids don't know yet) and so he is studying Dari for hours and hours every weekend, in between painting the inside of their house (he used to be a house painter, a contractor, and a lawyer before joining the Foreign Service. Yes, we have interesting neighbors).
From the day Ivy and Rachel met on the neighborhood swing across the street from Ivy's house, the little girls have been inseparable. Ivy came over to our house for breakfast last Sunday, and then Rachel went over and played while Drew and I desperately tried to hang art and shelve books while she was gone. We also hang out at their house after I pick Rachel up from school.
Today after I got back from renting a flexible ladder so we could hang some African cloth on the wall above the stairs -- and then going to a fabulous bakery that gave us a free coupon for bread, muffins, pastries and cupcakes -- we went to the Falls Church Farmers Market (a really lovely discovery). Drew and I were just about to settle in for a long day of unpacking/shelving/hanging art when Ivy and her dad stopped by, wondering if Rachel wanted to come over. Instead, we invited Ivy to play on the swings in our backyard for a while. Billy ran to Home Depot to pick up some stuff while his wife, Jenny, worked on painting their house, and I told Billy to let Ivy stay as long as she wanted. After a while he returned, they picked up Rachel and then all went to Ivy's house where Jenny had baked bittersweet chocolate brownies and Rachel and Ivy played most of the afternoon. Drew and I hung a lot of art, then I went to Ivy's house to fetch Rachel. They were having such a great time that I invited Ivy to come to our house for "family movie night" (pizza and, usually, a Barbie movie for Rachel), then ran out to do some errands. On the way back I picked up a pizza and discovered Drew had made A LOT of progress shelving books (despite having a horrible cold that makes him look and sound terrible). We all watched "Barbie Princess Charm School" downstairs (this is why I'm trying to sign Rachel up for physics classes and work on math with her, to counteract the Barbie influence) and then I walked both girls back to Ivy's because Rachel had left something there.
Billy had almost finished painting the house and it looked stunning; I complimented him over and over again and remarked that I wish we were able to paint, too, but the owners of the house said no -- even though their taste in paint is, well, questionable. (Brown walls and green curtains in the master bedroom? Really??). They thanked me for hosting Ivy, which was no trouble at all -- she's well-mannered and she and Rachel really, really like each other.
One of my dreams has always been to live in a house on a street with lots of kids who'd run in and out of our house all day, and Rachel would run in and out of the neighbors' houses all day, and we'd become known as the house where Rachel's Mom makes great food and treats, and that we'd find ourselves hosting one of Rachel's little friends for dinner or breakfast or whatever on a frequent basis, and that she'd never be lonely without a sibling because she'd be around her friends all the time.
And now it looks like the universe has granted my wish, and I couldn't be happier.
From the day Ivy and Rachel met on the neighborhood swing across the street from Ivy's house, the little girls have been inseparable. Ivy came over to our house for breakfast last Sunday, and then Rachel went over and played while Drew and I desperately tried to hang art and shelve books while she was gone. We also hang out at their house after I pick Rachel up from school.
Today after I got back from renting a flexible ladder so we could hang some African cloth on the wall above the stairs -- and then going to a fabulous bakery that gave us a free coupon for bread, muffins, pastries and cupcakes -- we went to the Falls Church Farmers Market (a really lovely discovery). Drew and I were just about to settle in for a long day of unpacking/shelving/hanging art when Ivy and her dad stopped by, wondering if Rachel wanted to come over. Instead, we invited Ivy to play on the swings in our backyard for a while. Billy ran to Home Depot to pick up some stuff while his wife, Jenny, worked on painting their house, and I told Billy to let Ivy stay as long as she wanted. After a while he returned, they picked up Rachel and then all went to Ivy's house where Jenny had baked bittersweet chocolate brownies and Rachel and Ivy played most of the afternoon. Drew and I hung a lot of art, then I went to Ivy's house to fetch Rachel. They were having such a great time that I invited Ivy to come to our house for "family movie night" (pizza and, usually, a Barbie movie for Rachel), then ran out to do some errands. On the way back I picked up a pizza and discovered Drew had made A LOT of progress shelving books (despite having a horrible cold that makes him look and sound terrible). We all watched "Barbie Princess Charm School" downstairs (this is why I'm trying to sign Rachel up for physics classes and work on math with her, to counteract the Barbie influence) and then I walked both girls back to Ivy's because Rachel had left something there.
Billy had almost finished painting the house and it looked stunning; I complimented him over and over again and remarked that I wish we were able to paint, too, but the owners of the house said no -- even though their taste in paint is, well, questionable. (Brown walls and green curtains in the master bedroom? Really??). They thanked me for hosting Ivy, which was no trouble at all -- she's well-mannered and she and Rachel really, really like each other.
One of my dreams has always been to live in a house on a street with lots of kids who'd run in and out of our house all day, and Rachel would run in and out of the neighbors' houses all day, and we'd become known as the house where Rachel's Mom makes great food and treats, and that we'd find ourselves hosting one of Rachel's little friends for dinner or breakfast or whatever on a frequent basis, and that she'd never be lonely without a sibling because she'd be around her friends all the time.
And now it looks like the universe has granted my wish, and I couldn't be happier.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Shabbat Shalom from Arlington....
Spent most of today getting our CDs organized in the living room, so now we have a great collection of classical music, jazz, show tunes, etc. to choose from when we need music. Yes, we still have a stereo system because I agree with Drew that music sounds better coming out of speakers than through iTunes, and besides, we have such a large collection of music that it would take us forever (and cost us a fortune) to convert it all to MP3 files. Anyway, it's great to have our music back again -- I love listening to classical music while I'm cooking (I made mushroom soup tonight for next week) and relaxing with the newspaper while Drew is putting Rachel to bed.
Everything in the above graph makes me sound like I haven't made it into the 21st Century. So be it.
After I picked Rachel up from school, she announced we were starting a "collector's club" and that our first project would be collecting little rocks from McKinley Elementary School's playground. I was actually surprised how many they were, and how varied the colors were. Rachel grabbed a miniature stick and announced that it was the "polisher," and that I should use it to polish the rocks (i.e., get the dirt off of them). So I dutifully sat and polished before Rachel sent me out collecting again. As we were walking home she said she would wash the rocks off at home and then put them in a special container she has, usually for jewelry.
I should have been tipped off that washing off the rocks wouldn't be a good idea, because as soon as she started to do so she began wailing and shrieking. I raced upstairs, only to find her sobbing in the bathroom that some of the rocks had washed down the drain. When I calmly said it was OK and the drain would be fine, she sobbed, "I was so scared you'd be mad at me and give me a timeout, even though I did it on accident!" When I reassured her that that wouldn't happen, I said gently, "Are you really that scared of me?"
"Yes," she answered promptly, and I cringed.
Then when I said later on that we wouldn't be listening to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD before dinner, that I wanted to put on some Shabbat and classical music, she threw herself onto the couch and began wailing, and I really lost it (she has been griping and whining for a couple of days now whenever she doesn't get her way). "Rachel, STOP IT!" I yelled. "You are making me CRAZY. You're making DADDY crazy too." She stopped immediately and fled upstairs. I took a deep breath, realized I should have just let her alone, then went upstairs. She was curled up in a corner of her bed. I sat down and said, "Rachel. You need to understand that if you're going to live in this house, and have friends, you can't always do what you want to do, you have to do what other people want to do sometimes. I'm working very hard to get this house organized so we can have guests who we'll do fun things with us when they visit us. And Daddy's working very hard at work. We've been listening to Laura Ingalls Wilder every night before dinner; we can listen to something else this time."
Then I left the room and came downstairs to say hi to Drew, who has had a rough few days at work, and just as I finished explaining how I'd organized the music, Rachel's little voice popped up, and she said she'd love to listen to another one of her story CDs, and Drew repeated that we'd be listening to the Shabbat music, and Rachel sulked but came to dinner uncomplainingly.
Then for dessert we went to get ice cream at a local ice cream place that wasn't so great, but Rachel ran into a friend of hers, Matthew, from her kindergarten class. His mom had brought along their French au pair and I spoke a few phrases of French to her while the mom explained some awful tradition in a kindergarten class in a nearby elementary school called Tuckahoe Elementary. Apparently the kids start out each day being one "color" -- green, yellow, whatever -- and as their behavior changes they're assigned a different color. If your kid is "red," then that means they've done something bad and their parent must call the teacher and find out what went wrong. So all the parents at soccer practice today were asking each other what "color" their kids were, and the kids who were deemed "red" by their teachers were devastated. Matthew's mom thought this was awful, calling it very "negative," and for the first time since August, I felt that a tiny bit of me was still in Portland.
Everything in the above graph makes me sound like I haven't made it into the 21st Century. So be it.
After I picked Rachel up from school, she announced we were starting a "collector's club" and that our first project would be collecting little rocks from McKinley Elementary School's playground. I was actually surprised how many they were, and how varied the colors were. Rachel grabbed a miniature stick and announced that it was the "polisher," and that I should use it to polish the rocks (i.e., get the dirt off of them). So I dutifully sat and polished before Rachel sent me out collecting again. As we were walking home she said she would wash the rocks off at home and then put them in a special container she has, usually for jewelry.
I should have been tipped off that washing off the rocks wouldn't be a good idea, because as soon as she started to do so she began wailing and shrieking. I raced upstairs, only to find her sobbing in the bathroom that some of the rocks had washed down the drain. When I calmly said it was OK and the drain would be fine, she sobbed, "I was so scared you'd be mad at me and give me a timeout, even though I did it on accident!" When I reassured her that that wouldn't happen, I said gently, "Are you really that scared of me?"
"Yes," she answered promptly, and I cringed.
Then when I said later on that we wouldn't be listening to a Laura Ingalls Wilder CD before dinner, that I wanted to put on some Shabbat and classical music, she threw herself onto the couch and began wailing, and I really lost it (she has been griping and whining for a couple of days now whenever she doesn't get her way). "Rachel, STOP IT!" I yelled. "You are making me CRAZY. You're making DADDY crazy too." She stopped immediately and fled upstairs. I took a deep breath, realized I should have just let her alone, then went upstairs. She was curled up in a corner of her bed. I sat down and said, "Rachel. You need to understand that if you're going to live in this house, and have friends, you can't always do what you want to do, you have to do what other people want to do sometimes. I'm working very hard to get this house organized so we can have guests who we'll do fun things with us when they visit us. And Daddy's working very hard at work. We've been listening to Laura Ingalls Wilder every night before dinner; we can listen to something else this time."
Then I left the room and came downstairs to say hi to Drew, who has had a rough few days at work, and just as I finished explaining how I'd organized the music, Rachel's little voice popped up, and she said she'd love to listen to another one of her story CDs, and Drew repeated that we'd be listening to the Shabbat music, and Rachel sulked but came to dinner uncomplainingly.
Then for dessert we went to get ice cream at a local ice cream place that wasn't so great, but Rachel ran into a friend of hers, Matthew, from her kindergarten class. His mom had brought along their French au pair and I spoke a few phrases of French to her while the mom explained some awful tradition in a kindergarten class in a nearby elementary school called Tuckahoe Elementary. Apparently the kids start out each day being one "color" -- green, yellow, whatever -- and as their behavior changes they're assigned a different color. If your kid is "red," then that means they've done something bad and their parent must call the teacher and find out what went wrong. So all the parents at soccer practice today were asking each other what "color" their kids were, and the kids who were deemed "red" by their teachers were devastated. Matthew's mom thought this was awful, calling it very "negative," and for the first time since August, I felt that a tiny bit of me was still in Portland.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
What Rachel is learning in kindergarten
Today at dinner, Rachel shocked the hell out of us when all of a sudden she said, "Guys! Can I tell you about Vasily Kandinsky??"
Turns out her art class (she gets art twice a week) is replicating the father of modern art's famous concentric circles. They're tracing them as some sort of big art project.
"Vasily Kandinsky is the BEST!" Rachel said before getting up and clearing her plate. "He's such a great artist!"
Drew's wry observation: Maybe she's ready for MOMA?
***
Went to my first full-length PTA meeting last night. I'm going to try to attend these fairly regularly because, well, it's my duty as the mom of an elementary school kid, and I'd like to do what I can to help out. I've already volunteered two items for the auction (a 75-person pig roast with Dan, my catering partner and co-author; and either one-quick-bread-a-month-for-six-months or a private catered brisket dinner for 8. I have several months to decide). I'd really like to do more volunteering for the PTA, but I'm assuming I'll be gainfully employed within the next two months or so -- fingers crossed! -- so I don't want to say yes to everything only to have to pull out later.
The art teachers told us about the Kandinsky project, so it was nice to hear that it made such a great impression on Rachel. The school's Gifted Resource Teacher also talked about testing for gifted kids (done in 2nd and 4th grade), what the gifted program entails, etc. I took very good notes, which I was able to share with Drew when I got home. Gifted kids can actually be referred as early as kindergarten, which I would love to do, but Drew gently warned me that probably everyone feels the way we do, and the kindergarten teachers are probably all aware of this and hold off, so it would be a futile exercise.
Parent-teacher conferences are next Thursday and Friday, so I'll hear all about Rachel's progress from her teacher, Mrs. Kappert. Can't wait!
Turns out her art class (she gets art twice a week) is replicating the father of modern art's famous concentric circles. They're tracing them as some sort of big art project.
"Vasily Kandinsky is the BEST!" Rachel said before getting up and clearing her plate. "He's such a great artist!"
Drew's wry observation: Maybe she's ready for MOMA?
***
Went to my first full-length PTA meeting last night. I'm going to try to attend these fairly regularly because, well, it's my duty as the mom of an elementary school kid, and I'd like to do what I can to help out. I've already volunteered two items for the auction (a 75-person pig roast with Dan, my catering partner and co-author; and either one-quick-bread-a-month-for-six-months or a private catered brisket dinner for 8. I have several months to decide). I'd really like to do more volunteering for the PTA, but I'm assuming I'll be gainfully employed within the next two months or so -- fingers crossed! -- so I don't want to say yes to everything only to have to pull out later.
The art teachers told us about the Kandinsky project, so it was nice to hear that it made such a great impression on Rachel. The school's Gifted Resource Teacher also talked about testing for gifted kids (done in 2nd and 4th grade), what the gifted program entails, etc. I took very good notes, which I was able to share with Drew when I got home. Gifted kids can actually be referred as early as kindergarten, which I would love to do, but Drew gently warned me that probably everyone feels the way we do, and the kindergarten teachers are probably all aware of this and hold off, so it would be a futile exercise.
Parent-teacher conferences are next Thursday and Friday, so I'll hear all about Rachel's progress from her teacher, Mrs. Kappert. Can't wait!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Word problems
Rachel is so little, it's hard for us to remember (well, it's hard for ME to remember) that she's in kindergarten, which is "real" school. She comes home with a folder full of writing samples. Apparently she is also learning math. Consequently, we have begun giving her little word problems at dinnertime. (On Friday I kept goofing around and told her, "If a car is 50 miles away and drives 70 miles an hour, and another car is coming from the opposite direction and drives 80 miles an hour, at what point do they meet?" I always hated word problems because I could never translate the words to the math).
This Saturday, while Drew was sleeping in, I decided to give Rachel some word problems. If there are three cupcakes in a store and six kids want them, I said, how do you divide them up? I drew a picture of three cupcakes, pretty sure she wouldn't get the answer.
"What does divide mean?" she asked.
"It means to split things up," I explained.
She then promptly took the marker and drew a line down each cupcake. I was flabbergasted. "What if there are 12 kids??" I demanded. She then drew lines across each cupcake. Then we go into a discussion about there being no point to splitting each cupcake in fourths because, you know, the cupcakes would get all crumbly and there wouldn't be a lot for each kid. She understood.
Then she started asking ME to do word problems.
"If one car's going right, one car's going left, and one minute hand is pointing to the 12 on one clock and one minute hand is pointing to six on the other clock, what point do they make? Draw a heart if you know and draw an x if you don't know," she said.
Um, not sure.
Second word problem:
"If two ladybugs are fighting, what makes them not fight anymore?" Rachel asked. "Give them a aphid. If they're fighting and you give them an aphid, they feel a lot better."
"Now, you do a word problem," she said. "Don't do anything about time, because I don't know anything about time."
This Saturday, while Drew was sleeping in, I decided to give Rachel some word problems. If there are three cupcakes in a store and six kids want them, I said, how do you divide them up? I drew a picture of three cupcakes, pretty sure she wouldn't get the answer.
"What does divide mean?" she asked.
"It means to split things up," I explained.
She then promptly took the marker and drew a line down each cupcake. I was flabbergasted. "What if there are 12 kids??" I demanded. She then drew lines across each cupcake. Then we go into a discussion about there being no point to splitting each cupcake in fourths because, you know, the cupcakes would get all crumbly and there wouldn't be a lot for each kid. She understood.
Then she started asking ME to do word problems.
"If one car's going right, one car's going left, and one minute hand is pointing to the 12 on one clock and one minute hand is pointing to six on the other clock, what point do they make? Draw a heart if you know and draw an x if you don't know," she said.
Um, not sure.
Second word problem:
"If two ladybugs are fighting, what makes them not fight anymore?" Rachel asked. "Give them a aphid. If they're fighting and you give them an aphid, they feel a lot better."
"Now, you do a word problem," she said. "Don't do anything about time, because I don't know anything about time."
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
First day of kindergarten!
Later, when I'm back from my weeklong catering job in upstate New York, I'll talk more about the journey Rachel and I took to our new home in Arlington, VA and how we've settled in. But I'm leaving within the hour and I still have packing to do. And I couldn't go without giving a quick update on Rachel's first day in kindergarten.
Let me repeat this: RACHEL'S FIRST DAY IN KINDERGARTEN. For this blog's older readers, kindergarten is now what first grade was for me, so it's a much bigger deal. All the crying (by parents) takes place a year earlier now. So it was with me: I'm not in any of pictures I took because I was weeping the whole time. Seeing Rachel walk to school with her Hello Kitty backpack (almost as big as she is), Hello Kitty lunch bag, skirt from Mammaw (thanks, Mammaw! A thank-you note is on its way), shirt from Grandma and sparkly shoes that Rachel picked out for me to buy in Oregon made me realize, as I have realized a thousand times since giving birth, that I'm now part of the big wave of humanity sending their kids to school for the first time. It's one of many small steps Rachel will take toward independence, and I really shouldn't be sad; this is what we're raising her to do, right? To be independent. Yes. I imagine I'll cry on the first day of her senior year in high school, since it will be the end of her primary/middle/secondary school career. And as Drew reminded me before he caught the train for work, I will be a MESS when we drop her off at college.
The halls of McKinley Elementary were crowded with men in ties and dress shirts (but no suits, thank god, and no Silicon Valley-unself-conscious-khakis-and-polo-shirts-without-ties) and their wives, some dressed up, some not. The men were smiling and resolute, the women were weepy and shooting photos. Some of the kids were crying, most not (including Rachel; she was momentarily shy but then jumped right in to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't know they did that anymore).
What must Grandma and Grandpa have thought when they took Dad and Uncle Dan to school for the first time, so far away from their torn-up country? Oh, how I wish I'd had the sense to ask them that when they were alive. Were they silently giving thanks that they escaped the Nazis? Were they scared about the new school system, what Dad and Uncle Dan would be learning and if what they would be learning would take the boys away from their parents? In a way, it was that journey out of Belgium that got Drew and I where we are today, dropping off our only child in kindergarten -- new school, new house, new town, new life. Just like Grandma and Grandpa did so long ago.
That thought made me cry even more.
Let me repeat this: RACHEL'S FIRST DAY IN KINDERGARTEN. For this blog's older readers, kindergarten is now what first grade was for me, so it's a much bigger deal. All the crying (by parents) takes place a year earlier now. So it was with me: I'm not in any of pictures I took because I was weeping the whole time. Seeing Rachel walk to school with her Hello Kitty backpack (almost as big as she is), Hello Kitty lunch bag, skirt from Mammaw (thanks, Mammaw! A thank-you note is on its way), shirt from Grandma and sparkly shoes that Rachel picked out for me to buy in Oregon made me realize, as I have realized a thousand times since giving birth, that I'm now part of the big wave of humanity sending their kids to school for the first time. It's one of many small steps Rachel will take toward independence, and I really shouldn't be sad; this is what we're raising her to do, right? To be independent. Yes. I imagine I'll cry on the first day of her senior year in high school, since it will be the end of her primary/middle/secondary school career. And as Drew reminded me before he caught the train for work, I will be a MESS when we drop her off at college.
The halls of McKinley Elementary were crowded with men in ties and dress shirts (but no suits, thank god, and no Silicon Valley-unself-conscious-khakis-and-polo-shirts-without-ties) and their wives, some dressed up, some not. The men were smiling and resolute, the women were weepy and shooting photos. Some of the kids were crying, most not (including Rachel; she was momentarily shy but then jumped right in to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't know they did that anymore).
What must Grandma and Grandpa have thought when they took Dad and Uncle Dan to school for the first time, so far away from their torn-up country? Oh, how I wish I'd had the sense to ask them that when they were alive. Were they silently giving thanks that they escaped the Nazis? Were they scared about the new school system, what Dad and Uncle Dan would be learning and if what they would be learning would take the boys away from their parents? In a way, it was that journey out of Belgium that got Drew and I where we are today, dropping off our only child in kindergarten -- new school, new house, new town, new life. Just like Grandma and Grandpa did so long ago.
That thought made me cry even more.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Moving, Part 1
Boy, did I forgot how much moving sucks. Makes a lot of sense to me what Marilyn, our dithery real estate agent told me: Realtors try to move about every five years to remind themselves how awful it is. Thinking that maybe we should do the same, since I never want to have to go through this again. Or as I told Dad this afternoon, who said I'll never have to do this alone again, "The next time, hopefully it'll be Rachel moving me into an assisted living facility and I'll be too old to care about possessions anymore."
That got a laugh. Hey, at least I have somewhat of a sense of humor left.
Anyway, the movers came and forgot to pack up a bunch of things. Apparently they are also incapable of taking down wall hangings because, you know, they involve nails. And the ones that don't involve nails and are simply hung from the crown moldings and need nothing more than a little nudge to come down -- well, they're waaay too complicated to deal with. So, after they left I went around the house taking things down with a hammer and a Philips screwdriver. Then I started cleaning out what's left of the food in the refrigerator. We have about five huge bags of garbage, plus recycling, that I'll have to haul to the curb tonight. I have no idea what time they'll start loading the truck tomorrow, but I hope it's after I get Rachel home from preschool. This whole thing hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd anticipated, which is a shame but there's really nothing I can do except stay up late, finish all the tasks I can and hope we make it out of here without having extra boxes of stuff that I'll have no idea what to do with.
Tonight was also bittersweet -- it was the last trek to Hot Lips Pizza, playing in the Jamison Fountain and getting chocolate sorbet at Cool Moon Ice Cream. They're all within a block or two of each other, and on really hot days, like today, I'd arrange for Rachel, her friend Devin, Devin's mom Linda (who I really like) and, sometimes, Linda's husband Jim to join us for an evening involving all three. This was the last extended time we'll all be able to spend together, and Linda started crying a little at the end because, she said, she's going to miss us. Linda is going through a hard time -- a nightmare work situation where she is disrespected at work, even though she's an award-winning architect; a friend who's going through chemo; a house that she says is a disaster and just general stress all around. I told her to make sure to CALL ME, even if I'm on the road, and I can talk her through things. I had thought that Devin and Rachel would remain besties even though they were heading to different kindergartens. We've promised to keep in touch, and Jim's family lives in Maryland so there's a reasonable chance that we'll see them again, but it won't be the same. And that makes me sad.
That got a laugh. Hey, at least I have somewhat of a sense of humor left.
Anyway, the movers came and forgot to pack up a bunch of things. Apparently they are also incapable of taking down wall hangings because, you know, they involve nails. And the ones that don't involve nails and are simply hung from the crown moldings and need nothing more than a little nudge to come down -- well, they're waaay too complicated to deal with. So, after they left I went around the house taking things down with a hammer and a Philips screwdriver. Then I started cleaning out what's left of the food in the refrigerator. We have about five huge bags of garbage, plus recycling, that I'll have to haul to the curb tonight. I have no idea what time they'll start loading the truck tomorrow, but I hope it's after I get Rachel home from preschool. This whole thing hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd anticipated, which is a shame but there's really nothing I can do except stay up late, finish all the tasks I can and hope we make it out of here without having extra boxes of stuff that I'll have no idea what to do with.
Tonight was also bittersweet -- it was the last trek to Hot Lips Pizza, playing in the Jamison Fountain and getting chocolate sorbet at Cool Moon Ice Cream. They're all within a block or two of each other, and on really hot days, like today, I'd arrange for Rachel, her friend Devin, Devin's mom Linda (who I really like) and, sometimes, Linda's husband Jim to join us for an evening involving all three. This was the last extended time we'll all be able to spend together, and Linda started crying a little at the end because, she said, she's going to miss us. Linda is going through a hard time -- a nightmare work situation where she is disrespected at work, even though she's an award-winning architect; a friend who's going through chemo; a house that she says is a disaster and just general stress all around. I told her to make sure to CALL ME, even if I'm on the road, and I can talk her through things. I had thought that Devin and Rachel would remain besties even though they were heading to different kindergartens. We've promised to keep in touch, and Jim's family lives in Maryland so there's a reasonable chance that we'll see them again, but it won't be the same. And that makes me sad.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Our final week in Oregon
It's down to the last few days, really. Rachel and I leave Oregon on Friday morning with Molly, driving across the country to Minnesota, dropping Molly off in West St. Paul, then continuing on to Madison, WI (to see Drew's best friend Jack) Chicago (to see Ruth, Steve and some friends from college and beyond), Memphis (to see my old boss), Ohio (to see a dear friend and former colleague at the Oregonian), then Roanoke (to see one of my former reporters on the Daily Northwestern), then HOME to Arlington, VA. Can't believe it's finally here.
I've been immersing myself in the chaos of last-minute packing, getting rid of all our food (and, geez, do we have a lot of Tupperware! I am NEVER buying any Tupperware AGAIN), finishing up some projects at work so I can drive unimpeded -- i.e., without checking emails or phone messages -- racing around Portland to eat dinner and lunch with all the friends we can possibly squeeze in, getting the house in shape for the movers to just pick everything up and go, getting my car looked over to see that it's drivable (yes), returning the Comcast cable box, getting my car cleaned so we won't start our drive with gunk all over the seats and floors, etc. etc. All of this craziness is probably a coping method for me to put off having to process leaving a place I've called home for the last 15+ years, a place I hated at first but now have grown to love, a place where I saw my greatest career successes and failures, a place where I really became a grown-up -- bought a house, sold a house, had a child, acquired a circle of friends from different parts of my life (singing, OAJC, chavurah, synagogue, Willamette, Oregonian) -- a place I never thought we'd leave. I'm not sad enough to cry (yet, if ever), it just amazes me that within two months this spring, I was all of sudden ready to go. And now, we're going.
***
"I actually LIKE getting owies," Rachel said, examining her banged-up legs this morning. "That shows that I've been having fun!"
***
"Beauty is not more important than health," Rachel said as she was washing and brushing after breakfast.
"What makes you say that?" I said, astonished, since it came out of the blue.
"Because it's TRUE," she replied calmly.
It amazes me what a good head she has on her shoulders.
I've been immersing myself in the chaos of last-minute packing, getting rid of all our food (and, geez, do we have a lot of Tupperware! I am NEVER buying any Tupperware AGAIN), finishing up some projects at work so I can drive unimpeded -- i.e., without checking emails or phone messages -- racing around Portland to eat dinner and lunch with all the friends we can possibly squeeze in, getting the house in shape for the movers to just pick everything up and go, getting my car looked over to see that it's drivable (yes), returning the Comcast cable box, getting my car cleaned so we won't start our drive with gunk all over the seats and floors, etc. etc. All of this craziness is probably a coping method for me to put off having to process leaving a place I've called home for the last 15+ years, a place I hated at first but now have grown to love, a place where I saw my greatest career successes and failures, a place where I really became a grown-up -- bought a house, sold a house, had a child, acquired a circle of friends from different parts of my life (singing, OAJC, chavurah, synagogue, Willamette, Oregonian) -- a place I never thought we'd leave. I'm not sad enough to cry (yet, if ever), it just amazes me that within two months this spring, I was all of sudden ready to go. And now, we're going.
***
"I actually LIKE getting owies," Rachel said, examining her banged-up legs this morning. "That shows that I've been having fun!"
***
"Beauty is not more important than health," Rachel said as she was washing and brushing after breakfast.
"What makes you say that?" I said, astonished, since it came out of the blue.
"Because it's TRUE," she replied calmly.
It amazes me what a good head she has on her shoulders.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Really awesome week
I convinced Willamette to let me work as a contractor once I get to DC to finish up the fall issue of the magazine and some other projects that aren't quite done and won't be until after I leave. That's money (not a lot, but some) coming in that I didn't think we'd have for a while. YAY!
Also, some intriguing job possibilities have come my way. Looks like I'm on tap for a couple of interviews in the next few weeks.
And the law school is hosting an informal reception in my honor next Friday, my last day at work. The associate dean sent out the nicest email today. Here is what it said:
A party! For me! No one has ever done this for me when I've left a newspaper.
***
"I love you with all my heart," Rachel said the other day. "You're the deepest part of my body. You really are."
***
I took a good look at Rachel's legs tonight -- bruises and what the pediatrician called "road rash" all over them. You'd think that we (or someone) regularly beats her. Of course, it's just what comes from playing all day.
"I like getting owies!" Rachel said when I remarked on how banged-up her legs are. "It means I've had a lot of fun these last days."
I've said it a million times: she is truly ready to be a mom. NOW.
Also, some intriguing job possibilities have come my way. Looks like I'm on tap for a couple of interviews in the next few weeks.
And the law school is hosting an informal reception in my honor next Friday, my last day at work. The associate dean sent out the nicest email today. Here is what it said:
"Hi, all,
I am sad to report that Lisa Lednicer, the Director of Communication for the law school, will be leaving Willamette. Lisa will be relocating to the East Coast. Lisa has served as the school's Director of Communication since 2010, and, during her time here, she helped oversee a remarkable transformation of our marketing materials, most notably the Willamette Lawyer magazine which won several awards under her editorship. We will miss Lisa, and we wish her well in her new endeavors.
Lisa's last day is next Friday, August 2nd. We will hold an
informal reception next Friday at 1:30 in the Faculty Lounge to honor Lisa's time at
Willamette. I hope you will be able to attend."I am sad to report that Lisa Lednicer, the Director of Communication for the law school, will be leaving Willamette. Lisa will be relocating to the East Coast. Lisa has served as the school's Director of Communication since 2010, and, during her time here, she helped oversee a remarkable transformation of our marketing materials, most notably the Willamette Lawyer magazine which won several awards under her editorship. We will miss Lisa, and we wish her well in her new endeavors.
A party! For me! No one has ever done this for me when I've left a newspaper.
***
"I love you with all my heart," Rachel said the other day. "You're the deepest part of my body. You really are."
***
I took a good look at Rachel's legs tonight -- bruises and what the pediatrician called "road rash" all over them. You'd think that we (or someone) regularly beats her. Of course, it's just what comes from playing all day.
"I like getting owies!" Rachel said when I remarked on how banged-up her legs are. "It means I've had a lot of fun these last days."
I've said it a million times: she is truly ready to be a mom. NOW.
Last Shabbat on the Plaza
I've written many times about the lovely tradition of Shabbat on the Plaza, which was started a few years ago by our synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel. Six times a summer they hold services outside, with Rabbi Cahana playing guitar, his wife the cantor singing and others joining in on bass and electric piano. It sounds out there but is really very traditional, and we go every chance we get. You bring a blanket and a picnic dinner and eat/socialize afterward.
This year the synagogue is providing cookies, lemonade, water and popsicles (and fudgsicles!) for dessert. Tonight I was more organized than I've ever been; I made Rachel a jelly sandwich, grabbed a salad and gazpacho from Trader Joe's for me (as well as some leftovers from last week's barbecue at Professor Warren Binford's house in Salem) and packed things in a cooler with cold packs and stashed it in the trunk while I was at work. THEN I made it up to PDX early, picked up Rachel from preschool and we headed to synagogue. We were there right at the beginning which almost never happens, so we got to enjoy all of the service.
Rachel at one point wandered over to the dessert table and somehow persuaded Greg, the newly hired facilities manager for the synagogue, to play with her. Man, they were whooping it up -- he twirled her, let her climb on his back, hoisted her on his shoulders; they looked like they were having a blast. Poor guy had just returned from a river trip and he was exhausted, but he gamely entertained Rachel and I thanked him profusely.
After the service, a congregant walked around with a bowl of strawberries and a bowl of melted chocolate and invited folks to dip in. Rachel made a face at the combo but I LOVE chocolate dipped strawberries so I tried them. Gotta love an outdoor Shabbat service where someone passes around strawberries and chocolate, right???
Then I got into a long conversation about DC with an assistant US Attorney here, Ron Silver, who is a member of the congregation and gave a great lecture at the law school a few months back on the Dreyfus case. He loved DC, absolutely loved it, but has been in PDX for 20 years and is from the West Coast originally, so he likely won't be going back East. It's so relieving to hear that people really like DC, even if they don't end up staying. It makes me feel even better about the move.
Meanwhile Rachel snuggled up next to Bill Baer, whose wife, Sidney, is the synagogue's executive director. Bill has always taken a shine to Rachel since she was a baby and constantly refers to her as "a little sweetie." He showed her videos on his smartphone featuring his niece and grandson and Rachel leaned against him to watch. At one point he played some snatches of opera. "She's so poised!" he said to me afterward. "If you want, you can leave her behind and take my cat."
I will really miss CBI. This is the synagogue I had expected Rachel to be bat mitzvahed and confirmed in. But change is life and life is change and hopefully we will find another synagogue in the DC area that will move us as much as this one has. I truly hope so.
This year the synagogue is providing cookies, lemonade, water and popsicles (and fudgsicles!) for dessert. Tonight I was more organized than I've ever been; I made Rachel a jelly sandwich, grabbed a salad and gazpacho from Trader Joe's for me (as well as some leftovers from last week's barbecue at Professor Warren Binford's house in Salem) and packed things in a cooler with cold packs and stashed it in the trunk while I was at work. THEN I made it up to PDX early, picked up Rachel from preschool and we headed to synagogue. We were there right at the beginning which almost never happens, so we got to enjoy all of the service.
Rachel at one point wandered over to the dessert table and somehow persuaded Greg, the newly hired facilities manager for the synagogue, to play with her. Man, they were whooping it up -- he twirled her, let her climb on his back, hoisted her on his shoulders; they looked like they were having a blast. Poor guy had just returned from a river trip and he was exhausted, but he gamely entertained Rachel and I thanked him profusely.
After the service, a congregant walked around with a bowl of strawberries and a bowl of melted chocolate and invited folks to dip in. Rachel made a face at the combo but I LOVE chocolate dipped strawberries so I tried them. Gotta love an outdoor Shabbat service where someone passes around strawberries and chocolate, right???
Then I got into a long conversation about DC with an assistant US Attorney here, Ron Silver, who is a member of the congregation and gave a great lecture at the law school a few months back on the Dreyfus case. He loved DC, absolutely loved it, but has been in PDX for 20 years and is from the West Coast originally, so he likely won't be going back East. It's so relieving to hear that people really like DC, even if they don't end up staying. It makes me feel even better about the move.
Meanwhile Rachel snuggled up next to Bill Baer, whose wife, Sidney, is the synagogue's executive director. Bill has always taken a shine to Rachel since she was a baby and constantly refers to her as "a little sweetie." He showed her videos on his smartphone featuring his niece and grandson and Rachel leaned against him to watch. At one point he played some snatches of opera. "She's so poised!" he said to me afterward. "If you want, you can leave her behind and take my cat."
I will really miss CBI. This is the synagogue I had expected Rachel to be bat mitzvahed and confirmed in. But change is life and life is change and hopefully we will find another synagogue in the DC area that will move us as much as this one has. I truly hope so.
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