Tetris theme, orchestral

As my sister or husband can attest, my very favorite video game growing up was Tetris. We had the ColecoVision gaming set back in the early 80s — all my friends had Atari, but my dad went with the "superior" (in his opinion) brand. And the games were pretty amazing! In addition to Tetris, we had Zaxxon, Donkey Kong, DigDug, Ms. PacMan, Q*bert's Qubes, The Smurfs, and Time Pilot. My sister beat me in most other games, but I'd like to recall that we were well-matched in Tetris, maybe with me having more high scores out of plain persistence.

So, while looking for something unrelated, I found this fantastic video of the Tetris theme song, performed by an orchestra in The Netherlands.

Bunny Adventures!

The bunnies have been having a grand time exploring the kids' beds, romping over piles of toys and burrowing under blankets. Rosie and Dash love it, too, and have been asking for "bunny adventures regularly. 

The first time it occurred to me to have supervised play with bunnies in the beds was after I found the bunnies escaped into Rosie's room (door left open a crack) more than once, and they were almost always in the bed. 

It's hilarious watching them burrow under the blankets -- their heads go up/down/up/down until they've made it through. They climb over all the toys and peer over the edges of the beds to check out whether it's safe to jump (from a loft-bed, no). 

I've read that rabbits need to be climbing/burrowing for exercise, as that's most of their activity in the wild. We're certainly glad to find a way to fill the bunnies' needs that everyone enjoys!

(Sorry for the blurry photos; the bunnies are just constantly in motion while they're exploring. It's almost impossible to get them to be still for a shot.)

A virtual play date

There's a boy in Dash's grade, Max, who has been his favorite friend since kindergarten. For reasons unknown to me, his parents have rebuffed all my attempts to get the boys together outside of school. They love all the same geeky stuff and have been in soccer, track, chess, and engineering clubs together, but in four years, Dash has been to Max's home once and Max has been to our home once (not for my lack of calling, emailing, etc., believe me). I have been so frustrated on Dash's behalf. 

Tonight, Max called my cell number for the first time ever. The boys had made an appointment to meet each other virtually in the "Wizards 101" game. I put Max on speaker and waited until the boys found each other's avatars in the game, also for the first time ever. I was going to take my phone back at that point, but they were both so exuberant that their plan worked! I left them to play and walked away, listening to the laughter and joy erupting from their voices. 

Bunny Sitting for the Summer

For the past week, our home has been occupied by four humans and three exotic pets. If you've kept up with this blog, or know me personally, you know we have Weegee the parrot, and now our temporary additions are rabbits. I was calling them bunnies, but after we had a number of guests tell me, "those things are huge! I'd call them hares or rabbits, not bunnies," I suppose I ought to stop referring to these large creatures in the diminutive. To give you an idea of their size, when they're splayed out, relaxing, they look to be around a foot and a half long.

Mary Potter, domestic rabbit

The two rabbits are brown females (no idea what breed, if any) and come from Dash's 2nd grade menagerie classroom, which also included a few guinea pigs and a couple of turtles. The rabbits are named  "Mary Potter" (has white paw-tips) and "Bugs Bunny." If I were to characterize their personalities, I'd say Mary Potter is more aggressive and Bugs Bunny is more curious. But, I really haven't had much time to get to know them.

Dash's teacher told me that she let the rabbits out for 3-4 hours a day and suggested I put them in the bathroom (easy cleanup, no cords or stuff to chew up) if we wanted to give them free time without worrying that they'd get into trouble. I learned very quickly that it's not a good idea to let them out right after they eat, unless you don't mind wiping up the area thoroughly! The bathroom hasn't really worked out as a good free-play option for us, but I've been letting them hop around in the kitchen while I'm getting everyone's breakfasts ready, then after dinner they hop around some more while I'm doing kitchen cleanup.

They get pellets and lots of hay in the morning, then in the evening after they're back in their cages, I let the kids give them small amounts of lettuce, apples, bananas, or other treats. One thing I don't quite have a handle on yet is the smell. They have very stinky pee!! I need to figure out a better way to mask the ammonia odor. Luckily, my pal Jill in Oregon sent me a really long message about rabbit care. I'll need to revisit the TL;DR note and scan for bedding tips.

I was warned by another parent who had watched the rabbits over a weekend during the school year that we may need to prepare ourselves to get asked to keep them. O_o  She told me that Mary Potter and Bugs Bunny were babies at the beginning of the year and the teacher may want to have babies for the new batch of second graders. That means that these rabbits are only 9-10 months old and may not be full size yet? They already seem too big for their cages, but I'm not really prepared to buy new enclosures for them (or be their forever home).

We may consider keeping bunnies in the future since I'm thrilled that nobody has exhibited allergic reactions to them (crossing fingers!), but I'd like ones that are either litter-box trained or young enough to train easily. These ladies just poop all over their cages, and don't seem to prefer the litter boxes. Not sure what to do about that. More research needed! They are entertaining to watch and super soft; they like being petted. The kids really love them. Weegee's keeping his opinion to himself, as is AJS (who seems to like them outside of mentioning "hantha virus" while they're in the kitchen).

Making the best of a long weekend

We've all been in the house together since Thursday morning, except for kids' playdates on Friday. Rosie had been asking to play with a new friend, Paige, and Finn had been asking about Dash. Dash rarely requests playdates and prefers playing on his own, which is okay by me, generally, but they needed to get out of the house! We were all getting on each other's nerves and were more than a little stir-crazy.

On Friday, Dash went to Finn's and I tried to take the girls to River Farm, but I swear, every time I try to get in there, it's closed for a private event. Same thing yesterday. I ended up taking Rosie and Paige to their elementary school's playground and believe that they enjoyed having it to themselves instead of sharing it with everyone in their grade for a change. We stuck around there until lunch and returned for Nutella sandwiches, fruit, and carrots before I set them up to play Just Dance 2 on the Wii. Two o'clock snuck up on us, and it was time to take Paige home. The girls weren't at all ready to part and were begging for an extension, so I accepted a bargain to drop them at Paige's until I returned from Finn's with Dash.

Dash and Finn had been peacefully playing Legos the entire time. Finn's mom expressed to me that for two boys that are so disruptive while in class, they played like quiet little mice. We exchanged several observations about their first-grade teacher and the negative comments on interim reports before Dash and I were on our way. Back at Paige's, we met her little brother, Chase, who is also six like Dash, but a year behind in school. True to their names, they were running circles around each other in the front yard, fast friends. I couldn't help commenting on it a few times—go, action verbs! We promised to schedule more play time for them all together soon, as it was such a great success.

Saturday morning, I left the house to make the first Jazzercise class since Wednesday afternoon, as they'd cancelled all the in-between ones for the holiday. It was PACKED. I managed to squeeze into a spot in the front corner and had a blast as usual! Harmony (today's instructor) is so easy to follow and doesn't crank her tunes too high. I wear earplugs a lot and wind up missing cues in other classes. Still fun!

When I got back and showered, we had already worked out that we would all take advantage of the lovely weather and walk to the library. Rosie has a biography project due next week and needed to pick up some books for research. To sweeten the deal for the kids, Monkeyrotica had found a walking path on Google Maps that cut through the neighborhoods and made the trip less than a mile one-way (by car, it's 1.5 miles). Rosie found her books and we each picked up another book or two; all the books ended up in my bag to carry home. It was close to lunch, so we walked another half-mile out of our way to get sandwiches at one of the few local delis (read Monkey's Yelp review). I don't think Rosie and Dash even noticed that they walked about 2.5 miles today, with all the exploring, leaf-kicking, and bird/squirrel/deer spotting.

It was such a beautiful, warm day—really a gorgeous weekend! I'm so glad we didn't just stay indoors, which is what might have happened if it had been colder.

Wax on... wax off. Wax on... wax off.

Dash started taking karate lessons in July 2010 (over a year and a half ago) but I only put him in one class a week, was inconsistent about making it to all the classes, and then I took him out for the summer. Not the best way to learn something as complex and skill-building as karate, but necessary. With summer camp eating up most of our discretionary funds, it was a budget thing. When he went back to classes in September—twice a week this time!—most of his buddies from the previous class were already blue belts and he was still a white belt. Not a big deal, except occasionally when he saw that he had better form than the blue belts. Then it rubbed a bit.

HIZA GERI! (knee kick, to you and me)

Fast forward to this past week, when he told me that yes, absolutely beyond a doubt, he did want to take the promotion test for blue belt. I was dubious, because while he does have good form and can punch and kick with the best of the blue and white belt students in class (yellow belts, not even close yet, sorry), he has absolutely no recall for the Japanese terms that Sensei uses or the patterns in the kata. He watches the other students and faithfully does exactly what they are doing. I'm concerned that he won't be able to perform solo or be able to answer questions that are directed at him. He'll be required to announce the kata that he's performing, "tai kyoku sono ichi!" and to perform it solo without error, which he hasn't done yet. I decided that it was a good idea for him to go for the promotion, if for nothing else but to have the experience of taking the test under his belt (a hopefully blue belt, sometime soon enough). Sensei will let him try again and correct mistakes that he makes until he gets it right at a later time.

Dash has got the right feet and hands up, the blue belt doesn't.

He may have had a breakthrough today, though. I've been trying to figure out the best way to activate his memorization skills, and realizing that we are utterly failing with the flash-card method. The blocks, punches, turns, and steps in the kata have been confusing, and I floundered to give him something to visualize: "Imagine the shape you're following is like a capital I!" I told him. But the rest didn't make any sense.

Working on fighting stance (Dash has the right foot forward)

In the car ride on the way home from class today, I'd been really trying to figure out a way to break down the kata in a way that Dash could practice it in his head, anywhere. A pattern came to me and I got him to repeat it with me. There are 20 steps in the tai kyoku sono ichi and three stages with hands and feet working in unison.

The arm movements are:
1. block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch (ki-yai!)
2. block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch (ki-yai!)
3. block, punch, block, punch, block (end)

The leg movements are:
1. turn, step, turn, step, turn, step, step, step (ki-yai!)
2. turn, step, turn, step, turn, step, step, step (ki-yai!)
3. turn, step, turn, step (end)

See the pattern? So easy to repeat once you get into the rhythm of it. Dash got so good at the repetition that once we were home, I pretended like I was a puppet and had him call out the moves while I performed them! I'll get him to practice himself a few more times every day before Saturday as well as get one more class in before then, and here's hoping he does well on his test!

Hey do you all remember what else is going on for Saturday? Rosie's bowling party! I've also got a cake to bake, goody bags to pack, and balloons to obtain. Can I have a clone for Saturday? I will definitely need two of me, for sure.

First Soccer Club Practice!

Rosie attended her first practice with the soccer club! She's been participating in an after-school soccer program for a few years now, but I have had no indication that they actually play games; it's more about gaining skill with the ball and agility as a player.

Her first two practices were rained out (and the temps were in the 40s—brrrr!), so in desperation, the coach scheduled an extra practice this past Sunday. They had beautiful weather and the girls had such a fun time.

One part Rosie didn't like so much: in their scrimmage, there was an odd number of girls, so the coach asked her to be a "floater," meaning she was on the team of whomever held the ball. Practically, this meant the other girls didn't know which team she was on and nobody passed the ball to her. That's a tough position to play, but someone has to do it!

The next practice is tonight and her first game will be this Saturday. Cross your fingers for good weather!

Getting my hands dirty, at long last

Graphic designers use computers all day long at work, which is a reality that I wouldn't have easily anticipated when coming out of school oh so many years ago. When I chose the graphic design field, it was because it promised a desirable balance of tech and traditional art/illustration. Even in the first decade of my career, there were still light tables, drafting tables and markers within our offices. Not so anymore. Along the way, illustrating by hand became more or less economically unfeasible—on the computer it's so much faster and accurate, easier to make revisions, and much less messy. Customers these days have no idea what to think if presented with a preliminary sketch (I learned the hard way a few years ago), they expect to see a "final" illustration and still be able to easily and quickly make major revisions to it.

I miss traditional drawing media and the hand-eye precision it requires, the happy accidents and discoveries you make along the way. I'm resolving to not eliminate creating original works of art from my personal work, at the very least; and, I'm trying something new, a technique outside my comfort zone. I'm taking a semester-long, studio art class to learn screenprinting. Thinking back, the last art class I'd taken that was more than a day-or-two-long workshop was back in 1997. Yikes.

After attending one of those workshops a while back, a hands-on screenprinting demo, I was excited by how easy it seemed to create a lovely product from a simple stencil. Revved with enthusiasm, I asked for a screenprinting kit as a birthday gift. I gave it a try at home and was quickly intimidated by the kit. It came with too few instructions and several mysterious solvents and chemicals. There were too many opportunities to fail without any knowledge base to troubleshoot from. Even though I tried to invite some printing-experienced friends over to help me get over my hang-ups, the craft-dates didn't materialize; I had screenprinting paralysis. The kit started to gather dust.

My first class was this past Monday night. The instructor gave us some history of screenprinting, having herself learned the technique in its American heyday back in the late '60s, early '70s. We started out with cutting a simple design out of freezer paper, attaching the freezer paper to a screen, and printing our stencil using a mix of three or more colors across the screen. We got to the business of creating our designs rather late in the class, but thankfully, I'd brought a sketchbook that had some drawings in it from when I was designing Dash's raccoon doll and was able to get something down on paper quickly. Wrapping my head around making a stencil with the appropriate negative and positive cutouts for my sketch was a little tough that late at night (the class is from 7 to 10 p.m.), but I managed it. I finished seven raccoon prints and cleaned everything up just after class officially ended. (Photos to come—sorry, we were so pressed for time, I wasn't able to get my camera-phone out with paint-splattered fingers.)

I have homework for next week's class—coming up with a high-contrast grayscale (or straight black and white) design to print out on a transparency. Looking forward to it!

Ouija boards: paranormal or group-think?

Okay, this isn't really going to be a philosophical/academic discussion of Ouija boards complete with expert references, bibliography, or any such thing. Just personal anecdotes, and my usual half-assed conclusions (feel free to add your own thoughts/links/stories in the comments!). I hadn't thought about the Ouija game in a very long time, honestly; but the Halloween spirit and friends' recent tweets about "soulmates" got me remembering playing it as a youngster.

In case you avoided the entire Ouija experience, here is how Wikipedia describes the game:

A Ouija board (possibly from the French and German words for "yes", oui and ja,^[1] and usually pronounced /ˈwiːdʒiː/ in English), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, and other symbols, supposedly used to communicate with any spirits. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood) or movable indicator to indicate the spirit's message by spelling it out on the board during a séance. The fingers of the séance participants are placed on the planchette, which then moves about the board to spell out words or become physically manifest.

It was the 70s, and against her better judgment, I'm certain, my mom bought my sister and me a Ouija board. I recall relentless begging leading up to the purchase as well as personally logging many hours in the "occult" area of the Young Adult section of our local library. I wanted to know if ghosts could talk to me. I'd dutifully try to clear my mind before playing and will the spirits to come, to tell us what they knew from beyond. We'd play with friends down in our low-lit basement, asking questions of the "spirits" such as how they died, what their names were, and where they were buried. We would ask about our own futures to see if they knew what might happen in our own lives. I recall getting very creeped out, with thrilling goosebumps and chills if one of us was told that she would die young or some such thing. Sometimes, I was convinced that the spirits were pretty self-centered, only wanted to talk about themselves, refusing to answer our queries. At a family gathering, we mentioned to an extremely superstitious aunt (or very in tune with ghosts—family legend is that her house was terrifyingly haunted) that we had the game, she told us to "Never, ever touch it again! Take it and burn it when you get home! It will bring the devil to find you."

Over time, however, it seemed more likely that my strong-willed buddies were just moving the "planchette" (I never called it that, but see above) to wherever they wanted it to go, fulfilling their questions with answers they wanted. During one later game when my friends and I were getting boy-crazy, we were all asking questions about the name of who we would eventually marry. My friends were coming up with nice sounding, common guys' names, like Steve or Mark or Michael. I was hoping for a similar fortune when my turn came. Instead, the planchette kept hitting letters that didn't make any sense together, all kinds of vowels and just one consonant. It didn't look like any name I'd heard before! I gave up on the Ouija board after that. Stupid thing. Couldn't even give me a straight answer, like it had given my friends. The game languished in a closet after that, probably sold in a yard sale.

On to the soulmates part: What was the name that the spirits had come up with for my husband to be? I don't recall clearly, as a few decades have passed, but I think the letters went something like:

(Y) (A) (K) (Y) (I) (U) (O)

Damned ghosts couldn't spell. My darling husband's name is Akio.

School year scheduling

We've made several new scheduling transitions for the 2010 school year thus far, to move toward balancing the rocky mountain/valley that is our work-life, especially now that both kids are in public school. The changes all arose from my need to adjust my work hours, because getting home after 6:30 p.m. every night just was draining me, with only 90 minutes to spend with my family before they were all in bed for the night.

What we had been doing:
When Rosie started Kindergarten two years ago we made some big changes to make the timing work, first with Monkeyrotica changing his work schedule, arriving super-early and leaving super-early (and as a result, exhausted and going to bed the same time as the kids). Grandma S came to our house every morning for the past two school years to help Rosie get ready for school while I took Dash to daycare. The first year and a half, Grandma S also came after school to pick up Rosie from the bus stop, but when we moved Dash to a pre-K closer to home this past January, Monkey was able to make the bus in time.

What's the latest twist? 
Monkey still has his early-early workday, but I'm dropping both kids off at morning-care (a.k.a. school-age child-care or SACC). At work, I've shortened my days slightly to arrive home in time for the bus because I've decided that the after-school time between 4-6 pm are golden hours of family engagement time. Even this early in the school year, the kids are bringing home homework, which is best done while they have enough energy to complete it, not after dinner when they're starting to get bleary and surly. Also, many age-specific after-school activities, like sports clubs, scouts, art classes and the like are scheduled right when school ends, so if I want to get them to an activity, I need to be around. Monkey's already said that due to his complete disdain for all things sport-related, he's not schlepping kids to sports training. And the other activity that the kids were missing out on? Playing with the neighborhood kids. Today, after school, Rosalie will have her 2nd ever playdate with one of the little girls who lives one block over. Why weren't these happening earlier? Let's just say, out of sight, out of mind——by not being home earlier and visibly available, my kids just weren't socializing with the neighborhood kids (even though there are a dozens of them in their age groups). Starting this week, I'll be home every afternoon at 4! Yay!

Results: More family time and kids activities (and homework).
The activities are already racking up. Monday is after-school soccer for both and Wednesday is tap class (just Rosie). I want to get them both into an art class when it comes available, and maybe into track club. Neither of them have shown any interest in scouting, which is fine—that's a major time-suck what with all of the parent-volunteer work. On Saturdays we also have back-to-back Japanese calligraphy (Rosie) and karate (Dash), then Dash takes ballet in the afternoon. For each, that's currently 3 activities. Not totally overscheduled yet, right? There are still four free days in the week for family walks, bike rides, and outdoor fun! And, then just maybe I can fit in some crafting or personal activities, huh?

Back to the homework, however. Dash was out of school with a fever for three days last week, and I was completely blindsided by the nine make-up assignments that were sent home with him on Friday. I didn't even notice they were in his backpack until Sunday night after they were in bed! I'm becoming aware that we haven't really established our home as a place of learning, because the children truly struggle with the assignments. Groaning, flopping, distractions, sidetrips, stalling—Dash has been trying the works. This morning, I realized that I had a trick in my back pocket: their morning care. The kids are supervised by licensed childcare professionals for 1.5 hours before their bus arrives and they have a homework table. SCORE! I had no idea that I'd be calling on them so soon, but we were getting nowhere at home. Out of nine assignments, Dash scribbled out one yesterday, fighting it the whole time. Today, sitting down with the staff at SACC, Dash was working away on his homework even before I'd left the room. Warms my stressed-out, stretched-thin-mom's heart.

I'm feeling really good about all these schedule decisions! Which helps a great deal, because our basement flooded AGAIN last week and we have to replace the flooring, with three to four expensive days of repairs and installation ahead of us.

Dash's 5-Year Checkup & Am I in denial?

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. I requested that I telework, since I had Dash's midday doctor's appointment, and that just opened up all sort of possibilities.

After I got the kids up for breakfast, I announced that we were walking to school this morning! Since Rosie is in summer camp at the same location as Dash's preschool, this was an ideal way to start the day. The weather was perfect: 75° and overcast and the preschool/camp is just a 1/2 mile from our house. The preschool is housed in what used to be the neighborhood elementary school, but was converted to a senior center in the 80s due to the baby bust at the time—I often feel like my kids' generation was robbed of walking to school due to this type of event and other things, like heightened safety concerns and regulations that prohibit kids' autonomy. Rosie's elementary school (that Dash will be going to in the Fall) is 2 miles away. If I can get more telework days or a alternate schedule next school year, I would love to walk them to this preschool, where I'm enrolling them both for morning SACC (school-age childcare); they'll bus to their ES from there.

At Dash's appointment, he was being very Dash. He was waving and charming all the nurses, complimenting random things (I like your shirt!), and being a cheerful little guy. He weighed in at 42 inches and just about 42 pounds, so he's a cube (shorter than his younger friend Liam)! The doctor arrived within several minutes and after recovering from Dash's disarming compliment (I like your glasses!), Dr. R checked up on normal things, like whether he knew colors and numbers, if he had chores, or could ride a bike, regular eliminations, and his balancing skills. All this time, Dash volunteered a great deal of random information and showed off a bit, keeping a running dialog, humming and making other noises. As an aside to me, Dr. R said, "Well, this boy will always have his own fun!" Set for life, Dash is, able to be his own entertainment! Dr. R did a bunch of calculating and suggested that we need to watch Dash's weight. Whaaaa?!? Really? Dash looks like such an average, healthy kid. Why? Dr. R quoted Dash's BMI (82nd percentile) at me and said that while he is not (whisper it...) F. A. T. , he isn't LEAN either. We need to up his activity levels and keep him eating healthily.

In doctor-speak, Dr. R let me know that Dash would need one shot, so I tried last year's approach. I asked, "Dash, last year you had 5 shots, how many would you like this year?" Dash answered, "Ohhhh, only just one." Dr. R said, "You're in luck, there's only one this time!" and went on his way. After several minutes of waiting for the nurse to come back and letting this sink in, Dash changed his response. "Aaactuuually, how about zero? Can I have zero shots?" Please?"

After dinner (grilled chicken breast and roasted potatoes), Dash and I spent an hour at the pool while Rosie had a swim lesson, splashing and goofing around. So, we were plenty active today, walking, playing, swimming. I was thinking about the BMI business on my commute this morning when I heard a report on WTOP about parents agreeing that obesity is an issue for kids today, but are in denial that it's a problem in their own child/children. Am I in denial? What do you all think of BMI calculating for 5 year-olds?

Constructions

Dash made this for me out of Tinkertoys this morning. He explained to his Grandma and me, "it's the drill that the Romulans made in Star Trek to drill a hole in planet Vulcan before they dropped the red matter in and imploded it."

Yep, I'll go with that!

The highest highs and lowest lows of last Friday

Now that I'm distanced a bit from last Friday, I'm recording it here for posterity, in all its glory and infuriatingness.

First the good bits:
Monkeyrotica and I had a lovely evening out. Our sitter arrived on time and was received with a seamless transition—Rosie and Dash adore him (B., our babysitter is a 17-year-old boy who lives two doors over; he's geeky, brilliant, slightly awkward, and great with the kids. We [heart] B.) While Monkey waited for me to appear, the kids were already engaged and not concerned about their parents.

We had last-minute reservations for dinner at The Majestic. Our table wasn't ready when we arrived, so we found seats at the bar and ordered drinks. Somehow, the cocktails that we ordered were the most fantastically perfect mixes of their types — they were über-cocktails!! I had a Pimm's Cup (a cocktail I have blogged about before), a lovely and simple concoction of Pimm's No. 1 (a gin-based beverage), ginger ale, and a long cucumber strip over ice cubes. Its delicious, intoxicating, and refreshing flavors turned the corner on my evening and I started warming up to the idea of just enjoying a night out with my husband.

Monkey ordered The Majestic's Mint Julep. Oh my, that drink was excellent! Perfectly prepared, muddled, mixed with freshly crushed ice, and served in a pewter cup, THIS was a damn good drink. I liked my Pimm's, but his Julep was stunning. [A moment of reverence here, in the memory of all beautiful and long-consumed cocktails...]

We had fried green tomatoes and fried oysters for appetizers, Monkey ordered the calves' liver (very good even in my judgment, and I don't ordinarily appreciate organ meats), and I went out of my comfort zone, ordering a whole (yes, whole!) grilled orata (a whitefish). My fish was served over a salad of fennel, olives, orange wedges and toasted almonds. Our waitress must have thought we were high, unbalanced, or eccentric, because Monkey kept telling her our food was fu¢&ing awesome! And it was. It was a great, glowing, triumph of a dinner out with my man.

Now for the bad:
Leading up to this was three hours of crossed signals, missed connections, poor assumptions, obstacles, and calamity — all mine. I left my office around 4:30, with plans to meet friends at a happy hours later Friday evening. We typically meet for mid-week drinks around 8, because there are children and parenting issues involved, and it didn't occur to me that this meet-up would have a different schedule. I replied to a Google invite, but really didn't look at it. I was on the on-ramp for the Beltway 20 minutes later (! — it's only one mile!) when the 10-minute calendar alarm went off. The happy hour was for 5 PM! Crap! I called friends to let them know I'd be late, maybe arriving by 6. Then, I checked traffic on my Google maps app — the Beltway was RED (code for slow as heck) on much of my route and I was already on the highway. I quickly exited and circled back to where I started, in order to take a different route that showed green (code for moving at speed) on the map. Despite the green, it crawled. Stop-and-go, stop-and-go, never getting above 35MPH for the twenty-five miles to home. My 45-minute commute dragged into an hour, then an hour and a half, and kept ticking away.

By the time I got home to pick up Monkey, the sitter had been there for 20 minutes, I had to pee! and it was well past 6. The roads looked better, so I promised my friends that we'd arrive by 6:45, in time to catch them before they left to make their dinner reservations. With Monkey behind the wheel, in familiar territory, we sped into town. At 6:45, we were just a block from the bar! I rejoyced! We made it, the goal was in sight! But, calamity: our right turn lane, without any signs or warnings, turned into an on-ramp for the Southeast Freeway. WTF? Typical DC.

On the G.D. fracking freeway now, we merged into traffic and took the very next exit, to circle back. The off-ramp fed into streets surrounding the Marine Barracks, where there was some sort of ceremony in the works. Graduation? Whatever. Young Marines in full-dress uniform were marching here and there, crossing-guards were directing absolutely unmoving traffic, and we were stuck, STUCK.

After a short discussion on whether we'd attempt to meet our friends just to hug goodbye, or just turn around and do our own thing, we bailed. So, at exactly three hours after I left my office, I was sitting down at The Majestic, ordering my Pimm's Cup, determined to purge the stress and just enjoy an evening out. I sincerely hope my friends had just as wonderful (eventually) a time without us.

Philly, Day 1: Road Trip!

After departing for Philly, handing the kids an iPhone and a gameboy micro so they could be perfectly distracted and play games while we drove, we planned a stop at Maryland's Havre De Grace vintage prefab, Bridge Diner.

Dash patiently waited for his order (a hotdog, of course) while leaning on the vintage formica tabletop. Rosie cheerfully watched all the locals playing Keno. She was unsuccessful at figuring out the game (as were we all).

I started out our trip with sunglasses on, but somewhere between DC and Philly, the sun disappeared, the shades came off, and I didn't need them until Mr. Sun reappeared about four days later. We dropped our bags at the lovely Morris House Hotel and immediately set off for somewhere to get a drink. Despite Philadelphia's Blue Laws we managed to find a bar in the Jewelry District that had its Sunday sales permit, Coco's. The kids were in a great mood, munching potato chips and watching the easiest to follow of television sports, BOWLING, playing on all the big screens.

With umbrellas in tow, we stopped back at Morris House to have tea, check in, and unpack. We really enjoyed our room, which had a master bedroom (with its own door!) and a fold-out couch for the kids in the living area. The one item that we all looked forward to at the end of a cold, wet, Philadelphia day was the bath. It was large enough to fit both kids (and a couple of friends) AND had jacuzzi jets! Heaven for itchy-fingered four-year-olds.


After changing out of our hobo-traveler duds, we walked the five city blocks to City Tavern, an 18th century tavern with too much Flash on its website. The kids tromped wistfully past darkening, moist gardens that beckoned them to scamper through, but we had reservations to make. Monkeyrotica enjoyed the historic microbrews very much, with Yards Brewing Company's General Washington's Tavern Porter as a favorite. He picked up a 6-pack of the selection before we left town. For appetizers, Monkey had fried oysters and I tried out the duck sausage. I ordered the Braised Rabbit, which was lovely (but waaay too much food for little me—I finished half), and Monkey had the Rack of Lamb, and for some reason, we ordered Dash $18 worth of sausages. Rosie picked at an item from the "Award Winning Children's Menu."

We allowed the kids to scamper through one garden that was still open as the wind picked up, and the drizzle really got annoying. We were fairly blown back across Washington Square as we headed back to Morris House and its promise of hot tea, a roaring fireplace, and freshly baked cookies in the lobby. I sipped green tea and pretended interest in W Magazine; Dash and Rosie scarfed several chocolate chip cookies before we hit that delicious bath and turned in for the night. Next episode: Day 2: Museums that we loved, but didn't photograph! (Have you noticed that for some reason, the Strings family only takes photos while we're at meals?)

Dash's new Tri-Bot criticizes my housekeeping skills.

Yeah, this is going over really well with me. The remote-controlled talking Tri-Bot says, "wow, you really need to vacuum your floor!" after it bumps into several things in a row. Perfect.

Rosie loves her Grandma

And loves that Grandma S is always thinking of things to do with her!
(Especially taking her to the pool, hint, hint.) :-)

I think that Grandma & Rosie are at the pool, swimming, in the thought-bubble. Don't you love your sparkly silver hair, Mom?

Resolving for Fall: picking up loose ends

Maybe now that summer is over, I can consider getting back into blogging more often. It almost seems like I took summer off, doesn't it?

SCHOOL!
Rosie just finished her first week of First Grade and I think this year will ROCK!! Her kindergarten year was a roller coaster of getting called out for behavior issues. With her new teacher, though, I think things will run more smoothly in 1st. Mrs. C already told us that her teaching style is a polar opposite from Miss M, and even her classroom is set up in a more relaxed, creative way. There's a relaxation area with couches and activity areas set up with much more opportunity for collaborations between classmates. They already have art projects up on the walls and Rosie is excited about math problems (Yay!).

DANCE!
Thursday was my first modern dance class of the season, and there are a few new dancers enrolled. Four new teenagers signed up, while three of the dancers from last year have moved on. I resolve this year to keep better track of the choreography. I am very guilty of going to class, dancing my heart out, leaving, and then not thinking about it until the following week. By the time next Thursday comes around, I am banging my head against the wall, trying to recall dance steps. This time, I actually wrote them down before bed the same night. Starting off well!

ART!
Friday evening, M. Monkey, the kids and I went to see our dear friends Lauren & David at his art show opening. David's artwork is phenomenal——at first glance, beautifully crafted and attractive, but once the purposes of the wearable art sink in, an energizing sensation of discomfort and desire to participate sink in (I don't have claustrophobia and am comfortable in small spaces, so I'm always intrigued). Someday, I will wear one of his pieces; there has always been a line at the shows when he was allowing volunteers. It was lovely to see them and we all kissed, hugged, and promised to not let so much time pass between our visits. We have known them for over 12 years, but have not seen them as much while our children have been in the larval stage. Now that Rosie and Dash are more interesting little people (and we have reliable babysitters), I foresee renewing our friendship.

AMUSEMENT!
Saturday, we spent most of the day at Six Flags amusement park for my company's annual picnic. Despite arriving at 10:30 a.m. and leaving at 2 p.m., I only rode on two rides? Rosie and Dash both rode on five, and Monkeyrotica only rode one, I think. Maybe when they are older, they can run free and Monkey and I will be able to ride together once again. As it is, we spent all of our time in the kiddie "Looney Tunes" section. We went with our friends Bill & Beth, who we have also known for ages (since HS for Monkey, and sixteen years for me). We all enjoyed the lovely weather (overcast and cool is perfect for an outdoor activity!) and talked about how we needed to do more together as well. Common topic? Beth mentioned that after many friends and family have had kids, they stopped thinking of inviting them along for parties and outings, even though they like kids. We'll do better, I swear. It's so easy to make plans for friends with kids so that the wee ones can entertain each other, without realizing that other pals are being left out. We parted after a long day of it and by the time I got home, I passed out from the exhaustion of marching around, keeping track of everyone all day.

WINDING DOWN.
Two playdates for Sunday! Rosie and Dash wanted to see THEIR friends on Sunday, so we had back-to-back playdates with Ava and Brian (matched ages) in the morning, and Fiona in the afternoon. With Fiona over at our house, all the children were so well-occupied, that I was able to clean the house without being pulled away to fix this, play this game with me, show me how to use the computer, etc.

I hope to see you more often as well. There's a lot that I put aside this summer and I want to pick it all up again.

First days at summer camp!

Rosie survived her first two days at camp! And she actually had fun, believe it or not. We signed her up for a week of Soccer & Swim camp at a local Rec-Center, where we sent her due to its proximity to her Grandma's house, not because she had any friends going there or it was recommended for its excellence. She told us that she did make friends at camp, but couldn't remember their names. That's okay, as long as she's enjoying the activities.

Monkeyrotica and I had quite a time gathering all the gear she needed on Sunday night. We dug our own hole, as it was a lazy, balmy evening and we kept the kids up after bedtime. The sun went down and we had a grand time chasing, catching and releasing fireflies. Rosie was creating a community of them in her critter case, while Dash would hold one in his hands for a minute, then cajole them to fly away saying, "Go home to your family! They're looking for you!"

By the time we had them bathed and all the gear assembled (and LABELED), it was well past 10 p.m. Between soccer and swim gear, there were eleven items on the checklist to fit inside Rosie's backpack. Of course, when we started, I didn't even have a list ready and all the stuff was in various places around the house. Monkey had packed her lunch, got the water bottles ready and set two snacks aside; I located her soccer cleats (which we found out later, weren't needed. Craigslist?), her shinguards, soccer ball, baseball hat, sunscreen, swimsuit, goggles, flipflops, and towel. Then every last little thing needed to have her name on it, since I can only assume the undressing and changing into swim gear from soccer gear would be a riot zone. Rub-a-Dub marker to the rescue! Somehow, through my mastery of spatial relationships and packing prowess, all of the above fit in her school backpack.

I'm a little in the dark on what and how exactly they're teaching the soccer/swim skills in the camp. Maybe some well-structured questioning will get more information out of my girl. For now, it matters that she's not begging to stay home with Grandma!

Looking for walkies: Alexandria National Cemetery

Alexandria National Cemetery (16)
Originally uploaded by mmstudiosdc

It's much too hard these days to get my family to engage in a group activity, so I've decided to do a little documenting here on my blog on local places I'd like to take the four of us for a walk! Just a minor exertion, maybe with an educational bent or some gorgeous scenery, is all I'm looking for. We might even discover a wonderful place that we'd never given a second glance. Such as, the location I'm profiling today: the 5.5 acres of The Alexandria National Cemetery.

On my commute, I drive by this cemetery twice a day and have, until now, never done any research on it or thought twice about its place in history. What I learned, through Wikipedia (that's where I go to find the obscure facts, you know?) is that this cemetery predates the Arlington National Cemetery and in fact, Arlington was conceived when Alexandria's National Cemetery began to fill, according to the cemetery's website:

"Alexandria National Cemetery is one of the original 14 national cemeteries established in 1862. The first burials made in the cemetery were soldiers who died during training or from disease in the numerous hospitals around Alexandria. By 1864, the cemetery was nearly filled to capacity, which eventually led to the planning, development and construction of Arlington National Cemetery."

The cobblestone avenue, a fountain, an ornate wrought-iron rostrum, graveled walks and paths, a small pond and a greenhouse all contribute to a very beautiful and peaceful appearance. With the kids' recent interest in their Civil War figurines, it might be a good place to take them for a walk some weekend afternoon.

A piece of random trivia: very often, as I pass on a nearby road, there is a group of women in varying stages of fitness being trained inside the cemetery grounds by a very fit-looking guy. His Hummer is always parked nearby, and has his company's name, Awesome Physique emblazoned on its side. Whenever I see them, I can't help but think how much more inspiring it must be to get trained in such a beautiful environment, outdoors on a sunny day, than inside a stinky basement office gym. What a great idea.

Birthdays for all!!

Dash's friends Caroline, Matthew, Katie, and Devin all had a joint birthday party this past weekend. Caroline's mom took the reins on the party preparation and went all out! She ought to consider planning children's parties as a career, because her enthusiasm and joy showed in every element, from the laminated names on the party tent, the elaborate catering (one sheet cake per child), the clown, the bubble machine, to the moonbounce with slide. Oh, and the goody bags were amazing!! Just a warning to all, Dash's birthday will not have this sort of production value.



There was an excellent (and very patient) clown, who took balloon sculpture requests after his performance. He made some fabulous motorcycles and after showing a lovely rendition of Ariel the mermaid, the real challenges started. A few girls asked for other Disney princesses, then Rosie asked for Jasmine. He'd never had a request for Jasmine, so he winged it. Rosie was delighted!




















Dash also made a request that the clown had never tried: an "elephant face." He took it a step further and gave Dash a hat!! Dash loved it, but the hat didn't stay on for long.




















Both of my kids tried the moonbounce AFTER the call for cake. I say after, because cake time cleared out the area. They were wary of the moonbounce when full of kids, but once empty? They were all over it!


























Dash made friends with a very, very ancient Yorkie and followed the poor, hobbling thing around for most of the party, trying to feed it cheese cubes. I asked the owner if this was okay, and she told me, sure, and he'd probably just throw it all up later. Wow, that's one dedicated dog owner!