Meet Me on Monday, 9/27/10

Monday already?  Seems the weekend just started!  Lauren had her first marching band competition of the season, and they did great.  I feel so proud watching her on the field.  She plays the baritone sax, an instrument almost as big as she is!  I don't know how she does it.

1.  How many TV’s do you have in your home?

 

We have three TVs; one in the living room, one in the basement and one in our master bedroom.  However, we can also watch TV on our computers.

 

2.  What is on your bedside table (nightstand)?

 

Books!  Books I've read, books I'm reading and books I need to read.  Plus the lamp to read them by.

 

3.  How many pair of shoes do you own?

 

I have two pairs of flip-flops I live in during the summer, Skechers toning shoes, sneakers, and a few other pairs I wear during the winter.  Nothing exciting; I'm not really a shoe gal.

 

4.  Can you change a flat tire?

 

Unfortunately, no.  It doesn't make me as nervous now that everybody (including me) has a cell phone.

 

5.  Do you prefer sweet treats or salty treats?

 

Put them together, please!  Loved salted dark chocolate caramels, Pretzel M&Ms, mixing popcorn and plain M&Ms together.  Good stuff!

 

 

A Day in Georgetown

My mom-in-law is an avid photographer, but had gotten bored with the same-old, same-old around to take pictures of.  So I took her to Georgetown in Washington, DC for a change of scenery.  I don't know about her, but I got a few nice shots myself with my cell phone and crappy camera.  Plus it was just a really nice day.

Our first stop was Clyde's for lunch.  I haven't been there since I was in my late teens.  Georgetown used to be a real party town when I was in my teens and 20s, but has become more of a shopping zone now.

I like this picture, even though there is reflection from across the street.



Inside the restaurant:




I tried headcheese.  Chris's mom saw it on the menu and thought it would be good, but asked the waiter if she could try it first.  He was very nice and brought out a nice-sized piece for her.  I had to try it; I couldn't let something that daring sit there without giving it a whirl.  It wasn't bad, actually, but the texture was off, somehow.  I wouldn't order it.  But neither did she.

For lunch I had a pizza - and this was no ordinary pizza.  It was a ham, caramelized onion, fig, bleu cheese and honey pizza.  It was AMAZING.  I've never had anything like it.  Why no picture?  Because by the time I realized I should have taken one, I had practically demolished it.  Hey, I was hungry.

Next it was off to the Georgetown Waterfront Park.  On the way there we checked out the C&O Canal:





Then spotted a pretty church, which was unfortunately blocked by a tree:





Can you see the bee in this cluster of flowers?  If you know me at all, I was very brave to get that shot!





You can see the Kennedy Center from the Waterfront Park:





The Key Bridge:





And people in the water (stand-up kayaking?):





Then we trudged back up the very steep hill on Wisconsin Avenue.  Our plan was to get a cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake.


This bank has been on the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue for as long as I can remember:





We couldn't make it to Georgetown Cupcake without stopping for a drink at Dean & Deluca:





Then finally, we made it to Georgetown Cupcake.  Again no food picture because I DEVOURED IT.  But it was a caramel apple cupcake that made me wish I had bought two instead of one.





This guy permanently reads in The Shops at Georgetown, which used to be quite the busy mall with hoity-toity stores, but now seems to be mostly empty with crappy stores:





A wonderful day!  Our next photo tour will be in Old Town Alexandria (VA) on another nice day.

Tragedy in Our Family

MamaKat over at Mama's Losin' It! hosts a writing workshop every week where she posts prompts.  This is the one I chose.  I've been wanting to write about this incident for a long time, and this prompt finally got me to do it.






1.) In the book I'm reading, Girls of Tender Age,the main character is deeply affected by the murder of a childhood friend. Describe a tragedy you didn't expect to be as deeply affect by as you are.

My cousin Debbie and I were very close as children, but drifted away as we grew up.  The whole extended family did, actually,  once my grandmother passed.  I thought of Debbie occasionally, but we moved in different worlds, so I didn’t really try to contact her.  We both had kids, both were remarried, but our circle of acquaintances and friends were worlds apart, and I just felt like I didn’t fit into her glamorous world.

Then one night, about four years ago, my mom called.  “Debbie’s little boy drowned today.”  I was speechless.  I hadn’t even met her youngest child, yet my heart immediately broke for that little boy who was probably so scared and wanted his mommy.  He had been left to the care of a family friend for a day outing at the local pool, and the friend got distracted and forgot to keep an eye on Conner. 

I don’t handle death well in the “best” of circumstances, but the viewing and funeral for this beautiful little boy had me crying buckets of tears.  Seeing Debbie break down, slipping to the floor with grief is forever burned in my brain.  As I hugged Debbie at the funeral home, both of us bawling and holding each other tight, I could feel the years apart slip away.

I knew this was something Debbie would never get over.  What I didn’t know was that the incident was going to turn me into a wreck myself in regards to my own kids.  They didn’t know how to swim; they did the same thing Connor did and relied on “floaties”.  I had become complacent.  No more.  I was so desperate to teach my kids how to survive in water, yet they were so resistant and nervous, that I bribed them with money throughout that summer.  Thankfully, they learned, and are now like fish in any body of water.

But I still kept picturing my own girls in that little coffin.  That image stayed with me, as did the memory of Debbie’s heartbroken sobbing.  I couldn’t turn it off.  Sometimes I still can’t.  That this happened to a member of MY family, someone I called my best friend as a child, then it could happen to ME.  My view became very fatalistic in regards to my kids.  Why should Debbie lose a child and I get to keep all mine?  We shared everything as kids; would we share this experience as well?  I still haven’t been able to get totally free of this mindset, especially on the rare occasions I see Debbie when I have my girls with me.  Does Debbie resent me?  Or does she not even think of such things?  I’m afraid to ask.  I don’t want to be the cause of fresh tears either way.

So I try not to worry about my kids as best I can, and breathe a sigh of relief every night when they go to bed, safe and sound in their rooms.  However, I have a daughter who is 21, takes a lot of risks and I worry about middle-of-the-night phone calls.  I wake up grateful I was able to sleep through the night without a horrible interruption by the police or hospital.

Suffice it to say, this is going to be my life.  Worrying about my kids, but to somewhat more of extreme due to my cousin’s tragedy.  It’s exhausting, but as a mother, I have no other choice.

I Finished It!

...with a day to spare - it's due at the library tomorrow.  Excellent book; I highly recommend it!

Meet Me on Monday, 9/20/10

1. What is your favorite all time movie?

How can someone pick that?  Here's one of MANY movies I could watch over and over:

 

2. How often do you go over the speed limit?

More often than I care to admit!  But it's been a while since I got a ticket (hope I didn't just jinx myself).

 

3. What really gives you the creeps?

Japanese ghost girls, among tons of other things!

 

4. What is your favorite snack?

Popcorn and M&Ms, mixed together.  Anything salty/sweet, really.

 

5. Would you rather be a dog named Killer or a cat named Fluffy?

Monday Reading

I am STILL reading The Passage by Justin Cronin.  Will I ever finish?  I'm enjoying it very much, but it's soooooooo long (765 pages) and I've got other books to read and some to review.  It's also due back at the library on Thursday.  Will I have it finished by then?  Or will I start racking up a fine?  Stay tuned...



To check out other Monday Reading participants, go here.

Urban Legends of My Childhood

Do urban legends exist anymore?  When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time afraid of the Goatman, Bloody Mary and the hook swinging off the teenager’s car door.  I remember confessing these fears to my mom on a regular basis, usually after a slumber party.  My kids don’t bring such tales home after a night with friends.  It’s kind of shame, actually. 

The Goatman was a legendary figure right in my own neighborhood.  There were woods behind the elementary school, and that’s where the Goatman lived.  It sure made recess interesting.  I didn’t like climbing high on any of the playground equipment because what if the Goatman came bounding from the trees?  I’d be trapped.  I much preferred rainy days, when recess was spent inside.

The worst, though, were hot summer nights.  Sometimes I’d fall asleep on the couch, and my parents would’ve forgotten to close the front door (you could do that back then).  I’d wake up in the middle of the night, terrified to open my eyes for fear of seeing the Goatman on my porch, peering through the screen door at me.  Even now it gives me the shivers!

And Bloody Mary - good grief.  How many times did my friends and I gather in a dark bathroom during a slumber party, both scared and giggling trying to say “Bloody Mary” ten times while rubbing the mirror?  I don’t think we ever made it past five without busting out of the bathroom screaming.  Someone always knew someone who knew someone who had gotten her face scratched by Bloody Mary after completing the chant.  I swear, to this day I have trouble being in a dark room alone if there’s a mirror in there.  I wouldn’t chant those words on a bet!

I’m glad my girls don’t spend time obsessing over such things as I did, but I think that freaking out and giggling over horror stories and legends is a fun part of childhood.  I’ve told them about the Goatman and Bloody Mary, and they pretty much just shrugged over it.  I guess urban legends aren’t as exciting as cell phones and iPods.

But that’s OK.  The original  Night of the Living Dead is in my Netflix Instant Watch Queue.  Their quiet lives are going to get a bit more exciting.