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A Visit from Friends

When I first moved to KC, I went for walks all the time because I didn’t know anyone, and didn’t have much else to do (I know! Imagine that! Boy, 1 kid sure seems easy now . . . but I digress). That is how I met my amazingly wonderful friend Dana and her little boy, Nate, who was just London’s age (they were 9-months old at the time). She had just moved to KC, too

Five years later, we both ended up moving. You can imagine the heartbreak . . . life-long friends, separated pre-maturely. Okay, a tad dramatic, but you get the idea. I was just as sad.

Fast-forward a year, and YAY! Dana and Nate came for a weekend visit. It was just like old times! Nate and London gave each other a HUGE hug at the airport and never stopped talking over each other.

Nate got right back into being annoyed by his surrogate little brother, and Brandt was right there, tagging after the big boys.

We took a trip downtown (via the metro)

 to see the famed Cherry Blossoms. And wouldn’t you know it, they’d bloomed and gone. (So these are the regular old blossoms from the trees on our street).

We took a quick look-see in the American History Museum, caught a snippet of the Cherry Blossom parade,

and meandered past the White House (Everyone was all agog because Bo–the first dog–was running around). Yeah, yeah, this isn’t the White House, but it was too crowded to take a picture.

We ate street vendor hot dogs. Can I just mention that my bun crunched? I’m quite certain, that it was NOT toasted. But if it were anything less, it wouldn’t be the full experience, would it?

When we got home, my darling husband watched the kids, and Dana and I escaped to the Lego store and B&N. And we HAD to make a visit to Dunkin’ Donuts. Neither of us has ever had them. Word of advice: 8:00 PM is the wrong time of day to get donuts. My donut crunched, too. Seriously, twice in a day? The cosmos must be trying to tell me something.

Anyway, it was a FABULOSO visit! We miss them terribly already (London hasn’t stopped asking when we’re going to visit them). There’s nothing like spending time with a good friend. Thank you for coming, Dana and Nate!

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My Happy News!

So I entered the Eleventy-one Celebration Writing Contest over at Laurel’s Leaves (I’m a sucker for a good contest), and can you believe it? I won Grand Prize!

Woo hoo!!

I’m seriously honored (and humbled) to have won the Grand Prize, especially after reading the runner-up entries. The contest asked for a dialogue-driven scene or story which showed an instance of negotiation and persuasion, “like the post-party scene in Fellowship of the Ring in which Gandalf convinces Bilbo to leave the ring of power in the Shire.”

Laurel is posting my excerpt on her site, along with her comments. She is excellent at what she does and her comments have been extremely insightful —well worth the time to check it out. I’ve been learning a lot from her. Thank you, Laurel, for holding such a fun contest and for giving my writer’s ego a gi-normous boost!

Without further ado, here’s my winning excerpt from “The Other Prince”:

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Road Trip!

We’ve been meaning to go since Rob and Tiff moved there nearly 4 years ago, but with crazy schedules, newborn children, etc. and all that, it hasn’t happened. I kept waiting till I could go with my dear husband (since it is his brother after all), but Rob and Tiff move next month, and the realization hit me it would never happen.

So with London’s Spring Break last week, I braved the roads alone. 11.5 hours of driving with me and three kids. Yes, I am brave. 😉

We had a blast! This picture really captures it. Brandt with his boundless energy and refusal to be contained.

We got to try award-winning Chicago-style pizza. Can I say, yum? YUMMM! (And alas, I took no pictures) The crust is a little like pie crust, and the toppings and cheese go in next with the sauce, and a sprinkling of parmesan on top. So talk about cheese! Thick, gooey, yummy, fattening layers of it. If your mouth isn’t watering, it should be. Seriously, don’t miss this if you go to Chicago.

Speaking of cheese . . . London found and conquered the moon. Chicago is certainly a city of possibilities.

We also went to the Aquarium (thanks Jason and Diana!). The boys (and I) loved it. I’d never seen a shark up close. Or dolphins. While I’d seen penguins, it was still fun to watch them up close. Actually, in both the dolphin and penguin habitats, there were people working (cleaning windows for the penguins, and who-knows-what scuba diving for the dolphins). So of course, London and Brandt, instead of saying, “Wow! look at those dolphins/penguins.” They were saying “Mom look! I saw a person!” Too funny.

When Brandt noticed the snake, he backed away. It was HUGE.

The boys had a blast climbing on and attacking Uncle Rob, and he was great to put up with it. Brandt cried when it was time to go home. Poor kid. Khyah, too, loved Aunt Tiff and Uncle Rob. And I must say, it was nice to have people to pass her off to (not that I don’t LOVE holding her, of course, but breaks are nice).

On the way home, we took a detour through Decatur, IN to see Aunt Claudia and Uncle Ed (even if it was only for a couple of hours). The boys thought their house was the bomb! (And it is, too). So much fun. I think the lego room still calls to them in their dreams. Some day.

Yes, we were all a little wiped out by the time we got home. Thanks everyone for letting us invade and share a little of our craziness. 🙂

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Answers

Okay, I realize the license plates blog deserves a response (just in case anyone couldn’t figure them all out). I know, I know, it wasn’t you. But for those other people . . .

1. NANAVAN3: Nana Van (and the 3 could be a lot of things). What a devoted grandma.

2. OLD BATS: Yes, rather obvious. This person obviously had a good sense of humor.

3. SG1GRL: My husband tells me this is “Star Gate 1 Girl”. This was his favorite. Initially he told me he saw a license plate that said SCIFIGRL, which would have been much more interesting in my opinion, but hey, to each their own. Star Gate was never my thing, but we happen to own the movie. Enough explanation.

4. SNOMNKY: Snow Monkey. It was on a 4-wheel drive vehicle with a ski rack.

5. ADHDx5: ADHD times 5. Poor them. It was on the back of a mini-van and the license plate was one dedicated to Autism. Not that the 2 are necessarily related, of course, but it is interesting.

6. WSHPNIN: Rick thought it was Worshiping, at first, but I corrected him: What’s Happenin’? I think this is my favorite of the ones I listed.

7. SVLIVS: This took me a minute, but duh, then it hit. Save Lives. Maybe a doctor? Or an EMT? Or a fireman? So many options.

8. SPRTOY: At first I thought it was Sports Toy, but I now think it’s Spare Toy. But I could be wrong. It was on the back of a sporty little car. I can only imagine what their first car was. 🙂

9. VCLST: Vocalist. Let me guess . . . you sing?

10. GUDTGO: Good to Go. I like that. Simple. Upbeat. Makes me smile.

10.2 GWPROF: So we are in the DC area. George Washington Professor. He must be pretty proud of his job.

Bonus: STRNMY: Astronomy. My dad loves that stuff. I don’t even know how many telescopes he owns. It is pretty cool having your own personal tour guide to the universe.

I saw a few more that I enjoyed. Many I couldn’t figure out. A lot of people use their names or a nickname. It gives just a glimpse into their lives: TXN4LYF (guess where they’re from); OCN SEA (think they like large bodies of water?); UCANBME (a healthy dose of self-confidence there); LVHATS (they had a bunch of hats sitting in the back window); LV CHOC (this is my friend, but I think it’s great); 85ROLLS (And yes, it was on a Rolls Royce). Innocent little tid-bits about strangers. I still haven’t come up with one for me. If I think of it, I’ll share.

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The Circus!

We splurged and took the kids to the circus tonight: Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. Overpriced junk toys, overpriced food, lots of elephants, and magic galore. We had a blast!

London loved the Boom! of the human canons. Brandt was excited about the horseys and zebras. Rick liked the clowns. Khyah enjoyed watching the people behind us. And I loved watching my boys get so excited about everything. I wasn’t sure how they’d do, if they’d make it through the show, but they did. And they’re already asking to go back. Actually, Brandt didn’t want to leave. Cried the whole way home: “Turn around daddy! Go back!” (Seriously.)

I confess though, I spent a good portion of the show wondering what would inspire a person to join the circus. I mean, sure, it’s exciting, and everybody loves the circus, but how do you even go about joining? I bet for some, it’s a family thing, but they can’t all have inherited the circus gene, right?

If I were to join, I’d want to be the person who got to ride the elephants. It was really cool, they trained the elephants to lift up the rider with their front leg to help them mount. Awesome blossom.

So, would you ever join the circus? And what would you do there? Clown? Sheet-gymnasticker? Tiger trainer? Dancer? An invisible handler (the ones who wear all black as they bring stuff on stage)? Swing acrobat? A pooper scooper? So many options!

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Personalized Plates?

In Virginia, it doesn’t cost much to personalize your plates, so we see quite a few. Here are the top 10 (as chosen by my husband and I), for you to figure out:

1. NANAVAN3

2. OLD BATS

3. SG1GRL

4. SNOMNKY

5. ADHDx5

6. WSHPNIN

7. SVLIVS

8. SPRTOY

9. VOCLST

10. GUDTGO

10.2 GW PROF (I know, I know! I just liked too many)

Can you figure them all out?

I grew up in a family of personalized plates:

My dad: STRNMY (know what it says?)
My mom: JANET’S
Me: SUMNER (it was my dad’s idea so I’d remember who I was wherever I went. Thanks, dad.)

The whole personalized thing is pretty fascinating. It’s like micro-communication with a bunch of random strangers. Even having grown up with that, I’m still not sure why people choose to do it. What do you think?

And just for the fun of it: You have a max of 8 letters to say something about yourself that you’re willing to share with the world. What do you say?

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Drumroll please . . .

First of all, I want to thank everyone who entered this contest! I had a great time reading your limericks. And don’t they say that doing something creative builds brain cells? Okay, I may be making that up, but I hope you had as much fun writing them as I did reading them.

Second of all, it was very had to choose a winner, you were all so good (and you all hit on different crazy areas of my life—all of which I love to laugh about). However, since a winner must be chosen, here we are:

The winner is Melanie for “Ode to St. Patty’s Cuisine”

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to read it, here it is:

A green dinner sounds so creative,
Until you think “what’s it made of?”
Your kids will all scream
Because everything’s green!
But cabbage and corned beef’s so native!

Maybe it was the St. Patrick’s day theme that won me over, but either way, congratulations! Watch for the coveted gift card in the mail. 🙂

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St. Patrick’s Day Contest

St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite pointless holidays. I love the stories of leprechauns. I love the iconic movies (like Darby O’gill and the Little People). I love the green. And I love pinching people. Okay, not really on the last one, but still. Just thinking about it makes me want to break into song . . .

When Irish eyes are smilin’ . . .

But I digress.

It’s a holiday that can be as much or as little as you choose to make it. I tend to be a minimalist, so the “little” part really appeals to me.

So knowing I made a goal to have a silly, pointless contest on my blog this year, I thought why not. This contest will run from the moment this is posted until midnight EST on Saturday, 20 March 2010.

I really wanted to make the prize super Irish, but all I could come up with was beer and potatoes. Somehow that didn’t sound very exciting. So instead, since Olive Garden’s signature color is green, up for grabs is a $25 gift card for there.

Here are the rules:

1. Make up a funny and CLEAN limerick and post it in the comments. (Oh, heck, I don’t even care if you didn’t make it up, so long as it’s clean and funny.)
2. Did I mention it has to be clean?
3. I, as supreme chancellor and all-mighty contest thrower, get to pick my favorite to win.
4. I’ll post the winner next Sunday.

Limerick /lim-rik/: a five-lined poem with aabba rhyme scheme. I could go on about the meter and syllable counts, but instead, I’ll give an example:There once was a girl from DC,Who lived far from all her fam’lyShe blogged every daySo in touch she could stayThen forgot to go out and sight see.Okay, I’m no poet. I fully admit this. But you get the idea.Please note, this contest is completely subjective. Anyone can enter (even relatives, gasp!). Odds of winning are about 1 in 4 since that’s about how many people comment on my blog. Consider all that legal mumbo jumbo said. You know: Taxes yada, yada, yada. Liability blah, blah, blah. You get the point.Good luck, and I can’t wait to read your entries!UPDATE: You may enter as many limericks as you want.

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A Beautiful Sunset with a Kick

Yesterday was call (i.e. Rick worked all night). While London was at school, we had a full day. A playdate, gymnastics, and even a run to the toystore because Razors were on sale. (Brandt is now the proud new owner of his own scooter!)

What a great mom, huh? It’s not birthday or Christmas or any other holiday, but just because I know Brandt will enjoy it. So in gratitude, he should be happy boy with no complaints all day. Right? Yes, right.

After another playdate (when London got home), it was time to get down to work. London has piano practice and reading before dinner. Lucky Brandt gets to play.

London sits at the piano, but does Brandt not get the “lucky” part?

Me: Brandt, you need to let London practice.

Brandt: No! I’m going to play!

Me: Brandt, please get off the piano bench so your brother can pratice.

Brandt: No! Tinga! Pinga! Pinga! Bing! Bang! Bop! [that’s meant to represent his playing . . . hey! you try and make piano sounds with words, then come back and appreciate my genius.] 😉

London: I don’t need any help, Brandt!

Me: Brandt, please play somewhere else.

I physically remove Brandt from the piano bench and set him on the couch.

Brandt: That’s no fair! You made me mad, mom!!! And I won’t play anywhere else!@!!! [if only you could hear the intensity in his voice. There’s just no way to translate that into words]

And he promptly ran across the room and booted me in the leg.

Yeah. Seriously.

I picked him up, marched him to his room and deposited him in his bed. Then I plopped in front of the computer and stared at the screen. My ire was pulsing WAY too fast to try talking to anyone else.

I mean, 1) Where did he learn that!? Because I certainly have never kicked him.

2) How could he kick me? Me?! His own mother who suffered 9, count them, 9 months of a miserable pregnancy, 4 hours of labor, innumberable sleepless nights, not to mention the extra weight I still bear around my center.

And 3) I bought him a stinkin’ scooter today!!! Isn’t that like having a get-out-of-temper-tantrums free card? Well it should be.

So there I am, glowering at the computer screen, when London says, “Mom! Look at that beautiful sunset! Come watch it with me!”

Well how can you refuse that? You can’t. So we stood and watched the sun setting.

London: I just love watching the sky turn yellow and orange. And look at the line of cloud, mom. Isn’t that just SO cool?

Me: Very cool, London.

London [snuggling in close]: It doesn’t get any more better than watching the sun set with your mama, does it?

Me: No, kiddo. It doesn’t.

How do kids know how to say just the right thing sometimes? What a little cutie. And suddenly the event that left me fuming was connected to this other amazingly sweet moment. The kind you treasure as a mom. The kind that makes all those other not-so-nice moments worth it. The kind you never forget.

London: Can we do this again some time, mama?

I hope so, kiddo. I certainly hope so.

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Maestro London

Growing up, we had a rule: when you turn 5, you start piano lessons. So what a slacker am I . . . London was already 6 and I hadn’t started him on lessons yet. I wanted to wait till we could afford to have someone else teach him, but that could be years.

Sooo, I took the plunge a few weeks ago and London is doing great! I think his favorite part is getting to put the stickers on the pages he’s passed off. My favorite part is playing duets with my child. If I’d known how awesome that felt, I would have started him a long time ago!

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