Labor of love

Over Labor Day weekend, I drove to Monterey with Edra and Monica to visit our friend Vicki. I started writing about our whole weekend--how we went to a Greek fest, the aquarium, the county fair. I planned to describe the various places we drank wine (there were a lot!), and all the otters we saw. 

But then, I looked at our pictures. And I realized this one photo summed up our weekend better than any of my words could:

Because, yeah, that was our weekend in a nutshell. Lots of acting silly, and cracking up. It's us doing what we do best, and most often, when we're all together--laughing.

Can't wait till the next long weekend...
 
 

Jimmy Buffett tried to kill me (again)

I love a good weekend, and the only thing better than a good weekend is a good, long weekend. A good, long weekend filled with friends.

My long weekend kicked off a bit early--last Thursday night, to be exact. I had out-of-town visitors (my friend Amber and her friend Donna), who came to see another out-of-towner (Jimmy Buffett).

I love the portable parking lot party at a Buffett concert. The Parrot Heads are so fun--they bring their own games.



They also bring their own treats, cleverly decorated according to Jimmy's songs. Love the cheeseburger in paradise cupcake!



The concert was pretty awesome, too. We made friends with the guys in front of us, who apologized on arrival because they weren't going to sit down for any of the concert. Which was fine by us, because we weren't gonna sit, either. But there is something endearing about a grown man in a grass skirt, coconut bra, Hawaiian shirt and floppy hat apologizing because he was going to dance badly for the next two hours.

The concert was excellent. Jimmy was in fine form, although this was what my world looked like by the end of the concert:



I took the next day off to hang out with my friends. Donna wanted a nice picture of the town, so we took her right to our most iconic landmark.



We did a little window shopping, too. Amber did some actual shopping, buying this cute hat.



We thought it was funny that she had to come all the way to California to buy winter gear for Maine, but it was too cute to pass up.

Also very cute were these decorative peppers, grown to look like fall gourds at a little newspaper stand.



Our heads were still pounding from the night before, when Jimmy Buffett tried to kill me (as he does every year). OK, maybe my head was pounding the most, but when we neared another local landmark, the other girls were game to taste a local specialty--the infamous Shoot-the-Root (a root beer vodka shot dropped into a beer).



As Vicki rightfully observed, "There's nothing better than having a cocktail in the middle of the day!" We cheered our drinks and agreed.

We met up again on Saturday for a wonderful Italian dinner. We passed this big old house, which Amber pretended was hers. Mark pretended not to care--he was too cool for pictures, although he non-chalantly sauntered into the frame.




Mark was thrilled to spend a little time with Amber and his aunties, although he hid it well the first hour. But after a little come-to-Jesus discussion outside the restaurant, he perked up and had a good time. (Sometimes you just need the proper motivation...i.e., an angry mom telling you to eat your dinner and be social OR ELSE).

It was a very fun, but way too brief weekend. I enjoyed every minute of it, even to the very end, as Amber, Donna, Mark and I sang along to 80s songs on the way to the airport. And even as we channeled Amber and Donna on the way home, in the form of a car bearing a Maine license plate in front of us on the freeway. It was a nice way to end the weekend.

I sure love my vacation days

The last week's been a bit of a whirlwind. I'm not one for sitting at home enjoying the holidays, not even with a cold.

I've spent my vacation so far doing what I like best--hanging out with my friends and family. My friend Amber from Maine was in town last weekend, and my parents graciously agreed to babysit Friday night so I could go out with the girls. (OK, maybe they were just grateful to escape the House of Christmas Fighting--my mom showed up at my house carrying a bottle of wine and a bag of cookies. When I asked if I could get her anything, she hoisted up both, and said, "No, I've got everything I need right here." I'm pretty sure the babysitter went to bed a little tipsy that night, but hey, how picky can you be with free babysitting??)

We went to dinner and drinks Friday night, then re-convened Saturday morning for bagels. Afterwards, we took a harbor cruise, and saw tons of bottle-nosed dolphins up close! It was a gorgeous day, bright and sunny, and the far-off mountains were framed with palm trees and covered in snow. It was a pretty cool sight to look from the water to the beach to the palm trees and finally, to the snow-capped mountains. Only in California!

Saturday night we had dinner at my house. I made lasagna, and the girls brought the rest of the meal, including a really yummy ooey gooey butter cake (good job, Monica!). Mark had worked very hard on making Christmas tree ornaments for the girls, and laid them at their place settings. The girls really liked them.


Monday morning we woke bright and early and headed south to San Diego. We hadn't seen my parents for two days, and I think they really missed us. (I greeted my mom with, "You can run, but you can't hide.") I think it was a bonus that we showed up on their 46th wedding anniversary, because nothing's more romantic than having your kids and grandkids around. I felt a little bad right up until dinner, when my mom fixed a veritable seafood bonanza, with shrimp cocktail and jumbo crab legs. After that amazing meal, nothing could've made me feel bad!

We also had visitors on Monday afternoon--Ann Fera and Sasha Fera-Schanes. (If you want to read all about Sasha's amazing adventures the past few months, click here.) Sasha and I argued about our blogs and our mothers--Sasha says her mom reads mine everyday, and likes it better than Sasha's blog. I argued the same for my mom about Sasha's blog--I think my mom's her biggest fan.

I love them because they showed up carrying their own mugs of tea--they didn't want to trouble us for anything. We laughed about Sasha's European travel adventures, including her stay at a farm just as the farmer's wife and child were leaving the farmer. (Talk about uncomfortable timing!) Ann regaled us with a story of a Christmas Eve dinner that was so funny, my face hurt after they left. That's what I love about the Fera-Schanes family--they can turn any situation into a funny story, and have you rolling on the floor.

Sasha came back on Tuesday to visit, and was amazed by my two-year-old nephew Johnny. It still freaks people out that there's a blond-haired, blue-eyed Dinsdale (all the other kids had black hair and brown eyes when born--but obviously, Brandy's genes were stonger than Smed's!). He's a rare one, that little boy. And another funny kid, too. I handed him a chicken, which Mark corrected by saying, "It's a rooster, not a chicken."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know the difference," I said, underestimating my nephew. Johnny sat quietly for a moment, and when we'd changed the topic, he very slyly started crowing under his breath. "Ooo oo oo oo oooo," he said, glancing up at us, and Mark, my mom and I just laughed. "You DO know what a rooster says!" I congratulated him, and was rewarded with ten more impersonations of a rooster crowing. (He probably would've stopped if we'd stopped laughing and clapping for him, but it was so dang cute.)

Johnny LOOOOVES Mark, and chased him all around the house, yelling, "Mok! Mok!" Mark tried showing off his new skateboard, but Johnny's not one for sitting on the sides--he wanted to push Mark up the street on the skateboard. Later, inside the house, he jumped up on Mark's skateboard, trying to ride it, and I grabbed him off just before it went shooting out from under him into the hall door. Whew!

Our last visit was dinner with my friend Nicky Tuesday night. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner at a local Italian eatery. We got there early, around 4:30, and there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. We left around 6:30, going out a door a large family had just entered through. "Can we use this door?" I asked Nicky, as it was very clearly marked "Emergency Exit."

"Sure, that family just came in through it," Nicky said, and I said, "Yes, but they had a wheelchair." Well, Nicky being Nicky proceeded to ask the table of men next to the door what they thought, and they simultaneously yelled at her to open the door and not open the door, because the alarm would go off. I saw where this was heading, and pointed Mark back around the way we'd come. I could tell which decision Nicky made just seconds later, as the fire alarm sounded and every diner at every table whipped around to stare at Nicky holding the door open.

"I can't believe that lady opened the emergency exit!" I said, herding Mark past the staring diners. I've found that pretending not to know my friends works best in these situations!

And so here we are now, on New Year's Eve. We're going to a party at Scott and Mari's new house, which I'm excited about. (And we're leaving my parents' house, which they are excited about--I think they need a couple weeks of kid/grandkid-free time.)

I'm sure everyone else is blogging deep, emotional thoughts about the year they just had, and the resolutions of the coming year ahead. Not me...I am proud to say that I lived this past year the best way I could--to the fullest. I spent my vacations and most weekends with the people I love most--my family and friends. I spent my energy on the person I value most--my son. I don't have any regrets other than not being able to travel the world freely like Sasha did, but that will happen someday soon, after my son is raised and grown (and in the meantime, we did explore parts of the world in Epcot Center--not quite the same, but the best we could do, since Mark doesn't have a passport yet!)

So, though I don't have deep thoughts or profound revelations about either the year ending or the new one beginning, I do wish you all a very happy New Year! I plan to keep living my life to the fullest (and hope you do, too)--laugh out loud, and cherish your friends and family as though they may not be here tomorrow (because if I've learned anything in the past few years, it's exactly that--they won't be here forever so treat each other accordingly!) Damn, sorry about that--I guess one deep thought did sneak its way in after all.

Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone!!!

The difference between kids and adults

Yesterday, Mark heard a radio announcer talking about Hanukkah. I explained what Hanukkah is (yes, for you, Kelley!), but didn't get much past the eight nights of gifts.

"Wait, they get presents for EIGHT NIGHTS?" Mark interrupted.

"Yup."

"Well, I'm Jewish," he said.

I looked at him, and said, "I know for a fact you are not Jewish."

"I'm HALF Jewish," he clarified.

"Well, then you get presents for four nights!" I told him.

But when he realized there's no Santa involved in Hanukkah, he sold out his Jewish heritage pretty quickly.

He was still thinking about holidays when he got home, and asked which my favorites were.

"Um, Christmas and Thanksgiving, I guess."

He wrinkled his nose. "Mine are Christmas, Halloween and Easter."

It didn't take a genius to figure out why--two are centered around candy, and one around toys. You can't fault an 8-year-old for thinking in those terms.

He asked why I liked Thanksgiving more than Halloween or Easter, so I told him, "I get two days off work, and I get to spend them with the people I love most--our family and friends."

"Yeah, true," Mark agreed, but he still wasn't sold on it.

He talked about the letter he was writing to Santa, and his wish list. It was the same as last year--he wants a skateboard, iPod, and cell phone (doesn't matter that he has no one to call). Which lead to a little discussion of how Santa makes toys, not electronics, and maybe he should revise his list a bit or he might be really disappointed.

Mark asked what I want for Christmas. I gave the same answer--"To spend time off with my family and friends." I really meant it.

To me, that's the best present ever. A good bottle of wine, a warm cup of coffee, a shared meal--all those are better with family or friends. Watching my son, nieces and nephews tearing open gifts, or running through the house together. Laughing with my sisters-in-law about my family. Laughing with my brothers and parents about the kids. Laughing so hard with my friends that we snort, or the sound disappears altogether, and we hold our stomachs, laughing silently, like mimes.

Holding my friends' new baby boy, and watching him crawl for the first time, or sit up by himself. Catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while, and hearing about their lives over the past few months. Listening to them comment on how tall Mark's gotten, and how big his cousins have all grown, too. Sharing homemade cookies, or coffee cake, or an evening gondola ride and Christmas lights with my favorite people.

That is what I want for Christmas. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the season than spending time with the people I love most.

And that is what I'm giving Mark for Christmas, too--he may not appreciate it as much an iPod, not now anyway. But someday, when he and his cousins are grown and gathering together again; when Christmas Day includes all of their kids, their friends, and their aunts and uncles; when he realizes that a cell phone conversation is not as important as a face-to-face conversation; then, he will appreciate it.

And then he will know that even though his mom is a big sentimental baby, maybe she's right. Maybe there are presents that we already have, that Santa can't bring. And maybe we can be thankful for that every other day of the year, not just at Christmas.