Come sail away

I spent last week cruising the Western Caribbean with my family. It was so much fun, my face still hurts from laughing.

We started our trip in Miami, where I was stoked to meet up with my favorite Floridian--my friend Lori. She was really happy to see my parents, too. During our visit, my dad shared a story about a trip to Germany, but struggled to remember the name of the little town where he stayed. We waited while he tried to recall it, but my impatient mom chided him, saying, "Make it up! Make it up! They don't know the difference!"

Lori and I erupted into laughter. She looked at me and said, "Oh my God, now I know where you get it from!" I just nodded.

Lori took us to my very favorite Greek restaurant, Opa Taverna, where we loaded up on Greek appetizers. She wouldn't let me break any plates this time, though.

 Tim, Kim and their kids arrived later that evening. I was exhausted because I'd been up since 3:45 California time (after sleeping only 4 hours), and could barely think straight. Mark, however, has a much younger, less fuzzy brain, and ran off to a second dinner with them. I realized I'm an old fuddy-duddy that night, while I was drifting off to sleep in my hotel room on a Saturday night and Mark was out partying it up in Miami.

We boarded the ship the next morning, eager to get onto the seas. The whole family gathered on deck as the ship sailed away, the weather warm and sunny. 

We watched South Beach slip past us, and cheered the coming days. Then we headed to the main dining room for our first meal of the cruise.

Dinner did not disappoint. I had lobster (the first of three for the week!), and Mark ordered fettuccine Alfredo.

"Order something I can't make at home!" I told him, pointing at the menu. "I can make pasta!"

Except I really can't. Not like that, anyway--his pasta was the best dish served, so good we ordered another plate and passed it around the table, family style.

The boat was such a blast. It was HUGE--the third largest cruise ship in the world, I read, and took a little while to orient yourself. I liked that it was much more casual than other cruises I've been on--no dressing up for dinner (unless you wanted to), which meant packing less luggage. Loved that!

The coolest thing about it was the boat was the entertainment. It was awesome--we saw the Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, a Second City improv troupe, and a hypnotist we liked so much, we went to three of her shows. They also had a dueling piano bar (fun!) a blues club (we walked in with three hyper kids at a very quiet moment between songs, then immediately left), and a bowling alley. Tim, Kim and the kids spent most of their time in the pools or on the water slides, while my mom and I traveled around to all the wine tastings and demos.

I'm a white wine drinker, but my mom prefers reds, so during the tasting, I traded my reds for her whites. As I was filling her glass with one wine, she asked "What is it?" then dismissively waved her hand and said, "I don't care!"

I cracked up. Neither of our palettes were all that discriminating after the first few glasses! The only uncomfortable moment came at the end of the tasting, when we walked out, happy and laughing, and realized we had to exit right through an Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting (talk about bad planning on the cruise director's part!). I pulled it together long enough to zip past them, but I didn't exhale until we were safely away from them.

We also learned how to decorate a cake (although the volunteers showed us how NOT to decorate it!), how to make sushi, and realized Mark's future career choice should be a teppanyaki chef. He can tap and bang things together all he wants, and he loves to be center stage, so it's the perfect job for him!

Another family favorite was the ship's ice bar. It was a chilly 17 degrees inside, and everything was, in fact, made of ice. The bar, the benches, even giant ice sculptures of a Viking and a polar bear. The adults slurped down vodka drinks, and the kids enjoyed non-alcoholic drinks. Well, Mark enjoyed them anyway--he tossed back three in about 15 minutes!

My family came into the bar so loudly (I know, big surprise), protesting the cold (hey, we're wimpy Californians!) and taking a million photos in about three minutes. We finally settled down, until Hannah quietly said, "Hey Dad, can I take off my parka?"

Tim said, "Sure!" and we cheered on brave, crazy Hannah. We were cracking up at her standing there in a thin sun dress, shivering in the cold.

Of course, Nicholas took that as a challenge. ("I always take Hannah's good ideas, and make them worse," he told me later).

"Hey Dad, can I take off my SHIRT?" he asked, already stripping it off.

And off it came! It stayed off for a couple couple minutes as Nic posed, guns blazing, us laughing. I finally told him to put it back on before he got hypothermia and he asked, shocked, "Can that really happen?"

Things I did not enjoy nearly as much included the line at the purser's office. I stood in it the first time to set a spending limit on Mark's card key. (The key was linked directly to my credit card.) Mark stood beside me grousing the entire time, trying to convince me that he's very responsible, almost grown up, and that I should quit treating him like a baby.

"I'm not gonna lose my key!" he complained.

I wavered, then agreed. "You're right," I said. "You're almost 14--I do trust you."

I stood in line at the purser's desk for the second time a scant four hours later, after I found Mark standing in front of our cabin, locked out, and he admitted he'd lost his key.

"Already?" I asked, sighing. This time I DID block his card, and he was smart enough not to challenge me on it.

The third time, when Mark de-activated his room key, I sent him to the purser's office alone.

"Why do I have to do it?" he whined.

"You told me you're responsible now," I reminded him. "So take care of it. You can't get on or off the boat without a key, so decide whether or not you want to see Jamaica." To his credit, he did take care of it.

Other memorable moments on the ship included our daily greeting at the buffet. Each time, the same loud, happy crew member waved a a bottle of hand sanitizer at us, shouting out "Washy, washy!" Sometimes she shook things up a bit, adding "Happy, happy" or "Smiley, smiley" and sometimes she called out all three. If I close my eyes, "Washy, washy, happy, happy, smiley, smiley" still haunts me!

The whole vacation was just amazing. I loved the time with my family, and the memories that we shared, including the washy, washy lady and the Jamaican life guard. I think Mark ate his weight in hamburgers and drank MY weight in Shirley Temples. We came back tan, relaxed, and very, very happy. And I'm pretty sure that's what vacations are all about.

Tomorrow, I'll share pix and stories from our ports of call.

D.C. days

Baltimore's only 45 minutes from Washington D.C., a city my niece Nathalie had never been to. I love D.C. (as long as I don't have to live there without family), as does my mom and Mark. We couldn't wait to go back.

We took the train in from Baltimore on the first day, which proved very easy. Union Station was under lots of construction, which was a bummer, since it's a magnificent building both inside and out. It's also only a couple blocks from the Capitol, where our first tour of the day was scheduled.

Did I mention it was spring time? Because there's really not a more beautiful time to visit D.C. (well, okay, maybe a couple weeks earlier, when the cherry blossoms were blooming would've been a wee bit better). The trees were all flowering, and like Baltimore, there were tulips everywhere. It was breathtaking.

Our first stop was the Hart Senate building. Mom and I went through security pretty quickly, but it was almost as if Mark and Nathalie had never seen a metal detector before. The guards were very patient with them, reminding them to take off their belts, to put back the little storage bowls for your phone and wallet, and to go back, once again, and remove any metal, including their belts (yes, they were told twice). We finally got through, and the guard said, "OK, now you can go about your business. Where are you going, so I can direct you?" We were embarrassed to admit we just needed the bathrooms!

The guard started laughing and said, "You came into my beautiful building, and went through all that hassle just to use the bathroom?" He just laughed again and shook his head.

Next, it was on to the Capitol, with a photo stop first in front of the Supreme Court.

Court and Congress were on spring break, so while there were no protesters in front, there were tons of middle schoolers on tour. After seeing all the matching shirts and jackets, Mark and Nathalie were thankful to be in a much smaller group with no color-coordinated clothes.

The Capitol tour was nice. It is such an amazing building, and the dome...man, I could seriously just sit inside there and stare up at that gorgeous dome all day. (In fact, that's just what I did--didn't hear much of the tour facts during this part.) Our tour guide was hilarious. She kept mixing up John Adams and Sam Adams, and then saying she was thirsty. She had a really dry sense of humor, and we loved her.

We stopped to take some more touristy pics of the Library of Congress, then headed to the Metro. A few stops later, we were down by the White House, and on our way to lunch. The last time we were in D.C. was during President Obama's inauguration, and we stumbled on to the Old Ebbitt Grill restaurant for lunch. It was so good, my mom insisted we return this trip.

 

We spent a good two hours eating some wonderful food. We ordered lobster rolls, which were awesome, although I'm kinda spoiled now that I've been to Maine and had a REAL lobster roll. But these were still amazing, and way better than anything we have in California!

 

After lunch, we strolled. We walked to the White House to take pictures, then down to the Mall. It was a bit windy, and when Nathalie and my mom stopped at the back of the White House to take photos, Nat's baseball cap flew off--and landed on the other side of the fenced-in White House lawn! She fell to the ground, and reached with all her might under the fence, where she came out victorious. A man walking by laughed, and told my mom, "I wouldn't have risked that for anything except a Red Sox hat!"

Next, it was on to the Washington Monument, and then up the Mall toward the Smithsonian museums. It was fun to show it all off to Nathalie, who, it turns out, really didn't care that much. She was just having a blast being on vacation--she could have been anywhere, really, and she still would've had fun.

We stopped briefly for water (Mom), low blood sugar (Mark), and to rest the busted knee (me). We were kind of a mess.

Our last stop was the Smithsonian Museum of American History. They have a new display for the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner." It was dark, quiet and profoundly moving.

They even had a display of the Presidents, where this hopeful candidate gave a rousing speech.

And best of all, they had a really interesting display on Abraham Lincoln. They even had the top hat he wore the night he was killed, which was iconic, impressive and sad all at once.

On our next day trip, we ventured out to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's gorgeous estate. Because it was much further out, we drove instead of taking the train. The road was beautiful, lined with lush trees and flowers. I'd forgotten how beautiful D.C. and its surrounding areas were.

They'd built a new visitor's center since the last time I'd been there (seemed to be a running theme). We watched a movie about the first Prez, and then wandered the grounds. It was supposed to rain, and we were a bit worried, but the weather turned out to be way better than we expected.

We couldn't leave without an iconic picture on George's back porch.

Besides all the flowers and trees, spring meant babies--lots of them! There were tons of new lambs, and baby pigs. I was excited, and whispered to Nat, "These are the ancestors of George Washington's sheep!" She was cracking up at me.

The kids really dug Mt. Vernon, but I think the lambs were honestly their favorite part.

Since we had a car, we made the most of it by driving to all the memorials outside of the city. We stopped at the World War II Iwo Jima memorial, where a groups of vets were paying homage to their fallen comrades. It was very moving.

We didn't think we'd have enough time to take the tour of Arlington Cemetery, so we just peeked over the fence at all the crosses. Nathalie was the only one who hadn't been there before, and I learned on this trip she's totally creeped out by cemeteries--even one as beautiful as Arlington. So we never made it back to take the full tour, but I don't think Nat really minded.

We were supposed to meet up with my other niece Hannah, whose middle school was also visiting Washington. However, I got lost trying to get to the restaurant--I took a wrong turn, and ended up in front of the Pentagon. Which was cool, because hey, here was another awesome sight to show the kids. But even better were the signs I saw as I tried to leave the Pentagon parking lot--signs directing us to a memorial for those lost in 9/11. I didn't even know they had a memorial for that, but it made sense. It was haunting, and beautiful.

Due to snafus you only encounter when dealing with groups of tweens, we never did meet up with Hannah. Which bummed us all out at first, until I realized that meant we could have dinner somewhere even better--in my previous hometown, at the Lost Dog Cafe! Yahooooo! It was every bit as wonderful as I remembered.

Our last day of vacation was a Saturday, and the day of the Cherry Blossom parade and festival. We planned to return for both, but by the time Saturday rolled around, we were pretty well exhausted.

So we still went to D.C., but we blew off the parade. Instead, we jumped on a trolley tour, for one last look at all the monuments. It worked out pretty well, since we avoided most of the crowds.

Along the way, we saw some of the newer monuments, like the thoughtful Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. one. It was a nice tribute to an amazing man.

We exited the trolley at the Lincoln Memorial. Doesn't matter how many times you see it, the experience is always awe-inspiring. A giant Lincoln sits above you, and you almost feel like he's about to get up, or maybe just say something profound.

The Gettysburg Address was carved into the wall, and it was pretty cool to read it, having just been to the battlefield days earlier. There was a whole lotta learning going on here.

I also marveled at the view from the steps, facing the Washington Monument, and further back, the Capitol building. The Reflection Pool was empty, drained for all the construction going on around the park, but it was still a contemplative moment. My thoughts were finally broken by a nearby family, whose mom was positioning the kids closer together in front of the Washington Monument.

"Move ovah," she commanded in a thick New York accent. "Make it look like the giant pencil is stickin' outta ya head!"

I almost lost it, erupting into silent laughter at that. And I will never be able to think of the Washington Monument as anything but a giant pencil again.

We walked over to the Korean War memorial, and took loads of pictures for my dad. He served in Korea, albeit a couple years after the war, so he was front and center in our minds then.

After a quick lunch, we trekked over to Ford's Theatre, which was closed because there was a play going on. I didn't even know they still showed plays in there--seems kinda sick to me, and I'd be nervous the whole time if I were in the audience. So we didn't get to take the kids inside, but we were all so tired, we honestly didn't even care that much.

And so it was back to Baltimore. It was a Jewish holiday, so the Gludts were celebrating at a friend's house.

But they came home very excited for two reasons--the first was that at nightfall, Passover was officially over, and they could once again eat bread. Secondly, it was Rob's birthday, which was a nice coincidence, because we could celebrate with all his favorite leavened carbs--pizza, apple pie, and beer. YUM! 

We'd had some really great family dinners that week, and a lot of good times visiting with the Gludts. Mark and I were already members of Romi's fan club, but he also easily converted my mom and Nathalie--they thought he was hilarious, and, as my mom noted, "It was worth the trip out here just to meet him."

So all in all, it was a fantastic trip. I'm grateful for the time I spent with my good friends, and showing off so many new sites to the kids (and to me and my mom, too). We laughed a lot, and kept super busy, but really, my favorite parts were the quiet moments. The long drive Kelley and I took through the Maryland countryside, the matzah breakfasts, sitting in the backyard with Rob while Romi made everyone (including the dog) get in the car as he pretended to drive them somewhere. Those were the moments I'll remember best, the ones that meant the most. Hershey was a blast, but sitting around the living room laughing, playing games...that's the reason we keep visiting the Gludts, wherever they may roam, wherever they may land.

Thank you Rob, Kelley and Romi for hosting us, and to Steven for being a good sport and giving up your room to a bunch of crazy Californians. 

How I spent spring break

Days 1 and 2: Baltimore and Hershey (with some random giant landmarks along the way)

We spent spring break this year in Baltimore, visiting our wonderful friends Rob and Kelley. Because Mark neither appreciates nor enjoys vacationing with me, I also brought along my mom and niece Nathalie. I figured it was the only way I'd have someone to talk to who didn't immediately argue or roll their eyes every time I opened my mouth.

Our first lesson in Bawmer was that no freeway exists from the airport to the Gludts--you have to drive through downtown. Which includes Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, who kindly hosted their opening day game that very evening, at the exact moment we were driving by.

It was also the first night of Passover. Though the Orioles slowed us down, we arrived in time to celebrate the second half of the Seder. We represented the clueless Catholic demographic, and really had no idea what was going on. Kelley included a Seder for Dummies page, which included passages like, "Some rabbis talked all night, blah blah blah" and "We were bitter about being slaves, so now we eat something bitter to remember that." (I'm paraphrasing--Kelley's version was much better.)

It was a blast to see the Gludts and their family, including the Chuckle Cousins, Jamie and Suzanne (on our last trip, we visited their house, but not them. This was much better!). They looked great, and it was fun to see them after so many years.

But we didn't stay in Baltimore long. After our first matzah breakfast with the Gludts, we were off. Our destination: Hershey, PA.

Hershey is 90 minutes from Baltimore, unless you take the long way, and of course we took the long way, because it involved a side trip to see stuff like this:

Yup, it's a house built like a giant shoe! It was in the middle of nowhere, and it. was. AWESOME. The kids were not impressed, but my mom and I couldn't stop giggling or taking pictures. We love goofy stuff.

From there, Louisa, our trusty GPS, led us toward Hershey. But as we pulled off the freeway, we another thing of beauty:

"Do you want to stop?" I asked my mom, but she said, "No."

"Really??" I asked, and she answered, "OK, YES!"

The kids were more impressed here than they were with the shoe house, but not much. The minute I aimed my camera, Mark started making faces.

"Stop, Mark!" my mom yelled at him. "No dumb pictures!"

I lowered my camera for a moment and said, "Mom, you're in front of a GIANT COW!!" I think she was kinda missing the point, which was...you know, to take a dumb picture.

The cow was actually a landmark for something called "the Turkey Hill Experience." I didn't know what that was--it just looked like your average building. But then I saw a giant inflatable iced tea bottle, and I had to go inside.

The cashier said it wasn't really a museum as much as a hands-on learning experience. I still didn't know what we'd be touching, until she explained that Turkey Hill is a company that makes ice cream and iced teas. When she said the experience included ice cream tasting, we were in!

The ice cream was a success, but some of the other stuff, like creating your own ice cream flavor, was a bust. (You create it on a computer, not with actual ingredients.) My mom and I worked together, but when the computer showed our final result, I was disappointed.

"That's not a new flavor," I told my mom. "That's just mint-chocolate chip ice cream!"

"That's what I like," my mom answered, and who was I to argue with that?

We could've spent much more time there, but we had places to be--namely, Hershey. There was chocolate calling our name, and we couldn't ignore it.

Somehow, we managed to drive through Amish country without actually encountering any Amish people. I was hugely disappointed. My mom saw two Amish ladies, and Mark saw a buggy, but that was it. I'll just have to go back.

We arrived at Hershey in the afternoon.

 

 

The first thing I saw were the famed streetlights. They were indeed shaped like Hershey's Kisses, and I screamed with delight. (Nathalie realized then it would be a long trip, with a lot of screaming.)

I drove blindly down Chocolate Avenue, not sure where to go, but loving every minute of it. Somehow, we made it to our destination, Hershey's Chocolate World, which was already populated by every other family currently on spring break.

We joined the massive crowd, and followed the families blindly. I was relieved to see the chocolate factory tour at the end of it. It wasn't the real factory, since they closed tours there in 1974, but it was a pretty good replica, complete with flowing candy and singing cows. Mark and Nathalie about died laughing when they saw the first cows, one of whom sported the name tag, "Gabby," just like Nat's sister.

Afterwards, we ambled through the rest of Chocolate World, which was really just a souvenir/giant candy store. I was expecting to see specialized chocolates, or custom candies available here only, but no, it was just massive bags of the same Hershey's candy you can buy at home. But we did make our own personalized label, which was fun:

We also rode the trolley through town, learning all about Milton Hershey, and what a wonderful man he was. He created three schools, first for orphan boys, then girls, then to all disadvantaged children.

The schools were gorgeous--my mom and I were really impressed. Nat and Mark were impressed too, but for a different reason. They learned that the kids lived in homes on campus, with a set of house parents--and that there were no sodas served in the homes, but there was chocolate milk on tap 24/7. I don't think they remembered anything after that.

I loved the trolley ride, because it was just plain fun. We started off with a sing along, and then every 15 minutes or so, the tour guide would pass around chocolates. It was awesome.

Dinner was at a local sports pub. The food was okay, but the drinks were great--apparently, we hit some sort of happy hour. And by the time we left, we were indeed happy, prompting my mom to remark that, "I love Shershey." Cue round two of endless laughing by the kids, and a new family slogan.

We awoke early the next day, which we'd forgotten was actually Easter. Hershey is a tiny little town. Not many restaurants looked like they opened on Sundays, and none of them opened on Easter.

Luckily, the Hershey Story museum had a cafe. However, the cash register was broken, which offered further proof we were not in Los Angeles any more.

"It's not working," the young cashier told us.

"Oh, so we can't order?" I asked, since that would be the case back home.

"Oh, you can order," she answered. "You'll just have to pay later, after you eat."

I love small towns.

The Hershey Story was cool. More info on Mr. Hershey and his good deeds, and then, for the kids, an Easter Egg hunt. So we didn't completely miss out on Easter.

Then we were off to our next destination--Gettysburg (pronounced by the locals as "Get-iss-burg.") 

My mom and I were interested in seeing the historic site, and we figured if we gave the kids enough chocolate, we could trick them into learning some history, too. (Plus, it was really beautiful out there!)

We bought tickets for the last tour, and marvelled at how lucky we were to get them. But our luck ran out the minute the tour started.

I'm not saying it was a bad tour, just that we were the wrong audience. My dad would've LOVED this tour, and the minute details the very knowledgeable but socially awkward tour guide imparted (he never opened his eyes while speaking). The Gettysburg battle lasted three days, and the guide made it feel like he was telling us the story in real-time.

Or maybe I was just spoiled from the trolley ride. The Gettysburg guide should've started with a song, or tossed us chocolates every once in a while.

 

It was an interesting place and I'm glad we took the kids there. But I think the condensed 25-minute film at the visitor's center and a quick drive through the battle grounds was more our speed.

It was time to return to the Gludts, and the ride through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania was beautiful. It was gorgeous, with spring shining everywhere--flowers blooming, and tulips everywhere you looked. It was a beautiful way to end the day, and the only thing that made it better was how warmly Romi and the Gludts welcomed us home.

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!!!