Five is getting dangerous

Five is starting to get dangerous. For awhile, C has been getting up on the weekends and for the most part, going downstairs and watching tv while letting us sleep in a bit more. She knows how to work the remote, and can make herself some cereal for breakfast (it gets a little messy, but it's so worth it for the extra sleep!).

One Sunday morning she decided she'd like some cucumber for breakfast. Not a problem, it's a veggie, right? Except. She cut it up. Herself. With a knife. A butter knife, but a knife nonetheless. So we had the lecture about asking a grownup for help the next time she wants to use a knife.

The next weekend she gets up and goes downstairs. After a while she comes back upstairs and starts complaining that the "numbers are going too fast". Numbers? Going too fast? This is all too much to comprehend first thing in the morning. Apparently she saw a commercial that was selling cake decorating tools (Betty Crocker something) and wanted it. Because she wanted a cake that she decorated with a butterfly and grass. She actually pushed the chair over to the phone, got it and started dialing.

Today, D finds her one digit away from connecting to an operator to order AquaDots. You have to laugh, especially when you ask her where she would tell the person to send them, she's not 100 percent on the address!

Although, it might be a fun experiment to see if she actually could order something, not being 18 or having a credit card.

Roughing It

I will be on a business trip in October that will be the longest I’ve been on since before I had C – if even ever (I can’t remember anything anymore!). I’m not worried that she’ll miss me (ok, maybe a little) and I’m a little excited to have time alone (although by the Tuesday of that week I’ll probably be feeling a little guilty and a lot homesick for her)…

So I will be packing my bag and heading to the middle of no-where (pretty much – it’s a 4 hour-ish drive through the Catskill mountains) and obviously being in the middle of no where the accommodation choices are a bit, shall we say, lacking? It’s a choice of slim and none. No big hotel chains (I need my Marriott points! I’m almost up to a whole free night’s stay someplace good!), and I’m not going to stay at a bed and breakfast either.

The hotel that everyone stays at when traveling to visit this particular agent is owned by a “name” hotel chain, it’s just not THAT name – kind of their version of the budget minded business traveler hotel. I check for rates online, and find that yes, I can stay there the whole week I need, and book the room.

I’m looking forward to the king size bed all to myself, the wireless high speed internet, the fact that I’m only responsible for myself for the week. However, I don’t think putting “curved shower rod” in the “for your comfort” column on your website is the greatest marketing ploy. At least for me it isn’t. Of course, I think this trip is the business equivalent of roughing it, so what do I know? Maybe that’s a big selling point for their customers.

Today, we are all New Yorkers

I do not live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate
I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away
Or I may live just over the GW Bridge
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
Whatever took me out of New York:
Business, family or hating the cold did not take New York out of me.
My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza,
The Yankees or the Mets (Giants or Dodgers) Jones Beach or Rye Beach or one of the beaches on the sound (Orchard Beach)
I know that "THE END" means Montauk.
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
When I go on vacation, I never look up, Skyscrapers are something I take for granted
The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me
Taxis and noise and subways and "get outa heah" don't rattle me
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct
I eat Greek food and Italian food, Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food
Because they are all American food to me.
I don't get mad when people speak other languages in my presence
Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to stay
They were New Yorkers

I am a New Yorker
People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me
My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses that benefit all Americans
My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers
They died trying to save Americans and non-Americans
Because they were New Yorkers.

I am a New Yorker
I feel the pain of my fellow New Yorkers
I mourn the loss of my beautiful city
I feel and dread that New York will never be the same
But then I remember:
I am a New Yorker

And New Yorkers have:
Tenacity, strength and courage way above the norm
Compassion and caring for our fellow citizens
Love and pride in our city, in our state, in our country
Intelligence, experience and education par excellence
Ability, dedication and energy above and beyond
Faith--no matter what religion we practice
Terrorists hit America in its heart
But America's heart still beats strong
Demolished the steel in our buildings, but it doesn't touch the steel in our souls
Hit us in the pocketbook; but we'll parlay what we have left into a fortune
End innocent lives leaving widows and orphans, but we'll take care of them
Because we are New Yorkers

Wherever we live, whatever we do, whoever we are
There are New Yorkers in every state and every city of this nation
We will not abandon our city
We will not abandon our brothers and sisters
We will not abandon the beauty, creativity and diversity that New York represents
Because we are New Yorkers
And we are proud to be New Yorkers

(I don't know who the author of this is - if anyone knows please let me know!)

Dirty Laundry

Over the weekend the whole brouhaha over the Vanessa Hudgens picture was the subject of various blog and message board posts (why yes, I do lurk on a Disney message board, it provides some comic relief during my day, thankyouverymuch). Admittedly I am not a big High School Musical fan, and have not paid much attention to the controversy.

However, after reading a bunch of posts about how “she’s no longer a role model I want for my children” from a few different people, I started thinking. First of all, naked pictures aside, I don’t think I want C to think of an actress as a “role model”. That’s not what I envision a role model to be – the same way I wouldn’t want her to think of a sports star as a role model either. If you’re using an actress/actor as a role model, I think you’re asking for disillusionment. There’s nothing wrong with actresses or actors, I just wonder why someone would think that is who you would want your child to be like? Are people confusing a role the actor/actress is playing with the actual person?

Because yes, the character this actress played in the tv movie was someone who should be emulated – smart, popular (I don’t want to say popular but I don’t see any way around that; the character was popular) and seemed grounded. But that’s the character she was playing people, not the actress herself!

And secondly, she’s 18. An adult. If she wants to pose for a picture for her significant other, it’s her right to do so. I did the same thing when I was 20/21 and in college, and in loooove. Are those pictures still floating around somewhere? I hope not, but can’t be sure. (I’d like to have them back if they are though; I was seriously skinny back in those days!) And while that’s probably not the most brilliant thing I’ve ever done, trust me, I’ve got plenty more stories where I’m not exactly acting like a brain trust at that age either.

Am I missing something when I think this is all much ado about nothing? Is it just because she works for Disney and she should be held to a higher standard? Help me understand, because I’m just not getting it.

Labor Day Weekend, in pictures

Alternate title: Exhausting, but fun!

Saturday at the local fair:





Sunday at the beach:





Monday at Grampa's