The Blog Dare: Making Memories

"Where has the year gone?" is the Blog Dare writing prompt for today, Friday, May 31st.

I think I'll tweak my musing a little bit to ask: where have all the years gone?

This [photo to the right] was me eleven years ago to the day. Now I have one son - the one in my "ball" - who is headed to middle school next year and one going into 4th grade. And I turned 40 this month. Seriously. Where do the years go?!?

Well...

It's gone to living my life to the fullest and making memories with my three boys. 

But I'll stick with the assigned prompt for five highlights for the first five months of 2013.

#5: The boys' first fencing tournament

#4: Watching the boys confidently navigate intermediate ski runs

#3: Going to the Terracotta Warriors Exhibit at the Asian Art Museum

#2: Attending TEDx Monterey with Riley and 

seeing our friend Kevin speak about his 20% project

#1: Ringing in my 40th year with a kid-free day with my Love - 

forgive the blurry photo!

There you have it. Looking forward to making more memories throughout the rest of the year.

First Fencing Tournament

Today we headed a Foil Invitational, the boys' first ever fencing tournament. It ended up being a much longer day than we anticipated, but it was a great learning experience for all. I still can't figure out how they score the bouts, but I was impressed with the process.

Step 1 = each fencer battles every other in their pool. That seeds them based on touches scored, touches allowed, and matches won. Based on those numbers, Riley was seeded #2 and Dylan was #5, out of 8.

Step 2 = direct elimination with the best two out of three bouts. Dylan was bumped during his first direct elimination and it brought him to tears, but we told him he did a great job, considering he's only had four lessons! And he ended up in 4th place anyway.

Riley made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated by the kid who went on to take 2nd place. Riley ended up (tied) at 3rd place. Both boys who placed ahead of him have been fencing for three years, so he did remarkably well.

After the medal ceremony, we had lunch and met some friends for ice cream at the new Penny. Bitter Caramel, Chocolate Bergamot, Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip, and a Verve Coffee were the top picks. What a day!

First Valentines' date in, well, at least 17 years

I wrote, a couple of years ago, about being a Valentines' Day hater. I've rethought my position, this year,  as I prepare to go on my first Valentines' date in, well, at least 17 years...maybe more. I've been with Jake for fifteen years; I didn't celebrate it the year before I met him or the year that I was in Italy. So, that puts it at at least 17 years!

It's not that I hate romance or love. Quite the contrary. I despise celebrating Valentines because I love romance and love love.

Kinda like Christmas. I dislike the commercialization of the holiday, but love instilling the spirit of giving in my boys.

While I wholeheartedly disagree with buying roses, cards, and chocolates for your beloved on the day that Hallmark designates, I embrace making your sweethearts feel special all the time!

But I am still oddly giddy about the luscious, romantic, & juicy Valentines' dinner planned at La Crème... I have my sitter lined up and can't wait to share a lovely evening with the love of my life.

The Blog Dare: Unexpected Changes...

"Changes I didn't expect in 2012" is the Blog Dare writing prompt for today, Friday, January 4th.

When I first became a mom, changes were de rigeur. My baby changed every single day. One day his eyes were crossed, the next he could focus on us and grin. One day he was immobile, the next he was rolling. One day he was toothless, the next pink gums were replaced with jagged, pearly white teeth. The only constant was change!

But as they left babyhood and became toddlers, visible change slowed. And the pace slowed even more when they entered school. Dramatic changes were replaced by subtle ones, almost unnoticeable unless you took the time to look. There were definite Eureka! moments when I realized that they were not the same as the day before.

One night I was tucking Dylan in and crawled under his covers as I always did to snuggle up, smell his clean hair, and read a book with him. He looked at me and said, "Mom, you know that I can read, right?!" I was stunned into silence. I know that you can read, I stammered. "But you can bring your own book in here and read next to me," he offered. "...if you want to." Okay.

Also in 2012, my 10-year-old started wearing shoes bigger than mine, exhibiting the clear signs of pre-pubescence, and developing an understated independence that brought tears to my eyes. Gone are the tantrums he used to throw when his vocabulary didn't match his thoughts. He's not defiant; he's just firm, focused, articulate and steadfast.

I suppose I should have expected these changes. But somehow they still caught me off-guard.

NYE: Hole Up, Giggle, and Cuddle with Your Kids

A blogger that I follow posted a link to an article about the babysitter wars. Click to read it or trust my synopsis: babysitters expect to get paid more on New Year's Eve - sometimes twice their usual rate - and people actually poach sitters from friends or pick up random sitters at the mall. The piece goes on to offer helpful hints for procuring sitters for new years, including sharing a sitter, hosting the party at your house, or just resigning yourself to paying through the nose. Really?!?

Okay, I'm on my soapbox here. But I have a suggestion.

If you are a parent, seriously consider 

spending New Year's Eve with who should be 

the most important people to you. 

Your spouse. And your kids. 

New Year's Eve is a celebration of the year that's passed - all the challenges and triumphs; it's a time to reflect. Midnight is the beginning of a new year, a fresh start. Why would you spend that away from your family? I like drinking wine and noshing on appetizers with my friends as much as anyone else, but that can happen on any of the other 364 nights of the year. That can happen on my birthday, my husband's birthday, our friends' birthdays. Heck, I don't even need a reason to meet a friend for a drink or eats. But, for me, ringing in the new year is something intimate. It's a time to hole up, giggle, cuddle, and remember why you start and end each day with these people. They're yours.

Click here for what we did last year. Family fun-shenanigans with some traditions from around the world.

This year, we'll be listening to some taiko drums downtown in the afternoon, dining at a favorite restaurant, heading home for some internationally-inspired New Year's desserts, playing board games, toasting with bubbles, and smooching as the clock strikes twelve.

This was our toast from last year. We all made it to midnight. We'll be there again in a few days. Same couch. Same time.

The Blog Dare: I Urge You to...

"I Urge You to..." so reads the Blog Dare writing prompt for today, Wednesday, December 26th. Never having participated in this venture before, I'm not even sure that I'm doing this correctly. But I really like these seeds of inspiration and decided to give it a whirl today.

I urge you to...handwrite your thank you notes this year.

Why? For me, there are a few reasons.

(1) Because I force my kids to do it. They may pace themselves (3 per day or 4 per day) until they get them all written, but they do it. I should lead by example, right? Yes.

(2) Because eThanks get buried in a glut of post-holiday sale emails. Do you get emails from every vendor you've ever ordered from, reminding you of the great sales they have going this week? I sure do - from Office Depot to Lands End. It's far too easy to accidentally select and delete an actual email that you want to read at this time of year. Whoops.

(3) Because there's something wonderful about a piece of paper in your hand from someone that you like or love. Their choice of paper and card say something about their mood or personality. Their handwriting tells you that they value you (and your gift) enough to take a few moments out of their day - longer than it takes to type out an email - to tell you so. They bought a stamp and took it to the post office - or at least lifted the flag on their mailbox. It shows determination and purpose.

So that's it: my exhortation for you to buy some pretty cards and write out your gratitude in ink. Hope your holidays were merry and bright. Dylan picked some thank you cards with a goldfish and googly eyes; Riley's have blueprints of a robot on them. Now I just need to find some cards for myself. I'm thinking about something pink and sparkly.

Stepping into History

How often do you get to wander back into history, nibble on historic recipes and holiday treats, and meet local authors and artists? Well, if you live in Monterey: at least once a year at the State Parks' Christmas in the Adobes event! Last year was the first time we attended and the boys wanted to go again. What a fantastic opportunity for enrichment and family fun.

We saw Riley's classmate Lina perform "chinches" (spelling?), a dance inspired by the squishing and sliding through bed bug juice at the Custom House...

 We ran into Linda Yamane, the Ohlone master basket weaver we met last year, at the Pacific House and she let Dylan try on her goose feather headress...

We ate Scottish oatcakes at California's First Theatre and snagged the recipe...we drank horchata at Casa Serrano...

We met Randall Reinstedt, local historian and prolific author, and the boys picked up two of his books that we didn't already own; Robert McNamara, Riley's mandolin teacher, was performing at the Larkin House; the boys made button yo-yos and devoured gingerbread at the Cooper-Molera Adobe; and we ended the adventure by eating clam chowder overlooking the harbor. 

Amazing evening...but I have to say that my favorite part of the evening was when we were walking back to the car, Dylan asked me, "Mom, what did you learn tonight?" That's how we always end all of our adventures - reflecting on something that was new to us - but it was first time that he initiated the conversation.

I learned that the First Theatre was originally a boarding house. The docent there explained to us how hinged clapboards swung down from the ceiling to create individual rooms and the poorer guests climbed the ladder-stairs to the top floor where they could stay (and eat in the morning) for twenty-five cents. The boys are excited to attend a performance there when they reopen in 5 years. Me, too!