Category Archives: Family

More traditions down the drain

Events, Family, ,

Last weekend we had a family meeting and decided, among other things, to not go to Elgin for Christmas. While not quite a first for us, it is unprecedented since both kids were born. When I was pregnant with Andrew I was forbidden to travel and ended up on bed rest on Christmas Eve. The only other time I’ve not been in Elgin for Christmas was in 1978 when I spent it with the Burgoynes before my semester in London.

After our meeting I felt relieved that we’d made a decision. Then worried about what the Elgin folks would feel and then guilt-ridden. I rehearsed our reasons for staying in Bethesda for Christmas over and over until I’d convinced the little guilty voice in my head that it was the right thing to do.

Our reasons are solid, mostly. With Andrew’s wrestling on varsity this year, he shouldn’t miss practice, and there are only 4 days built into the schedule that are free of practice or tournaments. We also don’t have a convenient place to stay. I don’t mind hotels, but Dean hates them – and frankly, waking up Christmas morning in a hotel sounds really sad.

I’ve long wanted to have the kids wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning and walk downstairs, sleepy-eyed, to see what Santa left under the tree and hanging on the mantelpiece. Of course that dream was for when they were toddlers. Now that they are teenagers the scene changes a bit. Neither will wake up until mid-morning, at least. And because they go to bed much later than we do, the surprise of gifts under the tree might be more difficult than worth it. Oh, and neither believe in Santa anymore…

So, we’ll see how this not-going-home-for-the-holidays works out. The kids have promised to blame me if it sucks.

Ho ho ho.

Mother’s Day

Events, Family, Film, Food

Dean and the kids said they’d do whatever I wanted to do for Mother’s day, so I suggested we go to Lilit for brunch, see some artwork at the Fine Arts Festival in Bethesda and then see a movie. All three of the ideas came via email announcements.

I’m on Lilit’s mailing list. They send out announcements for their wine and beer tastings and occassional special events as well.

I heard about the movie, Waitress, through the Fox Searchlight email list I’m on and they announced a special showing of the film at a local theater and promised free goodie bags as well. Who can resist free goodie bags? Not me.

Finally, the art festival is a yearly event in Bethesda. I think we went one year, long ago when it was held further up Woodmont.

Dean exclaimed more than once that we never do these kinds of things and he was loving it.

We got into Bethesda around 10 am and walked to the area where the art festival was taking place. There were over a hundred booths of very pretty art, at prices we couldn’t really afford – and nothing really caught our fancy, although I was interested in a floor covering for our dining room. I spent a bit of time chatting with the wife of the artist who makes floor cloths. As much as I’ve wanted one, $1200 seems like an awful lot of money to spend. Maybe we will end up getting a rug after all.

Brunch was delicious – I had a spinach and red-pepper omelet with feta cheese and toast. They also poured me a complimentary mimosa and handed me a long-stemmed red rose. I love that place!

After brunch we had a couple hours to spare so stopped at Second Story Books. I’ve written about that part of our day on Clutch Cargo Lips.

The movie was good fun. I don’t necessarily want to think too deeply about it or analyze it because I know it would fall down under scrutiny, but as a form of entertainment, it was a perfect accompianment to the day thus far. As we left the theater we were each given a white paper bag full of coupons, lipstick, hair balm, liquid soap, and a magazine. We also each received a frozen Sarah Lee pie to go with the pie theme of the film.

When we got home the kids set to work cooking the menu I’d planned for the day. It was easy to plan because I’d seen it on Rachel Ray’s show. The only downfall was when the kids mistakenly mashed all of the black beans instead of just the small amount I left out for them to mash. I ran to the store and saved the day by buying more beans (after a few choice swear words).

Dinner was delicious, albeit a little spicy hot. No one really had room for the pie.

After dinner the kids gave me their gifts – one by one Andrew brought the presents out under his shirt. They gave me:

  • a bag of Cheeto’s (the crispy kind I like)
  • a container of cookies – the round, tubular kind with chocolate in the middle
  • a pen set (fountain and ink pen)
  • a bird feeder – platform for the cardinals

It was a lovely day and a testament to what a wonderful family I have.