Family joy.
When I started this blog in my head, I was going to say something pithy about how family was such a delight, and then admit I meant that about 50% genuinely and 50% tongue firmly planted in cheek. As time has worn on this week, that number altered to about 5% genuine and 95% ... not. The number has bounced back up again a bit but ... oy. And not even MY family - by blood - my in laws.
This week has been so completely out of my hands, it's been ridiculous. Vanished were any ideas I had of what I wanted to do, or when I might hit the gym, or ... or ... anything.
Anyway. Hi. I haven't been able to blog for a bit - it was easier at Bill's place, as he had a spare laptop in the living room, and a wireless connection (and not to mention being awakened at the crack of dawn, and needing to keep myself occupied). Not so back in Philly - not only is there one computer (and I'm grateful for it no longer being dial-up!), it's in the room that the kids sleep in when they're here - meaning completely inaccessible after 8pm.
Good fun. So ... when last I left you, we were on our last day in New York (boo). We headed down to the village to meet Dick's friend, Hope; lucky for us she had just moved to town from Boston. Like, just moved. The week before. So, cool! That was fun; it was good to see her. Then back up to Bill's neighborhood for a quick trip through one of my favorite stores; nothing worth even trying on. Boo.
And then the train home. Bill had hoped we'd make the drive with him, but for a variety of reasons - not to mention wanting a little peace and quiet for Dick and I to work on our respective scripts (as opposed to being in the car with the kids for two hours) - we opted for the train.
And home again, home again in Philly. That night was supposed to be Dick's birthday dinner - only his mother was having trouble getting it together for that day - so it was more like ... Dick's presents, with dinner to follow on Saturday. (Heck, he and I celebrated it a week prior. He really knows how to stretch it out ...)
Saturday was when things started sliding a bit - or at least seemed to start. The family was going to the fireman's museum, and then to lunch. We were asked to go - I think it was HOPED that we would go - and all I could think was ... we're EXHAUSTED. We've been getting only a handful of hours of sleep on a sofa bed, hey, let's sleep in and see how we feel. I slept in, anyway. Til 11:00. Joyous. Right about then, my niece was melting down because she really really really didn't want to go to that museum ... gratefully, we were excused from the excursion, which was good, as it'd be a while before we were ready to leave.
Instead, Dick and I drove up to New Hope, where I'd never been, which was lovely. Hot, of course, but lovely. We walked around, and watched people, and did some shopping - there were a number of Indian clothing shops and I just wanted to take home the store! But I settled on one skirt. I'm not big into buying clothes right now, but I figured a "one size fits all" skirt was a reasonable investment, even with the weight loss. (It's a fabulous skirt. I wore it today, actually.)
Dick's birthday dinner was lovely; it was something German that I can't pronounce or spell, so I'll refrain. And dessert was what will from now on be called "Renate's Chocolate Cherry Mistake," because something went wrong in the baking of the cake - but it turned out not only excellent (from my perspective) but BETTER (from the perspective of those who had had it before).
I think it was on Sunday when the family unit at large started melting down a bit. I won't go into detail. So it goes. After it all melted down on Monday morning, it all worked itself back out again. Everything's hunky dory, everybody loves everybody, and it's all good ... you know, til next time. (Just to make it clear that this is not a criticism: When my mother was alive, she and I had a MAXIMUM "under one roof" time of four hours. Two hours was when things started getting tense. Four was the point at which the fighting started and it was time for the visitor to go home. Seriously. You could set a watch by it.) :)
And tomorrow we leave. We'll be back home tomorrow evening, snuggling with our sweet Waldo. (Yes, I miss my dog. Sue me.)
I'll post pictures of the trip in a day or two. No real way for me to download and post as we go. C'est la vie.
It's been a good trip, though. No, seriously. Family drama is just a redundant phrase, isn't it? And when it comes right down to it, this is a family that actually ENJOYS family time ... so unlike mine. Family time for me, growing up, was something you would tolerate til it was over. It still is.
This week has been so completely out of my hands, it's been ridiculous. Vanished were any ideas I had of what I wanted to do, or when I might hit the gym, or ... or ... anything.
Anyway. Hi. I haven't been able to blog for a bit - it was easier at Bill's place, as he had a spare laptop in the living room, and a wireless connection (and not to mention being awakened at the crack of dawn, and needing to keep myself occupied). Not so back in Philly - not only is there one computer (and I'm grateful for it no longer being dial-up!), it's in the room that the kids sleep in when they're here - meaning completely inaccessible after 8pm.
Good fun. So ... when last I left you, we were on our last day in New York (boo). We headed down to the village to meet Dick's friend, Hope; lucky for us she had just moved to town from Boston. Like, just moved. The week before. So, cool! That was fun; it was good to see her. Then back up to Bill's neighborhood for a quick trip through one of my favorite stores; nothing worth even trying on. Boo.
And then the train home. Bill had hoped we'd make the drive with him, but for a variety of reasons - not to mention wanting a little peace and quiet for Dick and I to work on our respective scripts (as opposed to being in the car with the kids for two hours) - we opted for the train.
And home again, home again in Philly. That night was supposed to be Dick's birthday dinner - only his mother was having trouble getting it together for that day - so it was more like ... Dick's presents, with dinner to follow on Saturday. (Heck, he and I celebrated it a week prior. He really knows how to stretch it out ...)
Saturday was when things started sliding a bit - or at least seemed to start. The family was going to the fireman's museum, and then to lunch. We were asked to go - I think it was HOPED that we would go - and all I could think was ... we're EXHAUSTED. We've been getting only a handful of hours of sleep on a sofa bed, hey, let's sleep in and see how we feel. I slept in, anyway. Til 11:00. Joyous. Right about then, my niece was melting down because she really really really didn't want to go to that museum ... gratefully, we were excused from the excursion, which was good, as it'd be a while before we were ready to leave.
Instead, Dick and I drove up to New Hope, where I'd never been, which was lovely. Hot, of course, but lovely. We walked around, and watched people, and did some shopping - there were a number of Indian clothing shops and I just wanted to take home the store! But I settled on one skirt. I'm not big into buying clothes right now, but I figured a "one size fits all" skirt was a reasonable investment, even with the weight loss. (It's a fabulous skirt. I wore it today, actually.)
Dick's birthday dinner was lovely; it was something German that I can't pronounce or spell, so I'll refrain. And dessert was what will from now on be called "Renate's Chocolate Cherry Mistake," because something went wrong in the baking of the cake - but it turned out not only excellent (from my perspective) but BETTER (from the perspective of those who had had it before).
I think it was on Sunday when the family unit at large started melting down a bit. I won't go into detail. So it goes. After it all melted down on Monday morning, it all worked itself back out again. Everything's hunky dory, everybody loves everybody, and it's all good ... you know, til next time. (Just to make it clear that this is not a criticism: When my mother was alive, she and I had a MAXIMUM "under one roof" time of four hours. Two hours was when things started getting tense. Four was the point at which the fighting started and it was time for the visitor to go home. Seriously. You could set a watch by it.) :)
And tomorrow we leave. We'll be back home tomorrow evening, snuggling with our sweet Waldo. (Yes, I miss my dog. Sue me.)
I'll post pictures of the trip in a day or two. No real way for me to download and post as we go. C'est la vie.
It's been a good trip, though. No, seriously. Family drama is just a redundant phrase, isn't it? And when it comes right down to it, this is a family that actually ENJOYS family time ... so unlike mine. Family time for me, growing up, was something you would tolerate til it was over. It still is.
posted by Tracy @ 8:16 PM
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