Benny and his friend Griffin at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Mornings



March 7, 2022



ME: Benny, have you been studying for your written driving test?

BEN: Uh no.
 
ME: the California test is really hard. A bunch of us at the business times were taking it around the same time and people kept failing it. They were dropping like flies!

BEN: OK

ME: you’ll have to watch that “Taxi” episode where Jim goes to the DMV.

RON: Slooooow dooown

ME: exactly

RON: between your horror stories and “Taxi” he won’t be able to take the test.

ME: he’s fine. After 18 years with me, his nerves are hammered steel.

BEN: yes

"Taxi" scene






March 8, 2022


Benny following me to my desk to discuss why our country should have a higher minimum wage.






Monday, June 28, 2021

Last Year

 After a two-year hiatus, I'm not sure if I have any readers left, but I'm back!

Despite the name, this is first and foremost a parenting blog, begun just months before I became pregnant with Benny. Now that his fraught, dramatic and borderline disastrous junior year has finally ended, we are entering our son's Last Year with us.

This stage of life does deserve some chronicling, and so here I am. A year from now, if all goes well and we pull some minor miracle out of our asses, Benny will be preparing to leave for a good four-year college. If things don't go well -- well, we'll save a ton of money sending him to community college and living with a disappointed, sullen young adult in some rinky-dink place in Daly City. Joy.

And TWO cats. We just acquired a kitten this weekend named Samson and while I had reservations because he's so young (two months) and he's an enormous pain most of the time, we are all crazy about him. He's not really that scared of Phoebe, maybe because he knows she can't get him through the glass door, so he shamelessly harasses her until she's beside herself. He's literally one-tenth of her size. 

But he's so cute!



Anyway, like Benny's first year with us, his last year is hugely significant and so I plan to blog it with the same weird obsessiveness because I know it's the last one (one must be optimistic) and I don't want it to slip away unnoticed. 

After all, how many times will Benny and I sit together in the living room first thing in the morning discussing Tour de France spoilers and the raging controversy of the name change for Boba Fett's ship?*


--------------------------------------------------


* For the record, I couldn't care less about Boba Fett or his ship. Frankly, I think Slave 1 looks like a Dust Buster. Vacuum up the dregs of the galaxy!













Monday, August 27, 2018

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Jazz Concert

Benny with Grandma at Jazz Band Concert and Ensemble Night


Benny on his last day of middle school


Ryan, Tate, Benny and Jonas

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Playing Statues


It was great to see family in New York City -- that made the trip perfect. That statue, by the way, is of General Sherman with the goddess of wheat (!).

New York City


Headed to New York last week for a few Engineering News-Record events. I was so excited after getting to my hotel (at 10 pm) that I immediately headed out to Times Square. Also met up with some interesting folks from South Haven, Michigan. I really liked this city -- perfect for night owls and Snapple on every corner! My people!



Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Bad Attitude

I've been reading around-the-world travel blogs again. This can be risky, since so many like to present cute versions of "Eat, Pray, Love." If I ever write a travel blog, I'll call it "Drink, Brood, Complain."