Because Amazing Is Something We Need in Our Lives

This post is about super heroes and food, art and travel.

The last two weekends were filled with quick trips to visit friends in New England and the Midwest. Both trips were extra heart warming for me because they were to see dear friends that I used to see every day, but life has put miles and often busy schedules between us.

To have four full days to talk about everything big and small with those who know you in and out,  is the best way to recharge. Also, to be able to hang out with four fantastic kids and two dogs (who we loved long before Mason) makes for a fun, always shifting time. Follow it up with a dynamic twin duo, one awesome pug and more good friends and August is full of splendor in my book.

I am in complete awe of how my dear friends balance their lives as mother, wife, friend, and colleague. (I can hear them scoffing at the word "balance" right now.) These women are extraordinary individuals who will feign politely when you say to them "you're amazing." But really, truly these women and so many others I know can say to Ann-Marie Slaughter with a voice full of experience "Of course we can't have it all by someone else's definition. The liberating reality is we can have it all when we chose to define our lives and our happiness for ourselves."

This is not a one day, one year actualizing reality. It's a life's work.

Yet, the grace, calm, and humor my friends bring to their lives and the multiple roles they hold is something remarkable. There is no time out when you're raising children and sure ends get frayed from time-to-time for everyone, but each time I'm able to spend time with my friends who are mothers, I leave buoyed and humbled by the sheer range and volume of tasks and cares they handle in a day.

You are modern day super heroes in my book and my life in enriched for having you in it.

Oh, and the World's Fair exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins was tremendous. It is a testament to what can be accomplished when a museum harnesses the power and creativity of cross-functional teams to create a better, richer visitor experience. Well done friends.

And the food? Well, nothing beats Oklahoma Joe's and trying out a few new places too. 

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, 

we take a little of each other everywhere.

Blueberries on the Brain

It started with a crumble recipe. Which I have yet to make. The  backlog of blueberries in my fridge were scarified for other goods. But when DH came home and asked for baked goods for work, I knew I had to make blueberry muffins. Short on time, I went in search of a quick and easy recipe that would have simple ingredients and big flavor. This one is a keeper. I made a few tweaks based on the notes and also I always think a little fresh zest brings out fruit flavor in baking.

The crumble topping melted a bit. Use colder butter.

Blueberry Muffins 
Modified from Allrecipes.com
Makes 1 dozen regular size or 8 large.

 Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1-3 tablespoons of orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. (optional)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Add zest and vanilla extract. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Babbling from a Beach Chair

We spent a week at Surfside Beach, SC for the second annual family beach week. Seven adults, one fantastic and precocious soon-to-be five year old and seven days of perfect weather. From my beach chair perched beneath a shady umbrella the following occurred to me in no particular order:

1. You really can go to the beach for a week and not get sunburn. It just requires a lot of sunblock and large hats.

2. If you can't actually disconnect from the office fully, the tension never really leaves your back.

3. I am way too attached to my iPhone for far too many tasks, tidbits and mindless moments.

 4. Devouring books, printed on actual paper, is still one of my absolute favorite things to do. The Lemon Tree and Japanland, both excellent reads.

5. No matter how long you stare at the ocean it won't give you the answer to the questions you're asking, unless you're really ready for the answers.*

6. Being an outsider to the tribe known as mothers becomes a very different experience every year further you go in life.
 
7. Lifeguards don't really guard beach goers, but they do handle beach rentals, check their phones/laptops and work on their tans, a lot.

8. Cheap airline flights are not always worth the cost savings.

*It does however prepare you to hear exactly what you were looking for while sitting in a pew on Sunday morning after you return. 

The Sound of Silence

Taking a moment to quiet the voices in and outside my head by replacing them with the sound of the ocean.

With any luck, I'll have solved the world's problems by week's end.

In case that doesn't happen, I'm working on my tan and sand castle building skills. It seems like the sensible thing to do.

Now It's Home

We were having such a good time we didn't take any pictures.

I always smile when I read or hear friends remark this about their trips with their families. Everyone was just so into whatever was actually happening whether it was a simple pleasure or complicated endeavor, no one had a chance to step back and capture it for posterity.

Don't get me wrong. I love photos, seeing and taking them. But there's just something very wonderful about being so swept up (or tied up) in an experience you never grab your camera (phone).

So this past weekend when dear friends, old and new, came by amid 100+ degree temps (and post summer mega storm) to break in our new place there was no time to take a photo.

Now several folks were without power (and remain without, sorry guys) so they may have lingered a little longer to enjoy the A/C and avoid the hot boxes that their own houses had become (we'll pretend it's because you were having such a good time).

But, for a few hours of a single afternoon, it was really lovely to have our friends and their adorable (and incredibly well behaved) children fill every inch of first floor with laughter and conversation.

When you settle in a city far from home, your friends become your family. And for well past a decade now, we've been lucky enough to have some of the best friends one could conjure up to have as a part of their lives.

So thanks for helping us officially call DC home for keeps and may it not be as long until we all share an afternoon together again.

Lampshade Economics

Last weekend I purchased a lampshade at Target (said of course with the ridiculous yuppie pronunciation). Simple, functional and turns out slightly damaged when I got it home.

So I returned to Target to exchange it for a new one. No problem. In and out in no time.

The catch.

The original shade was purchased in Virginia. The exchange happened in the District.

It cost me 15 cents more to exchange the shade in D.C.  because of the difference in tax rates. Plus the $1.50 in parking (no free surface lots in Columbia Heights). Of course, I started compounding this cost differential in my head on a variety of things we purchase on a regular basis and was not pleased. Ouch.

And yes, this is where all my Virginia friends can remind me that this is why people move across the river.

Departure Ritual

In some ways this post is a public service announcement to help those with dogs appreciate that, while their dog may be crazy, he/she is not this crazy.

Before leaving the house the following checklist must be completed:

-Remove all pillows from bedroom
-Remove all bits of miscellaneous clothing from room
-Ensure all items are put away fully in the bathroom
-Open only lower shutters on one wall of windows
-Turn on iPod with classical music loop
-Turn on tabletop fan for extra cooling and additional white noise
-Make sure the bed is fully made
-Lock clothing closet door in bedroom
-Pull bathroom door closed
-Leave out sacrificial rug for shredding
-Call and if necessary bribe dog into said room
-Provide treat and or pets for jumping up and settling on bed
-Back out of room slowly
-Lock all THREE locks on exterior of bedroom door
-Exit house quickly and with minimal noise

Yeah, and this is the better version that doesn't involve having to dope up our dog on (vet provided) tranquilizers that are so strong they would knock a human out for days. He actually doesn't howl or bark when we're gone now, a vast improvement.

So we've reached a workable (ha!) solution that the dog is settling into the new place, nine months on, that seems to do the trick. Of course we've had to literally put a lock on our closet door inside the room because he has eaten enough of my work clothes now that I'm starting to think he's commenting on my shopping choices.

We have also replaced the door handle to our room at least seven times. Why you ask? Because he literally crushes the inside knob of the door handle over a series of weeks with his teeth and jaw. Mind you, he's not a chewer of other things though. Oh and we have bite marks on no less than three shutters on the windows in the room, but at least they aren't blinds. We've left (jinx) those days behind us. And we have a pile of small IKEA rugs that we go through every few months as he randomly shreds one while we're gone, purposely left out for him to do so (vet recommended). Way cheaper than the 8 x 10 he worked his way through in the first two months we moved in.

And he's gone through no less than five, easily more dog beds/blankets that sit on his actually indestructible kuranda dog bed. And yet his trusty plush companion Jack, is still in tact through it all.

Of course if there's a thunderstorm a sudden drop in barometric pressure, all bets are off and we are likely to return home to a huge mess that takes on various levels of "I cannot believe I got home first and have to clean this up."

He's eight now. We've had him since he was about 1.5 or so. We're not sure who's crazier at this point. Us or him. We talked to the gypsies, they won't take him. So, we decided to keep him.