Summer Picks

Here are a few things I’m digging this summer:

Movie – Sex and the City
A fun summer movie. One word of advice, leave your hubby at home and invite all of the woman and gay men in your life.

Video - Lars and the Girl
A lovely little movie that manages to be sweet, poignant, sad and funny.

Book – What Happened
An inside look at the Bush administration from his PR man Scott McClellan. Leaves you scratching your head and thinking in terms of war crimes.

Song – Dolly Parton’s rendition of Stairway to Heaven
What can I say, it’s almost as good as Pat Boones take on this popular song.

Album – Coldplay’s Viva La Vida
Great music and yummy front man.

Reruns – Northern Exposure
Recently ordered the complete set, looking forward to spending the summer watching one of my all time favorite TV shows.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh. Even though I enjoyed his take on pop culture, it was his bag period which I found most interesting.

I could relate, as in the late 80’s Tom also went through a bag (big ass glasses) period. While I wasn’t crazy about them, I didn’t really have the heart to tell him that maybe it was time for a makeover.

Fortunately Tyler provided Tom with the much needed motivation to make a change. It happened at a dinner party we were hosting, in hindsight Tyler would have only been around 4 years old. It was a fun evening with much laughter and good conversation - at one point the room became silent – you couldn’t help but notice that Tyler was staring intently at Tom. At which point baby boy announced “whoa daddy, your glasses are almost bigger than your face.”

The next day Tom went shopping.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Tomorrow is baby boy’s birthday, as he lives in Asia he is already celebrating.

The thing is, Tyler doesn’t do birthdays – he does birth months. He’s a bit of a chameleon who always makes friends from a wide range of cliques. When he lived at home this usually meant a party with the jocks, followed by a party with the drama kids, followed by a party with the math geeks, followed with a party with the exchange students, followed by a party with the home boys, followed by a party with the family, and on and on it goes. What can I say, baby boy likes a good party.

Happy birthday baby boy, we love you!

Mom, Dad, Tex and Maggie

The Incredible Journey

I’m glad it’s Saturday, as this week got off to a rocky start in our little household. On Monday both Tom and I had to leave on separate business trips. Tom went to Vancouver Island with a group of airline executives while I headed to Pittsburgh for a conference.

When I called Tom from the Chicago airport ( where I was stranded for over 7 hours due to bad weather on the east coast), I found out that he had dropped something really, really heavy on his big toe. Imagine the roadrunner dropping a hundred pound weight on the coyote and you get the general idea. I assured myself that things had to get better and continued on my journey.

I really wanted to like Pittsburgh, but the truth is I just wasn’t feeling the love. Part of the problem was the fact that I was stuck downtown in a depressing conference hotel. Like many American cities, the downtown core of Pittsburgh has a 9 to 5 feel to it, becoming a ghost town at night. I was feeling more than a little homesick.

During the conference someone casually mentioned that Falling Water was only a few hours drive from Pittsburgh. The wheels in my head starting turning, if I could just find my way there I was pretty sure this whole bad experience would lead to redemption. The main obstacle was you can’t just show up at Falling Water and ask to borrow a cup of sugar, you need a reservation to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, which is often completely booked at least a year in advance. The hotel concierge assured me that the whole idea was impossible.

To make a long story short, I ended up meeting a PR chick who hooked me up. Not only did I make it to Falling Water but I was also able to visit Kentuck Nob, another FLW house. It was a magical, life affirming experience. The clouds parted and the sun shone as I drove through the beautiful Pennsylvanian countryside - the small towns I passed through reminded me of a John Cougar Mellencamp song - not to mention that Falling Water was everything I hoped it would be.

It has been my experience that the best things in life are unplanned - I guess my trip to Pittsburgh PA wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Tom's Amazing Photo

Tom Does Chewbacca

My Little Bunny

When Tyler was a little boy, one of my favorite rituals was the bedtime story. There’s something sacred about it – the warmth of the covers, flushed cheeks, that unmistakable little boy smell.

The Runaway Bunny was one of our favorite books, but eventually we stopped reading it, due to the fact that it always brought a lump to the throat. The story is about a little bunny who decides to run away from home. If he threatens to leave on a sailboat, his mother says she’ll be the wind in his sails – if he intends to run away to the circus, she becomes the tight rope he walks on – anyway, you get the general idea.

Tyler is now a beautiful young man, living on the other side of the world. He’s doing exactly what he should be doing at his age; exploring, asking himself the big questions, making a life. And even though I may not email or call him everyday, he is always in my heart.

I carry the image of the runaway bunny with me, and like to think that our love will follow him everywhere.