Life Moves Pretty Fast....

So a lot has been going on in the last month or so that has been keeping me from the blog.  Let me explain...no there is too much...let me sum up.  First, Calypso turned 21.  After a family dinner during which a pitcher of sangria was enjoyed by all except Isaac there was a pub crawl.  Further details of the evening beyond letting you all know I was the designated driver for later festivities I am prohibited from sharing.  So as not to cramp the celebrant's style I dropped her off with older sister and a friend telling them to call me when they were done.  I also told them I'd be picking them up in the celebrant's car not my own so they may want to consider the lingering effects of vomit on car upholstery before embarking for the ride home.  I ain't no dummy.










Then there was the high school graduation of Isaac.  We thought it might never arrive, not because of any academic deficiency on his part but due to delayed dates after a harsh winter with an abundance of snow days.  Arrive it did and there was much gladness.
















Then a couple weeks later there was an official East Coast meeting of The Freaks in the Box Club (aka blogger meet-up) during which Calypso was introduced to her very first freaks in the box and inducted into the club.  Susie, her hubby Ratburn, AndyT13, and his lovely wife, along with Calypso and myself all converged on New Brunswick, NJ to watch Talented Freak Progeny and many others compete in a west coast swing dance competition.  A good time was had by all and Calypso seemed to fit in well with the Freaks.  It may have helped that she found my blog a couple months ago and has excavated it heavily.  Her extensive research into the care and feeding of Freaks in the Box permitted for effective communication with such.


Other goings on have included expansion of the bird sanctuary that is our backyard, continued slow work on the bathroom, undertaking a decrapification process for Chez Lime, yoga teacher training weekends, a week-long vacation in Maryland, and a trip to Fox Chase Cancer Center wherein two out of three medical tests confirm I have officially been cancer-free for a year.  Yay!!!! The final test is to be performed next month after another lovely round of dietary purgatory during which the list of what I may eat is considerably shorter than what I may not eat.  This will take place just after we move Diana to Georgia.  Oh, and I hope to find a new job and visit Boston as well before summer is through.  Busy, busy, busy!

Prom 2014

 It's that time of year again.  I have to say, Prom is quite different when getting a boy ready as opposed to a girl.  No hair or nail appointments, not accessory shopping.  We go to the tux shop, pick a tux, match the vest and tie to the girl's dress and we're off.  Getting dressed, also easier.  Basically, I saac and I both got home about 20 minutes before he had to get to his date's house.  A quick shower for each of us, thrown on our respective clothes and hey, we even had time to take a few pictures at home.  The boy is ever a clown.  I'm glad he indulges my photographic drives.  So I present a few of the many faces of Isaac.

 Do I not make these flowers look extremely manly?

 GQ look or wondering what exactly those two birds are doing in the tree over there?

 Hiiiiii, I'm yer date.

I quite like his very adorable date.  She was lovely but not inclined to take herself too seriously and thus willing to mug ridiculously for the camera with little prompting.  This earns points with me.

And then there was the post-photo op, pre-prom ping pong match.  Yeah, say that five times real fast.  I forget who won but I know she was doing well enough early on that the boy defended his poor showing with, "But I'm in a tux!"  We were unsympathetic.

She ain't no pushover, is she?  Have I mentioned I like this girl?

They may not have been prom king and queen but they get my vote for the most fun and most adorable couple at the prom.

Feelin' Groovy

My dad and stepmom are off on a cruise floating through the Panama Canal.  They also subscribe to the Philly Pops.  Unfortunately for them but fortunately for me the most recent concert coincided with their cruise.  I was offered the tickets, complete with prepaid parking.  Did I mention the concert was to celebrate the works of Simon and Garfunkel, one of my favorites?  Yeah, I had to think about that for a nanosecond before saying, "YES!"

The original plan was for me to take Mr. Lime.  He was willing but not terribly enthused.  Then he decided to re-plumb the entire house this weekend...when the concert was scheduled.  I needed another date so I asked my dear pal Gwen.  She needed perhaps two nanoseconds to make her decision because she had to factor in care for a preschool-aged child and her spouse's schedule but since she has a sense of fun which celebrates 60s folk duos over PEX plumbing pipes she ultimately accepted the invitation.

I spent Saturday night at her house and a good time was had by all.  Sunday after lunch we were off to Philly.  We arrived, found the parking and the Kimmel Center easily and were ushered to our seats.  There was a folk duo who provided vocals for many of the songs and captured the spirit of Simon and Garfunkel nicely.  There was a lady a row ahead of us providing great entertainment value in that her head was bobbing vigorously as she was knitting furiously. I never expected to see that.  Behind the orchestra in a balcony there was another attendee who was swaying with great enthusiasm.  She was also fun to watch.  In the top tier was one woman who was acting like she had never left the 60s.  We were a little afraid she was going to fly over the railing. 

We were having as much fun watching the other concert-goers as we were enjoying the music.  Then intermission rolled around.  We stood up to stretch our legs and two women behind us chided, "Do you young girls even have any idea what you're listening to here, what's going on here?"  Gwen and I looked at each other and laughed before we told the ladies that although S & G's first album for Columbia Records had been released before we were born we've each been fans since we were children and we had been singing every word of every song played.  Nonetheless, given the ever-expanding swath of undyed salt encroaching on my previously pepper locks I was amused to be referred to as "young girl."  The ladies were relieved when we said we swiped our parents' vinyl as opposed to our grandparents' so everybody was happy.

The trip home was....less relaxing....We left the city around 7pm.  The trip back to Gwen's should have taken about 90 minutes.  Instead it took three and a half hours...thanks to the most recent winter storm.  I would have had another "90 minutes" back to my house from hers in more storm, later at night.  Thank you, no.  It took me another nanosecond to accept the invitation to stay a second, unplanned night at go to work from her house.  I figured recycling socks and underwear was preferable to a horrible wreck at worst or several more hours on the road at best.

The best surprise from staying an extra night was how pleasant getting ready for work on Monday morning can be when there it involves the following:

• a 2 hour delay so I can sleep in a bit
• waking up to my BFF packing my lunch and making my breakfast
• having her husband clean the snow off my car and ask for my keys so he can start it up and get it warm for me 

Wow....just wow.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  I even had a hot shower without having to chase anyone out of the bathroom.  It was all disorienting in the most relaxing way.  It got better.  The commute from my house involves two highways under construction and full of angry lunatics.  The commute from Gwen's house, though no shorter than my regular drive, involved two roads that meandered along a river flanked by snow covered trees on a blue sky morning.  It was lovely....and not a lunatic was to be found.  I had no idea it was possible to spend 45-60 minutes in the car going to work and not arrive with a BP approaching stroke range. 

I asked Gwen if I could move in.  Though Gwen may be understandably hesitant because their house is small and their preschooler wound up in their bed so I could have hers I think her wee one gave the answer when Gwen shared what she said during the ride home from preschool.

Getting home with her this afternoon, she asked if Auntie Michelle would be here. I said no. She asked why, so I told her that Auntie went home to be with her family. She, looking thoughtful and confused said, "But we are Auntie Michelle's family tooooo!"

Good music, good friends, good words.....yep, I'm feelin' groovy.

Entrance Music

Suldog posed the question as to what our entrance music would be.  It's a hard question.  I shall endeavor to answer.  I have no way of knowing if any music welcomed me on the day of my birth.

On my wedding day the idiot DJ announced Mr. Lime and me to the Theme from Rocky.  I was less than happy because I hadn't thought about the music for that moment and was never asked.  Also, just moments before, the DJ informed me he did not have the music requested for our first dance.  Were you to watch the video from our reception you'd catch a glimpse of me grimacing as I feigned a smile while telling my beloved through clenched teeth I was going to kill the DJ.  I have never been a Stalllone fan.  This did not help.

Earlier in the day I had processed down the aisle to Trumpet Voluntary. My cousin the organist thought it was far classier than the traditional Wedding March. I agreed but half expected to see Alistair Cooke greet me instead of Mr. Lime.

Over at Suldog's I said I had given more thought to my exit music.  Yes, I know that's morbid but it's the truth. Calypso already knows that when the time comes she will be singing this at my funeral....not that I'm in a hurry mind you...

I suggested perhaps my entrance music should be Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. I thought if I went with that I should then do something to break the air of pomposity by tripping down the stairs and landing with my skirt over my head. Having already done significant damage to myself via zipline though I think it might be best not to tempt fate further with such an entrance.

Alternately, I considered Santana's Jingo because I do love me some of that. I'm just not sure it has exactly the feel I am going for. I also thought of Prince's Kiss (yeah, that was the only half decent version of the song I could find in my exhaustive 2 minute search) but he'd probably sue me because that's how he is and that's my stripper song anyway.

 Ultimately I think perhaps I'd go with this because my entrance song needs to get everyone on their feet and dancing.

Philly Doings

As I mentioned, Mr. Lime, the girls, and I went to Philadelphia Sunday rather than watching the SuperDuperBowl.  First stop was a brief (3 hours rather than 7) to the Art Museum.  I found this Medieval German vise  with a rather clenched look about it.  I found that quite amusing in spite of the less than pleasant expression. Who said Germans are humorless?

We each have different taste in art but this piece by Edward Redfield was one we all agreed upon as one we enjoyed.  Similarly we all agreed the weird painting of a crowd of naked toddlers romping in a river was just bizarre.  I wish I had taken a picture of that to show you all. 

After wandering around the art museum we worked up a good bit of hunger so we headed to south Philly to the famous Pat's for a cheesesteak.  As you can see right across the road is their competitor, Geno's.  I suggested we get half our order from one and half from the other then compare the two to see which was favored.  Extreme hunger drove the family to open revolt over the idea of research so Pat's it was. 

My review: they screwed up my order in spite of my correct ordering technique, 2 wiz wit, 1 provolone witout, 1 american witout, (it's not unlike Seinfeld's soup Nazi episode...you order correctly, with cash in hand or get sent to the end of the line).  The cheesesteak was tasty but for $9.50 it seemed pretty skimpy.  The fries, however, were worth every cent.  No there are no fries in this picture.  I ordered them after snarfing down my "wiz wit(out)"

After filling our bellies we moved on to the Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site.  Who knew Philadelphia would be home to this part of the National Park System.  Poe was born in Boston, spent 5 years in England as a child, died in Baltimore, and spent a 6 years in Philadelphia...a single year of which was spent in this particular house, which he rented for the $100 (for the year) after winning a writing contest for the same amount.  There was nothing in the rooms except stripped down plaster walls with a single picture in each....oh, and one room had this stuffed monkey in the closet.  I have absolutely no idea why.  Why not?

In a room that was formerly part of the Poe's neighbor's house things were set up to resemble a Victorian reading room.  We listened to a recording of Christopher Walken reading The Raven.  It was terrifying....as you can see,

We covered art, then literary works, no we moved on to history.  This should need no explanation.  What you may not know is that the Liberty Bell was melted down and recast more than once.  Also, that large crack is not the original one.  The first crack is visible to the naked eye but looks more like a hairline fracture than a gaping fault line.  When I was a kid the Liberty Bell was housed under an open pavilion.  I was poorly lit but you could walk up to it and touch it.  I can recall doing so as a kid on a field trip.  Now it is in a nice visitor center inside where it is necessary to go through a search of one's bags and one's person (repeated when entering the Independence Hall complex)  I called it pirouetting through history since we were told to lift out jackets and spin around.  I wanted to ask for music....at least some tinny rendition of Swan Lake like might be in a six year old's musical jewelry box.  Touching the bell no?  Nope, that's right out!  but it is well lit with ample natural light.

Again we submitted to the search to enter the Independence Hall complex which includes Old City Hall (which is where the Supreme Court sat while Washington, DC was being built), Independence Hall, and Congress Hall.  This is designated as a World Heritage Site.  I am not exaggerating when I say I believe every US citizen should try to visit this place at least once if at all possible.

 The Rising Sun Chair where John Hancock sat.

Inside the signing hall on the first floor.

View from the third floor Long Room through the hallway and out the back window.

Bocce Bowl

Today, instead of partaking in the hooplah surrounding the Super Duper Bowl the Lime family took a day trip to Philadelphia.  It was a bit of a whirlwind.  We went to the Art Museum in the morning, headed to South Philly for cheesesteaks at the revered Pat's, moved back up north to see the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site (ok, maybe we were subconsciously thinking of the Ravens), then ended our day visiting the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Returning home, we got lost in Norristown after we got off the highway looking for gas and eats.  We passed not one but TWO bocce clubs.  We were all amused by the Holy Savior Bocce Club.  What do an avian harbinger of doom and a dirty old prospector have to hold against the Son of God?

Pictures were taken.  They shall be share after I get a good night's sleep and get through a day of work even though I am feeling like I am getting sick....again.

Here's a special little post-holiday ditty for everyone to chuckle over. So, how was your Thanksgiving and who were you talking about? Personally, I just give 'em something to talk about myself...more fun that way.

Far Out Celebration

Several months ago Calypso said she found a recipe for tie dye cake and she wanted to make it for my birthday if I was interested.  I said sure and promptly forgot about it.  Last week she checked if I was still interested.  I said yes.  This is what it looked like once she finished decorating it.  Pretty groovy, huh?

She says between the baking and the decorating it took 3 or 4 hours to make it.  In a  matter of moments the candles were lit and then blown out.  You'll see what made it so complex though...














Now how cool is that?  She had shown me a picture of the recipe and I did not expect the cake she made to have the same vibrancy of colors.  My expectations were too low.  I was totally impressed.  It tasted yummy too.

Ingredients for a Good Beach Day

Make sure you have a reclining beach chair.  It's nice for when you want to snooze.  The hat for blocking sun is also helpful.

If you're a fair-skinned red head you may want to opt for the full-towel burqa when the sun becomes too intense.

Make sure you have someone to deliver merlot to you when you become parched.  If a cabana boy is not available a generous step-uncle is a nice option.

A noodle is good for floating around the river and not too cumbersome to schlep to the beach.

Make sure you have your camera ready for dramatic pre-storm shots of the sky.  I'd also have to say a nice roofed golf cart is handy for hightailing it off the beach just before the lightning reaches your side of the river.

Make sure to bring a sense of humor so you can laugh when one of the pictures makes it look like a tiny person is standing on the back of your father's chair so she can pick your head for lice.

And if you don't like my suggestions this is all Diana and I have to say...

Good times...good times...

Recent Doings

I didn't post much last week because it has been a very full many days.  First I sent Mr. Lime and the girls off to Georgia to see his mother.  Then I sent Isaac off with this crew who will be spending two weeks in Arizona on a Navajo reservation.  Isaac is that giant in the back row.  Lord have mercy, I'm going to miss him but my grocery bill will be significantly reduced while he is gone.

Then I went to visit my dad who turns 70 this week.  He invited my brother and me for dinner (refused to let us pay) to celebrate.  I suggested since no pictures exist of the three of us together as adults (except a very strained photo from my wedding when various tensions were at their height) it might be a nice way to mark the milestone.  He agreed and I talked him into posing solo so I could "adjust my camera settings and get the tripod ready."

Here's the best one of the lot.  My brother is almost smiling.  My dad is genuinely smiling...because his hidden hand is reaching back and poking me in the ribs as I dashed in to get ready for the timer to go off. 

I also visited my mom and strolled around her garden.  She's has an official Monarch Way Station in her yard.  Here's a milkweed from it.

And a....um...Liatris...I think.  I was kind of pleased by the accidental bokeh I achieved.

Finally, I went out Saturday night to celebrate a coworker's milestone birthday.  She wanted all of us to join her for a latin experience at her favorite club.

Yes, I helped close the place down.  Danced my first and second and third merengues, salsas, and bachatas.  I would have to say those are listed in order of difficulty.  I was ok while my friend or her daughter were teaching me because they kept the steps pretty simple.  When they got more complicated I was lost in the machata but watching couples who knew what they were doing was lovely.  Here I am engaging in what is known as a Trini wine (for this song I was not the one being led to the floor I did the leading, hehehehe).  No footwork needed.  It's almost entirely pelvic....and that's all I'm gonna say on that... 

A good time was had by all.

Now if you'll excuse me I have discovered the merengue is a helluva workout.  My thighs need some ice packs and ben-gay.

deCordova Sculpture Park

Since I so thoroughly enjoyed the MFA, Lisa suggested we spend some time at deCordova Sculpture Park. She and Jacob have been there before and he loves the place. Jacob is also a fan of the show Work of Art in which artists are given an assignment and judged on their results in competition with one another. We spent a beautiful morning with a clipboard so we could give our own scores to the works of art we saw in the park.

This is called Rain Gates by the artist.  Jacob and Lisa dubbed it Dream Doors during their last visit to the park.  Jacob was having a rough time with some things so Lisa told him to go through the doors and walk into happier feelings.  That time it worked.  This time Jacob told me he was walking into nightmares when he went through the doors but he was strong and taking care of the bad things he found.  We spent a good deal of time romping around this piece together and talking about dreams.  It was a very good conversation.  I love when art does that. We gave this work some high marks for beauty and sparking imagination.

I wasn't able to find markers on everything so I don't know the name of this.  Notice the container with a stick at the end.  Each end had those and visitors were encouraged to use the sticks on the sculpture which functioned as a large xylophone.  We had a lot of fun racing around it chasing each other while we dragged our sticks along the tubes.  The sound drew several other people.  After we were done playing it was fun to step back and watch the expressions of the other people who discovered it.  Not a single person failed to smile ear to ear.  High marks for simplicity and joy factor.

I've read about yarn bombing but had never seen it before.  Throughout the park there were several spots that had been yarn bombed.  I liked the whimsy of it.

This is a detail of Eve Celebrant.  We saw Lilith in the MFA and Eve at deCordova.  I liked that she was carrying a pomegranate instead of an apple.  The come hither gesture also seemed appropriate. 

In amongst a small stand of evergreens I found a group of these guards of the forest called Cones.  I think it would be easy to miss them because of the way they were obscured but I'm sure that was intentional.  They were arrayed in rows and standing at attention but they seemed a friendly, perhaps a little weary and glad for company, as well.

After a little army of pinecone people I found a metal forest.










There was another small grove of trees.  Amongst them were fallen knights in various positions with no markers.  All you Monty Python fans out there will understand why I call this None Shall Pass.

The artist called this Jacob's Dream.  I wasn't all that impressed and Jacob didn't seem to be either.  His happiest dreams involve cats and Harry Potter, not twisted blobs of metal.  Not the highest marks here.

Finally, just as it was time to be departing I found this work entitled The Merry-Go-Round of Hidden Agendas.  The windmill on top moved with the wind propelling small figures with speech bubbles around the track and through the various houses.  The speech bubbles contained one statement on the outside with another perspective on the inside.  It was a pretty fascinating piece of social commentary.  I gave it high marks for creatively getting its point across in a very clear way.

Rules of the Visit

As you know, I was in Boston visiting my dear cousin Lisa.  We were both looking forward to the time together.

I also look forward to seeing her boy, Jacob, who always gives up his room when I come to stay.  He doesn't complain about this act of hospitality but I know it's still displacing for him.

I noticed that he has posted rules on his bedroom door since the last time I was there.  I shall endeavor to obey.

I am indeed older than three, though some may question whether this applies to chronology or maturity.  I also don't smoke.  So I should be ok here...

I have to play with Jacob?  Not a problem.  I was hoping to do so.  We enjoyed a Harry Potter board game constructed from Legos.  I never saw a Lego board game before.  It was very clever. We did indeed have fun....and it was peaceful.  Ok, so I've got these rules covered.  I was feeling good about this.

Uh-oh, I hope this isn't a blanket rule for all moms!  I don't want those skulls coming after me in the dark!  I was a bit concerned.  I guess it was unnecessary though since I made it back alive and unmolested by scary skulls.

More posts to come on the fun and mayhem had in the greater Boston area.  If you really can't wait to hear about the time with Suldog and HIS WIFE feel free to get a sneak preview over at his place.