NYC 2011 ... Kayti's Best-Ever Spring Break!

Kayti & I went to New York City for spring break again this year.

We did some old favorites ... rode the ferris wheel in Toys R Us, ate oatmeal at Jamba Juice, shopped at the NBC Store, ate a delicious dinner at the Brooklyn Diner (sat where Dermot Mulroney, Neil Patrick Harris and Al Roker sat), and spent hours in the Strand Bookstore.

BUT THIS YEAR, we saw the "Addams Family" on Broadway (great music, loved Wednesday). We also went up to the Top of the Rock.

And ate soft pretzels on the street corner (our favorite lunch!).

And bought some very cool boots at Urban Outfitters.

And on Monday, we met cousin Steven for dinner at Serendipity for great conversation and Frozen Hot Chocolate. Steven attends Columbia and is Kayti's movie mentor. He brought Kayti an advertisement for a new play, "The Normal Heart," opening on Broadway Tuesday night, starring none other than Kayti's favorite actor, LEE PACE, along with Jim Parsons from "The Big Bang Theory" and Ellen Barkin.

To make an amazing long story short, Tuesday morning Kayti and I got last minute, just-releasaed tickets for the opening night of "The Normal Heart" ... seats typically saved for producers ... in the second row! The show was the best we've ever seen. It was the true, moving, profound and awe-inspiring story of the brave men and their doctor who first experienced the outbreak of AIDS in New York City and it was something we will never forget.

Of course, we will also never forget the opportunity to get autographs after the show...

AND PHOTOGRAPHS with LEE PACE (Oh. My. Goodness. Kayti could barely breathe after this ... and rightfully so!)

On our last day, we saw "La Cage Aux Folles" (fun, fun!) and ended our trip with a stop at one of our favorite NY retreats, Bryant Park, where we were moved by the Empire State Building shrouded in fog.

It was our best trip to date. We've got the hang of it now ... how to get around, how to schedule (or not) our nights and days, and where to stay, eat, and shop. And, most importantly, how to find the stars after the show!

A Reasonable Excuse

I have always told Andy, Willie & Kayti that skipping school on days when they are not sick is a privilege earned by being good students, great kids and by meeting several key criteria:

(1) There may be no tests during the class(es) that will be missed.

(2) There may be no prep for tests during the class(es) that will be missed.

(3) I will not lie when I phone-in their absence, and

(4) The justification for the truancy must be reasonable.

Yesterday was an A-Day at Potomac Falls High School. Kayti's second class on A-Days is Latin 4, a class in which she has over 100%.

(1) No test.

(2) No test prep.

(3) "Kayti will be leaving at 10:45 today. She should be back by noon."

(4) Blockbuster Video was closing. All the movies were on sale.

Kayti bought 10 movies.

More than reasonable.

Road Trip for Snow Cones

Kayti and I love snow cones.

As snow cone connoisseurs, we have identified two snow cone establishments on the East Coast worthy of a road trip:

One is Sno-To-Go in Williamsburg, a six hour round trip for Kayti's favorite Twizzle Berry and my favorite Cherry/Grape/Lemon Lime mix.

The other is The Snowball Stand in Woodstock, Maryland, a 2.5 hour trip round trip for Kayti's watermelon and my cherry, both with a huge dollop of marshmallow goo on top.

Last Thursday, Kayti took a personal day from school and we took a road trip to The Snowball Stand. To make the trip educational (ha!), I gave Kayti the map and she told me when and where to turn. No major highways allowed once we crossed the Potomac. For just over three hours we giggled our way along the highlighted route below, passing through lots of cute tiny towns until we finally made it to the corner of Woodstock Road and Route 99.

We took highways on the way home and made it back in 1.25 hours. Worth every minute in the car. Yum!

Entering the High School: A Study

More often than not this year, I have driven Kayti to school. This process gives her an extra 15 minutes in the morning and it gives me time with her in the car, something that will slowly fade away over the next few months as her solo trips as a new driver become more frequent.

Every morning, after Kayti gets out of the car, I have a brief moment or two while I am still in the car line to observe the social phenomenon of Entering a School. At any given time, there are about 20-25 kids walking toward the 2 sets of double doors to get into the building. While there are the exceptional one or two groups of kids entering together, the majority of 15-18 year olds enter alone, keeping their heads either down or straight ahead and walking tentatively to avoid the awkwardness of keeping the same pace with the person next to them. I've seen kids, who I am certain know each other, glance in the direction of their acquaintance in hope of recognition, only to be denied or unseen and so they continue with the pack as it moves toward the doors.

Funny thing about this ... at 49 I can still relate to the "will someone acknowledge me / should I acknowledge them" tug of war of this process and the agonizing attack on self-worth that can accompany it with every step. I still feel it sometimes as I enter the same building for church each week, but then up walks the designated Greeter, who reaches out his or her hand and welcomes me on Sunday mornings.

Too bad there's no Greeter Club in high school.

New York, New York

Kayti and I got to spend 4 days in New York City during her Spring Break and here's our stats for the trip:

3 Plays (Chicago, Mary Poppins & Promises, Promises)

2 Museums (MoMA & Natural History)

4 Brushes with Fame (Danny Aeillo, Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenowith

& Tabatha Coffey)

3 Soft Pretzels

39 Floors above Times Square at the Marriott Marquis:

20 Minutes in the Sunshine out at Bryant Park on Thursday,

our only non-rainy day

1 Huge Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity:

2 Books Finished (hung out in the hotel room for 5 hours on

a very rainy Tuesday afternoon just reading and relaxing)

2 Trips to Amy's Bread for Yummy Cinnamon Challah Knots

18 Miles worth of Books at the Strand Bookstore ...

coulda stayed there all night:

360° Around in the View Restaurant (with pieces of EVERY dessert

offered in the buffet!)

1500 Model UN Students cramming the Elevators and Hallways of the Hotel

1 Italian UN'er we ran into several times who stared at Kayti a lot

7 French Sailors roaming Times Square in silly uniforms with

red pompoms on their hats:

7 Lindt Truffles Consumed

1 Amazing Flower Show at Macy's:

2 Lousy Disposable Cameras ... never again. I will carry my Nikon

next time, even if every day is rainy!

7 Trips Around on the Toys R Us Ferris Wheel

1 Great Picture with Candy Land's King Candy:

And LOTS of wonderful memories!

God Bless Us, Everyone

Kayti is calling me Tiny Tim. Makes me laugh every single time she says it. Somehow I injured my ankle by just walking up the stairs on Friday night. Yes, I felt an awful "twang," but made my way upstairs and into bed anyway. About 12 steps into Saturday morning, the "twang" came back and by Monday my ankle really hurt, walking was difficult and the swelling had started.

My new favorite doctor, Dr. Wilson, sentenced me to two weeks of boot or crutches, no driving and threats of a full-blown cast if I didn't "listen to the pain" and put my foot up immediately whenever it started hurting. Apparently I damaged a tendon. Not the big Achilles one, but some other one and tearing or breaking this particular tendon leads to surgery and a year's worth of recuperating. Hence, the boot and the crutches and about 15-20 minutes of moving around every 2 hours or so.

Got the bills paid. Got the graphics work almost all done. Got the iPhoto book created. Working on the Christmas cards and a few other graphics projects. Watched Julie & Julia (love it!) and countless tacky but addicting Fa-la-la-la-Lifetime Christmas movies!

My parents got the lights on the tree and drove me all over town yesterday, helping me get some errands done. Gary's doing the dishes and Kayti's carrying things all over the house for me. (I didn't cook with two good ankles, so a little swelling hasn't changed that!) And, while the little devil on my shoulder says: "Poo, Drat, and Cuss," the sweet little angel on the other shoulder says: "Thanks for the rest."

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Fun at the Register

Last week Kayti & I stopped at Rite Aid to pick up a few things. We roamed through the store, paid for our items and got in the car.

As the car doors closed, she said "Did you see that Dad and boy behind us at the register? I want to go home with them." I hadn't noticed them.

"Why in the world do you want to do that?" I asked with great curiosity. "Because all they bought was a poster board, a glue stick, Fruity Peebles and ice cream. They're gonna have a lot of fun!"

Yes, indeed. What a great Dad.

Don't you agree?

I was told to post a new blog a couple of times each week to keep my readers coming back to visit my site regularly. If you're reading this, then thank you for checking in even though I did not follow that advice for the last 2-3 weeks.

Important Note about today's blog:

Kayti has given me permission to write this.

I got a text in the middle of the day from Kayti. After reading it, I promptly replied "Be there soon," grabbed my purse, and hopped into the car to head to the school. Sometimes as parents we need to let our kids learn lessons the hard way. You know, like when they forget their homework, we should let them get a bad grade so they won't forget it next time. This was not one of those learning situations. If I let this go, it would have life-long ramifications.

On the way to the school, I thought through all of the things I could tell the secretaries about why Kayti would have to come home with me. My rule of only telling the truth was requiring me to push the envelope and be creative.

As I walked out of the school with Kayti beside me, she said "Thanks, Mom." "My pleasure, sweet thing," I replied. "I understand all too well. I think every other woman on the planet would feel the same way."

Kayti's text:

"Mom, you have to come get me. I have PE next and I haven't shaved my legs for 3 days."

Medicine Mom

Years ago there was this TV show about moms. I don't remember the title of the show and it certainly didn't last beyond the first season, but what I do remember about it was the how the actresses talked directly to the camera now and then. One of those scenes came to mind this past week. The moms came out and wondered aloud if it was bad parenting to withhold Tylenol from their sick kids "because it took away the fever and just perked them right up."

This week Kayti has been home with a terrible sinus headache ... one that wouldn't even go away with Tylenol AND Motrin. It is very hard to be a mom and not be able to make the pain go away. I couldn't kiss it and take away the pressure that made Kayti feel like her face was going to explode. For two days Kayti felt awful and for two days I got to hang out with her ... when she wasn't napping, we watched movies and giggled despite the throbbing in her head. It was both awful and wonderful at the same time.

The pain finally eased on the third day. The virus ran its course. Or the storm front passed. Or the white blood cells kicked in. Whatever it was, my sweet girl felt better and before I knew it, she was off and hanging out with her friends again, just as she should be. It was both awful and wonderful at the same time.