One Word 365 Roundup (2024)

Dusting off this blog - at least for one post this year - seeing as how I didn't even do the 2023 roundup. I will get back to that... maybe... eventually.

But it seems fitting that as I wrap the year of connection, I reconnect here for that, and look forward to where next year is leading. Connection did not go AT ALL how I had thought it might. (Though I should not be surprised. Often my words lead me down paths I never expected). I had intended connection to be a year of writing a lot of letters, catching up with friendships I'd neglected recently, or for a long while, and fostering some better relationships with my kiddos. (This last part went ok, I think!) 

Instead, most of the year was spent working through two specific connections. One, where the end result is we let it fade. I've come to terms that the friendship was strong for a season but the season has ended, and that's ok. Friendship is hard, even at nearly 50, and working through the feelings of letting go is never easy. On the other side of a long year of reaching back for it, and re-learning that the ending of things is not always personal - sometime things just are, or need to be that way for unknown reasons - I am finally OK in this space. Grateful for the time we had. Forging forward with others. As I grappled, I was reminded through conversations with my girls... "mom, if this was my friendship I was describing to you... what would you tell me?"  And that perspective is just what I needed to finally let it go. 

The second was completely unexpected. Long ago, my ex and I split, and my girls gained a stepmom. Over the last 15 years, we worked hard with our unusual family to build a co-parenting situation that met the needs of the girls and made them feel fully loved despite our split homes and all the baggage that came with them. We got along fine, and I would even have said prior to this year, that we'd progressed beyond the space of only co-parents to some loose definition of casual friends. Not at all deep confidants, but more than just a hello at the grocery store type thing. 15 years of build a family will do that, and I've treasured how we've put all the "family creation" circumstances behind us and just made it work. Due to other things happening this year, our relationship took a turn, down the deep friendship path. Shared experiences, and a shared love of the girls and our commitment to show them how love works when people value each other, has solidified our now even more unusual family.  Current status: 2 moms, 3 kids, and 2 homes where all those kids are loved and know they are welcome any time. Different than what any of us would have said in January, but as we enter the flip side of this year, I think we both would say that this connection pulled us through to the brighter days ahead.

And as I reflect on the connections where my time was spent in particular, I feel that the work I had planned to do this year is left waiting to be done. And still should be done, and I feel called to continue what I had intended. Which leads me to the word of 2025. "Thread".  A repeat of connection didn't feel right, but as I think about how threads weave together to strengthen things, or can be tugged upon to unravel other things, perhaps that is exactly how this focus should look. Weaving growth and strength into places of neglect, and pulling a little to help the things that can depart fully be released without regret. 

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**My OneWord365 History**

2012 - brave
2013 - grace
2014 - journey
2015 - wait
2016 - pursue
2017 - raw
2018 - listen
2019 - balance
2020 - enough
2021 - YES, AND

2022 - EMBRACE

2023 - soften

2024 - connection

2025 - thread

One Word 365 Roundup (2022)

We've reached the end of 2022. One year later, one more post. It's time to reflect on how things went this year - and look ahead to what 2023's focus will be.

In this year, my OneWord365 focus was EMBRACE. Embracing all the change ahead, whatever every new day brought my way. I continued my walk the year adventures. While I did not match last year's 3,006 miles, nor achieve either of my target date goals (2022 by my birthday; W&OD end to end in a day), I did get to 2022 (Oct 13, so a month and 10 days after plan), and I did figure out why my goal of the W&OD in a day didn't work. (The W&OD is Washington & Old Dominion Trail - a rail to trail path here. It is 45 miles from end to end. The distance isn't the problem, the training isn't the problem. The target of a weekend day when it was warm enough (but not hot) and daylight for long enough isn't a thing. Soccer games, lacrosse games, field hockey games. And that's just my parent challenge. Add basketball, lacrosse, band, soccer, swim, (and other things I am forgetting) for my walker partner kiddos... it's not happening. Mid summer brings (the occasional) free Saturday, but July out here would make us melt in the humidity. Not a good plan. 

On a walk today, it finally occurred to us that we need to do it on a weekday (when the trail is less crowded and the kids stuff is after school so they can sort of self transport or we can get them carpooled). April or May, or maybe September. Before the sunlight also wipes us out. With a coordinated, planned PTO day, I think this year we can make it happen. We shall try again. In the meantime, I embraced the reality that the goals I had set weren't going to happen as I had envisioned, and I dismissed any notion of guilt about it. Other things were more important, and realizing that was a key to this year. 

S, my oldest, is now 17, nearly halfway through her senior year - and what a ride it has been. She is awaiting college acceptance info. She jumped into that challenging arena with two feet and has fully owned the process. It has been my joy and delight to support her through the process. Support has looked like listening to ideas, accompanying her on tours, asking the occasional question, and cheering her on as each application has gone out the door. She's got great choices ahead of her. Now I am embracing the art of waiting (2015 was good practice for this) while the acceptance information comes in and then the art of listening as she reasons through to the landing place. My prayer is that she finds a place that she loves as much as it loves her back - where she can grow, learn, and thrive. 

A, my youngest, is now 14. She has started high school, stepped up into a leadership role on her travel soccer team and is currently in the middle of winter track season - a new sport for her. Embrace, for me, in this, looks like showing up for meets (and trying to understand the ... loosely organized chaos), cheering her on, a whole new schedule of practice pickups, and a new set of terminology. 

Watching both the girls grow, learn, work through challenges, while mama cheers from the sideline, and listens when asked, advises (mostly when asked, though they would tell you I also still do it occasionally when NOT asked - this plays right into my 2023 word), and hugs them through all of it. 

My dear friend Erika and I embraced a challenge this year - a girls only trip to Mallorca, where we hiked a good part of the GR221, met some amazing people, spent 10 days together away from our families, and connected like we haven't had a chance to since we graduated. 10 days away from work was a challenge. I have a wonderful team - they did an amazing job. I didn't check in, I didn't check email, I embraced the full brain break from work focus for the first time in I cannot remember how long. It was necessary, it was refreshing. Big win. 

And as we reached the end of this year, I embraced the need for a change in my physical health. Due to a long and twisty journey, this year ended with me having a full hysterectomy on December 8. I have been off work since then (will return in Jan) and fully focused on recovery and healing. There is work yet to be done here, however I am pleased to report that I am feeling AMAZING and so many of the challenges I was facing these last few years are already gone. I am back up and walking my regular distance most days, albeit at a slower pace for now, and can see so much improvement. I have also watched a lot of terrible TV, some terrific TV, read a pile of books, and been very mindful to focus on resting. The girls, neighbors, and friends all stepped up to make this work. 

The last thing I embraced this year was the ask from the kids to get our Christmas cards out on time (instead of for New Year's) and I am delighted to report 100% success on that. They even (mostly) ARRIVED before Christmas. A win!

As this year draws to a close, that takes me to thoughts of what comes next. While this year has been about embracing all the lasts (as S prepares to graduate) and the firsts (as A starts her HS journey), next year promises more - so much more - of the same. 6 months until graduation. 8 months until she starts the next chapter somewhere else. And A and I figure out what it looks like with only one kiddo here. How do we let go and let them grow, and yet hold tight and catch all the memories in the making? How do we celebrate the wins and also grow, learn, and give space for others to do the same? How do we do all of that while still remembering grace, kindness, and love come above all the other things?

That is where my word of the year comes in. 2023 is the year of "soften". Hold them close, but not TOO close. Teach and guide them, but gently, softly, where they can step up and do the doing on their own. Hold hands, cheer, support. But don't drag them through. Encourage rather than dictate. Celebrate without overwhelming. Love without smothering. Make the memories and allow them to make some on their own, too. Be there, but sometimes be the silent supporter. Let them shine, let them grow, love them through it all, and reflect it back. I contemplated "relinquish" and "release" as other options, but those sounded too harsh for the mission here. Not letting go of all the things - not hands off or shoving away. Rather gentle shaping around the edges, holding space for all of it. Cupping my hands to shield from the wind gusts as the first one looks to leave the nest, and as the second one starts to stretch her wings. A safe space to launch, and a soft space for landing when they come back.  

Soften - here we go.

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**My OneWord365 History**

2012 - brave
2013 - grace
2014 - journey
2015 - wait
2016 - pursue
2017 - raw
2018 - listen
2019 - balance
2020 - enough
2021 - YES, AND

2022 - EMBRACE

2023 - soften

One Word 365 Roundup (2021)

One year (and a few days) later, I am right back here. Haven't written (here, anyway) since the last post, and maybe that looks different next year - we shall see. It is time, however, for the OneWord365 review, and the launching off point for the word of 2022.

At the bottom, you can see my full OneWord365 journey. It's been an adventure. This year brings the 11th time I am focusing on one word, rather than a pile of resolutions, and I am grateful for the growth each word has brought in its own time. 

Some have brought habits that have continued (example, the sink tweets that started with RAW in 2017, and are still here), and some have served their purpose well but are no longer in the forefront of my decisions. That's how it works, I think - some things stick and some things move along. 

Checking in on 2021, the year of YES, AND. There's enough binary decision making going on in the world, that the perspective of multiple things being true at the same time was much needed.

A few specific things I tackled: 

1. "RunTheYear".  My friend Leslie decided she needed to get moving with a goal this year. She texted to tell me about it, and I decided some focus would be great. but 2021 miles in a year??  Uhhh. Hard.  I said YES it is hard, AND I will try anyway. Signed up at Run The Edge (link in case you want to try with us). Please note, there is not much running happening here. There is a lot of walking! We added my friend Anna, who it turns out had been doing this challenge for several years already. Headed out on Jan 1, got started, and hit the first goal (2021 miles!) in September. Then a friend, who shall remain publicly nameless, challenged me to 3,000 miles by the end of the year. YES that is bananas. AND I went for it anyway. Crossed 3,000 yesterday (good grief that was a lot of miles) and have rounded out this year with 3,006. YES, I signed up for next year. Changed the goals a little; this is a mission I am keeping.

3006 miles total. Photo from a walk in the North Carolina mountains this summer.

2. Saying farewell to the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award Foundation. I feel so grateful to have been able to volunteer with this organization for the last 7 years, several of which included time on the Board of Directors. YES, I love the people, the work, and the mission.  AND with much reflection and prayer, it is time for someone else to step in and continue. I will miss everyone a lot. I still plan to show up for their events. It's still time for others to lead, and I know they will do an amazing job. I look forward to seeing where they take it!

3. Planning for a trip (scheduled for spring 2022). YES covid is still here, making things a challenge, wreaking havoc on plans. AND my bestie and I are targeting a girls' trip, to walk-about the island of Mallorca. Cheers to her husband, my girls' dad & stepmom, and my folks, who will be holding down the fort while we log some miles and time together. Our families were supposed to vacation together in summer 2020. This has turned into the mamas only, next year. YES, Planning and choosing optimism in the face of so much *gesturing* of all this is hard. AND we choose to try anyway. 

A few general day to day applications

A. yes I am still tweeting about my sink. and it is still as motivating and accountablity holding for me as it was when I started in 2017

B. yes metro still has rotten service/reliability. and it's still mostly better than me navigating parking downtown. 

C. yes, I wanted the Nationals to win more games. And my guy is a Barves fan, so he's enjoying the World Series outcome

D. Yes, memories last forever. And saying goodbye when a beloved friend dies still hurts. 

E. Yes, getting up early is hard. (note, when I say early, I mean 4:15). AND doing this so that the miles are shared with friends is worth it. The best conversations, and the best sunrises are some of the rewards. 

Best sunrise of the year. Ida Lee Park, Leesburg, VA

F. Yes, it's hard when your team trades away the players you love. And it's ok to welcome the new guys. And to cheer for your traded guys on their new teams. AND not everyone agrees with that last sentence. Which is ok, because this is my word of the year :-) 

G. Yes, raising teens is hard. AND it's also wonderful, rewarding, and heart-growing. I love my girls to the moon and back.

YES, 2021 brought a bucket full of challenges, AND still we found some bright spots. Vaccines arrived (hooray), the girls were finally back in school in September (hooray), we did get some time with my family this summer (hooray)! We took a quiet vacation to the mountains of North Carolina and enjoyed hiking, rafting, AND I conquered my fear of heights long enough to do a hot air balloon ride, which WOW what an amazing way to view the world. 

And now, with the final sunset of 2021 on the horizon (farewell, so long, I am done), it's time to look ahead to the new year, and a new challenge. 

2022 is bringing a lot of change to our world. I have one kiddo about to be a fully licensed driver, and she's starting the college exploration path, and she will be a senior. (HOW DID THIS HAPPEN). My other one will start high school in the fall. And with this last year ahead, I want to make sure I pay attention to what's happening. Both the changes coming and the memories we're making. The big and the small. With the girls; with my family; with my friends. Tackling some new goals (2022 miles targeted in a different way), taking a more deliberate walk through Scripture with some additional focus time there. 

I mulled on a lot of words before one made itself very well known. 2022 is the year of EMBRACE. Reaching out and wrapping my arms around my people, memories, experiences, goals, learning, and the future. Both literally (lots of hugs on deck) and figuratively (a focused effort to pray specifically for people, one at a time, and some journaling of the things I see/learn/do/feel. The gratitude journal has arrived). 

Cheers to the new year; may yours be filled with grace, love, laughter, and hope. Embrace them every day.

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**My OneWord365 History**

2012 - brave
2013 - grace
2014 - journey
2015 - wait
2016 - pursue
2017 - raw
2018 - listen
2019 - balance
2020 - enough
2021 - YES, AND

2022 - EMBRACE

crossing the "finish line" of 2021 miles. Sept 16, 2021.
With walker buddies (and dear friends) Anna and Leslie

One Word 365 roundup

 Some other day we will get back to the 2017 spring break finishing. and the amazing 2019 world series championship from our beloved baseball team. And the years of OneWord 365 that I didn't publish.

(here's a history by the way)

2012 - brave
2013 - grace
2014 - journey
2015 - wait
2016 - pursue
2017 - raw
2018 - listen
2019 - balance
2020 - enough
2021 - (no I won't spoil it by putting it at the top. You will have to read the full post)

Let's start with how did ENOUGH play out for this year? 

I had intended to make this be an assessment of 
* am I doing enough (in the arenas of attention / engagement with my kiddos, growth and development at work, exploring interests I've long left by the wayside, focus on my relationship with one particular person, exercise/health attention)
* where am I doing more than enough - and therefore should cut back (in the arenas of volunteer work, leadership roles rather than helper roles behind the scenes)

Things started off slowly for my focus on all of these things in January. and then on March 11 everything changed. (that's the day my kids last went to school in person).  Enough took on a whole new spin, and rapidly at that.

I've spent the last 9 months focused on not the ideas I had, but also - what is enough with regard to physical distancing, wearing a mask, locking down before seeing family members. What is enough with regard to physical space - we learned that our landlords were selling our rental property that we were living in, and we moved. I am HUGELY GRATEFUL for a new-to-us place in the same neighborhood, with a fantastic configuration to support this work from home mama AND a space for each kiddo to do school at home. (Did I mention they are still school at home? They will be until the end of this school year. At least. I am hopeful that ENOUGH people will be vaccinated to facilitate a return to fully in person learning by fall 2021). I spend time each morning digging up enough energy to get through that day. 

We are weathering current circumstances better than many, and I am grateful for that as well. I learned we had more than enough stuff, so we did a wonderfully freeing purge when we moved. I was reminded that even as we mask up and stay apart, my village showed up to do enough of the heavy lifting to help the move be easier than expected. 

As for the volunteer time, that looks a little different, but I did assess where I was over extended and culled that back to be what feels like the right level of commitment for now. And made a note to revisit every year holistically, as well as every time someone asks for volunteers. I think this has been a welcome change.

As for the enough time invested in the kids - I think I struck a good balance of partnering with them in the new school-at-home-and-everything-looks-different-and-I-miss-my-friends-and-where-is-normal-mom situation, but not hovering too much. Though they might disagree a bit. (or a lot). They've grown a lot in their independence. Everyone takes turns cooking dinner (full meals with fancy stuff even) and doing dishes now. That's been a blessing - as it means I can put in my work hours doing the day, and don't have to go back online after dinner most days. Which in turn has allowed me to put some more time into reading - one of those things I love so much and didn't spend nearly enough time doing in the several years leading up to this one. 

And as every single day brings something else in 2020 (today there's a power outage in town so half of the teachers and school kids can't even log on to the school programs), I think we all want to say enough is enough, and look forward to the brighter days ahead. 

Which brings me to the word of 2021.  We all spend a lot of time in "either or" mode. Things must be one way or the other. If this one thing is true then some other thing cannot also be true. The world is not a two outcome place. Real life is not always either / or.  Therefore, in this coming year, I am looking at it from the perspective of  "YES, AND".  ( YES, I know that is two words AND there are no rules in OneWord365.) So often we hear "yes, but..."   I am changing the conjunction of focus to and.  

As we enter the last 9 days of 2020 - may you find enough love to carry you over the threshold to a new year, with vaccines, hope, renewed purpose and brighter days.  Consider joining the friendly folks at oneword365 and seeing if a word focus rather than a resolution focus changes where you might be headed. 

With love from here, I wish 2020 a (not so fond) farewell (and a swift kick in the pants for good measure) and  2021 a warm welcome. 

2021: Yes, and. 

Day 4 - Listen

I like watching baseball, playoff baseball in particular. Live at the ballpark is my favorite, but watching from home on TV is also fun for me. Even better than the watching, though, is the listening.

We are fortunate in DC to have a FANTASTIC pair of radio people - Charlie (Slowes) and Dave (Jagler). They really bring the game to life with details and then an array of facts and baseball trivia and interesting tidbits to fill in all the in between. 

I let the girls listen when they go to bed if there's a game on. We listen when we're in the car. And I keep the radio up and the TV down when the Nats are on TV here. Charlie and Dave are my favorite baseball companions. 

Late last season, the Nats did a giveaway of a radio lanyard. This clever thing is a lanyard with a small radio built into a reversible single headphone. The wonder of this is that with it, while you are live at the ballpark, you can put Charlie and Dave right in your ear, no delay. It lets you get the detail you missed when watching. It lets you hear what's going on when you can't quite figure it out from the stands (he was ejected? why? ) I also use it when I want to tune out the chatter from some folks sitting around me. 

I listen to Charlie and Dave almost every night of the season when I am not at the ballpark. This year I have LOVED being able to listen to them while I am live there also. 

I got my hands on a few extras - one for each of the girls. A used it while we were at the Wild Card game this week and said it helped her track stuff better as well. Big win all around for the added gift of listening to the radio live at the ballpark.

Day 3 - Problem

Today's prompt is PROBLEM.  And I have a problem ... I am drawing a blank here. Interesting. I usually reason so hard and through so many permutations when trying to think through solutions that I wear myself to the point of exhaustion.

Today - the opposite. My brain is off. Perhaps that's too many late nights in a row (thanks playoff baseball - YAY and too much homework on practice nights for the girls - BOO). 

I am amused - it's been a long time since I felt like there was NOTHING happening in my brain. Sure sign I need to go to bed.

Although - another positive of my lack of topical thought here, I guess, is that there aren't any major pressing problems in my inner brain circle tonight. That should make a restful night in a few minutes. (CHEERING!!!).

So, with that I'll say - glad I made the effort to throw a few non important words on the page tonight to keep the streak going. That will help me want to write tomorrow. And keep me on track for all 31 days.

Goodnight friends.

Day 2 - Gift

Last night was a baseball game here in DC. My favorite team playing in a one game winner-take-all Wild Card game.

with our friend K, (left) before the game

Baseball as I've often written is my safe space. When I need to reset my brain (redirect, actually) or when I need to do some hard thinking, I do it best at the ballpark.

None of that was happening last night. The whole night was super intense. At least for me. My youngest got to come along with me. Oldest had a game with her varsity team and she made the right (if hard) choice to stay with the team. 

the view from our seats as the Nationals celebrated their win

We trekked down to the ballpark, smooshed in our little Subaru outback with friends. We watched the ebb and flow of the game. The horror of the early home runs against us. The glee of the home run as we tried to come back. The middle innings of good pitching and NO HITTING.  And then as we were down to our final 5 outs, the tide turned. You can read about it and listen to the radio call. 

And after it had turned, and the crowd roared all through it - the loudest I've ever heard my ballpark in person, and after the last fly ball was caught, we exhaled. And we screamed. We cheered and high-fived with strangers. A playoff win. A move forward to the next round.

a bunch of my in real life Nats friends, cheering with the win! 

And the gift of celebrating it with real life friends and stranger but family fan friends. There is little that compares to a playoff win. And the joy that comes when you share it? A gift of a memory to last a lifetime.

Day 1 - Why

Well, this is an appropriate prompt to start with! Why write? Why share my words from my head with friends (or even random internet strangers)? 

For me, sometimes I write (when I make the time) to help make sense of the jumble of thoughts in my brain. Sometimes it is to record some things we did so that I can share with my family (see the unfinished spring break posts) and friends so that I don't repeat myself, or so that far away friends can see and share in our adventures. Or so that I don't forget a memory that I later want to share with the kids. 

Occasionally I write because I am bored and need to refocus on something. Or because I've been meaning to call and catch up with someone but due to time zones and crazy schedules, it is ALWAYS the wrong time to call them. My bestie lives in Seattle.  I don't need to wake her at 4:12a just to ask how her kids are adapting to new schools. She would answer, every time I call, but that is hardly an emergency. So instead I write an email.

And sometimes I write here because it helps me keep a commitment or dust off some rusty skills that may need to be re-engaged. Maybe there's something I need to let out that I can't even put my finger on yet.  Or maybe I just need to see if I cam muster up the energy to make this a regular habit again. I was on a roll for a while and then for 2 years --- ZILCH. And I have missed the writing. And I have missed hanging out with the FMF community on Thursday nights. Life got in the way. 

As fall arrives this year, and I think about what 2019 has brought so far, it's brought a lot of new connections, but also a reminder that there are some old connections I have been missing more than I realized.  So thanks, Kate, for this chance to oil the rusty joints and reach back out to the FMF fun. Glad to be back.  And glad to see the why can still drive me to action.

31 Days of Five Minute Friday

Dusting off the keys again. And wading into the 31 days writing challenge again.  Not sure how it will go, but maybe it will get me back into a writing groove.  (Maybe I will finish the spring break 2017 posts.... )   We shall see.

Anyway, this year, I am joining Kate and the Five Minute Friday crowd, for 31 days of Five Minute Friday posts.  5 minutes a day - of whatever comes to mind on the topic presented.  This will be the landing page, where all the posts of this exercise can be found.  I've tried it 2 or 3 times before, and I seldom make it past day 10, but I have some energy and motivation this time to try and get to the end. Once I get there, it's wedding day!  (for my brother, not me).  So we can conclude, have a fun weekend and then maybe I will circle back and share the amazingness of welcoming Michelle to our family.

See below for the planned adventure of this month. And come join us on any day you like.  Cheers to a new month of fun with some of my favorite on line writing pals.

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Day 1 - Why
Day 2 - Gift
Day 3 - Problem
Day 4 - Listen
Day 5 - Other
Day 6 - Notice
Day 7 - Same
Day 8 - Gather
Day 9 - Join
Day 10 - Scored
Day 11 - Deep
Day 12 - First
Day 13 - Reach
Day 14 - Voice
Day 15 - Open
Day 16 - Avoid
Day 17 - Consistent
Day 18 - Active
Day 19 - Strong
Day 20 - Tell
Day 21 - Person
Day 22 - Sense
Day 23 - Need
Day 24 - Different
Day 25 - Wait
Day 26 - Accept
Day 27 - Better
Day 28 - Rest
Day 29 - Practice
Day 30 - Memory
Day 31 - Enjoy

Practice (Five Minute Friday)

Go.

Hello friends. Dusting off the keys after (gasp) a few YEARS and trying to get back at it. Seems fitting the first time I make time to write, the prompt is practice. Lord knows I am out of practice with writing. And also out of practice with keeping up with this community.

Seems high time I jump back in. I've been feeling the needling to write, and have been pushing it down. Not really sure why. But then it seems I needed more than just a nudge. And I love how that was provided in the form of a Five Minute Friday in real life encounter.  (On a Tuesday - which also seems fitting - since I seldom wrote on Friday, why would we meet on a Friday??)

About 2 weeks ago I traveled from the DC area to Phoenix for a friend's wedding. Any my guy and I decided to take advantage of our time out west and add some vacation exploration onto the trip. So we started in Flagstaff. Which as it turns out is less than 2 hours from where dear FMF friend Anita lives. She decided that if I could traverse the country, she would bridge the final few miles.

So that is how these two internet strangers came to spend a Tuesday afternoon laughing in a Starbucks along historic Route 66. Thanks, Anita, for coming to meet me. And for the wonderful conversation and afternoon of laughter. A little catching up, and a little getting to know you a little bit more. And a little nudge to dust off the keys.

Pleased to report that after that visit, and a terrific vacation with so many reminders of the wonder of friendship, I'm hopefully back at it here with a little more consistency.  So, some catching up to so (including the end of that 2-17 spring break trip - HA HA) and some other things to explore, and whatever else the prompts throw our way this year.

Stop.

Anita (L) and Jen (R)

Spring Break Days 4 and 5

somewhere in Connecticut.
anyone know why the signs have
those teeth on the edges?

Tuesday morning, we slept in (are you seeing a pattern? This is a good vacation pattern) and then took a quick walk to Starbucks for breakfast. Could we have found a little local place? Sure. Did we? Nope. Because this was easy and walkable and everyone was happy. Grabbed one last fun photo with the Empire State Building, loaded up the car, took one last spin through the fancy revolving door, and onward towards Boston.   Traffic was a bear for a few blocks. Then we got on the FDR parkway (FDR drive?) and all was well. We moseyed through Connecticut  and then on the Massachusetts Turnpike, and then into Boston.  Final destination: The Verb Hotel.  This was a fairly easy leg. We arrived in Boston early in the afternoon.


The Verb is Fenway Park's next door neighbor. We could see the brick wall out our window. It's a retro style little hotel and the girls were fascinated by the record player in our room. We picked out a few albums from the lobby and gave it a whirl. Once they understood how it worked, they had a blast changing the tunes. The Beatles (I don't recall which album) and a Disney greatest hits were their favorites.  It was a gorgeous day in Boston so we went for a leisurely walk to meet some friends for dinner. We hit Copley Square and a few other sights on the way.  Our dinner destination was a restaurant called Picco.

This was by far the most anticipated moment of the trip for the girls. They had seen an episode of some show on the Food Network in which they featured the top 5 chocolatiest desserts in America. I think they saw it over a snow day or winter weekend. Anyway, they begged me to check out and see if the Boston restaurant was a place we could go. Thank you, Google ... it looked like a little mom and pop pizza joint, and walkable from our hotel. So we decided to add this to our itinerary. We have some Nats friends who live in Boston and we invited Mr. Dan and Mr. Steve to join us for the Picco adventure. Reminder, this dinner was all about dessert.  We trekked down to the restaurant and put our name on the wait list. (Not a long wait. Maybe 30 minutes on a Tuesday evening.) We got there a little earlier than the planned meetup, so this worked well. The 3 of us sat down on the sidewalk with our MadLibs book and a pencil and settled in to wait. Mr. Dan arrived soon after, and joined in the MadLibs fun. (Side note, this has yielded many post spring break fun tweets with fill in the <PLURAL NOUN> and lots of <ADJECTIVE> laughing.  I think I need a whole post about MadLibs but I will put a few pages here in the photos.) Mr. Steve was the last to arrive and he, too, hopped into the MadLibs adventure.  When our table was ready, we headed inside and settled in with menus. The girls wanted to order something large, but I reminded them of dessert, and they quickly changed the plan. We ordered a pizza to share, and Mr. Dan and Mr. Steve each ordered an individual pizza. After we finished pizzas (they were tasty!) it was time for dessert. The LONG ANTICIPATED DESSERT.  We got dessert menus and spied out the "thing" of interest. It was some kind of homemade chocolate chip brownie square, that came with your choice of ice cream flavor plus whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top. We ordered two of these to share (different ice cream flavors) and then Mr. Steve also tried a beer float.  (Which was also tasty for the adults to share). 2 sundaes, 5 spoons.  There was nothing left. Better than anticipated and there were high expectations to be met.

my turn at MadLibs

the spoons

before

after

the gang

After we ordered dessert, while we were waiting for the sundaes to be assembled, Mr. Dan breathed a huge sigh of relief and then shared a story with us. We were seated across the table from each other. Turns out, the wall behind me and the girls had some menu items listed on a chalkboard. Including what appeared to be the whole dessert menu. Mr. Dan knew that we'd been looking for this special dessert and nothing on the dessert menu on the wall looked even remotely like something that would warrant a feature on the Food Network. He spent the entire meal dreading the moment we would get to the dessert menu and realize there wasn't anything special available at all. He said he was contemplating how he could throw some money on the table for dinner and run out of the restaurant before the inevitable meltdown arrived :-)    Thankfully, the printed dessert menu had the special feature and the mad dash was avoided. We all got a good laugh out of that.  Dan and Steve drove us back to our hotel and we settled in for the night.

Our Fenway view room provided entertainment far into the evening. We tuned into the Red Sox game on the TV and then muted the sound. Since the TV is about 19 seconds delayed, we could hear a big cheer and then know when to look up and watch the play go down on our screen. The girls started to get the hang of hearing a home run / good hit crowd cheer as compared to a long fly ball crowd cheer.  My favorite part was the singing of Sweet Caroline in the 8th inning. You could hear the whole ballpark singing along and I was happy to contribute my voice in the room.  After the last out, we turned the lights out as Wednesday was going to be an early-ish day.

our evening view

Wednesday we woke up to another beautiful day. A little chillier than Tuesday, but still sunny and pleasant for early April. We took a tour of Fenway Park and heard a lot about the history of the ballpark and some interesting trivia. The girls filed away a lot of fun facts to pull out when watching the game Wednesday night. S's favorite part of the tour was sitting in the original wooden seats. A's favorite part was sitting atop the Green Monster.  After the tour, we stopped in the team store to get some postcards to mail to friends back home and then we headed out for lunch. The plan was to grab lunch and then walk down to take a Duckboat tour. We passed an ice cream shop that was next to a burger place. The girls asked for ice cream. I made them a deal that we would eat at the burger place and then get ice cream before we walked on to the Duckboat. The sky was starting to cloud over, but for the moment it was still dry. The girls agreed to the plan ... and it worked. Until we saw the "Freaky Frappes" on the menu. In this case, Frappe was a fancy name for a milkshake. The girls ordered milkshakes, and when they arrived, the ice cream plan was abandoned. I have NEVER seen a milkshake like this in all my life. The top of the glass was rolled in cake icing with sprinkles. They were huge and sugary and delicious. The girls did manage to eat a little actual lunch as well, and then off we continued to the Duckboat.  Just as we got on the duck, it started to sprinkle. Not to worry - we pulled down the windows and enjoyed the tour of the city. This was a good way to get a little history and see a few things and still have a quiet afternoon after the ride. Our tour guide was fun and the girls learned a lot. We all loved the conversion into a boat and our journey along the river. When we got back at the end of the ride, we took a cab back to the hotel because of the rain. We nestled in at the hotel for a nap. By the time we were ready to go to the Red Sox game, the rain had passed and it turned out to be a great, if cold, night for baseball.

We met up with a few friends at the game: Doug, Allan, and Allan's son K. The 6 of us enjoyed the game, despite the Red Sox loss. The girls enjoyed the little side stories that we had learned during the tour. The favorite was watching the scoreboard. If you don't know, Fenway Park has a manually operated scoreboard at the bottom of the Green Monster. There's the in-game section (managed by person A), the American League out-of-town scoreboard (managed by person B) and the National League out-of-town scoreboard (managed by person C). The first 2 segments are handled from within the Green Monster. But when they added the seats on top, the concrete support column came down and blocked the internal access to the National League board. So person C has to use a stepladder (for the top rows) and has 2 minutes and 20 seconds in between each half inning to run out of the Green monster, change all the scores, and get back inside. The girls watched this with great amusement and amazement.  He made a few errors that night and we watched the Braves score go backwards (wouldn't it be nice if that happened in real life. LOL) a couple of times when he placed the wrong game score on that game. We all sang along to Sweet Caroline and my kiddos thought I was nuts. (They are not necessarily wrong).

After the end of the game, we walked back to our room across the street, said farewell to our friends, and snuggled in for one more night.

Day 4 mileage: depart NYC at mile 300, arrive in Boston mile 517.  Day 5 mileage: zero. All on foot, duckboat, or taxi.

Fenway during the tour

all of us on top of the Green Monster

freaky frappes

feets with Tessie

with Tessie, in our David Price shirts

see the scoreboard guy?

with Allan and K

with Doug

MadLibs

MadLibs 2

our stamp!

Spring Break Days 2 and 3

view out our "fancy" window

Day 2 was Sunday. We slept in and then hit the road for New York City. This was a short leg - about 100 miles from our Holiday Inn  (on the edge of the parking lot at Citizens Bank Park. Yay for walking to the game) to our "fancy" hotel in New York.  It wasn't really that fancy, especially considering we stayed in midtown ... but the girls have varying opinions on what makes something fancy. There was a revolving door (affectionately called a "spinny door" by A, which was a huge hit, and the room had 2 bathrobes. And the shower had a cool pattern in the tile. And the bed headboard had a light on it for reading in bed. Big win in their eyes.  The view was excellent - as far as if you are surrounded by tall buildings.  Location: 28th and Madison.

Ben and the girls with the famous library lion

This was super convenient for our walking adventures on Sunday afternoon as well as for our subway adventures on Monday. Sunday afternoon, our Nats twitter friend Ben met us in the lobby to be our tour guide. The weather was perfect for a stroll through the city. We went to Macy's to see the flower show displays. (and a couple of bonus turns through the spinny doors there). We continued on to the Public Library. This was a huge hit with everyone. We remember the scenes from one of our favorite books ("From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler) that happened in the library.  We went all the way to the 3rd floor and checked out the reading rooms. Both girls (and Ben and I) were impressed, but A maintained that we had better hustle her out before she got stuck to all those amazing books.  After that we wandered up to Rockefeller Center to watch the ice skaters and take a gander through the gift shop for 30 Rock. Lots of fun photos there.

Next up was the American Girl store. This isn't always somewhere we would go, however we had some surprises in store.  1 - Ben got to learn all about American Girl dolls and why the kids love them. He was a trooper.  2 - some friends from home in Virginia (unbeknownst to my girls) were in NYC with their dad catching a show at Carnegie Hall. They met up with us at the American Girl store (SURPRISE!!) and we went to dinner together.  The girls loved that.  The adults did, too, as the girls were immersed in sharing their adventures and we were able to enjoy a delicious meal.  We ate at Playwright, on W49th near 7th Ave.  After dinner we walked back to the hotel (the friends were staying about 7 blocks from us) and window shopped on the way back. Paused for a photo with the Empire State Building also.

Monday morning we met with the friends for breakfast in Herald Square. There's a waffle stand called "Waffles and Dinges" and it was wonderful. The girls paired off at little bistro tables and left the dad and me to sit "ostracized" a few tables away. They had an animated conversation over breakfast and then we walked to Bryant Park together. The girls enjoyed exploring the park for a little while before we went our separate ways. The friends from home headed south toward Philadelphia, and my girls and I hopped on the D train towards the Bronx. "WOO MAMA THE SUBWAY AND IT FEELS DIFFERENT FROM METRO".  They had an interesting chat all the way to 161st St Station. The other passengers were amused at the details being described as they discussed our plans for that day and the other ballparks still on our agenda. Mostly the conversation was dominated by talk of for which team we would cheer ... the Yankees (with former National Tyler Clippard) or the Rays (with former Nationals Steven Souza Jr and our beloved Buffalo, Wilson Ramos). They landed on the Yankees since they were the home team and Wilson is for now on the Disabled List.

We exited at Yankee Stadium, with an observation that we didn't need to "swipe our subway passes" to get out of the station (unlike DC where you scan going in and coming out). Exit the station, and Yankee Stadium is right there. This was the first visit to Yankee Stadium for all 3 of us. There was a huge crowd, as it was the home opener. The girls did ok with the crowd, but it was a little hard for us to maneuver our way around at first. We stopped in Monument Park, per a recommendation from someone on the subway, and I am glad we did. There's a lot of baseball history out there. My favorite spot was with Phil Rizzuto (nickname scooter, same as what my daddy calls me).  We got a few fun photos, took a peek at the field, and then headed over to get our passports stamped.

In the offseason, apparently the Yankees moved their stamp. (I don't know why). We had to wait in the team store until they could move it from the secret location back to the stamping desk. This was a lengthy process, but we had already bought a bucket of popcorn, so we just munched and waited. After stamping our passports, we went up to our seats. We had seats in the 300 level directly behing home plate. The girls were impressed that they were cushioned. (This was a nice feature). The opening day festivities were lovely and then we were treated to 6.1 innings of a perfect game from Michael Pineda and the Yankees. After he gave up the hit, we wandered on to the kids play area and met up with a childhood friend of mine (Yankees fan) and his son. The kids played together on the playground and Frank and I caught up on news while we watched the end of the game on the TVs in the play area. It was a warm sunny day and by the end, the girls and I were hot and tired.  We hopped the subway back (another easy ride) and then walked back to the hotel. Since it was an afternoon game, it was about dinner time when we got back. We had a low key evening, and ordered in from the cute Italian restaurant around the corner. The girls got in PJs and we sat on the bed and watched a movie on my laptop together while we ate.  We snuggled into bed for one more night of sweet dreams in New York, and ready to continue north on Tuesday morning.

Day 2 mileage: 200 miles when we left Philly, 300 miles when we arrived in NYC.  Day 3 mileage: 0.  Next car leg is day 4. I should probably go find our step count for those 2 days, but suffice it to say we walked forever and the girls were troopers.

fun bathrobes

Macy's flower show (window display)

more flower show displays

 

library reading room - ceiling

library reading room

the Today show with S and A and Flat Stanley

 "Nats News in the morning with Ben and Jen" 

the girls were so glad to see each other

we live less than a mile apart at home. went all the way to NYC for a meet up

Bryant Park

Flat Stanley and A ride the subway

Scooter and Scooter

Jen and Frank

J and A

A, J, and S

dinner and a movie

farewell NYC