GOOD STUFF, BUT I KNOW I’LL MISS MY ‘LUNCH DATE’
Even though it is a rainy Friday afternoon, I’m excited.
We’ve had a great and busy summer and school starts on Tuesday.
I’ve been savoring every lunch with my son this week
because this has been the last week that I will be able to eat lunch with him… he goes to preschool EVERY day this fall for the first time, not just Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
I’m going to miss my ‘lunch date’,
but I’m happy he’s growing up to be a little man and that he is excited for school.
I’m also happy that the start of school means that Autumn is not far away;
Autumn is my FAVORITE SEASON!
My opinion (of course, it’s my blog): Autumn is the most beautiful season and has the best smells…
and the best holidays!
MY LAST VACATION WEEK
I know a lot of people are back to school… My son is not.
His preschool starts next week, the day after Labor Day.
So I am keeping away from the computer as much as possible until September 2nd…
Until then I will share with you musings or insights or observations…
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.
She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new.” ~Rajneesh
WHY AM I TIRED?
We’re home from the beach. We had a great week with PERFECT WEATHER!
This morning my son and I went on a brisk walk(with the jogging stroller),
got school shoes (note to self: NEVER wait til the week before school to go to the area’s best and most popular kid shoe store; you will end up going next door to the toy store and buying your son a toy to play with while you wait),
had lunch, did a little grocery shopping and went to Cabin John Park.
Right now I’m on my 4th load of laundry.
I spent all last week lounging on the beach…
so why am I so tired?
GONE TO THE BEACH!
I am at the beach this week… in a big beach house
with my parents,
my brother and his wife, their 1 1/2 year-old son
and my husband and 4 1/2 year-old son.
I’ll try to post when I can although I cannot promise because we are all going to be fighting over the dial-up- no wi-fi.
On a cheery note- I have not been to the beach FOR A WEEK in 2 years…
I’m looking forward to making sandcastles,
sitting in my beach chair… and that’s about it 
GIANT FOOD RECOGNIZES MOMS
I had the absolute pleasure of attending a luncheon sponsored by
Giant Food down at Chef Geoff’s downtown on Tuesday.
Giant Food wants us to know that they love moms.
Frankly, they should; Moms spend the most money in the household and let’s face it-
moms just about always do the grocery shopping.
Everyone should love moms, but that’s a post for another day…
Getting back to Tuesday: Yey- Giant!
We learned lots of incredibly good stuff that is going on at Giant right now,
Got a fabulous and relatively easy lesson from Chef Geoff about making risotto (above),
While having a fabulous lunch.
A few highlights before I head off to the beach:
Prepared foods: Giant will be introducing about 100 new prepared foods in the coming month to help Moms out… including New Rotisserie Chickens!
Simply Enjoy IS A GIANT BRAND! This rocks. This is the only brand brand of spaghetti sauce I use, it’s delicious.
Deli kiosk: this is up there for me with the dawn of baby monitors.
I literally gasped during lunch and had to lay my hands on my chest to regulate my breathing I was so excited. Someday very soon you will be able to go to your local Giant, go to the deli counter, type in what you want… and leave.
When your lunchmeat and cheeses are ready you will hear your name announced on the loud speaker and then all you do is go back to the deli and pick it up! Can you imagine the fabulosity of this? It makes the world a better place… in a little way.
Much more about great things happening at Giant after I get back;
…And I’m trying Peapod- more on that too.
Post Script: Moms out there and especially DC Metro Moms –
give a big SHOUT-OUT of congratulations to Chef Geoff Tracy and his great wife for the birth of their little girl, born just 6 weeks ago… and just 12 months after her twin brother and sister.
Sending lots of wishes for lots and lots of sleep ☺
CHECK THIS OUT-
Today I’m over at DC Metro Moms admitting that I’m a Wipe-A-holic.
Check it out… there are worse addictions.
GREAT MOM QUOTE
“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”
~Marion C. Garretty,
quoted in ‘A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul’
LITTLE HAT GIVEAWAY WINNER
Just an update on the Little Hat Giveaway-
Our original winner is located in, drumroll please: NEW ZEALAND !!!!!!!!!!
So she kindly suggested I re-pick a winner. The new winner is Carlee Hoopes!!!
She is receiving a great stroller lid (hat) from The Little Hat Company for her adorable little baby girl!
Thanks again to everyone who entered.
And a big shout-out to New Zealand; I’m really excited to get traffic from across the ocean!
Mom power
THE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED MARYLAND CRAB FEAST
A few days ago my husband, 4-year-old son and I went to a friend’s home for a crab feast, also known as ‘picking crabs’.
It was such a nice afternoon that it reminded me of how special it has been growing up in Maryland and how psyched I am that my son is growing up here. There is really nothing like a good ol’ Maryland crab feast.
The crab feast is perfect (except if you are REALLY hungry)…
First of all, crab feasts are in the afternoon, so kids can run around, go in the moonbounce that our friend had, or play badminton (that my son tried for the first time). Kids always have fun outside anyway, so the kids are taken care of, because, let’s face it, anybody would be crazy to have a crab feast inside their home.
Now for the adults: you fill up on munchies and appetizers because again let’s face it, ‘are you really going to pick crabs for over an hour or two, just to get full?’
The over-21 set can choose from soda and beer beverages; wine isn’t even an option at a traditional crab feast, at least the ones I’ve been to. Crabs and… wine- ewww! That doesn’t even sound good to me.
But the crab feast was great! Guys naturally gravitate to one table, girls to another.
I sat down with my husband‘s friends’ wives, who I see a few times a year,
and we talked and talked,
about our kids, restaurants and covering up grey hair.
Everyone had a manicure, and everyone was picking their crabs.
It’s so relaxing. It’s cool. And the great secret to picking crabs is that you don’t have to know how to do it well. You just need a mallet, nutcracker, trashcan and paper towels.
I know that some transplanted DC Metro people have said they don’t get it… but that’s the thing-
There’s nothing to get!
It’s not about getting a full belly and having fresh crabs…
It’s about picking crabs, sitting around, taking time to talk and catch up, drinking a beverage and relaxing.
And what is better than relaxing on a humid summer afternoon that DC is famous for?
Yes, the crab feast is just about perfect…
Like I said before: crabs, mallots, nutcrackers (to old-school crab-pickers this is cheating, but it’s so much easier), trashcans, plenty of paper towels, paper plates and great conversation.
The clincher was that I got into my first great conversation about the Redskins’ pre-season…
an extra bonus
An abbreviated version of this can be read on DC Metro Moms Blog.
A GREAT 4-YEAR-OLD QUOTE
“Mommy, I love books… and cars.”
You really can’t ask for much more than that, from a 4-year-old boy.
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I Was In The 2012 Show !
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