Monthly Archives for May 2010

Camp

Last spring I mentioned to a friend that it was almost time to head out to our camp and she responded, “I don’t know what you like about that place.”  She went on to say that I spent my weekends there doing some of the same stuff that I do at home – cooking, cleaning, and listening to the kids fight over nothing.  We have to pack up every Friday and fight the traffic on the Pike.  We share the camp with my brother and sister-in-law, so we clean up when we leave on Sunday.  Seems like a hassle.

For some reason it feels different out there.  In fact, it’s not even so much about liking the place, it’s more of a NEED.  I NEED to go there because it’s the ONLY place that I relax.  I know, I should just learn how to relax at home but so far I haven’t been able to master that.  There’s always laundry piled up, errands to run, or emails demanding my attention…if I ever lay around for a day at home I’m almost always deathly ill.

Our camp in Holland (MA) is a tiny (600 SF) ranch, on a tiny (.16 acre) lot that’s basically vertical.  We have a small beach on Hamilton Reservoir that we share with 7 other houses.  I honestly don’t know why I can’t relax anywhere else, but as soon as I turn onto Holland Road on the way out of Sturbridge I feel so happy, even though just 10 minutes prior I was wearing earplugs to cut the volume of the whining and screaming coming from the back seat.

We arrived at camp around 6 p.m. last Friday, with pizza that we picked up on the way.  I ate dinner, drank 2 Oranj & Frescas, and fell asleep at 7 and slept for almost 12 hours (I usually sleep 5-6 hours per night).  Over the 3-day weekend I read 2 entire books, took at least 3 naps, played games, made s’mores, and went for a couple of walks.  We made a trip to civilization on Saturday to load up on provisions, and spent a few hours at Old Sturbridge Village, where we take full advantage of our membership.  Today I found the energy to knock a few things off the to-do list, followed by more reading and another nap.

I expect that the kids will eventually think camp is boring and start giving me trouble about going, but right now they love it as much as I do.  They love to play in the water and fish, but tonight when I asked Aliya why she loved camp, she said it was because we get to spend a lot of time together there.  I don’t know how many years I have before the kids get sick of spending time with us, but for now, that’s what I like about that place.

Travel Photos

Anyone who has spent any time with me in public knows that I often whip out my camera at unexpected moments and take photos of doors.  It’s a little bit embarrassing, especially when I’m taking pictures in the ladies’ room, but I need material for my other blog which is about doors and hardware.

Most people take doors for granted as long as they open all the way and the doorknob doesn’t fall of in their hand.  But when I look at a door I’m immediately registering what type of hardware it has (usually including brand and model number), whether there’s anything unusual about the opening, and if there are any code violations.  It’s a curse, but it’s deeply ingrained in my personality at this point.

This morning I got an email from my friend Gia, who recently visited Paris with her husband and two of our other friends.  Attached to the email were two photos that she had taken for me in Notre Dame Cathedral.  I expected that they would be door photos because I’m sure Notre Dame has huge, beautiful doors.  I cracked up when I opened the files and they were photos of a code violation!  Phase 2 of my plan for worldwide door domination is coming together – I’m turning my friends into hardware nerds!

So during your summer vacation keep an eye out for doors – beautiful, ugly, broken, chained, blocked, or otherwise interesting in some way, and send me some photos!  And have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Here’s a link to Gia’s photo:  Click Here

On the Wagon

I fell off the Zumba bandwagon a while back.  I don’t remember how I got derailed but it can happen so easily – an illness, a business trip, a husband who plays Over-The-Hill soccer at the same time as my favorite class…

I’m very task- and goal-oriented so whatever tasks or deadlines I have looming are what gets my attention.  By the time I get through the critical stuff, it’s 2 a.m. and a little late for Zumba.  Luckily, my company is starting a walking challenge, and my office has a team.  We’ve each committed to walking a certain number of steps each day from June 7th to August 1st (coincidentally, my birthday), and we will log our progress online.  I signed up for 10,000 steps and I received my official company-issued pedometer today.  I’ll be interested to see how many steps I walk on a regular day…obviously not enough.

I like to be as efficient as possible, even though this is out of my control most of the time these days.  I’m always at the mercy of someone else’s needs, so I have to be even more efficient if that’s possible.

To get the most out of walking, I took the advice of a couple of my friends and bought a pair of Skechers Shape Ups.  They look a little like orthopedic sneakers, and they made me feel kind of drunk at first, but I wore them all day today and I definitely felt different muscles in use.  I wasn’t sure they’d be for me because of my past foot problems, but when I heard that my friend’s foot doctor recommended them, I was all in.

I got mine at DSW ($99) and they had quite a selection.  I’ll be very interested to see the results of 8 weeks of 10,000 steps per day wearing Shape Ups.  If nothing else, I wore them all day and my feet don’t hurt so I give them two thumbs up. Joe Montana likes them too.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUngyi8R-qo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]

Poppi

Poppi (my mother’s husband) came to visit us last weekend, and I vacated my bedroom and bunked with Norah for the night.  When Adlani woke up during the night and went looking for someone to snuggle up to, he opened my bedroom door and encountered Keith wearing his CPAP mask.  He hadn’t seen it before, so I imagine it scared the bejesus out of him.

Keith woke up and said, “I think you’ve got the wrong room, buddy.”  Adlani slammed the door and took off.  Maybe he’ll think twice about opening my door next time.

We spent Poppi’s visit dragging him from taekwondo to soccer to more soccer, with a few meals in between.  Thanks for putting up with us, Poppi!