Yes, I blog. And, you can see us vacationing. [I promise not to do this daily]

Well, that was interesting.

Mark outed me.

I've had this blog for several years now, but I really don't tell anyone about it in my face-to-face life.  I'm kind of shy about my creative output. Always have been. Probably why I take lessons instead of putting up a shingle.  My creative stuff always seemed a combination of sacred -- I don't want to take anything away from the joy I get from making things -- and in a way, frivolous.  I've heard people say they fear that everyone will think he or she's a fraud, applied to all sorts of things, even their relationships.  For me, I can feel that way about my work.  I'm trying to get past it though, because the grass really is so much greener.

Anyway, what I intended to talk about was France.  We were there for one day in early August.  Seems like a lifetime ago.  We took a boat, a train, a bus and then walked to get to a nice restaurant and have some pizza. Then, we did it all in reverse and spent a few hours on the beach.  I was crying on the inside because one afternoon is not enough, however, I put on my game face and made the most of it.

Oh, in case you wondered, same thing applies to wearing a Lands End tankini on the beach in Villafranche, France.  Yeah, you feel like you're wearing a track suit. 

Other lessons we learned about kids and European travel:
1- When in doubt, find a beach
2 - Pizza, bread and butter -- kids consider this a great meal.  Oh, but forget about getting butter in Italy.  They look at you like you asked for vegemite.
3 - A soda a day can go a long way.  Collecting the cans makes cheap souvenirs, though you go home with a suitcase full of recycling.  Especially painful if your airline charges $75 extra baggage fees.
4 - Kids love money.  Let them look at the coins, marvel at the cost of things, do the exchange rates.
5- 11 year-old boys did not seem to notice the topless girls.  Hmmm... I think they might regret that.
Mark to Max:  "This must be a very poor country."
Max: "Huh?"
Mark: "Because the girls can only afford the bottoms of their bathing suits."
6- I think we need more naked man statues in the U.S.  Might lighten everyone up a little.

I thought I deleted Barcelona.

Actually, I deleted Barcelona, Nice and VillaFrache, France.  Somehow I erased a memory card too soon. But, in my post-travel delirium, I made a copy on iphoto.  I have been primarily using Lightroom as my archiving, organizing program, but since iphoto opens every time I put in a memory card ("pick me! pick me!" it fairly shouts) I guess I imported there too.

Sorry for the vacation photos overkill, but I have thousands of photos and I have a few, ahem, new readers.  (Hi Mom! Hi Aunt Debbie!).  And so, more Barcelona.

But quickly, so I remember, a few observations.

* They do sell chocolate milk, but everyone looked at us askance when we asked for it cold.
* Sorry, second trip to Spain, and I'm still not a big fan of the food.  And this is from an anchovy lover.
* Spanish people dress their children beautifully.  Not that nylon/polyester track shorts and t-shirts from Target aren't chic.
* Spanish people were much nicer to us this trip -- it was all about the kids.
*Open air food markets are generally awesome. Better than restaurants.
* Europeans take much longer to eat.  I think my hair grew a bit waiting for the check sometimes.
* Kids don't have a language barrier with other kids.  Jack was in the playground talking to a little girl in English, she spoke to him in Spanish and they were still fast friends.
* I love a city that loves dogs.  I think it's because it reminds me of NYC.
* If you wear a Lands End tankini on a beach in Barcelona, you will feel like you are wearing a bathing suit from the roaring '20s compared to the women of all shapes and sizes somehow looking comfortable in two pieces or less.
* Spanish coffee (espresso) is as good as Italian.  And that is high praise.

It's rough out there sometimes.

Tuesday.  Ouch.

Finally had my 504 meeting with the school to get my son the accommodations I know he needs. I've been fighting for this meeting for years, knowing that his writing just wasn't there.  But still. It's hard to see the work laid out, to hear it all from a table of experts, to think about how hard it must be for him.  He has dysgraphia and ADD.  I know, I know, there are tons of worse things, but that doesn't mean I want this one.

Two hours later, I took Jack to the allergist to get the results from his latest test.  Not only were all of his numbers up (the list is long, but the short version is:  nuts, peanuts, sesame, eggs), but there were more on the list:  fish, trees and grasses.  Oh, and we got our first rescue inhaler because he seems to have acquired allergy-induced asthma this spring.  He can't eat so many foods, and it's a life-threatening consequence if he does.  Another eating issue.  Why is eating so difficult for so many of us?  Evolution still has some work to do there.

So many things to be thankful for, which should be my next post, but I'm wallowing here.  The kids didn't see me cry in the car.  We do have so many blessings, and oh Lord, life can be so much worse.  But sometimes, I just have to acknowledge that it can suck, and then move on.

To Virginia

We haven't been to Virginia to visit our family there for over two years.  I forgot the beauty of central Virginia in April.  It was a peek into spring fast forwarded four weeks.

And you can't beat an afternoon into the Blue Ridge Mountains.  (Yes, John Denver's Country Roads was a recurring theme.  Kids didn't appreciate my vocals though. Philistines)

Eight hours plus each way in the moving living room we call our car.  Mark drove both legs.  Such a good egg.  I love the 2.5 hour stretch from DC to Charlottesville, but the rest is a slog along I-95.  Don't tell him, but for a while there I was behind him with the laptop open, my headphones on watching Marie Antoinette like an in-flight movie.

I really don't mind the drive, but I would love to have family close enough for Sunday dinner.