Little Things...

...Sometimes, it's the little things that mean so much.

This week, I took the car to get washed and they guys took an extra long time paying attention to little details. They even washed the sludge that's been accumulating in the center console cup holders and along the inside side rails where the kids step in with muddy feet.  They thoroughly vacuumed inside pulling out the car seats and the back seats and hand dried the whole thing and even motioned to me to stop so they could re-dry my window where they saw they missed a little.  I was impressed with their eye for detail during these "tough economic times" where everyone's morale seems to be down and companies are downsizing their service.  LMC Car Wash on North Avenue--you've won a customer for life!

Good Bye, Liz

Central Park, Sept 2001

I guess there's a lot of buzz from a certain 86 year old being laid off.

So far, I've gotten calls from Reuters, the NY Observer and my father looking for a statement today.

Will the calls, letters and publicity packets cease to come now that she's throwing in the towel?

I'll miss you, my friend.  2am calls from freaks who just finished your book and need to get answers will never be the same now.  And the call from a certain old boyfriend from 50 years ago was a touching story, but alas I still couldn't help him either. It was fun getting calls from Kevin Spacey's office and invitations to galas in Florida.  Most callers were amazed that someone could actually have the same name as you and tried to assure themselves that I wasn't "Liz Smith the columnist."  Yes, I'm sure.   

But I AM Liz Smtih the blogger.  Read ON!

I don't believe it!

I have a new friend...

This guy took sour apple green permanent marker off of my white marble counters and light yellow cabinets when a regular sponge did nothing....

I don't know how you do it, Mr. Clean, but I am blown away.  Thanks for saving the life of a certain 21 month old!!!!  I can't be mad now, but I have to say, my blood was boiling when I first discovered the damage a few minutes ago.  I love art, but his designs need a different surface.

LOVE Day!

Evan scored lots of points for sending me gorgeous long-stemmed roses to enjoy during the week!

Our Valentine's Day this year was packed with festivities.

The kids came up with an idea to have a party!  Well, Wesley talks about having a party all the time, but when the idea for a Valentine's party was put on the table, Evan and I went with it and helped the kids create a low key breakfast party.





 They were each allowed to invite 3 friends.

This is Alessia who Wesley talks about a lot...

 We came up with a menu:  Heart shaped pancakes, bacon (very heart healthy!) and strawberry smoothies.



We decorated,





they made puzzle crafts,

"Wesrey"

they played games and decorated cupcakes.  

Afterall, it is the holiday of SUGAR!!!

 It was fun having a party that was combined with the two age groups.



 The older ones entertained the younger ones and the dynamic was fun!  I think having a Valentine's party is a great idea.  Spread the LOVE!

Then....

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

...Evan and I had been planning an adult party of sorts.  Last year, we went to ICE for a 

Romantic Couples Cooking Class which was very entertaining and lots of fun.  We had the great idea to do it ourselves this year with 4 couples and Evan was the chef.  Everyone participated in preparing a wonderfully delicious menu that Evan came up with.  It was really fun to cook as couples and enjoy the evening together.

The menu:

Hearts of Palm Salad with Beets

Truffle Leek Lasagnette

Filet Mignon with Merlot reduction & frizzled mushrooms

Steamed Aspargus

Truffle Filled Flourless Chocolate Cakes

Lovely ladies: Liz, Jane, Anne, Annalee

Hardworking men: Bill, Evan, Kai

Cris prepping the herbs & shallots

Evan finishing off the Merlot reduction

The delicacy filled table awaiting us!  Jane, bedding sylist extraordinaire delighted us with a beautiful table setting!

The guys pulled off making the chocolate cakes that each couple shared!  I have to say Cris has some wicked cake decorating skills!!!  Good job, men!

My Valentine:

Be MINE! xoxo

*** if anyone is interested in the recipes, leave a comment and I'll email the doc to you!

Scatophobe's Nightmare

(Post by Evan)


(My dad once told that there are really only two kinds of people in the world, those who find farts funny and those who don’t. If you don’t fall into the former category, please discontinue reading now.)

I have been a scatophobe for a long time. Perhaps it was all those years being forced to pick up the dog crap in the back yard, but whatever the reasons, I had one of the scariest encounters of my life on a recent flight to Salt Lake City.

Delta Airlines had put us in a bad mood with some extremely poor customer service at the onset of our flight. Liz and I ended up traveling separately, with me taking the two older kids on one flight while she took Luke (plus all the baggage) on another. We were separately angry and annoyed at the situation and were already on edge. Please join me now as I’m about 2 hours into the flight:

Wesley is tired and falls asleep on my lap. The captain turns on the fasten seat belt light for turbulence. I check the security of his seatbelt and continue reading my magazine. About 20 minutes later he wakes up moaning, in a daze. I immediately recognize his cry as "I have to pee, but I'm not awake enough to do anything about it." The turbulence had subsided and the crew is up front serving drinks, so I decide it is safe to make a run to the lavatory.

Wesley drops his pants to begin his business, and immediately the turbulence comes back with a vengeance. Part of me feels bad for the boy. Another part finds it mildly comical to see someone in a dazed state trying to maintain balance with an unstable floor beneath him. I snap back to reality with his desperate cry of frustration, since he is unable to find relief. I watch him strain to perform the task and then look down with disbelief as a huge log emerges from his backside. I can only stare with a sense of revulsion as I watch it fall end over end, first colliding with the waistband of his pants, then falling squarely between my feet.

When I finally realize what has happened, Wesley is now awake enough to be full-on crying. Still stunned, I attempt to pick him up and sit him on the toilet. The only problem is now the turbulence is so strong that it makes it nearly impossible set him down. And to complicate matters the turd on the floor is now on the move, and I am doing a macabre dance trying to avoid contact with my shoes.

With a bawling Wesley situated on the commode, I realize I have the task of poop disposal. My whole body shudders. Due to the cramped quarters of the lavatory, I am unable to bend over to perform the necessary service. So I am forced to open the door, back out into the aisle, and get down on my hands and knees to wrangle the offensive deposit. I reach up for some toilet paper and find myself at the end of the roll with just a couple of squares, enough to take care of the task at hand, but not enough to finish up the whole ordeal.

I have one of those surreal feelings, almost like I am on a hidden camera show, as I’m down on all fours being buffeted by the bouncing plane trying to pin down a rolling bundle of fecal matter that is leaving “skid marks” all over the lavatory floor every time it skitters from one side to the other. I ultimately corner my quarry and grab it oh-so-carefully. My stomach does a couple of 360s while delivering it to the toilet.

Wesley is holding on for dear life as the plane shakes. I grab the last of the paper towels to clean the residue from the floor. It’s all I can do to keep from decorating the floor with the contents of my own stomach. After completing that task and being compelled to do a maintenance hand wash, I attend to my half-asleep frightened, confused son. But where to start?

I survey the situation and it’s worse than I thought. Wesley’s underwear is caked with poop. Wesley needs to be wiped. There is no toilet paper, no Kleenex, and no paper towels left. There is now a flight attendant banging on the door asking me to return to our seats. I spy the toilet seat liners and begin to use them clean the underwear. It’s hopeless, though. I figure removal is the only option. Luckily the pants themselves are poop free so at least I won’t have to haul him out naked through the aisle.

I realize Wesley has no shoes on. Standing on the floor won’t be an option. After cleaning his bum with a couple more seat liners I pick him up with one arm and try to remove his pants with the other. Remember the plane is still shaking violently, so this is not an easy task, especially in the confines of an airplane lavatory. I finally manage to get the pants off and have him stand on the sink with his arm around my neck for stability. After extricating the unusable underwear I wrap them in a few more seat liners and then pull his pants back on.

A sense of relief hits me and I prepare to go back. A thorough cleansing of my hands is definitely in order. When I look down at my hands, a huge feeling of dread and fresh wave of nausea hits me as I discover that my hands and sleeve have a good coating of poop. I know it’s just poop, but remember I have an irrational fear of it! With Wesley still hanging on to my neck I exhaust the bottle of liquid soap and do my best impression of a pre-surgical scrub. Shaking off the water and rolling up my sleeve, I grab a fresh seat liner and make a sling for the previously-wrapped underwear. I take that package with my right hand and pick up Wesley in my left arm begin the journey back to my seat. I only have to go about 5 rows forward, but it’s a very delicate dance carrying a 40-lb child and dangling a toxic waste package with my free hand while navigating a narrow aisle that’s in the throes of pitching, yawing and rolling.

When I arrive at my row I temporarily stash the package in the seatback pocket and get Wesley situated. I wipe away his tears and buckle him in. He puts head in my lap and I stroke his head until he falls asleep. I finally take a relaxed breath. I try to purge the recent events from my mind. The shuddering feeling dissipates. I fall asleep, exhausted.

As we’re landing I stop and recount the incident to myself. With the trauma behind me I actually realize that this could have been a scene straight out of a slapstick comedy movie. I muster a smile thinking about how funny it would have looked from the outside. As we’re walking on the jetway into the airport I realize that I left a certain “surprise” in the seatback pocket. I feel bad for the employee who will find it, but remembering how Delta had treated us earlier, the feeling quickly goes away.

Wesley said...

"I'm too hungry to eat!"

When the dental hygienist finished his teeth today, I overheard him answer her, "That was AWESOME!"

"I don't want to go skiing today, but will you still buy me Clone Wars jammies?!?!" after I was trying to bribe him to ski. (he hates the cold like I do)

"Can we still go back to that house with the video games?!" (He's so cofused at who everyone is out in Utah. "That" house refers to his cousins' house.

"I want NOTHING and I don't want to go NOWHERE!" This is a regular extreme tired Wesley response.

We love you, Wesley, even though at the end of each day........you exhaust us! xoxo

Daddy's Inferno

(Post by Evan)


Abandon all hope ye who enter here...

Famous words by Dante Alighieri. Those are the same words that coursed through my brain as I made my first appearance at Chuck E. Cheese's since my teen years in the early 80's. A lot was the same, but a lot had changed. It was a teen hangout when I went the first time. I spotted very few teens there this time around. Must be because of the requirement of parents to accompany minors.

All I can say is, "wow!" It was a complete assault of the visual and audible senses. The flashing lights, the noise from the game machines, and the noise from the crowds moreso made it the perfect way to cap off a sleep deprived night.

Now in all fairness, I went willingly, with the intent of making amends with the kids for having to bail out of a planned ski excursion for today. I got a call from work in the middle of the night with bad news about one of the systems I managed. During one of the windows where things were out of my hands we loaded some excited kids into the car for a journey west of the Hudson.

I have to hand it to Nolan Bushnell for his enterprise. It's a great idea to keep parents hostage in a place where kids don't have fun unless they're spending your money. You can't leave your kids behind on their own. That's just genius. I will try to incorporate similar logic when I come up with my next business enterprise.

All my kids had a great time. They all just wanted to run off and do everything. An especially close eye was required for a certain one-year old who had no qualms with assisting other kids playing their games. I'm not sure he understood what the problem was. A four-year old boy's brain is driven by the coolest looking apparatuses. (Or is that apparati?) Anything that invoked testosterone surges like race car video games was exceptionally attractive. I was impressed that a seven-year old girl's behavior was motivated by the social aspect. I found it intriguing that she was able make partnerships to play some of the games that weren't necessarily designed to played with a partner.

The 80 degree temperature coupled with the 100+ decibel noise and the smell of fried food and cardboard pizza was the ideal combination for a relaxing evening with the kids. I was sad that it had to end so that I could race home and jump onto a conference call to finish what we started 18 hours previously. I know that I'll relish my next trip to spend the leftover 60 tokens.

What a difference a day MAKES...

Here are some videos of Wesley skiing over the weekend...

This is the first day...

This is a little later....

This is the end of the second day...

Now, that's improvement!  Go Wesley!!!

The Winter Thaw...

This snowflake looks way too cheery for how oppressive the weather was last week!!!

As last weekend was approaching, the thermometers were dipping into the 20s, then the teens, then a final threat of a possible 0.  You know what I said?  We're out of here!  And so we went!  I scooped up my kids and took off to California where the temperature was a dreamy 83 degrees when we landed in Burbank!!!  It was heaven.

Hello California...notice the attire...BLISS!!! ;-)

Our purpose was to escape the cold, visit family and just plain THAW!

We had some spontaneously fun activities...

We had an adventure in Griffith Park on a Faery Hunt  in the rustic trails of the mountain.  The kids enjoyed the interactive activity and spectacle of faeries and trolls and gnomes popping out from behind trees and under bridges and following the storyline.

Then we enjoyed some great Authenic Mexican food in West Hollywood at El Coyote.  You might recognize it from Prop 8 fame last year where one of the owners donated to the cause and then the West Hollywood crowd went into a tizzy over it and did some boycotts, etc. Delicious and funky fun atmosphere.  It's a great W. Hollywood institution!

The kids couldn't get enough of swimming and being free of their 50 layers like they have here to survive.  I loved not having to bundle them up and just letting them play outdoors for hours on end!

Oh, also, one highlight for our family is reconnecting to our roots.  My family is Jewish and whenever we are out there on a Friday, I always look forward to the singing and challah and grape juice and the ritual of gathering at a beautiful table for Shabbat dinner.  It's so fun for the kids to play with their CA cousins.

This was taken with my phone...oops!

On Sunday, we had a great time with our Simi Valley family!  The kids were so excited to see their grandparents and cousins.  Grandpa took all 3 kids to the park, while grandma and I tried to recreate my Moroccan B'steeya and sort of failed. Oops!  It's a good thing it was just a practice run for her dinner in a few months.  Better luck next time! ;-)  (Sorry, no Simi pictures this time.)

On the steps at my Aunt's in LA

Old friends reunited!

Then we headed to Las Vegas to visit some old friends, old, old friends that we adore from our time on 67th and Broadway days.  Rose and Sonny have been so good to us over the years and it looks like time may be coming to an end for our darling Rose, so a visit while she's still well was appropriate.  It was a short visit, but a good visit.  We hope to fit a few more in, ok?! (hint hint!)

Surprise visit to Rose on her 87th Birthday!

A trip to Vegas isn't complete without a visit to the Strip.  We had fun with our dear friends Kyndra, Lexie and Sterling hopping around to all of the attractions we could fit in.  We hit the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, the Fountains at Bellagio and the festive seasonal Gardens.

Sophia's dream! A real chocolate fountain.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wesley & Lexie--can't wait to fast-forward 15 years from now!  ;-)

It was a great trip!  We felt happy to find the sun, but were even happier to come home to daddy and the comforts of home! xoxo

Christmas Card 2008

A funny thing happened this year--I got all caught up in Christmas and the hustle and bustle that I never produced the perfect Christmas card.  Usually, I put a lot of thought into the production of a clever card and blurb about our updated life, but this year, I was just too in the moment of all of our holiday events, that it just never got done.  As the weeks were rolling along into December, I was buying into the media buzz about the tanking economy and thought wouldn't it be funny to recycle one of our cards from year's past and just update some of the items from it?  I have a stack of over runs of postcards from 2006 when I was pregnant with Luke and we were chopping down our tree.  I could have just printed some stickers of Luke and stuck them in between the kids, added a few current facts on the back and called it "recycled!"  We had a few laughs about the prospect of doing this, but then I just couldn't spend the time to be so witty and was thinking it would probably take about the same time as procuring a new card, not to mention money.   Then I came across a picture I took of the kids in Central Park on Thanksgiving Day.  I joked with the kids that it was the "money shot" and explained to them what that meant.  Literally, of all the photos I took of the kids together, it was the only one worthy of a print!  I started thinking;  I could still go "green" because several years ago, when I was preparing for our annual card, I bought two different styles of cards and enough in each design with the thought that I'd return the losing design.  Well, I did try to return all 15 boxes, but since they were seasonal, my favorite "red bullseye logo" store wouldn't take them back and so I was stuck and have been storing all 15 boxes of cards in my Christmas stuff for the last 4 years.  Brilliant, I'll just print pictures and marry them to the cards and call it good.  Aside from being dated looking, it was good.  And it still took a lot of time. And it's still my top 3 things about Christmas that I love so much--receiving your cards and letters!  With Facebook and the blog, I wasn't sure I could whip up anything you don't already know, so I just signed most of the cards to add that personal touch.  Afterall, isn't a blog the ultimate in a perpetual Christmas letter?!  I was surprised this year that the return of sends to receives was about 80%!   So, now I did my part of going green for 2008.  2007's effort was a little more substantial, but every little bit, yada yada yada...

Thank you for keeping in touch and I promise a more contrived card next year! 

xoxo  The Smiths

Wesley 4, Luke 18 mos, Sophia 7

Might As Well Face It, You're Addicted to....Facebook?

(Post by Evan)

“I can stop any time I want to,” is the phrase we’ve all heard from many who have addictions. Most of the time it’s not true. As much as I hate to admit it, I recognize that I have had addictions over the years including everything from pistachio nuts to video games. I just discovered my latest addiction: Facebook.

I spent a wonderful weekend with friends in the Berkshires where I enjoyed relaxing on the ski slopes and chilling. (A casual mention of the -6 temps might be appropriate here.) When it was time to leave, I dutifully cleaned up, packed, and loaded the car for the return trip. During the multiple runs to the car I was breaking a sweat, so I hung up the ski parka I was wearing by the door while I finished the task. As you have probably surmised, I forgot to pick up the parka when I jumped into the car. What does this all have to do with my Facebook addiction? Tucked away in the upper left pocket of the parka, was by Blackberry Curve.

Now many people would be upset about losing their mobile phone access. There are plenty of phone addicts. Just witness all those who walk around in public with the Bluetooth earpieces plugged in. I found that while not having my phone was inconvenient, I also found it kind of liberating. The worry of someone calling me from work to ruin my holiday was magically erased. However, rather than using it as as a phone, I realized I use my Blackberry more for the mobile Facebook application to update my status and check up on my crew of FB regulars.

I felt a little more lonely now, especially since my family was out in California. I wasn’t in agony by any means, but I kept on wanting to reach into my pocket for a quick fix. I never realized how many times a day I used it until I didn’t have access. The good news is that I didn’t have to wait too long to get it back. My friends brought my parka home with them on Monday evening to New Jersey. I drove to their place after work on Tuesday from my office for the happy reunion. My Facebook activity should return to normal levels now.

[Update: I discovered later that my Blackberry had developed a new problem. I have to reboot it every time I want to use it now. At 2 minutes per reboot cycle, I think my Facebook quick fixes will be severely diminished….]

What Happens in Vegas...

...is a rockin' good time! Last weekend was a long anticipated trip to Sin City to celebrate one of my best friends, Kyndra's birthday! She was converged upon by two coasts with Allison representing California. We miss the days of all hanging out in NY.

The weekend was chock full of fun activities and lots of "chick chat."  

Of course.

The original Charlie's Angels (at least one of us is...LOL)

Highlights: (the mentionable parts, at least)

In 'n Out

Massages

Nail Therapy

Mamma Mia Sing-a-long 2am style! (complete with Tide stick microphones!)

Making Fondue -- cheese AND chocolate!

Uncontrollable giggles and giddiness 

Switch Restaurant at the new Wynn's Encore Hotel

and...

Cirque du Soleil's Beatles LOVE show at the Mirage!!!! <---highly recommended!

Happy Birthday, Kyndra!  And many more to come...AND reasons to celebrate!!!  COT 4-EVA!!!

On the flight home, Luke had a celebrity babysitter.  Richard Belzer from Law & Order was enchanted by Luke and didn't mind the toddler attention. The funny part was, I was oblivious as to who he was until I could tell there was a little buzz and chatter about him an hour into the flight then it dawned on me he was a celeb.  Luke even kept helping himself to his bag of Blue Chips-one by one.  He couldn't have been nicer about it!  It was entertaining watching the reaction of basically the whole plane since they all recognized him.  Luke also passed out magazines to all the passengers in rows 1-5.  Back and forth to the galley to retrieve more from the most cordial flight attendant, Edwin.  Thanks, JetBlue!  Plus the legroom is awesome!

One more indulgence:

Chocolate fountain--Bellagio

Christmas Day

(Post by Evan)

Once again Christmas day is upon us. Weeks of the holiday spirit reached their culmination today. Bright-eyed children (OK, one or two of them weren't quite awake yet) couldn't contain their excitement as the doorbell rang at 8 AM jarring them from their long winter's nap. With their families far away, Arturo Morales and Melissa Bench were at the door and joined us for our family's celebration. I think we've managed to have visitors every year here in New Rochelle since we moved here.

Gleeful smiles were present as the much hoped for gifts were discovered. Who knew something called a DS, or a Speed Racer Hot Wheels "loop-da-loop" could bring so much pleasure? This really was one of the first years when I've felt this excited about Christmas. Seeing through the eyes of your children adds a whole new dimension. And as much as it was about the gifts, it was also about happiness and love. Holding my children in my lap as they helped me unwrap the simple gifts they had for me was a moving and heartwarming experience.

And what would Christmas be without Santa's elf-in-residence, my wife Liz? Not very good. In traditional style she directed the preparation of the Christmas morning feast of "Aunt Dorothy's Sausage Bake," butterscotch pull-apart bread, and orange julius. (Luckily on holidays things like sausage, cheese, butter, etc., have no calories associated with them.) She also came through with flying colors in obtaining all the difficult to find items at the last minute. (You rock, honey!) Even though we didn't go all out with decorations this year, her artful hand added enough holiday cheer to our home.

I know the kids think Christmas is the best holiday of the year. It's easy to see why. I hope that they will learn to see past the tinsel and wrapping paper and want to reach out to others, as did the person who started it all.

A Christmas Eve Tradition

(Post by Evan)

I noticed our blog had gone a little "cold" so I thought I would take a moment to help bring it up to date.
Somewhere around 8 or 9 years ago, some friends of ours invited us to a Christmas Eve service on Manhattan's East Side. The venue was a beautiful Episcopalian church called The Church of the Heavenly Rest. Every Christmas Eve, they perform a re-enactment of the Nativity. It's done by the children in the congregation and is quite charming. They make use of costumes, choirs, music, and live animals! Mary always rides in a donkey, and many of the shepherds carry lambs. If you find yourself in Manhattan on Christmas Eve, this is a great place to get into the Christmas spirit.

What's interesting is that for Espicopal church, it has somehow managed to attract a fairly large Mormon contingent as well. This year we ran into several families we knew from our city-dwelling days and had some happy reunions with some we hadn't seen in a long time. We also invited some of our local neighbors who managed to make it down. As long as we're in the area, I think we'll be there on December 24th.

Supplemental to our tradition, we were invited by the Taylor family to spend a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with them and their extended family and friends. On top of the fabulous dinner that had some of those great "family" recipes represented (I actually forgot that I liked Jell-O salads so much),  we had  Christmas talent show and singalong. Almost everyone contributed to the musical portion. After that was over, The kids all participated in their own nativity display. It was a magical day and night. (Even if Santas elves were forced to work into the wee hours to get ready for his visit.)

Soccer Mom no More (for a day, at least!)

It's so much fun to dress up and when you have a grand occasion, it's even better!  We went to a formal Christmas Ball last week and had a fabulous time both getting ready and at the event!  Evan was hot in his tux and I felt great with new hair, makeup and borrowed Bulgari jewels, oh, and a new dress, of course!  It took a lot of preparation to get this soccer mom fit for a Ball, but the results were certainly favorable!  Thanks everyone who took a part in getting me ready! xoxo