Tag Archives: travel

January 14, 2013 · 11:53 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Letting Go, Global Version

luggage

As a parent, every few years you are faced with another rite of passage, another adventure your child is about to embark on, another chance for you to show your chops as a parent. Although your heart is hanging on to the hem of their pants as they walk through that door, your head is ready to let them fly…

again.

The last time I wrote one of these my boy was off to college. Seems like yesterday, yet here we, are 3 and half years later and he is off for a semester abroad in Seville, Spain. I thought now would be a good time to give him one of my famous lists of advice. I do this every so often to remind him, or more likely myself, that I am not quite through imparting wisdom just yet. If I write it here instead of tell him all this to his face, I spare myself the humiliation of the sighing and eye-rolling. So here goes, in no particular order.

  1. Don’t be THAT American. This is similar to what I told my kids when they were first starting to experiment with drinking. Don’t be THAT girl/guy, the one that gets wasted and pukes on themselves. Don’t be THAT American simply means respect the local culture.
  2. Try to really SEE Europe, don’t just drink Europe. This is obvious to me and quite ridiculous to him. Hopefully somewhere in between will be his reality.
  3. Keep your eyes open and soak in everything. You never know what might wind up being the answer to what you want to do with your life.
  4. Be Smart. If it feels wrong, it probably is. If it seems unsafe, it probably is.
  5. Eat Everything, within reason. No explanation needed.
  6. Don’t be a dick (not that you ever would be). Again, the international version. This is like number 1 on steroids. Check the ego at the door and you might as well leave the egocentric there to keep it company.
  7. If you have to play beer pong, make sure you win the 100 Euro. Self-explanatory.
  8. Amsterdam – you MUST see the Anne Frank House. As Jana said, as a Jew it is your responsibility. Period.
  9. The rest of your time in Amsterdam. I do not need details, thanks.
  10. Have the time of your life. This one should be easy.

In all seriousness, you are an amazing young man and have always made us proud. We have no real worries about this trip. We are just a more than a little jealous.

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April 15, 2011 · 6:37 pm

The Good Bus

Oh yeh, I SO want to ride the good bus. I mean, who wouldn’t? I saw this parked in a lot on 49th and 11th and had to snap a pic.

So here’s the deal on the good ole Good Bus. They operate out of Vermont and throughout the northeast. They have a regular schedule from VT to NYC and you can also book them for private parties. They welcome bachelor/bachelorette parties (I assume there is an upholtstery cleaning surchage).

So, my friends, when you are having a bad day, consider taking a ride on the Good Bus (yeh, I know, that should be their tagline)

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March 27, 2011 · 5:43 pm

Bathers with Diarrhea?!


This is an actual sign. It does not come from one of those sign generator websites that say things like ‘Merry Christmas from an Atheist’. Adding to the outright hysterical nature of this, it was sent to me via text from my most self-described germaphobic friend.

Her original question was, “Would you go swimming in this pool? We are at a resort in Alabama.” Wanting to give full respect to the residents of that fine state I would just like to ask y’all… “WHAT THE HELL?” The next question from my horrified friend was, “What do you think the ‘etc’ is. My answer was, “Leprocy”

Um… duh!

Ok, so let’s review this one. How do we actually verify whether the bather in question has diarrhea? Do we follow every living soul into the bathroom and wait? Now those with skin diseases and lesions, although they would be quite easy to pick out in a crowd I am thinking A) sitting in the sun by the pool might not be on the top of the list of their activities and B) the chlorine would probably hurt like hell so they would most likely not be inclined to go for a dip.

Now the ‘etc.’ crowd? They are going to be REALLY hard to police.

I suppose they needed to cover all the bases. You know, because most upscale resorts have all sorts of problems with this sort of thing.

” Oh Alabama. The devil fools with the best laid plan”.

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December 10, 2010 · 10:05 pm

4th Amendment Wear

This could be the most brilliant product of the decade. Designed by Tim Geoghegan and Matthew Ryan, these products show that bitching and moaning are not nearly as effective as making an intelligent statement.

A silent protest to the absurd lengths the TSA has taken security screening, this clothing proudly displays the 4th amendment. There are socks with it plainly written on top. Some funny kids’ stuff telling the ‘pervs’ to read the 4th amendment. But my favorites are these Ts and underwear printed in metallic ink that can be picked up by the scanners.

Peaceful protest.

Intelligent.

Non-threatening.

Makes the point without being disruptive.

File under ‘why did I not think of this’.

For those who are unfamiliar with the 4th Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Probable cause… indeed!

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May 22, 2010 · 11:30 pm

Back in the USA

After 4 months and too many take offs and landings to count my girl is back in the US of A.

There is NOTHING like having everyone asleep in their own beds.

Welcome home Jana.

Believe it or not there is no better sight than this:

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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April 15, 2010 · 10:51 pm

A Big Florida Welcome

Yes, I am back in the Sunshine State, and I use that term loosely this season.

This is a billboard as you get out of the airport towards I95. Nothing like making the tourists feel at home as soon as they arrive.

Stay tuned for more stories.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 28, 2010 · 9:31 pm

The Perfect Husband

I know, you all saw that title and thought, “How sweet, she is going to praise the virtues of her sweet Gary of Hey Nanny Nanny and Janie Knight fame.” Well, of course he is the perfect husband, but this post is not about him.

For those who have been following along, my daughter Jana is doing a semester abroad. That is college-speak for I will tolerate a few hours a week of class so I can be in a different city (sometimes two) every weekend. This weekend found her in Amsterdam, with a side trip to Brussels. When she is traveling I usually wake up to a BBM (blackberry messenger message – it’s like a text for you non-crackberry heads). This morning I found this photo with no message. It was hard to read on my bberry so I had to email it to myself to see what it was.

If there was any doubt that I was genetically linked to this girl you will now understand that I would have to be her mother. Ahhh, the Inflatable Perfect Husband. This must be the 20-year-old version of the Grow Your Own Parents that I bought her in middle school when we were getting on her last nerve. I particularly like the french word for inflatable… gonflable. How do you pronounce that? Anyone? I took Spanish so it is lost on me but I love the way it looks.

I shudder to think what the Inflatable Perfect Wife has behind her back.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 1, 2010 · 10:58 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – It truly is a small world

We often take for granted how small the world has become. Our kids consider the technology that enables constant communication to be a given. Ichat, videochat, skype, texting, IM, bbm, facebook, twitter; these all make email seem like snail mail to them. They lose their ability to disappear but I think the trade-off seems worth it to them.

Access. All the time. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

This post is about the good. Ok, so if you read me regularly you are not surprised that I would focus on the positive aspect of technology. But as a parent in the year 2010, with a daughter situated quite comfortably in Spain, technology is the greatest friggin’ thing on this earth.

Last night we had our first video chat with Jana since she left almost 2 weeks ago. You might imagine that this would have been about really important stuff. Well it was, sort of. For instance, we got to see the way her bathroom light turns on ‘all freaky’. And then she whispered ‘the boy’ into the computer screen as her spanish roommate came by and asked her a question. We got to wave hello to her other roommates and get a tour of her apartment. We talked about everything and nothing with her. Better than IM or texting, this was my kid with all her subtleties and nuances; her humor and expressions. The essence of who she is.

On the laptop screen.

On the dining room table.

As if she was there.

Now I know this is no big revelation. For the past few years this has become commonplace. But damn! I am a mom with a kid on the other side(ish) of the world and I can sit in the dining room and bullshit with her as if she were right here.

And it’s free!

C’mon, how cool is that?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 25, 2010 · 11:14 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – All grown up… almost

Friday morning at nine o’clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made…

– John Lennon & Paul McCartney

If you have been reading along you know that my daughter left for semester abroad last week. I cannot put into words how wonderful it was to have her home this last month. The teenager that went off to college is long gone and a lovely, grounded, charming young woman came home in her place. She is all grown up.

Well, almost.

The day she was leaving I came upstairs to check on her last minute packing. There I found her carry-on in the hallway. And tucked away in between the hair mousse and the laptop, strapped in tight, was Chetley. Her main man since birth. Yes we realize ‘he’ is dressed in pink, many shades and patterns of it as a matter of fact as I have reconstructed his body on more than one occasion in the past 20 years.

If you know Jana personally, you surely know the Chetmeister. He has been through it all with her, the good and the bad. He sat perched on her bed at camp, from the first day as a nine-year-old to the last day as Senior Group Leader. When she was  a frightened five-year-old going into the hospital for neurosurgery to ‘get her neck fixed’, good old Chet went with her and sported a bandage on the back of his neck till her stitches came out. He proudly went off to college with her… this bear is a Badger through and through. And if I am not mistaken, Jew that he is, I think he even followed along on Birthright to Israel last summer. All that considered I don’t know why I imagined he would stay behind while she embarked on the adventure of her lifetime.

I truly had this whole going abroad thing under control all along. Gary and I are both so happy that she is able to have this experience. Many parents asked me if I was sad or nervous about her going. I am surely neither. I love her wings and the fact that she loves to use them.

But standing there at the top of the stairs, hours before we left for the airport, the sight of that teddy bear with his arm around the laptop just about did me in. Jana then and now just flashed before my eyes. Right in front of the door she slammed so often as a preteen that the latch is loose, sat the evidence that she was all grown up; and not completely – all at one moment.

They call them comfort items. The stuffed animals or blankets that children form an attachment to and use to self-soothe when they are young. Why has no one invented a comfort item for the moms when they find themselves in a moment like this.

Oh, that’s right, they call that VODKA!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 19, 2010 · 8:14 pm

Chip off the old blog

The day my daughter was born I held her in my arms, looked into her eyes and thought, ‘Damn I hope she grows up to be a blogger someday’.

Ok, perhaps 20 years ago there was no such thing as a blogger. Come to think of it there was no mainstream internet to speak of. But I was a visionary.

Today, I am proud to announce my daughter has started her first blog. It will chronicle her semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. Yes I am thrilled that she embraced the idea of blogging and yes, I am jealous as hell.

She is funny (not just because I am her mom, she really is), and she already gave me a shout out in her first post. Since she has sufficiently sucked up – and because I am her mom – I thought that it was my duty to give her some link love. You can find her at Jaña en España (cute, right?).

Hop on over and show her some love.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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