With the departure of my oldest child looming in my near future, I've been on the verge of my emotions for a while now.
Now I know that with all the modern communication available that we'll rarely be out of touch. And I know that we're going up to see her for Labor Day weekend too. It's not the end of the world.
But it sure feels like the end of childhood, the end of a major section of my life.

I can't help thinking of this constant list of advice ranging from quite practical to philosophical. Like these....

Tell a friend where you are going on a date and when you expect to return.
Don't put your bras in the dryer
Don't wait 'til the last minute to pick up your prescriptions
Churches love college students and will probably feed you
Call me every now and then
Don't count on the reliability of someone trying to sell you exam answers
Carry an umbrella - she'll be in Northeast Ohio
Don't forget that ultimately the purpose of this adventure is to study & learn
Eat vegetables every day - and not just pizza sauce

But more philosophically,
I wish for her an inner peace through the inevitable ups and downs that comes from knowing that I will always love her.

Any other advice you would add to my list?

Remember me? Is anyone still out there?

It has been a busy Spring! In a nutshell...

My daughter's last day of school is today. I can't believe it. Prom next week, Graduation, Parties, Beach Week. She is so excited to go off to Kent State in August. She'll be fine and do great - not so sure about the rest of us...

My son turned 16, has his Learner's, and still struggles with that damn ulcerative colitis. He did manage to play on the tennis team this year though, so he is doing better than last year at the same time.

My youngest is a classic 13-year old, in constant contact with her girlfriends via text and facebook, enjoying her dance class and looking way too grown up to be my baby.

Oh, and I got engaged! That was a fun night. Mark proposed at dinner with the kids. His daughter knew it was coming, mine were surprised. Within a minute, the kids had posted it on Facebook and the word was out. We haven't set a date. I find the idea of wedding planning to be a bit daunting. Maybe we'll just elope - except we'll still have a party.


I'm loving being a yoga teacher. I love hearing how this practice is improving the lives of my clients. Our studio is beautiful with big windows facing a pretty garden. It hasn't been a simple adjustment to my family to have me working nights, but we're making it work.

So it looks like we have one big decision made: Sofie is going to go to Kent State University - the college I went to the longest, and where her father graduated. It's been 25 years since I had been there. A lot had changed. A lot was the same - like the slushy snow.



Boy college seems so cool. I want to go. I want to have that schedule, and the meal plan, and the rec center, and the free concerts. Not that I want to be 18 again. Sofie is ready to go. The program seems a good fit for her - and for our budget. She's already investigating sororities - Tri-Sigma being an early favorite.

What will this house be like without her here? If I think about that too long, the room always seems to turn swimmy. So I just look down at my feet for the next step.

Does life speed up as you age?

We had fun in Ocean City at the Reach the Beach dance competition. My daughter's team won two first places and one second. The beach was quiet and chilly, but still fun for a morning walk on the boardwalk.

Did you see this ad from Partnership for a drug-free America?
I thought it was creepy and funny - and quite memorable. Can you relate?


Speaking of teenagers, my son played this song for me and I can't get it out of my head. I enjoyed the ballad quality of it. Many fans have acted it out on other youtube versions. I hope it gives you a smile at the beginning of the week.

Last weekend my daughter’s love of the theater brought me and hundreds of people a wonderful gift in the form of a Czechoslovakian Holocaust survivor, Ela Stein Weissberger.

My twelve year old was in the ensemble cast of the operetta Brundibár, our first experience with the Children’s Theater of Annapolis. Brundibár, composed by Hans Krasa in Prague for a competition in 1938, was only performed twice in a The Jewish Orphanage for Boys before the children and staff were transported by the Nazis to Terezin, a layover for most on the way to the extermination camp, Auschwitz.



Terezin, a Czech village of seven thousand citizens, inflated to at times 90,000 Jewish prisoners. If they weren't transport to the horrors of Auschwitz, they faced starvation, exposure, typhus, and fear in Terezin. Of the 15 thousand children brought through Terzin, only 100 survived. One of those surviving children was Ela.

The Nazis forbid the education of the children in Terezin, but the adults did their best to smuggle in paper and pens. After their long days in stone mines or other hard labor, the adults taught the children what they could. They encouraged them to write poetry and draw pictures on the back of scraps of paper and old forms. When Hans Krasa arrived, he managed to sneak in his children's operetta, Brundibár.

Although education was forbidden, for some reason, the Nazis granted permission for the children to learn and perform this short little opera about a brother and sister overcoming a villainous organ grinder with the help of the other children and a few talking animals. It was the story about how banding together gives victory over tyranny. Fortunately, the Nazis didn't speak Czech.

The Nazis did take advantage of the performance when they used Terezin as a cover for the international inspectors. After shipping thousands out of the prison-village, the Nazis planted flowers, provided better clothes to the prisoners, built a bandstand in the town square, and had the children perform Brundibar for the Red Cross.

In all, Brundibár was performed 55 times in Terezin. Ela played the role of the cat in all 55 shows. This effervescent septuagenarian feels it is her duty to speak about her experience. She travels the world, taking the stage with Brundibár casts for the final victory song which she still sings in Czech.

Before the operetta, the performers read from the poetry recovered from Terezin's children. One of their teachers, on hearing she was to be shipped out, filled a suitcase with the contraband poetry and art and hid it in an attic in the village. It was recovered after the war and is now performed with the opera.

Ms. Weissberger spoke to the cast before the show opened and to all of the audiences. She continued to unravel her tales in the lobby where she signed books and programs.

She told stories of the children she performed with and her teachers. She spoke of the growing numbers of "the deniers" and the need to remember. She held up the star the Nazis gave to her so many years ago and said in her Slavic accent, "Now it's my lucky star. I am Jewish and not ashamed of it." She said after the war she thought Brundibár died with her friends. She thanked the children and the audience for remembering her friends through their performance.

I am glad my kids are involved, but it sure does make for a busy September. Every team, troop, and club has their parent organizational meeting in September. Every one of them has a fundraiser too. We are currently selling pizza, nuts, & candles, with coffee, wreathes, mulch, and a few car washes still to come. Sheesh! It's like a second job!

I had fun writing my last two assignments for Taste of the Bay magazine. Due out in October is an article on the Slow Food movement. Have you heard of it? It's a 20 year old organization that started in Italy as a response the the encroachment of fast food chains in Europe. It is basically a support group for people who mean to cook a meal and sit at the table with family and friends instead of eating a burrito on the interstate. They encourage the preservation of heritage plant species and culturally significant cooking styles.

The organics article was difficult in that there was so much information to sift through. I way overshot my word-count budget. Here are two tidbits I learned in the research.

The average American eats double the RDA of grains with 40% of them reporting that none of those servings are whole grains. No wonder.

Also, if you don't want to feel motivated to spend extra for organic milk, then do not google somatic cell counts in milk. I will only tell you that Americans have the most lenient standards on this, which is good if you own a big industrial dairy. I've decided that it is worth the extra $150 a year on organic milk - (we drink a LOT of milk in this house.)

I have to go. There are nine 12-year old girls waking up in the basement after my youngest one's birthday party. I think it was my last party with arts & crafts.

Earlier this summer I went to see the play, "Spring Awakening" at the Kennedy Center with my daughter who is almost 16. We dressed up and ate dinner there first. It was a fun night, and an valuable car ride home.

Have you seen "Spring Awakening"? Apparently it is the hot new play, having won 8 Tony's in its original Broadway run in 2007. My college-grad niece knew the soundtrack immediately.

The play was banned when it was written 100 years ago in Germany, where the play is set. It is about the price of religious fear and oppressive morality; but, it is also about the joy of life that sneaks through the cracks of that dark box. The spiritual awakening in this tale is sexual. I do think the two are linked - sexuality and spirituality; so it is a powerful metaphor. I was surprised at some of the actions on the stage, although I had fair warning after reading the website.

Some indie rock band guys turned the original German play into a musical. The score is addicting. The songs have some challenging and visceral lyrics. I'm including "All That's Known" below. I didn't really ponder the lyrics until I had listened to the soundtrack at home for a while.

For me, seeing this play was important two reasons. First, the post show conversation can go anywhere if you have been wanting to open the door to a conversation about any aspect of sexuality. I think all the subsets of sexual topics are covered, beyond biology. With a daughter who is almost 16, it was a conversation door that was easy to open because she loves musicals. I noticed lots of mother/daughter groups in the audience. So I recommend it to anyone who's been wanting to talk about any emotional aspects of sexuality. If that makes you queasy - then you probably need to go.

But also, this play was timely for me because several things have happened recently to stir up the soup of my own religious experiences.
- I accepted a teaching position at a Christian school. The curriculum was so conservative that I found it offensive and declined the position.
- I found a new blog for rebels and refugees of my Christian tribe. These voices remind me of the students in "Spring Awakening."
- I have many friends still making the Churches of Christ work for them and I hear their struggles with that particular institution. My empathy as they beat their heads on the same brick wall is vividly frustrating.
- I recently visited the Franklin Institute in Philly and saw one of Galileo's original telescopes and am reminded that none of this is new. Will we ever learn? And if we do, what will we know then?


All that's known
In History, in Science
Overthrown
At school, at home, by blind men

You doubt them
And soon they bark and hound you-
Till everything you say is just another bad about you

All they say
Is "Trust in What is Written"
Wars are made
And somehow that is wisdom

Thought is suspect
And money is their idol
And nothing is okay unless it's scripted in their Bible

But I know
There's so much more to find-
Just in looking through myself
And not at them

Still, I know
To trust my own true mind
And to say: there's a way through this

On I go
To wonder and to learning
Name the stars and know their dark returning

I'm calling
To know the world's true yearning-
The hunger that a child feels for everything they're shown

You watch me-
Just watch me-
I'm calling
And one day all will know

You watch me-
Just watch me-
I'm calling, I'm calling.
And one day all will know

My eldest has her learner's permit. Overall she is doing well, but she is a beginner. She is not over-confident, which is a good thing. I realize when we stop that my right leg has tight muscles from hitting the air brake.

Any advice from those of you who've been there on the driver's education process?

Today is my son's 14th birthday. Although I recognize that I am a bit biased, I think he is absolutely adorable. Last year had a lot of difficulties for him, but I am so encouraged by his attitude lately (despite his last report card.) He has been so helpful, mowing the lawn without being nagged. He's had a recent enthusiasm for his own fitness level, which is inspiring. He's gained a lot of confidence in lacrosse this year, wearing his bruises as badges of honor (see him about to score in the picture.) He's excited about high school in the fall, especially ROTC and Japanese. His sisters and I appreciate the hormonal balance he brings to our household, leaving fragrant pieces of equipment around the house and car.

How can I have two teenagers?

What do you remember about being 14?

So while I haven't been posting, I've had some interesting experiences.

One is that I've had the opportunity to help with the Sudanese quintuplets that are spending their first year of life in America to get good medical care outside of a warzone. You can see a picture of these adorable babies and read a bit of their story here.

I saw a call for help in my church's bulletin. I was happy to join the Church Lady Brigade from all around the area to pitch in a weekly shift to help with the care and feeding of these tiny beauties. I'm at a stage in life between babies, so this was just the fix I needed. I go once a week to help, which also includes laundry, writing thank you notes, running local errands, and eating delicious Sudanese cuisine.

One lucky day I got to help with bath time. Not only did I get to bathe one of these new little people, I got to rub jojoba oil on their dark chocolate skin, the tiniest massage I ever gave.

Their crowded little apartment is actually quite orderly and peaceful.