August - 1997

This was DQ is the summer of 1997. Back then she was really more of a Drama Toddler than a Drama Queen.

She wasn't the only one who was much younger then - so were hubbo and I. Being very young and a little, dare I say, immature, our thoughts on moving to Virginia tended to be a little rosy and tending less towards those of responsible adults. The promotion for hubbo was exciting and I know we were all looking forward to making new friends and getting to know Washington, DC but I was probably equally enthusiastic about the idea of living in a hotel for a while and having all of our living expenses paid for by DH's employer. It sounded like a party to me. I wouldn't be working. I wouldn't have to clean the house or cook every night. We could eat out as often as we liked and just ask for new sheets rather than making the bed. Woo hoo! I had no idea just how fast that would all get old.
This was home to us all through July of 1997. It was the Summerfield Suites in Herndon, Virginia. We had a unit with a bedroom and a living room with a small kitchen. There was a lovely pool. They served breakfast every morning and warm cookies in the afternoon. As hotels go, it was lovely but one thing was missing - our stuff.

We arrived with our cars full of a few toys for DQ, clothes for us and our computer. It was pretty limited and it wasn't long before we started to crave the things that were packed away - somewhere - in storage. Another thing I learned during this time was that I was the type of mommy who needed to work. I loved DQ and we had a great time finding new playgrounds as we explored our new home but at the end of the day, when hubbo would arrive home, I was often out the door to the mall or elsewhere. Being a full time mommy was hard for me.

I even missed the cooking and cleaning - kind of. I could cook in the kitchenette at the hotel but the utensils and space were limited. For once I had the time to really create fabulous meals but all of my kitchen toys were... in storage. I was amazed to realize that even eating in restaurants gets old after a while. Who knew?

It was a huge relief to finally move into our new apartment in early August. I started shopping for new towels and sheets and all of the little touches that would turn it into a home. In Long Island, we had a 2 bedroom that was large but old and had no amenities. Here we had 2 bedrooms and a den in addition to our living room and kitchen! We had our own washer and dryer and, best of all... a dishwasher. The complex had a pool and an exercise room (not that I used it). We even had 2 patios and a fireplace. Best of all, the rent was about the same as Long Island. We were amazed at our good fortune.

We started to adjust to our new life and become reacquainted with all of our stuff. It was a really great time and we felt like we were finally settling down. Hah! Not so much but that's a story for another day.

See you when I return from vacation.

ECF - First Harvest Edition

I've been saving this picture all week.

This is the first harvest from our little garden. That zucchini was 13 inches long and weighed 2.4 lbs. Not too shabby. Sadly my cooking really didn't do it justice. Some of it was fried up and became part of our Sunday night dinner and I made 2 loaves of zucchini bread with the rest. I learned something. I need a new zucchini bread recipe. Oh well - live and learn. It was really exciting to eat something we grew. Hubbo ate the little red pepper and said it was really yummy. the rest is in the veggie bin waiting for inspiration.
As exciting as the first harvest is, our little garden isn't finished feeding us yet. If you look carefully at this picture you'll see 3 eggplants growing. Don't they look great? I guess I'm going to have to learn to like eggplant. Hmmm...
There are still a few squash growing but not all of it will make it to the table because it would appear that we've had some visitors sharing in our bounty. I'm ok with that. I elected not to use any pesticides on our garden. It's about as organic as it gets. We just stuck the plants in the ground and let them do their thing. Next year maybe we'll try to start from seeeds. Wouldn't that be cool?
Next week we'll be on vacation so normally this would be my last post for a while but tomorrow there will be a rarity - a Saturday post. It's the next installment in my look back to the very eventful summer of 1997. I've really enjoyed sharing it and I hope that you're enjoying reading it.

Good Stuff

Look what I got tonight! When the girls get home they'll probably think these are exercise mats for Karate. Not any more! As of this afternoon they are my new blocking mats. the Karate studio near our house just got redone and they sold me as many of the mats as I wanted (I took 4) for $5 a piece. Hooray! Now I just need something to block.
Maybe I'll find something good in the new issue of VK which just arrived yesterday. It's the 25th anniversary edition. Have you seen it yet? I started to thumb through it and I'm not sure if I love it yet.
One week from tomorrow I will be picking my girls up at camp. It's not like I'm counting the minutes or anything but I can't wait. I miss them soooo much and no amount of adult alone time can really make me stop craving my girls. There is one thing that makes it a little easier - letters! Today we got a post card from Stinky and a real letter from DQ in which she doesn't ask for anything at all! This is her 4th year at camp and the first really great letter home.
I won't share it all but there was one super-cool part. Two years ago there was a woman, a Holocaust survivor who wrote a book about the experience, speaking near my house. DQ was just getting into reading about the Holocaust and I figured that there wouldn't be too many opportunities to hear about it from someone who was there so I took her to the presentation. It was wonderful and inspiring. At the end, DQ went and spoke to this woman for a moment and got her copy of the woman's book signed. Coincidentally, a reporter from the local paper was there to cover the event and took a picture of DQ and the speaker together and it ran in the paper. (We have many copies) This woman was at the girls camp to speak last week. (Her grandchildren are campers there too.) In the letter, DQ says that when she went to say hello the woman remembered her and they spoke for a while. What a wonderful experience for DQ!