6.10.2015

my week: pre-vacation wrap-up

My son's last day of 1st grade is tomorrow and my nephew is graduating from high school on Saturday (how is that possible?!). In Virginia. Which is 3000 or so miles away. So on the heels of a mama-son trip to Bend, Oregon a few weeks ago (a trip I'll write a little more about later), we're hitting the road again, this time with the entire crew. Our two options to make it to graduation without my son missing any school included traveling on a red-eye flight tomorrow night, with a 4-hour layover in Boston, arriving in Richmond early afternoon on Friday OR taking a crazy early flight leaving Friday morning with multiple layovers that would get us into Richmond pretty late Friday night. We opted for the first option which, as it approaches, I'm now starting to question. But hopefully that first leg of the trip will be the worst. My main worry is that my 2+ year old daughter will refuse to sit in her own seat during take-off and we will be that family that gets booted off the plane. And no, I'm not going to make goody bags or buy cocktails for all the other passengers. Did you see the Louis C.K. bit about flying with kids (specifically crying babies but a 2- and 6-year old aren't much better) in his latest stand-up routine at the Comedy Store?



Yeah, it's like that (also, I highly recommend you watch the entire special, which you can purchase for just five bucks on his website.)

But before I go, here are a few things I've been thinking about the past few weeks.

ART

I think I should have a sub-heading for my Twitter/Instagram hashtag #artistsinoffices for things like this video about corporate jargon. When Neal and I both worked from home, we totally qualified as "uber introverts".

Mad Men is over. Forever. Give this a listen if you haven't already.

Art day trips! If you're in the Bay Area, hop to it because the first suggestion - 'Blow Up' at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek - is only open through June 21st.

CRAFT (and design and stuff)

This article about Portland's start-up scene is several years old, but I've been seeing the phrase "high craft" quite a bit lately.

DANCE (and all the other stuff)

SYTYCD has begun! I've (distractedly, admittedly) watched the first two auditions episodes. I don't mind Paula Abdul after all, although she's no Mary Murphy. I continue to be enjoy Jason Derulo on the judges' panel. I promise to be a better viewer once the real competition begins.

Sadly, I'll have to miss this as I'll be returning from our east coast travels, but if you're local, save the date for June 20th, when Oakland will attempt to set a record for the longest "Soul Train" line.

The articles I've been reading lately - here and here are just two examples - about how important play is for kids are particularly timely as a somewhat challenging school year comes to an end. I can't wait for my son to enjoy 10 weeks of summer traveling, getting covered in dirt from head to toe each day at summer camp, catching up on summer movies, and just generally not sitting down and following a gazillion, sometimes mysterious rules.

On the other hand, he learned to read this year which, if you stop and think about it, is pretty amazing. A year ago, he was basically illiterate and now he's making his way through the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Incredible. And yet, that kid could stand to burn a little more energy each day.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I'll have a complete two-trip travel recap for you in a few weeks.