Archive for the 'Family' Category

On Mothers and Mother’s Day

May 8, 2008 | Family, Parent bloggers

How do I want to be recognized this Mother’s Day?

That’s the theme of this week’s Parent Bloggers Network BlogBlast in support of Johnson’s new charitable giving site Baby Cause. I wrote about the campaign last week, and have been giving some thought to the question since.

The truth is, anything my son gives me for Mother’s Day — whether handmade, selected at the local gift shop with his Dad or plucked from my fairly short wish list — will be absolutely perfect. And pale in comparison to the joy of having him in my life. Even when he is being a pill.

I’m one of those moms who always wanted children, but wasn’t driven by the need. If it happened, it happened. And if it didn’t, I had my husband, his daughter and my pets, who were and still are my other children.

What fool I.

I give thanks nearly every day that I did get pregnant naturally at 37. Because I wasn’t smart enough to realize how much I wanted my son until we had him, I would not have resorted to fertility treatments. And now I cannot imagine my life without him.

My son loves magic shows, so this Sunday, we are taking him to see David Copperfield in Boston. Watching him have fun will be the best Mother’s Day present I could have.

And if there’s a real present too? Wonderful, but just the icing on the cake of spending a day with my guys.

—

Mother’s Day is an important holiday for me because it gives me a chance to tell my mother how much I love and appreciate her. There are really no words to express how much her love and support have meant to me all my life. I would not be the person I am today without the solid foundation she provided for me and my brother.

So, thanks, mum.

After all, who else would come with me on Saturday when I take four eight-year olds to see Speed Racer? No one else — not my brother, not my husband. Just my mum.

Here she is, introducing Douglas to RoadRunner last weekend. I figure she won’t mind this photo, being that it is of her best side and all.

—

Finally, a few words for some lovely mom bloggers who are expecting their second child this month. I’m a little late to the virtual shower for Her Bad Mother, Mrs. Chicky, and Mrs. Chicken but never mind.

I only have Douglas, so I can’t comment on what it’s like to add the second child to the mix from the parent’s perspective. I am however the oldest, by 2.5 years, of two, and my brother has always been one of my best friends. Even when we argued, we would abandon our fight the minute someone else picked on the other. Sometimes I am sorry that we didn’t have a full sibling for my son, so he could have this experience, but he does have his older sister, my husband’s adult daughter.

My advice for you: just keep trusting yourself. Your instincts about the right things to do for your children will always be better than any advice on parenting from someone else. Because every situation is different. That’s not to say that advice isn’t good or welcome. But in the end, trust yourself.

Because mother really does know best.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Technorati Tags: Mother’s Day, Parent Bloggers Network, Johnson’s Baby Cause

New pictures: Snowshoeing, skiing and a rainbow

March 2, 2008 | Douglas, Family, Travel, Vermont, Winter

February vacation was a bit bittersweet because of the dog, but we managed to have a little fun too. I’ve finally put up a bunch of pictures on Flickr from a 2 hour snowshoe hike we did on Mount Tom. There are also some new pictures of the ridge, including a great one that Dave shot with my camera of an early morning rainbow, and some pictures from this afternoon’s backyard skiing lesson.

Aren’t they cute?

The only editing I did on this picture was to increase the saturation a tad, to pop the blue and the rainbow a bit.

It’s all downhill from here…

Technorati Tags: skiing, Mount Tom, Vermont, rainbow

Sabrina Fair

February 19, 2008 | Animals, Family

Sabrina at about 4 months

My first dog as an adult was Sabrina Fair, a now 12-year old Scottish Terrier who is days away from the Rainbow Bridge. I can barely type this for crying but I want to do it now, while she is still with me, because I know I won’t have the heart to do it after. And she deserves a tribute for all the joy she has brought to our lives.

We got her in February 1996 because I felt that my then-boyfriend’s (now husband) 10-year old Norwegian Elkhound Captain Kirk was lonely and needed a dog friend. I had seen her in the pet store earlier in the month, but had to go on a business trip. I figured if I came back from the trip and she was still there, it was meant to be.

David still wasn’t completely convinced that we should get a second dog. The weekend I got back, I suggested we go to the local shelter, with Captain Kirk in tow, and see if there was anything suitable. There wasn’t.

So then I said, well how about the pet store in Framingham? Sure enough, the puppy was still there, she went home with us that day, and yes, David figured out that I had conned him.

We almost lost her when she was 6 months old but she survived a very bad situation. And she was a tremendous friend to Captain in the last years of his life. You never saw anything as funny as a small little Scottie grabbing this 65-pound dog’s leash in her mouth and taking him for a walk.

Sabrina enjoying the April Fool’s snowstorm of 1997.

David with Captain and Sabrina on Mount Tom

Towards the end of 1996, I realized that Sabrina Fair was a pretty bossy bitch, and if I wanted to add a dog after Captain Kirk eventually passed, I had better get moving. If she were ever an only dog, we’d never be able to add another. By that time, I also had learned that you should never buy from a pet store. A reputable breeder is the best place to find a healthy purebred puppy.

I did know however that I wanted another Scottie, and was lucky enough to meet one of the best breeders of Scotties in the country, Kathi Brown. I eventually convinced her to sell me my second Scottie, Nick, also known as Champion Blueberry’s In the Nick of Time. We got him in April 1997. Nick is now 11 and I will tell you more about him when his time comes.

Sabrina and Nick at our wedding in 1998. Sabrina is in front of me.

David with Sabrina and Nick on the Cape in 1998

Sabrina and Nick became the best of friends, and even now, he and the other dogs sleep as close to her as they can get. We are in Vermont this week, and I am torn, torn between waiting until we get back and taking her to our vet, or just going to a local vet tomorrow.

I am sure that she’s ready. I’m just not sure I am.

I love you, Sabrina Fair.

Whew, Christmas!!

December 27, 2007 | Animals, Douglas, Family, Holiday, Products, the Uncle

Well, Christmas has been and gone, and we got lots of photo-related gifts in our family. I got my longed-for Canon Digital Rebel, and Santa brought the family a Flip camcorder. Even my husband got into the game — one of the few things he really wanted was a device that attaches to his telescope and uses the PC as the camera engine to take astronomy photos. And my brother, known here as the Uncle, got some items for his new Nikon D40, including a book on how to get the most out of his camera.

So I expect we’ll have lots of things to write about in the coming year. Starting with a report on last Friday’s Hannah Montana concert, which we were lucky enough to attend courtesy of my client HP, one of the sponsors.

Because HP was a sponsor, photography was allowed at the concert, and it was amazing to see so many people clicking away. Our photos are on Flickr.

In the meantime, let me leave you with a video I took with the Flip of my dogs playing with another one of my brother’s gifts, an alarm clock that runs and hides if you attempt to snooze. It was dead easy to upload the video directly to YouTube using the Flip interface.

Tags: Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Flip, Scottish Terrier, HP

Holy moly Hannah Montana

December 19, 2007 | Douglas, Family

Friday, I will be escorting three children to see Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana at the DCU Center in Worcester. We got the tickets from my client HP, who is a sponsor of the US Concert Tour.

Douglas doesn’t care that much about Miley/Hannah, but I know he’ll enjoy the concert because he loves music. The two girls we’ve invited to join us, the 11-year-old from across the street and an 8-year-old who Doug has known since daycare four years ago (WOW, time flies) are both a bit more invested.

Call me crazy, but I am really looking forward to spending the evening with the kids.

I know it’s hard to get tickets, but unlike most concerts, the Miley/Hannah tour encourages you to bring your camera, so kids lucky enough to go to the concert should remember to bring their digital camera. We certainly will.

Afterwards, Doug and I will be making MyConcert Memory Books on Disney.com as gifts for his two friends. We’ll be making HP Photo Books, which makes sense given my recent work on the launch campaign, but you can also share the books at Disney.com or purchase a printed one online.

What’s really cool about the Hannah books is that the kids can mash up their own photos with one that Miley takes from the stage at the concert they attended (how cool is that!) plus four- six other pictures of Hannah/Miley from the concert and a whole bunch of general photos from the tour – rehearsals, promo photos and so on. Even if a child doesn’t attend a concert, they might enjoy a book with some of the photos.

An important note: kids should make the book with their parents. Children under 13 logging in alone will be able to make a book with the photos on Disney.com and share it with their friends on Disney, but they won’t be able to add their own photos or comments, or print out the book at home. Plus most kids will go to the concert with their parents, and this is a fun activity for them to do together afterward!

We’ll report more after the concert on Friday!

Happy Halloween

October 26, 2007 | Douglas, Family

Our local Chamber of Commerce sponsors a downtown trick-or-treat every year the Thursday before Halloween. The main street is blocked off, and all the stores hand out candy to the local children from 4-6 pm. It’s a great way to get folks away from the mall and into the downtown area to see the local shops and restaurants.

We live in a fairly rural area of town, and this is really our best option for Douglas to trick or treat, so we go every year. Usually I walk with Douglas and his Dad wanders around taking pictures of trick-or-treaters for the Chamber website. This year though, I was staffing the table for a local education foundation (I’m on the board) so Doug had to walk around with Dad. Afterward, he mentioned something about maybe I could walk around with him next year, so I’m guessing Dad wasn’t as patient as I usually am

At the table for the Hudson Education Foundation, handily located next to the Chamber’s in front of Town Hall, we handed out candy for the kids and Purell wipes for the clean-up, which was much appreciated by the parents. I think we saw every child from Hudson MA and many many surrounding towns. They kept coming well after 6pm; it was only when the motorcycle cop drove down Main Street to open the road that it finally ended.

I was too busy to take a single photo, but here are a few from David.

In this one, I’m in the background. Douglas (Darth Vader) is asking me something. In the foreground, Marianne Vergano-Laughton, president of the Foundation, is handing out candy.

Here is Douglas as Darth Vader with another child from town. This picture was originally quite dark, so I did some editing in Picasa.

In this shot, Douglas seems to be doing something with the Force, hence the blurred hand.

A fun (but geeky) photo gift

September 13, 2007 | Family, Products, Projects

Last weekend, my family attended the 25th Surprise Anniversary Celebration for my uncle and his wife. My mom and I wanted to get them a small gift, but we wanted it to be a little personal. They are very down-to-earth, casual people, and fancy china, silver vases and so forth just don’t fit their lifestyle.

If you are faced with a similar dilemma, whether it is an anniversary, birthday or other family celebration, and you have a digital camera and a portable photo printer, you might want to do what we did for them.

We bought a nice pewter 4×6 frame at the Danforth Pewter store in Quechee, VT. Mum wrapped it in a nice gift bag — this is important. Do not wrap it in wrapping paper!

Then at the event, take a picture of the guest or guests of honor at the very beginning of the celebration. Let them pose but take the picture quick in the hustle and bustle that always occurs at the start of a party. That way, no one will be paying attention when you slip away to the corner where you’ve stashed your portable printer and print out the picture.

It blows the recipient away when they open the package. It was particularly fun at this event because a few other folks also settled on picture frames as a decent approximation of silver –25 is the silver anniversary. But no one else had a picture from the party in the frame.

Here is the picture I took at the start of the party.

And here is a picture of them opening their present.

Sometimes it’s fun being a geek. And it made my mom very happy to give them something truly unique.

Gear we used in this project: HP Photosmart R837 camera and HP Photosmart A716 printer

Welcome new author

July 6, 2007 | Family, the Uncle

As promised in an earlier post, my brother will be joining us from time to time. To make things really confusing, his name is also Douglas, so I’ve given him the user name that he’s been using to comment here, the Uncle

 Watch for his first post shortly.

So you say it’s your birthday

July 5, 2007 | Douglas, Family, General

Today is indeed my birthday. Douglas and David did a wonderful job of surprising me with birthday presents this morning:

  Flowers selected by Douglas.

 This is a digital photo frame, very cool.

I did not expect either of the gifts as I knew David had already ordered these dishes from LL Bean and we had also gotten each other a Broadway in Boston subscription (Dave’s birthday is two weeks after mine.)

I guess that’s why they call it a surprise

Now some people worry that having a birthday in a holiday week is a no fun. I’ll admit, having a birthday near Christmas, as my brother does, isn’t too great. Folks either forget or give you just one gift for both birthday and Christmas, which really sucks for a child when quantity of gifts is the preferred measure.

But Fourth of July week. Man, oh man, Mom-101, do not worry about Thalia. Even if you don’t read her my comment about the benefits of this birthday week, she will figure them out for herself.

Here’s the deal:

If you live in North America and your birthday is in the first week of July, you can pretty much celebrate the whole week.

In the US, it is easier if your birthday is in the few days after the 4th, and I imagine in Canada, it works best the closer your day is to Canada Day. You start with family celebrations on the relevant holidays, and sometimes that takes a couple of days. If any of your friends are around, maybe your mom will take you all to the movies or something. And then, when the holiday week is over, and your friends are back in town, you get the birthday party.

The fireworks?  

 They’re for you.

(From flickr under a creative commons license. Photographer has great fireworks shots. )

The rest of the country may be celebrating Independence. Your family…. it ends up being all about you. Don’t believe me? Ask my mom. When she asked if we could come over for a cook-out this week, it was for my birthday celebration, not the Fourth of July.

Born near the Fourth of July? It’s not bad at all.

The week that was

June 24, 2007 | Animals, Douglas, Family

No easy way to say it. Last week, a good friend died unexpectedly and way too soon.  He was a good friend to Dave and me, and my brother in law Dick’s best friend since, well, forever. Rest in Peace Flip.

Dick, my brother in law, came up from Pittsburgh for the funeral. Here is a picture Douglas took of his Uncle and Dad.

In more lighthearted news (unless you are a field rodent or a chipmunk) our nine-year old bitch Music and her best feline friend Merlin have been casing a section of the fence. I rescued a chipmunk yesterday from a fate…. well, you know.

Edited in Picasa, image size reduced in irfanview.

Finally, for puppy fans, here’s a picture of the puppy bitch at two weeks.

 

Their eyes are open and they should be walking, albeit like drunken sailors, within the next few days.

Tags: dogs, puppies, Scottish Terrier