Gee, January wasn’t such a great month for blogging.  I’m grateful to have had many visitors during the month, but I hang my head in shame for not giving them more to ponder.  Most friends who follow me on Twitter and on Facebook know that there’s nothing that should  keep me from writing, other than living life.  For those who don’t, let me catch you up.

Vacation – we survived our Florida Odyssey.  It was way more fun than I imagined it would be.  But I learned a few things, mostly about the Boy. 

• Boy hates rides.  HATES.  With a passion.  He used to go on kiddie rides when he was 2, but even this summer at the County Fair he was protesting all things ride.  I probably made it worse at Universal by taking him on the ET Ride when we first arrived.  You know, the cuddly cute ride about that kind alien…NOT!  ET is a horror fest in the dark, from start to finish.  He screamed like he was being tortured the entire time.  Fun for all!  I tried to take him on the Dumbo-esque One Fish Two Fish at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.  HATED it.  SCREAMED HIS HEAD OFF. 
• Boy likes to be in control.  You see, there are some rides he does like.  We went to a family carnival in Jupiter, FL, and he LOVED LOVED LOVED the rug slide (not sure what you call that thing) and the bounce house.  Rides where he is moving and in control of the action are good for him.  He loved the interactive playgrounds – a LOT.  He spent hours in the one in Seusslanding, and could have spent more time if it weren’t close to dinner.  Which brings me to…
• Boy comes to the table for dinner.  In a big way.  Almost every night at dinnertime, as long as there was a big ole plate of food in front of him, he ate and ate and was never a bother.  It made it nice, as we could get in some adult and big sister conversation without him pitching a fit.  But when he was done, you could stick that fork in him, because he was DONE and ready to hit the road again.
• Boy’s still not a great flyer.  He was OK on the flight down, enduring a Christmas day delay quite well.  My plan to have him watch movies on my laptop was foiled by my bringing USB headphones that didn’t work with iTunes and he could only watch “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Handy Manny”.  Thank heavens I downloaded them, because it gave him something to watch in our hotel rooms.  On the flight home, he spent the entire time playing  Rain Man repeating over and over again, “I’m not going on the airplane, I can’t go on the airplane.”  I kept telling him, buddy, you are on the plane, give it up.  AirTran was fine, just fine.  Nothing great, but fine.  Not a lot of room in between the seats, but we survived.

And what about January?  Soccer Girl played a lot of basketball, and is looking forward to the start of indoor soccer this weekend.  She also got braces, which has been interesting.  Her emotions range from pretty ambivilent to negative about them,  I was a kid who always wanted them, so I think they are the coolest thing EVAH.  This months colored rubber bands are pink and yellow.  So awesome!

Boy is doing great in school and therapy and continues to progress.  We tried swimming lessons, which didn’t go so well.  He had a skating lesson which did, so we’re going to continue that.

Me and Mr IT – doing great. 

I’m going to try and be better in February.  And when I get my new iPad, watch out!  Blog-o-rama!

In past blog entries, I told of our efforts to get the IT Boy to sleep through the night.  I’m happy to say that after much work he is probably one of the best sleepers in the house.

Mr. IT would tell you that it was all a natural evolution, that he just reached a point where he was ready to sleep through the night and it had nothing to do with the massive time we spent getting him to cry it out, ferberizing, and the like.

Uh huh.

In case you are wondering what the “cry it out” process was like in our family, I present to you this clip from “Modern Family”, which is a show that  if you aren’t watching, you must start watching immediately.  It’s quite funny and I can’t remember an episode where we haven’t found some hysterical situation to relate to.

 Think of me as the redhead with glasses and Mr. IT as Cameron.   Seriously.  These interactions have all taken place in our household in the last year. 

Case closed.

Today marks the third day of my end of year vacation.  Not much planned, other than getting the kids off to their last day of school, therapy for the boy, a cut and color for me, a visit to Santa and packing.

Yes, I said packing. 

As someone who travels a fair amount for business, I can’t really say I have an overwhelming urge to ever travel with my family, especially during the peak holiday season.  

But this year is different.  A good friend and the maid of honor from my wedding is getting married.  On January 2nd.  In Florida.

How could I not attend?  When I got the “save the date” six months ago, I knew I would find a way to be there. 

It was during the holidays.  The crowded planes, the ridiculous airfares, the clueless tourists – I would go alone, I decided. Maybe I would bring Soccer Girl.  But only for the weekend. 

When I started thinking more about it, that plan went out the window fast.  Somehow, it morphed into more.

I decided that the whole family should go.  And not just for weekend.  FOR ELEVEN DAYS.  That’s just how the airfares worked out best.  The kids will have to miss one day of school, but that’s not horrible. 

What is horrible is flying with my family.  I’m a selfish business traveler.  I like to use my plane time to catch up on reading, watch movies on my iPod and generally chill.  CHILL is not a state you can enter when you fly with IT Boy.  I don’t believe it’s truly his fault.  First off, he’s a boy, and containment in a seat is not a state of being he chooses.  Second, he has ear issues, and the pressure on planes wrecks havoc with him.  I’m not above buying drink tickets for the people sitting around us who have to listen to him, and especially those who will have their seats kicked by him the entire flight. 

Last time I got off a flight with him, I smacked myself in the forehead and said, “Now I remember why I used to smoke.”

I haven’t seen “Up in the Air” yet, but I have a feeling I will absolutely relate to the George Clooney character.  I despise being at the security gates with clueless families traveling on their once a year flight.  Especially when they are my own family.  You know the ones, the folks who never travel, have no idea what the hell they are doing and hopelessly clog up the security gates

There is NOTHING like a security line in a  Florida airport.  I can’t help it, I just start yelling at people trying to fold their strollers that are bigger than their car and shove them thru the x-ray.  DO YOU REALLY NEED A STROLLER THE SIZE OF A SMART CAR FOR YOUR 15 lb son?  Better yet are the ones who try and put their car seats CONTAINING THEIR CHILDREN thru x-ray (I swear to you that I have seen that not once, not twice, but THREE DARWIN-TEMPTING-FANTASTIC TIMES.
 
What am I thinking?!?!  I will need a vacation from the vacation.
 
Our itinerary is not for the faint of heart.  We’re starting in West Palm Beach, where my father in law lives.  Four days there, staying in his condo.   Then we are going to Universal (UNIVERSAL?  WITH ALL THE TOURISTS?!?! AND A SENSORY ADVERSE BOY?!? WHAT ARE WE THINKING?!?) for 4 days, then over to Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast for the wedding.  Where I will drink.  Heavily.  Before flying out of ORLANDO, the epicenter of the clueless tourist.

It’s all going to be okay, I keep telling myself.  While I remind myself to not attempt this next year, without Valium. 

What are YOUR plans for the holidays?  Whatever they are, may they be merry!

You may think I am talking about peace, love or happiness. But I’m not. I’m talking about coffee. Because you cannot have the first three with out the latter…

Let me explain. I never was a real coffee drinker. I got through college on a steady regimen of Diet Pepsi and tea. Twice in my early adult life I tried coffee. Once was when I was working at Hampton Jitney and stayed out way too late the night before and thought coffee would help. It didn’t. The second time was at a trade show in New Orleans where I was nursing a hangover (see a pattern here?) and tried the coffee with chickory. I liked it so much I proceeded to have 5 cups of it. This too ended badly. So it wasn’t until after IT Boy was born that I found the need for the bean.  It kept my metabolism and energy levels up, giving me the will to get through the day.

My parents are both heavy coffee drinkers.  Mom drinks black coffee, but there’s a story behind that.  She prefered coffee with milk and sugar until college.  She lived in a sorority house where there were male waiters who would serve the sisters.  When it was time for coffee, they would have to bring over the milk and sugar.  She was too embarrassed to have them come over every time, so she learned to live without it.   Dad is a consistent “triple grande non-fat latte” man, so much so that even Mr. IT knows how to order it, and he doesn’t drink coffee.

I prefer the taste of expresso-based beverages to straight coffee product.  Because why would I want something readily available and cheap, right?  We got an expresso maker as a wedding gift, but it broke and I never replaced it.  This has left me to get drinks at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or wherever I happened to be that sold iced lattes.  Fulfilling, yes, but pricey.

I noticed that a bunch of friends were getting single cup coffee makers.  This seemed like a good solution for me.  My big coffee pot wasn’t getting used except for big gatherings.  I just needed to provide beverages for me, so a single cup was really all I needed.  But the Keurig that many were buying only made coffee, tea and hot chocolate.  Not a great option but I was willing to compromise.

While I was mulling this about, a friend told me about her Tassimo machine.  It makes not only coffee and tea, but all expresso beverages too.  The machine has a bar code reader that figures out what is being made and how much water is required.  You can make a hot chocolate with steamed milk!  A cappuccino, regular or decaf!  Even a cuppa tea!  It’s genius!

I kept this in the back of my mind, until I saw a Bed Bath and Beyond catalog with this machine on the cover.  They were offering it for $169, but were providing a rebate and you could use your 20% off coupon.  SOLD!  I stopped in the day before my birthday and picked up one.  I also got a bunch of pods to try (as Mr. IT said when he noticed my new pod collection, “Can’t you do anything in a not-all-get-out-mode,” to which I replied, “Have you met my dad?”) also using my 20% off coupon. 

When I got home, I immediately got it unpacked and prepared it to make the virgin beverage.  The opinion at home was to start with Milka hot chocolate, which I did.  There was a big fight over the first cup, which I *didn’t* win, even though it was my birthday eve.  But no matter.  I got a cup and it was delicious.

See how easy it is to use???  Watch this, you can even SMELL the coffee…

The selection of coffees is great.  I really like the Gevalia expressos.  Milka is an amazing hot chocolate.  Starbucks and Seattle’s Best also make coffees for the machine. 

So, now I’m telling everyone I know how wonderful this machine is.  I have not been compensated in any way by Tassimo, other than by receiving beautiful cappuccino every morning from my heavenly machine.  If you are thinking about getting a single cup coffee maker and want more options than a Keurig offers, definitely consider a Tassimo.  You won’t regret it!

And thanks for the birthday gift, Dad!

Last night, we had my mom over to the house for a Hanukkah dinner.  Not growing up Jewish, I make sure it’s a well-choreographed occasion, with little margin for error.  Brisket bigger than smallest child?  Check.  Gobs of oil, normally forbidden, because it’s how you honor the holiday, and to hell with calories when you have to honor a holiday.  Of course.  Cans of Le Sueur peas because that makes any holiday special for Mr. IT?  In da house.

But what would Hanukkah be for the kids without presents?  Grandma brought a fun one for IT Boy – a Chevron train set. 

Cute, huh?  He sure thought so.  When he opened the box, he started flapping so much I thought he was going to take off.  Daddy frantically began trying to take the thing out of the box, while Boy screamed OPEN!  OPEN!  Grace under pressure, huh.  Anyhow, the packaging wasn’t as bad as what’s used by many kids toys, so it didn’t take long until we got the trains out for Boy to examine.

Originally, we asked him to take the trains and the sign to the den, where he has a big honking train table with about 25 trains and 100 tracks.  Or something like that.  It certainly feels like that many when we’re cleaning up the room, or rather when I am bribing encouraging Soccer Girl to clean up the den after Boy has had his way with it. 

Initially this was fine, and he was happy.  Then, he demanded that the new tracks be assembled.  While the rest of the family was occupied with “The Magic Kingdom Game” (Disneyphiles, yes), I pulled out the tracks and tried to put it together. 

I looked on the box and saw it was a big standard oval.  I started putting tracks together in a random configuration until I realized that I was getting no where.  Whatever I did, the tracks would not come together when I used all of them.  Finally, I pulled off a few tracks and I got something going.  Eventually, it was time for bed, and we packed up the new train set.  Mind you, at no time did the tracks from this set come into contact with any tracks already in his possession. 

This morning, he demanded requested another crack at his new train set.  I sat down and was determined to get it right.  I’m an engineer’s daughter, after all. This is something I should be able to do.

So, I figured that I would take all the straight tracks and the curved ones, separate them and then divide them in half.  That would make the correct oval formation Boy wanted.

Except I couldn’t.  When I divided the curved tracks there was one left over.  Same with the straight tracks.  IT WAS NEVER GOING TO WORK!!!  You cannot have a continuous circular track when they are not an equal amount of tracks.  THE DECK WAS ALWAYS STACKED AGAINST ME. 

But I persevered.  Boy had another curved track piece from an older layout we could use in this set.  The track was then made circular, and all was right with the world.

It made me quite nostalgic for the days of girl play.  Where there was active play, yes, but there always had to be a story and lots of talking.  “Mommy, you can be the mean queen, and I’ll be the pretty princess. ” 

Sidenote – Not to quote The First Wives Club but is that all there is for women out there?  You’re the pretty princess, then the evil queen? 

It sure is different having a boy.  Can’t have too many trains or trucks.  Wouldn’t know what to do with a tea party set other than continually throw the plates on the ground because the sound is long.  I’m grateful to have one of each, to be able to see, appreciate and cherish their differences.  Even if putting their toys together seems to be a descent into madness.

How are YOUR holidays going??

My Wiley colleague Matt McHugh has something up his sleeve today. He’s hoping to get a whole bunch of people to buy the ebook version of his own ”Scrooge & Cratchit” today, in an effort to move it onto a bestseller list.  

You can learn more about the book here.

You can buy it on Amazon here.  It’s only $.99 in the US store, what are you waiting for???

Here’s the note from Matt:

Help me lift my little independent ebook into the Amazon Bestseller lists with a one-day sales spike.

On Tuesday, November 24, 2009, buy the ebook of “Scrooge & Cratchit: A Sequel to ‘A Christmas Carol’.”

The combined activity of multiple buyers on a single day can push a title to bestseller status and increase its visibility on Amazon. Yes, you’re giving me 99 cents (more like $3 outside the U.S…. Amazon gets most of it), but it’s the chance at publicity for an obscure literary work that’s truly valuable.

So, remember: help me out if you can on Tuesday, November 24, 2009.

- Matt McHugh

See details here:  http://scrooge-and-cratchit.com

This morning, I  was reading through Twitter Moms and a fun contest caught my eye.  To enter, bloggers have to write a post about their Black Friday shopping strategies.  I was reading through the entries and struck by how creative these women were, and how many DEALS they were going to be getting for their families. 

Then I saw this post from a fellow WordPress blogger and thought, oh, that’s more me. 

Because, sure, I’d love to win a Target Gift Card (pick ME!  pick ME!).  But here’s the thing.  I don’t have any Black Friday strategies, unless you could total avoidance of the event to be a strategy. 

Crone is right on target with her post (target!  Nice synergy in that sentence.)  Black Friday ain’t what it used to be.  You’re lining up with a bunch of sweaty and aggressive strangers to try and snag one of two netbooks the store has…and you’re not going to get it. 

I shop at stores like Kohl’s, WalMart and, yes, Target because I expect to save money year round.  I don’t look to them one day of the year to entertain me with LOW LOW LOW prices while I zoom my shopping cart through the throngs of humanity crammed into a very small space.

In the past 10 years, the only thing I have ever bought on Black Friday was a skin for my iPod that I bought online at the Apple Store.  They hardly ever have sales, so that was the right time to take advantage of that opportunity.  The rumor sites say they will do the same thing this year, and Soccer Girl has her eye on a Touch for the holidays – maybe I’ll get lucky.  I bet Target.com has some sales, and I will check them out.  From the privacy of my own cozy home.   But no way, no how will I step foot into a store on Friday.  That, my friends, is a strategy for success!

We first went to Pepe’s in Fairfield last year and loved it.  For a die-hard born-in-the-Bronx girl to be raving about New Haven style pizza, it has to be good.  So when we heard they were coming to Yonkers, we were jumping for joy.  They were planning to set up shop at the site of the shuttered Ricky’s Clam House on Central Avenue.  So close to us, it was unreal. 

Our friends Dave and Julie decided that we all had to be there the day it opened.  A day off from work was contemplated, to be there when the doors opened just after 11, but it was decided that dinner would fit with our plans better.  Dave wanted to be able to say, “25 years from now that he was there the night the joint opened,” fully confident that Pepe’s would indeed be there in a quarter century. 

Where's my pizza?!?!

When we got to Pepe’s around 6pm, there were lines out the door both for sit down service and take away.  We were lucky in that we didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for our table.  Of course, we had to wait a little longer than that for our pies, but that’s to be expected on the first night a restaurant is in business. 

Pepperoni pie

We ordered two large pies, an original tomato pie with mozzerella, and the same with pepperoni.  We found both pies to have surprisingly thick crusts, unlike the thin crust Pepe is known for.  I didn’t care for the pepperoni – I ordered it because some at the table were asking for a topping pizza, and I threw it out there.  I don’t really like toppings on my pizza, prefering to keep them pure.  The cheese and the sauce were right on, and it was cooked very well.  Not greasy at all.  We commented to the guy who seemed to be the manager about how the crust was thick, and he agreed, saying he’s been trying to get the pizza makers on board with the right way to do things. 

No, the pizza wasn’t perfect, but we know they are capable of perfection.  It was their first night, so we definitely feel they can be cut some slack.

The following Saturday, Soccer Girl had a tournament that ran till the early afternoon.  When we got home, we were both wiped (not sure why I was so tired, as I certainly wasn’t playing) and I did not feel like cooking.  So, we decided to go back to Pepe’s. 

We got there at 4:30 to find a healthy line out the front door.  Our wait wasn’t more than 5 minutes, which was good.

"Upskirt" shot

We ordered 3 pies this time (there were 6 of us, I will have you know).  A small “original tomato pie”, which is basically a pizza with no mozzarella, but a little grated cheese.  A medium “clam pie”, white sauce and no cheese.  A large tomato pie with cheese.  The first two came out after about 20 minutes.  I loved the tomato pie, even though I was a bit skeptical of a pizza without cheese.  The clam pie was well received by Mr IT and Julie – Girl found it icky, but who likes clams, anyhow? 

The third pie was a bit more, well, shy I guess.  After 10 minutes of eating, the manager came over to explain that they forgot to put our third pie in the oven, but it would be out in 10 minutes.  We dealt with it…really, we weren’t upset, and were rolling with the punches.  We had pizza.  It made us happy.

When the large pie finally came out, it was still a bit thicker than we have had in Fairfield, but it was good.  Not as greasy as other bloggers have experienced.  Just good.

So, it’s not pizza perfection.  Yet.  I feel strongly it will get there.  Many people are being hard on the place, expecting it to be at 100% from the get go.  Well, I’m sorry, that’s just not realistic.  We’re making the choice to have faith.  They expanded in Fairfield, and made it work.  They have another place in Eastern CT, and that too is working.  Yonkers will be there, and I’ll probably be on line to see it.  Heck, I’ve already made plans to meet a friend there on Saturday.  I’m getting addicted, and it’s happening fast.  It’s good to have a Pepe’s in the neighborhood.

* in the spirit of full disclosure, the second meal I refered to ended up being comped due to the issues I detailed.

All of a Kind Family

I got an email from another parent a few weeks ago alerting me to the fact that our girls and others had been discussing starting a book club.  What did I think, and was I willing to help run it, she asked.  I was thrilled.  I thought it was a great idea.  I was so happy that the girls wanted to read more and to talk about what they were reading. 

I’ve never been in a book club before (shocking I know) nor have I run one.  But I read – can there be more qualifications to head a discussion than that?

We talked a bit amongst ourselves about what books we might pick for the club.  We went back and forth between old classics and new books.  The advantage of the old classics is that we’ve already read them in most cases, and can bring the experience of reading them as a girl to our girls.  The new books might seem more exciting and relevant to the girls, but the parents aren’t going to be able to bring the same passion to them as we could to, say, Little House on the Prairie (do you know my girl has NOT read that book, or any other in the series???  Horror!) 

So when it came down to it, I knew there could only be one choice for my first book club book – All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  This series was one of my favorites growing up.  It’s the story of 5 girls growing up in a Jewish family on the lower east side of NYC.  I didn’t grow up Jewish, but I learned everything about Jewish traditions from these books.  Being an only child, the idea of sharing a bathroom and a single bedroom with 4 sisters didn’t seem so bad after reading about the adventures that Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie got into.  Imagine when the thrill of a week was the Friday trip to the library to get a new book for the week – these were simple days of basic pleasures.  Certainly we can convey a message to our about being grateful for the relative abundances that they have. 

Other books that I will be considering when it is my turn again are the Little House series and the Betsy-Tacy books – I adored the former growing up, but never read the latter.  I just got copies of the rereleased books and think the girls would really enjoy them. 

What books from your childhood are you sharing with the kids in your life?

Most people who know me know I’m a Disney freak.  Inherited from my mom, and now passed down to my kids.  Soccer Girl’s favorite place on earth is Walt Disney World and she has written many a school paper on her experiences at the park.  IT Boy too is a fan, albeit on a smaller scale.  He’s obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Channel.  It’s become his favorite show, surpassing that old standby,  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”">Spongebob Squarepants.  He loves doing the Hot Dog Dance - I think he’s emulating Goofy.  It’s a sanity saver for me, because it’s really the first show he will sit down and watch from start to finish. 

Last week, I got an emailing about a new Disney ice show coming to the NY area.  This seemed like the perfect family activity for us.   I used to ice skate regularly, so I knew I would have fun.  Girl would probably be ok with it, even the princesses, which she really doesn’t like anymore because middle school girls are not princess girls, humph.  Boy was the question mark, but something about the characters and the action tells me he might be ok sitting through the show.  You know, it’s not easy to find activities that the whole family can partake together and enjoy!

The kind folks at Feld Entertainment want to spread the word about a ticket offer they have for the shows at Nassau Coliseum, as well as the Prudential Center and IZOD Center in NJ.  You can get 4 tickets for $44 at a Monday-Friday matinee, or $4 off Friday night and weekend tickets by entering the code “MOM” in the MC promotion code box on Ticketmaster.  Minimum purchase of 4 tickets is required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each.  Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.  Cannot be combined with other offers.  Service charges & handling fees will apply.

Now, the Feld folks and Mom Central have been kind enough to give my family tickets to opening night at the IZOD Center, and to give me a four pack of tickets to give away to my loyal blog readers.  If you are interested in winning 4 tickets for November 24th, simply comment on this blog post and tell me who or what your favorite Disney character is.  You must post with your email address, and if I cannot contact the winner within 3 days, I will be forced to choose another one.  Creativity counts, but the winner will be selected by random number generator.  Contest closes November 7th at 11:59pm.  Winner will be selected when I wake up on November 8th.  Good luck!