tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374228502024-03-12T21:35:52.590-04:00this charming lifeMeredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.comBlogger551125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-25009285521733696412011-01-06T22:59:00.001-05:002011-01-06T22:59:01.055-05:00(Iced) Tea and SympathyI have sat down to write this post a dozen times already but none of them ever seemed quite right. This time, whatever flows out is what I will post. Just a few days before Christmas one of my mother's best and dearest friends passed away. If you are one of the few people who read this blog regularly you know her as CatMar, faithful comment leaver and known to me as "Aunt" Marilyn. About a Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-28260728774590075662010-12-26T16:43:00.001-05:002010-12-26T16:43:55.278-05:00This Week on "Tough Questions Kids Ask"Harry wants to know if God is the king of heaven because he was the first person to die and He got to the pearly gates before anyone else. Next question? If God was first, who was second? George Washington? Join us next week for more "Tough Questions Kids Ask!" Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-85712086444517941282010-12-18T01:44:00.001-05:002010-12-18T01:44:04.725-05:00Office Holiday Par-taysAd agencies throw the most interesting holiday parties, with karaoke and dancing and sushi. The grand prize? Two airline tickets anywhere in the world. Had I won, I'd have gone away alone. Twice. Merry merry! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-88212069364877422010-12-07T20:22:00.001-05:002010-12-07T20:22:12.230-05:00Religion To GoIf you are pressed for time there is a Hannukah Mobile parked at Rockefeller Center his holiday season. This city never ceases to amaze me.Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-29470269904140440012010-12-07T20:21:00.001-05:002010-12-07T20:21:47.275-05:00Religion To GoIf you are pressed for time, there is a Hannukah Mobile parked at Rockefeller Center his holiday season. This city never ceases to amaze me.Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-82573240885997746202010-11-26T08:37:00.001-05:002010-11-26T08:37:27.024-05:00Thanksgiving Trip to Our Nation's CapitalWe met up with family in D.C. this weekend for Thanksgiving. We ordered a fully-cooked turkey dinner from a local supermarket which freed us up on Thanksgiving morning to visit the Washington monument, the Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam wall, WWII memorial, the Korean war memorial. Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is just as fun (but with less whine and more wine!) Published with Blogger-droidMeredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-13279500387968773162010-11-21T00:27:00.001-05:002010-11-21T00:27:05.707-05:00Wooden BridgeThere is a canal in our neighborhood that is one-part mafia dumping ground, one part ecological wunderkind. Interestingly, one of the canal crossings is a wooden bridge, flanked with cobblestones.Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-63995103921761581422010-11-19T09:30:00.001-05:002010-11-19T09:30:04.140-05:00The Art of Fare EvasionI see this status every morning on my way to work....it makes me smile.Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-64255982862771646122010-11-11T12:09:00.001-05:002010-11-11T12:09:41.086-05:00How 'Bout ThatEvery so often you see something in this city that makes you think "huh, how 'bout that." This, I think, is one of those things.Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-56365260140976394212010-11-09T21:38:00.001-05:002010-11-09T21:38:58.933-05:00Knitting SucceedFinally! Here is my first cabled knitting project in all its cabled glory. This baby blanket was knit I'm a cotton-poly blend and is machine washable so the new mom (well, newish at this point) can use it every day. Next up is baby blanket knit in the round for another new baby and that's knitting up quickly, thank God (that project's got a deadline, too. Yikes!) Published with Blogger-droid Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-34048371416187311962010-10-02T18:39:00.001-04:002010-10-02T18:39:27.796-04:00Pumpkin-FestEvery October our local family-owned hardware store hosts a fall festival with other local merchants. It's their way of thanking residents for their patronage. Even when that patronage comes from me...the lady who always comes in asking for thingamabobs to fix that thingamajig on the whatchamacalit. We love our neighborhood. Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-69085018682500644312010-09-25T16:10:00.001-04:002010-09-25T16:10:06.029-04:00The Campfire Girls Earned Their Hiking PatchGeorge W. Child's park. Fall isn't really the best time to visit waterfalls, especially after such a dry summer but it does let you go out onto the river beds and take photos from angles that aren't possible in spring.Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-25322127939809527772010-09-25T08:49:00.001-04:002010-09-25T08:49:13.890-04:00Campfire GirlsSophie and I are up in the Pocono Mountains for a mother-daughter weekend. We left the boys back in Brooklyn to fend for themselves. We will enjoy a morning hike, a visit to an historic house and fine dining in town. The boys will go to an inventor's fair and eat beans out of the can over the sink. (Probably.) (Maybe.) The weather right now is beautiful...68 degrees, sunny.Tonight's low, Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-56400828657485178242010-09-23T20:21:00.001-04:002010-09-23T20:21:16.358-04:00SickosSo both kids have already come down with colds since starting school, which is a record for us. They're not usually sniffing until Columbus day. Yesterday both kids woke up complaining that they were "dying," and couldn't possibly attend school with such a serious malady. "OK," I said. "You should definitely stay home and rest. The BEST medicine is rest, so back to bed. Avoid straining Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-10250473476975423552010-09-19T00:03:00.001-04:002010-09-19T00:03:00.365-04:00Tornado! We had not one but TWO tornadoes in New York City on Thursday evening. One went through Brooklyn and another through Queens. I missed all the drama at home but watched the storm (and the spectacular lightning) at the office. Today, while running errands around the neighborhood, I saw lots of branches as well as whole trees ripped out of the ground or snapped in half. A neighbor a few doorsMeredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-45240966560577585262010-09-15T22:15:00.001-04:002010-09-15T22:30:31.447-04:00Mobile BloggerMy cell phone was dying a slow, painful death and after a trip to my local cell phone dealer I find myself the owner of a ridiculously snazzy (but since it will be used for work wholly tax deductible) 4G smartphone. And would you look at that...there's an app for blogging...along with a Facebook app, an app for Sophie to practice math and a GPS and a camera and...oh yeah, apparently I can call Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-20645083703937865082010-09-13T07:00:00.002-04:002010-09-13T07:05:02.914-04:001st DayThe obligatory first day of school picture: It was actually last Wednesday, and because of a weekend plus one Jewish holiday, today is only the second day of the school year for NYC public school kids.Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-64917442949840291882010-09-07T05:56:00.000-04:002010-09-07T05:56:00.410-04:00How I Spent My Summer VacationLast Monday, my mother asked me "so when are you ever going to write another blog?" It dawned on me that I haven't updated since just after the 4th of July holiday. So without further ado, for my mother Cheryl, here is a blog post on how I spent my summer vacation:I traveled to the lovely Marlborough region of New Zealand to explore a winery I drank a lot of wine, most of it from New Zealand.I Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-9408290263760384752010-07-08T20:07:00.002-04:002010-07-08T20:43:26.141-04:004th of July WeekendI turned a 3 day weekend into 5 days of:Camping. Fishing. Hiking. Swimming.Visiting family, friends. We ate barbecue chicken. Pulled pork sandwiches. Watermelon.We lit sparklers. We drank wine (lots). Beer (much).Perfection. Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-42507070506947044302010-06-23T23:17:00.003-04:002010-06-23T23:39:39.603-04:00Is It Summer Vacation Yet?Phillip Seymour Hoffman has ants in his apartment. Our exterminator told us so. This has nothing to do with the rest of this post but it made me feel better about having ants in our apartment.As I write this the kids have 2.5 days of school before they are finished with The School Year That Ate My Brain. Seriously, this year kicked my ass. I thought it was because this was our first year having Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-77525565657148277842010-06-02T19:37:00.001-04:002010-06-02T19:39:08.984-04:00Happy JuneHello, June. Thank you for bringing sunshine and warm weather. Last year you really sucked, what with your 10+ inches of rain. This year will be better, right? RIGHT?Despite making sure to charge the camera batteries prior to leaving, I failed to document any of this Memorial Day weekend with photos, which would have shown the red marks on my arms and legs where I was bitten by mosquitoes, the Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-19420252988283919562010-05-20T14:55:00.003-04:002010-05-21T08:33:25.550-04:00Good TImesSoooooo....yeah. How you doing?We attended a wedding last week. On a Friday, which required taking a day off and that was nice. The wedding was for the son of one of my mother's good friends and his gorgeous bride. Other attendees included a very special lady that frequently comment on this very blog: CatMar, or Marilyn as we call her offline. At the end of the night, CatMar said "get writing on Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-26108363046016788502010-05-05T09:20:00.001-04:002010-05-05T09:20:00.523-04:00Moment of ReckoningToday, Sophie and the rest of the kids in her grade will take the first half of the state math exam. The one for which she's studied, been tutored, taken practice tests and spent four mornings a week arriving at school nearly an hour early for help. I don't know who will be more relieved that it is over, us or her. (Probably her, but we're still on the edge of our seats!)Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-65738461861404440652010-05-04T23:01:00.000-04:002010-05-04T23:01:00.070-04:00What's He Trying to Say?Harry (building a lego structure): "Mom! Look at my building!"Me: "Very nice!"Harry: "I'm going to live in a building like this when I'm all growed up."Me: "Great! I can't wait to come visit you."Harry: ?Me: "You know, when you're big. I'll come visit you in your luxury building."Harry: "Mom, you'll be dead by then."Me: "Uh, I think I'll be alive for awhile when you're an adult."Harry: "Will you Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37422850.post-15417147657162580992010-05-03T20:37:00.000-04:002010-05-03T20:37:00.307-04:00I Never Met a Street Fair I Didn't LikeI like the music....The facepainting.... The fun..... The food....Meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866053796647681141noreply@blogger.com3