Safe and Sound

So all of you out there in blogland and facebook are probably wondering what the heck has kept me from blogging for over 2 months...

I hadn't realized it had been so long until I tried finding a link to my blog on my facebook page and couldn't find it...not that I have been on facebook much either...

So it was the end of July that I last blogged and sooooooo much has happened in my life since then...

I took my daughter to college at Tufts

My son started high school

I gained 8 pounds I can't seem to lose

I have some new workout obsessions

I have learned more about Renaissance artists in Florence than I have ever wanted to know about Renaissance artists in Florence

That's about it...but it has been plenty...

So let's start with the hardest one to talk about...taking Ke$ha Barbie to college.

Wow...hardest thing I have done since burying my mother.  Getting into the cab and driving away from Tufts after settling her into her dorm was like leaving my heart on the sidewalk...because I did...

When Ke$ha Barbie came screaming into this world I took one look at her gorgeous face and beautiful blue eyes and my immediate thought was that I never wanted her more than an arm's reach away.

In fact when they took her to the nursery I cried and insisted on them wheeling me by her to gaze at in the window when they took me to my room.  Every time the nurses brought her in to me I just stared at her as she nursed and I couldn't believe that the gorgeous creature in my arms was my baby.

As she grew that feeling of needing her close was always with me.

But she had other ideas...

In fact, I'm pretty sure that if she could have walked out of that delivery room on her own she would have and she would have kept going.

She has ALWAYS been fiercely independent.

Never had a second of separation anxiety...I did but she never did...NEVER...

When she was a toddler sometimes I would look in the rear view mirror as we were driving and I would see her and have to pull over to kiss her sweet little face.

I did not have that same feeling when I once drove her home from  a party where she had decided to try taking shots...thank goodness her friends called me but as she was moaning and slumped over in the seat next to me I wondered where that cute little toddler that would sit in her car seat and sing was...certainly not the drunk teenager I had in the car next to me.

I felt like a failure as a mom that night...but then I remembered I didn't pour that liquor down her throat...she did...and she was probably going to do it again...and at least that time I was able to take care of her.

Now she is at college and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE IS UP TO...

And it's almost 19 years since the day she pushed her way into this world and it went by like a minute...

My Aunt Jane flew up to Boston with us because I needed someone to hold me and help me get thru it. It was always something I had planned to do with my mom so having Jane come with me meant more to me than she will ever know.

We flew up together and got up to Boston just in time to meet some friends for dinner.  We went out for some delicious Indian food and had a great time.  Our friends were old friend's of Jane's but new friends for Camiel and I and we loved getting to know a wonderful mom and daughter...and I am happy Camiel has a mom she can call up there in New England.

The next day we went shopping on Newbury Street in Boston.  Yeah I spent too much money at lululemon and H&M but what the heck.

Ke$ha Barbie found a resale shop she wanted to look in and left with a pair of Christian Louboutin blood red patent pumps that fit her like the ruby slippers fit Dorothy.  Her's for less than 1/5 of what they usually cost.  I still don't have a pair...but she literally danced when she put them on and since they didn't cost any more than the ugly Doc Martens she had just purchased I was game to pay for them.

We also found this great little shop that sells olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  That's all they sell...and Jane and I ended up buying 24 bottles of stuff between us...not kidding.

Best.Olive.Oil.Ever

Flavors like...butter (yes, and it tastes like butter)...chipotle...harissa...lemon...sage and wild mushroom olive oils.   And balsamic vinegars in flavors like: blueberry/ginger...chocolate...espresso...

AMAZING

I have been making amazing salads with the lemon olive oil with the blueberry/ginger vinegar and...and I know this sounds weird but it is awesome: chipotle olive oil with chocolate balsamic vinegar.

here's the website...order some now!

bostonoliveoilcompany.com

And get that wild mushroom and sage and drizzle it over pasta or navy beans or make risotto with it...

My next purchase is pumpkin vinegar to mix with the sage and wild mushroom olive oil to drizzle on butternut squash ravioli...

yeah I will pay for that sin later...

That night we ate an amazing dinner at a restaurant near our hotel and celebrated Ke$ha Barbie's new life at Tufts.

The next day we grabbed a cab and moved her into her dorm.  It took a while to arrange and re-arrange the room but Jane came up with the perfect arrangement for the furniture and the girls (Ke$ha Barbie and her roomate) were happy.

The school served lunch to all of the new freshman and their families...it was a lovely lunch on the lawn and hill in the middle of campus and I was blown away by how pretty the campus was and how friendly everyone was.

They had a "Matriculation Ceremony" to present the new freshman to the deans and the university bigwigs.  It was a very proud moment for me...yes, I cried...and I sent an email to here college counselor pledging my undying love for her getting Ke$ha Barbie into such an incredible college.

16,500 kids applied...they took 1350...one of them was my kid...wow...

The dean of admissions (who was introduced and welcomed by a huge roar of approval from the crowd of kids and parents) told us a bit about the class that Ke$ha Barbie was part of: 10 kids are awaiting patents...34 kids are Chinese nationals...someone is a professional MIME (yeah that's weird)...one student was nominated for a Grammy...

And they took my little artist...

So then it was time to go...to leave my heart there on the Tufts campus...if not for Jane I'm not sure I could have gotten in the cab...

But I did...

And then Jane and I went to a great dinner where I drowned myself in an ah-may-zing tequila drink...or 3...I lost count...

The next day Jane and I spent a blissful day at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (I highly recommend a visit there) and then it was time to get on the plane and head back to Houston...and leave Ke$ha Barbie behind in Boston.

Getting on that plane took all my strength and a bit of vodka...

And as we took off I cried thinking that as proud as I was of her, I was still worried...because in my mind she was still that little toddler I dropped off at "Mom's Day Out" and I wasn't ready for the separation...

But she was...and is...and she is doing great...

Back here at home I had my incredible boy to look after.  He started his freshman year with a bang---the coach put him and a few of his friends on the sophomore football team and as proud as I was of that I also don't love him playing against older, bigger, and more experienced boys.  But he has proven himself as starting middle linebacker and I just hold my breath when he is on the field.

And he has a girlfriend...

she is a darling girl and aside from being beautiful and smart, she also has managed to organize his locker and gotten him to dress in clothes that actually match...at least at school...

As I walked the halls of the high school on parent night I was reminded of Ke$ha Barbie's first year there and how well she had turned out...so I have great faith in the school for my son.  And a few of her teachers told me how proud they were of her and how happy they were to get to know her brother.

And since he has the same college counselor as his sister I know that 4 years from now when he is at college he will have been guided well to make a good choice...and the college counselor will have a much easier time with my son than my artist daughter...

Um...now about the 8 pounds...what the hell?

It won't budge...it won't...so I have sworn off the scale for a bit and I'm eating healthy and still working out like a fiend...

it will come off...and I'm not gonna let it keep me from being happy...or having my red wine...

And one thing I have taken up is a new obsession that JayVee has me hooked on...indoor rowing on a water rower.

JayVee is not only one of my dearest and closest friends but she is also the group fitness director at my health club.  She is constantly on the lookout for the newest, best and latest ways to get us moving and grooving...and now she has brought us "indorow".

It's a rowing machine but it is not electronic...although it has a little computer attached that counts your strokes and "meters rowed".

It is hard as hell.

And fun to do...

60% of it is in the legs...20% your core and 20% your arms...all good...

She also has me doing this class called "Shock Wave"...

yeah the "shock" part is how freakin hard it is...I almost threw up the first time...as have other friends who have tried it.

Talking about kicking butt...it's a group class where you rotate to different stations...things like "core" or "legs" or "squats" or "tricep dips" and 2 stations of rowing like mad...you can't move to the next station until the group on the rowers hit their "goal" (like 200 meters).  You end up PRAYING that the strong and fast ones are the ones on the rowers when you are holding a plank...trust me on this...

And I'm still loving my spin classes and JayVee's "Total Body Jam" (yea!  that one is tomorrow's punishment du jour).

All good and I may be carrying around 8 extra pounds but my clothes still fit and I can hide the extra in my tummy but my shoulders look awesome...

As for the Renaissance artists...I have been helping out our Art a la Carte program at my kids' former school by revising the power points that the moms teach the program with.  I have had fun but frankly I'm sick of Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael...and I'm not talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles here but the real deal...but hey, if you need an art history lesson---I'm your girl....

So that's what has been going on with me....next time I will blog about some fun stuff and maybe by blogging I will keep myself busy with something other than worrying about my kids and explaining how Brunelleschi designed the dome of the Florence Cathedral (real name: Basilica di Santa Marie di Fiore...yes, I told you I know too much about Renaissance artists...)

Inspiration Song: "Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities.  Fun song...in the "alternative" music category but I like my Alt Nation on Sirius XM...

Bye Darlings...I am safe and sound...and next time we will have a bit more fun here...unless I digress into a discussion of sfumato in the Mona Lisa...be safe and sound yourself...