Holidays
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This Is Us*
A few nights ago, I was up watching Sex and the City DVDs, and it was the episode where Miranda and Steve get married. Miranda was saying that she didn’t want the cookie cutter wedding, didn’t want someone else’s idea of a wedding, that what she wanted was a wedding that represented them, and who they were. I liked that. I liked it, because it resonated with me. I felt like we had that, a wedding that represented us, 13 years ago today. When faced with the idea of a big white dress and a long walk down the aisle, I thought, “Well, that’s nice for other folks, but not…
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Happy Juneteenth!
Today is Juneteenth. I remember when we lived in Philadelphia, the HUGE celebration every June, comemerating the holiday, Juneteenth. I had never heard of this holiday before. In case you haven’t heard of it, June 19th, 1865 is the date that Union General Gordon Granger landed in Galviston, TX, and announced that former slaves were now free. Philadelphia has a much larger black population than San Francisco, something like 50%. So the Juneteenth celebration there is much larger than it is in S.F. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that it used to go down Fillmore Street, which was very close to our Japantown apartment…we just didn’t know about it.…
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Happy Father’s Day, Dad!
My Dad and stepmom were here last weekend, which is a pretty groovy Father’s Day gift to me. 🙂 They live in Oregon, and so we don’t see them as much as we would like to. My dad is a pretty great guy, whom unfortunately I did not get to know until I was an adult. One day maybe I’ll tell that story, but not today. Anyway, when my dad was here, I asked him about his time in the 60s, about his involvement in the Civil Rights marches, etc. I was right on some things, wrong on others. I thought he had heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have…
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A Good Problem to Have
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! A couple of years ago, I was lamenting the cost of greeting cards, and that I end up paying out too much money around Mother’s Day. You see, I don’t only buy them for my mom, but for all of the “mother figures” in life, so they kind of add up. Then I stopped in my tracks, because I realized…this is not a bad problem to have. I have so many women in my life that I want to acknowledge as mother-figures, it ends up costing me some money (And I’ve tried a box of cards to save money, so I know, it doesn’t HAVE to be…
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Happy Birthday Q!
This is Ted and me back in 1988…we had been dating for almost a year, and we were at his Uncle’s wedding. Maya used to say that this is when Ted was the girl, and I was the boy, because his hair is long and mine is so short. 🙂 Today is Ted’s 41st birthday, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have met him, to have convinced him to date me, and to have married him. He’s a great guy…a wondrful husband, an amazing father, an incredible teacher (when he gets the chance), and a great radio personality as well. He genuinely likes people (as long as they don’t…
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Happy Birthday Mom!
Today is my Mom’s birthday…You may think you have a good mom, but my mom will trump her in almost any category…and since today is her birthday, we’ll just take out the ‘almost’ and say, Any Category. She rocks. She was a single mom, who somehow managed to take care of two young children, go to school (Berkeley), and work to support us. She moved us up to Alaska when she was but 27 years old, still single, living out in the woods on a homestead with no running water and no telephone. She worked so hard to get us whatever we needed when we were growing up…I’m not talking…
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Happy Earth Day!
Happy Day to our Mother Earth, who supports us and gives us life in all of its many forms. How will you celebrate? I know someone who is going to clean out the gutters in her neighborhood, and someone else who’s thinking of killing a rodent. Me? Not sure…I’m thinking maybe I’ll go get some flowers and plant them, and do some cleanup in our postcard sized yards. 🙂 But first I have to get dressed and walk the dog, so she doesn’t poop in the house. So get outside, say thanks to the Mother, and enjoy!
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Misc…
Just a few things…First, today is the first day of Passover. Happy Passover everyone, and if you celebrate with a Seder, enjoy! We’re only Jewish for Hannukah, so we won’t be celebrating…but we wish everyone who does a lovely evening. Second, today is national D.E.A.R. day. DEAR stands for Drop Everything And Read. Maya’s class does this in the mornings when they get to school every day, which is nice. If you have time in your day, sit down today and read for 30 minutes to celebrate. Why leave all the fun for the kids? 🙂 Lastly, I’m getting a lot of SPAM email. Blech. Comes in looking like this:…
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Happy Birthday Monkey!!
My first plan was to have a post, with 10 pictures, one from each year of Maya’s life. But the pictures grew unruly, and though I loaded them all into blogger, because of different sizes, etc, it didn’t look that great. Plus, it kind of took away from the post, rather than adding to it, because I was focusing on the captions, rather than the thoughts that I want to express. Then Ted came in with his Mac, and made a slide show in about 2 minutes, using all of the pictures I had scanned. So I will direct you to view my beautiful baby, as she goes from about…
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Happy International Women’s Day!
I just found out here that today is International Womens Day. I also found out that some of my friends count on me to keep them up to date on the weighty issues of the day, issues that do not involve cheerleaders or their injuries. To bring the two together, allow me to point you to a column by the always brilliant Molly Ivins, in which she discusses the abismal abortion situation in the ‘great’ state of South Dakota. Lest you feel that South Dakota is alone in their goal of outlawing abortion, similar laws are being considered publicly in both Missouri and Mississippi. For more reading about International Women’s…
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Happy Valentine’s Day
Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? Is it so Hallmark, FTD, and See’s can make money? I think it’s right behind Christmas and Mother’s Day as big money makers for the retail industry. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing ads telling you to buy your wife a pearl, diamond, or ruby. If you’re not married yet, the pressure is to get engaged, NOW, on Valentine’s day. Mostly, though, it’s a completely manufactured holiday, full of all of the pressure of shopping and buying, reservations at fancy restaurants and romance. Now I know these things don’t have to be stressful…but for many people, they are, and the burdon seems…
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Happy MLK Day
So today is the day we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr….an amazing man in so many ways. Of course, some companies don’t give MLK day as a paid holiday…companies which shall remain nameless. My interesting MLK factoid is that my father was in DC visiting some friends when King gave his famous, “I have a dream” speech, and my dad was so moved that he went and became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. I believe he was down south registering voters, mostly. Also found out recently that he was convicted of a felony once, for draft evasion in Viet Nam. I knew he had resisted the…
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Happy Birthday to Me!
So here I am, 40 years old…crazy. 🙂 But so far, it’s GREAT. Ted threw me an AMAZING party at Massimo’s Restaurant last night, and so many friends and family were there. It was truly great. Having a birthday right after Christmas means often that people are broke and partied out by the time your birthday comes around…Having a birthday on New Years Eve means that if you want to go out to celebrate, there is a bigger expectation that it be amazing and fun and crazy and expensive. So my birthday has always been kind of quiet and nice, but not that amazing, with the exception of a few…
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Who’s Spoiled???
Maya, for getting her doll? Me, for getting a nice ‘dock’ for my iPod? Or Ted, for getting his DVDs that he requested? I’m thinking, ME. Most spoiled. That’s as it SHOULD be. 🙂
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Chloe and her Christmas Pig
This is my niece, Chloe, and her wooden pig that she got for Christmas. Maya made the pig in carpentry class, and we tied a ribbon around its neck so Chloe can pull it around. Apparantly it was a big hit, as my sister Maya said that they had to stop opening gifts for quite awhile while Chloe played. 🙂 Nice.