O's and Cards

Last week we started watching House of Cards on Netflix.  I am totally hooked!  It's so, so good!  House of Cards is everything I love about living in DC!  The power struggles, the intrigue.  I think Kevin Spacey is one of the greatest actors of our generation and his on-screen wife, Claire, is portrayed by Robin Wright who was in two of my most favorite movies ever -- The Princess Bride and Forest Gump (aka Princess Butter Cup, aka Jenny).  Robin Wright was also married to the other actor I consider one of the greatest of our generation . . . Mr. Sean Penn.  I couldn't sleep one night and kind of went on a marathon and finished Season 1.  Champ is only on episode 5 or 6 but that's the beauty of Netflix . . . you can watch at your own pace.  T and The Dew are watching it also so that's been kind of fun.

Friday KJ had her 8th grade formal.  Sniff, Sniff.  Can't believe she's graduating from 8th grade in a few days and will be a high school freshman in the fall!  She had a couple of girls come over for photos beforehand and said she had a really good time at the dance.  Today they cleaned out their lockers, tomorrow she has her 8th grade field trip to Mountainside for zip lining, swimming, rope course and lunch.  Friday morning is the graduation ceremony and she's done!  Next week she's going to volleyball camp with her friend Corrine and next weekend we have two sets of friends coming to town!

This past weekend Champ surprised us with tickets to the O's home game vs. the A's and he made hotel arrangements in the Inner Harbor so we didn't have to drive home late at night.  The weather was incredibly perfect, mid-80's, and we had a wonderful late lunch before heading to the game.  I had never been to Camden Yards and it was quite an experience!  The O's have a HUGE fan base.  EVERY person in that stadium was wearing orange.  It was a great game and we had an easy walk back to our hotel.

I thought we had a graduation party on Sunday but totally read the invitation wrong and missed the party!  It was on Saturday, not Sunday.  I swear, sometimes I think I'm dyslexic!

First time for everything

There really is a first time for everything and I found that out firsthand on Friday.  At almost 47 years old, and having worked fairly steadily since I was 15, I was released from my duties at the hotel.  It kind of came as a shock, kind of not.  While Catering Sales were through the roof and basically carrying the hotel, Group Sales were sorely lacking and rumors were rampant.  We had been told that an older section of the hotel, "the Lodge," was closing effective June 1 but "the Towers" would remain open.  There was a lot of speculation on how this would affect the associates and management.  As it turns out, I, along with two others, were casualties of war.  Everyone kind of assumed that one of the Sales Managers was on the chopping block, possibly two.  So, it was a great surprise to most that I was one of the ones let go.  But, in reality, it kind of made sense.  My position was created in January after not having a Catering Coordinator for several years and as the old saying goes, "last one hired, first one fired."  I enjoyed my job very much, I liked the people I worked with and I liked the work I did.  That's that.

On the bright side, everything does happen for a reason and I think the reason was that I'm supposed to be home this summer.  Even though she's about to be a high schooler, we were still very nervous about KJ being home all summer with the pool.  We wanted her to enjoy the pool but we wanted her to be safe, too.  And, I certainly didn't want a bunch of kids at the house if I wasn't home.  We have some friends visiting in June, we have plans for July and now I don't have to feel guilty about asking for time off.

It's still a very weird feeling to be called into HR and be told the company is restructuring and there is no longer a spot for you on the team.  I flip-flop between acceptance and anger.  On Friday morning I walked into the hotel and for the first time thought that it could be me.  For weeks I had received the assurances of my supervisor that I "was fine"  but something hit me that morning and I told a co-worker I think my position is going to be eliminated only because it was newly created.  Obviously I knew the gig was up when I walked into HR and saw my boss crying her eyes out.  Apparently, she had been hit with the news just moments before I was called into HR.  In between packing up my desk, I spent most of the time reassuring her that I was going to be fine.  I think I was a little shell-shocked.  But on Sunday afternoon, I got mad.  I'm mad because in essence, this really has nothing to do with me.  It has to do more with the inadequacy of others and the inability to put "heads in beds."  I feel like I was a pawn in a twisted game of politics.  The Catering department was given the OK to finally get the Coordinator they so desperately needed only to have it snatched away at the first sign of trouble.  My position was viewed as a luxury, not a necessity.  The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that it wasn't anything I did.

Ab Fab

Such an absolutely fabulous weekend!  Didn't want it to end!  The weather was pure perfection, mid-to-high 80's, nothing but blue skies, not a cloud to be seen.

Saturday Coach and KJ made their way to Baltimore for the NCAA Division I lax semi-finals where they were to meet up with my brother and nephew.  Cosmo pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car only to hear, "Cos??  Is that you??"  Sure enough, it was a guy Cosmo played pee-wee, middle-school and high school football with.  I think Tommy moved to Florida our sophomore year but they guys were buds on FB.  Cosmo was the center, Tommy was the QB.  Tommy was there with his boys and their high school team from NJ and they had a big tailgate spread.  Naturally, Cosmo and KJ are not ones to pass up a tailgate so they visited with Tommy and his fam for a while.  And then, oddly enough, they rain into a girl who played Hoover middle school lax with KJ and her brothers also play or have played lax for Coach.

KJ had a great time getting her picture taken with various players, autographs and swag.  She came home with lanyards, sunglasses, Tervis tumblers and t-shirts.  They had great seats and were able to stay out of the direct sun and avoid a sunburn.  My brother's seats were in a different section but they were still able to meet up with each other and do all the fun fan zone stuff for the kids.  My sister-in-law and C spent the day at the aquarium and everyone met back at my house in the evening.  The kids were exhausted and we watched Frozen before we went to bed.  Loved listening to my niece sing "Let it Go."

Sunday morning the kids were in the pool by 10:30 AM and we had to drag them out around 7 PM.  I think they only time they got out of the pool was to eat and (hopefully) use the bathroom!  Uncle Chris had the heater on all week and the water was perfect!  It was like bath water!  Al and Z came over around 1 PM and we grilled and chilled.  Around 5 PM our B'ham friends came over for dinner on their way back from DC.  They were in Baltimore for the lax games too and it was so wonderful to spend some time with them.  The boys had a good time in the pool and I think Mr. B was happy to have some boys to play with instead of C.  KJ's "friend" Connor came over for the day and ate with us, threw the rock around a bit and played some cornhole.

Monday KJ and Coach went back to Baltimore for the finals and the kids had to get one last swim in before they headed back home.  After everyone left I had a great day catching up on laundry (I love pool towels hanging off the back deck or the pool railing -- it just screams summer!), catching up on my tan and catching up on my book.  As much as I love being surrounded by family and friends, I also covet my quiet time.  The weather was spectacular and I spent quite a long time just floating on my pool raft.  No noise.  No one yelling "Aunt Valerie!!!  Watch this!"  No one doing a cannonball.  Just some good, quality, peace and quiet.  Aaaaahhhh......

Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine

Interesting post title, huh?  Answer will be revealed at the end!

The weather has been absolutely positively fabulous the last couple of days!  The service opened our pool on Wednesday and we had a ton of rain basically all day Thursday and Friday morning.  Cosmo put the pool heater on and by 12 noon on Saturday KJ was swimming (it wouldn't matter if the heater was on or not; she'll swim in anything!  If there is a body of water nearby, that kid will be in it).  And she had the dog in the pool with her.  It's so funny to watch!  Trixie jumps in and can swim from one end of the pool to the other.  Her little legs go a mile a minute and she looks like a little wind-up bath toy.

First weekend we didn't have volleyball and we were able to get so much done around the house.  We cleaned all the patio furniture, Cosmo put some mulch down around the pool and the patio and surprised me with several hibiscus potted plants and gerbera daisy pots to put around the pool deck.  We're having company Memorial Day weekend so I got all of my pretty plastic plates and serving pieces out of storage and washed them to get ready for some al fresco dining!  I also put away my "Spring Shabby Chic Parisian Flea Market" tablescape and my dining room and entrance way are full-on "Summer Beach House" mode.

Saturday night we decided to drive to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis to see the Bayhawks play the new Florida Launch.  We got to see Coach's buddy PT play.  They met at a lax camp they did together and have been friends ever since.  Always great to see great players such as Queener, Kevin Crowley, Polanco, and Mikey Powell.  The weather was perfect, we had great seats and KJ had a lot of fun.  She forgot to bring a ball with her so she didn't get any autographs this time.  MLL games are so fun because the players are so accessible.  No egos.  Most, if not all, of the guys also have regular day jobs and several of them also coach youth leagues.

Looks like we're going to have a busy, fun summer!  My bro and his fam will be here for Memorial Day as well as some friends from Alabama.  June 6 is KJ's 8th grade formal and apparently everyone's coming to our house for photos.  June 13 is 8th grade graduation and there's a weekend at the end of June that we will get to see our friends from Cincy as well as some Bama friends.  My cousin's wedding reception is mid-June, too.  After that we transition to full-on pageant mode and will have some free time mid-July to mid-August.

Post Translation:  

(Manly Deeds, Womanly Words)

http://www.netstate.com/states/mottoes/md_motto.htm

Here Come the Boom !

Had such a great day yesterday!  The weather was absolutely spectacular!  It was almost 95 degrees here with nothing but beautiful, blue, clear skies.
 
I had an appointment to pick-up my new contacts (prescription is still not right so I came home wearing my regular ol' glasses), got a pedicure, ran some errands, got a haircut, spent some time in Ulta, picked up a few things at Trader Joe's and bought a bottle of my new favorite wine at World Market (liquor laws are so weird here -- no beer or wine in grocery stores yet the World Market in Rockville carries wine.  The Trader Joe's a couple of doors down does not).

Last night KJ's travel vball team had their end of year party and celebrated w/ a Dads vs. Daughters game.  The dads were too funny and did all the cheers and A.C.E. things the girls do.  The moms visited with each other and it was very nice for me to chat and get to know some of the moms a little better.  As a matter of fact, a couple of the moms are going to a boot camp tomorrow night as a group.  Should be interesting!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day even though it was spent in the gym.  KJ had her very last volleyball tournament Sunday and did great as always.  She had to be on the court at 7:15 AM and the gym was almost an hour from our house.  Who does that?  Who schedules a volleyball tournament on Mother's Day?  KJ gave me two beautiful Alex and Ani bangles http://www.alexandani.com and T sent me an "I love you" charm necklace with my initial on a small disc.  My sweet Godson sent me a beautiful basket of flowers to brighten my day, too!

Nothing major planned for this weekend.  The pool guys opened up our pool today so I think we'll just hang around and do some yard work.  I need to wash all of my summer plastic table ware so we can dine al fresco.  We need to get our patio seat cushions out of storage and set what kind of condition they are in.  May have to buy new ones.

Torch Relay

Usually I love Sunday's but today I'm not a happy camper.  I just don't want this weekend to end!

Saturday we drove to my nephew's lax tournament and got to spend quality time with both sides of my family.  The drive was lovely and the weather was spectacular!  Not only was Mr. B playing, but my youngest cousin John (who's 8 weeks older than KJ) was playing in the tournament as well.  So, I got to see my mom's baby brother and his wife and watch John play.  As an added bonus, my dad's baby brother drove up from NJ to spend the day with us so I got to spend some time with him (I hadn't seen him since my brother's wedding 11 years ago!).  Mr. B played well and played a LOT.  This season he's been playing long pole but will also go in as a middie.  He's so super fast I personally prefer him as a middie or at attack but he really likes being on defense.  They played 3 games basically back-to-back and by the end of game 3, he was pretty much done.  He got some words of wisdom from The Legend / The Guru / Champ and we're trying to talk his mom into letting him go to Coach Cos's Hustle Camp (or, at the very least, attend a local camp in MD where he can get some stellar instruction from a professional -- Georgetown, Hopkins, Loyola, Maryland, you name it).  I don't think his mom is ready to let him go to a sleep-away sports camp just yet.  Very weird to watch my brother coach and my nephew play instead of Coach and one of the girls.  I guess he's passing the torch.  After the tourney we all had dinner and just relaxed and caught up.  On the way home, we stopped at Jimmie Cone for some dessert (natch).  

Today I got some things done around the house while Cosmo and KJ did some shopping.  They originally went to the mall but ended up at the outlets by the National Harbor.   http://nationalharbor.com/  Cosmo needed some spring clothes and new sunglasses and naturally KJ got some stuff, too.  I put away my china and crystal we used for Easter dinner, I did a shload of laundry (shit + load = shload) and organized my closet a bit as well as one of the linen closets.  

T's evening gown competition dress came in this week and she is so super excited!  The fit, the color, the silhouette are all perfect!  She said it is ever so slightly long and she'd like to have a sliver taken off the bottom.  She said when she walked she had to kick it out a bit and she doesn't want to have to deal with that on stage.  She is so incredibly pleased with her wardrobe for the pageant and she made some great selections!  She looks best in jewel tones and didn't even bother looking at anything pastel.  She had to have a royal or navy blue gown for the opening number (she went with royal blue), she needed a gown with a train for the parade and went with a dusty blue strapless high/low dress and her swimsuit is emerald green.  She's been packing up her stuff the last couple of days and said The Boy will help her move across campus next week to her new dorm for her May and June sessions.  It's a bit of nuisance but not a big deal.  

Big Comfy Couch

Anybody remember this show???

Finally broke down this weekend and bought a new couch for the family room!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!!!  Our old couch has definitely seen better days and really needs to just go away.  Honestly, we shouldn't have even bothered moving it to MD from AL.  Basically, we bought the same exact couch from the same exact company just in a slightly different shade and a slightly different fabric.  We walked in the front door of the furniture store and it was the very first display.  It took all of about 10 minutes.  Once my mind is made up, that's it.  I didn't even look at anything else.

From there we took my parents to lunch and then did some shopping in Rockville at The Container Store (somehow Cosmo and I walked out with a $200 stainless steel kitchen trash can that closes by itself) and The Fresh Market.  We bought incredible steaks, twice-baked potatoes, broccoli slaw and garlic knots for Sunday dinner.

Saturday night we met my cousin Al at Uncle Julio's for dinner.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous so the Washingtonian was jammed packed but we enjoyed swirly drinks and chips before we were seated.  I usually have one of their salads but this time I went outside the box and had a delicious shrimp combination.

Sunday morning Bagel Boy took good care of all of us and after my parents left we started round 2 of "Cos Fam House Hunters."  As much as we've enjoyed living in this house, it's time to move on.  KJ loves the school district and is very excited about going to high school next year so we'll be staying in the same town.

The first house open house we went to was spectacular!  Exceptionally well-maintained with two master bedroom suites (KJ claimed one, natch), a full finished lower level with a work-out studio, wet bar and a theater room, in-ground pool with a detached two-car garage and a pool cabana.  The house had an amazing view from the deck and master bedroom.  Unfortunately, we hated the neighborhood.  It's such a shame.  The house is amazing but the neighborhood is awful.  And we need to think about re-sale.  So, scratch that one.

House #2 was my favorite of the open houses we went to.  Beautiful gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, custom cherry cabinets, a wine cooler and top of the line Jenn-Air appliances.  Off the kitchen was a great sun-room, and french doors off the family room led to a new Trex deck, in-ground pool and hot tub with a completely fenced in yard. This house had a pretty rocking chair front porch and the best part was the amazing two-level master bedroom suite. Loved the neighborhood -- 20 or so homes in a quiet cul-de-sac.  Needs a few things done but nothing major; mostly just cosmetic.

House #3 was adorable but way too small for us.  Nice neighborhood, great price, beautifully decorated and incredibly well maintained older home.  But very, very small.  I don't think our king bed would fit in the master and the mast bath was only a "3/4" (no tub, just a shower) with only one sink.  I mean, c'mon.  A girl needs her jetted tub and her own sink!!!