Never am I so aware of our Kung Fu Panda's rapid development than when I upload recent videos of him. Over the last two to three months, he has learned to climb stairs, to blow raspberries, to paddle in the pool, and to take his first steps. It's so easy to take those steps for granted, once they've happened, so it's fun to look back at when he was ( Read more... )

Up until just about two week before New Year's Eve, we had no plans. Our friend, the White Rabbit, who has hosted an annual NYE party ever since I first convinced him to when our friend The Paper stopped running one at a local hotel, had decided to take the year off. Finally, My College Roommate stepped up and took over the celebration ( Read more... )

We probably would have arrived earlier at the annual Halloween party hosted by The Martial Artist and his wife, The Book Lover, if not for the Great Tart Experiment. We had some apples sitting around the house, bought at the farmers' market, and I suggested a simple apple pie. My mom used to make them in about an hour flat, using pre-made pie ( Read more... )

Before I begin, let me just announce that Kung Fu Panda watched Sesame Street for the first time today and loved it. He watched a segment where Elmo goes camping, and they learn about words. He seemed greatly amused by the word "canteen."

On Saturday, The Gryphon threw a 40th birthday party for me, with the help of The Cousin and The White Rabbit ( Read more... )

On Sunday, the Fourth of July, my sister and her husband left shortly after breakfast (a Dutch baby, made for us by my husband, The Gryphon ( Read more... )

On Saturday, The Gryphon and I attended two Halloween parties. I went as Astrid Moon, a "spiritual advisor," a costume created from items I already had in my clost, featuring a floor-length blue caftan I bought in my hippie days.

Any other year, I would have had fun staying in character — offering half-baked advice or telling people their auras ( Read more... )

This has been a busy Labor Day weekend for The Gryphon and I, starting Saturday when The White Rabbit had his traditional get-together. He'll also have friends over this afternoon, and we hope to be there for part of it.

Saturday, after sleeping in, we bought ingredients for a pasta salad and whipped that together, as a team, before heading up to ( Read more... )

On our final day in New York, we meant to get up early and go to Chinatown, but even though my internal alarm went off at 8:30, I kept hitting the invisible snooze and didn't actually wake until 9:15. I doubt the extra time would have made much difference, since My College Roommate and I had a train to catch at 2:30.

So instead, we stayed in the ( Read more... )

In part two of the New York adventures of My College Roommate, The World Traveler and I, we checked out the stores on Fifth Avenue and saw St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center, finishing up in Bryant Park for holiday shopping.

Now, we were hungry, so we hopped on the subway and headed to the West Village to eat at Tea and Sympathy, run by ( Read more... )

In part one of the New York adventures of My College Roommate, The World Traveler and me, I talked about our exploration of Central Park. As we left the park, we headed for the high-end shops on Fifth Avenue, which were decorated for the holiday season in extravagant fashion.

( Fifth Avenue, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. )