weekend recap, january 13, what we learned

1. George Washington statue outside the VA State Capitol | 2. Blue Talon Bistro, Williamsburg, VA | 3. That's us, together again | 4. Slashed tire, WTH? | 5. Winter storm on the river | 6. Street art, sort of | 7. Neel's in demo mode again | 8. Sunday supper | 9. Back to the capitol

Here's something I've learned. Talking to a teenaged boy is like trying to get a wild fawn to eat out of your hand. If you dash up to it, arms outstretched, it's ears twitch and it darts off, bounding away into the woods. But if you sit very quietly, a handful of birdseed and peanut butter by your side (or, in our case, a chicken wing), it will come and sit next to you and nudge your hand until you feed and pet it.

So Cal generally calls us before he goes to bed each night for a quick chat. On Thursday he called late, after 10:30, and poor Neel was already asleep! Cal made me wake him up (Neel sort of work up), and any time, as it grew later and later, that I'd suggest, "Maybe you should hit the showers," Cal would say, "I just want to talk to you guys!"

Ask him a question over the weekend when we have him face to face, and we're back to monosyllables. Wink.

It's okay. I know how to do it now. Get myself ready for bed, get my book out and wait for him to come to my bathroom to brush his teeth. That's when he walks around our bedroom and talks to us. He's having an amazing time.

We got some things wrong this first weekend, like eating a late heavy lunch on the way home and then not being hungry for the dinner I had ready. And waking up to a slashed tire Saturday morning didn't help our time management or our equilibrium. Now that was a comedy of errors. We have to take Cal to school for three hours of catch-up work each weekend, so out the door we go. Discovery of totally flat tire on one car. Hop into our beloved elderly Mini Cooper. (I say elderly because she can't go on the freeway any more.) On the way to school, the hot engine light keeps coming on. Awesome. Drop Cal off late. Go get coolant for Blanche (our Mini). Hold our breath on the drive home. Find the neighborhood crawling with police because there are so many reports of cars vandalized overnight that the officers have lost count. (We were lucky. At least we didn't have a window busted out.) Find new tire. Drop car off to get new tire. Hold breath to get Cal as coolant only seems to be partially helping Blanche. Come home and collapse in a heap.

And then Neel and I had to take Cal's blazer to the mall to have some buttons sewn back on!

And then it stormed!

And then we surprised him with dinner with some of his best buds at his favorite wing joint.

And that was just Saturday.

We got Cal back to Richmond in time to watch his team get booted out of the NFL payoffs, but I hope that being with his friends took some of that sting away. He's in his element it seems, and he loves being behind the scenes in the workings of our political process. Today marks his first day with our new Lt. Governor, the man who chose Cal to be his page. This feels as if it's really the beginning, I guess.

I have so much more to tell you, but on Sunday I had a migraine all day, and Neel started demolishing our master bath (so I guess we're finally redoing it), and things kind of got away from me! Clearly his work as a page needs its own post; there are so many great stories to tell! For us, it's a quiet week followed by a lot of laundry, but you know what? I'm okay with that.

five things, january 10 edition

1. I think we don't really need to talk about the weather do we? Everyone knows it was cold on the East Coast and Midwest this past week. Here's what I will tell you. We did everything right overnight Monday, what was forecast to be the coldest night since we've moved here, ten years ago. Let some faucets drip and turned off a lot of the power to conserve energy. I still went to bed thinking, the power's gonna go out tonight. Sure enough, around 4:30AM we awoke to the double BOOMS of transformers blowing. Five hours later the lights (and heat) were back on. It took all day for the house to recover.

2. I think as close knit as this town can be (and trust me, people are tight around here), it never comes together more than when there's a military crisis. On Wednesday, a locally-based Navy helicopter crashed into the ocean, about 20 miles off shore. Of the five crew members, two were recovered, two were killed and one is still unaccounted for. It's a heartbreaking story. Even when they're training, these men and women risk their lives doing their mundane day-to-day jobs. Please hold these sailors, their shipmates and their families in the light.

3. I think it's pretty funny that I've managed to look up at the clock at 2:17 PM each afternoon this week. I generally leave to pick Cal up at 2:30, and if it were a normal term, I'd have to freak out and rush to finish my work and get the dogs put away in order to hit the road on time. Funny how the mind plays tricks like that.

4. I think I'm finally learning that I need to ease into new routines. New Moleskine notebook and calendar, new year in my five year calendar, but all week I've been playing catch-up. Cleaning up Christmas, cleaning laundry. I'm trying to be gentle with myself about starting new routines, especially knowing that right now everything is a new routine. But I'm ready for listmaking and forward looking and to start filling these babies up.

Also. Speaking of how scattered I've been. I totally forgot to link to and describe pomegranate molasses in yesterday's recipe. Pomegranate molasses is typically used in Middle Eastern cooking; picture a sweeter version of pomegranate juice, still tangy, with the consistency of molasses. Can't go wrong, yes? You can get it at specialty stores; I got mine at our local Middle Eastern grocery, but you can also order it from Amazon. If you're feeling really industrious, you can make your own, and here's a recipe from the same woman who inspired the Persian Chicken Recipe.

5. I think this week has absolutely flown by. I can barely believe it! We've established what seems to be a nice routine, and I hope it holds. Cal's been calling us every night, late, to tell us about his day. Then, early early (my boy remains an early riser) he and I'll text a little before he surrenders his cell phone at the start of his day. We watched the live stream of the Pages being introduced on the Senate floor, and that was thrilling. It's been thrilling too, to hear about his day each day.

And people keep asking, but I'm, we're, doing great down here on our own. It's not that I don't miss him, because thinking about Cal and wondering what he's doing is a constant thrum in the back of my mind, the way your refrigerator hums without you even knowing it. But how can I be sad and lonely when what he's doing is so absolutely perfect for him? I have no doubt that we'll get bogged down in all of this at some point, but so far so great. For all of us.

That being said, I can't wait to pick him up in a couple of hours!