OK OK OK… I said I wouldn’t do it again. BUT (and to quote PeeWee Herman, All my friends have big butts), this is the girl I met 20 years ago in college. The girl who was my first “real” girlfriend then freaked out and I freaked out and. . . the rest is being saved for a queer soap opera I am writing.

Now, on our 3 year (Cycle Two) anniversary she proposed!

Only trouble was that I had planned to propose NEXT MONTH, with a surprise trip to Vegas to see Barry Manilow. Yup, she’s a fanilow. So now we are going as our engagement party. Reminded me of when Oliver was born nearly 2 months early so he got to attend his own baby shower.

So here’s her rock.

And here’s her greatest love.

Now, what does one wear to a Manilow concert in celebration of their lesbian engagement? The plan: motorcycle boots and faux fur, of course.

ah… Vegas. Not only am I going there next month for my engagement celebration (more on that later), but it is also a lovely place to relax between flights… even when you are traveling with someone under 18 who isn’t allowed to push the slot machine (or “fruit machine“) buttons. Why so great?

THE LAS VEGAS AIRPORT OXYGEN BAR!

With two hours to kill and a pocket full of quarters going to waste, we bellied up to the bar and plugged in for 15 minutes of slightly over-scented goodness. And while inhaling pure, cleansing O2 (needed after my family Thanksgiving, which ended with lots of wine and Texas Hold ‘Em <– see theme?), the nice air waitress massaged my aching shoulders with a heated roller + peppermint oils before using the metal spider to massage my head and the knuckles to gently smooth out the knots in my mid-back.

Oliver, though ticklish, also enjoyed the treatment – esp the spider.

Thank you, Vegas airport booth, thank you.

So last night was Oliver’s annual Martinmas lantern walk with his Waldorf school (for a more beatific explanation, read here). . .

Reality is all how we choose to position it – so sitting in rush-hour traffic is either a soul-stealing torture or time to sing more Journey. And in Waldorf, children who could be seen as difficult or unruly or (erf) “bad,” are seen as energetic and interesting. In Oliver’s case, children who are at first reserved and uncomfortable are given complete silence while they take their time to say “important things.”

In addition to a heavy focus on socialization and acceptance, Waldorf also respects nature and emphasizes structure and transition – like, from Fall to Winter. . .

If you aren’t in a Waldorf school, take a moment to do you own lantern walk. Make a lantern (this one here is Oliver’s mason jar with tissue paper glued over leaves, a rope handle wound on, and a tea light) and go into the woods with your kid(s). Explain that the Martinmas lantern walk is a reminder to maintain the light during Winter. Sing a song – come on! Tell your kids that they always carry their own light during darkness (though Vitamin D helps!).

Then to celebrate afterwards, I recommend sushi with hot tea.

HEY ALL!

Check out the FIRST SONG from our FIRST CD “The Super Secret Seashell Cave” by clicking up there – on the right side of this page, in the header – yeah, in that yellow box there. Click right there!

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Hope you and the kiddies like!

This week:

Oliver lost his first tooth. The tooth fairy delivered a good coin. He’s learning to hold his chopsticks properly. AND the nighttime diaper came off (finally!).

But then tonight Oliver was acting a little funny – wanting me to stay in the bathroom when he took a bath, chatting chatting chatting… wanting more and more Tsunami books, chatting chatting chatting.

At bedtime, he tells me that he “cried a little during rest time” because he missed me. Rest time is a break during aftercare – after school care from 12:45-5:30pm. He cried at rest time but then decided that he has a lot of fun in aftercare so “it was ok, Mama.”

So we talked about how we can get special time together and how if he ever misses me too much, that I can come get him and we can have a special day.

And it made me think that although he wants aftercare, insists that he wants to stay “long, long days to play!” – when he seems to be the biggest boy ever – he might need a little time with me, making yarn necklaces or collecting big leaves.

Oliver at 18 months

When I kissed him goodnight, “Mama, if I ever miss you and I’m 40 years old, can I still call you to have a special day with me?”

(sniff) OF COURSE!

So, in the same to week he lost his first tooth and got rid of nighttime diapers, I was also reminded that he really will always be my little boy.