Harvard Square

Pictures from our dinner with B.

By the way, did you know Dan got job at UPS?

Powdered milk

Nancy was at Mt. Auburn Hospital this past the week on business so Dan, Julie, "Little" Dan, Bob and I met Nancy and her collegue for dinner in Harvard Square one night. Great time.

We got to laughing about the two groups of kids in the Welch family...the four older ones and the two younger girls. I can't remember it exactly but here's a sip:

"You guys were so much older - I had no idea what you were like."
"You girls had it so easy! We went camping - 8 of us in a pop up tent. But you? You went to Myrtle Beach."
"All those clothes and presents all the time."
"You were like queens!"
"I think our growth was even stunted...must have been the powdered milk."
Nancy, aghast: "You got powdered milk?!

Bruuuuuuce

In heavy rotation on all Welch iPods...

Anyone else have memories of singing "Erie Canal" in grade school? Bruce does a great rendition of this Western NY classic.

The songs are amazing. Lots of different styles. A musical pastiche.

Pastiche is the word of the day.

On being Molly

I once met a cow named Molly.

I've met a few horses and plenty of dogs named Molly. In fact, my kids grew up with a Black Lab named Molly at our babysitter's house.

I recently read that the most popular name for dogs in Britain is Molly.

It's also the most popular name for cats in Britain.

But here's my favorite.

Of the Top 20 "Whitest" sounding names, Molly is #1.

Which has got to be true. Do you know anyone named Molly that doesn't get sunburns and freckles?

The sad part? As part of the survey that ranked the whitest and blackest names, they found that resumes with the white-sounding names were downloaded 17% more often by job recruiters than the resumes with black-sounding names.

So you're more likely to get hired if your name is Molly, Amy, Claire, Emily, Katie or Madeline.

And least likey to get hired if your name is Imani, Ebony, Shanice, Aaliyah, Precious, or Nia.

High School bound

As a parent, I always worried about middle school. Developmentally it can be a difficult time for kids and in our town the middle school had been a problem area in a school system where the grade schools and the high school were good.

Lucky for us, one year before Dylan hit middle school they opened up a brand new/renovated 7th and 8th grade school. It's absolutely state of the art, with great technology, beautiful and spacious classrooms, a theatre, new fields, 2 gyms - the works. Better yet, they promoted the very best guidance counselor I've ever met to the position of principal. They also retired some difficult teachers and brought in some new young ones. The overall effect was the reinvigoration of veteran teachers and a pride of place. The school was transformed. And it shows. It's an amazing place.

But the biggest transformation in middle school happens in your child. Dylan grew by almost a foot, sprouted hair all over the place and got a deep voice. He had experiences that helped him blossom into a confident young man with a great sense of humor and he found his niche in school and among his friends and started to chart his views on the world and his place in it.

Celebrating after 8th Grade Moving On Ceremony

This summer Dylan will go away for a whole month and have incredible experiences at Walnut Hill and in Scotland. As much as he has changed over the past few years, I have no doubt that he will transform again after seeing more of the world and being more independent.

Class trip to Washington DC

But that's our job as parents. Give them roots. And give them wings. I have a feeling that during these years Dylan will grow older by a few more years, but Bob and I will age about 20!

Dylan missed Jim and Jenna's wedding because he was on a class trip to Washington DC. Picture this - 2 plane loads - about 200 kids - all traveling together all over DC and to Arlington Cemetary and Gettysburg. Dylan and his friends had a ball and saw a ton of stuff. Here's the school blog entry about the trip.

Jim and Jenna

An Irish Wedding Blessing

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again my friend
May God hold you in the palm of his hand

May God be with you and bless you
May you see your children's children
May you be poor in misfortunes and rich in blessings
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward

I may not have the exact wording of the Irish blessing Dan read, when he stood before 270 people to lead a toast as the best man at his brother's wedding...but it's close. Dan had a hard time getting through it without crying. Me too. I'm sure there were tears all around.

Bob and I have watched with awe and admiration all these years as Barb and Dan raised their three wonderful boys. Now here they are - young men looking to college, to marriage, with their whole lives ahead of them. And they are jewels.

Jim and Jenna knew a long time ago that they had found their match. They were glowing. I have no doubt that they will be able to understand the wisdom of this quote:

"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle." - Amy Bloom

Thanks to Jim and Jenna and their families for throwing a great wedding. A fabulous time was had by all. The reception was held at the recently renovated Rochester Hyatt Regency - very nice. I loved the classic black, white and red the wedding party wore, the flowers, the cake...so elegant.


Did I mention the cake?


I love how weddings bring everyone together. It's such a great way to launch a new family.

We danced. We ate. We laughed. Here are some of my favorite pics...

Jessica mesmerized by the bride and groom's first dance.

You just can't beat kids in formal wear.

But really, you have to see all of them...so here's the link to all the photos.

Conservatives from Texas

This year we lost Molly Ivins to cancer. I've told you before how I feel about Molly, the great never-to-be-forgotten columnist from Texas.

Molly once said, referring to George W.:

"Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention."

Molly isn't around to write to us about the dangers of current Texans, but others are. Dorothy sends this link from blogger Sara Robinson. It's worth a read. Here's a clip:

Molly, with her usual insight, laid out the essential struggle we're having with Paul. As a libertarian leftist, I understand viscerally the charm of Paul's message. Who wouldn't be charmed? He's anti-war, anti-torture, anti-drug war, and anti-corporation -- a real progressive dream date. Until you reflect on the fact that he's also anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-environment, anti-sane immigration policy, and apparently, anti-separation of church and state as well. >More

Ron Paul himself says he's more conservative than any current Republican. Is that really what we want?

Word is that Ron Paul will appear on The Colbert Report June 13th. I'll be tuning in.

For now, it seems Ron Paul is gaining momentum because he's actually speaking plain truth about Iraq, instead of being political. Unlike the Democrats, as Bill Maher points out...

Ron Paul

Marty sent me this. What do people know about him? I found myself agreeing with him across the board. Check it out.

The minivan moment

If you have a family, you experience this moment eventually. Those of us who are lucky enough to overcome our pride, breakdown and get one. Those of you who don't...the rest of us know the truth. You secretly wish you had one.

Charlie and Donna are at their moment. Here is Charlie's mea culpa:

To all of those who,

Listened to me childishly make brash statements beginning with "I will never..."

Smiled knowlingly as I declared, "Not as long as....."

Reserved the years of knowledge as I offered, "I will bet you, (insert dollar figure here)...."

Yes, to all of you, I must now admit that your years of knowledge and wisdom on family planning, adulthood, and maturity far surpassed mine.

I have now reached the point in my life, where with full pride intact, I can admit to all family and friends, that I was fooled and wrong for years.

To all of you, with your "I told you so's" waiting in queue, I can proudly declare last night, we brought home our....

MINI-VAN!!!

* Please see picture attached for full verification.

Charlie.

Good job, Charlie. Welcome to the Club.

Our 2000 Honda Odyssey has taken us on many a road trip and camping trip. It has shuttled inumerable birthday parties, scout troops, day trips and out of town visitors.

All summer long there are bathing suits, beach towels, sand toys and beach chairs in the way-back ready for fast deployment. We have hauled 7 years of leaves and piles of junk to the dump in it. We have packed it so full with camping gear and bikes, that people have actually pulled us over because they thought we were in danger. We have lashed our kayak to the roof rack and taken it all over the Adirondacks and the North Shore.

We have hauled huge pieces of furniture, appliances and construction materials in it. And I shudder to think how many grocery, mall and Target runs we've done in these 7 years.

A minivan is a marvel of family function.

If you have 2 kids, they each get their own row. This is key.

There are 8 cupholders. And oddly enough, you'll wish you had more.

The well in the way-back is the entire reason you should spend the extra dough on the Odyssey. It means you can pack even more stuff in, and what's more, your grocery bags never tip over.

Look closely at the picture of our minivan. The running board is coming off. The center console cupholder (the one you use every day) is busted. And while the engine still runs great (We've never had an issue with it.), it's showing it's age and it's getting tired.

So here we are, with our kids now 11 and 14, facing another moment.

The second minivan moment.

Will we take the plunge?