August 6, 2010
As many of you know, my oldest kid just turned 14. This makes both of us old.
He’s leaving for sleepaway camp tomorrow, and I’m at Blogher in New York. So I called home for a long, chatty heartfelt goodbye.
Hubs answers the phone and hands it off.
Me: (heavy breathing) LUKE! I AM YOUR FATHER!!!!
Him: Dan?
Me: He just gave you the phone! How can it be him? Are you all drinking while Mommy’s away?
Him: Oh! Yeah! Hey, mom. We’re going to Outback and Krispy Kreme.
Me: But It’s 9:45! Doesn’t he realize that…oh, never mind. I just called to say bye.
Him: Kay! Bye mom.
Me: Love you!
Him: Mmmmmhmmmmmm.
Me: (sigh.) You hang up!
Him: YOU hang up! (Heck If he’s gonna do what I tell him, even if he wants to!)
Me: No, YOU hang up!
(DIAL TONE)
Yep. He’s a teenager.
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August 4, 2010
In the morning, I’ll be getting up very, very early and meeting a bunch of other moms who are as insane about the internet as I am. Some of them I’ve met in real life, some I have not, but we’re all united by a common love:
Chocolate.
Hershey’s and Kraft hooked some mamas up with a Road Trip to Blogher, only it’s a rails trip, as we’ll be descending upon the Big Apple via Amtrak. Hopefully, we will have had coffee or whatever our jump start of choice is. I’m leaving the house at five-ish to pick up Jodifur and Twincident .
But before I headed out for a few days of grown-up recharge sans famille, we had some S’mores with the awesome kit that arrived last week- Hershey’s Bars, Marshmellows, and Graham crackers- ready for a party.
Turns out my kids like S’mores as much as I always have- and they’ve genetically inherited the problem of bogarting the chocolate and throwing off the cracker to marsh ratio.
Oh, well. We should all have such problems.:)
And then:
Oven S'mores!
And finally:
Where's my Mouth????
Nice.:)
If you’ll be at Blogher, check out the S’mores Suite: Come one, come all! And eat chocolate.:)
Note: Hershey’s and Kraft has sponsored my transportation to Blogher, but my opinions are my own: and they are that I love S’mores.:) THAT’s been true for a loooooong time- ask my Mommy.:)
I’ll holla from NY! Be good! Have fun! xoxo, L
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August 2, 2010
President Obama at the National Urban League's Centennial Conference
I had an amazing opportunity last week to see President Obama address the National Urban League at their Centennial Celebration. He was delivering a major education reform speech, and, as a mama with three kids to get out into the world, of course I want to know what he’s got in the works.
The Fabulous Stacey Ferguson, one of the three Mamalaw founders of the upcoming Blogalicious conference (October 8-11! Sunny Miami! If I wasn’t going to Austin City Limits, I would so be there!) was the bearer of great news when she shot me a DM on Twitter-
“Interested in covering Obama’s speech live tmw at 8am at the DC convention center in the blogger pool? if so, LMK ASAP!”
Blogalicious Crew, img. Courtesy Of Aesthetic Elevation
Ummmmm, that would be a BIG FAT JUICY YES. So I met some other awesome DC Metro Bloggers at 6:45 am, and we blearily but excitedly waited to see a sitting President speak- an opportunity I’ve had only one other time.
When I was twelve, my Dad took me to see Ronald Reagan speak at Ellis Island through his work with the ANPA- (American Newspaper and Publisher’s Association)
I was so impressed then that I followed up with a letter, inviting Mr. Reagan and his lovely wife Nancy to supper- I promised crabcakes for their Secret Service Detail and all the jellybeans he could eat. But alas, he replied that his work schedule did not allow him as many of such opportunities as he would like. I still have his framed response. It was NOT an autopen, I know it.
This fascination with the Presidency was not new- growing up in the shadow of the beltway, I wanted to be Amy Carter and tried unsuccessfully for YEARS to get my Daddy to run for President. He said it was more expensive than I realized, and I contented myself with an ill-fated crush on Tucker Quayle.
As President Obama addressed us the other morning, I was so proud of how far my country has come since I last saw a President. But he reminded me of how much work there is still to be done.
He spoke of his days as a community organizer, and how he would meet children, 6 or 8 years old, their eyes bright wth hope and dreams of all the things they could become. Then he would turn to the principal, and they would explain how that would all change in the next few years. The child would limit their vision in scope based on the experience of those around them, whether it be parents, friends, or even their own teachers.
“No longer will we allow children to fall victim to the culture of low expectations. Change is hard, and we may not see the benefits immediately- it may take five, even ten years. But that’s no reason not to make them- it’s a reason to make them NOW.”
I loved that. And, as a former little girl, President letter writer, he COMPLETELY amazed me when he closed his speech with a quote from a letter he received from a ten year old girl in Kentucky.
Imagine you’re that little girl- and the President just called you and your ideas out by name, and held your concept up as a light to your country. IMAGINE what that does of your perception of possibility. The world is suddenly, irrevocably, your oyster. Anything can happen. Anything just did. And that matters.
Because, as Andrea said in her letter- “We are your future.”
The National Urban League has a pledge called “We Are Empowered” that I loved and pledged to work towards. Too often, it’s easy to do nothing because there’s too much to do. I really like how the “We are Empowered” campaign breaks things down into actionable items that affect real change. Because, as we all know, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. But sometimes, without structure, the elephant looks too big. Check it out and see what you think.
And- Go write someone a letter.:)
We Are Empowered Pledge, National Urban League
We Are Empowered Pledge, National Urban League
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