50-something Moms Blog

Weathering Weddings

It is now June, the month of weddings. I was talking with a friend last month and she remembered that I was going to a wedding in Calistoga. She said something like, "Are you looking forward to the wedding?"

I replied "No, I do not really like weddings."

My friend found this hard to believe. I stated that I find weddings redundant--the traditional ceremony elements--as well as the reception. Having to attend several weddings every year, many of people I hardly know, I have grown weary of them. I especially dislike the wait between the traditional events, as the couples complete the series of professional photography shoots.

Road Trip

My thirty-something son Scott has been out of work so therefore he is fair game for things his mom wants him to do. Recently I needed (wanted) to go to Monterey for a nursing conference and could not find a co-worker who wanted to go. Combining business and pleasure, I asked Scott if he would like to visit Monterey while I went to the conference. Amazingly he agreed to go with me.

I say amazingly because usually Scott turns me down. He turns down invitations to movies and dinners out. He has turned down cruises, trips to Disneyland and even a proposed trip to Disney World. The kid does not like to travel, or maybe he does not like to travel with his mother. Go figure.

So feeling that he probably would back out a the last minute I didn't spend too much money booking a motel. I did plan to make the trip fun and adventuresome if he did follow through and actually go along. I hoped we could reconnect and talk about the direction his life is currently going and not going.

Travels with My Mother

With the changing of the seasons it is time for me to plan an annual vacation with my mother. She is 88 years old and likes to cruise--on ocean liners, that is. We have taken a cruise together each of the last three years. It is my way of spending extended time with her as we do not see each other as often as we might.

Now Mom only wants to go on a cruise. She does not want to go somewhere that involves too much walking. Her aging knees make it hard for her to keep up with groups, or to walk an extended distance. She is no couch potato however. She wants to be at every cruise event on board ship and on a shore excursion in every port.

This year we are planning a trip to Alaska. Both of us have been on an Alaskan cruise before. I look forward to watching the beautiful scenery as we sail past. Mom looks forward to going to the Captain’s cocktail party and the evening shows. She complains that we might not find shore excursions that will be new to us. I tell her I will see if there is a dog sled ride we can go on. Traveling with my mother always gives me a new perspective on just about everything.

The Second Trip of a Lifetime

It's hard to get my head around the fact that after planning for almost a year, my family and I are just weeks away from our second trip of a lifetime.  The first, of course, was when we traveled to China in 2001 to bring home our daughter.  Now, in just a matter of weeks, we'll be returning for the first time in nine years so we can visit PunditGirl's birth country with her (thank you airline miles!)

It feels like yesterday and it feels like it's been a lifetime since we stepped off the plane at National Airport, our lives changed by a baby who spent the first year of her life in an orphanage with about 100 other children and about eight caregivers. We've talked for many years, as our PunditBaby grew into a PunditGirl, about the amazing things we saw and experienced in January of 2001 when we brought our daughter home from Hunan Province. 

Now we're busy finishing up our final preparations -- getting our visas, buying a snazzy new polka-dot suitcase for her, and thinking about how much rice (her favorite food in the whole world) she'll be able to eat while we're there.

And I've promised myself, I am buying that Mao watch this time! 

Terra Cotta Warriors Worth the Wait!

I think we were one of the first families to purchase tickets many months ago for the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit at National Geographic that opened last week.  I know we have a special reason to jump on anything with Chinese culture since our fourth-grader was adopted from China and we do whatever we can to stay connected with her birth culture.

My only hesitance was the fact that she, as most nine-year-olds, is not a fan of the museum outing!  Lucky for us this tied in very nicely with planning our first trip back to China with her next year, which will include a stop in Xi'an -- the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors.

I'm happy to say, she was mesmerized. (Unlike Washington Post art reviewer Blake Gopnik).