More Than Four Sides

Category: inside the US

  • What causes croup? (Other than pertussis)

    My last post hit the Internet about 30 minutes before midnight, and we were just packing in to go to bed. Clothes loaded into the washer, R (the DH, or dad – not sure if I’ve used his initial before now, but figure I might as well – at least it’s unique in our household)…

  • First full vacation day – Animal Kingdom (and a sick boy)

    We arrived in Kissimmee Florida, and found our rental townhouse, by about 5:15pm, just before sunset. It turns out that our unit is on the end, and right next to a really nice little playground, which the boys found enchanting after a long day cramped in the car. We’re just across from the swimming pool…

  • En route

    We’re in Georgia now, about 3 1/2 hours away from our destination. We stopped for dinner last night at Pizzeria Uno’s near the Potomac Mills mall in Northern Virginia. Our hope was to fill the boys tummies up with nice warm food, and have them sleep through most of the drive. Pizza was a unanimous…

  • Vacation – Launched!

    Our goal was to be on the road as soon after sunset as possible. We were on the road by 6:30, which we considered to be quite reasonable, given that we hadn’t started packing until about 4:00pm! Things we accomplished today before leaving: eating most of the perishables in the fridge closing and winterizing the…

  • Vacation Angst

    I’ve written here before how much taking a vacation gives me fits of anxiety. We didn’t take a proper vacation this past summer.  We did spend a lovely 4 days in Florida in June joining the celebration of our niece’s graduation from high school, and then we spent another weekend at a family camp in…

  • Veterans Day, Observed

    I had to work today – so I drove in to work, but, as it happened, I ended up listening to a New Yorker – Out Loud podcast: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/out-loud-reckoning-with-iraq.html From the website: “In the current issue of The New Yorker, Dexter Filkins writes about an ex-Marine seeking forgiveness from the family of the Iraqi civilians his unit killed.…

  • Family camp

    The words “family camp” have strong reverberations for me. I spent most summers of my childhood at some church-affiliated family camp; the United Methodists have a strong tradition of camping, and that was my affiliation through most of my growing up. We signed up for this “forever families” camp with high expectations. We hoped that…

  • Ready for boarding!

    We’re at National Airport, remarkably an hour before our flight, and the boys are very excited about being here. They’re gazing out the window at the planes on the runway.

  • Away from boys

    I’m at SFO, waiting for my flight to return home after a weekend in the Bay Area, revisiting old haunts, and reconnecting with former classmates at my high school’s 30(!) reunion. This trip has been fraught with flight delays and reshedules – to the point that I thought “This is a sign that I shouldn’t…

  • Learning How To Take a Vacation – Part 2

    After our 2-day drive south,we had arrived in Vero Beach, to stay with our brother and sister-in-law, and their two kids, aged 17 and 11. We had spent a week with them last December, in their home, and our boys had gotten along great with their cousins, so we were reasonably confident that they would…