Friday Fourteen

It's Saturday now, but the principle holds.

1. I plan to make apple crisp and crab cakes this weekend. So much yum.

2. My favorite children's book in the world is Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. It sometimes makes me cry, but it is just so good.

3. Last weekend, I was reminded of just how much I love the American Girl books...my favorite was always Kirsten. There were only 3 options when I was a kid...and Kirsten was from the era of my hero, Laura Ingalls Wilder, so she won. Molly was cool too, but Samantha was far too much of a girly girl.

4. To this day, if I catch a repeat of Little House on the Prairie on television, I can pretty much identify the plot within 5 minutes. It was possibly my very favorite show as a kid.

5. I will be coaching my 7th and 8th grade basketball team again this year. I'm really excited to get back to it, even though I think we'll *really* stink up the joint this year.

6. I am proud of Joe Torre. He's a classy guy.

7. On my next trip home, I may not recognize my own home. After 20 years in the house, my parents are done paying tuition--so they have refinished the hardwood floors, torn up the tile in the foyer/kitchen/downstairs bathroom and laid hardwoods, taken the wallpaper down in the kitchen and renovated the kitchen. I'm looking forward to seeing it, especially since I haven't had to deal with not having a kitchen.

8. My mom is a chapter or 2 away from completing her dissertation and Ed.D. program! She's wildly smart.

9. Growing up, my grandmother (dad's mom) and my uncle (dad's oldest brother) came on just about every vacation with us. They'd meet us in Westchester County, NY or at our house and my sister and I would climb into their car to avoid spending a car trip with our younger brother. We'd spend two weeks at the beach, with early mornings and evenings spent snuggled in Grandma's bed watching old episodes of Matlock or Murder, She Wrote. I'm so grateful to have so many memories of those vacations now.

10. My parents' families get along really well. This might explain why my dad's youngest brother and my mom's younger sister are engaged. Growing up, we hosted almost every holiday with both sides of the family--and even when someone else hosted, everyone from both sides was invited. We never had to split holidays. I didn't realize how unusual this was until high school.

11. When I started college, getting dressed in the morning was a challenge. I'd spent the last 12 years in uniforms--and when I wasn't in my uniform plaid, I was in soccer/basketball/softball/swimming clothes. The idea that I had to put outfits together every day was irritating. I still wish I had a uniform even today!

12. After an insane week at work (just google my college and click the "news" filter at the top), I hit the on campus pub with some colleagues for a couple of hours after work. We all shared our "best" phone calls/letters from the week.

13. Over the weekend or next week, I'll post something I wrote about dreams--I had a dream last week that the lights in my apartment weren't working. A friend who is into dream symbolism said it might mean that I feel like I'm "in the dark." Someone hit the nail on the head!

14. I have 3 retreats in the next 7 weekends. The first is our BY retreat...some of my favorite people in the world gathered in a cozy Victorian for almost 48 hours--plus, fall in the Pioneer Valley. The second is a retreat with the College--I'm going as a leader and apparently need to give a talk--topic to be determined. This retreat was one of my favorites as a student and I'm looking forward to getting to know some kids, since I don't get to interact much in my job. The third is a high school retreat. 65 teenagers in cabins in NH for the weekend--nothing can POSSIBLY go wrong, right??