The Fairy Godmother

Here we are, back in Orlando at my parents' house.
Tomorrow, we will go to the Magic Kingdom. After hanging around the park, we will attend a wonderful show at Cinderella's Castle. The kids will get their picture taken with Cinderella, but to us, there is only 1 star of the show........!

The Fairy Godmother! When speaking with her, be it in person or over the phone, there is an immediate sense of wonder and amazement! She can give you hope just by saying that she is there for you, as the Fairy Godmother. Not only is she the Fairy Godmother, she is my sister!

And, your sister does ...what??... for a living???

Who's Picking Henry Up?!!!???

Henry is my soon-to-be 12-year-old nephew. He is the son of my sister, Alice and her husband, Tim. He is a smart, loving young boy with Autism. His gift is that he is an Entertainer Savant. Give him a script, staging, lighting, costumes and he's good to go. Give him the annoying logistics of life, and he really doesn't care...just needs the bottom line.
Alice was preparing Henry for her trip to Maryland and some of what would happen with his schedule while she was gone. She told him that she would not be home to pick him up on Monday, but his Dad would be in class, so Mimi would pick him up, and she would come later and he could decide if he wanted to sleep at Mimi & GrandDad's or have her drive him home after she arrived....blah, blah, blah is what Henry must have heard because all he cared about for Monday was "WHO'S PICKING HENRY UP?" This was, apparently, said with a frustrated tone and hand gestures.......

This has become my motto when frustrated with the logistics of life......"WHO'S PICKING HENRY UP?" Sometimes, I allow the daily logistics to bog me down. What's happening here, there, everywere....upside-down, boy ya turn me, inside-out, and, round-n-round. When all I really want to know is........

WHO'S PICKING HELEN UP???

Shape Up!!!

When my sister and brother were staying here, we stumbled upon an area in which I have a defecit. Now, there aren't many, so this came as shock to us all.

Apparently, I am not spatially in tuned with items. So, this may not explain why I trip over things or bump into walls since those usually occur after a wild & crazy night with friends. But, we discovered this was an issue after attempting to put leftovers into storage containers. I've got a cabinet full of containers and lids that NEVER seem to match. It is the most frustrating thing, and I dread leftovers because of it.

So as I was in MY kitchen, attempting to CLEAN UP by pulling out lid after lid to fit on top of the stinkin' container, my sister was staring at me, smirking.........yes, I believe she was laughing at me. I believe her words were "you're trying to fit square lids onto a round container"

Well!!!! Good thing they don't make me match shapes at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education! I fully intend to blame this inability on my parents for not providing proper educational toys for me as a child. I was the middle child, after all! ;)

Le Weekend de Smetheram

Last weekend was an incredibly fun, exciting, and proud weekend for le famille Smetheram.
My sister flew up from Florida on Thursday evening, stayed with me & my kids, my brother came on Friday and the kids went to their Dad's. That left me, Alice, & Charles staying at my house Friday through Monday. Ginny's room was made up for Alice and Drew's room was made up for Charles.
Can I tell you how much fun we had? WOW!!!!

Here were some of the agenda items:
Eating Out
- Pazo - http://www.pazorestaurant.com/ (succulent tapas and hugs for the waiter)
- Ledo Pizza - http://www.ledopizza.com/ (tribute to my Robby)
- Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown - http://www.napoleondc.com/main.html (DC Restaurant Week)
Entertainment
- National Treasure 2 (for historical value)
- H & M (for a Swedish memory)
- Mount Vernon - Tour of the Mansion and basements which are rarely opened (because it was in the historical movie we choose to view)
Priceless Moments
-Making fun of our parents
-Making fun of each other as kids
-Making fun of each other as adults

What made it such a proud weekend was that we were so excited about it! I know our parents were excited that the three of us were together. As a parent, I can't even imagine how proud I would be if one of my children went and stayed at the home of my other child. Proud of both of them for being adults together.
As children, who would ever have thought they would voluntarily spend time with their siblings in their own house.......like, a grown-up house, like...yanno? Crazy, just crazy, I tell ya!

How great is it to have such an amazing, fun, proud, and exciting memory this early into 2008! And, this is just the beginning!