September 27

Make a wish…wait, all of my wishes have come true!

The Wedding a.k.a. driving into the deep deep deep deep woods of Ohio

We attended (or rather, attempted to attend) the wedding of our friends Ian and Rebecca, who grew up near rural (read RURAL!!!!!) Lancaster, OH. They sent very detailed directions with the invitation (which we promptly lost), and told everyone to bring the map provide online (which we promptly ignored); instead relying upon mapquest. Sparing you the gory details, we drove and drove and drove, and turned around, and stopped for directions, turned into some long winding dirt roads, turned around again, asked for more directions, laughed when the gas empty signal came on, calmed eaw who never got a snack, and finally, arrived after the ceremony, but in time for dinner☺ We were only able to stay for thirty minutes, with the lack of gas and impending darkness. Still, the couple was beautiful, and eaw was the ultimate guest – charming, sweet, and spunky. Congrats, Ian and Rebecca - here’s to a lifetime of laughter!

First Day of School

Eaw had his first day of school today at the Toddler Language Classroom. It is an amazing program, and we are thrilled to be participating in it – a great opportunity for eaw! mtw and I went to the parent orientation together and realized 1)eaw would now start learning new behaviors from other children (gulp!); and 2) no matter, how hard we try, eaw’s going to grow up fast. He is such an awesome kid – such a good hang, and such a sweet son. I am so grateful to be his mom, and to witness, support, propel, embrace, and share his amazing life.

AC and the Jersey Shore

Being so close to family, we were fortunate to tag on a visit to the Jersey shore after our Philly visit. mtw’s mom had planned a girl’s night out to Atlantic City to celebrate Grandma Ballis’s birthday so mdw, tmw, caw, sb, and mb drove to Atlantic City in a torrential rainstorm, and indulged in the male revue at our casino (no joke! Marilyn was a total sport), followed by our luck on the gambling floor. Let’s just say, mdw never ventured beyond the slot machines. It was great to be with the girls, and again bittersweet to know that we would soon be so far away from family.

The next day, we all went to the beach to watch jyw drive his racing boat (and win, by the way) on the ocean. It was awesome. Eaw loved the beach, the commotion, and the whizzing boats. The whole Wall clan came out and shared time under the Jersey sun. Later in the evening, we went to tmw’s new house (with jd) and had a nice bbq and some downtime. eaw especially enjoyed her new puppies, Jack and Emma. We love the Wall family, and miss being nearer to them. Hopefully, we’ll see you at Christmas.

The City of Brotherly LOVE...and a little bit of heartbreak

mtw had a premier of a composition in the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival this weekend. The choreographer flew him in to see the show, so eaw and mdw decided this was the perfect opportunity to get back to Philly to say hello to dear friends and neighbors. It was a bit cathartic for mdw – finally introducing eaw to the friends and community who had supported her through the process of his arrival. We stayed with our very talented friends, Lindsay and Marie who were most hospitable. Eaw terrorized their kitty a bit, but all emerged unscathed. We enjoyed conversations, rehearsals, walks through South Philly, and the comfort of being in familiar surroundings with familiar people. mdw and eaw had the opportunity to head back to East Falls to have cosmos with Cosmo across the street from our old home. It was so good to be with our old neighbors – mdw felt so at home, simultaneously full of joy and sadness for the friendships and the distance from these amazing people. mdw is so grateful that Philadelphia provide(s)(d) such sustenance, support, and opportunity. It is a bright spot in a very full life. It may be corny, but gonzo comes to mind: “…this looks familiar, vaguely familiar, almost unreal yet, it’s too soon to feel yet, close to my soul, and yet so far away, I’m going to go back there someday…”

Matt Rides across the Country

Our good friend Matt S. (originally friends from the big Apple, now residing in the Emerald City, and famous in our home for providing the plethora of ducks) decided to bike across the country – that’s right from Seattle to New York City this summer. He and a buddy planned their trip and set off from Seattle on August 15th on their bikes, arriving in Columbus on September 1st. You can check our their blog. Their ride was in support of finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes and to ask for support for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. We had the pleasure of hosting Matt overnight during his stop in Columbus. He and his delightful mother (who served as his support driver) pulled in at dusk. Matt stayed the night with us, introducing us to Jeni’s ice cream (ghd3 – this is reason enough to visit Columbus), letting eaw sit on his bike, and sharing tales of his amazing journey. I made him a huge breakfast the next morning – I mean, HUGE – imagine the calories this guy is burning, and we said our goodbyes. It was kind-of surreal to see him leave on his bike, headed toward Pennsylvania. Happy trails, dear Matthew…we look forward to the next visit!

Brutus the Buckeye

I am trying to embrace the old adage that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Having entered the acceptance part of grief, I am trying my best to engage and invest in the local community which, OF COURSE, includes football fanaticism. The athletic mascot for the Ohio State University is Brutus the Buckeye, a student dressed in Buckeye colors (red and grey) with a headpiece resembling an Ohio Buckeye – that’s right, he has a nut as a head - it’s a little disturbing. Regardless, he is quite ubiquitous in this region. eaw points him out all over town, as most people put out huge inflatable Brutus’s for game day. Our local grocery store has an entire Brutus display upon entry. To show our support, eaw and I visited a display on campus of multiple Brutus’s created by various individuals and groups. My personal favorite was Elvis Brutus, but eaw seemed preferential to the Tin Man Brutus.

Baklava is a hit!

We rounded off the weekend with the remaining end of summer/first of fall festivals. The Greek Festival was lively – lots of crowds, lots of food, lots of music and dancing. eaw had a blast showing off his best dance moves (notice front and back views), and answering the question as to whether or not he likes baklava. You be the judge:

On Sunday we ventured to the Upper Arlington Arts Festival to hear a drummer from the Ivory Coast. eaw and mdw jumped on stage to join the impromptu drum circle and dancers. He certainly loves a good beat – like father, like son.