The Rialto Bridge

Here is the famous Rialto Bridge; this picture was taken from end of the street that led to our B&B. You can see one of the private water taxis in the foreground. There is no motorized traffic anywhere in Venice, so you get where you are going either on foot or by boat. They have boats for everything! We saw produce boat, garbage boats, recycling boats. And the traffic on the Grand Canal (this is what the Rialto spans and it is the equivalent of Venice's major highway through the city).

Venice in October

What a lovely first sight to catch of Venice! This picture was taken from the water taxi we took to ferry us from the airport on the mainland to the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal. On the right is the Campenile (kamp-e-NIHL-ay) or bell tower. Just to the right of that is the profile of St. Mark's Basilica. You can just make out the intricate onion top domes with their pointy spires. It was foggy and damp all 3 days that were were there, but we never had to deal with any real rain.

The Motley Crew

I took this picture last night. I was inspired by the amazing "Barbie Jail" that the boys built, and by the fact that this was the last night we would be at home with them during the evening until we return in late October. I remain so very thankful that our blended family has blended so well - the children all truly revel in each other's company. We are also lucky in that they get breaks from each other, making each time they come back to this house a happy occasion to reunite.

Japanese Baby Cowboy!

Yes, it is true that "Japanese Baby Cowboy" is my phrase of the week! (besides the obvious "Happy Birthday!"). The whole Haley Bunch went out for my birthday on Tuesday night - our favorite special family dining experience is going to one of the hibachi table Japanese restaurants that are around everywhere now. The show that the cooks puts on are pretty predictable, but the guy we had this time was VERY animated and playful. He was actually Japanese, young and enthusiastic - one of his favorite bits was to act like he was riding a horse while shouting "Japenese Baby Cowboy!". Even better was the fact that Birch was actually able to sit through the fire part of the show - used to be that I had to take him to the sushi bar part of a restaurant while the chef did that part because the suddenness of the fire was just too much for him to take.

In other news, I am preparing to go to work tomorrow for the last time in 2 weeks and 2 days - I have never taken off an entire 2 weeks and actually vacationed. Add to that the fact that Leon and I are flying overseas and truly out of touch with the daily world that I am normally immersed in daily. I am taking a blank book because I really hope that I will surprise myself and write down what I am seeing and what it is making think of or realize. How can it NOT be life/perspective changing to see the cradle of Western civilization?

But before I can go on this amazing trip, I must get through tomorrow and get a number of things straightened away so that projects can continue to move forward in my absence. It can be hard to let go of what is going to happen when you are absent - but I will deal with those issues when I return. Whatever is made difficult by my 2+ week break from daily life will certainly be worth it.

Of course, it is not all excitement. There is also dread - of the flight, of being over the ocean for so long, for being so very out of control of what could happen to me (not that I have the conscious illusion that I am in control of what happens to me normally, but it sure does feel different when you are 30,000 ft. in the air over the middle of the Atlantic). But I will get through that and probably sleep like a baby on the plane. Anyone who went through law school w/ me can attest to my amazing ability to fall asleep pretty much anywhere - put me in a moving vehicle of any kind and I am out like a light!

I want to be Meryl Streep when I grow up.

Isn't it wonderful to see a woman age so wonderfully as Meryl Streep? You can tell that she hasn't had any "work" done - her craft is far too important to her for something as shallow as that. Yet her face seems to glow even more as she reaches into her 50's - is that her inner light shining? Is it amazing genetics? Is the sign of a peaceful soul? Whatever it is, I want it! I am hungry to see her new film, "Julie & Julia". Here is a link to David Edlestien's review. Wouldn't it be fun to have both Meryl and David over for dinner? What conversation that would be!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/09/sunday/main5227909.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea

And the beat goes on . . .

It is hard to believe that the 40th anniversary of Woodstock was just this past week. I bet all of those babyboomers are REALLY feeling old now! I shouldn't make fun. After all, I will be 20 years out of law school in 2012, which will be here before we all know it.

Which brings me to the topic of the increasingly fast passage of time as we age. Is it really that each year is that much smaller a fraction of our total lifespan that makes time seem to accelerate? Or is the busy, busy pace of our lives that keeps us from appreciating each day for what it is - a chance for a fresh start? Or is just that they keep putting out the Christmas decorations in the mall earlier each year? I vote for the first or last explanation, because I have heard quite a few grey panthers say that they experience the same sensation even though they didn't/don't have the busy-ness that we in thecell phone toting, iPod listening, Blackberry addicted generation have. What are your thoughts?

And the beat goes on in another way, too. Last night, my stepdaughter, Josie, lied about brushing her teeth. The difference between how she lied and how Reece lied are stark. I asked Leon how he knew to do the testing-the-toothbrush-for-wetness test and it was the slight hesitancy and less-than-confident answer that she gave to his question. Reece, on the other hand, was emphatic, had an explanation for every action that he supposedly took. So while they are learning many things in school, they are also learning things that are definitely human during the trip from elementary to middle school (or childhood to adolescent) - how to lie convincingly and without hestiation.

I should understand this well, since I was quite the molder of the truth in my teenage years. Now, it was never over stealing or something that actually hurt someone else (this is my self-justification). It was usually more about what I did in terms of youthful recreation - drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes being the chief ones among them. So given what I managed to get away with in high school, I think that I have my work cut out for me with our children. I think that this is what you call "Just Desserts".

365, plus some

So it has been over a year since I tried to start a blog - the road to hell is paved with good intentions, as one of my dear friends from law school loved to remind me. I have quite a well-paved road before me, I think. In the intervening time, I have had many thoughts that I noted as good blog fodder. Alas, procrastination is one of my most accomplished abilities.

But I have tried to change the mental tape that plays in my head - you know the one: it constantly reminds you of how you have fallen short in some way, leading one to be down on oneself. The new tape I have to keep consciously putting into the old tape deck is "The past cannot be changed but I can control now and plan for the future." So rather then sucking all of the good energy out of myself by constantly beating up on myself mentally, I am trying to focus on the fact that I can make a different choice NOW, even if I can't undo what I did yesterday. Is this some sort of forgiveness that I am giving myself? Probably - and forgiveness is one of the best things in the world EVER!

But now I am faced with a real punishment/forgiveness condundrum - last night my sweet son, Reece, admitted after HOURS of denying it and calling his step-brother a liar for saying so, that he STOLE $3 from his brother (Riley stole money, too, but put his back in a moment of regret/fear and then he tattled on Reece, I think b/c he thought he wouldn't get in trouble since he put the money back). First, I am OH SO TROUBLED by the fact that he would go right along with Riley's plan to steal Birch's money - just fell right in behind! But then, to lie and lie and lie and lie and lie about it for HOURS - giving me all of this detail in the story (which I was able to then use later to sort of cross-examine him about his inconsistent statements). He lied looking me straight in the eye and without flinching. For this, he got a real spanking for the first time in his life. And he deserved it.

But that is not enough punishment. I am now contemplating taking every possession he has (besides clothing and school related essentials) and making him earn them back. He has accumulated over $60 and I am thinking of taking that, too. What he does not realize is that, while I have every mother's natural suspicious nature, I now have lost the trust that I once had in him; I really do look at him as a different person now. Perhaps that is best, but I feel like I have lost the sweet, precious, guileless boy that I used to have. I guess it is bound to happen this close to the teen years.