Weekend and Winner

The ASPS team for the Pan-Mass Challenge

“One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.”

~Malayan Proverb

What did you do this weekend?

My husband decided to spend it taking a three-day motorcycle course. I told him if he was going to have a midlife crisis, he should get a mistress over a motorcycle, but I couldn’t convince him. He’s always refrained from being obvious about (obviously) checking out other women, preferring to ogle bicycles, but now he fawns over motorcycles. Even more interesting, now if he sees a younger woman dressed skimpily, he’ll grumble that when our daughter gets older, he doesn’t want her dressing like that. I think we’re entering a new phase of life.

I spent Friday night frantically finishing Mockingjay like every other avid reader of YA. My reluctance meant that I didn’t feed my children until nearly 8 pm. The darn book only came on Thursday because I did an Amazon preorder. Next week, Suzanne Collins is going to be doing a book signing in Brookline so I may do a giveaway for my awesome followers.

Saturday, the kids had Taekwondo. Afterwards, I decided to take them to Harvard Square to visit the Curious George bookstore and have Vietnamese food for lunch.

Afterwards, we were passing by Bartley’s Burger Cottage, where there was a looong line. I ate there once, when my son was three. We sat in long rows, so it was a pain to get in and out, and then my son had to go to the bathroom. They didn’t have one. In New York, it’s a law that restaurants HAVE to provide a bathroom for customers. We had just moved to Massachusetts, and found out there is no such law here. Great. Based on that trauma, I haven’t returned since. If I have to go two blocks to bring my child to a public restroom, then it’s not a place I want to frequent.

Between line loiterers, I peeked at books on a cart in front of the Harvard Bookstore on the way back to the car when I heard someone say, “It’s Shaquille O’Neal.”

I turned around, and there he was, a couple of heads taller than his companions, and getting ready to cross the street. My children and I stared, mouths agape for a minute, and then continued on to the corner. When we crossed the street, we noticed Shaq sitting on a bench surrounded by admirers who were asking to take a picture with him. Most other people, unless peering into the crowd, thought it was another cluster of students touring the square, so the crowd never got out of control.

We patiently waited our turn. My daughter was shy, so she sat next to her brother instead of on the other side of the basketball player. I wish I could post the picture, but when I began this blog I made a decision not to display photos of my children. So please become my Facebook friend so you can see the picture! (I’m under “Theresa Brown Milstein”.)

Here’s a video of him around town. You can see him on the bench, but you can’t see us:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/08/29/big_man_on_campus_shaq_owns_harvard_yard/

I spent Sunday morning cooking a five-hour ragu. While doing so, I realized I need to do this more often. Cooking lowers my blood pressure, centers me, gives me purpose. Cooking forces me to use my senses for something good.

Sunday afternoon, my sister visited, taking my daughter to the American Girl store for a belated birthday present. Every little girl’s dream. Sunday night, we took my son for tapas dinner for his birthday, so he could enjoy having the restaurant sing “Happy Birthday” while staring at a brass frog candelabra while the staff blew bubbles at him.

This weekend also marks the end of the Platform Contest: http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/2010/08/platform-contest.html

The outpouring of support on this brought tears to my eyes. You are all AMAZING PEOPLE. Thank you for donating, getting the words out on your blogs, Facebook, Twitter, by e-mail, and word of mouth.

And thanks to Candace: The Misadventures in Candyland

and Jackee: Winded Words

and Lydia Kang: The Word is My Oyster

and The Words Crafter: The Rainy Day Wanderer

for their gift card donations.

As I near my one-year blog anniversary, I cannot think of a better way to reach that milestone than to have raised money for ASPS: http://www.cureasps.org/asps-fundriser/

(You’re still welcome to make a donation!)

I chose the winner at random at: http://textmechanic.com/Random-Line-Picker.html

Without further ado, the winner is:

NIAMH BOYCE from Words A Day

CONGRATULATIONS, Niamh!

*** UPDATE ****

Niamh has asked that instead of gift cards, she'd like the money donated to ASPS. I'll let the donators know.

Thank you, Niamh!!!!

This blogging community has meant more to me than I can properly convey. (And I’m a writer, so that’s bad.) I look forward to getting to know you, hearing about your tribulations and triumphs, and telling you about mine in the year to come.

Love, Theresa xo