Hey, have things been a little dour around here lately? Yeah. I think so too. Visits to my parents’ house always bring out the angst in me (like it needs encouragement). But the week in New York had some high points too.

I really enjoyed seeing my sisters. They’re both beautiful, loving and to top it, great aunts. They both played in the freezing cold pool with Daniel and Helena. My mother and Aunt Maureen played with them in the freezing cold pool on Monday. I tried to play with them in the freezing cold pool on Tuesday and gave up after quarter of an hour. Kudos to them all for withstanding the Arctic waters with more grace than I.

Maria and Mark brought their new dog, Linus, to share in the fun.
Did I say dog? I meant pony. He is huge. But very very sweet. Daniel devoted much of the day to looking after him.
I gave Christina the lace and she not only loved it but looked amazing in it. I am so happy. There are lots more pictures here.

I spent the day in Manhattan with my cousin, the Excellent Walker. I love her. We’ve been friends, as well as cousins, since forever and we get each other. We walked. We ate bagels. We watched this program where two British women throw out your clothes and make you buy new ones that really fit you. What’s that program called again? We walked some more. She completely solved my bridesmaid angst with a visit to Ann Taylor, the reassurance that the top I have completely works with the chosen skirt and the purchase of this, the chosen skirt, one size smaller.
Here are our sneakered feet in Ann Taylor. It may not be chica-bica, but there’s no better way to pound the pavements of Manhattan. And the excellent walker should know. It was great. And I even get to go back because the store I needed to visit was closed for the holidays.

We had sparklers.

In order, that’s the statue of liberty, as played by a Sicilian New Yorker, a fairy princess with a wand and a thinker, planning on being a scientist someday, if he doesn’t conquer the world first with his evil inventions.

The denoument was possibly when my father bought Daniel a bicycle, which he has been talking about doing for a while. I don’t have a photo of it, which I should, butI was too busy running along behind while Daniel sailed along the pavement like a real cyclist. It has taken him so long to figure out how to make his body work a bike that it’s glorious to see him really riding. Daniel wanted a basket, so he has a white plastic basket with flowers. He also has a neon-pink bell. The boy in the bicycle store was so enthusiastic that I would let my boy have a flowery basket and a pink bell that I, for a moment, felt that there was hope for the world. We had a glorious moment of gender-neutral solidarity. We also bought Helena a basket, attached it to the old bicycle that Daniel had outgrown and whaddya know but she can actually ride a bike. They rode up to the shops to buy fruit, put it in their baskets and rode home. Except for the fact that I had to say “Where do you want this bike to go, Helena?” every three seconds (when she would wrench the handlebars narrowly averting crashing into signposts, curbs, fences, houses, people and cats) it was great.

And when traffic came to a complete standstill and I gave up, went back to Bayside and stayed the rest of the afternoon, my parents didn’t even blink. They gave us supper, let me listen to 1010 WINS every ten minutes to see if things were better and waved us on our way.

And now you’ll wonder what all the angst was about. But that’s life right there: nothing simple, nothing black or white. All just a whole mish mosh of good and bad and glorious and deranged and up and down and all around. Makes it complicated as crosswords in Chinese, but makes it fun too.

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