Summer in South Orange

Pictures to come, as I don't have my photo cord with me, but I'm happy to report that we are having a great summer in South Orange! Fer and Wendy attended a 4 week summer ESL program at their new school, took a 2-week karate class, and this week are going to a weeklong art camp with a good friend. In between, they enjoyed time with old and new friends at the town pool and on our block, swimming and bike riding and generally running around and playing. For someone who didn't drive for almost 20 years, I have to pat myself on the back a bit that with the help of my Mother's Day GPS system, I have piloted myself successfully around town and everywhere I have needed to go. Haven't tried NJ highways yet, but I'm sure that's in my future, and for now, I'm doing very well on all the town roads and byways.

We are blessed in our new life with wonderful neighbors and friends who have been so kind and supportive as we have made this transition to from city to suburb. As my mother keeps pointing out, moving can be lonely and stressful, and while this move has at times been the latter, it has certainly not been the former. I don't know what the Universe is trying to tell me but we have had two days of significant key issues, one when Chris took the only car keys into the city and left us without transportation for the day, and the other when I grabbed car keys instead of house keys and walked out to walk the dogs, realizing my mistake as I slammed the door behind me. In both cases, our friends helped us out, on the one day shuttling the girls to camp and karate and me to where I needed to go, and on the other, providing me with a safe haven and soothing cup of tea as I made phone calls to try to track down our contractor who has a key and who finally came to let me back in.

We do continue to have some challenging times at home, but considering the transitions the girls have had to make in their lives, they have adapted incredibly well. They are making new friends, enjoying the different activities, reading lots of books for the summer reading program at the library, and overall are having a really good summer. We feel very grateful and blessed.

Goodbye New York, Hello New Jersey!

Today is my last day of work at KIPP after 8 years!! It's really hard to believe. I've had some days of tears and panic in the last few weeks, but today I just feel right about it. It's time to focus on home and family for a while, and while I have loved my time with the KIPPsters big and small, this past year has been a year of running between commitments and often feeling torn and inadequate to do everything as well or as much as I would like. I know that's the story of so many working moms, and I do feel blessed to be able to have this time.

And, tomorrow the packers come and Friday the movers come to take us to our new home in New Jersey! We are really looking forward to the move -- our block is like Norman Rockwell with diversity, and we have all already met and begun friendships with some wonderful neighbors. There has been some stress in recent days over choosing tile and paint colors etc. (a very privileged problem to have, I know, but with my visual memory issues, I am just horrible at it!) but I know we are going to be so much more comfortable and happy with a bit more space and green and a lot more community. We have had more good times in the last 6 weeks with our new neighbors than in the last 6 years with our neighbors in Riverdale!

So, hopefully part of my new life will be somewhat more frequent posting on this blog. This winter/spring has had its hard times, but we have come out stronger for it and with a better understanding of both girls' needs. We feel so fortunate that Fer and Wendy are now doing so well and that they finished their school year with such a positive attitude and such great results of their hard work.

When I was a kid and we used to visit my dad's sister in Pennsylvania, we would always sing as we crossed the George Washington Bridge, "goodbye New York, hello New Jersey" over and over again until we got to the other side. We will be singing that song with new meaning in just 2 days!!

Thank You St. Peter's!

Today was the girls' last day of the school year at St. Peter's. They ended the year on a high note, with Fer receiving first honors and Wendy receiving second honors, and both of them receiving perfect attendance awards as well. I was able to attend the awards Mass yesterday and loved watching them receive their certificates. Father Joseph, whom I will really miss, preached a great kid-friendly sermon about the idea that prayer means change. His homework assignment for the summer? "Read and pray!" We'll definitely try. And today the girls said good-bye to their teachers and friends. We have been so blessed with a wonderful trio of teachers who saw them through their first year plus in the United States -- Mrs. Harding, who taught Fer for the last part of last year and Wendy all of this year in second grade, Mrs. Guerra, who tutored Wendy last spring and taught Fer for much of this year once she returned from maternity leave, and Mrs. Zamora, who tutored Fer last spring and both girls all this year. There were some tears all around as we said good-bye. We will certainly plan to come back and visit next year.

"Remember that I love you."

I was reading to Fer and Wendy last night as we always do before bed. Fer chose a re-telling of "The Three Little Pigs" which began with saying how a mother pig sent her children out into the world saying, "Don't forget to write. And remember that I love you." Wendy said as I finished the page, "I do." I asked her, "You do what?" She answered, "Whenever I go out into the world, I remember that you love me."

Fer's First Communion

Happy Easter!

Spring Vacation 2011

We had a lovely vacation, splitting our time between Tivoli, South Orange, and Riverdale. The Cannings were so welcoming as we went through some real estate travails, which thankfully have all been resolved, and we had the chance to celebrate with our soon-to-be neighbors as well.





Up in Tivoli, the big fun was getting ready for Easter with egg-dying and time with family.