Winter's Last Hurrah

March Madness

This year our annual trip to North Carolina to celebrate our March birthday boys had happen a little earlier than normal. With the girls' parent-teacher conferences happening on the 9th/10th, I thought it was a good excuse to miss the Friday half day and book it out of town after their back-to-back conferences on Thursday afternoon. The flights looked good and it all seemed to be going off without a hitch...until...we waited and waited for out delayed flight. Then because paying passengers were able to hop to the later (now earlier) flight, we were stuck sitting around the terminal for a few extra hours. It would have all been a little more tolerable if we'd have thought we had a good shot out before 11pm. Instead, we tried everything to keep ourselves busy and not worried about what was to come. And then suddenly, just before the 5:30pm flight took off at 9:15pm, we got word that we were on. And away we went!

It wasn't a long visit but still we managed to pack in a few fun outings. I took Jordan and Dad out for BBQ on Friday afternoon since the rest of the Sprenz household was working or at school. And it was surprisingly tasty for a no-name place in a strip mall. When you're in NC and you see a lot of blue-haired old ladies chowing down, you know you're probably in the right place. And we were. Carolina harped at the waitress to serve her drink and the veteran made sure to put the little brat in her place by delivering her Pepsi last. Oh yes, this was the real deal and they even served it all up on cafeteria-style plastic dinner plates. We also squeezed in a mandatory trip to Target with Grandma and the girls were in toy store heaven picking out new stuffed animals to go with the Peeps-flavored Oreos we bought (SPOILER ALERT: they were as disgusting as I imagined). We also grabbed a couple of birthday cards and gag gifts for our birthday boys. Jordan scored a luchador bottle opener and Grandma got a set of silicone ice cube trays shaped like dentures. Lots of laughs and some fun board game nights completed the weekend.  And if all this felt like a flashback to Easter weekend last year, there is a good reason. It really did feel like spring and everywhere I looked I thought maybe we were a month ahead. But then Sunday morning we woke to a light dusting of snow--yes, snow in Raleigh!--and I snapped right back to the end of winter. Luckily, our flight home was much less eventful and we were in a cab ride home (with a farting driver--YUCK!) before we knew it. Nice to be home again after our adventures in the 'burbs and happy we got to see everyone we love in NC in one place. Now for the real spring to begin.

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So Much Resistance

We're only three months into this brave, new world and sometimes it feels like all the hoopla of the initial few weeks is settling into a quiet storm. The need to resist is growing stronger. And in order to do so, it's important to find new ways to engage. With that in mind, I took the girls to a charter school symposium organized by Amanda at the Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights last weekend. It was a good opportunity to support their cause and also teach the kids about community and coming together peacefully. Mr. Alan, the music teacher from AOC, lead us in rewriting the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine," and I think it was cool to see how the kids could find some creative ways to communicate their fears and hopes for the future of our country. Unfortunately, I had to skate off to help retool the park's shed shortly thereafter, but it was a productive morning all the same. Nacho and I had enjoyed a nice meal in the city together after his return from abroad. We ended up having lunch at Momofuko Ssam Bar which was a total accident, but a tasty one nonetheless. It was one of those meandering walks through the East Village where you don't realize a plan is developing until you are on your way home with a full belly and a happy heart. I need more of those days. The rest of the week was about park meetings for events, shuttling kids around in the still chilly weather and hoping for a good turn out on Sunday for the St. Pat's for All parade which always sneaks up on me. It turned out to be a clear, if windy afternoon and our plans to hang out all sort of melted with Carolina's resistance to us not buying toys at the parade. Yes, resistance comes in ALL forms around here and the thought is not lost on me that I am raising strong willed, independent girls with opinions. Oh the joy. 

But it was in their honor that I celebrated International Women's Day on March 8th this year which coincided with the Women's March on Washington's initiative Day Without Women. The idea was to wear red, not join in any paid or unpaid work, support local woman-owned or minority-owned businesses, and to basically disrupt the status quo. For me, that all sounded great except I really figured I could do whatever the fuck I wanted as long as it empowered the women I surrounded myself with. I didn't have work to stay home from, so why not make it a day about celebrating everything I love? So I recruited a friend to tuck into some amazing doughnuts at the Doughnut Project on Morton Street in the West Village and that kicked off a brilliant day of eating and cruising the city, living large. And why not? We made it towards Madison Square Park by lunch time and then the thought of having a lighter lunch at Eataly's veggie stand came to mind. Let's do it. It was a tasty day and one that made me happy to have such companionship and support for going off the beaten path.