How Can These Women Promote This With A Straight Face

The Shake Weight.

Hopefully they are getting paid really, really well.

Every Door In My House Squeaks, or, "F... that WD-40!"

Every single time I move a door, there is a loud creeaaakkk that accompanies my movement over the threshold.  In the old days, when the kids were young, this was a good thing, as you could track their movements through the house.  Nowadays, though, I don't want to know who's in the bathroom, who's scavenging snacks in the fridge a half hour before dinner, or who's up late watching Jimmy Kimmel (hopefully) on late night.  I just want quiet!  The adage "be careful what you wish for" has particular poignancy this week, though.  Because, once I started looking for the WD-40 to take care of the doors once and for all, I realized that this weekend, when Julia departs for overnight camp for a month, this house will become quieter than it has been in, well, forever!  With all the boys/men working during the day, and me still working from home the majority of time, the only ones left in the house will be me and the dogs.  Which leaves me thinking .... I've got to Get Out .... and, I have to figure out how to not miss Julia for a month.

I remember crying when I dropped William off at first grade.  Not too much, though, because I still had Ethan with me for most of the day, and still had lots of logistics to manage for Melissa and Kristen.  Life was a whirlwind, then, with little time to think about theoretical feelings of separation.  I was thankful for the quiet time, which left me time to shower (alone), clean up the house, and shop/work as required.  We only had one dog then, so dog management also wasn't a priority.  My father was alive, which also kept me busy.

These days, our life is so completely different from those early years of our marriage that it's amazing we are the same people.  We now have three dogs, five children mostly grown, no Grandpa Patrick, and, for the first time in my life, I am sad about the prospect of my child(ren) leaving home, albeit temporarily.  Ethan's departure for college in the fall is predictable, customary, and exciting.  Will's move into an apartment in Boston will also be exciting and is a great thing for him and us.  Julia's departure for 3.5 weeks of camp, however, is a Completely Different Story.

Of course, both Bill and I have recognized we can't even talk too much about Julia's departure, lest she become aware of how much we will miss her, leading to homesickness, etc.. which would be a Disaster.  On the other hand, Julia is SO excited about going away to camp that to a certain extent her excitement is contagious.  She's dropped a few hints of anxiety, such as "I'm afraid the dogs won't recognize me when I come home," and "When am I going to see the new Twilight movie if they don't take us to the premiere?", but that anxiety has very little to do with missing me ....

My experience has been that when a child leaves home, for a week or more, a family changes in the most basic ways.  No matter how loud or quiet the absent child is, with him/her the family has adapted to a format that requires all its members to participate uniquely in order to function in a traditional, predictable way.  When one ingredient in the family formula goes missing, the family behaves in an entirely different way, as children and parents are forced to take on new roles and altered relationships.  This isn't a bad thing, it just requires adaptation, a willingness to change, and everyone's mutual understanding of each other's fragile emotions over the following several weeks.

No matter how well we've all adapted over the years, Julia's growing up is something that I/we really haven't prepared for.  Sleepaway camp is a Parental Alert that my youngest child is getting older, more independent, and that high school and college are not that far away.  We've done it before, of course, for years and years and years it seems.  This time feels different, though, and not different in a good ("you'll discover more about yourself" "you'll have lots of free time" "it will be really quiet, hmm?" "now you'll have time for golf" "you can train for another marathon" "the yard needs some attention" "we can see more movies") kind of way.  It feels different in a "What am I going to do without her?" kind of way, which is Extremely Strange.

No doubt we'll be fine.  But, I've stopped looking for the WD-40.  To hell with that!

p.s.  The Graduation Gang at Ethan's SJP Graduation in May.  So Thankful for everyone who celebrated with us (including Nana and Grampie, who didn't make the picture).

Cooking The Blues Away

Momma said there'd be days like this ...... Well, not exactly.  My mother is a bundle of optimism, at least on the outside.  She rarely if ever lets people see any sign of internal emotional struggle, even in the most difficult of times.  This is probably a good thing, especially for her children.  She implicitly understands the difficulties we all deal with when it comes to work, spouses, children and daily life, and does everything she can to prevent additional baggage from piling on.

But that's not what I really wanted to say. (Why does it always take me SO LONG to get to my point????!)

This spring has been so busy, that now that life has finally settled down a bit, I feel a bit of the Blues slipping in. I knew this was happening when I was on my way home from dropping Julia off at swimming,just driving down the street I drive down every day, and as I listened to an NPR reporter describe the oil-covered cranes falling into the marshes along the Gulf Coast, I started to cry. Made me realize that I may have to temporarily add "Listening to NPR" to my list of "Things I Won't Do Because They Make Me Too Sad," like watching movies of stolen children or reading news stories of soldiers killed in Iraq/Afghanistan. Though, I will confess that I watched "The Messenger" with Woody Harrelson the other night and found it Really Good, if distressing.

Sometimes life so completely takes over that you find yourself on Automatic Pilot, walking through a whirlwind of events calmly, smiling, taking photos, encouraging your family, trying not to forget all the details you've assigned to yourself. But, what happens when the whirlwind settles down? When Otto deflates? When days and schedules return to your own Normal? My husband's philosophy is that something else always appears in my life. I think even he would say that this year our family has had more than your average whirlwind, that it would take quite a confluence of currently unforeseen events to come together to equal this past year. Marathon, College Applications, Death In The Family, High School Graduation, 25th College Reunion. And, soon, my youngest daughter leaves for her first ever sleepover camp, for FOUR WEEKS! Seems I could handle all the other stuff, but this impending departure is threatening to push me closer to the edge. (Absolutely No More NPR for me until she returns at the end of July).

What to Do? First, RUN BABY RUN! With all my planning for the First PURR during Pton Reunions, it's completely ironic that I all but gave up running for about a month. I went yesterday, though, and do feel better. Second, I'm cooking and playing with food like I haven't in a long time. (Good thing I'm running ....) Here are some photos and instructions for one of my latest ventures, Catherine's Chicken Saltimbocca. Not as hard as it sounded, as long as you have a Sharp Knife. Enjoy!

Catherine's Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients:  4 (plump) Boneless Chicken Breasts
                    2 slices Muenster cheese
                    8 slices Prosciutto (for this, I used pre-packaged Prosciutto, since it is a bit firmer, less ragged than the slices the deli guys usually present me)
                   1 pound Orrechiette pasta

For Sauce:   1 28-oz. can Pastene Tomato Puree
                    Fresh Herbs (as much as you like):  Basil, Parsley, Oregano
                    3 Cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
                    1 Tbsp. Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)

First, wash and trim chicken breasts of all fat. Very carefully, slice breasts through the middle, stopping just before you reach the edge, so that you don't cut all the way through. Fold pieces of cheese into accordion pieces, and place half of a slice into the slit in the chicken. Then, wrap 2 slices of Prosciutto around each cheese-stuffed breast. Put some olive oil into a pan, then saute the prosciutto-wrapped chicken in the hot pan for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side, so prosciutto starts to brown. Remove chicken from pan and place in 350-degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. Serve with the pasta and a green salad. For the Pasta Sauce (Note: Every pasta sauce I make starts with sauteed, chopped onion, but I ran out of onions, so just used the ingredients listed, and it was still delicious). Saute minced garlic for 2 minutes, then add puree to pan before garlic turns color. Add as many herbs as you like, plus a teaspoon or two of Kosher salt, and as much Red Pepper as people will tolerate (they can always add more themselves). Cook the pasta al dente -- my kids LOVE orrechiette, and so do I -- and cover with sauce. Serve alongside the chicken.

Here are some pictures to show you how easy it is. Enjoy!

Okay To Brag Sometimes

Here are some photos of Ethan at his graduation and prom.  He'll just have to get over the fact that I can't help bragging about my children sometimes. 

Ethan graduated from St. John's Prep on May 23, 2010.  Here he is in his cap and gown.  Below is a picture of him with the family of Sean Lynch, an SJP and Boston College graduate who died in Tower 2 of the WTC on 9/11/01.  Ethan received the scholarship that his family established in his memory for an SJP graduate going on to Boston College.  Quite a proud moment for us all.

Good thing he gets his good looks from his father, though I'm pretty sure we can share credit for his brains -- I have no acumen whatsoever for chemistry, which is his best subject. One of my best life decisions ever was to marry a tall ex-Navy guy with an affinity for engineering, nuclear-propelled submarines and natural gas laws! And all he got in exchange was an orange t-shirt every five years.... Good deal for me, don't you think!

PURR-fect Weekend

What a Wonderfully PURR-fect Reunions Weekend.  We had a blast!  Where to start, where to start ....

Julia and I arrived in Princeton on Thursday and met Maria upon our arrival.  Our car was Loaded Up with over 300 plastic bags, alphabetized and packed up into 4 separate plastic containers (the under-bed storage containers); there was no room for Bill, who joined us at PU via Amtrak the next day.  We quickly set to work moving into our dorm room in Butler College -- a new quad, with its own bathroom -- and then were joined by Kathleen and Sarah Beckmann in time for margaritas and Mexican fiesta.  The tone of the weekend was Friends/Food&Drink/Fun, in that order!

Friday morning came early, as Maria and I walked the PURR course with Carolyn W.  By then our anxiety had turned into excitement and we were ready for whatever Saturday morning brought us, rain or shine.  I had a quick lunch with old friend, Ken Hersh (check out his wife, Julie's new memoir, "Struck By Living") and ran into Uncle Ted and Linda all in the space of an hour.  Bill arrived by Dinky, and we made our way over to the Graduate College for our class dinner.  Maria was announced as our new President (hooray!), and the kids had such a great time that we didn't see them until it was time to leave three hours later.  An early night, then, for the Sullivan and Kourepenos families, as the big event for us was early Saturday morning.  We were all in bed by 11.

Which was a good thing, because .... even though I went to bed early, I overslept and missed meeting Maria and Carolyn by about 15 minutes.  If that wasn't enough, we awoke Saturday morning to Rain.  Drizzle turned into a downpour before it finally let up and virtually disappeared by race time.  We were drenched and anticipating a Very Low Turnout for the event we had worked so hard to plan over the past 18 months. But, the clouds parted, and by 8:30 the drizzle had stopped and people were beginning to smile, especially when they saw all the food and the Princeton Tiger on-hand for the big race.

About 150 runners/walkers were at the PU Cross Country Course for our first ever Princeton University Reunions Run (PURR).  All the roommates pitched in, as did the husbands, and helped us execute our meticulously planned Community Service Project.  Jill Fadule and Beth Burrough handled registrations; Bill and Kathleen Beckmann handled Everything we threw their way (tables, food, children, tshirts), Molly and Kate and their daughters, Katie and Whitney, manned the water stop along the course, and Bill, Kerry, Julia, Sarah, Christopher, Alexa, Arianna and Ellery all provided invaluable support for the next three hours that we were at the fields.  It went unbelievably smoothly.

The things that went wrong were Completely out of our control, like the mysteriously disappearing Port-o-Potties (there were a dozen on-site the day before) and the non-existent shuttle ("We're running a few minutes late..." yeah, right).  The good news was that we attracted some fast runners; so fast in fact that the winner passed Carolyn Wojie -- on her bike out ahead of the pack in order to guide the runners on the new course!  Our old friend, Andy Card '85 was the first classmate to cross the line, though he was beat out by a former runner from the class of '07.  Our girls walked/ran with Bill and Kathleen, and everyone had a great time.  See for yourself!

No rest for the weary, though.  We were cleaned up at PURR by about 10:30 a.m. and on to get ready for lunch, our class photo, and the P-Rade.  The 25th Reunion class has the privilege of leading the P-Rade, which is a wonderful thing when it's 80 degrees outside.  At our 20th Reunion, we were waiting over 3 hours for our turn to join in the parade.  This year, we finished early, watched a bit of the older classes arrive at the finish (the oldest graduate was 107 years old), and then headed to Julia's favorite Princeton tradition, Thomas Sweet's Ice Cream Shop, for ice cream (along with half of the Class of '85 who had the same idea).

Saturday night was Fun, Fun, Fun.  Dancing to a crazy pink neon band, Maria and I had a chance to rejoice and reunion like we hadn't all weekend.  Security kept everyone but our classmates and families out of our Tent, so there was even room on the dance floor and no wait for drinks.  Again, I didn't see Julia until late into the evening, so a great time was had by all.  Sunday morning, Maria and I met with our PICS summer intern at the World Food Program, and his mentors, and the PU administrators who worked on the internship with us.  It was a crazy morning, but we managed to eat, meet, great, and pack up to be off campus by 11:30, and home to Haverhill by 5 p.m.  The house was in one piece, with neither the dogs nor the boys missing us too much. 

Bill, Julia and I all agreed (as did Maria and most of the classmates I checked with) that this 25th Reunions of ours was the Best One Ever.  We contributed in more ways than we ever had before, and therefore felt an important part of things.  We made new friends along the way, and contributed to important causes that will truly benefit from our fundraising and from our spotlight on their programs (Princeton Young Achievers and Friends of the World Food Program). 

When all was said and done, it comes down to Friendships.  Whitney Testorf is my new best friend.  And, no, I'm not pregnant in the above photo, I just need to do some summer sit-ups..... Enough Said!