Naked under our towels

OK. So I read my shorts remarks to a colleague at work about our candidate going to the circus. He replied that he didn't think it was really that funny....not as funny as when we were all naked (with robes on) together at a spa.

He is right. In 2005 we had a great year and thinking it would be a great "Thanksgiving" surprise to our employees, we took them all to a very high end NYC spa in November. We told them the day before and we all went and got a choice of massage or facials. We then met in our robes in the "relaxation room" and drank champagne with raspberries in it. Then we took them out to dinner.

The spa is Cornelia and it is very upscale and has really wonderful service. In the locker rooms we all were in various states of undress (ok maybe a bit weird for me as the much larger older boss) but the women in my office were non-plussed. they showed off their tatoos and piercings. I was thinking it might really be too much information.

Then we met up with the guys later after the "services". It was really nice. And wearing nothing but a towel is pretty leveling. So maybe our brand of "team building" or bonding was even wackier than the circus. Or maybe it was just a nice thanks and pat on the back.

Join the Circus

I keep meaning to write so if you check my blog, read backwards...for I am writing about the past few days and will post backwards.
Today we took a candidate out to celebrate. He is a quiet intelligent fellow who landed a position with our help at the top investment bank. He will be a lawyer doing a non legal job. He is really nice and was telling us that though he starts on a Monday, he was offered the chance to join them for a team building exercise. So what does a top bank do for team building? Do they go to climb a mountain? Do they attend a workshop? Outward Bound? Nope. They run away and join the circus, natch!
I wondered aloud what he would do and he deadpans, "I don't know but I was told to bring shorts". It is quite a way to meet ones co-workers!
They will be doing circusy things. So I ask you as I asked him, what do you choose? Trapeze or clowning?

How old are you now?

My birthday. Someone asked me if I would keep my years a secret.

I do have two friends who positively refuse to let anyone know their birthday. I guess they feel that they will feel uncomfortable around people who are younger or will be put away on a shelf if they are too "old". One of them has different ages on everything. On her license, children's forms etc. It is so bad that she even lied on the insurance forms. Her husband says if she dies first he may get nothing. I mean, if you say Happy Birthday, she gets hysterical.

I think that age is a state of mind. Plus I wouldn't really wish away time--it is so precious.

Having said that, I am not beyond counting backwards....

One of the most interesting cards I saw asked, "If you didn't know the year you were born, what age would you be?"

Fourth of July

Well it has been another wonderful summer weekend. We went on our friend's boat on the Hudson, up the mighty river to see fireworks put on by various towns. They were so grand, one wonders if they will have enough left over for snow removal this year.

The next day we cycled 30 miles for charity. We left from a beautiful farm in Dutchess County and then rode through Stamfordville, Amenia etc. It was great except for one fellow who careened down a hill so fast he fell and took out a sign. Except for his bike shorts which disintegrated upon impact, and his bike seat, he walked away. It was miraculous. We finished off the event with a lovely luncheon in their barn.

The charity was for lung cancer in honor of a woman who died two years ago who used to ride with us. Lucky for me the local bike shop came to support the riders because I busted my front derailer and S had a flat. Usually we ride about 25 miles and would have really been stuck.

That night we headed to a country club display which was amazing. It was a great party and then fireworks!!! Yesterday we worked out and then went out to dinner with friends at a restaurant on the water in Westport.
Today we played 18 holes of golf with a friend N, and took our son out to dinner.
The only problem with having this much fun is I don't feel like going to work tomorrow!!!

Back of the Bus

Here is a draft of something I was thinking of sending to our local paper...but do I dare?

Dear Parents,

I am the mother of two sons who will now both be attending the High School next year. As young children in the District, my kids first went to RBSl on the “chicken bus”, the small cute bus reserved for the then smaller group of kindergartners who came home half way through the school day. Once the District moved to full day kindergarten and our kids grew older they still took the large bus to elementary school. My older son, and middle schooler took the bus to X School. When he went to High School there was no question that he would get up a bit earlier and take the bus to school.

When I mentioned this fact to another group of mothers in our town, I was met with cries of dismay. How could I allow my son to get up so early? (All of another 15 minutes or so). Another mother actually said to me, “you would let your son take the ‘loser cruiser’”. Her thinking was that he would be deemed “uncool” by the other kids and parents. But also, it is pretty shocking an adult would speak that way. I also noticed that my younger son’s middle school classmates also had a regular chauffeur (parent) drive them to their school.

It is a wonder to me that so many self professed environmentalists, philanthropists and global warming believers still insist on driving their children to school in our community. There are a million excuses for this, from getting up too early, having to wait in the dark in winter at a cold bus stop, inconvenience, to being “uncool”. I think that with all that we need to protect in our world, to say nothing of the traffic, danger, pollution and entitled attitudes that are promoted by this behavior---this simply has to stop.

This year I was driving one son to the Doctor for an appointment and picked him up at the High School at dismissal. I was shocked by the inability to leave the parking lot. The young drivers were pretty polite and drove well. The parents, well that was another story. Aside from the cell phones in hand, several waited on the road just outside the school on the right side in a lane of traffic. They had “outsmarted” the rest of the group, or at least that is the attitude, waiting for children outside the traffic and causing them to walk from the buildings IN FRONT of all the cars and blocking all traffic from leaving the High School. The attitude is Me first. I am more important. I have outsmarted the dolts who follow the rules. (I don’t know that that is worse than the mothers who routinely parked in the handicapped parking outside RBS. When other moms with handicapped children in wheelchairs asked them to move the answer was huffily, “I will only be a minute.”) It would be very easy to figure out the statistics of how many cars are not those of the seniors getting to school. All one would have to do it count the endless parade of cars leaving the school, and the parents in them.

So, at the risk of being a “dolt who follows the rules” or a “loser cruiser,” I would encourage other parents in our town to get some manners, or a conscience. Save the environment, one car or car pool at a time. Save our children from danger. Save time. Put your child’s commute where your mouth is….