Family stories

I had two articles run in today's Family section of the Patriot Ledger. The religion feature is about Bob Dunn, a Milton resident who won the Archdiocese of Boston's Layman of the Year award earlier this year. And the lead article is about first aid/avoiding (or going to) the emergency room for kids in the summertime.

Staycation

We've taken this week as a staycation -- doing fun things from home. Yesterday was a beach day, and it was great. Perfect weather, for starters, and even better at Scarborough Beach in Rhode Island, with a slight breeze and big-enough-to-be-fun-but-not-scary waves. The kids had fun playing in the waves and building sand castles. And, of course, having a picnic on the beach.

I didn't take too many pictures, but here are the boys lounging on the sand. Timmy's sunglasses elicited chuckles from fellow beachgoers all day.

Cue the happy music

I haven't played violin regularly for more than 20 years, but with Abby starting lessons, I decided I wanted to be able to play with her. So off we went to the violin repair shop to get my violin checked out. I also had my bow rehaired, picked up some rosin and a decent shoulder rest, and had one of Earl's bass bows rehaired, too.

Four hundred and fifty dollars later, I have an instrument that's playable again -- new sound post, bridge adjustment, new strings, new case, and of course a rehaired bow. And it's almost absurd, how happy I am. Violin was nearly my least favorite thing as a teenager. I put it down when I went to college and never picked it up again -- except for a couple of years ago, when I felt like fooling around with it. I sounded terrible, and now I realize it must have been the lack of good hair on the bow.

So I'm Twinkling for Abby, and playing other greatest hits from Suzuki books 1 and 2. Nothing too complicated, of course, and I've noticed that my left hand gets tired pretty quickly. That's good; I can sympathize with Abby when she tells me that practicing is tiring.

Here's a photo of the little violinist. Maybe I'll get one of us playing together someday.

Abby, pre-Twinkle

Column link

My second family column for the Patriot Ledger ran on Saturday. The next Just a Minute will run on July 5th. Hope you enjoy it, and if you have kids, hope they sleep later than mine do!

Mommy and the dancing boy

Terrific recital, Brian!

Visual arts story

My feature about visual arts in the Milton Public Schools ran in Thursday's Milton Times.

The Birthday Boy

Brian's 4th birthday was on Sunday, and it was a good day. He was very sweet -- saying that his new favorite number was 4; that his cake was "humongous good"; telling me, "I have a wonderful birthday" in between yawns at bedtime.

Brian is crazy about basketball (brought on more by High School Musical than the Celtics, although he does like them) and he wanted a basketball cake. Here he is, above, with his cake. Note the balloon in the background.

He's my grown-up boy in so many ways, yet my little guy, too. He still loves his teddy bear, Kaloo, but sometimes wants him to sleep on the shelf next to his bed instead of in the bed with him. He is starting to want to do big kid things, like ride a bike. He's been asking to do arts and crafts lately. He loves to play baseball.

Brian's dance recital is this coming Saturday, followed by a birthday/recital party at our house in the afternoon. It will be a Brian-filled day. A good kind of day!

The birthday boy

The missing link

Here it is! My first family column for the Patriot Ledger. Please take a moment to read it, and if you feel so moved, let the editors know what you think via the email address at the end of the column (features@ledger.com).

The next "Just a Minute" is scheduled for June 21. Column space in newspapers is difficult to come by, and while my editor has said she feels the family section of the Ledger needs something like this, the rubber hits the road at the response from the readership. So don't be shy -- and don't feel like you have to gush like Old Faithful, either. A simple note about whether you liked it (or not, I suppose) and why would be just great!

Thanks in advance for your support. I'm so excited to begin this journey as a columnist, and I'm pinching myself a bit, hoping for a good, long ride!

Technical difficulties

It appears that the link in my last post doesn't work. And so far, no direct-to-the-story link online, either. I am hoping this will change, and Just a Minute will be easily accessible online in the near future. Stay tuned.

Column debut!

Here it is! My very first (hopefully) regular column, Just a Minute, was launched in this weekend's Patriot Ledger. I might be more nervous now that it's actually in print! This link is for the page-view version, which will take you to the front page. The column is on page 101, or you can search for Fay and it will bring you to the right page. If the single-story link comes up later I'll post that, too.

There's an editor's note at the end of the column, soliciting feedback to features@ledger.com. If you liked the column, please feel free to let the editors know, even if you don't get the Ledger in print. And of course, I'd like to hear from you, too.

If you didn't like the column, please feel free to keep that to yourself. :)

Exciting news

I haven't been writing much here lately. Lots of stuff going on here with the kids, writing other places, and just taking care of other business like Brian's IEP for next year, preschool arrangements for Timmy, planning for Brian's birthday on Sunday, and my summer teaching schedule.

But I've been sitting on some big news and I think it's finally safe to share it. (No, I'm not expecting child #4. Perish the thought.)

Starting tomorrow, my family/humor column will appear every other week in the weekend edition of the Patriot Ledger. I pitched my editor on a family column a few weeks ago, and she is giving me the space to try it out! Things are tight at the Ledger, budget-wise, and we're both hoping that reader response is good. If you've ever wanted to write to a columnist, don't be shy! All feedback is good -- it will show that people are reading the column.

So look for it tomorrow, in the Family section of the Patriot Ledger. Of course I'll post a link.