Easy Living In Darien

Marisa and Her Friend, Amanda

A beautiful morning, sunny and in high 70's though I was up too early, 5:30, watching Willie Geist on MSNBC and reading the NYTimes on my computer. Rami is off by 6:45, to catch  the train into the city.

Yesterday was an easy day, not a lot that we had to do, other than take Marisa to her Hip Hop rehearsal at 4:00.  I did get a bit antsy just sitting around, so I went off to NEAT, the hip coffee shop in Darien, packed with Mom's and Dad's, without their kids.  They serve a latte with a outline of a leaf in cream on the top of your latte.  Wow.  I got to sit at a table and listen to a guy make doctor's appointments for his kids, check on his flood insurance and find out where to pay a speeding ticket of $ 187.00.  I could not help but overhear him as we were sitting right next to each other.  Why do business in a public place?  I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and picked up some fresh scones for Beth.

At Rehearsal

About 10:30, Evie and I did some shopping as Beth was feeling much better, little pain in her hand, which was great.  We hit Old Navy and picked up matching dresses and tee shirts for the grandchildren this summer.  It's nice to have that out of the way.  We then hit a few other stories, looking for bargains, stopped at Patel Market, an Indian grocery store, where I picked up more paneer cheese and some ghee.  I am ready for a summer of Indian food.

Late afternoon, Evie went off with Marisa to her rehearsal, stayed through all of the performances, while I stayed home with Beth and the boys.  We made Beth's easy ribs for dinner, basically you bake them in the oven for three hours, add barbecue sauce, and bake them another half hour and they are ready.  With corn bread and beans, it was a happy meal for all.  Marisa had her friend Amanda over for dinner, as her Mom was busy and had asked Beth if she could stay till 8:00.  Because her Mom was late, Marisa lent Amanda my favorite children's book,  The Little Black Fish, written by an Iranian dissident during the revolution in the 1980's.  My only complaint is the recent translation does not say the fish is a female, which I thought was perfect; instead, the gender of the fish is not mentioned.  I liked this book so much that I had my Senior AP class read it and write on it.  Great essays.  The fish, against the advice of parents and family and friends, decides to take the 'road less traveled,' and find out where the river ends, meeting, on the way, all sorts of problems, which it faces with nimbleness and ultimately courage and empathy.

Tonight is Marisa's dress rehearsal, so we will be taping it as no cameras are allowed during the performance tomorrow afternoon.  Beth also goes back to the doctor today, hopefully to get her bandages off.