Road trippin’

We just got back from a very long drive: Brooklyn to Chicago with stops in Pittsburgh and Bedford, PA.

Charlie was a great rider. (Much different than we first took a road trip, from LaGrange to Gulf Shores. Then we had to sing “BINGO” a hundred times, loudly and way too fast, to keep him from crying.) On this trip, we saw almost enough cows, horses, barns, and sheep along the road to keep him happy, but the turnpikes were a little too boring for all of us. Next time, the back roads.

Pictures to come, of course, but here are the highlights: We hit Chicago’s Field Musuem (dinosaurs!), put our feet and whole bodies in the various fountains of Millennium park, played in the sand on the Lake Forest beach, talked and played and ate with Grandma Margaret and Janelle, saw Janelle’s high school (so awesome that I wish I was going there right now), stopped in Toledo for dinner, picked raspberries and examined puzzles with Pap and Elaine, fed the fish at Gigi’s latest digs, stayed at Bedford Springs Resort where we swam in the mineral springs indoor pool and made s’mores over the firepit, and we happened upon a fish hatchery in Allentown even as we spent an hour trying unsuccessfully to choose a restaurant for supper.

Last night, we were all ready to be home, but the travel bug that somehow bit me never lets me rest. We passed several spots that I would have checked out, if there had been more time: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; the Lake Erie shores of Sandusky, Ohio; old Bedford village; and the Crayola Factory outside Allentown.

There’s just something so wonderful about seeing the America that’s outside our own little corner. The national parks out West, which we saw in July, make me imagine what it was like for the explorers and pioneers and cowboys who built our country. And visiting places like Toledo, where beautiful old buildings stand deserted and boarded up except for spots of green on someone’s roof garden, show me that we are all in this recession together. We overheard conversations during our Spaghetti Warehouse dinner that could have happened in Georgia, in New Jersey, in eastern California. Americans are so similar, in spite of our separate geographies.

Jesse and I have thought, once or twice, about the narrow-minded best-place-in-the-world syndrome that often afflicts those born and raised in NYC. I hope that Charlie sees, in our trips, that beauty, fun and innovation exist throughout our country. That people, in spite of accents or social mores, are more alike than they are different.

Of course, our propensity for travel just might make him want to stay in one place–you never know how these things will go. He did say, whenever he was tired, that he wanted to go to “our home.” Hopefully that was just because he didn’t want to sleep in his car seat and was wishing for our bed.

Other fun CW quotes and “conversations” from the trip:

Jesse: … no offense.
CW: Elephants?

While looking at a brochure for a car and taxidermy museum in Ohio, Jesse read: …the deer was caught in Canadian electric lines.
CW: Electric LIONS?

Me: A horse! (in a field we passed while going 75 MPH down I-80)
CW: Can we pet him?
Me: No. But maybe when we get home we can stop by the Kensington Stables. They have ponies, and we could feed them apples or carrots.
CW: I have an apple! (He pulls one out of our snack bag.)
Me: Ah. You are fully prepared.
CW: A PEAR? There’s a pear in here?
Me: PREPARED. It means you’re ready.
CW: Ready to eat it?

Next trip: NQC in Louisville, KY!

“Reading”

Charlie has memorized Brown Bear, Brown Bear and now wants to read it (and every other book) to me, instead of the other way around. He carries Franklin and the Thunderstorm around on our every commute, flipping through it so much that it’s getting ragged. It’s a hoot to watch him turn the pages and read the story aloud, even when he doesn’t know what the words say.

Or maybe he knows more about the words than I give him credit for.

Not only does he notice the word ‘zoo’ any time he sees it, he’s now spelling a few other things.

We passed a subway ad about heat advisories and Charlie said, “Mama, that says ‘hot’.” And it did.

And the other day, I said to Jesse, “Maybe we can get some P-I-Z-Z-A.” Charlie replied, “I want some pizza.”

Soon, I won’t be able to tell any secrets by spelling them out!

Insurance companies = swindlers

Check out this story on Double X.

A lady had health insurance that supposedly covered maternity care, pre- and post-natal. But when she got home from the hospital, it turned out she owed over $20,000.

The insurance company claimed they capped the maternity benefit at $3000, even though her benefits pamphlet listed all maternity costs, including labor and delivery. The cap was noted in her policy only in a fine print addendum–you know, one of those tiny charts way in the back that no one reads.

She fought the cap and got most of her care paid for in the end. (Because she was vocal or because she decided to write a piece about it, she’s not sure.)

In any case, it is this kind of baloney that regulation of the insurance industry would hopefully curtail. Right now, under current laws, it is not illegal–though it is highly unethical–to take people’s money and promise them coverage, then snatch that coverage away when actual claims are made.

If, with this new health care bill, Congress makes the insurance companies’ shell games illegal, we will all be better off.

Honestly, I don’t know how people who work at companies like CareFirst can sleep at night.

Click, Clack, Moo

The cast of Click, Clack, Moo. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Today, I decided to brave a “free ticket” extravaganza for a chance to see Click, Clack, Moo brought to life on the Lucille Lortel stage. There was surprisingly little hassle in getting a seat, and it was an absolutely delightful performance.

Charlie and I started the day slowly, hanging out by our lonesomes in the community garden. (It took two and a half years to get a key to the place; totally worth it.) He got dirty, grassy and bugged up. I got relaxed in the shade, plus turned compost and dumped out standing water. Then we moseyed to the playground, ate a light lunch at the local cafe (complete with time in the kids’ toy corner) and took a short nap.

In the early afternoon, we took the good ol’ F train to W. 4th Street where Charlie’s very loud rendition of “Sing” was greatly admired by other subway riders. One guy said, “Dude, you should do a record.”

We strolled through the West Village, buying and devouring fresh summer tomatoes from the farmers market, stopping to admire the fountain in the square, and making our way to the awesome children’s room at the library on Leroy. They have lots of toys–blocks, dollhouses, rocking horses, dinosaurs, and even a slide–plus about four times as many books as at our local branch.

Charlie, who is wonderfully kind to babies, made a quick friend of Jack, a 17-month-old who was soon following CW everywhere. Charlie, in exchange, was calling, “Jack, sit here. Jack, let’s read this book together. Jack, do you want a dinosaur?”

Then we saw the kids out the window playing in the sprinklers downstairs. We joined them, and swang and slid and ate more tomatoes.

About an hour before the show, we walked down to Christopher Street for tickets, then visited a store selling clothes for dogs and ate a banana muffin on a secluded park bench in the garden at St. Luke’s church.

When it was time for the show, we met Jesse, took our seats, laughed uproariously and clapped long and loud when it was done. Only in NYC can free children’s theater be so darn good.

Then we ate at Cowgirl, where I had the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve had since Melear’s, about twenty years ago. The difference must be in the tangy vinegar sauce.

A happy day. One that makes all the crap in this city worth taking.

Health insurance reforms

Okay, you know my opinion on doctors and hospitals, but insurance companies do their own share of evil things. (Like dropping coverage on people for incorrectly filling out forms or for, you know, getting sick with cancer, as in Act Three of last week’s episode of This American Life.)

Even if nothing else in Obama’s health care plan gets passed, I hope these bullet points do (from the Washington Post):

* No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

* No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

* No Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.

* No Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.

* No Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.

* No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.

* Extended Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

* Guaranteed Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won’t be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

More old pix

From Christmas-time, 2008. Click on the photo for more pictures and videos.

Old pictures

I finally got my computer, my camera and my Flickr account all working at the same time. So here’s a bunch of photos from last fall, with more to come later today, I hope. Click on the images below for more photos and videos.

Halloween, 2008

A fall Saturday morning, 2008

Thanksgiving at the Orlowicz house, 2008

Listening to the radio with Charlie

NPR: “…police forces…”
CW: “Horses?!”

NPR: “…because that’s eternal.”
CW: “A turtle?!”

NPR: “…the CEO of the company…”
CW: “The seal?!”

A zoo field trip

Today, Sunflowers had their class field trip to the zoo. Jesse had a summer Friday, so he got to go with the monkeys, I mean, kids, to check out the animals. I wanted more pix, but he said the kids were running around crazily and it was hard to follow them and take pictures.

Also, Charlie knows the zoo by heart, so he acted as guide: “Guys, here’s the goat. Let’s see the monkeys! What about the meerkats?”

School schedules

Before we left on summer vacation (pictures to come, sometime), Jesse and I finally got the application in for our first-choice school. (Yes, we’re early. The application was for Fall 2010 early decision.) I was excited and relieved that it was done; it was the only private school I really connected to, and I do hope he gets in. It’s philosophy (and price) fit our family. Honestly, I wish I could go there.

However, I recently saw their schedule for next year. In addition to school holidays (a Christmas break, a winter break, a spring break and a summer break), the first week of school starts in mid-September, with a few days that end at 11 am. Every first Friday the kids get out at 11 am for a teacher work day. On the days of parent-teacher conferences, the school is closed. And, of course, the school day ends at 3:15 pm.

For all those breaks and after school, there are some options–camps, classes, paying for a grandma to fly up and play with Charlie, maybe drop-in care at his current school for the first year. But what about all those half days, and weeks when camps aren’t open? What about when he ages out of his current daycare or they don’t have space for drop-in? How do working parents acquire appropriate child care for all of those random times?

I have some vacation, and some flexibility with my part-time schedule, and still the amount of off-time seems daunting. Here’s hoping not all the families in the small school have a stay at home parent; maybe they’ve figured out some tricks to make it all work.

Who knew that daycare, with its 9-6 hours and only-closed-on-major-holidays schedule was so luxurious? I guess I’ve been spoiled and didn’t even know it.