A Great Book Launch, our First Day Trip in A Couple of Years and Upcoming Kentucky Derby Party
Hello May Day! It was great to have another long weekend. I could get used to this. The weather seems to be getting a little more stable. May, don't tell your sister April that she is the least favourite. Ugh. That was a rough month for weather. Today was a big milestone forthe Kid but I will get to that soon. First, let's talk about the book launch! No, not mine, but one day. One day. On Saturday around 2, I made my way to the Beaver Brewing Company. Johnny Morgan (the author), his lovely wife S.S. (unfortunate initials in this country) and their lovely son were setting up for the launch. I made myself useful by offering to help sign books and ordering myself a spritzer.
Just before 3, another friend and her family showed up. She noticed that S.S. and I were giving the stink eye to a table of people. They had been told that the table they were sitting at would have to be free before 3 and I guess they understood that to mean "Order a 3 course meal and sip beers slowly". I guess our passive aggressiveness worked because they finally left. We set up a kids table and I placed my pink tin for Beacon Beach House donations beside the pile of manly man man books about football. Then the party started. It was great to catch up with a ton of people and to drink spritzers. At one point, a friend of S.S. asked me to make a couple of Beacon Beach House necklaces for her and that was exciting. The jewelry making is back on, you guys! There were many people to talk to and spritzers to be had and at one point a dog the size of a horse showed up. His owner threw the leash at me and said "Here, take it." as he headed into the the throng of people and my friend S.R. looked at me and begged "PLEASE! LET ME HOLD THE LEASH!" and I passed it over to her because she is 5. Now she is going to kill me for writing that. S.S. was a lovely hostess and her husband was busy signing books and meeting bros. There was a lot of bro love that afternoon. And beer too. I bought a few books and pretty much asked Johnny to sign them to say that I was amazing. Heh.
I had him also sign one for the Husband that read "Stay strong" because I can't keep poking the bear. By 6:30 it was time for me to go home, make dinner and then go for another run. By the way If you want to pick up a copy of his book, the link is here on Amazon. Tell them Tova sent you. Or is that not how it works? Anyway, it was a fun fun afternoon and I was able to raise some money for the center so that was exciting! And of course, the chance to spread the word about Autism in Vienna is worth everything! The evening was pretty quiet which then ended with me inadvertently inviting myself to a party. I was in bed, half asleep when I was scrolling through Facebook and saw that a Facebook friend had posted about the Kentucky Derby and that she had a hat. The Kentucky Derby is so on my bucket list so I wrote "So on my bucket list" and then she wrote "Come on by!" and I had to blink a couple of times and then scroll up to her status update. She was talking about the party that she is hosting next weekend in Vienna for the Kentucky Derby and I, like an asshole, accidentally invited myself to it and by the way, she is a class act. Ugh. I feel like an idiot. But I am actually so incredibly excited! And I am even bringing the Husband. And now I need to dig out my fascinators. I have never been to a Kentucky Derby party and I have a feeling that I will love it! So maybe there is something to be said about responding to a status update without reading it properly. Cough.
Anyway, today was a big day! We decided to try and push the Kid out of his comfort zone. Actually, it was more out of our comfort zone but same thing. The Kid woke up around 7 a.m. and for at least 2 hours we kept saying "We are going on a big bus! We are going to see a castle! We are going on a big bus! We are going to see a castle!" and the Kid looked at us blankly and then turned back to watch his stories. At 9:30 we walked to the main train station. Now, the Kid still can't enter Ubahn stations or train stations... he is terrified. But we decided to try out the bus. The first obstacle was getting him to the bus station. It is under a bridge and we weren't sure how he would react. But he was awesome and even sat on the bench and waited patiently for the bus to arrive. When it came, we stood in line and I gripped his hand, waiting for him to lose his patience. There were about 6 people in front of us and it seemed like they were not only buying tickets but asking the bus driver to explain the theory of relativity. Finally the engine came to life, and I sighed in relief but it was short lived because someone was standing outside the bus, asking the driver something or other. I turned back to the Husband and whispered angrily "Why?! Why do people do that?!? You wouldn't do that to a pilot!" I looked at the Kid nervously but he was happy as a clam. As the bus moved forward, he turned to the window and stared and stared. He was so happy. The bus stopped a few times to let more people on and to give people the chance to ask the driver about his feelings on climate change or something. Ugh. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at Laxenburg. Before the Kid, the Husband and I went a few times and always loved it. There is a jousting place, a castle on a lake and a little waterfall. It is a huge park and just absolutely idyllic. We showed up at the gates and suddenly noticed that there were about a million Mercedes. It turns out that it was a bring your Mercedes to Laxenburg day. And I also have to wonder why on May 1st... but to each their own. I'm kind of a 1970s Saab convertible gal anyway.
We made it to the park and the Kid held our hands as we made our way to the castle. Unfortunately we had forgotten about his love affair with water. He saw the lake and made a mad dash towards it. We stopped him and you could see the look on his face... it pretty much said "Assholes." We tried to keep him distracted but it wasn't working and he kept trying to make a break for it. Luckily with some chips, we could get him to keep walking, but he kept glancing over his shoulder, heartbroken. He whined for a little while but he ended up being fine. And the Husband and I made a mental note that the next trip will involve arid land. After close to 2 hours of walking around, we made our way back past the lake (gripping the Kid's hand, but he was fine) and then past the Mercedes and the champagne drinking visitors. I really wanted a glass of champagne. Nobody offered me a glass. Nobody. The bus showed up and the Kid was awesome the whole way back. We jumped off the bus and cheered him and high fived him and you could see pride in his little face. I think he also realized he had done something different and quite frankly, spectacular today. It might not seem like much, but for us, as a family, it was a huge thing! I am so proud of the Kid and I am proud of us. I feel like we have expanded our opportunities slightly and I look forward to our next bus trip... most likely to a field. It was definitely a special day and amazing to see how the Kid has grown this past year. Ach. Proud mommy.
So there you have it, a great weekend! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your May Day. I switched my winter wardrobe out for my summer one so that has to mean that warm weather is on its way. It also means I have to shave. On that note, toodles!
Just before 3, another friend and her family showed up. She noticed that S.S. and I were giving the stink eye to a table of people. They had been told that the table they were sitting at would have to be free before 3 and I guess they understood that to mean "Order a 3 course meal and sip beers slowly". I guess our passive aggressiveness worked because they finally left. We set up a kids table and I placed my pink tin for Beacon Beach House donations beside the pile of manly man man books about football. Then the party started. It was great to catch up with a ton of people and to drink spritzers. At one point, a friend of S.S. asked me to make a couple of Beacon Beach House necklaces for her and that was exciting. The jewelry making is back on, you guys! There were many people to talk to and spritzers to be had and at one point a dog the size of a horse showed up. His owner threw the leash at me and said "Here, take it." as he headed into the the throng of people and my friend S.R. looked at me and begged "PLEASE! LET ME HOLD THE LEASH!" and I passed it over to her because she is 5. Now she is going to kill me for writing that. S.S. was a lovely hostess and her husband was busy signing books and meeting bros. There was a lot of bro love that afternoon. And beer too. I bought a few books and pretty much asked Johnny to sign them to say that I was amazing. Heh.
I had him also sign one for the Husband that read "Stay strong" because I can't keep poking the bear. By 6:30 it was time for me to go home, make dinner and then go for another run. By the way If you want to pick up a copy of his book, the link is here on Amazon. Tell them Tova sent you. Or is that not how it works? Anyway, it was a fun fun afternoon and I was able to raise some money for the center so that was exciting! And of course, the chance to spread the word about Autism in Vienna is worth everything! The evening was pretty quiet which then ended with me inadvertently inviting myself to a party. I was in bed, half asleep when I was scrolling through Facebook and saw that a Facebook friend had posted about the Kentucky Derby and that she had a hat. The Kentucky Derby is so on my bucket list so I wrote "So on my bucket list" and then she wrote "Come on by!" and I had to blink a couple of times and then scroll up to her status update. She was talking about the party that she is hosting next weekend in Vienna for the Kentucky Derby and I, like an asshole, accidentally invited myself to it and by the way, she is a class act. Ugh. I feel like an idiot. But I am actually so incredibly excited! And I am even bringing the Husband. And now I need to dig out my fascinators. I have never been to a Kentucky Derby party and I have a feeling that I will love it! So maybe there is something to be said about responding to a status update without reading it properly. Cough.
Anyway, today was a big day! We decided to try and push the Kid out of his comfort zone. Actually, it was more out of our comfort zone but same thing. The Kid woke up around 7 a.m. and for at least 2 hours we kept saying "We are going on a big bus! We are going to see a castle! We are going on a big bus! We are going to see a castle!" and the Kid looked at us blankly and then turned back to watch his stories. At 9:30 we walked to the main train station. Now, the Kid still can't enter Ubahn stations or train stations... he is terrified. But we decided to try out the bus. The first obstacle was getting him to the bus station. It is under a bridge and we weren't sure how he would react. But he was awesome and even sat on the bench and waited patiently for the bus to arrive. When it came, we stood in line and I gripped his hand, waiting for him to lose his patience. There were about 6 people in front of us and it seemed like they were not only buying tickets but asking the bus driver to explain the theory of relativity. Finally the engine came to life, and I sighed in relief but it was short lived because someone was standing outside the bus, asking the driver something or other. I turned back to the Husband and whispered angrily "Why?! Why do people do that?!? You wouldn't do that to a pilot!" I looked at the Kid nervously but he was happy as a clam. As the bus moved forward, he turned to the window and stared and stared. He was so happy. The bus stopped a few times to let more people on and to give people the chance to ask the driver about his feelings on climate change or something. Ugh. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at Laxenburg. Before the Kid, the Husband and I went a few times and always loved it. There is a jousting place, a castle on a lake and a little waterfall. It is a huge park and just absolutely idyllic. We showed up at the gates and suddenly noticed that there were about a million Mercedes. It turns out that it was a bring your Mercedes to Laxenburg day. And I also have to wonder why on May 1st... but to each their own. I'm kind of a 1970s Saab convertible gal anyway.
We made it to the park and the Kid held our hands as we made our way to the castle. Unfortunately we had forgotten about his love affair with water. He saw the lake and made a mad dash towards it. We stopped him and you could see the look on his face... it pretty much said "Assholes." We tried to keep him distracted but it wasn't working and he kept trying to make a break for it. Luckily with some chips, we could get him to keep walking, but he kept glancing over his shoulder, heartbroken. He whined for a little while but he ended up being fine. And the Husband and I made a mental note that the next trip will involve arid land. After close to 2 hours of walking around, we made our way back past the lake (gripping the Kid's hand, but he was fine) and then past the Mercedes and the champagne drinking visitors. I really wanted a glass of champagne. Nobody offered me a glass. Nobody. The bus showed up and the Kid was awesome the whole way back. We jumped off the bus and cheered him and high fived him and you could see pride in his little face. I think he also realized he had done something different and quite frankly, spectacular today. It might not seem like much, but for us, as a family, it was a huge thing! I am so proud of the Kid and I am proud of us. I feel like we have expanded our opportunities slightly and I look forward to our next bus trip... most likely to a field. It was definitely a special day and amazing to see how the Kid has grown this past year. Ach. Proud mommy.
So there you have it, a great weekend! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your May Day. I switched my winter wardrobe out for my summer one so that has to mean that warm weather is on its way. It also means I have to shave. On that note, toodles!
Comments
Post a Comment