May’s Mutterings: Rants and Ramblings
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Paris!! (September 2018)
We were in Paris for a week to celebrate the Inn at Little Washington’s 40th anniversary (and its 3rd Michelin star). The weather was lovely—sunny and crisp. In total, we ate at 5 restaurants (if you count the Inn) with a total of 12 Michelin stars (yes, we are gluttonous pigs). But it was a…
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Book review: The Political Classroom by Diana Hess & Paula McAvoy
The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education by Diana E. Hess My rating: 4 of 5 stars I sit on the board of a pre-K through 12 school, and this book was recommended to me by a faculty member. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which uses philosophical thinking and empirical science to frame…
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Disneyworld September 2018
To celebrate someone’s 17th(!) birthday, we jaunted off to Disneyworld for the weekend. The weather was hot and humid (welcome to Orlando in September!), but the weekend was glorious. We tried to do this last year, but Hurricane Isabel decided to make an appearance, and we had to reschedule our trip. Making the trip in…
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What I Did On My Summer Vacation (2018 version)
Dear Teacher— What we did on our summer vacation: Our 16 year old son went to rural China for 6 weeks and came back with better Chinese, 2 beautifully handmade (by him) silver bracelets, new friends, and a newfound maturity. Our former exchange student spent part of the summer with us while she worked for…
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USJLP 2018
Jim and I attended the Fellows (alumni) weekend for the US-Japan Leadership Program (www.usjlp.org) this past week. The event was held in Seattle. It’s always a wonderful time to get to know the new delegates and catch up with what the Fellows are doing with their lives. I will say, however, that I was put…
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A Weekend in New York City
For his birthday, I gave Jim tickets to see “Springsteen on Broadway.” Since the 19 year old daughter is with us for the summer and she did not want to see a show about “old people music,” we bought her a ticket to see “Hamilton.” New York for us is a city where we eat/shop/see…
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A “Picnic” by Kinship (DC)
Kinship is one of our favorite restaurants in Washington, DC, so when an invitation arrived stating that there was going to be a dinner at the farm of one of its suppliers, we didn’t hesitate! Neither did our 19 year old daughter (who is home for the summer—yay!) and two of her friends. Eric Ziebold…
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The Inn at Little Washington’s 40th birthday at Mount Vernon
The Inn at Little Washington is celebrating its 40th birthday in grand style this year. Mount Vernon (George Washington’s home for those of you who never learned/have forgotten your U.S. history) was the site of its most recent celebration. And what better place to celebrate one’s birthday than at the home of the man who…
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Book review: Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb
Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb My rating: 4 of 5 stars I inadvertently entered this series in the middle of the narrative arc (this is the first of this particular series but not the first in the narrative, if that makes any sense). I plan to go back and start at the beginning, which is…
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Disneyworld (Take 56)
It was officially the 16 year old’s 56th visit to the happiest place on earth. (He’s catching up with his sister who has been there 57 times.) We also dragged along our former exchange student, Yinan, who is staying with us for a couple of months while she does an internship this summer. (Little did…
Got any book recommendations?