It seems like an entire lifetime has transpired since I last wrote a weekly update. If we’re talking the life of an adult cicada. Speaking of cicadas, have you watched Slow Horses? I have and I love it.

To catch you up: the Eagles won the Super Bowl. I don’t get crazy over football but I love my home team and it was a great game.

I finally managed to get together for lunch with my new friend Kelly from the Frenchtown Bookshop Writer’s Circle. We went to the Lumberville General Store which was cute as hell. I mean, Bucks County knows how to be historic and quaint and all that. I wasn’t surprised when I drove through a covered bridge on the way. We talked about art and kids and of course, writing. See Kelly’s artwork here.

Valentine’s Day came and went with very little fanfare. I went to a funeral. My friend Meaghan’s mom was given a beautiful send off and I’m glad I could be a part of it.

The big event of the month, and probably the reason I didn’t write and had a hard time focusing on anything else was our son’s “procedure.” Not a “surgery.” My husband and I went down to Children’s Hospital in Philly and spent about seven nail-biting hours waiting while our son had an ablation, or multiple ablations in his heart. It was so stressful, so scary that I felt unable to do anything in that waiting room. I don’t think I was even breathing. And as I thought about all the possible outcomes, all the reasons why it might go well or not, I realized how much I live my life based on superstition. There’s no controlling life. It’s hard and often unfair and it doesn’t discriminate. And sitting with other parents, some with really young children, I became acutely aware that life is happening for other people, all the time. It was profound. And humbling. But I knew we had so many people praying for us and I was grateful. We left Philly as it started to snow and we ended the day driving through a blizzard. Our son started his new job at Panera three days later and baseball season a week after that. So I guess you could say he’s doing well!

If you’re looking for something fun to do in the winter, check out a semi-pro hockey game. Three of my friends and I went to a Lehigh Valley Phantoms game and had a girls night out. I stole my son’s Phantoms jersey and felt really cool wearing it. They have pretty good food there, just don’t get the pretzels, they’re terrible. Jahan Dotson of the Eagles was a special guest that night and that was fun.

I visited the Michener Museum of Art and met with the director of marketing, hoping to do some design work for them, and had an amazing time there. I’m hoping to plan a trip there with friends and clients soon. I am so completely at peace when I’m walking through a museum. Can you imagine working for an art museum, every day? And I went to an art opening for a friend of mine, Glenn Harren. You can see his paintings here. He was showing at the SVA in Frenchtown, which is owned by another friend, John Schmidtberger.

And a lot of other things happened that I don’t have photos of, or can’t share photos of. My daughter and I went prom dress shopping. It was fun but utter madness, at the King of Prussia mall on a Sunday. It was a workout! The kids finally got their photos taken for their driver’s licenses. The DMV. On a Saturday. We have survived a lot. Oh! AND, I drove into NYC for a mini high school reunion. Although I went to school in DC, an inordinate number of alums live in New York. We met at a shabby little bar in NOLITA. I got to see people I hadn’t seen since I graduated. So crazy. And it felt like no time had passed.

THERE HAS BEEN a lot going on and now I’m having to try to remember two weeks of my life. I got my new desk chair. The Deacon Swivel Office Chair from West Elm. She’s pretty. I got my hair cut. I’ve decided to stop coloring it. So far it doesn’t look bad. There’s not that much gray. Yet. Liz at Forté Salon is amazing and I always look forward to seeing her. I went to my Writer’s Circle at the Frenchtown Bookshop. I bought two books of personal essays, In the Shelter by Pádraig ÓTuama which I’m well into and it is INCREDIBLE and Life Forms by Jenny Slate. We got a couple mini snow storms and the kids have had late starts and snow days. We took a trip to Children’s Hospital, which is a very impressive place, and even though we’d rather not be planning a cardiac procedure for our son, we do feel like we’re in good hands. At the end of last week, the husband made his signature chocolate chip cookies. I ate so many of them that I had to go on a complete sugar fast. This happens this time of year. I have to recalibrate.

DC VISIT

I was in DC this past weekend to hang out with my dad. I took a few random photos on a walk around Tenleytown, got lunch in Georgetown with my friend Jerry. We got bowls at Dig which was delish. I told him the building used to be a “Little Tavern” because as a native Washingtonian I love to tell people what places used to be, though they didn’t ask. I spent almost a whole day going through old photos and paperwork and even though it was almost all trash, I found a few little treasures like a matchbook with a photo on it of my dad and a Lebanese girlfriend who turned out to be a soviet spy. (I know, this needs to be a whole post of it’s own.)

WHAT AM I WATCHING

I have one week to watch everything on AppleTV before our free trial ends. I am three episodes into Severance season 2, have one more episode available, then I have to wait a week. so I know I’m going to want to sign up for a subscription. Also on Apple is Loot, where I have two more episodes to watch. I have to finish Bad Sisters season 2. I’m only half way through. On Netflix, we just finished watching No Good Deed. It was okay. I’m almost done with the Night Agent which I’ve sort of gotten tired of. I’m loving Queer Eye, as always, but especially now that this season has Jeremiah Brent! On Prime, I’m watching Castle. What do you call it when you don’t hate something but it’s so cheesy so you just watch it to fall asleep? “Sleep-watching”? Occasionally I watch Schitt’s Creek. Am I the last person on the planet to love that show? Last, I’m watching The Fall with Gillian Anderson which is an amazing British crime drama but very dark, because serial killer. My Prime lineup is so sad, so behind the times, but there isn’t much new on there that I like. Besides the fact that they added commercials to most of their content makes me irate. Oh, and there’s Hulu. I know, I know, too many services. It’s crazy. I’m watching The Bear which I didn’t like at first but it just keeps getting better and now I get why everyone was raving about it. It’s one of the best shows on. Also Abbott Elementary. Okay, I have to admit, we also have YouTubeTV which I really only watch for the occasional HGTV home renovation show. If you don’t have it, it’s like having cable. But we will probably turn it off after the Superbowl.

CARS, CARS, CARS

I mentioned we got a car for the kids. A 2016 VW Tiguan. We’re still waiting to find out just how much our insurance will be with two new drivers. Then my husband’s truck got in a accident. Not too bad and no one was hurt, so now it’s plus one car, minus one car. I went to look at a 2008 Acura TL when I was in DC that is priced very affordably. We have to go down and get it, but I think it’s a done deal. So plus one more car. We’ve talked about getting another. And maybe selling the ’66 Mustang we have. Shopping for cars is fun. And endless. When I was in DC, I got to ride in my friend’s Tesla. I didn’t hate it. If money was no object, I might. We’ve talked about a used Porsche 911, or a vintage Camaro. I’ve always wanted a Mini Cooper. Or a Volvo XC70. But really I’m good with what we’ve got. I just want everyone to be safe. And for no more icy roads. This morning it was sunny and above freezing and it felt like Spring was somewhere nearby. My daughter said, “Do you hear that? The birds are singing.”