XL: Moving West
Greetings and welcome to the 40th installment of the Watson Family Update. This is a momentous update for a number of reasons (Forty updates! What an incredible achievement! It's a credit to me, really, to show such persistence in the face of all of the hate mail.)
The kids have been doing well since spring [sic] arrived. Jimmy made his First Communion on March 31st and most of the family was able to make it in for the occasion. My sister Jill (& Co.) were not able to make it because of their new addition, Andrew, who is proud to call me his godfather; being the godfather gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime dream (although I've stopped using the Brando voice after Regis just happened to mention buying arsenic at the store). Regis's brother Fritz and his family made it in for the weekend and spent the following Monday in the city with Regis and the kids, which included an appearance on the Today show.
The girls are doing well - Maggie was the "superstar" at school for a week which among other things involved a chance for her dad to come in and read to the class. Maggie chose a poorly written Rapunzel adaptation that left me soon wondering if the kids thought I was reading to them in another language. But, they seemed to understand it, and Maggie was smiling, so I kept reading and then started wondering if maybe I was the moron. As always, the answer was yes.
Maggie and I also had a great interchange the other day.
Maggie: "Dad, guess what?"
Me: "What's that Mags?"
Maggie: "The letter 'y' starts with 'w'"
Me: [pondering that for a minute]
Maggie: "and the letter 'W' starts with 'D'"
Me: [catching on now]
Maggie: "the letter 'D' just starts with 'D'"
Annie has been busy doing "Annie things," which include eating, walking around in costume, speaking to you while in character, and throwing things at you when you are not paying attention. The kids recently purchased "pets" called Webkins, which are stuffed animals that you can also interact with on-line. I don't understand it all, because I've entered that phase in my life where I'm a dad with kids who say things like "Dad, you just don't get it." I remember similar conversations when I was explaining the concept of Transformers to my father which at the time seemed like the coolest thing in the world, and how could he not understand that a car would become a robot. I digress. Anyway, there were many animals to choose from; Jimmy and Maggie each selected a puppy. Annie decided against the puppy, the cat, the duck, the rabbit, the panda, or another other marginally cute animal, opting instead for the red-eyed tree frog. She named him "Jumpfrog."
Other than that, it's been much of the same for us (you will note that I spared everyone tales of a recent Las Vegas trip during which I did an impersonation of Steve Martin, or was it John Candy, in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles").
But before I go, I wanted to share some "reader feedback" from volume 39 from my dad....."I just re-read the Valentines day update (how was I to know about highlighting in the story and sending me into some electronic wonderland) and then kept reading the other articles. Even in retrospect quite funny. Maybe funnier. I guess you should stay in NJ just so you can write these. The kids can come here and you can stay there."
Well isn't that sweet? He's gone soft on us! Anyway, Dad is getting his wish, and he's also not getting his wish ... sort of. The kids are going to be able to visit him at the rolling hills of 70 Guinevere a little more frequently. After 2 1/2 years, the Watsons are moving again - this time back to the Midwest. That's right, bat down the hatches, hide the valuables, secure the breakables, and sell the fatted calf. We're relocating to the Chicago area in time for the 2007-08 academic year (details to follow).
We enjoyed our time in the New York-New Jersey wonderland but an opportunity has come up for me (within the same group in my firm) that brings us closer to home. I realize it's not "all the way back" for some of you, but you can avoid the scary Newark International Airport this way. We'll miss the Big Apple in a lot of ways, and we've learned so much during these times. Like how vital the Witness Protection Program can be to our judicial system.
For those of you that think this means an end to updates....I'm sorry, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
Take care and let us know how you are doing.
The kids have been doing well since spring [sic] arrived. Jimmy made his First Communion on March 31st and most of the family was able to make it in for the occasion. My sister Jill (& Co.) were not able to make it because of their new addition, Andrew, who is proud to call me his godfather; being the godfather gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime dream (although I've stopped using the Brando voice after Regis just happened to mention buying arsenic at the store). Regis's brother Fritz and his family made it in for the weekend and spent the following Monday in the city with Regis and the kids, which included an appearance on the Today show.
The girls are doing well - Maggie was the "superstar" at school for a week which among other things involved a chance for her dad to come in and read to the class. Maggie chose a poorly written Rapunzel adaptation that left me soon wondering if the kids thought I was reading to them in another language. But, they seemed to understand it, and Maggie was smiling, so I kept reading and then started wondering if maybe I was the moron. As always, the answer was yes.
Maggie and I also had a great interchange the other day.
Maggie: "Dad, guess what?"
Me: "What's that Mags?"
Maggie: "The letter 'y' starts with 'w'"
Me: [pondering that for a minute]
Maggie: "and the letter 'W' starts with 'D'"
Me: [catching on now]
Maggie: "the letter 'D' just starts with 'D'"
Annie has been busy doing "Annie things," which include eating, walking around in costume, speaking to you while in character, and throwing things at you when you are not paying attention. The kids recently purchased "pets" called Webkins, which are stuffed animals that you can also interact with on-line. I don't understand it all, because I've entered that phase in my life where I'm a dad with kids who say things like "Dad, you just don't get it." I remember similar conversations when I was explaining the concept of Transformers to my father which at the time seemed like the coolest thing in the world, and how could he not understand that a car would become a robot. I digress. Anyway, there were many animals to choose from; Jimmy and Maggie each selected a puppy. Annie decided against the puppy, the cat, the duck, the rabbit, the panda, or another other marginally cute animal, opting instead for the red-eyed tree frog. She named him "Jumpfrog."
Other than that, it's been much of the same for us (you will note that I spared everyone tales of a recent Las Vegas trip during which I did an impersonation of Steve Martin, or was it John Candy, in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles").
But before I go, I wanted to share some "reader feedback" from volume 39 from my dad....."I just re-read the Valentines day update (how was I to know about highlighting in the story and sending me into some electronic wonderland) and then kept reading the other articles. Even in retrospect quite funny. Maybe funnier. I guess you should stay in NJ just so you can write these. The kids can come here and you can stay there."
Well isn't that sweet? He's gone soft on us! Anyway, Dad is getting his wish, and he's also not getting his wish ... sort of. The kids are going to be able to visit him at the rolling hills of 70 Guinevere a little more frequently. After 2 1/2 years, the Watsons are moving again - this time back to the Midwest. That's right, bat down the hatches, hide the valuables, secure the breakables, and sell the fatted calf. We're relocating to the Chicago area in time for the 2007-08 academic year (details to follow).
We enjoyed our time in the New York-New Jersey wonderland but an opportunity has come up for me (within the same group in my firm) that brings us closer to home. I realize it's not "all the way back" for some of you, but you can avoid the scary Newark International Airport this way. We'll miss the Big Apple in a lot of ways, and we've learned so much during these times. Like how vital the Witness Protection Program can be to our judicial system.
For those of you that think this means an end to updates....I'm sorry, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
Take care and let us know how you are doing.
posted by Watts at 9:49 AM
<< Home