Single Parent Vacationing

How do you manage vacations with your children as a single parent?

Although I have on occasion traveled alone with my children, I find it is easier to team up with other adults. Sometimes I have taken another single mom & her child, or another whole family. This summer I accompanied my parents to their hometown, Los Angeles. My children had never met my uncles & cousins out there, not to mention had never scene the Pacific. When I am taking my three kids to a new, crowded place, I really feel the need for another adult.

I suppose if I had ever managed to maintain a relationship, I could take my beau, but so far, I have found parents and girlfriends to be less complicated. Given the chance to vacation a beau with my children or without, I usually choose without. Romance and parenting don't usually work out together very well. Those are different vacations.

My parents will still love us all at the grouchy end of a long tourist day.

Here I am flirting with a tall Californian on vacation at Universal Studios this summer.

Bowie Kickball League

As a wonderful benefit of this unbelievably cool job I have, I am hearing of more local fun things to do. I wish I had time to explore them all as soon as I'd like to.

For example...
Tonight I was invited to attend the post-season party for the Bowie Kickball League at Jaspers in Crofton. Although this is not a league exclusive to singles, it sure looks like a great way to meet some fun people. You should check out their website. Watch the little news clip.

Anyway, they've just finished up for the season, but will start again, looks like next spring. Hopefully one of their guys will hop on our comments and give us some more info.

I sounds like the perfect athletic organization for me. You don't have to be young, just young at heart. Kickball is, to quote the guy in the clip, "the most, like, unathletic sport you can play." They have a beer sponsor and a local restaurant host.

The clip is from the Baltimore league, but they are starting up a new league for those of us in the suburbs. It looks like it might be a spring only season. If that's right, then I'll just have to bring all of this up again in the spring. Maybe we can put together a team of bloggers.

So, back to my opening comments, I couldn't attend the party tonight. Sorry guys! I'm sure it was fun. You will definitely be hearing more about these folks.

Solo Sickness

How do you single parents deal with it when you are sick? I am lucky enough to have friends and family to assist with my kids, although I still have some taxi-ing to do. My kids try to be helpful, but they just aren't bothered by the unattended tasks around the house. As things stack up, I just want to stay in bed longer. I try to avoid the really good medicine until after my last taxi shift. Sometimes, I guess we all just have to miss some things.

Dancing

I did go to the LA Singles dance last Friday. The place was packed. We barely found a parking space. If you like to dance, this is a great venue. The dj frequently announced official dances that obviously many people knew: the John Paul, the El Paso, even one called Booty Call. It felt a little like the dance unit of my gym class in junior high, but all grown up, with a cash bar & disco ball. I didn't know any of those dances and wondered how so many other people knew them. I'm going to have to take lessons somewhere I guess. There were always people on the dance floor.

Semantics

I was recently discussing sematics with a commrade in singlehood and wanted to pass the debate along.

Is it Meet Market or Meat Market?

We were discussing the merits of this dance. Maybe some folks are nervous about events labled for singles. There are regulars. Someone else might identify you as a newbie on the scene.

But so what, is my question. I think it is good to put yourself in different situations. To quote Christine Lavin, "There's a very fine line between a groove and a rut."

So if you are feeling a bit in a rut, or if you are looking for a possible new groove, then maybe I'll see you Friday at the dance.

Dance Next Friday, June 15

Who wants to go to the LA Singles dance at the Bowie Knights of Columbus Hall next Friday?

The dance starts at 8:30, but I probably can't get there until 9 or 9:30. They do have a no jeans rule and I think there is a cover charge, but it's reasonable. There is a cash bar too.

I'm going to go. I'd love to meet some of you all there. I was thinking it would be fun to have a way to identify ourselves. Since you've seen my picture, and I haven't seen you, if you recognize me, flash me a peace sign.

It will be fun to meet each other!

Making Connections

I had a wonderful time covering a Crofton Chamber of Commerce mixer tonight for the magazine. I hadn't been to one of their mixers before. It was at Eric Krimmel's Crofton Fine Art & Frame gallery at Staples Corner (450&424).

It was my pleasure to meet a woman who has been reading the blog without posting comments. She said she felt like she already knew me from reading. We decided to meet for coffee soon to let me have the chance to get to know her and hear her stories.

I know many of you might feel you are too busy or too private to log on for comments, but I know you also have valuable insight to add to the conversation. We would all benefit from your shared experience. So remember that you can be very anonymous if you would like. Or, you could use the profile to reveal some intriguing bits of your personality.

Anyway, Eric is hosting a mixer for the Suburban Single Scene in September, on the 14th from 7-9pm. Supper Supers will be providing some delicious appetizers and The Cosmic Bean will be sponsoring a coffee tasting. It would be so nice to meet some more of my local readers and commenters.

The nice thing about the gallery as a location for the mixer is that all the interesting artwork on display creates an easy conversation opportunity when meeting new friends.

So mark it on your calendar. Watch for more information as it unfolds.

Dinner for One

What do you cook when you are eating at home alone?
Because my life is usually bustling with my kids' activities, work, friends & family, if I get the chance to have a meal home alone, I often have a bowl or cereal. I have also found that popcorn is nice with a bottle of Cabernet.

But there is something very healthy about actually cooking food just for yourself. I confess I haven't done that in a while, but aren't you worth your own effort?

If I do really cook for myself, I will most likely fix pasta with a variety of veggies and cheese. If I have chicken, or some other leftover meat, I might add that. I like spicy food too, so I grind some red pepper on top.

If you treat yourself with your own culinary skills, what do you have?