Happy Holidays 2010

Sitting amidst the remnants of Mallory’s birthday celebration and looking out at the Christmas lights rapidly appearing along Nantucket Drive, I realize it must be time for a blog entry! Another year passes, to be visited again only in the history books.

Graduations. 2010 was a wonderful year for commencements: four of them to be exact. We will always remember Mallory’s University of Maryland graduation as intertwined with the daunting blizzards the past winter season. When Spring finally did emerge, I was delighted to attend my nephew Luke’s graduation from The King’s College, (which meant a trip to New York City to attend the Lincoln Center ceremony). Two weeks later, we were proud to return to College Park to see Bennett receive his MBA after a fairly grueling two-year program. And before this year is out, my niece Holly returns from a semester in London to receive her diploma from the University of Maryland as well. Job well done everyone!!

Travels. Though not traveling anywhere new or exotic this year, I did have a grand time moving about the country . . . or now that I recap, I guess I should say moving about the east coast! As usual, I tried to get to New York City as much as possible. Included on our July 4^th expedition was a backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera and the American Ballet Theatre (for which I want to give a shout-out to Marian!). Another NYC gig involved following the Terps basketball team up to the Coaches v. Cancer tournament at Madison Square Garden (and riding the elevator with Gary Williams, I’m so easy to impress, eh?). I flew to Boston in March to attend a Harvard conference in my continuing quest to advocate for children’s mental health issues; luckily, I’m able to further enjoy this work because it always involves sharing time with good friends as well. And speaking of good friends . . . or the best . . . I ducked away to Sarasota, Florida with Glynne for her birthday in September. We luxuriated at the Ritz-Carlton Spa for three days and could not have felt more pleased with ourselves. In November, my sister and I drove to visit our brother in Norfolk for a fraternal weekend.

Finneys. Certainly, a highlight featuring family and travel was a wonderful Finney Family reunion in honor of Fran’s birthday in August. Fran and all eight of her children, as well as spouses and grandchildren, were actually together in one spot for a whole weekend. We were at Kingsmill Resort outside of Williamsburg, thanks to a lot of effort from Irene. Which reminds me – 2010 must be historic; I saw Irene three times!

Natalie. As for the little girls here, well they are seemingly all grown up. Natalie is in the middle of her sophomore year at University of Maryland where, as an engaged and engaging history major in the Global Communities program, she has gone international. She went to Turkey this January and to Denmark for August. She is planning to return to Denmark for a month right after Christmas with stops in Sweden and Holland. (If you can read between the lines, Copenhagen is the home of our favorite Great Dane who was an exchange student at College Park last year.)

Mallory. And Mallory, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Upon graduation, she kept herself busy for three months working after school care and studying massage therapy before she was hired by Johns Hopkins as a clinical research associate. She began working fulltime in Baltimore in April. Needless to say, this was an incredible opportunity for which Mallory had worked very hard. It would be safe to say that this was just about the best that things have ever gone for Mallory. Sadly and tragically though, in September Mallory’s best friend killed himself. The loss of Andrew, a very special young man, in the starkest of manners, was overwhelming for everyone but truly was more than Mallory could bear. She is recovering from the trauma and with the support of all the resources we could employ (including a supportive workplace) and with her own sheer will and indomitable spirit, Mallory is looking forward to the future. My heart goes out to Andrew’s mother, Angela.

CABF. During the holiday season and all year long, please remember CABF whose mission is to support children and teens with depression and bipolar disorder. My one-year break after serving two terms on the board turned out to be simply a sabbatical and I am back on the board of this valiant organization. Mallory says to remind you, now more than ever, Early Intervention Saves Lives.

Ah well, what else. My job still keeps me busy and entertained. Bennett's job still keeps him busy and entertained. My parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. . . . Another year in the history books. Speaking of books, here are the books and movies and television that I was lucky enough to encounter this year:

Movies: Babies; I Was Born But . . .; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.

Television: Mad Men; Weeds; True Blood; Nurse Jackie

Books:

• Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides. A Masterpiece. One of the best books I have read.

• Securing the City by Christopher Dickey
  
  
• The Girl trilogy by Stiegg Larsson
  
  
• The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
  
  
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  
  
• Nothing Was the Same by Kay Redfield Jamison
  
  
• Sookie Stackhouse mysteries (all of them!) by Charlaine Harris
  
  
• Lyndon Johnson, The American Presidents Series by Charles Peters

Bennett Gets an MBA

Bennett Finney received his Master of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland on May 21, 2010 at the Comcast Center in College Park. He graduated with a stellar record following twenty intense months. He looked terrific in his cap and gown and master's hood; here's proof. I, for one, am very proud of him. From first-hand observation, I can assure you, it's quite an accomplishment.

We followed up with a celebratory dinner at CJ Ferarri's. Here are some photos . . . these ones especially good for Finney followers and these ones are more assorted.

A shout out to Bennett's generous sponsor . . . SAIC!

Fun List
Academic Hoods: Color of Velvet Binding Indicates Field of Study
Find Bennett
Arts & Humanities - White
Business & Accounting - Drab
Education _ Light Blue
Economics - Copper
Law - Purple
Music - Pink
Philosophy - Dark Blue
Political Science - Dark Blue
Science - Golden Yellow
Social Science - Citron
Theology - Scarlet

Boomer R.I.P.

In remembrance of Boomer who died this week. She was one sweet dog. She leaves loving and happy memories for her parents, Leonard (left) and David, her brother Willie, all of New York City; her aunts and uncles of, among others, Maryland and Florida; and cousins, both animal and human, too numerous to identify. She will be missed.

Art Linkletter R.I.P. 1912-2010

"I know enough about a lot of things to be interesting, but I'm not interested enough in any one thing to be boring. I'm like everybody's next-door neighbor, only a little bit smarter."

Winter Wonderland

The most recent blizzard covered Crofton with 30 inches. The picture here is from three days later! We're scheduled for another 6 to 16 inches tonight. This will be our third blizzard of the season.

We keep track of this season's blizzards by name. The first blizzard [December 18-19, 2009], which snowed out Mallory's graduation ceremonies, is Snowpocalypse. The second one [February 5-6, 2010], in which you see me in the "remnants," is Snowmaggedon. So of course the third one, due tonight and tomorrow [February 9-10, 2010], will be the Snowfecta! A couple more photos here.

Mallory Rebecca Graduates!

What a wonderful accomplishment for our lil red-headed girl, Mallory! Graduating from University of Maryland with a B.A. and departmental honors in anthropology. The scheduled ceremony in December was snowed out so even though she is in the Class of 2009, she crossed the stage on January 24, 2010. The stage was in Cole Field House and brought back old memories while creating lovely new ones. I hope you love looking at the photos as much as we loved being there.

Natalie Rose Graduates!

Natalie graduated from Archbishop Spalding High School last night! My baby girl is done!! It was a lovely ceremony (ahem, including the mass). The graduates were resplendent in caps and gowns of white and red. The cardinal blessed them. The organ was superb. They called Natalie's name out. We were all so happy. But today, I'm a wee bit melancholy. I can't believe it. Natalie was ravishing. Mallory was stunning. See my girls and more here.

Bruce at 19

Another joyous Bruce Springsteen concert. Three hours at the Verizon Center in DC. (Came on stage at 8:22 and left at 11:21.) It was my 19th. So I guess that means he has to tour at least once more to make it 20 for me, or maybe five more times for a cool two dozen, or maybe thirty . . .

My first was May 28, 1976, Halsey Field House, USNA (I just looked at the ticket stub - $6.oo). Possibly my best was with Glynne in Cleveland at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Grand Opening Concert. We were in the fifth row of a stadium! And Bruce comes out early so no one is paying attention and he begins to strum from stage right. I stand on my seat, dead in front of him, and yell, "BRUUUUUUUUUUCE." He looks straight at me, nods, and smiles. So at the Verizon Center on Monday night when he turned to the audience behind him, I hated to tell Sue, but I know he was looking at me . . . . A million thanks to Sue for the concert ticket, and thanks to Bruce for a million memories. And Glynne and Sue - he really does love ME best.

Hey, and guess who else I saw right at the pub before the show . . . Eric G! My pics are here.

Verizon Center May 18, 2009 Working on A Dream Tour
Badlands
No Surrender
Outlaw Pete
She's the One
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Raise Your Hand
Out in the Street
Little Latin Lupe Lu
Blinded by the Light
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
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Hard Times Come Again No More
Kitty's Back
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Natalie Rose's Prom

This is an exciting time for Natalie and for those of us who love her dearly! She has finished her senior year and will graduate from Archbishop Spalding High School on May 27. She'll turn 18 on June 2nd! Last night was the prom at Loew's Hotel in Annapolis. Before the prom, she and her friends gathered for photos at a stately home a few blocks away. (We watched Rachel Alexandra win the Preakness - go girls!) Natalie wanted her very own dress so she selected fabric and ribbons and pattern and Mrs. Ehler made the dress. Look at more photos: click on Slideshow after you click here. I think they're divine.

New York City

Time just flies! I want to keep up my blog and life just gets in the way. I'm still planning to sort my cruise photos for me and you to enjoy one of these days. In the meantime, let me catch up quickly with a mini-vacation I had last week. Three days in New York City with Madelon! We had a blast.

Friday. Madelon (Mom) and I took the train up to Penn Station and caught a taxi to the Affinia Dumont, my home away from home in Murray Hill. We grabbed a quick lunch at the hotel's Barking Dog. We walked down Third and back up Lexington and stopped in little stores. Then my nephew, Luke (Brad's son), came to get us with his girlfriend, Phoebe. We walked back up 34th Street to the Empire State Building where their college is located! In the basement! The King's College. I think the basement of the Empire State Building is a fabulous place to go to school because you see the people who make the building run. I liked that the College has nine houses (like Hogwarts!): Luke is in Winston Churchill and Phoebe is in Clara Barton. Another thing I like is New York - you see something new every time; I mean, who would expect to visit a college in the basement of the Empire State Building. For dorms, the students live in apartment buildings. We visited Luke's flat on the nineteenth floor of a Sixth Avenue building. He has a balcony overlooking Sixth. But even better is the rooftop terrace. You can see south and west and east and you can see Herald Square and Macy's very well. I bet it's crowded for the Thanksgiving Parade. Later, we went to Benjamin's on Second at 33rd for dinner, a nice little neighborhood restaurant. I got Madelon back to the hotel, then took a taxi down to Speedy's and visited with him and met Cal. (David was in Maryland of all places!)

Saturday. We did Murray Hill things in the morning like go the the Murray Hill Market for bagels, get my brows threaded, and walk. We went to the Morgan Library and went through Mr. Morgan's library and study. We perused the Acquistions Since 2004 exhibit which was fabulous and includes letters from Vincent Van Gogh, Wm Randolph Hearst's pre-blog travelogue, and original tickets to the premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle (which I mention for Speedy as he regaled me with tales of the Met's production). Then it was off to the Lincoln Center for a quick lunch @ 65, a new cafe in the brilliantly-renovated Alice Tully Hall. Then to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for South Pacific. Luke and Phoebe attended also. There is nothing like a show with tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein, make no mistake. Back to Murray Hill and off to a manicure before dinner. We were planning to meet back up with Luke and Phoebe at Casaville on Second at 35th; were we ever surprised to walk in and see Brad and Kim at the bar! So dinner for six. How fun! After a nourishing (body and soul) meal, Madelon and I trudged back to the Dumont. But I was still energized by New York so I went to visit Speedy again and then went shopping at Duane Reade of all places at midnight! And the place was packed. And all sorts of people on the streets buying flowers as it was now Mother's Day.

Sunday. Mother's Day dawned sunny and lovely. It was fitting to meet back up with Brad and Kim for a coffee/iced tea at the Barking Dog. Then we said good-bye to them and Madelon and I went to meet Paul Laric and his wife Dodo at Hudson Place on Third at 36th for brunch. Mr. Laric is my dad's roommate from USNA class of 1949 (he even asked Madelon, "how's my first wife?") I had heard about them but never met them probably because Mr. Laric left the Navy after five years. Weren't they just the cat's pajamas! They have lived in an apartment in Greenwich Village for all their adult lives and raised their daughter there. From tales of CIA intrigue to explaining Slovenia vis-a-vis Serbia and Croatia to Mrs. Laric's charming French accent to Mr. Laric's courtly ways, the time flew by. Soon it was time to catch the Amtrak back. But all in all, a terrific weekend and nice way to spend Mother's Day. Oh yes, the daughters, Mallory and Natalie, as well as Bennett, were waiting for me at the train station with flowers and chewing gum. What more could a gal want?

All's Well That Ends Well

We arrived safely back in Maryland by eight on Sunday evening. It was wonderful to see Natalie and Mallory and Madelon and Mickey all waiting for us at the airport. We had to take two airplanes, one from Miami to Atlanta and one from Atlanta to Baltimore, but even that could not take the glow off the cruise.

When we woke Sunday morning, we were docking at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. I watched the whole thing from our veranda. Then, once docked, we went for a few spins around the top deck (outside) to take everything in one last time. We saw a huge cargo ship being tugged out to sea. We saw some cruise ships. It is amazing the different perspective you have of these sights from the top of cruise ship skyscraper. We had a great view of everything as we took in our last cruise meal at the outdoor cafe on the tenth deck. The weather was superb and the palm trees were swaying.

We disembarked and sat on a bus for a while for transfer to Miami International. Here is what happened inside the terminal while we were safely on the bus:

Exploding fire extinguisher injures cruise passenger at Port Everglades
Second exploding canister added to panic and caused hazardous materials units to be called, but no injuries
Macollvie Jean-François
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
11:31 AM EDT, April 27, 2009
PORT EVERGLADES
A cruise ship passenger was injured and panic briefly ensued on a vessel when two canisters exploded in separate incidents this morning, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. The eruptions occurred while passengers were disembarking from the Celebrity Infinity, at about 10 a.m. The first canister that exploded was a fire extinguisher that a worker threw in back of a truck, Sheriff's spokeswoman Dani Moschella said. The vehicle's jostling caused the fire extinguisher to shoot through the truck's window, smacking a man who was disembarking from the ship. The impact knocked the passenger to the ground, injuring him, Moschella said. Paramedics took the victim to Broward General Medical Center. About a half hour later, a crew member was unloading another canister from the ship when the can's nozzle was jostled and also exploded, Moschella said. The canister shot out of the man's arms, but no one was injured. It was not clear whether that canister was also a fire extinguisher or used for other purposes aboard, Moschella said. The activity reportedly brought on a response from hazardous materials units and paramedics initially, as several people were said to be injured at first. The flurry of activity cleared however, as authorities arrived and cleared the scene. The explosions are a coincidence, and are not under investigation, Moschella said. The Infinity cruises around Panama canal and Central America, according to travel sites. A call Monday to a Celebrity Cruises' local corporate offices was not immediately returned.