Red feathers?

What is it with red? Have you noticed that in every photo of my turkey posted on this site he's wearing red? Yep. Red. Specifically, a red shirt. So here, for the first time in print, I'd like to introduce you to the other half of Drew's wardrobe: white ...

Consecration and tapas

Today we were two of 3,000 people at the National Cathedral celebrating the consecration of the 14th Bishop of Maryland. It was amazing. Breathtaking. Celebratory. Funny in parts. Humbling. Awesome. Not only were we in an absolutely stunning cathedral worshiping with 2998 other people, the pomp and ceremony surrounding the proceedings were fantastic and well executed. The event producer in me was impressed!





After the service we wandered around the Cathedral, admiring the artistry and architecture, taking pictures and greeting friends. How wonderful to see Bishop Townsend again! (Martin, please tell Barbara "hello" for us. I was so excited to see you that my manners flew out the proverbial window.)

From the Cathedral we made a beeline up Wisconsin Avenue to Bethesda. Not only was it well past lunch at 2:30 p.m., it was high time to introduce Drew to tapas! We settled at the lovely BamBule and quickly ordered several dishes. Bring on the small plates! The Pollo al Ajillo was Drew's favorite by far - he kept 95% of it for himself. We can also recommend the Pan y Jamon. YUM!

Our souls and bellies finally filled, we headed for home. The day, however, would not be complete without a birthday shout-out to my brother, middle sib, Jeem. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Leap of Faith

After looking through Drew's photos from Turkey and hearing the stories, there is a definite water theme emerging. Originally it was the Bosphorus, then the Mediterranean. Add the Dead Sea, Agean, guzzling holy water, exploring water falls, and then we get the photo below. He needs new swim trunks after this!

Standing in Europe looking at Asia

Stand

One of Drew's photos from the Hagia Sophia. I love the composition as well as the sign. Maybe "standart" was supposed to be "standard?"

Antalya, Turkey

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Back at the coop

The flight was on time and customs didn't take too long, so it was about 11:30pm when Drew came running to give me a hug. A very welcome hug it was! We stayed at the airport chatting with the group, taking last photos, saying thank you, and - you had to know this was coming - ordering a Starbucks latte and paying with American dollars before heading for home. If the amount of chatter is any indication, Drew had an utterly fantastic time in Turkey. If the gushing over walking in our house is any indication, he's just as glad to be home again. I'm glad to have him here, too.

Many, many thanks to all the wonderful parents and peers who helped him feel part of a family while he was away from the roost. You rock! I look forward to hearing more stories from the trip and seeing everyone's photos.

Much more after I get some sleep. Mother hen ... over 'n out.

Even the birds need water

I got a call on Sunday where Drew proudly proclaimed he had taken over 470 pictures so far, downloaded them to someone else's computer and promptly erased them from his camera's memory. OH NO! Oh yes. The boy has a 4g memory card so why is he erasing photos?!?! Probably the same reason why he dunked his head under the fountain of holy water at the House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus. Oh yes. He said he was hot and thirsty so he stuck his mouth and head under the spigot to get water. I'm mortified.




So here are two photos of the fountains/springs with holy water in Ephesus. Pilgrims flock here to collect the holy water believing it to be miraculous, carefully capturing it and carting it home. Not Drew. Nope. He's hot and thirsty so he DRINKS the water and dunks his head under the fountain. A new form of baptism, maybe?

Water seemed to be the overall theme of the conversation. They had moved south to Antalya where the group took a boat tour on the Mediterranean and even went swimming in the sea. Way cool! He said the water - the Mediterranean, not the holy water - was saltier than he anticipated and he got a little sunburned. It didn't deter him, though. He left the boat/swimming trip and headed straight for the hotel pool. He called shortly afterward, still dripping.

Miracles never cease.

Flying

Drew's on his way home. I keep checking the British Airways' web site for flight status. Talk about a way to NOT get work done at the office! Their flight is currently about one hour outside of London's Heathrow Airport. There they change terminals, get their Starbucks fix, enjoy the last moments in Europe, and hop on the flight for home. Pending lines at baggage claim and customs, I'll see him in about 13 hours. But who's counting? ;-)

Turkey call

When the phone rang I was perplexed to see a 533 phone number on caller ID. Where's 533? Who would be calling at 8:00am? The who and where turned out to be Drew calling from Ephesus! (I doubt 533 is the exchange for Ephesus, but it's where he was standing when he called.) The conversation was mostly me asking tons of questions and Drew answering nicely. He was pretty chatty so I got lots of tidbits:

• Having a fantastic time!
• Favorite thing so far was the boat tour of the Bosphorus, Europe on one side and Asia on the other.
• He likes tea with sugar cubes (not sugar packets, sugar CUBES), and Turkish coffee
• The programming at Fatih University was tougher than he thought. They wound up adding chemistry as well as physics. Drew proudly said he learned how to blow things up. (Uh, oh!)
• He tried something new for lunch - big tortillas with spinach and cheese - and liked it!
• The kids are spending time in his room at night, talking and laughing without chaperons
• They toured outside the Blue Mosque but didn't get a chance to go inside.
  
• He's bought a few things so far, but not much. What purchases he made at the bazaar, he bargained over.
  
• After talking with me, they were heading to St. John's Basilica and then to the Virgin Mary's House.
  
• He forgot sunscreen that morning but picked up a hat with "Ephesus" emblazoned on it. (This I'm dying to see!)
  
• He's learning Turkish phrases. In typically boy fashion, these are all grouped in the "how to order food" category.
  
• They had dinner with a Turkish family one night. How cool!
  

Like I said, Drew was pretty chatty. He also reported that he's taken lots of pictures and excited to share when he gets home. Yes, we'll definitely post a few.

So that's Drew seeing exotic sites across the ocean. I'm heading out to the theater to catch a flick on this side of the pond. Not quite exotic, but definitely a sight!

The state of the coop

I thought I would take this opportunity to answer the two most frequently asked questions about Drew's trip. Both relate to the state of the coop:

Q - What are you doing while he's away?
A - Cleaning the house! Seriously. All three nights so far I've turned up the volume on the iPod and done some cleaning/organizing. No wild parties, no carousing, no boys at the house ... just cleaning, and it feels terrific! (I must be getting old ...)

Q - Is the house lonely? (or "are you lonely?" Sometimes asked as, "do you miss him?")
A - See answer above. No. I miss him a little bit, but no more than when he's away at camp. That's not to say that when he gets back I won't want to spend every waking moment hearing about this awesome trip. :-)

So that, my friends, is the state of the coop. It might be down one turkey until the 19th but it'll be clean!

Dinner in Turkey

About 25 hours after I took the photo of him getting on the shuttle bus I got a phone call and Drew exclaimed "I tried something new!"

"Awesome! What was it?"

"Don't know."

"Mystery meat?"

"Nah. It looked like chicken. There were steak-like things there, too."

Not only did the picky eater try new food, he and his luggage made it safely to Istanbul. Hooray! They had stopped for dinner after leaving the airport and he called as they were on the bus going to the hotel. He was so excited he couldn't sleep on the plane and reported he was so tired he felt like a zombie. Of course this was quickly followed with a "LOOK! There's an aquaduct! Where's the camera...."

"Drew, go find your camera and enjoy Istanbul. Call me in a couple days. I love you!"

"Love you too, mom! Bye! Camera .... oh cool! .... look!...."

TURKEY DAY!

Passport? check
New Turkish Lira? check
Luggage? check
Ticket? check
Things to do on plane? check
iPod? check
Camera? check
Excited kid? CHECK!

The kids met at the school and took a shuttle to Dulles. We had a few giggles out of the fact that Drew's clothing choice for the day was perfectly coordinated with his backpack. :-)

To Turkey tomorrow!

When we picked up Drew's stash of New Turkish Lira yesterday, the very helpful person at American Express Travel told us to "spend it all!" The good news is he's got extra room in his suitcase so we'll see what comes back.