People are often surprised when I tell them that I grew up just 22 miles from New York City (an easy train ride) yet I've never been to Yankee Stadium. That area of the Bronx isn't exactly kid-friendly, but it was down-right dangerous when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. Not that I actually wanted to go, but my mother wouldn't let me go to Yankee Stadium anyway, and I never lived in the area again after college. More surprising it that my mother, an avid baseball fan who was born in New York City and has lived no farther than 22 miles from the city her whole life, had never been to Yankee Stadium either.... until last night.

Last night my mother went to see the New York Mets take on the New York Yankees, in enemy territory in the House that Ruth Built. She went early to visit Monument Park and said the stadium was very nice. More importantly, the Mets clobbered the Yankees 11-2 (but it should have been 13-2). What a great game to make your first trip to Yankee Stadium. Perhaps my mom should go to all Mets games at Yankee Stadium?

Labels: baseball, family

On Sunday I took Maegan swimming again. This time I went swimming too, and learned two painful lessons. #1 is that when you're losing your hair (like I am), you have to protect the top of your head from the sun. #2 is that you shouldn't close your eyes when trying to pick up objects from the bottom of the pool. I came back from swimming with a sunburned scalp and a bruised bridge of my nose.

In the afternoon we traveled north to Palm Beach Gardens so that Patty could visit her Great Aunt Sandi. I've known Patty for 19 years now and never met either of her great aunts. We had a nice time talking about family, eating dinner, and browsing through photographs.

Labels: family, Florida, vacation

We went to get new family portraits today. We took a family photo a couple of years ago but that was before Darah.

Even better than the photos we got is that in addition to those we bought, they gave us low-rez copies of every photo taken on a disc. Check them out in the photo album! Below are two of my favorites.

Labels: family, photos

On Friday I begin my new job with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, continuing the long family tradition of careers in the field of education.

• My grandfather was a New York City public school teacher for 15 years, and then a Principal for 20 years.
• My mother was a teacher for 16 years, primarily for New York City public schools.
• My sister has taught at Georgetown University, after earning her PhD from Yale. (She still works at Georgetown but isn't currently teaching.)
  

Okay, so my job will be in television and not as a teacher, but it's still in the education field none the less. ;-)

Labels: family, work

Yesterday my mother was the victim of a pick-pocket. She realized that her wallet had been stolen within minutes but before the credit card companies could terminate the accounts, the thieves (we assume more than one because they split up to use multiple cards quickly) had racked up hundreds of dollars worth of charges on high-end electronics. My mom is obviously upset but she's physically okay, and she was lucky that her driver's license was not in her wallet at the time.

Labels: family

I can't believe this is just the second post I've made all month. Sorry. I wish I could use the excuse that I've been too busy but I've actually been on vacation (from my main job) for the past nine days, and I don't go back until January 2nd. I've been catching up on a backlog of house fix-ups most of the time.

Belated Happy Chanukah. Belated Merry Christmas. And an early Happy New Year.

This was Darah's first Christmas. It was her first Chanukah too but that's no big deal. Darah and Maegan made out like bandits as usual with lots of toys and clothing. Even though it's not my holiday, Santa brought me The Simpson's Movie. And speaking of Santa, Maegan (age 9 1/2) now knows... you know who isn't you know what. Before I leave the subject of Christmas, my sister Amy sent me this "ElfYourself". Darah is hilarious to watch.

And speaking of Darah, she cut her first tooth (barely) last week.

My brother-in-law John returned to Charlotte just days before Christmas after more than a year working in Hawaii. And my father-in-law Ed returned to Charlotte the very same day from his job as a contractor in Afghanistan. John is back for good but Ed is most likely returning to the war zone after New Year's.

We're about to give away our Pug, Hobo. He's cute and loving and great with children (seriously, Darah can grab a hold of his face and pull hard and he just sits there and takes it), but after a year and a half he still can't be left alone or else he chews Darah's pacifiers and toys, empties trash baskets, and sometimes still marks his territory indoors. Maegan is very sad about this but we just can't keep having this go on with Darah about to crawl and then walking soon thereafter. :-( Boomer isn't going anywhere but I'm sure he'll be sad to lose his long-time play-fighting buddy.

I know I should have even more to write about since my last post but I can't think of anything else worth mentioning right now. I promise to post more regularly after New Year's - not as a resolution, but because that's more the norm than compared to just two posts this entire month. Again, Happy New Year.

Labels: Darah, family, holidays

We took a lot of photos this Thanksgiving week. We ended up with over 120 photos after combining everything taken among our three cameras, but I uploaded only eight to our online albums. Six new photos in the Darah album and two in the 2007 album (including one that Amy took of Maegan and I letterboxing). We took photos of Thanksgiving itself but I didn't upload any.

Labels: family, photos

Every year it's been tradition for the entire Sussman family to travel to Charlotte for Thanksgiving.

My mother usually comes in from Florida a few days early but this year she came in on Saturday, five days early. She came in early to get a better price on airline tickets and to avoid the travel rush. Her initial flight was canceled and she had to wait around the airport for an extra 4 hours, but everything is fine now.

My sister Amy on the other hand always comes in last minute... literally. Her fight from Washington DC is scheduled to arrive at 3pm on Thanksgiving day, and then we'll eat as soon as she walks in the door. So far it's always worked out but so far we haven't experienced flight delays on Thanksgiving.

I still work Monday through Wednesday this week and I can't take a vacation day during sweeps, so she'll be at home for a few days with Patty (who's still home everyday, still looking for employment). For next weekend when all of us are together, I did take off from my Saturday job, and with the Saints playing the Panthers here in Charlotte, I'll be missing my first home game since I got the regular Instant Replay gig (not just as the backup) in 2005.

Labels: family, holidays

Last weekend my sister Amy went away to an adult sleep away camp. How awesome does that sound? This one she went to is called Club Getaway and it's located in the Berkshire Mountains in western Connecticut.

I did archery for the first time since [Camp] Norwich!!! I also went hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, waterskiing, zip line, and trampoline. And there was a big campfire with guitar and singing. Just like camp, plus alcohol... and air conditioning.... and bathrooms inside the cabins... and no curfew...

I've seen her photos (which I'm not posting, but here are similar photos from other "campers") and it looks like so much fun! I wonder if there's anything like this closer to me (and for married couples).

Labels: cool, family

My sister Amy drove down for a weekend visit from Washington, DC on Thursday. This was the first time Amy's seen Darah. As usual we went mini-golfing and watched some movies (Surf's Up in the theater and some others on DVD). Of course we did plenty of other stuff too. The whole weekend was a lot of fun.

Labels: family

My mom came to visit yesterday and got to see her new granddaughter for the first time. She loved meeting Darah and didn't forget to give Maegan plenty of attention too.

My Aunt Barbara is a lifelong Mets fan, Shea Stadium season ticket holder, and often picks up various Mets items for me. One of the many gifts my mom brought with her on her visit was from my Aunt Barbara. It is a personally autographed photograph of former Met, Rusty Staub. Staub will never be in the hall of fame but he had a memorable career and is a favorite of Mets fans. He may not be quite as loved as Mookie Wilson but he had a much more impressive career.

Rusty Staub played for 23 seasons, beginning as the youngest Major Leaguer as a 19-year-old rookie for the Houston Colt .45's, and ending as the oldest Major Leaguer in 1985 at the age of 41. He and Ty Cobb are the only players in history to hit home runs before turning 20 and after turning 40. Aside from his longevity, he was a pretty good player, making the All-Star team six times. He's the only player to have at least 500 hits with four different teams. As for the Mets, he had two tours of duty in New York: 1972-1975 and 1981-1985. In 1975 he set the Mets franchise record for RBI's in a season, which stood for 12 years. When I started watching him during his second stint with the Mets he was well past his prime but one of my earliest games as a kid at Shea Stadium was won with a Rusty Staub game-winning/walk-off homerun.

Thanks for the photo, Aunt Barbara.

P.S. Rusty Staub earned the name "Le Grand Orange" from his brief three seasons playing for the Montreal Expos. The Expos were a brand new expansion team and Staub was a bona fide All-Star so Montreal loved him. But he was especially adored by the French-speaking Canadians because he took the time to learn their language. "Le Grande Orange" means "The Big Orange", because of his big bat and his red (orange) hair.

Labels: baseball, family

I'm in warm sunny Florida yet late last night I suddenly began to feel freezing. I piled on several heavy blankets and yet I was literally shivering. Couldn't sleep at all and I felt even worse in the morning, feeling totally drained of all my energy.

This is a total repeat of the last time I took a long-distance vacation to visit my family. Just before New Year we all traveled to visit my sister Amy in Washington and on the second night Maegan and I became violently ill. This time I'm not nauseas and Maegan is fine, but what's the deal with me getting sick while visiting family. This just sucks.

I didn't want Maegan to just sit around the house on her spring break vacation so my mom took Maegan miniature golfing without me. After they got back I went to the urgent care doctor. I tested negative for the flu, but that's still what it feels like.

Note: This post was uploaded on 4/13/07

Labels: family, Florida, vacation

Today Maegan, my mom, and I went to the Morikami Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach. We took a really nice stroll around a large pond, immaculately maintained in traditional Japanese style. Bamoo structures, bonsai trees, rock gardens, and a waterfall. Maegan even got to feed the nearly 100 coy. We got lots of great photos and I'll upload them to the photo album when I get a chance.

Note: This post was uploaded on 4/13/07

Labels: family, Florida, Maegan, vacation

Greetings from Florida. I'm currently on vacation visiting my mother in Florida. Maegan is with me but Patty stayed in Charlotte. We got our tickets back in December under the assumption that Patty wouldn't be able to fly in her third trimester. Within the past week the doctor gave Patty clearance to fly but now a last moment single ticket would cost over $600 (and not even to the same airport).

Maegan has enjoyed swimming in the pool every day, just like ever year. Today we went to the beach. We normally go to Delray Beach but this time we traveled 20 miles to go to Deerfield Beach. Much nicer. It was much more crowded, with thousands of people as far as you can see just like those oldtime photos of Coney Island - but that was actually nice because it had almost a fair-like atmosphere. Maegan ventured waist deep into the ocean and loved jumping into the big waves as they crashed ashore.

Between swimming, the beach, and other activities, Grandma also bought Maegan both Happy Feet and Charlotte's Web on DVD so we all watched those two movies the past couple of nights. I'll try to write more before I get back but this 26k modem is just killing me.

Labels: family, Florida, Maegan, vacation

It's been a week and a half since little Sofia was born in Hawaii and we haven't been sent any photos. Everybody else in Patty's family was sent photos. What's up with that? We finally got this photo forwarded to us by Lore.

Labels: family

Yesterday, Sophia Marie Perrott was born in Hawaii. This is my first niece, after three nephews. Sandi and John promise to send photos soon.

Labels: family

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd announced yesterday that he will run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. It's way too early for me to decide which candidates to back but I mention Dodd's announcement because my sister Amy worked for him as a Fellow in 1998 and 1999. Amy worked on some of the bills mentioned in this news story about Dodd's long involvement in children's causes.

Labels: family, politics

Sandi, John, and Griffith (Patty's younger sister, her husband, and their almost-three-year-old boy) are now in Hawaii. They will be living in Honolulu for the next year as part of John's work, but the plan is to then return home to Charlotte. Sandi is seven and a half months pregnant which means that her baby will be born a Hawaiian.

Labels: family

We just returned from our family vacation trip to Washington, DC to see my sister Amy. Amy visits us in Charlotte at least every year but we hadn't traveled to see her in DC in three years. We drove the 420 miles from Charlotte to Washington on Thursday, taking the slightly longer but much more scenic route through the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia. After seven and a half hours of driving we didn't feel like going out so we rented the 3rd Harry Potter movie (Prisoner of Azkaban). Maegan's been into Harry Potter recently and it was a good thing that we saw it with my sister, since she actually read the book and was able to explain things to us when we became confused.

The next day we went to the National Zoo (including a ride on the Metro for Maegan) and got to see the rare Giant Pandas. Patty didn't want to over-exert herself so in the afternoon Maegan, Amy, and I went to the National Museum of Natural History while Patty rested at the apartment. There we saw full-size dinosaur fossils, as well as the famed Hope Diamond. After another full day we decided to rent the 4th Harry Potter movie (Goblet of Fire), and my sister once again explained all the details that were missing from the book.

So far it had been a nice family vacation. The next day we planned on driving to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Then suddenly at one o'clock in the morning those plans ended as Patty and I were awaken by Maegan "getting sick". Then a few hours later I joined Maegan in "getting sick". Maegan and I continued to "get sick" repeatedly all night long. I soon developed a fever, severe chills, and aching muscles, but thankfully Maegan never showed those symptoms. Poor Patty and Amy stayed up all night with the two of us, as well as the entire next day. In total, I didn't move from that one bedroom apartment for over 40 hours, until it was time to leave to come home on New Years Eve. So we ended up taking several of our vacation days traveling a total of 15 hours and 840 miles by car just to spend 3/4 of a day sightseeing followed by 2 days of feeling like hell and exposing Patty and Amy to whatever Maegan and I had.

Labels: family, Maegan, Patty, vacation, Washington_DC

It's so nice to be remembered during the holidays with a card. We've received more than normal this year. My mom sent us a card featuring a Christmas tree with a menorah on top, my Aunt sent one, and we got Christmas cards from several of Patty's relatives in New York. We received many cards from old friends too. Janet (Patty's old college roommate) always remembers us. This year we got a Christmas card from another of Patty's old college roommates, Sujana, whom we haven't seen since 1998. And my former boss Jeff sent two cards.

All of these kind thoughts during the holiday season... and yet we feel so bad because we didn't send out any cards. It's not that we don't want to send out holiday greetings but year after year we simply forget to send out cards until it's too late, and this year is no different. So our sincerest apologies again this year, as we blog a Happy Holidays, Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, and/or possibly even a joyous FSM Holiday to all of our family and friends.

Click here for our "Last-Possible-Moment Digital Holiday Card".

Labels: family, friends, holidays

Every year my sister Amy participates in a 5K fundraising race for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). Our father had Multiple Myeloma and died in 2000 of complications from treatment of the disease. This morning Amy ran her 5 kilometers (about 3.1 miles) in her best time yet, 10 minutes and 13 seconds. Better yet, she raised $800 for Multiple Myeloma research.

Labels: family

Yesterday Patty's father Ed married his finance June in a small family-only ceremony. Next week Ed is flying overseas to work as a civilian contractor with the United States military in Iraq.

Labels: family

I'm sorry to say that Patty's grandfather, James Fox, passed away last night. Rest in peace.

Labels: family

Before driving back to Charlotte we made a stop at Boone Hall Plantation. The drive up had the mile-long row of big, hundred-year-old oak trees just like you expect on a typical plantation in the deep-south. We toured the main house which was very nice and interesting but we were a bit disappointed to find out that although the plantation was over 300 years old, the house was actually built around 1930. After the tour we watched a little play and then walked over to the slave cabins. One of the cabins featured an excellent presentation on Gullah culture. At the end, the woman giving the presentation asked the audience for volunteers for a song called "Ranky Tanky". Patty thought it would be funny to point towards me but the woman said that she always picks the person who does the pointing rather than the person they're pointing to so Patty got dragged up on stage instead.

[Note: This blog entry was post-dated after we returned]

Labels: Charleston, family, Maegan, Patty, vacation

Today was our only full day in Charleston. Almost everything is closed on a Sunday morning in "The Holy City" but luckily we were able to take an early guided tour of the city. We got to see all the historic houses and sites like The Battery, Rainbow Row and more. Kudos to an excellent tour guide at Gray Line Tours.

After lunch we headed to the South Carolina Aquarium. We tried to take Maegan to the aquarium in Charleston a few years ago but were surprised to find a three hour line to get in due to the fact that tickets were only $1 for Community Appreciation Day, an event they failed to publicize ahead of time on their website. After a three and a half hour trip to Charleston we had to turn around and head back home empty handed. This time I called ahead of time to double check that the same thing wasn't going to happen again. The staff told me that although there was a festival that day in the adjacent park, there would be no special discounts that would create a similar situation to the experience we had a few years ago. We got to the aquarium at exactly 2:00pm and got on a line of about 40 people. We then discovered that starting at exactly 2:00pm they were offering tickets to the aquarium for just $1. The aquarium staff totally lied to me! By the time we got to the beginning of the line 10 minutes later, the line was several hundred people long, stretching all the way down the street in a de ja vu of our last attempt to go to the aquarium, but we got lucky by getting there just at the perfect moment to save us from paying an extra $70. Long story short, the aquarium was very nice.

Later that evening we met up with some relatives of mine who live in Charleston. My second cousin, Norman, is a professor at the College of Charleston. Being only three and a half hours away from Charlotte makes him my closest relative (geographically), however I don't think we've ever met before. We had a nice dinner on the waterfront in nearby Mount Pleasant. Norman, my mother, my sister, and I discussed family connections and genealogy research. Maegan spent half of dinner trading making-faces with her one of her new cousins. Until this weekend Maegan only knew of one cousin on my side of the family but she now knows three more. I enjoyed meeting family I didn't know I had and we plan on getting together again in the future.

[Note: This blog entry was post-dated after we returned]

Labels: Charleston, family, Maegan, Patty, vacation

We left early this morning for a mini-vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, a city with well over 300 years of history. My mother flew in from New York City and my sister flew in from Washington, D.C. to join us.

Our first stop was Fort Sumter, sight of the first shots of the Civil War in 1861. We took a ferry over to the island fortress. It was very interesting and although the fort isn't very large, I wish they gave us more than an hour to look around. After the tour we checked in to our hotel and walked just a couple of blocks to Market Street in the historic district.

[Note: This blog entry was post-dated after we returned]

Labels: Charleston, family, Maegan, Patty, vacation

My sister Amy just landed in Australia on a three week trip around the continent. I don't have much else to report so I'll just post this list of places Amy has been to and say "four down, two to go".

• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Africa
• Asia
• Australia

Labels: family

Amy took a trip to Africa... where she was mauled by a lion. Okay, it was a baby lion and it was just a scratch but there was blood.

Labels: family

Amy is visiting for the Thanksgiving weekend. She's having a good time and getting much needed sleep. She bought Maegan her first Barbie doll!

Labels: family, Maegan

Lore's a mom. Connor Reed Maguire was born on St. Patrick's Day.

Labels: family

Amy is visiting Maegan from D.C. (and as long as she's here she'll hang out with Patty and myself too). When we picked up Amy at the airport, Maegan was only interested in seeing the airplanes. Once we left the exciting airport, Maegan loved playing with her Aunt Amy.

Labels: family