Ladies Who Lunched

Thursday was ladies day for the Frosts. Ellie needed to get her hair cut before heading off to Smith and it was about time for me as well so we decided to make an outing. Ellie also lamented that she had never been to Le Relais de Venise and everyone else had so, for old time’s sake, we planned a lunch before our haircuts.

We headed in to Manhattan on the train. It was great fun and we chatted and knit the whole way in. (Ellie has decided that Smithies must knit, this is more than captivation for me). It was a perfect summer day and a great way to make a special time together before she heads off to school.

A word on Le Relais de Venise. The summer we spent a month in France for my sabbatical, we ended our time with a week in Paris. The whole trip was magnifique, but one of our favorite things in Paris was to eat at Le Relais d’ Entrecote. There were three of them I believe and they only served one thing: very tasty steak with an amazing mustardy sauce. We discovered this treasure quite by accident. We were wandering in St. Germain- des- Pres and it was lunch time. We saw an inviting restaurant and wandered in. It is now Frost legend that when the waitress asked me something I clearly didn’t understand, I responded “Du l’eau avec menthe.” Only a Parisian can make a face mingling confusion and disdain with quite such conviction. Apparently, the question was, “ how did I want my meat prepared?” “ To what degree did I want it cooked?” My response was both bewildering and sadly typical of a dumb American. We got beyond that difficult start and fell madly in love with the fare.

Pace Orientation and Peter’s Future

Peter headed down to Orientation at Pace University today. Last night he went to see THE GREEN LANTERN with his friend, Matt, at midnight. This morning he got himself up, fed and dressed and I dropped him at the train. He didn’t want or need me to go with him to Orientation. He knew how to get to Pace on his own and he was clear about his scheduled meetings.

For many parents of teenagers, this may seem like a string of amazing accomplishments. For the parent of someone on the spectrum, this is an example of the truly inspiring growth which Peter has achieved in the past year.

I can’t quite believe that Peter will be heading off to college in the fall. This is such an exciting, and heartbreaking, achievement. Heartbreaking in that I will truly miss having him around on a daily basis. He isn’t always the easiest person in the world, especially when communication is called for, but he is a great housemate. Peter has no problem pitching in to clean the kitchen, take out the garbage and generally be useful. He loves to go to the grocery store and does an excellent job of getting the items we need and not purchasing anything not on the list–for someone with impulse issues, this, too, is an accomplishment. Peter is good company and loves to watch NCIS with me when his dad is off at class. He is also ready to give and receive hugs at a moments notice.

Peter is currently taking Calculus 2 at Westchester Community College. He has made a group of friends both at WCC and at the Devereux Foundation where he was taking some evening classes earlier. It is great to see him making plans to do things with his friends. He loves to travel into Manhattan and explore the city and go to clubs. In my life I have never had a desire to go to a club, but Peter is exploring all sorts of activities. I don’t think he dances, he is more the wallflower type, but it is an exotic and foreign experience for him. His friends seem like nice kids and they, too, are all following their own paths to adulthood. Peter may not be your prototypical teenager from an upper middle class suburb, but he has found a social circle that fits his own personality.

Touring Manhattan and Its Landmarks

One of the best things about the New York walk I did in 2004 was the amazing walking tour of the five Boroughs which was its byproduct. We walked from Belmont Park through Queens across the Triborough Bridge to Randalls Island back through Queens to Brooklyn across the Williamsburg Bridge down through lower Manhattan to South Ferry across on the ferry to Staten Island across to the very southern tip of Staten Island back up across the Bayonne Bridge through the wilds of Jersey City to our end point at Liberty State Park. Now that was one long run-on sentence and a real run-on walk of three days. I doubt I will ever have such a fantastic tour of the city again.

Networking and job hunting are the perfect training

The First Training Walk of the Season

It was the first breath of a summer day and Ellie and I were signed up to go for a training walk with one of the Susan G. Komen walk leaders. We were to meet at Penn Station at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.

9:00 a.m. actually meant a departure from the Frost residence at 7:15. Now, this is an hour on a Sunday that certain young ladies I know don’t see very often. Staying up all hours