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Today is our eighth wedding anniversary (that’s actually our twenty-fourth anniversary in Hollywood years). On this auspicious day allow me to share one of the secrets of our marriage: piracy.
I don’t mean the kind with peg legs and parrots (though my husband might look dashing with spyglass and eyepatch). I mean the kind that my preschool daughter demands in the bathroom: “MomMMY! Get out of here; I need some PIRACY!”
In other words, sometimes we need to be alone.
When my brother and I were about four and six years old, my parents informed us that we would start receiving an allowance. If we helped out around the house and cleaned our rooms every Saturday morning, we would earn ten cents a week.
Although this wage was paltry even in 1978 (candy bars cost a quarter then, to give some context; wow, my folks were cheap!), money was money, and we gladly accepted the deal. Eventually our pay increased and we began to save up our allowance, plus birthday and Christmas money, for specific purchases.
I set my sights on a portable cassette player (this was before boom boxes and walkmen) from the J.C. Penney catalog. It cost $23, plus tax, and it took me about six months to sock away enough money to buy it.
It’s been an incredibly busy couple of weeks.
I taught a three-day Risk Management class in Arlington last week, which necessitated a five thirty a.m. wake-up and one-hour commute.
My parents arrived on the last day of that class for a week-long visit, so I needed to get the house cleaned, shopping done, etc. before my class started.
My in-laws (eleven people) will be staying at our house this weekend and start arriving today. My parents leave tomorrow, thus creating a nine-hour guest group overlap (and no down time.)
Our family has been listening to Beatles songs a lot lately. The “Backyardigans Meet the Beetles” special on Noggin kicked off the topic.
I explained to the kids who the Beatles were, and we started listening to some of their songs. “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da,” “We Can Work It Out,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and others turn out to be sing-along crowd pleasers for both grown-ups and the preschool set.
We had just finished listening to “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which the kids know is my favorite Beatles tune, on the way to school this morning. As the next song started up, Colin piped up from the back of the van.
“Mommy, you know, there’s one thing in the world that money can’t buy.”
I love Trader Joe’s, but I hate schlepping to Reston to get there (using the IRS 50 cents/mile chargeback rate, that’s a $12 round trip!)
Rumors have been percolating that there will be a new one soon in Leesburg, so I decided to dig a little. There was nothing about a Loudoun store on the TJ website, so I called the Reston store.
Me: Hi, I’ve heard a rumor that Trader Joe’s is coming to Leesburg. Is this true?
TJ: Yes, it’s true. That is a rumor.
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