This article is from a great kids website: Kaboose

Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to our country? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to do all of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776. Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and began making plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so they decided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country. (To be independent means to take care of yourself, making your own rules and providing for your own needs.) The Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they appointed a committee (a group of people working together to do a specific job) to write a formal document that would tell Great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves. The committee asked Thomas Jefferson to write a draft (first try) of the document, so he worked for days, in absolute secret, until he had written a document that he thought said everything important that the committee had discussed. On June 28, 1776, the committee met to read Jefferson’s “fair” copy (he put his best ideas together and wrote them neatly.) They revised (made some changes) the document and declared their independence on July 2, 1776. They officially adopted it (made it theirs) on July 4, 1776. That is why we call it “Independence Day.” Congress ordered that all members must sign the Declaration of Independence and they all began signing the “official” copy on August 2, 1776. In January of the next year, Congress sent signed copies to all of the states. The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our country’s independence and commitment to certain ideas. A symbol is something that stands for something else. Most people can look at a certain little “swoosh” and know that it stands for “Nike.” Well, the signers of the Declaration of Independence wanted the citizens of the United States to have a document that spelled out what was important to our leaders and citizens. They wanted us to be able to look at the Declaration of Independence and immediately think of the goals we should always be working for, and about the people who have fought so hard to make these ideas possible. The people who signed the Declaration risked being hanged for treason by the leaders in Great Britain. They had to be very brave to sign something that would be considered a crime! So every time we look at the Declaration of Independence, we should think about all of the effort and ideas that went into the document, and about the courage it took for these people to stand up for what they knew was right — independence! I want to read The Declaration of Independence.

Have a great weekend!!!

I looked at the clock and realized that once again I had been so absorbed with my writing that I had written myself into being late. I raced around the house gathering together the swimsuits, filling the water bottles and chopping the fruit for the cooler all the while trying desperately to hustle the boys. “Why aren’t your shoes in your cubby?” I yelled feeling the hysteria once again rising in my voice.

Glancing at the clock I saw that I was going to be late for my 15 minute meeting with an agent I was meeting through the Aspen Summer Words Writing Conference. That was it, my breaking point. It was all too much. It wasn’t working, this heroic attempt to enhance my writing career in the summer with a house full of boys and little to no help. I leaned against the wall and began to slide down it with tears welling in my eyes and as I did I thought to myself, “She slid down the wall in a rage of tears in the dark mudroom with nobody to save her from herself for after all, it was she who had created this life that she was living in.”

That’s the problem with being a writer, everything is material and I can’t escape conceptualizing all of my actions into script. “CUT,” I screamed inside my head having a flashback to my film days. “You’re doing it all wrong, start over.”

When I sat down to meet with Rob Spillman, Editor of Tin House Magazine and Executive Editor of Tin House Books, I apologized for being the only one who had not submitted my manuscript beforehand. Truth be known I had worked on the first three chapters of my book all day and night, changing the beginning three times and when I printed it out I threw it in the trash, submitting nothing.

Rob smiled at me and commiserated at the trials of mixing children with creative passions. “At least you’re dressed and not still in your pajamas,” he said with a smile and all of my tension melted away. I liked him immediately and wished that I could continue listening to him over breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Later I listened to him lead a panel discussion on the Publishing Industry. He told the audience to imagine the person reading the Query Letters that we sent in as being nerdy, socially inept Editors sitting in a dark room reading books all day. He highly recommended that we do our research and personalize the letter. He was right too, I know, I worked with those nerdy Editors at Simon & Schuster, but I LOVED them all and I spent as much time as I could in the Editing Department.

I left the Conference questioning the blogging path that I have been on thinking that I should quit blogging and focus more on getting published in periodicals. In fact, I should sell my ticket to BlogHer ‘10 and save the money for another writing conference outside of Aspen where I could actually attend the full conference and not race between lectures and kids.

As the children and I drove home we discussed our new regime of working as a team. I informed them that for now on all meals would be prepared together and that cooking classes commiserated that evening. While Brevitt worked on his grilling skills, Axel prepared the fruit and Tucker peeled the carrots and we all sat down to a wonderful dinner. After dinner Brevitt did the math homework that I had been trying to get him to work on for weeks and after that I did some well overdue grooming, cutting their hair and sending them to the bath remembering that this was what it felt like to mother my children. We discussed the new way that things were going to be around the house and how my new working hours would be from 6-9am and after they went to sleep instead of my current pattern of obsessively plugging away at the computer every chance I got. TV was going to be far more limited and the chore chart would once again emerge.

And so today will be a new beginning and my children will become my priority once again. They will no longer suffer  from a completely harassed mother and I will no longer suffer from the guilt and pressure that I have been placing upon myself. At least it sounds good in theory! Okay, 9:01am STOP

9:02am Just one more thing, if you haven’t made it a habit to check into my “Today’s Capture” page. Check it out for it often shows behind the scene photos or my favorite photo of the week.

Ohhh baby, gimme some of that good stuff

Chef Rob Zack serves his roasted lamb with a smile

Maureen Poschman, my new  guardian angel from the PR firm Promo Communications, sent me an invite to attend an  Aspen Magazine and Viceroy Snowmass party to honor the launch of Aspen Magazine’s Summer food and Wine Issue, and what a launch it was!

Gretchen and I descended the stairs pretending that we had not just valet parked Vini-man. Kicking back a well deserved chilled shot of tequila, delivered fresh off of the ice luge, I couldn’t help but notice that short jumpsuits had come into fashion, another trend like  crazy leggings with short shirts and stiletto booties that I think I’ll pass. I had a flashback to my New York City days where fashion and a bulging wallet were a large part of my  existence. “Shit, I feel so dumpy,” I said to Gretchen who was reaching for a glass of champagne in her oh so chic little black dress and hot pink jacket.

I was so thankful to have Gretchen with me who wasted no time in finding Cary, the effervescent champagne guy who made sure her glass was never half full.

Tequila for me, Champagne for Gretch

I tried my best to work the party but realized that I still have not figured out the best way to inform people of my new career path, “I have a blog,” I say and am met with a blank stare, “And…?” “And, I…ummm…I write stories about how I am confounded by my three boys. Annnd I have a new local series where I film and interview locals. Oh and I am a  travel writer where I stay at five star hotels with my family and we bring our own cooler packed with food since we can’t afford to eat in the restaurants and, and, and…no I have not made any money yet, I mean I have made money but I have not been paid yet and I don’t know when or if I will get paid and I really don’t know where this is going or how long I can keep this up.” By the time I finish either they are really curious and ask for my card or their eyes are glazed over and they touch my arm like it’s been real and pretend that they see somebody in the distance that they need to talk to and run off.

We made our way to the hotel General Manager, Jeff David, who is becoming my new idol. Jeff is adored by his employees and takes perfectionism to a higher level. I mean, in all my days of traveling throughout Europe as a young girl I never experienced such a smorgasbord of delicious food at a hotel, okay maybe the Sonnenalp Resort of Vail’s Mother’s Day Brunch is a big contender but the Viceroy definitely exceeds all expectations.

Gretchen and I ate the pork sandwiches and Asian soup hors d’oeuvres that were being passed around and then we lavished ourselves at the buffet. I ate delicious jalapeno flat bread with tzatziki sauce and the best eggplant I have ever tasted. When we were finished we noticed that Chef Francis Mo was serving copious amounts of sushi at Nest and so we went in to have a second feast. After a few more glasses of champagne and tequila we went to the dessert buffet bar and I almost wept over Ashley’s smores served in a shot glass. I didn’t even need to eat it, just looking at it was a mouth watering experience.

Pastry Chef, Ashley Jenkin

When we finally reached Jeff I wanted to tell him that I was ready to jump aboard his ship and become part of his staff, if he would have me.  I desperately need to make money, I am not sure how good I am at working for myself and I really could use the benefits of being employed, like getting paid.

We walked the party and I did my best to promote my business but it is so much more fun to find out what everybody else is doing to survive in this economy.

The following are photos of some of Aspen’s local entrepreneurs. I apologize that I was using my iPhone for these photos but in my rush to run away from Vini-man I left my good camera behind.

Susan and Glossy from Walker and Gull Designs, the best dressed women at the party (other than Gretch of course)

Dean Weiler from EatAspen and his wife Katrina Strecker from StreckTech

Aaron Kyle Behrens with his wife Lauren. Aaron is the lead vocalist and plays guitar for the band Ghostland Observatory. He played at the X-Games.

Jill and Jim from Aspen Brownie Works. Jill is allergic to chocolate, go figure?

The “Who is that guy” guy.