LsOL Make the (School) World Go Round

  I'm just back from the annual year-end lunch to thank all the volunteers (a.k.a. LsOL who rule the school). I have to marvel at this group. Skinny, smart and super fundraisers, able to stock the coffers like Sarah Palin on steroids.
  As a slide show chronicled a year's worth of good works, it was clearer than ever that a LOL's contributions go way beyond the lunch circuit. Without these women, and it is overwhelmingly women, so much would be missing in the life of the school and its students. A few work full-time, as I did until recently even as I squeezed in volunteer work, but the bulk of the heavy lifting is done by LsOL, who obviously are not living all that leisurely if they're spending hours on planning and executing auctions, book fairs, tennis days and more.
  PTAs at these Main Line schools (both private and public) are really small businesses that handle hundreds of thousands of dollars and make the difference between a great educational experience and an outstanding one for not only the students but the parents as well. They create logos, design T-shirts, dream-up centerpieces, put together marketing plans, drum-up advertising and then make sure the whole event goes off without a hitch. Pretty commendable, no?
  So here's to all those LsOL who pass up R&R to make their children's schooldays brighter. I only hope I can follow in your Jimmy Choos.

The Business of Motherhood

  The minute you enter Tango in Bryn Mawr, you know you've arrived at one of the the top Main Line LOL lunch spots. The noon hour brings a steady stream of middle-aged women, hair highlighted just so, all dressed to lunch in casual elegance. A few are accompanied by Lords of Leisure in blazers and open-collared shirts, faces sporting golf-course tans. The decor is dark and moody, capturing that Orient Express sensibility.
  I was there to meet another mom, a veteran of the LOL lifestyle. It was the LsOL equivalent of a business lunch. Talk was heavily focused on the children, deep analysis and short- and long-range strategies for school and life success -- all over broccoli rabe and roasted pear. Motherhood has become the profession for a new generation of well-educated women. My friend is a psychologist. Other LsOL are physicians, lawyers, marketing executives. Smart women who need to put all that intellect toward something. And that something is the family and the PTA.
  As an on-the-cusp Baby Boomer, I'm catching the tail end of the generational shift toward Pro Momhood. Now it's abundantly clear why those exercise classes are so necessary -- to keep us Pro Moms fit for the job. And, perhaps, to save us from smothering (interesting that it contains the word mothering) our children to death.

Sl-o-o-w is Fast Becoming a Trend

  Here's to the slow movement (http://www.trendcentral.com/WebApps/App/SnapShots/Article.aspx?ArticleId=7731).
  More of us are yearning to slow down the pace of life. Take the time to see an art exhibit, relax over a sipped drink (no more chugging) and -- STOP THE PRESSES!!! -- enjoy the Sunday newspaper, says Trendcentral.
   Let's add take a yoga class instead of power aerobics and read a novel all afternoon over the tweet feed. LsOL are trendy, not that we ever doubted it.

Don't Judge a LOL by What She Wears

 It's easy to get caught up in the perfect Spandex look. Today was bliss: new Under Armour black jacket, Fila gray capris and Adidas yellow and moss green workout top that matched my gray and green sneaks -- my first truly put-together look for the gym. OK, I know I mixed labels. But still.
  But I digress. LsOL also like to read. Really. This morning a roomful met for our monthly book club. It would be hard to find a better-read group of women. I'm still playing catch-up. One gift of leisurehood is time to read and not just the kid's required books for English class, but for yourself.
  So what do LsOL read? This month was the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It's a sweet mystery read, appealing to adults but a perfect recommendation for tweens who enjoy a strong female heroine, that being Flavia De Luce, 11 years old and Super Detective.
  This group  takes a hiatus over summer -- there is the Shore, after all, and for many of these LsOL, Shore houses. (Not yours truly, however.) But our summer stimulation will be The Millennium Series by
the late Stieg Larsson. I've already started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and am riveted. Hope to finish it in time to catch the flick at the Bryn Mawr Theater. But that could be challenging. This isn't a beach read. It's more of a rainy day, stay in bed with the covers up kind of story. Perfect for a LOL.

What Comes After Menopause?

  My first freelance piece since The Transformation began:
  http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/94229254.html#axzz0oNv0aqkn.
  Now would a true LOL go to one of these shows? Or are they too low-brow?

Close Encounters of the LOL Type

  I had a classic LOL encounter yesterday. I was in the Acme mid-afternoon -- a very LOL time of day to be restocking the frig, by the way. I ran into another mom from school. Both of us had on our capris and spring tops -- dressed way too nicely to be grocery shopping. But that's the LOL way when no office beckons.
  We did discuss business -- of the PTA kind. I'm taking on publicity chair for next year. It should put my J-school skills to good use.

A Parking Spot to Die For

Did you hear about this very cool garage in Center City Philly? Now a LOL could get used to that. Alas, one has to live at 1706 Rittenhouse Square Street. But we can dream, at least.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/technology/93384684.html

Life as a LOL Is Not All R&R

   Time is strange. I quit my job to have more of it for life. In two weeks, the days have filled to nearly overflowing. How did I ever have time to work the 9 to 5?
   I'm having my share of fun, what with lunches, shopping trips and exercise classes, LOL style. Did I mention I added pilates to the schedule?
  But living life cannot ALL be R&R. Not even for a LOL extraordinaire, which I am by no means yet. So ... on Monday, I attended my first Landscaping and Architectural Committee meeting for my homeowners association. Several years ago, the residents took over management of the community, firing the management company, which was more into raising the fees than getting anything done. It's a mostly retired or stay-at-home bunch, heavy on women at the committee level. In other words, lots of LsOL.
  So, I fit right in, save for a decade or so. It is amazing how much time can be spent discussing the finer points of mulching beds. Still, you have to give the group credit. Our monthly fees have stayed stable since the LsOL and Lords of Leisure took charge.
 Later this week, assuming the sun returns and the lawns get mowed, I am walking the community with a veteran committee lady to learn how to evaluate the lawn service and how to spot a violation. Watch out! I'm sure my knowledge of grass heights, window box styles and deck stains will be the envy of the block.

A day fit for a LOL

    Happy Mother's Day! This LOL is going on a hike in the Delaware Water Gap. When life is leisurely, the special day must be active! Lunch at Everybody's Cafe. Dinner cooked by hubby. Beautiful Edible Fruit  for dessert. I've always wanted one of those fruit arrangements that look like flowers.

    What a day ahead!

    And what did you do for MD?

Pants for Sweating and Yoga-istas

$89.17

That was the cost of satisfying Spandex envy, sort of anyway. For days, I've been looking for just the right workout outfit. The choices are plenty, but the costs are ridiculous. Why should clothes meant for sweating cost as much as a decent blouse and pair of slacks? I wasn't about to pay $100 plus for Under Armour -- even if it is the LOL choice based on an informal survey at my gym. So I kept at the hunt. D-day, as in a decision, was today because yoga class was coming around and I needed a yoga mat. The gym loaners are just too stinky.

I began at Kohl's. Problem with Kohl's is selection. They had lots of deals, but apparently all Kohl shoppers are a size M because all that was left was the XL, 2XL, and the XS. After much scavenging, I found the last medium Fila fitness top that was 40 percent off. My only choice for pants was a Small. I squeezed into it, but my lack of model-long legs left a good six inches of fabric trailing behind me. Next stop Modells.

Yoga mat was secured. And Fila bottoms. I got two for about $15 each. Capri style, which works out as a bit too-short pants for me. I rushed home, changed into my new threads and raced to the gym, feeling very LOL. Of course, it didn't occur to me that yoga class might not be the place to strut Spandex. The elderly lady was in sweats and a T-shirt. And everyone else had their perfect yoga outfits -- loose Danskin Ts and cropped pants.

Back to the mall.

Pointy Shoes and Girls Night Out

The end of my first week as a Lady of Leisure was yesterday. It was a schizophrenic day.

It began very LOL. I walked the track at school for an hour with another mom while a group of more experienced LsOL did lunges with a personal trainer. Then it was home to shower and dress to meet a former Inquirer colleague for lunch in West Chester. I had my new necklace, a parting gift from my newspaper colleagues, and my flowery, pointy-toed slingback pumps that look great but feel awful. Five toes are not meant to be squeezed into a point.

We had a delightful sidewalk repast at Teca. The Vegetariano panini is scrumptious. Another friend, who had left the paper over a year ago, joined us. My outfit was appropriately complimented -- which now takes the place of compliments on my stories in the newspaper. Painful shoes worth it. Then it was a bit of a rush, to finish the grocery shopping, in those same shoes, before meeting the school bus.

Then I shifted gears. That evening, I was covering Girls Night at the Kimmel for a story I'm freelancing to the Inquirer. My first freelance assignment post-retirement. It was nice to be back reporting and the play, while no high art, was a lot of fun. But I can't say I really miss the 9 to 5, or more often the 10 to 7 p.m. I've only woken up twice in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking WHAT HAVE I DONE??? But that was the first weekend. Pretty smooth sailing since, especially as I remind myself, pretty constantly, about the freelance assignments.

And then I think of all I got to do this week: I planted flowers in the planters, put down grass seeds in bare spots and took a yoga class for the first time in years. The last yoga class I took was pre-kid. I was working from the main Philly office and the class was in Broomall at 7 p.m. Once a week, I'd have to rush to finish my work and then race -- more like crawl -- on the highways and along traffic-light-afflicted West Chester Pike to the class, barely reaching in time, or late, for the dog pose and thoroughly agitated, making focus on breathing pointless. Yoga was stressing me out. Not this time around.

Oh, and since no LOL week is complete without a shopping trip, I bought my son some shorts, so he doesn't have to continue wearing the ones he's had for the last three years and are so short, he could be mistaken for Mark Spitz in a Speedo.