Sunday, November 13, 2011

Good-Bye

I recently learned the creator of the comic strip Family Circus, Bill Keane, passed away last week at the age of 89.
I love Family Circus. My favorites were the ghosts, Ida Know and Not Me who were always blamed for the children's mischief. Rest in Peace, Bill Keane. I appreciated you humor for many many years. Thank you.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A girl!

My brother who lives in Chicago called to tell me they weren't planning any big vacations next year and was wondering if I would take care of my niece for a week so she could have a mini-vacation over the summer. Would I think about it?
Answer: YES! OF COURSE! WHEN?! I'D LOVE TO! OMG! Imagine me with a little girl for a week! Oh, the excitement!

Friday, November 11, 2011

It doesn't take a rocket scientist

We lovingly call MIL "the FBI" because she finds everything out. One of my son's friends calls his mother "CSI" because she analyzes and questions the slightest things. I think these kids just think we are dumb.

When I'm gone for a weekend leaving a college age child home alone, I know there will be a party and it doesn't take the FBI or CSI to figure it out when you get home. Let's see the trash was taken out to the curb for pick. Maybe because they didn't want me to see all the garbage? But they are not full grown adults yet and so the beer caps in the kitchen can under the trash bag are a give away as are the shards of broken glass under the sofa stuck to the floor and the vacuum cleaner that no longer sucks up anything because its full of glass and chips or maybe the picture frame that doesn't stand anymore because when they put it back together they put it upside down and the back keeps falling off. Why did they have to put it back together to begin with I don't want to know. Apparently, everyone is safe and sound because I am thinking I would have heard otherwise.

There's another weekend away planned. I hope the house and my stuff survive.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Diner Dinner

After walking around and assessing all the variety of food options our stomachs forced us to make a selection at 10pm. We chose The Brooklyn Diner because well, it's so not Miami and it seemed fitting as our 1 meal in The City. The tux clad maitre d' seated us and gave us menus that boast the Best Burger Platter in the city. The couple speaking Portuguese next to us is enjoying a great looking NY style pizza pie. The two men we past on the way in speaking Italian are enjoying a lovely NY strip steak, baked potatoes and green beans as they discuss home politics, the 2 all-American tweenage boys a few tables down are finishing off their cream sodas as they pull out stacks of $20s and try to calculate the appropriate tip. They decide to leave $60. I can only wonder what they ate or is it they can't do the math. We smile at each other as we hear Spanish being spoken by the 2 men busing the tables around us. We watch as the sidewalk fills in with the after show crowd and a few come in dressed to the nines and order a good bottle of red. As we sink out teeth into the Best Burgers in town an elderly couple sits a few tables down from us. In their thick Long Island accents they argue about what to eat at this hour. She wants a breakfast platter he wants a dinner platter. He insists this is no time to be eating breakfast fluff, she needs real food. She defends her decision in that if they serve it then the timing must be right. He ends up with Spaghetti and Meatballs after futile attempts to order the pot pie and a few other selections that they were out of. She says it will keep him up the rest of the night but she caves to his no breakfast for dinner pressure and orders a Salmon burger but says she won't eat the bread. Our waiter chatted with us and turns out he's from Florida! from Boca Raton in NYC going to school. He misses Florida even though he never thought he would and says he will be back in a couple of years when he's done there. You take it for granted when you have it but you miss it when its gone. He's learned the lesson young. Good for him. The burgers were indeed some of the finest we've had. Perfectly cooked his well done and mine rare. Yes, we are a couple. The pickle quite frankly was delicious. I haven't had such a good pickle in a very long time. We bundled back up and headed out to walk to the garage where we left our car and while in line we overheard some show reviews. It was a great way to spend an evening. I love people watching.

The overheard from strangers while in line reviews:
The Bonnie and Clyde show is way way too long. The songs are good, catchy even, the performances string but the show just too long. It needs to be cut by at least 20 minutes.
The Adams Family was superb. Everyone in the world should see it.
The Anniversary performance of the NY Workers Union is not for everyone. It can only be appreciated by those who were there and understand its roots.

Where was I?

Entire city blocks wall to wall with people rushing here and there. The few, like moi, not rushing are bumping into the speed walkers because we are looking up and around and through camera lenses. We stop in the middle of moving people traffic to snap the memory forever in our minds. You hear car traffic and horns and the voices of so many people. The hum of their conversations, so many languages, only catching snippets here and there. "Will you take our picture?" being the one heard most often. You stop and focus on the happy people and try to make them the center of the chaos that is around them in flashing neon lights that seemingly adds to the volume of the square.

It all seems so foreign and yet familiar at the same time. I recognize these labels and ads seen in my everyday life but here they are super-sized as if on steroids and in stereo.

Answer: Times Square, NYC

Saturday, November 05, 2011

REmembering

I have been watching my son get around on crutches for weeks now. He broke his foot in September and had surgery to put 2 screws in and has been crutching around ever since. He's been such a good trooper. Hasn't missed a thing. He's gone to all his classes, all his frat meetings, all his school events and all his family happenings. He only missed things on the day of and the day after the surgery. I know he's tired of asking for help and rides and having to coordinate things and depend on other people and I hope that he will be good as new soon. Next week he goes back to the surgeon and hopefully gets a boot and will be allowed to start putting some weight on his foot.

It made me remember when I started high school with 2, yes two, sprained ankles. I would alternate which foot I would rest as I crutched around school too. I know what he's going through. Pobrecito.

PS. I know to crutch is not a verb but we've turned it into one at home. It really makes sense as a verb to me. So, just move on people. Let it go.

Friday, November 04, 2011

Blah!

I woke up this morning and was in a fog.
The fog isn't outside, sadly, its in my head.
I am all stuffed up and congested.
And I get to go on a plane ride tomorrow.
Oh the joy of stuffy head and pressure of thousands of feet in the air.
Yeah, me!

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Halloween Phase II

Halloween has certainly changed for me over the years. Of course, as a child I dressed up and knocked on doors expecting candy rewards from strangers. Really, where did this come from? (Hmmm, fodder for another post another day. )

As a mom, I followed kids around to safeguard them from seriously I don't know what because its not like I could take anyone on or anything. I think it was more to see others all dressed up and ohhh and ahhh.

A friend of mine lives in a gated community making it perfect to contain the children in a singular neighborhood with boundaries not made by mom and therefore automatically acceptable by the children even while in character hopped up on sugar swarming in hordes in search of more sugar.

The group of children that we followed grew and grew over the years. Some years barely able to fit everyone in the picture. Time has changed that crowd. The past year the crowd has thinned. Our now high school and college age children don't need us to take them anywhere much less follow them. We don't buy them costumes although they may dress up for their own parties. if we are lucky they drop by to say hello and we still ohh and ahh over their creativity or chide them at their lack thereof.

This year the crowd was completely different. Not a child in the bunch. The original group of adults still got together, ordered the obligatory pizza and had a lovely time just being together. Did we need Halloween to do this? Not technically. We are the adults and could get together any time we want to but there is something about an occasion that made it more than OK for us to go out on a weeknight and gather with friends for a few hours. We ate, we told stories, we laughed, we caught up with each other a little with no kids in tow because the kids are all adults now. I called it Halloween Phase II. Maybe we can graduate to getting together the same way without a holiday or occasion to justify us. Friendship Phase II.