Best Line From Mother's Day

5 year old Josh and 7 year old Ben fooling around on the sofa.

Josh: MOM, Ben hit me with his fist in my eye.
Ben: Mom, my fist was accidently moving.

Nancy (Patrick's mom) and I were playing with a spring-loaded car on the table. Ben was told earlier not to play with it on the table. Nancy releases car, car looses control, I go to grab it, knock over my wine glass, shatter, wine everywhere. "See, Ben, this is why your mom said not to play with the car on the table." Me pointing at Nancy and looking at Wendy - "She started it." A good day was had by all.

Operation Thin Mints - updated

Update: I just found out that my Uncle Charles (deceased) was stationed on the USS Midway when he was in the Navy. Amazing.

My sister is a tech sergeant in the Air Force at the Navy brig in San Diego. I am so proud of her, the work she does and the person she is. In San Diego, the Girl Scouts from the area raise cookies to send to the troops overseas. This year they raised over 200,000 boxes to send!! They had an all female color guard from the Brig do the opener. It took place on the USS Midway, which is now a museum. Jennifer is in the blue uniform (with all the stripes :-) )

View photos of the event here.

Kissing A Few Frogs

We are packing up the house at 103 Munro as we go through each room. In the meantime I've been looking for potential new houses for 6 months or more. At first they were to see what's out there. Now I have a "short" list. I do a search with criteria such as price, 3 bedrooms at least 1.5 bathrooms. They've been a few houses I absolutely could have been comfortable in and of course they are sold. That's ok. Now we have to get serious. This is what I'm up against folks. House #1

Click on MORE PHOTOS to see the full affect.

Notice the t.v. on the t.v.?! Good Lord look at all those teddy bears. And the owls over the fireplace. I'm not sure WHAT that shiny (clipper ship?) is to the left of the mantel. I know, I know, that stuff will not be there, but it makes me wonder what else has not been updated since 1964.

House #2
The stop and smell the roses house. Notice the eat-in kitchen and formal dining room wallpaper. Hmm....how could you miss it. I wonder if the flower wallpaper in the bathroom is a form of poupourie?

House #3
Go no further than the front entry. Notice the paint chip on the stairs in the shape of a mouse? At least I hope it's a paint chip. The gash in the wall just around the corner makes me curious. Remember, people are showing us the GREAT aspects of their home. This was a featured home in the Sunday paper a few weeks back as "The House of the Week."

House #4
.

This is what I have now. NOT that I'm expecting this in the downsize







Notice the descriptions states 2 full baths, so one can only assume this is the better of the 2. Blue tile does NOT make me think of the ocean. Where is the storage for hair products, blow dryer, makeup??? I cannot make this work. I can change wallpaper, but after all this I can't go in there and start pushing out walls for a bigger bathroom because this one looks like I can wash my hands WHILE sitting on the toilet.

Finally House #5
This would be WONDERFUL if there were hardwood floors under that carpet. And a kitchen that has been updated within the past 40 years! HA! Look at the linoleum floor!! I think every house in America between 1965 and 1978 had this. The cabinets and refrigerator went in at the same time. Just call me Kitty from "That 70's Show"

NOTE: These links will only last as long as the house is on the market.

We're Ready for a Heat Wave!!

At 6:15am I've already been up for 45 minutes. I have the news on and hear:

The sun will be rising in about 1/2 hour. Perhaps with the sun it will bring the temperature up over zero degrees. Right now with the windchill we are at -10 degrees. Over the weekend the "North Country" will experience a 70 degree temperature difference, bringing them up close to 40 degrees.

And at 40 degrees we'll be basking in the warmth, shoveling the deck off to bbq some chicken.

Dark Elegy

Taken from Syracuse, NY Post Standard, February 27, 2008:

Families of Syracuse University students killed in the 1988 bombing of Flight 103 visited Washington Tuesday to ask for a national memorial for terrorism victims. But a federal commission that oversees such things rejected the proposal that Dark Elegy, a memorial consisting of 76 individual sculptures by Long Island artist Suse Lowenstein, be chosen to commemorate victims of terrorism worldwide.

Lowenstein's son, Alexander, 21, was among 35 SU students killed when a bomb exploded in their plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, as they returned from a semester abroad.

Her sculptures portray mothers, wives and sisters of the victims in grief-stricken positions after hearing about the death of their loved ones. The sculptures have been displayed in several cities, including on the SU campus in 1995.

I can't tell you all how outraged I am at John G. Parsons, an associate regional director for the National Park Service in DC and Michael McGill, a commission member representing the U.S. General Services Administration.

First Mr. Parson's comments on Dark Elegy:

"...raised concerns about the sculptures in a May 2007 letter to Lowenstein. He told Lowenstein that "your female figures are intentionally highly figurative" and said that could pose a problem. "While they may be appropriate in a private sculpture garden, such a realistic grouping of naked women may be found objectionable to some aspects of American society," Parsons wrote.

Michael McGill came to the defense of Parsons at the hearing at the National Building Museum in Washington. "He has for the past 30 years been a major figure in this city," McGill said of Parsons. "He has learned by experience about problems that can arise. He was not being voyeuristic. He was not being odd."

Other commission members avoided the conflict over the nude sculptures, and instead focused their concerns on whether they would properly represent all terror victims.

There were 2 questions asked. They can be found below with my responses. I've also forwarded my response to Suse Lowenstein (artist).

My responses to the Post Standard

1. First, does a sculpture representing the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 adequately represent all victims of terrorist acts?

What about this sculpture says explicitly Pan Am Flight 103? It was inspired by the mother/artist of one of the victims of 103. Mothers grieving. This sculpture captures the grief, the horror and the life changing event of the moment they learned of their child was killed in
planned act of terrorism. Was it different for the mothers of the victims of 9/11 or when the uniformed military personnel walk to her front door - "Your son/daughter was killed by a road-side bomb in Iraq at 13:00 hours on February 16, 2008."? Do you think it was different
for a mother learning the same news in 1946? In time of war, naturaldisaster or sinking ships it's ALWAYS been "women and children first."

Why should this different?

2. Can Washington, D.C., cope with the larger-than-life images of grieving, naked women?

You see naked women???? I see women exposed, without protection, vulnerable. Clothes reveal cultural background and social status. They are purposefully "stripped" to make one of the most profound statements one piece of art has ever made - we are all vulnerable regardless of who we are or where we've been. If we can't protect the "women and children" where are WE as a society? Can Washington DC cope with this? or is it: Washington D.C. YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH !!!!

I wonder if this same type of conversation was had when the very phallic Washington Monument was erected.

To advocate and voice your opinion regarding this topic.

True Definition of My Blog Name

Ali rec'd a subpeona the day before yesterday. Her old, crazy-ass landlord is being sued by the guys who live in the bottom apartment in the new place as well as the old apartment, for deplorable living conditions. They, Kyle and Doug and Merv had to reappear yesterday in court. Kyle's mom is a lawyer :-) Anyway, Merv TACKED THE SUBPEONAS to Alison and Paige's door. Ummm....not a legal method of delivery. The police have been called several times from both sides and it's ALWAYS Merv's fault. Making false police reports, harassment. The same cop comes everytime. He's sick of Merv. The county building inspector is sick of Merv and the judge is sick of Merv. Merv wanted Alison and Paige to testify AGAINST the guys!!! Alison the police to see if ithe subpeona was legit. The police said the girls did not have to go to court since the subpeona was delivered illegally. The police were on the way to an accident with personal injury but noticed Merv's truck in their driveway! When Alison called, the police were coming back from the accident and was going to stop anyway to let them know Merv was on/near where they live. The police arrived at their door in less than a minute since Ali called and she commented on how fast the service is.

Anyway, Alison and Paige went to court. The judge told Merv that the girls served no purpose and were not going to testify against the boys. Kyle and Doug won the case and Merv has to pay them back all the rent they paid. Alison and Paige will now follow suit proving they also lived there at the same time and were under the same risk.

Alison and Paige CANNOT get a restraining order like I suggested because Merv has not been charged with anything yet. That's only a matter of time. The cop is waiting for a reason now.

In other news, Barb cannot be released from VanDuyn Rehab because the GI bug is going around her floor and they are in quarantine. Greenpoint will not come and assess her because they do not want to contaminate the senior living facility. So she's in a holding pattern until the quarantine is lifted.

Kilz Me Now

He was soooooooo right and I was sooooooo wrong. Cranberry = bright fushia red???!!! Who knew?

I have to figure out how to not waste the $20.00 can of paint and still make that room look sellable. I have my mixing cups ready.

Not one word was spoken about the test areas on the wall. They did not need to be spoken.

I.Will.Make.This.Right.

Color My World

Terry and I headed out for the Home Depot early this morning. I have FINALLY picked out a color for the eat-in kitchen area. It's a cranberry color. The hallway is a barely there gray, the kitchen a cross between olive green and beige. The flavor is Italian grapevine/winery motif.

Terry is not happy with my choice since we are getting ready to put the house on the market. Said I made too much of a color choice for someone else to live with.

Oh and the powder blue and sea foam green we moved in would have been my choice????? NOT.
:-P

My Family Tree is a Willow

I am the oldest of 10 children…..sort of. My parents divorced when I was 14. At the time, my sister was 13, brother 9 and my sister 6. When I was 15 my dad met and married a woman who had 5 children. The number of boys now added up to 2. The 4 oldest, all girls, are within 20 months of each other.

It was as competitive and nasty as your imagination will allow you to go. I learned quite a bit in those frustrating years until I no longer had go there every other weekend. I resented my step-sisters announcing as the 4 of us walked through the door it was our turn to do the dishes – looking over toward the sink, it was mound of greasy, caked on pile of dishes. I resented my father’s wife boasting how well she raised 9 kids. I’m 16, practically and adult. She did NOT raise me. The lessons learned would serve me well in the not so distant future.

I was married briefly in my early, early 20’s. When I was 22 my mom announced she was pregnant! I had been trying for 1.5 years to be pregnant. All I could think of was right church Lord, wrong pew. I should have known better than second guessing that call. I then divorced at age 24 and thankfully childless.

I met my next and final husband at age 26 while working for an insurance company. The building was undergoing massive reconstruction and Terry was one of the contractors. Nice looking guy, didn’t have the construction “cleavage” thing going on. It didn’t take too long for the two of us to notice each other. What really clinched my attraction to this man was he had lost his job/company car, lost his house and had recently moved out of his childhood best friend/employer’s basement. Terry’s marriage had fallen apart 18 months earlier. At the time he was living in Nashua, NH with his wife and 2 young children. His ex-wife decided to move out on her own. At the time Terry was a sales rep. serving most of New England and on the road at least 3 nights a week. He lost all material things but was able to provide and care for his children. I thought - This man is a keeper.

Wendy, was 11 years old when we met. Very smart, kept the boys (Dad and brother) in line, picked up their messes and tried to handle the household chores like an adult. She was a straight A student. The age difference between Wendy and me is a mere 15 years and while I could have “conceivably” been her mom, my mom would have been more than a little upset.

Todd – had just turned 8. With Todd, you just pointed him in the direction you wanted and he would go. Todd struggled with school. He was a smart kid, avid reader and a very gifted artist. While Wendy effortlessly achieved A’s, Todd struggled to get C’s and B’s.

I had my family. Not how I had planned, but truly my family. They needed a mom, I needed kids and I knew this was for the long term. My 4 year old sister, Jennifer, joined us as often as possible on vacations, sledding, or the movies. To the outside world, we looked like the "all American family" 3 kids, spaced exactly 4 years apart.

When we were preparing for Wendy’s wedding in 1994, Pam and I were in my kitchen preparing the buffet menu together as all guests were either relatives or from out of town and would be visiting in between the rehearsal, wedding and Sunday morning departures. As Terry walked through the kitchen, he stopped, looked at the two of us and said: My ex-wife and my wife, in the kitchen, both with knives….I’m out of here.

Pam had a child with her husband in 1985 and 2 years later we had our daughter Alison. Pam passed away in 1999 at age 51. I was never more grateful then that the 3 of us worked out the visitations, birthdays, holidays, graduations, and weddings sharing the events together. Had we not, how could I have sincerely been able to console and grieve with them during their sudden loss?

At Pam’s funeral, Alison asked: Denise is Wendy and Todd’s sister, right? Right I answer. And Wendy and Todd are my brother and sister, right? Right again. Then Denise is my sister too. I answered, if you want her to be your sister, she’s your sister. Alison is 21 and Denise is 23 and when they do get together, they are sisters. Wendy has 2 boys who call me Oma as well as Wendy and my son-in-law. Oma is German for grandma, but what I find especially pleasing is Oma sounds like Oh Ma. It may have turned out different if Terry, Pam and I had not taken a firm stance yet still have the flexibility to compromise when it mattered in those younger years.

A willow tree has branches that are long and tangled. It takes some time to figure out exactly where they start, as though it matters. A willow provides shade from the heat of summer and is one of the first to sprout buds in the spring. A willow is a source of shelter and renewal. A willow is big and overwhelming, yet soft to the eye. Willow branches are strong yet blow gently in the wind.

Deep Breaths

I am waiting to hear if I am offered the job that I recently applied for. Made it past the first 2 interviews. The second interview went very well from my perspective. Let me know now please. I'm already spending the raise :-)

We meet tomorrow to discuss the long term living arrangements for my mother-in-law. Changes for her, changes for us.

I do not like changes for which I have no control or my doing, yet affect my life whether its good, bad or indifferent.

I promise myself that I will finish painting the hallway tonight. There. It's public. It must be accomplished. Ahhhh....instant gratification anyway I can get it.

Is God Dancing on Your Potato Chips

I found this piece years ago and I planned to use it as a children's sermon (as a lay person)

Not too long ago I had "one of those days." I was feeling pressure from
A writing deadline. I had company arriving in a couple days and the
toilet was clogged. I went to the bank, and the trainee teller processing my
deposit had to start over three times. I swung by the supermarket to pick up a few
things and the lines were serpentine. By the time I got home, I was frazzled
and sweaty and in a hurry to get something on the table for dinner. Deciding
on Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, I grabbed a can opener, cranked open the can, then remembered I had forgotten to buy milk at the store. Nix the soup idea. Setting the can aside, I went to plan B, which was leftover baked beans. I grabbed the Tupperware container from the fridge, popped the seal, took a look and groaned. My husband isn't a picky eater, but even HE won't eat baked beans that look like caterpillars.
Really frustrated now, I decided on a menu that promised to be as foolproof
as it is nutrition-free: hot dogs and potato chips. Retrieving a brand new
bag of chips from the cupboard, I grabbed the cellophane and gave a hearty
pull. The bag didn't open. I tried again. Nothing happened. I took a breath,
doubled my muscle, and gave the bag a hearty wrestle. With a loud pop, the
cellophane suddenly gave way, ripping wide from top to bottom. Chips flew sky high.
I wasleft holding the bag, and it was empty. It was the final straw. I let out a
blood curdling scream. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

My husband heard my unorthodox cry for help. Within minutes he was standing
At the doorway to the kitchen, where he surveyed the damage: an opened can
of soup, melting groceries, moldy baked beans, and one quivering wife standing
ankle deep in potato chips. My husband did the most helpful thing he could think of
at the moment. He took a flying leap, landing flat-footed in the pile of chips and
then he began to stomp and dance and twirl, grinding those chips into my linoleum in the process! I stared. I fumed. Pretty soon I was working to stifle a smile. Eventually I had to laugh and finally I decided to join him.

I, too, took a leap onto the chips and then I danced. Now I'll be the first to admit that my husband's response wasn't the one I was looking for but the truth is, it was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a cleanup crew as much as I needed an attitude adjustment, and the laughter from that rather funky moment provided just that.

So now I have a question for you, and it's simply this: Has God ever stomped on
your chips? I know that, in my life, there have been plenty of times when I've
gotten myself into frustrating situations and I've cried out for help, all the while hoping God would show up with a celestial broom and clean up the mess. What often happens instead is that God dances on my chips, answering my prayer in a completely different manner than I had expected, but in the manner that is best for me after all. Sometimes I can see right away that God's provided just that.


There are even some situations that, years later, I'm still trying to understand. I figure God will fill me in sooner or later, either this side of Heaven or beyond. Do I trust Him? Even when he's answering my prayers in a way that is completely different from my expectations? Even when he's dancing and stomping instead of sweeping and mopping? Can I embrace what He's offering? Can I let His joy adjust my attitude? Am I going to stand on the sidelines and sulk, or am I willing to learn the steps of the dance he's dancin' with my needs in mind? I'll be honest with you; sometimes I sulk, sometimes I dance.
I'm working on doing more of the latter than the former. I guess the older I get the more I realize that He really does know what He's doing. He loves me and I can trust Him, even when the chips are down.