fly away home

This weeks prompt for writers island is 'Renewal'. One way to translate renewal is as "A time of change" and "times they are a changin" in our home. I don't remember if I ever wrote about my oldest sons return to the nest. After living on his own during and after college, He decided to return to his home base. Frankly, It was quite a shock to us. He seemed to be enjoying his independence, and his visits home always seemed to end with him looking like he couldn't wait to get away from us! Remember when YOU were 23?
Too much time with your parents was... Torture! After all, What do WE know? We are TOO clean. We work TOO hard. We party TOO infrequently. We have TOO many rules. We spend our down time semi-comatose time.... (Don't get scared) WATCHING THE T.V.!! ( horror music please.) My son hates television. He enjoys music & very LOUD music. He is in a band that plays 'noise music' ( it makes heavy metal sound like easy listening). He enjoys chess, painting, cooking & yoga. He enjoys bicycling and living life to it's fullest. He is a free spirit. He doesn't want the traditional life that we live. He is hoping to go west next year, maybe California, maybe Oregon. He has visited these states and enjoyed them much more than NY. Much, MUCH more than Long Island. " Long Island is a strip Mall". I've heard that one... more than a few times.
So, even though it is mostly great....It has been an adjustment, a change.... having our baby back in the nest, For him as well as us. It is great to be able to hug him everyday. I had really missed him. I love that my 3 boys are hanging out together. I love the long talks we have, I Love that he appreciates my home cooking! I love that He plays scrabble with me without me having to beg! I love spending time with him.
I love when he comes home from work and tells me the cute things that happened during the day. He is working in an elementary school as a One on One Para to a Kindergardener with Autism. This cute story for example....He was helping another child unpack his lunchbox and all that was in it was a block of cheese! No drink, no bread. Cheese. A Big Block of Cheese! He got the child a bagel and he sliced some cheese and made him a sandwich! I'm so happy that he loves doing this job. I'm hoping it will help him make the decision to go on to grad school and pursue a teaching career. I think he would be an amazing teacher. He is the most tolerant, patient person I know. He is caring and kind. He is compassionate. I think he would be the type of teacher that kids would treasure. He is also a passionate artist, so he is debating if an Art teacher would be a better choice. I told him he could teach any subject or grade and still incorporate Art into the curriculum. He could be known as the teacher who lets you Paint your alphabet or draw the history of the world.
Wherever he ends up, geographically or career wise, I hope he will always know our home is his home. Home base. Here for him to fly to, whether his life is full of home runs or strike outs. We are here when he needs to re-group, re-think, renew.

Mom Overture

A Senior moment

"They don't make them like they used to." That statement is true for many things, but it can also apply to people.
Last week, during my sons homecoming band performance, his trumpet broke. The little piece of metal that holds the Lyre broke off. He temporarily held the Lyre in place with duct tape. When we got home from the high school I called our local music store. They told me if I brought it down, it would take about 5 days to repair. They didn't say how much the repair would be, but I'm sure I was looking at at least 50.00. I didn't take it in to the store. I waited for my husband to come home... he can usually fix anything, but not in this case. Saturday slipped away and so did the trumpet problem from my pre-occupied mind. On Sunday evening, My son reminded me that he needed the trumpet for monday at school. I remembered my friend at homecoming mentioning if I had a problem getting it fixed to call her... she may know someone..... So enters Mannie Gotleeb. ( How great is that name?)
I gave him a call about 5:00 pm sunday, apologizing for bothering him on the weekend... He sounded about 105 years old! He kindly told me to come right on over, but then in a crusty tone said.. " I may not be able to do it today!". I told him I wouldn't expect him to and that I so I appreciated him letting us drop it off on a sunday. He only lives about 5 minutes away from me. He answered the door before we were out of the car and was very friendly. He also MAY have been about 90. He invited my son and I to go downstairs to his "work shop". Mrs. Gotleeb was also very old, but busy chopping vegetables. They were adorable. In the workshop Mannie explained several problems he saw with the trumpet and was coaxing us to let him "fix it all up".. I was ready to say 'do whatever needs to be done' but I thought, maybe I should ask how much that would be. He replies.... "Well, it wouldn't be any more than 10 dollars." I told him how reasonable that was and left him the trumpet. He walked us to the door..... ( do you remember how Tim Conway walked as that old man character in the Carol Burnett show??) YeaH! That is an accurate image... As we walked he again said in a suddenly crotchety tone... "NOW, I'm not sure when I will get to this". (me)- "No problem Mr. Gotleeb, we so appreciate you doing this". Well, at 6:45 p.m. that same night Mr. Gotleeb calls and says " It's all ready... make sure you bring the trumpet player back with you". Again, he wants us to walk ( ever SO slowly) with him downstairs to the workshop. He looked so proud of his handy work. My son played him a quick tune. He did charge only $10. I insisted I had to give him a $10. tip as well for doing it so quickly. At first he said No,No! When I expressed how pleased we were to find him and how happy my son was to have his trumpet ready for Monday, he gave in and shyly smiled looking excited to receive the $20.00. He enthusiastically retrieved his business cards from the workbench shelf, and told me to tell my friends. That is just what I'm doing. Telling my friends, that kindness, honesty & superior work ethics can still be found today, Especially when we look to our sensational seniors.

Lulu's Book Club

I am so excited that a few of my friends and I have started a book club! We had our first meeting at my house. We plan on rotating homes every 6 weeks when we meet. There were only 7 of us, but we hope to add a few more members. The first book we discussed was " A thousand splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. As I mentioned in another post, This book was extremely touching and well written. Our next selection is "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I think I will be very Oprah-esque and Invite my blogging community to join my book club. Every 6 weeks or so when we choose a new book, I will post the title and hope that you read along. Then, I will welcome your book comments and discussions. I don't think I have enough readers out there to get a big turnout, but what the hell... let's see what happens. watch Oprah today to see the author and hear more about her book.

Since Laini and Meg need a well deserved break from Sunday Scribblings this week, I would like to take this opportunity
to share my book club idea with my fellow scribblers.

Puzzle Journey

How many of you will come on my puzzle journey? I love all word puzzles.... Crosswords, word searches, jumbles... my favorite however is by far the Cryptogram. While the whole world is into the Sudoku number craze... I still enjoy letters.
Each morning while I drink my morning coffee... I do the Newsday Cryptoquote. (hint Figuring out the authors name is sometimes helpful in solving the puzzle) Thought it would be fun to give you a puzzle and see how you do.... If you can print it out, it will be easier .... I will reveal the answer in a few days. There are hints on doing a Cryptogram at the end.. Good Luck, Hope you'll enjoy taking this journey into my cryptic world.

A V T U / H / F Z / B Z / B V T / N T R P B J/


E R Y X Z P Y ,/ H / R X A R J K / P K T / B V T/


T C T Y F T U I J / T U B Y R U I T . / K Z C T B H C T K /


H / S P K B / F Z / W Z Y / R U/ T K B H C R B T ./

(author)- E V J X X H K / M H X X T Y

Hints for Solving Cryptograms:
*One letter stands for another-
example A X Y D L A A X R is L O N G F E L L O W
( A is used for the three L's, X for the two O's, etc..)
*Single letter words will be " I " or " A "
*Frequent use of the same 3 letter word may indicate the word " the "
*An apostrophe is usually followed by a " t " as in contractions (don't) or an " S " as in possessives ( dog's tail)
*A question mark at the end of a quotation tells you the first word is likely- Who, what, when, where, how or why
*Certain consonants occur together, such as "th", "wh", "sh", and "ch"
*Also the position of letters at the end of a word may indicate common endings such as "tion","ent",or "ant", "ing" or "ed"
*In a two letter word, one letter must be a vowel.

Middle Name Meme

I was tagged by my buddy Sherrie to do a middle name Meme. The object of the middle name game is to list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.

My middle name is Anne.
A It was a toss up between the Artist (haircutting ability) or the Arbitrator. In my family I seem to be the middleman in every dispute between each child or my husband. Peacemaker would have been more apropos ( if my name was say... Pam.)
N Nice.
N Nice again. I am too nice. Sometimes it is a fault. Sometimes being So nice means sacrificing my own happiness. Okay that was cheating the truth is I have another N word- NEUROTIC. I can get a little OCD and I do get quite anxious over nothing.
( Actually, Nutcase may have been more appropriate.)
E Expressive. I had a difficult time picking a word for E- I like to talk and am usually pretty animated. I guess expressive is the right word. Although, Eating would probably be more relevant to my life. I really Like eating. So there you have it...
The Meme game also says- At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name and tag them too. Instead I would like to say... If you would Like to do this Meme... Please.... just do it. It was fun.

Women

I've always admired Powerful women. Women who walk into a room and own it. Women who can shake hands firmly yet know they still own their femininity. They're the Women who are the first to speak up at a PTA meeting and touch on the issues most of the shy Moms wouldn't dare broach, but are relieved someone has aired. They run for office, they run marathons, They run successful businesses. They are leaders. This type of assertiveness is just one kind of Powerful woman. ALL women are powerful in emotional strength, in loving and in multi-tasking. Women can take on their own troubles, the troubles of their spouses, their children, their friends, their friends children, their parents and their Grand-parents, while chasing toddlers, paying bills, working full time, food shopping, cooking, cleaning, nurturing their families, entertaining guests, driving to little league and organizing a garage sale. (That is all on the same day!) A woman can and will handle whatever comes her way, usually never skipping a beat or sacrificing her families harmony. Self sacrifice seems to go hand and hand with being a woman. We just naturally put our loved ones ahead of ourselves. We love unconditionally. We want to give everything of ourselves. We bond with other women lending support and comfort. We can endure whatever we're dealt with poise and tactfulness. We laugh wholeheartedly, we cry wholeheartedly. We love wholeheartedly. Women are just naturally built with this passionate, massive, internal power.
I send this out with love & respect to all the women I know and treasure.

How old are you REALLY?

Take this
real AGE quiz!

I hope it's pretty accurate, if it is I am NOT 48, I am only 34! I will live to be a nice old wrinkly age of 89!
I think I better work on de-stressing my life, I then may make it till 90.
I would love you to tell me what your real age and life expectancy is....
(thanks for the link Anna xo )

Somedays

Life has been pretty busy in a crazzzy way lately. I feel like I haven't written a Real- Life post in a long time. Real Life? What is real life anyway. Real life consists mostly of worries and work, no? Somedays though- when I am soaking in my "Now foam free" hot tub, being romanced by my husband, feeling totally relaxed and numb, The boys all happy and busy... I tell Peter- " I feel like I'm living Someone else's Life!" We did have many days like that this past summer and that phrase became the catch phrase of the season. Usually followed by me breaking into the song "living la Vita loca". Unfortunately, Many days aren't so peaceful. I'm reminded of the poignant lyrics of Regina Specktor... " Somedays Aren't yours at all. They come and go As if they're someone else's days". Does Anyone else ever feel like that? I was pretty bummed out last week due to an infected finger. Little things can trip you up and take your day away. What really pissed me off was my Doctor. I called on Friday to get an appt. Her receptionist said she was totally booked and couldn't see me. I asked if her associate was there. No. I said " Well, I KNow this is infected, could she call in an anti-biotic?" OH, She would never do that without seeing you!" Yes, but She CAN'T see me... So what am I suppose to do??" Go to the emergency room I said " THE EMERGENCY ROOM? Why would I want to do that and sit for hours?" Well, go to one of the walk in clinics "Why would I go there, when I have Insurance?" some of them take insurance She also informed me that her office was closed on Saturday.
IS IT ME??? OR IS THIS REALLY BAD MEDICAL CARE?? The next day I had to cancel my full day of clients. My finger was not only swollen, red and killing me, but the paranoid side of me was convinced I had cellulitis. I had this once before in my mouth! When I apologized to the Dr. for coming in for a swollen face, He had said to me... Good thing you did, Tomorrow you would have been dead! Apparently, with cellulitis the infection pockets itself and travels through your bloodstream. In the case of me biting the inside of my cheek, it would have traveled quickly to my brain. He had to give me an injection of antibiotics as well as massive doses orally. Something like that stays in the back of your head when faced with another infection.

So Saturday I decide to go to a walk-in clinic. One of my sweet clients works there, and gave me a 20% discount. The Dr. lanced my finger and gave me antibiotics. A few days later it was still painful, I called MY doc. again. AGAIN I got the run around, being told to see a surgeon or go back to the clinic! It is now getting better but seems to have taken a long time.
All I did was trim a hanging cuticle, and nip myself a tiny bit. I must have gotten a cut hair in the cut while working.
I've been soaking it all week and it finally isn't hurting to type! Now another day this week will be taken away from me, while I try to find a new doctor. I am going to ask bizarre questions like- DO you lance infections yourself? Or would you send me to a surgeon? Do you have weekend hours/ an associate/ a moron for a receptionist? Do you only write referrals and take blood pressure? OR- are You a REAL, hands on, caring doctor?

"Hi, My name is..."

This title is the Sunday Scribblings prompt for this week. I have been wanting to re-post my first blog post and another old one because many friends have asked me, Why I chose the name "Lulus Petals". Due to the fact that I am still struggling with an infection in my finger after one week, It would be a way of participating without too much pain! So here is my first post and 1/2 the explanation........Having decided to try my hand at blogging, my first obstacle was a name. My name has never sat well with me. My parents named me after my fathers mother. Lucille. No offense to all the Lucille's out there, but I never cared for that name. I also had never cared for the nickname that came from Lucille. LuLu. Since I was a wee little baby, my family called me LuLu. For many years ( like "baby" in Dirty Dancing) I didn't realize there was anything wrong with the name. Then my first passionate kiss at age 12! This innocent young boy (Eric) whispered " Oh LuLu". Well, the silliness of that name had me laughing instead of kissing. He felt uncomfortable and I felt my name didn't fit me. To the rescue my big sister- who suggests I take the Lu from Lucille and the Anne of my middle name and become Luanne! A New Lu is born. From that day forth I introduced my self to everyone as Luanne. In school I was still Lucille, At home the LuLu would not die. At my wedding I had the priest call me Lucille ( for my moms sake mostly) and several friends afterward said how sorry they were that the priest got my name wrong! I never legally changed my name so the confusion has been troublesome. Well, here I am now many, many years later, My husband and my friends call me Luanne. My mom still throws an occasional LuLu at me, which I now do not mind at all. After all the hoopla and insecurity and awkward circumstances..... I wish I would have just been.... a Lucy.
This second SHORT post explains the other half
I never expected this to happen, But I've introduced myself to all my new friends at Weight Watchers as Lucy. All my new wonderful cyber friends email me as Lucy and even my husband has affectionately thrown a few Lucy's at me.( Usually in his Best Ricky Ricardo voice!) I plan on using it in all my new introductions! It may be wacky to want a new name at 48, but I've never denied being a bit of a Wacko!

Ny State of mind

We had so much fun at the Mike and Juliet show! I had never been in the audience of a live show before. Watching all the 'behind the scenes' chaos and excitement was very cool. The host Mike was real friendly and Juliet was beautiful and skinnier than any human I have ever seen! haha I said to my friend " Have you ever seen anyone this skinny on Long Island? We sat for the live taping of todays show and then they did pre taping of segments for future shows. One segment was with Kelsey Grammer. I have never thought of him as handsome, HOWEVER! Up close he was quite handsome and distinguished. Another segment was with Zack and Cody two cute boys from a show on Disney called the suite life of Zack and Cody. I had never heard of them or seen them before, but they were adorable and VERY entertaining. I don't know when these segments will be aired, but I hope to try and catch them for that exciting chance of seeing us in the audience! What is it about that?? It was so exciting today, when my husband said he saw me in the audience. What a ham! Yet, they asked me if I would like to ask a question in a segment about relationships and I said NO WAY! What a fool! They ended up Not taping the relationship part so I wouldn't have had the chance anyway. Next time, I will be brave!
As we were leaving the stage I shook Mikes hand and got such a thrill, when he looked me up and down and said and I quote " Look at you! How cute are You?" haha
I think I am still gushing and blushing. I don't even remember if I said thank you or just kept smiling my goofy smile! It felt like those long ago teenage days, when the cute boy finally asks for your number. My poor family and friends will hear this story about 99 more times. I promise this is the last time you will hear about it on the ol' blog!

Mike and Juliet Show

Tomorrow ( 9/18), I'm going into the city with a sweet friend to see the Mike and Juliet show. I like these hosts and try to catch them at 9 am on fox. My friend E. gets tickets to the show often and I find it so exciting to just catch a glimpse of her in the audience but better yet watch her ask or answer a question, or state a comment. I am hoping to be 1/2 as brave as she is and actually get a chance to maybe 15 SECONDS of fame. Maybe if she speaks, I can just put my face near hers! Just enough that it is worth programing our DVR box. Kelsey Grammer is going to be a guest. I've always enjoyed his shows from Cheers to Frasier and now he has a new show- "Back to you" starting on the 19th.
So put on your glasses buddies and try to find me in the quick panoramic pass of the camera through the audience! I will be wearing my much needed distance glasses! (Don't let them throw you.) Not sure what color I will be in, depends on the temperature at 6:30 am. If tomorrow is anything like my house right now, I will be the one in a snow suit. :)

Somebody Stop me!

Sometimes a collection starts out with the innocent purchase of one adorable bear. When Friends gather, they admire your new bear. You point out the details and the adorable paw print that his hidden somewhere on all of the artists pieces. You show them the poignant saying on the bottom of the bear. They all say" Awww". A birthday comes up, Friends give you another cute bear, another paw print to find and a sweet saying Like this one- "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also". Aww, Your family is touched, they think "Great! Christmas is coming, Mom seems to like having these bears around the house". They shop for more little brown resin bears with cute paw prints and sayings to melt the mushy mom. Your husband discovers they also have them in plush as well! Mom gushes and finds more spots to display these little guys. How thoughtful her family is to notice her fondness for these bears. Another Anniversary, Another Christmas, Another birthday. Bear, Bear, Bear. OOOH, The wife is having a bad day, why bring flowers?....The bear will brighten her! Then, you realize another shelf is necessary. A special shelf to hold the precious first bear and all her bear friends. Initially, You treasure the bears .Then You try and remember who gave you each one? Why the hell does this one have a broken arm? I've never broken MY arm.??


Some stand out in your memory like this one from my son who loves baking Christmas cookies with me.

You start to skip dusting them as often. You approach the bear shelf with your pledge and cloth..... You think why the fuck would they make these with so many grooves and crevices? You realize that white haze of dust gives them an antiqued quality that they'd lacked.

The plush ones need vacuuming. Your lucky if life hands you the luxury of extra time to run Mr. Orek across the floors never mind attachment time to suck up dusty hairbows and tiny sweater vests. You think of that sweet saying that says where treasures are so is your heart. Your frustration subsides. You swoon again, this time it's for tea pots and Lenox disney.
Your husband falls in love with tin toys. The insanity begins again. Soon we need more shelves, more attachements, more pledge.

stupid is as stupid does

As I waited patiently reading a book in the hospital waiting room this week, I over heard a conversation that had me thinking of Abbott and Costello.
A doctor came over to the woman next to me and told her that her dads surgery went very well. Then they spoke further and I wasn't paying any attention to them until this started...
Doc- "So, All looks well... I won't call you unless things should change."
Woman- "What day would you call me?"
Doc-"No, I'm saying if he stays doing this well, I Won't call."
Woman-"Yeah, But IF you call.. When would that be?"
Doc- "No, No, Don't worry... Everything looks great, I would only call if he wasn't doing well."
woman- "Oh, So You're not calling me?"
Doc-( looking dumbfounded)- "Only IF he ISN'T doing well."
Woman- "Yeah, but I mean Like WHAT DAY would that be? You know?"
Doc- (remains silent and staring at her in disbelief for a few seconds)-"IF after a few days he doesn't show signs of improving.
( reassuringly) I'm sure I won't be calling, He looks great.."
Woman ( interrupting his sentence).. "But HOW many days would that maybe be?"
Doc- ( at this point the doc makes eye contact with me, and I give an expression with my eyes equivalent to saying HOlY Shit!) "Listen.... IF in 2 days or 3 days or 5 days, he is NOT doing well, Then THAT is When I will have to call you. OKAY??"
Woman- "So you don't know when you're going to call me?"
Doc- "No because he is doing well. Your dad is fine, let's not worry about the call, Okay.. Have a nice day. You can call ME if you need anything."
Patience IS a virtue, that guy was a fucking saint
The next day as I was shopping for a bar-b-cue. The MANAGER of PC Richard's said to me... " I've PUTTEN many barbecues together."
I thought ..... I Bet HE is that WOMANS Bastard son.
Gee, it's only wednesday ..... I wonder how stupid the rest of this week will be.

Writing

Dear Sunday Scribblings,
I am writing to let you know how much I enjoy your weekly creative prompts.Writing has always been something I've enjoyed. As a child, I would practice writing cursive in many dramatic styles, trying to find one that would be my signature signature.
As a pre-teen, I poured all my feelings into writing in a daily diary.
I also wrote constantly to my best friend Linda. We were inseparable through childhood, but we loved
to write back and forth to each other something we created called " Future Letters". As strange as it sounds,
we would write letters, as if we were already grown women, creating a fantasy life style and keeping in
touch with each other,( because Of Course, circumstances had led us to different parts of the world!) I wonder if it was our way of hoping for a brighter tomorrow? The letters were very detailed. We had names for all our children and our husbands. We had fantastic jobs with names and stories for all the coworkers. What wacky kids, huh? This is another reason I love your prompts. I haven't thought about those future letters in forever. Your prompt this week, brought back a wonderful memory. I even think somewhere in my unorganized garage, I have a stack of these precious letters saved. I can't wait to try and dig them up.
As a teen and young adult, I always attempted poetry and song lyrics. ( I know I have some of these saved as well) (somewhere?) My poem titled "unconditional Love" was written for my youngest son as he sat in his high chair, spitting food in my face. Like much of what I've written, I never feel like I can share these words with anyone. I don't think they're "good enough". I wrote for the way it made me feel.
About 10 years ago , I actually started writing a book of my life story. ( I exaggerated a bit for excitement.) I have it in a spiral notebook, with lots of cross outs and grammatical errors. I know I don't have the talent to create a novel worth publishing, However, My talented son who has a BA in English does! Last year, I apprehensively showed him this very personal attempt at creative writing. I told him that someday, maybe we could collaborate my ideas and his abilities and seriously attempt a draft. As usual, he was encouraging and supportive. He also reminded me that I should have pursued the children's story that I had written a while back. He feels it would definitely be published and do well. I had googled publishing and read that you need a literary agent, and how difficult it was, blah, blah, blah. So, I put the pages in a draw and there they've been for many years.
When encouraged to try blogging, I was reluctant to say the least. My insecurities and fear of negative criticism were screaming, You can't do this". I'm so happy my friend nudged me along. The positive feedback from the amazing blogging community, my friends and family gave me the " I CAN do this" feeling that was not only encouraging but heartwarming as well. Then, You came along sweet Sunday Scribblings, with these motivating prompts and a way to connect to the nicest people I've ever met! Through your inspiring creation, you've allowed me to be connected to a talented writing community full of beautiful, caring, extremely creative people. You've helped me continue blogging longer than I expected I would. I hope you continue your generous weekly gift. I wish you all the luck and happiness in the world.
Sincerely grateful,
Lucy Lulu

back and forth

I haven't posted in a while. Not much visiting of blogs either. Life is feeling too crazy, too busy, too much. Where are the hours in a day going? This week my youngest went back to school. Last week my oldest moved back home. My middle son is working back to back between college and his job. My husband is back to being frustrated by our bubbly hot tub.
(Look what happens when you listen to the "pros" or should I say scumballs at Leslies pool store)



I wish I was back on my Aug. Vacation, my lazy back against my lounge chair, my nosed pressed into my book.( I am really enjoying Khaled Hosseini's new book, "A thousand splendid suns". Have you read his first novel "The Kite runner"? If not, trust me get over to your library or book store and sit back and get ready for one of the most beautiful stories ever written.)
Anyway, I don't know why I am feeling so overwhelmed and a bit depressed. Considering what life has dished out through the years, things are really going well right now. I keep trying to focus on all the positives, all the happiness. Thank god, there are many to focus on.
When I think back through the years, I realize the beginning of each school year has always made me blue.
Many feelings come into play. School signifies the end of summer and its ease and carelessness, its beautiful sunny days. It signifies that the long winter and its confinement is on its way. It means we go back to the routine of getting up early ( 6 am) and conking out earlier. The weeks fly by even faster. I always miss my son. The holidays which bring more cleaning, shopping and preparing are creeping up. Geeez, If you were feeling good when you started reading this, I apologize, 'cause you must be feeling pretty shitty right about now.
I think I need to get back to my exercise routine. Those endorphins could be really useful right now. I also, need to get back to eating right. I haven't been counting points, calories or how many cookies I consume for lunch. Yesterday, lunch consisted of 5 dunkin munchkins, 2 giant oatmeal cookies, a spoonful of peanut butter and a cup of tea. Dinner was 3 slices of pizza. Gee, if we really ARE what we eat, no wonder I feel like crap. It is so hard to get back into the habit of eating healthy, but NEXT WEEK I plan on giving it my best shot.
(You can't start dieting on a thursday after all, I think that may be an actual deadly sin)

The End

This morning we sat outside to have our morning coffee and read the paper as usual. It was a beautiful morning. My husband commented that He couldn't believe it was already the end of August. I commented I couldn't believe our vegetable garden, which didn't do too well this year, had already come to an end .Before we could finish our conversation, we noticed a scurrying of many squirrels up and down and across the fence, the 2 story treehouse, Everywhere! Our dogs of course Were going crazy! Do you remember my tale about Cosmos passion for squirrels? Our attention was so focused on this crazy occurrence of at least 10 squirrels frantically running around to escape the barks of our pets, that we actually saw it happen. Cosmo Got one! One never knows how one is going to react to horror, terror or your schnoodle mauling a squirming squirrel. Let me tell you, it was out of my control. At 7:30 A.M I began to scream a blood curdling scream. I was frozen to my patio and couldn't run to stop it. I just screamed! I imagined Cosmo bitten and full of rabies or just nasty squirrel germs. I imagined it was the end of the poor straggly squirrel. Thank god Mr. Lulu ( who always reacts quickly in a crisis) ran towards him and yelled "drop it" ( a command Cosmo actually understands). He dropped it! The squirrel ran off, hopefully not wounded. I look up and my neighbor.... ( I can't even write this without laughing) my neighbor, who is an amazing guy in any crisis... (hurricane, your outdoor water spigot breaks, someone runs their car onto your lawn at 4 am or if your kid swallows a plum pit! ) He RAN out of his house in his underwear thinking I was being murdered! hahaha (Hours later I called him, just to laugh.)
At the end of the day, My oldest son had a very sensible,sweet take on the whole episode. What we saw as a terrible trait in our pet, he saw as a major accomplishment. He said " Think of it Mom, What is Cosmos only goal in life? To catch a squirrel, Well now he has achieved his goal. Think how great he must be feeling. I'm really proud of him." I would have never thought of it that way. Then Mr. Lulu said, "Yeah, Look how happy he looks, He is outside smoking a cigar".
The End.
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sometimes I get mushy

This past weekend we attended an engagement party that was a family reunion as well. It was so nice catching up with relatives that we hadn't seen in many years. It was also nice spending the day with my in-laws. Life gets so busy, and it's a shame that we don't have enough time to share with all the family and friends that we care deeply for. My husbands parents are alot of fun and we get along great. I feel so lucky to have a mil ( mother in law) & fil (father in law) who I really treasure.
I was so happy that my mil captured the above photo of my fil with me. I think the last time we had a photo together was nearly 27 years ago on my wedding day.
On that day it was my fil who walked me down the aisle. You may remember ,My dad passed away when I was 3. When I first met my husband, I was having some rough times with my own family. My fil and mil were there for me. They welcomed me with open arms and I've never forgotten how much that meant to me. I have a lot of reasons to thank these special people. One of the best reasons is the wonderful example of a loving, adoring husband that my fil gave to his son. My mil and I always discuss this common adoration & love that we share from two very similar, amazingly devoted husbands. The love that my in laws share after 56 years of marriage is not only rare but also inspiring. It is the epitome of what the bond of marriage can be. I sometimes worry for them because even though they may not look or act it, they are growing older. If one should lose the other it would be beyond heartache and beyond consolation. This "sinking" thought always brings to mind the lyrics of Natalie Merchants song- " My beloved wife" ( The lyrics are in my sidebar). A husband is singing about his wife of over 50 years who has passed away, and he questions if it is wrong that he feels he wants to go with her. I have chills just thinking of this beautiful song and the love it professes. We all deserve to love and be loved in life. It is worth the searching, it is worth the heartaches along the way. It is worth taking a lifetime if necessary to acquire it.
Here is my husband..... standing behind me in a photo and standing behind me in whatever I do... forever.

When DON'T I get that sinking feeling?

"I get that sinking feeling..." This phrase is the Sunday Scribblings prompt this week. I've been real busy and thought I would have to skip this week, but the prompt is too great , I need to touch on it, even without time to really, really search my pre-occupied, frazzled brain.
I feel like to personalize this topic it should read like my title. As much as you know me as a kidder and someone who likes to have fun, I am SO full of doom and gloom. The meaning of A sinking feeling, according to Answers. com, is a sense of dread or apprehension. I sense dread & apprehension more than I care to disclose! The first strong sinking feeling that popped into my head when I read the prompt is one that every parent has experienced. Thinking I had lost my child in a store. Even though it was a matter of seconds before I found my son hiding under the clothes rack at macys, It felt like an eternity, like time stood still.A low Ringing in my ears the sinking feeling sinking below my heart and into the pit of my stomach, making me nauseous as well as dizzy. Sweat immediately formed on my upper lip along with chills down my spine. Calling his name out became a shrill cry that quickly drew attention from other compassionate moms nearby. The feeling of relief in finding him is indescribable. If you are a parent I don't need to type more.. YOU KNOW what I mean.
Another time I experience that sinking feeling is when I totally embarrass myself by saying something Ridiculously stupid. My most embarrassing moment? Being at the wake of a family friend. His distraught wife hugged me goodbye and with tears said "Thanks so much for coming"? What did Loose Lipped Lucy reply? "Thanks for having me." Even in her tragic circumstance she actually squinted at me looking puzzled. I was MORTIFIED! My husbands sister still teases me and remembers my famous blunder. That sinking feeling is still present just re-telling it.
My kids keep telling me I worry too much, they must be right, because whenever they're not home and my phone rings, my heart sinks. It is amazing that I don't have more gray hairs. Forget it if the phone rings at 4 am. My husband needs to call a paramedic after he hangs up. I think my heart actually stops beating, till I hear him say "Wrong number".
Another classic sink happens if I even think I may have offended someone's feelings. Last week I worried all week about something I said to a favorite client, I finally had to call her to apologize. She thought I was a NUT, she didn't even think twice about our conversation. What the hell is wrong with me? This sinking feeling thing is going to do me in, I know it.
My Obit will read " She Sunk!"

GREAT scumBALLS OF FIRE

If you remember in my vacation post, I talked about the problems we were having with our new hot tub. Well trouble seems to come in multiples. After the repairman fixed our leak and we finally got to soak and relax, We started having a huge problem with foam. We had more suds than a tub full of Mr. Bubbles. It was fun to make funny hair sculptures on my head, but it felt freaky. I've never been in a sudsy hot tub before. My husband( Mr. HOT stuff) went to the pool store and bought a chemical called suds away( or something like that). This product not only made us have more suds it also made the tub feel slimy! If that wasn't enough it left me with a rash all down my legs! I've been using cortisone on my legs and waiting till it goes away before I will go back in. In the mean time Mr. Hot stuff has emptied it and re-filled it to rid it of the De-sudser.
My son, who couldn't believe the amount of suds in our tub last week, went to his friends house to go in his "crystal clear"hot tub. When he returned home he informed us that his friends parents use a "scumball' to collect foam and body oils. Today, I was on a Scumball quest. I called the first store " EXcuse me do you have scumballs?" She hung up on me. I tried calling another hot tub store. " Hi, I'm trying to find Scumballs" WHATTTT?? I tried explaining myself, it wasn't easy.
I'm telling you, With all the stores and shopping centers I run around to in a week, trying to do all my errands, I have run into my fair share of scumballs. BUT! When you really need a scumball there are none to be found! I finally went in to Leslie's pool store and without taking a chance of some idiot standing next to me and shouting " HOW MUCH FOR THE SCUMBALL?" I searched the shelves, found the Balls ( figures they come in pairs), didn't care that they had no price-tag, and very inconspicuously paid for and hauled my balls out of there.
Apparently, you are suppose to let a ball float around and it collects oils, foam, dirt and are you ready for this HAiRS! ( don't you want to run right out and jump in someone's hot tub!?) How gross does this sound? My son said while he was in his friends tub, this dirty little brown slime ball of germs just floated around him! ( my words not his) I'm starting to re-think this whole hot tub idea. ( Mr. Hot stuff is going to clobber my sudsy, fickle head) With my history of sensitivity to EVERYTHING- I have a feeling if I want to frequently soak in relaxing hot water, I better not only stock up on scumballs and cortisone, but on some monistat too.