For the Birds

Lee gave me a new game for Christmas....BIRDopoly.  Let me first explain that in nearly 60 years, I have never completed a Monopoly game much less won one. Birdopoly is exactly the same game except the properties are feathered and you can place birdhouses and trees on your owned Bird lands. We began with 4 players, Mom, Papa, Grandma and Bailee. We read the directions aloud so everyone was on the same page.. No cheating on how to get out of "Grounded" (Jail) and whether or not you can sell properties to your fellow gamers.  The one rule we never played in the old game was: if you land on an unowned property and choose NOT to purchase it, it then goes to the highest bidder... That proved pretty interesting!  It appears we have a budding real estate mogul in our midst.  Bailee got the hang of auction style bidding way too quickly.  Long story short. After two hours, she was killing us!!! She had a pile of $500's and Bird's galore.... She had all the black birds which in relation would have been the utilities in the old version.... Each time we landed on one (and there were 4), we paid her $200.  She then put 4 birdhouses on 3 other owned Birds and broke us all as rent was over $400 on each.  No 5 year old should catch on that quickly....period!

Needless to say, three of us cried "Uncle" as eyes were beginning to close (and that was Papa).  It was official, she had kicked our proverbial bird butts. I think Go Fish and Candyland are games of the past. Game on!!

All Aboard

2011 is leaving the building.  I must admit, I am not sad to see it go. My biggest fear is that each year, as we age gracefully...or otherwise, things will begin to fall apart.  I always thought uncertainty accompanied youth.  Where will I go to college, how will I pay for it, will I love my job, will I fall in love...forever....and so on.  I think it's maybe the most certain time of our lives.  We didn't realize it and weren' savvy enough to appreciate it.  Even if we screwed up, (and we all did) there was still time to reroute ourselves and get back on track.  At this stage in our lives, we better damn well know what train we're on and hope it's going where we planned.  If you didn't plan.... you may be screwed.  The economy may have thrown a couple detours in our trip and some pesky health issues may have changed our speed but hopefully we'll have some time to enjoy the destination and do a little sight seeing.  Although don't put too much stock in the destination..... the journey may be the best part. Here's hoping that 2012 allows us the time to get we're going safely, the time to enjoy the route we choose and the time to remember where we've been.

Holy Smoke

Holy Smoke....detectors. We have 6 hard-wired smoke detectors in this house.  Code said we must and nobody argues with Code...(well sometimes).  A few months ago, they began talking..to each other...which is normal is\f you're a smoke detector and one of your batteries is low.  We changed ALL the batteries and all was peaceful for an hour or so..then they all started chatting again.  Not quiet mind you and yes I know that the object is to wake you up and get your attention.  That worked!  We ended up unplugging them to stop them from communicating.  So, no electrical and no batteries meant no protection... not smart in a new home...or any home.  Lee went and bought a couple of new ones...Duh.. guess we should have bought ALL new ones.  We began to think, "Hmmm..maybe they're chirping because we actually HAVE a CO2 issue..  Got the detector here from the firehouse and found no kill you in your sleep gases wafting around.  Back to square one.  F-i-n-a-l-l-y this morning the original installer came to diagnose.... Good to go?  Not so much.  All brand new batteries again.... and strangely, the other "new" ones dated March 2014....only had 5-6V in 3 of them.  They were new but not good...How would you know that?  I guess it's not like milk where the older milk comes forward when they stock and the new milk goes in the back.... (maybe I should inform stores to do that.)  everything appeared to be working perfectly...........for about an hour... then they all started "talking" again..loudly.  So now I've opened the battery doors which disengages them...still going, I've reset the breaker and they're all still chirping every minute.... So I will unplug them from power and close the battery doors to see if one of the detectors is ill.  If so, we can get all new detectors and start the process over.....  I wonder if "Code" really thinks that this is safer and easier?  Most people would just unplug, pull the batteries and go without...Maybe I'll just get plain old battery ones and live back in the 20th century where you change them when you change your clocks and sleep with a fire extinguisher near your bed.

:-(

Sometimes quiet sucks!   Outside decorations are down.  Dead pine boughs are out of the bathroom and off the mantle.  The guest room is empty. Nobody's shoes are by the door.  The Christmas tree looks pitifully unhappy and you could hear a mouse fart....too damn quiet here:-(  I can't believe I even thought about complaining about noise or 1/2 empty cans of soda or lights left on or empty toilet paper rolls... what was I thinking?!  The anticipation and planning took months and in a few short days it's over and everyone returns to their weirdly, normal routines.  Everybody appears to be happy with their gifts. We skipped the clothing this Christmas (except for Mom and Lee) so no "sizable" worries there. Technology and gift cards seem to be the winner of this season. Everything from iPhones and iPads to Kindles and D.S's.  We should have no problem keeping in contact!!  Lee is still carrying both his new phone and his old one. I guess even at 61 you need something for security.  Jess and Bailee will be winging to the sunny south in February for a week.  We told her she couldn't go until she was five and I'm not sure how it happened....but she's FIVE!  I think she'll love it and I hope she'll remember it....that's the most important.
I guess it's time to wait for the taxes to arrive next week, anticipate the dreaded income tax ( a little late to do anything about 2011), plan for a few weeks in the south and hope that 2012 has no surprises in store for us.  One day at a time, one foot in front of the other and onward we go:-)

Kindergarten Concert:-)

100 little cutie pies all dressed in red and green donning their Santa hats.  The wonderful, new auditorium was filled with Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Siblings and of course, the Papas and Grandmas.... There were jingles and fears, laughter and tears but hey, they're FIVE.  It was 22 minutes of holding our breath to see if they'd remember their lines to belting out Jingle Bells and breathing a sigh of relief when they marched to the microphone.  One thing's for sure...We DO NOT pay our teachers enough.  We deal with one, two or maybe three if you're the proud parents of Triplets........They (teachers) deal with 2 dozen, 5 days a week..... and they actually manage to teach them something!  I will admit that maybe one for the Kindergarten teachers may have lost it... She was all dressed in elf red, had on every piece of jewelry she was ever given and the last time she'd combed her hair was September 5th. She laid back in her chair as she flashed prompts to the kiddos.  Who said kids can't drive you nuts!!!
Well, I have it forever digitally recorded.  We'll be able to show it at her sweet 16 or graduation.  But for today, it ranked right up with a Premiere of a Broadway musical.

Now, 1/2 of our Christmas is complete with the girls watching "Dolphin Tale" in the theater, the smell of popcorn mixing with Great Grandmas chocolate cookies and only 3 hours until the other half of Christmas (Uncle Jeff and Heather) arrive at Syracuse airport.  Commence Christmas!! ♥♥
                                    Ho Ho Holy Cow, it's HERE!

Best Laid Plans

A Christmas chuckle.....(the joke's on me)

Yesterday, as I was organizing the kid's bedroom and making sure all the gifts were under the tree, I came across a package for Lee...(I hadn't tagged it).  It looked a little bulky so I checked inside.  Let me backtrack: On Sunday, I took Mom's gift to her for their Christmas party.  We spent all two hours munching and singing... a delightful afternoon for all.  I left Mom's gift in her room and asked the girls to help her open it later on.   Back to yesterday:  In the bulky package was Mom's purple, velour jogging suit...I was sure I had delivered Mom her gift..(Oh no you didn't!!)  I called Walden Place to make sure she wasn't proudly donning her new "shooting shirt."  She was not and I said I'd be there this morning to bring new meaning to the term GIFT EXCHANGE!!!  When we got to her room, we checked the closet....no shirt but there on her shelf were the pants I bought Jessie!...Talk about confusing the confused.... I asked if they had another available bed:-(..
Long story short..... Mom , not Lee, will be wearing the sporty, new, velour jogging suit, Jess already has her new slacks and Lee will get to open his fancy, new shooting shirt on Christmas morning....    And I thought I was SO organized!!

W..............Christmas

W...et.... Christmas:-(  If this were snow, we'd be shoveling.....but it's not. Even the local Scrooges have said they would acquiesce to at least an inch or two for the sake of a white Christmas.  I'm trying to look at the positive side of all this green....Travelers won't be stuck, thermostats can be lower, injuries from falls will be down and shoveling and plowing will be nill. At least inside it will be Christmas as usual.  Everyone (except B :-( ..) will awake to my Beach Boys singing carols, coffee wafting through the house, the table dressed in it's Christmas finery and stockings bulging at their seams and laying, overloaded, by the fireplace.  I just don't know how Santa magically gets it all together no matter what the circumstances.  He is one clever dude(tte).  I will still miss the snow.  Our great room has 12 foot doors that I love to open (reminiscent of the final scene in White Christmas) to our beautiful back yard and freezing, white falls.  The falls have cooperated but we'll have to imagine the snow.  We can do that... as long as we're all here together and relatively safe, healthy and sane, the weather won't hamper our day.  It'll be a long one..ONE present at a time but rules are rules and traditions are traditions. It took all year to bring it together and it'll take ALL day to tear it apart.   We'll all enjoy and just "Deal about it!"

A favorite night!

Sunday night was one of our favorite Christmas events. Santa Claus comes to town!  Our local firemen and women do a jolly job on this event.  They string lights on the firetrucks, pipe holiday music through the public address system, hand out candy canes and this year collected for our local food pantry.  I still remember the first year when we ran to the top of the Lane and Santa called Bailee by name...I cried!  Her face will be forever etched in mind (God willing).  This year she kept saying, "I hope he remembers my name!". She even wished on a star hoping that would help. (She didn't tell us her wish...we just knew).  When he slowly wheeled by and hollered "Merry Christmas Bailee," it was magical... No smile has ever been wider....Again, "He remembered my name, he remembered my name!"  Back inside we went knowing he'd be back in a few minutes and actually turn down her street and go right by her house. She waited patiently by the window until she saw the flashing lights and heard the Christmas music.  She threw on her coat and hat, (her boots were still on) and out the door we flew!  Once again, "Merry Christmas Bailee!"  I managed to capture the smile and will forever remember her saying, "This is the best day of my whole life!!"

I wonder if those firemen and women have any idea what a few volunteer hours mean to all those boys and girls.............................and their Grandmas?

Twas the week before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas
And all through the house
Not much was misplaced
except maybe my blouse.. (I'm always misplacing things these days)

The stockings were hung
by the "fake" chimney with care
In hopes that my kids
Might fill mine this year

My Leroy was snuggled
All warm in his bed
Dreams of clay pigeons
All 25 dead!

And I in my recliner
and he beneath sheets
Were all settled in
Despite noise by the street

When out in the yard
Something big began howling
I knew we'd had supper
Our tummies weren't growling

Then the patio doors
in the bedroom flew open
Not exactly the action
For which Lee been hopin'

Looked out in the woodlands
and what did I see
leaves that were blowing
And fake deer near the tree

The moon on the breast
of not one lick of snow
If we don't get some soon
This Christmas will blow!

I returned to my bed
on the breeziest of nights
And hoped that the wind
would rip down those damn lights

I dreamed that my yard
would become one of beauty
As Jessie had labored and
done double duty

A house should be festive
With lights of ONE color
Not look like who lived there
Was named Helen Keller.

When I woke to the sun
shining in my front door
My wish had been granted
The lights shone no more

Some said they were pretty
I thought they were gross
Next year will be better
LED's will be toast.

"Simple is better"
Is what Leroy said
So twenty & twelve
may have lights just of red.

He likes the colors
And I prefer white
We'll have 48 weeks
to work through the fight.

No matter what happens
It all will be fine
Our EIEIO landscape
Will surely all shine!

Good "Grebe" Charlie Brown

Have you ever decided to dive right into something thinking you land well and be good to go....  a project, a relationship, a trip, a new job???? Well sometimes the plunge isn't quite what you expected.  Take for instance thousands of grebes....They were all on their seasonal migration to Mexico to spend a quiet winter on/near the beach.  It was a bit overcast and with the dark clouds hovering over the lights of the city, they spotted a welcome respite of flat water below....When the lead grebe began his descent (plunge) into friendly water, it became more of a suicide mission that a rest stop.  By the 1000's, they slammed into the parking lot at a nearby WalMart! Many perished on impact but volunteers have rescued over 2000 birds and released them into nearby lakes. Those were lucky ducks..so to speak!  A good lesson learned.  Your next venture may look like a reasonably safe bet but always be a bit wary...It's not the fall that'll get you, it's the sudden stop at the end you might not anticipate... As the gang would say, "Good Grebe Charlie Brown!!"

Dollars and Sense :-)

I'm just back from the post office with the M.C.S. Newsletter.  In my opinion, communication is the key to success.....of anything....politics, business, marriage, family and education.  I hope that all residents, whether or not they have children or grandchildren attending school, take the time to read all correspondence from the district.  We have an amazing superintendent!  I haven't always been able to say that.  Michele Brantner is exceptional!  I have had a few opportunities to speak personally with her and she is the most student focused administrator I've come to know since Judy Shearer.  Melding student concern with teacher appreciation and fiscal responsibility is a gift few administrators have.  They may boast about their care and concern but often lip service accompanies their need to be hired and retained, not so with Ms. Brantner.  So much of what she does goes unnoticed....because she wants it that way!  Horn tooting isn't her style!  I'm not sure whose brainchild the Blue Devil's Bank is/was but it was a good one.  In today's world of numbers, ..and not just educational numbers such as test scores, percentiles etc., it is tantamount that children and teens learn the value and skills associated with money..whether it be $5.00 or $5,000,000.00.  We are fortunate to have a true Hometown Bank in Moravia and their willingness to educate our students (and they are OUR students who will also be our bankers, teachers, Realtors, engineers, nurses, retailers, etc.) is a genuine partnership toward success.  Once again, I tout the value of living in a small town.  There are so many pluses in a society of so many negatives. We are fortunate to include Ms. Brantner and the National Bank of Groton and it's employees right at the top of the list!

My responsibility

Being a Grandma, I now realize that it is my responsibility (and joy) to teach my granddaughter certain things.  Her Mom has done an exceptional job with manners and good hygiene..I just reinforce. I have worked hard on the grammar end of language.  Her speech teacher triumphed as she coaxed the hard g's and c's and finally the last challenge of "r"..or as Bailee says it..."r-er"!  Papa has taught her that not all Grandpas can hear and that sometimes they are grumpy and don't want to play school or Twister... (one HUGE difference between Grandmas and Grandpas).  Her teachers are working on patience and socialization as well as all that educational stuff (and we know they are

greatly underpaid and under appreciated). So it really comes back to Grandmas, at least this one, to teach the big stuff...like: how to set the table; kisses and hugs are appropriate always; saying I love you should be voiced as easily as "hello"; Grandma's can keep secrets; showing Gram how to use the iPhone, TiVo, or DVD should always come across as Grandma showing YOU!; there's nothing more fun than reading or writing; September through January, Sundays are for football and most importantly....the difference between offense and defense..!!!  The rest of life's lessons will come soon enough but in the meantime...if you need to know, ask Grandma!

Finally

Well we have a dusting of snow on the ground...just in time for our first "girls luncheon" this noon.  The next 2 weeks are full of fun things to do. 2 girls lunches, I girls supper, 1 family wing ding (tomorrow), 1 kindergarten school play (which might just as well be Carnegie Hall for me), one quiet Christmas Eve and then the big day...Bailee won't be home until noon so we'll have a quiet morning and then an afternoon of presents, presents and more presents.... then some spaghetti for the big meal of the day... Hey, we voted and that was the consensus... Much easier than the whole prime rib layout.... We always used to have spaghetti at Mom's so we're coming full circle.... Easy and Yummy all in one.  We'll still have the festive table and all 6 of us will be around it... That's all that matters!!  Off to lunch # 1:-)

LBD

If the "Little Black Dress" is worn by "BIG Fat Me", is it still a "Little Black Dress?"    (just sayin')  :-)

Ho Ho-----

Ho Ho Hum.....I think we "Need a little Christmas. Right this very minute."  Snow....we need SNOW!  There are those who will vehemently disagree with me but it's only 2 weeks from it officially being winter...Winter means snow.  If I wanted to linger in 60 degree weather in December, I'd move!  The weather report is a bit optimistic on the snow front.  There's "wet" weather on the move northward. Depending on where we live, we'll either get more of this nasty, rainy, drizzly crap or some honest to goodness measurable SNOW!! We can't throw snowballs, make a snowman, ski, sled or snowmobile.... that's what we do here in upstate New York in the winter..OK maybe some do and others bitch but we're pretty well known for being a winter wonderland.  Now we just wonder where winter is. Everyone's saying we'll probably pay for all of this nice warm weather... So be it.... suck it up folks. Put your snow tires on, drive cautiously and defensively, leave gloves in your vehicle and make sure your cell phone is with you....renew your AAA and welcome the flakes with open arms. If you don't like the weather here, you could always move... maybe south where they have hurricanes or west where they have fires and tornadoes....If you choose to stay, sit back, relax, take your time traveling and "deal about it!"

Might as well -)

Isn't random awesome?  How could anybody be sad or stressed if they looked up..and saw this?  When Christmas is over and I've removed Bailee and Santa from my background...This will replace it.  I think if you look deep enough, there's always something to smile about... I smile at something Bailee has said, a commercial on TV, a sitcom on the tube and even when I look out into our back yard and see the falls.  We always seem to dwell on the negative when the positive is directly in front of us. It's not just us. The news is generally negative....surely there's good news somewhere....There must be some place that isn't having tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards. There must be some little town that is having a Christmas festival and no one has recently been murdered there. There surely is a school system that is filled with wonderful students taught by amazing teachers.  I know there are people who are still giving to those in need that don't complain about their debt ceilings. Why aren't we hearing about all of this good news?  By Golly, we have that right here in Moravia..... Now there's some good news....that should make you smile :-)

Dreamcatchers

Miss B has been having nightmares...really weird ones.... Girls trying to poke her eyes out with a fork, crabby creatures crawling on her.....who can sleep well through all that. Last night a friend of Jess's brought her a homemade dreamcatcher...it worked..A good night's sleep.....
I'd like a dreamcatcher too....although I tend to have good, albeit occasionally, strange dreams.  Last night's was extremely vivid. As you know, I enjoy writing (be it bad or good).  I was in an art appreciation class and was asked to write a paper on a particular painting. I can still see it! It was a bit abstract but had colors of reds, yellows and oranges.  I remember penning it through the eyes of a little boy named Liman, from Kosovo (??)  He called the painting "Undercover Skies".  He explained that he loved peeking from under a blanket at the night sky and imagining that it was filled with beautiful fireworks and celebration. It was not...it was volleys of gunfire and mortars.  He was very young, maybe Bailee's age but extremely articulate.  I woke up remembering words he had used, visuals he had seen and a very clear picture of this little boy with the huge brown eyes.  I often don't remember much about dreams but this one is still embedded in my head.  If I were a painter I could paint the picture. If I were a writer, I could write the words. I guess I'm really just a dreamer.. hoping that these visions of children living through wars will someday come to an end...and their bad dreams can be captured in  dreamcatchers too.

Decorations...

This really shouldn't be so difficult.  I really dislike (can't say hate..Bailee said so) my outside Christmas decor.....really! I got the new lights and Jeff and I replaced the ones on the bushes. They look....ok... the hanging star, snowflakes, whatever the hell they are on the porch are still the old fashioned white, clear lights.  They look horrible together... I may replace them too... and they weren't cheap!!! darn, darn, darn!! I was thrilled that by December 1st I would have everything finished....yeah right! Everything is finished if you don't do it over again!!! Today I'll decide.   I can tell you, I will have lots of gently used LED lights for sale next year. I don't want my yard to look like a space ship landed. Old dog-new tricks..NOT!
Jeff leaves tomorrow :-( those 2 weeks went way too fast.  Could be part of my grumpiness today.  They'll be back for Christmas so I'll rally quickly and start looking forward again.  Hatfield Christmas is here next Saturday so that will keep me busy. A couple of "girls luncheons" the next 2 Fridays.  They are always lots of fun... I really enjoy catching up with old friends.  I'd better get the tree up this week-end so Santa has a place to unload his sleigh...The stockings were hung (yesterday) by the chimney with care and the cards will go in the mail on Monday morning.  I guess if I can just "deal about it" with the those damn ugly outside lights, I'll be ready to enjoy the next 3 weeks!! LED at my house means Lots of Energy Down the Drain.....