Catch up Monday!!

The snow is leaving, the eagles are arriving and the community is booming..... Happy Monday!  What a great week-end.  Saturday's boys basketball game was epic.  I stopped at Hammy's for "supplies" before heading to OCC and everyone was buzzing about the game.  It was our very own "Friday Night Light's " moment. It seemed like everyone was talking about our boys!  Shortly after arriving, on a sun filled morning, the SRC Arena was filling up with Blue and White.  We'd heard that the Beaver River fans were plenty and loud.... Obviously the devil fans were "plentier" and louder!  I was amazed at the range of fans who took the time to travel to Onondaga Hill.  Many with no ties to MCS but their pride.  This will be a fun week...we'll see porches festooned with blue and white, plans underway to travel to the Falls, early school dismissal on Friday to facilitate travel and tee shirts on sale to celebrate.  How flippin' cool is that?  We're all...already winners!!!!

We (Lee) delivered lunch to our eagles and finally this morning they (he/she) found it.....or smelled it.  Last night Jess spied one feasting on a bit smaller critter but very near the deer.  I can't tell you the joy I get from watching it rip apart a dead animal.  That may seem a little creepy....even to me...but it's a treat watch.  My new camera has a 200X zoom and therefore I'm not 100% steady.  I think a tripod might be in my near future.  I would love to have a "bird's eye" view of the inside of the nest.  I have no idea if there are eggs or even babies there yet.  The leaves will soon block my vision and my vantage point will change.  If you see an old woman in the middle of a barren corn field sitting in a chair, toot your horn and wave!

The snow is melting, the falls are running and the animals are out on the town.  We had deer and turkeys and squirrels and chipmunks all playing chicken in the backyard yesterday.  In the middle of the night, you can often watch between 30-50 deer in the front yard.... all waiting to head to the east for a moonlight snack... some of them are so small, they can barely make the guardrail.  I think many does had late deliveries last fall.  Unfortunately, I'm assuming the eagles will have venison throughout the spring and summer.  Surely a catch 22 for me as I love them all!  (Hence the old lady in the cornfield)


This will be a busy week, hanging clothes out in the warmth, preparing to travel to Glens Falls and celebrating a few birthdays. Let the "fun"shine begin!!!

"tions"

EducationTION, LegislaTION, communicaTION.....all topics we'd better not shun away from if we hope to accomplish anything.  Our locals schools are now in a battle for survival...literally.  I'm not sure the life support they're on is going to last more than a couple of years and it's becoming a real possibility we'll flat-line!  Thankfully, our past Boards and Administrations have kept us solvent enough to have balances (savings accounts, if you will) to see us through 2013-14.  There will be cuts both through layoffs and attrition and a course or two will only be offered to some students for only a 1/2 year rather than full. Thankfully too, we have a compassionate superintendent who is fighting desperately for her students.  We have a really good educational system in Moravia.  Rural schools generally have caring staff. You don't just see them in the classroom. In a small town, everyone knows everyone... That's not always a bad thing.  The financial picture is strained enough that a community member even asked this at a recent budget forum, "Can a school district go bankrupt?"  Another, sadly lamented that she couldn't even imagine her baby not having Millard Fillmore Elementary in her future........real possibilities.
So who do we blame? Blame's a great game but this time it's not shame on us.  It's literally shame on the politicians.  Every school is NOT the same. We cannot be lumped with every NYS school.  We hear the Governor say he's not raising taxes...OK, he's not but he's forcing the school officials to raise them for him.  It's really not their job to help make him look good.  That really is trying to put lipstick on a pig (right Sarah?)

There is little a constituent can do but bitch (or squeak if you will..I prefer bitch as I'm an expert). Our Administrators have been on the road, extolling our abundance of virtues, or lack of wealth and our insistence that they pay attention to the repercussions of their actions.  We can do that from the comfort of our desks and kitchen tables.  One suggestion is a letter or note writing campaign.  Someone in these offices has to open the mail.  If they get a couple of letters from angry Moravia residents, so be it.  But if they get 20, they're liable to make mention of it. Michelle, our super Super, offered the idea of fancy paper, bright envelopes or even thank you notes.  Yesterday I picked up a package of T-you's and will be sending them off today.  I've decided my last lines (it needn't be too wordy) will be... Please be aware of what your votes mean to New York's children. I fear an uneducated legislator is far more harmful  than an unlegislated educator!

Pretty Punny

And people wonder why it's so darn hard to learn (and teach) the English language. For me, it's why it's pretty darn cool:-)

Dream On

The nights of uninterrupted sleep are over.  My roomie is back from the sunny south and those sounds (and smells) are back at EIEIO..Although EIEIO is a spin off from the Old McDonald's farm, I've tried to explain that it's just a clever moniker and we don't have to replicate a real farm...Needless to say, my bouts of waking are facilitating dreams.  I tend to dream in the wee hours of the morning after drifting back to sleep.  Do our dreams hold any meaning? I'm searching for the answer to this ONE in particular:

I'm in a waiting room of sorts in a "more than 2 story" building.  I'm there with Lee and a male NP who is watching him after several injections in his side?  There are large windows on one side of the room allowing us to see a wide canal with a gentleman loading his laundry into a floating washing machine. On the opposite side of the canal are large high-rise apartment buildings.. one with a long, tall, open staircase........that someone is riding up on horseback.  As I walk toward the window to get a better view, off to my left is a large barren tree loaded with a conclave of cardinals all dressed in their red finery.  You know me, I rushed to take that picture but my camera had either a dead battery or a full media card....it wouldn't work.  Suddenly Terry McKeefery comes to my aid with a replacement.  This allowed me to take my photo and still get to Gary & Bonnie Nye's so Bonnie could show me Gary's newly built "cheese room!"  What the hell is a cheese room?  It was complete with a giant, beautifully carved ocean wave that was verified authentic by a plaque from the FBI.   

I then awake, with a vivid memory of each event and my day begins. I have decided I should purchase one of those dream analyzing books so I know exactly what my (d)illusions mean.  Until then I've decided to avail myself of Advil-PM, possibly a small shot of liquor and squelch the chocolate before bed.  Maybe a little less Bill Mahar at 11:00 too!!!

One down...........

I'm off tonight to the Betty Blue

To have myself a drink or two

One house down and One to go

Another house in Locke to show!!!!

940:

Closed this morning on Mom's house in Locke.  They lived there for over 50 years, raised their family, enjoyed holidays and ate "buzzy" burgers.  Lots of memories but no sadness in the sale.  It was a place that served it's purpose well.  Relinquishing a structure is a natural progression of life.  A new family will make memories there. That's a good thing:-)

929:

Time to move on and be homeless in Locke.  It will always be my hometown but 2199 is now my home! 

4686:

The shop is begging for a new owner.  It enjoyed Lee, his cronies and all the stability and revenue it generated for over 30 years but it's longing to change hands and accepting "applications!"  Retirement is staring Lee in the face and accepting it, means losing the baggage.   Time to pack!

You graduated..when?

Just back from the post office with the newsy packet of info for Lee's 45th class reunion.  Still astonishes me as he's not even 45 years old......It was complete with a  synopsis of the last reunion, chatter from the planning meetings and information pertaining to the upcoming hoedown...Oh that was back in the 60's...I shouldn't be chatting about high school extra curriculars.
The events will be held this fall in early October in, where else, Weedsport... ALL 3 days/nights.  Now my memory is failing a bit but I was sure we graduated from Moravia.  I am 2 years this class's junior but I hung around with many of these guys and gals would love to see some of them. If only I could know who will be attending and who won't be able to make the trip.  I know, this isn't my reunion and albeit a moot point.  Lee did show up at the last one for a drink or two and therefore made it on the good list and into the newsy newsletter.  There was no mention of his bitchy wife who chose not to tag along as she had closets to clean....BTW, this reunion was held in Cortland as the planners must have then thought the class of '68 graduated from there!! 
I still think that Groton Alumni Association has the market on smart planning.  They hold a reunion yearly with certain years being recognized each year.  This gives all classes a chance to visit with old friends and new.  Certainly in our small schools, we didn't just cavort with the members of our class...cheerleaders hung with cheerleaders (after all, that's the only sport we could enjoy), athletes hung with athletes, nerds with nerds and so on...This just makes so much sense as planning a reunion is time attentive, expensive and thankless...(obviously....listen to me whine!) 
We've had a few reunions over the past 4 decades. Our 20th still takes top honors and will be remembered ( till we can no longer remember) as the best to date.  We truly enjoyed everyone's company, we were skinnier (ok I was), we drank, we got  down ( that was back when we could also get back up) and we stayed out past midnight,  The 40th was a bit more mellow and the music was turned down a notch. The skinny were heavier, the taller were shorter and the smarter, well they were still pretty smart....and successful.  We noticed our "In Memoriam" section was growing and that made us sad but we celebrated them and our great memories.  We're not sure whatever happened to the notion that we'd take a big cruise for our 40th.... I guess we sort of ..did.. We cruised around town and through the school.
Thankfully Face Book has made keeping in touch easier and more accessible. We can share updates, memories and pictures every day instead of waiting for 5 and 10 year intervals.  Everyone is much more amenable as we all have aches and pains, losses and joys and things we like to share. 40 years later, we're all on a level playing field...right where we always should have been. As they say, if we knew then what we know now.................
Even Pinterest has hints to make your reunions an event to look forward to rather than a hassle to avoid.
http://pinterest.com/reunionsmag/class-reunions/
October 4th is on the calendar and I'm happy to share the night and the memories... After all who knows what 2014 will bring or even if.......................................................(you fill in the blank)

Meetings

Hello, my name is Sandy and I'm a gameaholic:-(  Old age, free time, technology and competitiveness have led me down the path to addiction.  Fortunately, there's no money involved...(OK, I have purchased a few extra "helps" in certain games) like poker and slots.  My euphoria is achieved just by beating someone or crawling to the top of the leader board.... Often times it's someone I don't know but playing with pals is a lot more fun.  I don't own a virtual farm or restaurant so I need not accept turnips or garden watering while I'm out of town.  I don't need my windows washed or extra bus boys on the week-end.  I do, however, need to have a trigger finger and lots of useless knowledge.  I have both.  Many games regroup on Mondays and the leader board goes back to zero....that's when I sneak in and attack. I started out just playing on my computer.....then I got a smart phone.. unfortunately, smarter than I!  I would just play when seated at my desk, only play when I had some free time and only one or two games..... That was then, this is now:
Words with Friends
Scramble
Family Feud
Who wants to be a Millionaire

Drawsome
$100,000 Pyramid
Song Pop
and even...You Don't Know Jack.... and I do, by golly!

I'm not yet at the level where attending meetings is a must. A 12 step program does excite me though.  You know I'll be the one trying hardest to reach the last step first.  So far my addiction hasn't been hazardous to anything but my eyesight. I have a larger screen, sit much closer to my desk andhold my phone with bended elbow. The biggest perk has been realizing that so little makes me so happy!!!    Game on!