A "Fair" visit w/ Grandma

Jess, Bailee and I went over to see Great Grandma this morning.  The "girls" were all in the activity room/dining room playing a puzzle game on the white board. Bailee had fun and knew all the answers.  They chose letters and then tried to figure out the answer...just like Wheel of Fortune minus the wheel :-)  The answer was cotton candy !!! and Bailee knew before all the rest. Then they talked about the State Fair from it's beginnings in the 1800's to now.... The first fair was held in Syracuse too and then they tried other cities like Buffalo and Albany and NYC but Syracuse was in the center of the state so ......there it ended up... One of our neighbors from Locke is moving to Walden Place soon, Shirley VanNest.  Mom thought the last name sounded familiar :-)

For the halibut

They went to Homer fishing, just for the halibut!!!!! and boy, were they successful!  They had a great day at sea. They caught their limit and didn't throw up...That's a very good day on the ocean!  The great adventure is just that so far.  They enjoyed their stay on the Homer Spit and are heading to maybe Seward or Wasilla today.  I think Lee's hoping for a Sarah Palin sighting... They have their car until the 3rd and are still just winging it... moving around every couple of nights.  The cost of living (and vacationing) is pretty steep up there. I keep forgetting to ask the price of gas....You'd think it might be cheaper there but you'd also think halibut sandwiches would be too....NOT!  Bailee even received a postcard from the adventurers today... not me...Guess who Papa misses more? :-(  jk....Thank goodness for technology....We get to see the day's activities online each night.... if we can stay awake that long....When I'm ready for bed, they're just having supper.  I'm thrilled they're having fun and we're gearing up for Kindergarten here... I read am article in the morning paper that quoted a K teacher saying, "There are always some criers on the first day.........but once they get to their cars and head home, they're better!!!!" :-)  That will be me!
The pictures show their catch for the day and one that Lee just hauled in... along with a whale spouting off about something :-)

The Alaskan Adventure

Lee and Jeff arrived safely and exhausted.  Much too long a trip for one day.  Spent a couple of days touring around Anchorage and headed to Homer yesterday. They're out on the Homer Spit (the skinny, little peninsula you see in the photo) and are fishing for halibut this morning.  I'm hoping they don't get sick...I sent Dramamine!!!  They had a great ride down the coast. They saw Beluga whales on one side of the road and mountain goats standing on the snow capped mountains on the other.  They even went to the Anchorage Zoo on their first day. I can't even get Lee to the Syracuse Zoo!!!!  Train tracks also follow the coast so they got ahead of a train and Jeff ran and put a dime on the tracks.... I told him we did that for years when the train ran 25 feet behind our lake house... They have a car for a week and will then take the train to Denali to see the sites there. I'm assuming a sight-seeing boat will show them the glaciers sometime too.  I'm hoping the weather holds for them. They said it's actually getting a bit dark at night but only for a few hours. It sounds like they're enjoying their adventure so far....♥

And.......He'sssss Off !!

If he doesn't have it in his suitcase or his backpack.....he doesn't need it.. (or he can buy it there for 2x the $).  I seriously think it would have been easier to send Bailee off on vacation. I left more notes in his suitcase and backpack then my father wrote to me in 50 years... (yes, that's an exaggeration..sort of)  With the last 10 days ailments, he now has10 pills a day.... and his day will be all screwed up as it's still light there for almost all 24 hrs.  Jeff has instructions too, so hopefully he'll keep him alive to send back to NY.  He was most upset that he couldn't take his jackknife and his lighter.  He goes NOWHERE without them and his lucky quarter.  This morning he said, "What will I do if I need to start a fire?"  "On the plane?" I replied !   "You can always buy one when you get there and a knife too and mail it home"..... but of course, it's not the knife !  He no longer smokes but likes to carry his lighter.  My brother never smoked and always carried a lighter.....his reasoning...what if I see a cute girl and she needs a light?  
Hopefully Irene won't be a travel factor... Every flight is westbound....Charlotte - Phoenix - Anchorage.  It'll be a long day in a cramped, airplane seat as they won't be arriving till 12:30 a.m. tomorrow (4:30 a.m. our time).  Jeff was going to check into any available first class upgrades.... hopefully working for US Airways for 12 years may have a perk or two.
Jess will be helping to finish up Bailee's new play yard this afternoon, we have a wedding tonight and then a school shopping adventure tomorrow and Sunday followed by my Fantasy Football Draft Sunday night!  I'll need a vacation from vacationiig from Lee's vacation !!!

Whining

I generally only whine to myself (or my mirror).  Yesterday I missed a luncheon I was really looking forward to because of my darn IBS (tmi).  My bowels weren't the only one who was irritated.  It was a nice day for a drive and I was excited about making the mini road trip with my "old" friend Sharon.  Then the winds changed and the barometric pressure went piss-wacky and a nice headache set in. I relaxed on my porch in my comfy wicker, rocker and chilled with my Kindle.  I'm reading Danielle Steel's latest repetition.. (when her writing career ends, she could go to work in a glue factory.  She consistently beats a dead horse in her last few novels!) Anyway, my glasses have become scratched and foggy and I can't seem to keep the lenses worthy of these tired eyes.  My to-do list includes a trip to the optician...soon.  Today I awoke with another headache, in a different location, which makes my diagnosis even more relevant to the weather.  Stress...? and that's a factor too.  Lee has developed a sty that needs immediate attention as tomorrow is departure day (Thank God).  Stress..? appears to be turning both of us into insufferable whiners. Misery loves company is a true statement, at least at EIEIO. I hope, Irene (our latest hurricane) won't impede Lee's departure and their adventure... If you think I'm whining today, think what you'll hear tomorrow if his flight is delayed or cancelled.  If U S Airways can just get him to Charlotte, he's Jeff's for nearly 2 weeks!  Then maybe, just maybe, I'll drop the "H" and turn my whine to wine! Cheers!

One more thing!

OK... we're adding to our craziness.  On top of Lee's ailments in the past week, yesterday we "felt" an Earthquake!!!  WTH... It was a 5.8 and was centered in Virginia.  It was felt from Georgia all the way up the eastern seaboard to Canada.  I tend to stumble throughout the day so I'm not sure if I really felt it or just thought I did. I will use it however, to explain my bookcase clutter.
I'm heading out on a short road trip this morning.....all the way to Endwell (near Binghamton) to have lunch with some old friends. I've joined the crew once before and am looking forward to today's visit with Cindy Johnston Brigagliano and the gals.
Lee survived a short medicine tutorial last night. Tonight we'll discuss clothing :-) I hope Jeffrey has the patience to get through this adventure with his Dad :-)
Hurricane Irene is still threatening the U.S. with landfall in New England this week-end and possibly skirting the islands off the coast of N.C first.  Still not sure if we should be blaming Mother Nature or Global Warming...or are they the same thing??

Nice morning

It's a pretty, nice morning.  The thermometer dipped below 50 in the wee hours and that, mixed with the lack of humidity, has given everyone at EIEIO a burst of energy.  The birds are really flighty this morning too.. Many hummingbirds are dashing in and out of my big,white petunias while others are perusing all the feeders on the patio....none of which contain anything colorful or hummer friendly?????  The goldfinches are chowing down on lots of thistle and the woodpeckers are doing fly-bys in an effort to remind me that their lunchboxes are in need of suet. I've heard my pileated woodpecker's song up in the woods.....I'm hoping he'll come see me again soon....(I know, we need suet)  The chipmunks and squirrels are playing tag in the back yard and hoping that Lee will give them some more peanuts....Unfortunately, the centipedes are still here....The gal at the pest company said they were migrating.... Well just how the heck long does it take to get where they're going?  After all, they have 100 legs!!!!!! They are pretty irritating and beginning to crunch under our feet.  I sweep the garage and blow off the patios nearly every day so the perimeters of those areas are pretty crunchy.  I think these things only live a short time so that means the number of them is in the thousands.....for real. It does seem that a cooler morning gives me less to blow away.....I might just welcome a frost and the Almanac says that's "normally" still 8 weeks away.  I'm sure I'm the only one to be looking forward to a frost with the exception of allergy sufferers.
That energy I mentioned will wane if I don't remove myself from my perch and head out to hang the laundry, fill the feeders and fetch Jess some Draino. Bailee's new play yard is to be delivered today and then we're gonna need all the energy we can muster......I'm thinking maybe we should contract that construction project "out!" Three more days and Lee and Jeff's excellent adventure will be underway.  I hoping Irene doesn't get in the way.

Stuff.....

*  First of all..... Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people, Stella!  She faithfully reads my daily drivel. I know she has other things to do but takes the time to offer her yeas and nays, both of which are equally always welcome! Many more healthy and happy years are what I wish for you!♥♥♥

*   If I successfully get Lee off to Alaska, it will be a miracle.  He is scheduled to leave early Friday afternoon to meet Jeff in Charlotte and begin their adventure.  Lee is NOT a planner.....Sandy IS!  With no firm itinerary upon arriving in Anchorage, they are just going to play it by ear....(and we all know about Lee's hearing!)  Packing is a bit problematic as they are going to be carrying everything with them most days. My plan is 5 changes of clothes and then stop and have a wash day.  We'll see how far my plan makes it.  I have purchased weekly pill boxes and even dated them in permanent marker.  I have sent instructions to Jeff with the times (4 hrs. time difference), colors and even the shapes of each pill.....( I know... maybe a bit anal)  I have sent an outline of his heart ailment and even a copy of his heart cath.  (I know..).  I made copies of his insurance card and sent that too.  As if that all weren't enough, this last week has tried my patience and Lee's body! Within the last 8 days, he has suffered a 24 hr. nasty case of food poisoning, been stung by a swarm of yellow jackets and suffered unbearable pain with a "bout of gout!!"  The gout has now added more meds. to his overflowing pill box.  Gout is most often brought on by excessive intake of protein (red meat) and alcohol. Since March, the red meat has markedly decreased...the alcohol, however; has not. But, the pain facilitated even that being put on hold.....So, this week-end I dealt with an emaciated, itching, bitching, pain inflicted man in withdrawals....jk...it really wasn't all that bad but if they'd had try outs for Snow White, the roll of Grumpy would have been filled!!  Here we are at Monday, my favorite day.  He was able to put a shoe on and is no longer doing his "Chester (from Gunsmoke)" impression.  I think we're back on track for departure.

It will be interesting to hear Jeff's review of his 2 week, bonding adventure with his Dad.  I didn't dare tell either of them that the new socks I bought Lee came with and R and an L on the toes. Instructions for another day!!

Happy Flying

National Aviation Day is today!!  

 Although my love of flying isn't what it used to be, many of my family still thrive with and for it.  Next week, Jeff will have been with US Airways for 12 years... That seems weird as I think he barely is12 years old......albeit, he's almost 33...where did those 3 decades go? My Uncle Jack (Tice) was a pilot his whole life....He owned his own crop dusting business and flew a dangerous mission each time his wheels left the ground. My secretarial and business skills (what there are of them) were honed while I worked at Empire Aero Services in Skaneateles. I loved that job and ended up dating the flight instructor and flying in small planes to various destinations....The only way to go!! For all those wondering...The Mile High Club is an awesome organization!!!  My cousin Jack is a medivac nurse and flies daily in helicopters all over Illinois.  The apple didn't fall far from the tree as his son, Jeff (and coincidentally he has a daughter, Jessica) is preparing for his private pilots license as I type....or actually has maybe gotten his wings already.  My Mom, God Bless her, thinks we're at the airport every time we visit the doctor.  As I've mentioned before, I think it's the placement and design of the seating... Oh well, each trip there is an adventure and I'm never sure if we're picking someone up from the airport or heading out for places unknown.....Nonetheless, today's the day to
celebrate everything related to aviation and airplanes. National Aviation Day was established in 1939 to be celebrated on the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birth date, August 19, 1871, to honor the accomplishments of the Wright brothers and other aviation pioneers.
On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright were able to launch their handmade airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They watched it fly for 12 seconds and a total distance of 120 feet.  As I'm finishing the end of my 6th decade on earth.... that's about as far as I wish to fly ...period!! 

Hair Dooty

I have a new hairdresser!  She's not quite 5, about 4 feet tall and has to actually sit IN the chair with me to style my locks.  "Scooch up Grandma so I can give you a fabulous hair dooty!!"  Not a hair-do (I asked)... but a hair dooty.."with a T.  She has a little hair pretty zip bag that holds a variety of hair ties and a comb.  She'd like it if I could get her a brush and a spray bottle from the dollar store.  The spray bottle will get rid of the knots! Getting rid of the knots would be a very good thing!!! believe me...I try to be a good client and not scream in pain.... Yesterday we practiced the pony tail and how to actually transfer the hair from one hand to the other and slide on the hair pretty... One more "appointment" and I think we'll have it!  Upon finishing yesterday, she took one last look at her handiwork and exclaimed, "it looks fabulous but I'm not sure about the white part!"... I was going to explain that the white part was caused exclusively by her mother but thought that might be another story for another day (appointment).. by the way.. I'm a pretty good tipper!!!

Scrap Happy

You gotta love the Farmer's Almanac. Well, I do anyway.  Today's tip was all about cooking with scraps.  Ann Curry has been in famine ridden Somalia this week and I think some of those sad, emaciated children could survive quite nicely on what I throw away.  One child was 4 years old and at one point recently weighed  only 6 pounds... I can't believe that's even possible.
Here are a few things that the frugal tipsters in "The Farmer's Almanac" kitchen suggest would make wonderful stock for soups and cooking. 

Why throw out what may be the most healthful and flavorful parts of the foods you prepare regularly? Toss them together into the stock pot first to brew up a tasty, nutritious broth that adds a gourmet kick to a soup, stew, chowder, or casserole.

Healthful?
You bet! Potato peelings, for example, concentrate most of the potato’s potassium, a nutrient deficient in many American diets. Onion skins and celery leaves contain lots of the antioxidant/antimicrobial. Bone broths, as well as those simmered from shellfish shells and eggshells, recover many of the minerals that gave them structure and strength.

What goes into the pot?
Besides potato peelings, onion skins, and celery castoffs, use cast-off such as the tough outer leaves of cabbage or lettuce,leek tops, carrot foliage and scrapings, pea and bean shells, broccoli leaves and stems, the pomace left over from tomato processing, the tops and innards of green or red peppers, wilted (but not spoiled or moldy) greens. You can probably think of more.

How to make it
Save a week’s worth of vegetable scraps in a container in the fridge, then make stock on the weekend. Add a bay leaf or two, a handful of your favorite fresh or dried herbs, a few cloves of garlic if you like it, and a little salt (or not). Simmer on the stove top for at least half an hour or in a big ovenproof pot when you’re baking something else. Strain the broth and toss the residues into the compost.

 I was good till we got to the compost part....I'm taking this green thing one step at a time.  I save my cans and bottles (cuz they're worth a nickle), I burn my cardboard (hey, it's less for the landfill) and that's about the extent of my conservation.. Oh I forgot, I often cut back on my waste my making my favorite thing for supper .............A reservation!!!

Our Beanie Baby

A wet spring turned our cornfields into soybean fields.  They're flourishing now. We like it as the shorter beans don't hide the hungry deer out for supper in the evening.  They also don't hide Bailee when we're out exploring.  Yesterday we took a ride to the inlet (Well we couldn't quite reach our picnic spot...more details to follow) and stopped to check out what soy beans really look like.  They resemble a pea pod and at this stage, they're fuzzy!  I think they just might be ready for endamama...!! OK, I wasn't sure what that was either until Lee's cousin Lou Ann mentioned it.  It looks to me to be a healthy, organic snack....No wonder I'd never heard of it.  A little research suggests they are the early form of soybeans, boiled a bit and seasoned with salt and pepper.   I much prefer a potato, peeled, deep fried and salted....with dip. Hey, it's a vegetable!!! Anyway, our little beanie baby enjoy the adventure and we learned about a new food...if she actually tries it, she gets a star on her chart which will eventually get her a prize.  Now, back to our lack of ingress to the inlet.   Lee had earlier mowed us a path with his tractor but with the recent rain and sun....it was more than our golf cart wanted to tackle.  When Papa got home, he headed back to mow us a fresh path to our picnic spot.  As most anytime Papa gets on his tractor, he mowed...a lot!  under the tree stands and along the ditch....All of the sudden he was coming up the driveway at a pretty good clip for the ole Farmall. In the house he came, tore off his shirt while squishing bees inside it!  Not pretty... Damn yellow jackets couldn't take a joke and obviously didn't want their nest mowed.  They struck back.....and front and arms and head!
 Jess carries Benadryl with her (in the back of her ambulance -jk) so we gave him a couple doses of children's Benadryl and sent him to the shower.  Only then did we question if it was ok to medicate him and hoped he'd have no bad  interaction with his heart meds...All was well, he didn't wake up dead!  He did however; wake up itching randomly throughout the night.  I checked with our resident pharmacist, Suzanne, and all is well..... We're not poisoning him.  Where he can reach is swollen and itches but some clear, Benadryl lotion is helping a bit.  Thanks Papa for sacrificing for our picnic spot....You're always taking one for the team!

Cool morning=

A cool morning = some ambition = cleaning my filing cabinets !  As with any "cleaning" project that involves paperwork, pictures or personal info, it takes twice as long as it should because you stop and read things, look at the pictures and sort into more files and piles....... to sort later.  That's what I'm doing now but I came across the info for these two little online quizzes.  I took them both (which interrupted what I was doing...again) and learned I should live to be 86 and my memory is good assuming I have a high school education or higher.....Here's the link....

   http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/how-long-will-you-live          The memory test is on the right...... Good luck

                                                                     Now, what was I doing?

Shopping Extravagnaza :-)

Yesterday was shopping day. Thankfully, Jess didn't have her daycare "buddy" so she went along with me.  Our plan was to pick up Mom (I didn't think that would mean literally), head next door to Wal-Mart and go shoe shopping.  I can still just about get Mom into my Expedition alone. I carry a Rubbermaid stool but it now entails a lot of lifting.  It was a lot of work just to go next door.  Next time I think a nice ride over in a wheelchair will be in our plan of attack.  She explained that next time she'd "just walk over but she might have trouble carrying back her packages!!"  Ya think?  She barely makes it down the hall at Walden Place.  When I got home, I was on a mission to acquire a handicapped permit!  I can handle our outings if Jess is along but not so much anymore if I'm alone.  After a few phone calls and learning that the permit is issued to the individual not the vehicle and that a Dr's note is required and that they needed a driver's license # and it should be done in the town in which she physically lives and not her legal address.................I was finally able to secure a permit as a reissue from an original one issued in 2001 in the Town of Locke. I'm absolutely sure that the people I see parking in handicapped spots have not gone through this rigamarole and most are more lazy than handicapped.... although I've entertained hitting them with my car which in turn would probably defeat the purpose as they then might end up really incapacitated!!!! Anyway, I digress......We got Mom loaded in one of the carts with the rear seat......and her knees hit the basket... We fixed that and off she and Jess went to find shoes while I parked the car.  I seriously (not so much) pondered escaping but came to my senses and saw the blatant unfairness to Jess (jk) !!!  When I entered the store.......I heard them.... Mom complaining about Jess's "driving."  We found her shoes..sneakers with Velcro...new socks as we forgot the ones in the car that we'd brought w/ us, a new wastebasket for her room and other unmentionables! Then the entire "get her there" process was begun in reverse.  We delivered her safely to a place"she'd never been before!".. Maybe having each day and moment be a new experience is not such a bad thing!

Running Late

Already noon and I have accomplished almost nothing.  It's a rainy, Tuesday morning....cool and peaceful...I have been sitting at my desk since 9:30 dealing with centipedes, aging family members, banking, bakers and accounts receivable....I think I'm looking forward to the days when the shop is a thing of the past.  Lee's been thinking about all the things he might do when he retires from the "my car's making a noise!" business.  He'd love to be a bartender but no one would get the drink they ordered. Hearing is a priority.  The other day he thought he might like to be a Barber...I think not, I've seen his mustache when he trims it... He has to walk with his head tilted for a week so it looks even. This morning I told him that the TSA was hiring at Hancock Airport... wouldn't THAT be a hoot...patting down the young and old and checking driver's licenses.  He thought maybe a "door whore"  (what he calls the greeters) at Wal-Mart or maintenance at Borg-Warner.. "They like old people", he said.  I'm not sure what profession (job) would allow him to leave early, have a scotch at 4...ish, take 6 weeks off in the winter and even hire a 61 year old with a bum heart...We'll keep looking but I won't let him quit his day job yet!!!

Aaahhh... Monday

I love Mondays!!!  Even rainy ones and lately, especially rainy ones.  Our lawn is finally looking green again. We mowed yesterday for the first time in more than 2 weeks.  The blue bells have been whacked and the brown is disappearing.  Nothing uglier than a brown lawn UNLESS it's one of these IN YOUR BED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have had these little wormy things around for 2 summers now.  Last year they were more dangly and wound their way down from the trees... This year they appear, by the 100's, every morning.  They're about 3/4 to an inch long and usually you can see one about the size of an earthworm somewhere in the vicinity.  One of the  biggies was actually crawling across the hardwood floor the other night.  Thankfully, I spotted it slithering along before I stepped on it w/ my bare feet!!!!! I gave him a proper "burial at sea!"  I had only seen a couple in the house. They seem to only live a day or so then curl up and die...Lee sprays every few days and I blow off the patios every day and there are 100's.  They're beginning to look like mulch under our vegetables and flowers.  Lee asked this morning if I was now ready to call the exterminator....You betcha....there's only room for one wiggler in my bed!!!!?????

You Don't Know Jack.....

I do now!!  Had a great time last night reminiscing with my cousin Jack Owen and his beautiful wife, Reatha.  We figured we probably hadn't seen each other in nearly 45 years.  He's the middle "child" (OK he's 54) of my cousin Mary Hewitt Owen.  Her folks were Jeff and Betty Hewitt.  Jack and his sister, Jennie and brother, Jay loved to visit their grandparents at their summer home on Owasco Lake.  I remember them as 3 beautiful blondes.... (and they still are:-) We had supper at Baylors and then skipper Lee took us for a ride around the "horn" (that was always what we called a ride from Overbrook, up the west side  (the best side) to Ensenore (where Uncle Jeff's cottage was), across the lake, past "Uncle" Lou and "Aunt" Charlotte's (Ettinger) beautiful summer home on the east side, past Indian Cove (where we used to borrow sweet corn and roast in our bonfires) and back to the now, Cascade Grill. 

Jack recalled many memories and enjoyed the float down memory lane.  They're staying a few days at Marcellus's cottage a few miles north of Ensenore. (Thanks Dave for making that work). From there, they'll head to the Olean area to spend some time with Reatha's family then back to rescue the hurt and ill in the Lincoln, Illinois are where Jack is a helicopter flight nurse.
There is definitely lots of humor still flourishing through the Hewitt genes!!!  Thank you to Facebook for reconnecting us all and we're looking forward to a reunion of sorts in the very near future for some of our Hewitt cousins..near and far!!!!!

3 D

               If we look look a bit fuzzy..... you don't have your glasses on !!!

3D =  Dizzy, Delighted and Ducked!!!  Yesterday was my very first experience at a 3D movie.  The extent of my hands on 3D was looking through the red plastic cardboard to read the  3D encrypted message in the Cracker Jack's surprise. (not really legit 3D but the closest I'd been.)  It was a rainy afternoon, so the 3G's (generations) headed  for a Regal experience to see The Smurfs. What goes around comes around....I still have a preschool, smurf Christmas ornament that Jeffrey made in 1982....nearly a quarter of a century from their "birth" in 1958....(That pretty much puts time into perspective).  It was very cool.... I made noises (in my outside voice) when a log nearly hit me in the forehead and I ducked when pieces of flying debris were shot directly at me!  I probably wouldn't make it through a 3D horror movie but then again I wouldn't even watch one in 1D :-)  BUT....... I know now, what I'd like for Christmas.  Our H.U.T. TV is 3D ready....when I purchased it...I was not.... now I am!!!  So (hint, hint)...I'd like the adaptor and a couple pair of glasses.  The glasses, unfortunately, cost more than the adaptor but that's why I'm asking Santa...and his elves.  I seldom ask for more than family to be home and good weather to facilitate that (which is kind of oxymoron(ish) because I want snow too. Oh well..."gimme, gimme, gimme", she said smurfly.

Lessons from Pops

Last week-end, while camping, we were all sitting at the picnic table chatting about politics, finances and the stock market.  My SIL had recently been to a conference where she was treated to some great "talks" from Terry Bradshaw (one of my very favorite people), Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Forbes, Erin Brokovitch and Bill Cosby (her least favorite.) Someone asked who would you most like to sit next to and have a conversation. My answer was, without thought, Tim Russert.  He was smart, "local", down to earth, a loyal Buffalo Bills fan, an amazing Dad and one of the few commentators who made politics understandable and fun! The day he dies, way too soon, I cried..... big old crocodile tears and chest heaving sobs.  Few people's demise, untimely or otherwise, have ever affected me in that way.  Today, his son, Luke is a political correspondent for NBC news at the Capitol.  His Dad would have been/is so proud!  My SIL Lisa, said he had written a great Father's Day ode in the Parade Magazine.  I found it and will share ... Not much tops, lessons from Pops!!!

http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2011/06/luke-russert-lessons-from-my-father.html

One more in the books

Well, we made it through that year.  A year ago, we all celebrated the fact that Lee had successfully made it through 6 decades.  I'm not sure his folks would have put any money on that when he was in his teens.  His 61st year began well. (I know he turned 60 but that meant he had completed his 60th year on earth.  You don't have your first birthday until you've completed your first year)  His 61st year ended well!  The middle was a little tenuous.  We've adjusted to 6 meds a day, less red meat, less real butter,  no salt and NO SMOKING!!!!  With all those changes, came no more coughing, no more snoring, the ability to taste, a few more pounds, way better cholesterol and a new appreciation for life.  There's no more talk of "I don't have birthdays anymore" or we stopped counting after 60!". We celebrate EVERY SINGLE ONE.... presents, sweets, balloons, good food... the whole nine yards!