My mom came up last week and to tell the truth (that’s for you Duncan) I was a little worried something would go wrong, falling or something. It actually was a nice time. She first flew into Boston and spent several days with my cousins and aunt and uncle, her brother. My Aunt Evelyn is not doing well. She has had several physical injuries over the past few years and is now suffering from Alzheimer’s. She didn’t know who my mom was the first day but after that, they had a good time drinking wine and hanging out with my cousins. My Uncle Bill is also not doing that good. He can’t cook for himself and Evelyn always did the cooking but she can’t do that anymore either. My poor cousins seem to be bearing the brunt of the work. Besides having physical issues, my uncle is also starting to have mental issues. It really upset my mom after spending 9 years with my dad going down hill. Got to hang out with my cousin Karen for the first time ever. She is 67 so she was in her 20’s living in Massachusetts when I was born. She pretty cool.
After several days there, I picked her up and she spent several days here. We spent most of the time road tripping and talking. One night we went to the track and one night we went to see Leslie Uggams at Capital Rep and it was surprisingly good. She’s from Mom’s day and she put on a “life story” jazz show that was spectacular. I’m glad to see my mom, who is 85 doing so well. My dad died the Monday before Thanksgiving and she broke her arm and messed up her knee the Monday after Thanksgiving. I last saw her Christmas and she has improved 1000%. She had to put a lot on the back burner for a while and it’s good to see her being so active these days.
My brother had a cut that got infected and it almost killed him. He was in the hospital for 5 days…..please use your Neosporin.
Because I have a rod in my leg, I often get pulled for extra screening at security at airports. When I brought my mom to the airport, I went through my first enhanced pat down. I don’t have a stick up my butt so it didn’t bother me but to someone who is sensitive, I could see how it could bother them. They touch, rub, and grab EVERY part of your body, including going down in your waistband. A cute TSA boy is a plus.
And by the way, since 9-11, I didn’t think you could go past security if you didn’t have a ticket but in special circumstances, you can get a gate pass…i.e., with kids or escorting and elderly person.
…and we went to see Wicked while in New York. OMG! Still can’t get Defying Gravity out of my mind.
OH! It’s been such a long time since the last blog entry. Since then, I have traveled to North Carolina and back and really had the greatest time seeing so many friends and family though I must admit, it can be quite exhausting. My mom is doing so well and my dad even seems to be doing a little better but not by much. He does seem to take his medicine without any argument now but anything else is like pulling teeth. My mom is a rock….a crazy rock. My niece and nephews are growing up so fast as well as every other kid in my life….SLOW DOWN WHY DON’T YOU!!! A couple of days were detoured spent at the hospital while my aunt recovered from a drug reaction where I (we) thought she was gonna die. I think my mom had prepared herself, my aunt was literally out of her mind. She’s actually doing quite well now. My oldest nephew is officially an adult these days being a great dad and trying to have another….who’d thought? My other nephew just graduated and OMG! he is so much bigger than I am it’s crazy. He’s really a good kid but doesn’t know what he wants to do. My niece is freaking awesome. She came back with me and we went down to the city to see Wicked and sight-see a bit, had a great time and got to get to know her again. I had to work some that week so Duncan took her and his sister to Toronto and Montreal and had a blast I heard. My brother is awesome and I got to spend a good deal of time with him this time….I miss him.
…..and lots of GOOD food! Still missed a lot of people I wanted to see but NC is a big state, but saw Ray, Tommy, Margaret, Luis, Joe, Chris, and Michael & Lara…love you all
2010 turned out to be the year we finally had air conditioning put in, and it’s a good thing too because it’s been the hottest summer we’ve had since we moved up here, sitting in it right now. Spent what has seemed like countless hours working on the front porch and now working on the back one but it doesn’t seen to have the same priority in my mind.
Hiked up to the Kaaterskill Falls last weekend and did a small road trip to Vermont today. Other than that, work at work and work at home.
If you have 10 minutes, this mini movie of Telephone (not the video) may be my favorite internet thing in a LONG time. It’s not even 8am and I am screaming…OMG it’s great!!! (and is one of those lesbians Steve Buscemi frome the 80′s?)
Off today after a LONG week of inventory…gotta do some painting and other chores but nothing too hard. Weekend of rain coming but next weekend, WATCH OUT!!! ….sunny and upper 50′s!!!
The reason you haven’t heard from me in a while is because we’ve been to Vegas and beyond and had a great time. OMG! We got to see Cher at Caesars Palace! Must I say, she was just spectacular. Her truly live performance was unflawed. The show chronicles her life and everything is costumed and perfectly choreographed.
OMG! We saw Mystére! It’s a Cirque du Soleil show and I(we) loved it. We saw another last time and it was great so there was no way we were not going to se another while we were there. It’s too hard to describe one of these in words, you just gotta go.
We went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon on our last trip and it by far has the best views and it is the most traveled and visited. This time we decided (literally at the spur of the moment) to visit the south rim. It was also beautiful and home to the skywalk. The last 15 miles to the entrance is a gravel road and it can be somewhat discombobulating but the destination is worth it. The first moment on the skywalk is (can be) scary but after that, take in the view.
Another adventure was Red Rock Canyon, literally right outside of Las Vegas. Breathtaking views, hiking, and rock climbing if you’re into it. We mostly just went sight seeing.
All and all, a nice and thankfully, restful trip (I love sleeping in). When we got home at 1:00am, we had 10 inches of snow on the car at the airport but when we got home, a couple of our neighbors had cleared our driveway. That was nice.
I now hear a snowplow going down the street…nice…and we saw burrows by the way…
Took the in-laws to the Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving and had a pretty nice time. Last time I went, the parade went down Broadway and it seemed very organized with the street closures. The traffic signals and street lights were designed to spin out of the way for the balloons but this year, Broadway has been redesigned and closed to traffic in some spots. They actually had to take down all the posts the lights were attached to and then put them up after the parade (very quickly) but many of the streets still remained closed to pedestrians and it was very hard to walk through the city after the parade. Hopefully by next year, they’ll have a better plan. Still had a great time…..got home and did Thanksgiving dinner about 8:00. Oh, and the band-aid finally came off today.
Spookiest house on the block, and there’s quite a bit of competition.
Me and my buds hit the Stockade last night for the Ghost Tour of The Stockade and I gotta tell you, it was a blast. I am such a geek, I just love walking around a 300 year old plus neighborhood listening to historical stories with a silly ghost story thrown in here and there, and it was a beautiful night, not even cold. Duncan’s out of town this weekend so I guess I’ll pull door duty tonight for the first time in years. I love the cute kids that say trick or treat, are happy, and say thank you, and just seem to be having a good time. I hate the kids who just stand there and don’t say anything or it’s so low you can hardly hear it.
