Christmas 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with Rich & Diane. We missed the boys but I can understand being mercenary...especially around the holidays. I am guessing they must have overspent on their parents (and each other) and needed to refill the coffers. I made my mother's favorite one pot supper, Ragout with garlic bread and Rich and Diane brought a delicious Ice Box Cake. Delicious and a fun evening with the shrinking family.

Thank you Rich and Diane for our new luggage. I will be able to use my new luggage during our exciting Christmas vacation to Batavia. We will meet up with Rich and his family and Hilary and her family on January 2nd at a hotel with an indoor pool for Joey. I can't wait and I will be sure to post our adventures.

I think being able to sleep until I naturally awake is the greatest gift of all. At 18, Ian is passed the 6am Christmas morning excitement and although I miss it, that is ok. I woke around 8:30, drank coffee, watched the birds and took pictures of the decorated house.... very quiet and enjoyable. Lo and behold, I heard the shower around 9:30 and it was Ian! He had set his alarm and was downstairs and dressed before Rob.

Ian is a very reserved present opener and he savors every moment. (And yes, every year Santa leaves Ian's white trash favorite in his stocking....spray cheese!)

I took about 40 pictures before I finally captured the rugby ball in the air. Ian was laughing hysterically and mercilessly making fun of my photography skills. At this point, the ball has bounced against every surface of the house and nothing has broken....yet.
Rob enjoying one of his new books, The Book of Genesis illustrated by R. Crumb. (Tom, you should remember Crumb from your Mother Jones days.)

The presents are opened, the paper is recycled and it has been at least an hour since Ian awoke and he is sound asleep. How does he do that? The hands...is that normal?

The Proposal

Cyndy was the closest with her guess of a church. Rob actually proposed, informally, in the parking lot of St. Joseph's Hospital on Sunday afternoon after visiting his mother. After coming home, Rob asked Ian's permission and he formally proposed on his knee with a ring and everything. The Bills game was on in the background. They lost.

We are heading to City Hall on Monday to purchase our marriage license. We have 60 days. We will keep you informed.

Empty Nest

During the month of August, I faithfully kept track of a pair of Slate Colored Juncos that were nesting in one of my geraniums. I happened to be outside to witness the entire nest building process and then watched over the next several weeks as they hatched three eggs. Ironically, the babies left the nest during the same time I took Ian to Cornell so I never got to say good-bye. (I did, however, get to bury one of the young that didn't make it out of the pool. Perhaps it was Darwin's Natural Selection at work but I still cried.)

It dawned on me that Diane had also been posting about her bird feeders and that perhaps bird watching might be a subconscious way of filling the void. Either way, you know how literal I am so I started planning my winter bird feeding sanctuary.

The windows in the breakfast room are allow perfect birdwatching and the fruit from the Bradford Pear Tree attracts birds. I picked up a little bird feeder from Lowes...filled it with seed and waited.

I waited a long time, moved the feeder from the right window, to the left window to under the tree...and nothing. During Thanksgiving dinner, Diane suggested that the seed may be old or rancid so I took a trip to Lee's Feed and bought new seed and of course, another feeder too!

I dumped the old seed into a flower pot and put it on the table for the squirrels...knowing they wouldn't care what was wrong with the seed.

My 2 feeders were carefully hung and I waited.

The birds finally found the seed and the feeders. Yeah!And so did the squirrels.... I thought the feeder hanging from the eaves under the house was safe because there wasn't direct access from the tree. I was wrong. The squirrels still amuse me and I put out enough for everyone.

And yes, Diane...we do have black squirrels here in the city.

Widespread problem?

I have great ideas fairly often. I just don't have the knowledge and guidance to take my idea to the next level. I thought of this tonight while Rob was watching the Knicks game. (I'll pause here for the laughter....) Rob was actually watching a re-broadcast of a game played earlier in the day. He didn't know who won (the Knicks were playing the Nets.....hahahahah) and wanted to keep it that way. Of course, scores were scrolling across the bottom of the screen during the entire game. Rob needed to avert his eyes or leave the room when the NBA scores were shown.

What do other people do in this situation? With the old television, I could tape a piece of paper to the bottom of the screen to cover the scrolly part. I didn't want to tape to the new screen. I came up with this using a 5 foot long rubber band we had kicking around and three envelopes.
Worked great but looked pretty stupid. Would people pay for an elastic, soft cloth covered contraption (decorated with the logo of their favorite team? or fabric that matched the couch?) that could be easily placed along the bottom. Your thoughts?

The times they are a-changin'

I bet that nobody will ever be able to guess where we were when Rob proposed. NEVER!

Not bad for Syracuse....

Rob and I had a lovely evening out last Friday. We met our friends Charlotte and Gary at the Everson Museum of Art and toured the Turner to Cezanne Exhibit. The exhibit featured over 50 paintings collected between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, two chicks with shit loads of money and very good taste. The collection include masterpieces by Cézanne, Daumier, Manet, Millet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Van Gogh. One of my favorites was Rain in Auvers by Vincent Van Gogh (how hard is it to like a Van Gogh?)
Who knew you could paint rain?

I was highly entertained and did my best to entertain those around me. I always share my feelings and opinions about the art we are viewing...much to Rob's annoyance. It's amazing how differently we can see the same pieces.

After viewing the exhibit, we walked to the Mission for a dinner of exceptionally good Pan-American Cuisine. The food is fresh, original and well prepared. I had for an appetizer a quesadilla made of eggplant, grilled sweet peppers, jalapeno and goat cheese. I am still thinking about it....
The Mission is in an old church (Wesleyan Methodist) built in the 1840's. The inside is tastefully decorated with the traditional Mexican paint colors, an array of crucifixes and the old Virgin Mary in the bathtub display. I was not offended.

New Shed

It took 2 full Sundays and 1 Veteran's Day but Rob and I completed the shed. The most difficult part was leveling the ground and preparing the location for the shed. I took what looked like the easy road and we built an 8 X 7.5 frame to level and fill with gravel for the base. That took 1 and 1/2 days and many, many bags of pea gravel. Maybe not the best option but it is done!




The spot before the shed










The naked shed in the pre-winter backyard. Now I need to start thinking about landscaping. Should I continue with the pea gravel around the edges or build up with soil? Right now the wood frame sticks out and up and it is ugly and in need of hiding. Luckily, I have 6 months to think about this. Your thoughts?

Changing the look of the backyard...

Since we took down the garage and put in the pool, I have been looking for the perfect shed. The "perfect" shed always seemed to be thousands of dollars beyond my budget. I looked at pre-made plastic sheds online and at the stores but I could never warm up to them. When we went to Chandler's graduation party in June, we spent the entire party in the backyard and I thought their plastic shed fit in well with the landscape and looked perfect in the space. Then I noticed the shed in pictures of Mike and Erika's yard and I realized I could make this less expensive alternative work. I found a shed I loved at Lowe's and waited for Rob to go check it out. By the time he went to look at the shed, it was on sale!

We bought the shed at the very end of August and moved the HEAVY boxes into the backyard.
A few weeks later we moved the boxes closer to the area where it will be built.

Each weekend comes and goes and we never seem to have a full open day to tackle this project or we have the time but the steady downpour impedes our progress.Rob is now at Home Depot picking up a few things we may need and I think we'll be building soon. The directions state quite clearly that the average assembly time with 2 people is 5 - 6 hours. Stay tuned...

What is rugby?

Good question! Rob and I went to Cornell today to watch the Cornell A team play Columbia and the B team play the Faded Red. Stood in the cold....on the pitch....near the horses....with a nice view, but I didn't figure out what was going on. But it sure was fun. I have all winter to figure out this sport. Ian will kill me if I attend another game this year.

I do know that EMT's play a vital role in the sport. An ambulance was leaving when we arrived and EMT's tended to the leg of one of the B team players during the 2nd game.

Ian is wearing #22 and using his XC skills to move the ball.

The Faded Red team consists of alumni rugby players. The guys who show up to play are very good...the fanatics and the best from previous years. They were big. You may notice Ian is not in this picture. If I had a camera with a serious lens I could zoom into that pile of players where you might see Ian's hands frantically trying to push the ball out.

This is called a scrum. I don't know why or even what the players are doing. But sometimes they moved around in a circle and it was interesting.

I love this video clip. Ian is tossed the ball, misses and recovers the ball. I don't know if that is good or not. But check out #16. He had to leave between the halves to attend Glee Club (a very big deal at Cornell!) The coach wouldn't let him leave until he told the alumni why he had to leave. I should have recorded that scene! Rugby players are rather crude folks.

The house with Ian in it....

Ian came home late Friday night for a long weekend. Immediately, the house had a different feel and I loved every minute of his time home. When your contact is reduced to FaceBook comments, texts and phone conversations that begin with, "have you....did you.... and you have to...." ---you forget how much fun he can be!

Ian spent time with his old friends, spent time on the computer, ate, watched a little mindless television and slept.

Ian missed his bed so much he slept in it all day.

Ian slept on the couch when he wasn't in his bed.Ian even slept in the chair...but woke up while I was getting the camera.

Apparently, sleep is not a priority at college. I hope sleep rates somewhere in between rugby and Keystone Light!

Cornell has very strict computer use policies and Ian is being good. He waited until he came home to add music to his ipod since his downloads never involve any cash transactions. I can assume he is violating some copyright laws. Better to be arrested at home than at Cornell!
While Ian slept, I pretreated, washed, dried and folded 4 loads of laundry and cooked his favorite foods. Not something I am noted for...but I did miss him.

Ian's dad took him back to Cornell on Tuesday. I kissed him goodbye before I left for work. I fell back into controlling mother mode and called him a round 10 to make sure he was awake and reminded him to get his shoes by the door, his textbooks on the table and the last minute wash in the dryer. He reminded me...quite vehemently...that he takes care of himself all day at college and has survived.

Ian called me around 1. He forgot his clothes.

Yes, Tom and Ian share the same measure of common sense.

My 5 minutes of fame....

I read every inch of the paper and laugh hysterically when people are quoted saying something really stupid...and it happens all the time. Last week, I was interviewed and I was scared to death....I certainly had a lot to say but you never know what will make it into print. I can live with this....

Say Yes to Education program piques interest in Syracuse school board election

Big Change For Hilary

After 23 years as the best waitress in western New York, Hilary has burned the apron and moved forward. Sunday night was her last night at Applebee's and the place was packed with diners wishing Hilary well (and tipping well too!)

One of Hilary's long time customers is employed at Fredonia State and has always recognized Hilary's drive, enthusiasm and talent. She convinced Hilary to apply and Hilary is now officially a SUPERVISOR for the Faculty Student Association (FSA) at SUNY Fredonia.

Hilary has a pension, sick days, vacation, benefits and room for advancement. I have no doubt she will be running the entire food service operation in a few years.

Congratulations...I am proud of you. And you are not the only one who waited until she was 40 to join the official "race to retirement."

I have always wanted a topiary garden....

Ever since watching The Shining at the movie theatre, I have been entranced by topiary gardens. I have gently nudged Rob into trying his hand at transforming the bushes in the front of our house into whimsical characters. Hell, I would be happy with shrubs in the shape of Baby Huey. Alas, Rob always gives me a look that says, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?"

All summer, I have admired this bush in front of a house on Velasko Rd.....chuckling out loud with an admiring glance whenever I drive past.




I don't know...is it just me?



And shouldn't they think about moving a pair of low shrubs or boulders a little closer?

Big Game Today

Ian has joined the Cornell Rugby team. He plays on the B team and apparently practices for more hours than he attends class. The Ivy League season starts today with a match against the # 1 ranked Dartmouth.
Ivy League Rugby
Cornell Rugby Football Club
We visited Ian last week-end and he took us to the field. The field is called The Pitch and is behind the horse barns...seemed like miles away but is still on campus. So, if you are in the neighborhood and want to see a rugby game, you can follow Ian's schedule. He assures me only one kid was taken away by ambulance during their scrimmage against Cortland.

Sat 09/19/09

Cornell Men A Side v. Dartmouth 11:00am

Home

Sun 09/20/09

Cornell Men v. Brown 1:00pm

Home

Sat 09/26/09

Cornell Men v. Princeton

Away

Sat 10/03/09

Cornell Men v. UPenn

Away

Sat 10/10/09

Cornell Men v. Harvard

Away

Sun 10/11/09

Cornell Men v. Yale

Away

Sat 10/17/09

Cornell Men A Side v. Columbia

Home

Somebody is 4 years old today!

September 2005

July 2007

August 2008

June 2009

Happy Birthday Joey!

Trip to Scranton...

For the first time in many years, the Chiefs are in 2nd place and still have a chance to win the division title. Usually, they are mathematically eliminated long before the All Star break but their affiliation with the Nationals must have infused something in this team. These guys want to win! With our new found freedom, Rob and I decided to drive to Scranton Wilkes-Barre to watch the Chiefs play the Yankees (the 1st place Yankees, of course.) The stadium is beautiful (amazing what an influx of millions can do to a stadium) and it was fun to watch an engaged crowd. I felt like an idiot cheering for the Chiefs...we were the lone voices in the crowd. Bottom of the 9th and the Chiefs are down by 1 run with runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Poor Rob, the Chiefs hit into a double play.

It was a long ride home.

Absurd Signage

Several of the board members of the Ted Grace Reading Grove went to a meeting on Thursday with Sen. DeFrancisco in the State Office Building in Syracuse. Upon entering, you must show picture ID, sign in and get a visitors pass. This sign was posted behind the security guard. What prompted this? A lawsuit? Unbelievable....
I couldn't help thinking of other places to stick the visitors pass that might cause more damage.

Change in address

Today was the big day! We arrived at Cornell around 9:00 and all of Ian's stuff was in his room 10 minutes later. All I had to do was pull up to the dorm, Ian went to sign in and get his keys and hordes of red shirted upper class men carried all his stuff upstairs to his room. Nice!

Ian only had to carry this and I carried my purse.

Ian's dorm...his room is on the other side.

The room is all arranged and ready for living. Of course, his roommate hasn't arrived

yet so the room looks pretty uncluttered and spacious.

Ian's closet is so neatly arranged and he did it himself. That's my boy!

Rob and I are heading back to Cornell on Saturday for some orientation activities and to say good-bye.

Ian's new address is:
367A MEWS HALL, ITHACA NY 14853-8901

Changing hats on Harvey

Harvey








I am so amused by this duck. Maybe I am having mid-life crisis Barbie issues or something along those lines, but I am constantly on the look-out for hats I can use to help celebrate our occasions. He came with a sailor hat but has also donned a sombrero for Cinco de Mayo, party hat for birthdays, mortar for graduation and now a Nationals cap.

Do you think there are other people out there looking for duck costumes? Could I parlay this interest into my fortune?

Stimulating the economy....

I clearly remember the years when back to school shopping meant buying a couple of binders,pens and loose leaf paper. We are getting close to being ready to take Ian to Cornell. Only 5 more days....

Summer Fun...with teeth

I am going to miss this boy. Who else could have so much fun in the pool with an alligator hat from the dollar store?