Month: October 2017

Longing for Old Days


It was never this quiet in the old days.

NEVER…..at least back home in the city.

Our neighborhood was known for it’s trick or treating. We were a corner house where single neighbors came out to party with us outside with beer,pizza and hoagies; and the locals kiddos knew they could clean up at our house-a virtual one stop shopping of treats. The neighbors and ourselves enjoyed seeing what the current trends in costumes were.

I had my neighbor bring her 3 year old son and 3 week old boy out today around three. That has been it.

Kasia has had her walk in the rare event there were goblins in our route.

It’s 6:46 pm now. I will hang in there until 8 pm.

Oh well…can’t say I didn’t give it a shot.

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Hobbles McGee

 Greetings from Sick Bay.

Just to keep Kasia company, I ,too,am hobbling a bit.

My guess, and the vet’s diagnosis, is that the littlest of girls pulled something in a leg, and woke up Thursday morning with a severe case of the hobbles.

In the meantime, from dodging the millions of acorns that fall down here, my ankle has awakened last year’s case of tendonopothy, according to my Orthopedist this morning:

It’ll be light off my feet this weekend, probably just potty walks for Kas and me for her company.
After all: what are Best Buddies for…..

Life with Momma

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what is in my little girl’s head.

Sometimes I see her and she is hanging in front of the television, and I swear she is watching it, Usually if I move to my desk, she’ll wander over to see what I am doing, and lay down to keep me company.


I’m not completely dense, though. The photo above is her”wait on me I’m rich.” look. She is done her walk, and wants to go in to see her Dad.

I know my place.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream…

It was a rather stormy day here at Undisclosed location today, with occasional breaks of sun.

I took advantage of the weather to do something I haven’t done in a while.

I napped.

I really never was good taking a nap. I remember my Mom telling me, “You don’t have to sleep, just close your eyes and rest.” While she was saying that, I had my back lightly scratched by her.It was my childhood version of Aleve PM.

As I got older, I found I would nap hard; that is, I would wake up from an alleged nap feeling like I just had five hours of sleep. and had that early wake up headache as a result.

Now, staring down the barrels looking at 58, I do what my doctors used to tell me through my cancers. It is something I always preached but seldom practiced. Listen to your body. If it’s tired, rest it. You’ll feel better for it.

Better late than never.

Memories

OCTOBER’S PARTY by George Cooper

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came –
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.”

The above verse of this poem was drummed into my head in third grade, or maybe fourth, by my teacher, and, for some reason, it has always stayed in my head.


There are many changes that occur in this time of year. Zush is no longer with me, my friend Kathy’s Mom has passed away, school has started up again and it’s the last semester for my nephew Gregory. Kasia is now almost 9 years old.

My father would always tell me how much he hated autumn. I always thought this was strange coming from a man whose birthday was smack dab in the middle of October. As 58 comes heading my way, I get it, Dad.There are no guarantees that the same trees will have leaves next year, or the same people will still be in our lives.It was Dad’s own bittersweet way of letting me know that nothing is forever, and the concept of death made him rather mellow. I am sure he is happy now with my Mom in heaven.

In the meanwhile, Kasia and I will help Jim rake our leaves down here.

Another Monday

Sunday is just about done. It just doesn’t feel the same with a Philadelphia Eagles game on the television.

Don’t get me wrong, I occasionally watch the Eagles. After last night’s Penn State game, I was in the mood to stay cozy and watch a game. Oh well.


I am sure I’ll get this face tomorrow morning, but the show must go on.

Have a good week.

The Beat Goes On….

Made it through my first day of pre-K 4 year olds.


I always remember that old chestnut,”God forgive my little joke on Thee and I’ll forgive Thy big one one me.” 

 Cancer denied me a chance for children, and after dealing with kindergarten youngsters, well, I figure God was giving me a taste  of it. The children are sweet but also a challenge. The key is to let them express what they are feeling. Like grown-ups, they like to be heard.


So we’ll go through another stretch and hope things are well, and all that good stuff like pink eye stays far away!

Halftime Score ; Mar- 0 Kindergarteners- 5,000,000

It was rough telling this sweet face that Momma had to go to work today.

Yes, indeed. I had returned to the scene of my first kindergarten job, albeit a different room. I had about 25 boys and girls in the class and when you haven’t dealt with the wee folk for a while, well, let’s just say this. I came home and napped: they wore me out. I also learned a new kindergarten trick. Don’t wear loafers when they want you to play with them in the sandbox. HAH!

Another day awaits tomorrow, so it’s off to bed for me, waiting for another offensive launch by the 4-5 year old brigade. Hope I remember my helmet and crayons…lol.

Rough Day

With preparations underway for my first day tomorrow, we all seem to be having a kind of rough day.

The only up side? Today is Dad’s 97th birthday in heaven.There is not a day that goes by where I don’t miss him and wish he was still here.

So, if you can, please send some good karma or prayers up for us because we sure can use them. I really would appreciate it.

And for my Dad? I hope they are playing his Helena Polka for him and mom to dance to in heaven.

It’s That Time…

Thursday has me going back to work with the school children.

So it’s gear up time. The hand sanitizer comes back out into my bag, and I am getting cramps in my hands from sharpening the pencils that I know will be busy, either used by me or those who conveniently lose their pencil.I usually bring a good box of 16 crayons and a baggie of extras for those in need of just that shade of red. Of course, there’s my large bag of cinnamon hard candy and cough drops because being with the little folks, you just never know.

I’ll let you know how I make out.**fingers crossed**

Wonder Women on Halloween

So I don’t know if you’ve seen the commercial for Halloween, where the boys want to take more than one piece of candy from a house on Halloween, and then not one, but several Wonder Women and little girls dressed up as wonder women come out to intimidate the boys.

Seriously?

What ever happened to making up your own costume for Halloween, or at least have your parent help you do it? What every happened to someone being home to hand out candy, as opposed to leaving a basket of candy out with a sign?

Once again I am glad that I have reached my age: it is sad that todays’ children have to experience Halloween in this way.

Sad.

Reopening the Floodgates

It has been four months and five days since I last gazed lovingly at this gal’s face, before she closed her eyes forever.

This morning, upon opening the Philadelphia Inquirer, my floodgates reopened.

One of their columnists, Stu Bykowsky, wrote a touching article about a group that formed for bereavement for people who have their fur children in terminal illness or who have lost them to the Rainbow Bridge.People who say “it’s only a dog, or cat.”, well; this is something that they got tired of hearing and they are pleased with the results.

The Cat Vet office, in downtown Philadelphia, gives them a free room for meetings once a month.There is talk of expanding. I cried when I thought of Zush as I read the touching stories of those who have lost their fur children. The author, himself, lost four pups and a cat to the Rainbow bridge.

I pray that my Zush is enjoying her friends and my family, and they are keeping her busy and running free and playing.

I pray I’ll see her again some day.

Apple, Can you hear me?

I am watching the Philadelphia Eagles playing football on tv while waiting for my operating system to download.

What chokes  me to type this is my Apple Mac Book Pro. Apple, my go-to system.

I already called Apple once tonight, and after trying n my own, I think I’ll have to call them for more help. 

Hopefully, I’ll only need them nice more tonight.  

Rolling Around Together

Kasia and I are working through our Zush-less malaise.

It’s not easy, especially on a day like today.

Today was a dreary day and I rolled over and didn’t see my BFF Zush on her bed, as I used to. Kas and I got a start around 9:30 and started our day. We have managed to get some walks in. Funny thing, though, was we have been hanging together on the floor. 

They say all relationships start from the ground up. Kas and I are getting our act together.

Penthouse is the limit! 

Trouble, Stay Away from My Door

Ever have one of those stretches where you just can’t shake that black cloud that’s over you?

Well, I’ve been here, not writing, but looking over my shoulder at dark clouds. I know: into each life some rain must fall.

Our neighbors are building a new house next door. I can’t fault them: we did the same thing. The difference is that we are living here full-time while their construction is going on.We see what’s being done, and the project manager assured me that if something goes wrong, they will fix it immediately. I said to him, I don’t WANT you to have to fix it: I’d like you to do it right the first time.

This is only one of the stretches that we are going through, but it’s enough to give you an idea.

Any prayers or good karma you can move our way, we’d appreciate it.

What Was, Isn’t…

My husband and I are both baby boomers. We, separately, spent our summers at the New Jersey shore,in a place called Wildwood.

Tonight we ate dinner in Wildwood Crest, and decided to go to the boardwalk. Over our courtship and marriage, we often spoke about summers there. When we would be on the Garden State Parkway, at night, you could see all the lights of the rides on the boardwalk.

Tonight, we knew it was the season end on the boardwalk. Most of the stores were shuttered. Storefronts and restaurants we remembered were long gone.

In their place?

We saw the waffles and ice cream sign, which was a favorite of my mom’s. The new addition, fried Oreos? Not so much.


We even got caught up in bridge traffic leaving when the toll taker had to raise the bridge. Just like old times.


It’s said you can’t go home again.

It was fun to try.

Change Keeps Coming

Above is a shot of our old house here, which we knocked down. Some things have to change: after all, you want your house to be a certain way.The “Undisclosed Location” has a certain charm to it, which is why we chose to move here.As time goes on, we see more and more houses being put up and fixed up.

Starting probably tomorrow, our neighbor’s house is going to join the group.The only problem is when our house went up, no one lived on this side of the street full time.Now, we are here and I am a little nervous at Kasia and I putting up with construction. Ideally, we have been told the builder is not going to start until 8am, so we will see how the rest of the day goes.

**fingers crossed**

Hanging Around with Kasia

Kasia and I were hanging out together today. We came across our neighbor,Dave, and his dog, Petra.

There, for a little while after Zush left us, Kasia didn’t know what to do with herself. After all. all she knew was life with Zush. For a little while, she would wag her tail and make nice to some of the neighbor dogs. Tonight, we saw Dave and Petra and the winds of change came through. Kasia sniffed at her and so did Petra, and then Kasia started growling at her.

So for those of you wondering when a second dog is coming our way, well, we can safely say that not just yet.

Time Keeps On Ticking

….and this second day of October has me counting on my fingers.

I have about two and 1/2 years left on my retiree health benefits which my union won for us while I was working. Now it is a question of what needs to be done, and if so, when should it be done. I have a cataract in each eye, and I figure if I play my cards right, they will be ready to come out soon. I think of the course of physical therapy I just completed for my encapsulated shoulder.Every time I get a prescription delivered in the mail and see what my co-pay was, well, the party will soon be over.

The only thing I feel ok about is that before I am medicare eligible, I have to get on a COBRA for my health care. God willing my wits will still be with me and I’ll be able to read what is out there and what is offered.I shudder when I think of older people who have to go through the paperwork and maybe, just maybe, their wits aren’t about them. It is so easy to see how there are so many schemes, frauds and arrests in the daily paper regarding people and their medical care.

I guess the secret is to stay well enough so you can take charge of it.

Coming a Quarter Cycle


It was a hard day today.

The fifth will  be three months that my Zusher left me. Today  at our Church , they blessed the animals in honor of St.Francis of Assisi. It was the first time Zush wouldn’t be there, and I couldn’t have that. I brought her ashes with me and the priest was quite sympathetic.


In my mind, and  in my heart, my Zusher had her final blessing. Kasia, along with around thirty Other got their annual blessing.


We decided to make it a family day and keep on by going for a walk down by the lighthouse. It was nice with minimal tourists and tons of Monarch butterflies.


It was a good way to start a new month. We ALL were together.