Well, summer is finally here, and I am finally done with all my stuff so I can relax and have some down time. I do so love summer, for the adventure, fun and crazy experiences I seem to always encounter. It is like have a second childhood as a grownup. Lots of laughter, intrigue and silly circumstances.
Today being the start of the July 4th holiday, we as a family decided what we were going to have to eat over the weekend. At my son's office yesterday they had a holiday luncheon. One of the gentleman brought in brownies that his wife had made. it just so happens I know his wife well, and my son was mystified by the brownies. After getting the recipe from her, I gathered the ingredients so that my husband would bake them tonight. We needed Creme de Menthe.
Errands took up a good portion of the day, and my daughter was kind enough to go with me on my travels. Our last stop was the PA State Store, for Creme de Menthe. I didn't know it came in green and clear, so I called my friend to find out which to buy. In the mean time, while I was still on the phone, my daughter was telling me about other drinks to make with Creme de Menthe, a man came by and asked her if I was a teacher. Of course she quickly said yes....turns out his children attend the school where I teach, in a younger grade. He was very funny, and was very proud to proclaim me "busted" in the state store!! My friend on the phone was totally confused, and as I hung up--I turned and saw another parent from my school, this one I knew. Really and truly I was busted.
It was funny, and ever so innocent, but nonetheless I was discovered in the State Store, probably the last place I would be expected to be. I am sure the stories will fly about how I was actually seen there...and with my daughter. Lots of laughter, and giggles, and I hope when this story is told everyone who hears it laughs.
(For those readers who do not know....we in Pennsylvania must buy wine and spirits in a state run store...a State Store)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
24 hours
A lot can happen in 24 hours, especially when you are waiting. Waiting for a phone call, a letter or an email. This time yesterday--we were still waiting to hear whether my son's last job opportunity would materialize into anything significant. Waiting. This time yesterday I knew that graduation was imminent, and that when today came, it would be 24 hours until he received his degree. Waiting.
At work yesterday, I knew that I was taking time to devote to our family celebrations. I had only a few hours to prepare to be absent--a lot of work was invested in the preparations...and then, knowing that I had a busy 24 hours before graduation. Nails and hair dominated my thoughts as I left work.
A phone call, from home. I decided to wait until I got into the door to see what was the problem now. 24 hours ago, my son was sleeping, a soon to be college graduate. Suddenly, he is now an adult. He was offered his first job. A real job, in his field. Someone was willing to give him a chance. Amazing how 24 hours can change a person.
In 24 hours, my husband and I will look back over 23 years, and confirm what we have done. In our soon to be 25 years of marriage, we raised 2 wonderful children, made our way through diapers,preschool, braces, high school, drivers education, the prom, SAT's and college. Both of our children are employed in their field of choice. Both are happy, and living life to its fullest, and we have been given the honor of watching them mature into adult life. 24 hours. I know I will cry. I always do. But that is ok, these are tears of joy, pride and happiness.
At work yesterday, I knew that I was taking time to devote to our family celebrations. I had only a few hours to prepare to be absent--a lot of work was invested in the preparations...and then, knowing that I had a busy 24 hours before graduation. Nails and hair dominated my thoughts as I left work.
A phone call, from home. I decided to wait until I got into the door to see what was the problem now. 24 hours ago, my son was sleeping, a soon to be college graduate. Suddenly, he is now an adult. He was offered his first job. A real job, in his field. Someone was willing to give him a chance. Amazing how 24 hours can change a person.
In 24 hours, my husband and I will look back over 23 years, and confirm what we have done. In our soon to be 25 years of marriage, we raised 2 wonderful children, made our way through diapers,preschool, braces, high school, drivers education, the prom, SAT's and college. Both of our children are employed in their field of choice. Both are happy, and living life to its fullest, and we have been given the honor of watching them mature into adult life. 24 hours. I know I will cry. I always do. But that is ok, these are tears of joy, pride and happiness.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
T minus 2 weeks
In two weeks my son will graduate from College. It is finally upon us. Classes are over, and it is the week of final exams. He is very busy studying right now, and cannot wait for this week to be over. Finals do drain every ounce of energy out of a student, and then squeeze for a little more. But what my son does not know, is that after graduation, comes the biggest exam he has ever encountered. Life.
College is but a mere stepping stone to life. He has learned much information, asked plenty of questions, learned to cooperate with people he doesn't know or really like, and still succeed at the tasks handed to him. All those important skills needed for life. He doesn't know it yet, but the learning was easy. Now he has to count on the learning, and use the skills he practiced over the last four years.
College years are so important. We laugh at these kids, it is their first time trying to be someone. New hair styles, and wacky clothes are just two of the silly things that college students are known to change on themselves. I am fortunate that neither my son or daughter did much more that that. I know it could have been much worse. But now it is time for him to think about a new wardrobe; he'll have to give up the shorts and flipflops for more conventional clothing once he finds a job. But he won't forget the people he met, the adventures they had, nor the memories that are his own. That is what college is really all about.
In two weeks, my son will have a single sheet of paper, with his name embossed on it. That single piece of paper is his ticket to his future. He doesn't know it yet, but that paper signifies something that he did, all on his own, and to his best ability. It says that, despite all the odds and difficulties he has had, he is a winner. He is ready and able to soar into his future.
T minus 2 weeks, and we will have lift off.
College is but a mere stepping stone to life. He has learned much information, asked plenty of questions, learned to cooperate with people he doesn't know or really like, and still succeed at the tasks handed to him. All those important skills needed for life. He doesn't know it yet, but the learning was easy. Now he has to count on the learning, and use the skills he practiced over the last four years.
College years are so important. We laugh at these kids, it is their first time trying to be someone. New hair styles, and wacky clothes are just two of the silly things that college students are known to change on themselves. I am fortunate that neither my son or daughter did much more that that. I know it could have been much worse. But now it is time for him to think about a new wardrobe; he'll have to give up the shorts and flipflops for more conventional clothing once he finds a job. But he won't forget the people he met, the adventures they had, nor the memories that are his own. That is what college is really all about.
In two weeks, my son will have a single sheet of paper, with his name embossed on it. That single piece of paper is his ticket to his future. He doesn't know it yet, but that paper signifies something that he did, all on his own, and to his best ability. It says that, despite all the odds and difficulties he has had, he is a winner. He is ready and able to soar into his future.
T minus 2 weeks, and we will have lift off.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Coffee and Margaritas
I had a wonderful visit this weekend, from my cousin. Most will think what is the big deal? A visit from a cousin shouldn't be a big deal, but in our case it is. You see a family rift came between us in our late teens. Not our doing, differences our parents had with each other. so, over the last 30+ years, life has gotten in our way, we drifted but somehow always manage to find each other.
She is my older cousin. As children we were inseparable. You would have thought we were Siamese twins we were that close. Then my dad got transferred and we moved away. I was 8 years old. My cousin and I wrote to each other EVERY day. We really missed each other. We did that into our teen years, and our relationship got even closer.
My family and I moved back east when I was in high school. Even though we did not go to the same school, we remained close friends. Then I went away to college. That seemed to be the defining point. Our grandmother passed away, and the rift occurred. I don't know what happened, but indirectly it did affect my cousin and me. We drifted apart.
In the last 30+ years we have seen each other 3 times. This weekend was the 4th. She lives in another state, but within driving distance. She came to my house. We talked and giggled most of the night away. My husband let us have our time. We are still very much the same as we were as children. We talked about us. Our likes, our thoughts, our feelings. We opened the doors to our souls to each other, just like we used to do in our letters. It was good to be with her.
We are both in our mid'50's now. She is completely blond. I am highlighted. She has become very independent, and I am still opinionated. Neither of us cook or bake. We both love to read. She sews, I crochet. We love to drink coffee, and margaritas. We made plans. She is single, wasn't always, but that is another story, I am married. I have children, she doesn't. My children love her. She loves them. She likes my husband. He learned a little more about me this weekend!! I am waiting to meet the new man in her life.
I am really happy. We were able to be ourselves and not try to piece together the reasons why our families drifted apart. It doesn't matter any more. What matters now is us. We are family, and we need to renew that friendship that was our birthright. The strings that held us together as babies, strengthened as toddlers, reinforced as children, and proved everlasting as teenagers are ours to claim once again. A friendship that has never broken despite life events that tried to dismantle it brick by brick is as strong as it ever was.
Coffee and margaritas. Yes. We will have plenty of them in our future.
She is my older cousin. As children we were inseparable. You would have thought we were Siamese twins we were that close. Then my dad got transferred and we moved away. I was 8 years old. My cousin and I wrote to each other EVERY day. We really missed each other. We did that into our teen years, and our relationship got even closer.
My family and I moved back east when I was in high school. Even though we did not go to the same school, we remained close friends. Then I went away to college. That seemed to be the defining point. Our grandmother passed away, and the rift occurred. I don't know what happened, but indirectly it did affect my cousin and me. We drifted apart.
In the last 30+ years we have seen each other 3 times. This weekend was the 4th. She lives in another state, but within driving distance. She came to my house. We talked and giggled most of the night away. My husband let us have our time. We are still very much the same as we were as children. We talked about us. Our likes, our thoughts, our feelings. We opened the doors to our souls to each other, just like we used to do in our letters. It was good to be with her.
We are both in our mid'50's now. She is completely blond. I am highlighted. She has become very independent, and I am still opinionated. Neither of us cook or bake. We both love to read. She sews, I crochet. We love to drink coffee, and margaritas. We made plans. She is single, wasn't always, but that is another story, I am married. I have children, she doesn't. My children love her. She loves them. She likes my husband. He learned a little more about me this weekend!! I am waiting to meet the new man in her life.
I am really happy. We were able to be ourselves and not try to piece together the reasons why our families drifted apart. It doesn't matter any more. What matters now is us. We are family, and we need to renew that friendship that was our birthright. The strings that held us together as babies, strengthened as toddlers, reinforced as children, and proved everlasting as teenagers are ours to claim once again. A friendship that has never broken despite life events that tried to dismantle it brick by brick is as strong as it ever was.
Coffee and margaritas. Yes. We will have plenty of them in our future.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Harry the K
Our beloved Phillies lost a great guy this week. Our announcer. Actually he has been termed the "Voice" of the Phillies. He has been the broadcaster for the last 38 years. A really nice guy, great unmistakable voice, and an icon in Philadelphia. We loved him, and I can't think of any Philadelphia sports fan that didn't love him.
It is a passage of time, tho, and one that is very hard to accept. I thought that all those icons, those people I have known since childhood, are aging and passing on. I don't mean family and relatives, I mean the media, or entertainers, or TV actors. It is almost a chunk of your past that you remember the first time you saw this person, or heard him or her--and now they are gone.
Harry was a great announcer, but more than that he was a great human being. He was very caring, loved Philadelphia, and was very friendly to anyone in his presence. He gave of his time freely to a local nursing home, and other charitable organizations. He will be remembered, and loved forever in Philadelphia.
Our Phillies showed once again what a class act they are. The funeral today was different, but so touching. Harry loved the Phillies, and his final farewell was so appropriate.
We will always have "High Hopes" Harry, and..you may be gone, but your not "outa here". Your memory will always be a part of our beloved Phillies.
It is a passage of time, tho, and one that is very hard to accept. I thought that all those icons, those people I have known since childhood, are aging and passing on. I don't mean family and relatives, I mean the media, or entertainers, or TV actors. It is almost a chunk of your past that you remember the first time you saw this person, or heard him or her--and now they are gone.
Harry was a great announcer, but more than that he was a great human being. He was very caring, loved Philadelphia, and was very friendly to anyone in his presence. He gave of his time freely to a local nursing home, and other charitable organizations. He will be remembered, and loved forever in Philadelphia.
Our Phillies showed once again what a class act they are. The funeral today was different, but so touching. Harry loved the Phillies, and his final farewell was so appropriate.
We will always have "High Hopes" Harry, and..you may be gone, but your not "outa here". Your memory will always be a part of our beloved Phillies.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Picking up the Pieces
Disappointments and rejection are facts of life. We all experience them. We all understand how much it hurts, and somehow we all manage to rise above the hurt. Except when it happens to one of your children. Why is it that as a parent we feel their hurt, their rejection somewhat more than they do?
My son is soon to graduate from college. He is a good kid, has worked hard in college and has the GPA to prove it. He has entered into this whole job search experience with a naive but honest leap. He is trusting those he contacts with his future, his career. But all he meets is rejection.
Recently he interviewed with a company. Three times they invited him to their office to speak with different people. He received a call yesterday, from the secretary. Sorry, they want to find someone else. He was rejected yet again. Why did they bring him back three times? Why did they seem to encourage him, yet to decide to "look" for someone else?
I do believe in honesty. I believe that, especially in today's economy, the candidate for a job has to be savvy, but honest. I guess it is a quality that both my husband and I believe in enough that we have instilled it into our children. It hurts big time when they don't get the same honesty in return. I understand that employers are not overly anxious to hire new employees, but they can at least be honest about it. If they advertise for a job opening, and receive an applicant, they should have an obligation to that candidate to say if there is really an opening, or if they are just "looking" for possible hires someday. Honesty. It is a rare commodity these days.
My son is out pounding the pavement again, so to speak. He still has a month of school to go too, so he blends the job search with finals and projects and all those wonderful things students do. I know he will be ok, and things will work out for him, but as his mom, I feel his pain, his disappointment, his rejection. Then I pick up the pieces.
My son is soon to graduate from college. He is a good kid, has worked hard in college and has the GPA to prove it. He has entered into this whole job search experience with a naive but honest leap. He is trusting those he contacts with his future, his career. But all he meets is rejection.
Recently he interviewed with a company. Three times they invited him to their office to speak with different people. He received a call yesterday, from the secretary. Sorry, they want to find someone else. He was rejected yet again. Why did they bring him back three times? Why did they seem to encourage him, yet to decide to "look" for someone else?
I do believe in honesty. I believe that, especially in today's economy, the candidate for a job has to be savvy, but honest. I guess it is a quality that both my husband and I believe in enough that we have instilled it into our children. It hurts big time when they don't get the same honesty in return. I understand that employers are not overly anxious to hire new employees, but they can at least be honest about it. If they advertise for a job opening, and receive an applicant, they should have an obligation to that candidate to say if there is really an opening, or if they are just "looking" for possible hires someday. Honesty. It is a rare commodity these days.
My son is out pounding the pavement again, so to speak. He still has a month of school to go too, so he blends the job search with finals and projects and all those wonderful things students do. I know he will be ok, and things will work out for him, but as his mom, I feel his pain, his disappointment, his rejection. Then I pick up the pieces.
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
My son is home from College for the Easter holiday. Today, he had a job interview, the third time he has been summoned to this company. Today was the first time he came back feeling positive about his effort. He has approached each interview with this company as a new quest, and a challenge. They keep asking him to return. He was very nervous before he left. I wanted to hug him, to make the worry and fear of uncertainty go away. But I couldn't.
As his mom, who always wants to fix everything and make it right, he is now doing something completely on his own. I can't fix it, or do anything other than make sure his shirt is clean and ironed before he leaves the house. It is very hard for me, a mom who wants to help her child succeed, realize that now he has to do it on his own. It is his turn to shine in his own rite. He will succeed.
After the interview, I made him lunch That I can still do. His favorite, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I sat across the table from my 22 year old son as he ate. We talked about the interview, the questions, and tried to interject meaning into what he could remember from the interview. I mentioned that I know this job search is hard. My son, a boy of few words, said, "No mom, it is the hardest thing I have ever done."
I have been thinking about his words all afternoon. He is probably right. There is nothing I can do to make it easier. Even if I could, I wouldn't. He needs to find his way in the world now, and carve out who he will be professionally. I can't do that for him. My husband and I have tried to give him the skills to be a good and generous person, a hard and dedicated worker, a lifelong learner, and a friend. Now, all of that will work for him.
It's funny. I used to be able to solve all of his problems with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He would, after eating, feel as though he could conquer the world. He can do great things, and I will be there to keep him supplied in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
As his mom, who always wants to fix everything and make it right, he is now doing something completely on his own. I can't fix it, or do anything other than make sure his shirt is clean and ironed before he leaves the house. It is very hard for me, a mom who wants to help her child succeed, realize that now he has to do it on his own. It is his turn to shine in his own rite. He will succeed.
After the interview, I made him lunch That I can still do. His favorite, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I sat across the table from my 22 year old son as he ate. We talked about the interview, the questions, and tried to interject meaning into what he could remember from the interview. I mentioned that I know this job search is hard. My son, a boy of few words, said, "No mom, it is the hardest thing I have ever done."
I have been thinking about his words all afternoon. He is probably right. There is nothing I can do to make it easier. Even if I could, I wouldn't. He needs to find his way in the world now, and carve out who he will be professionally. I can't do that for him. My husband and I have tried to give him the skills to be a good and generous person, a hard and dedicated worker, a lifelong learner, and a friend. Now, all of that will work for him.
It's funny. I used to be able to solve all of his problems with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He would, after eating, feel as though he could conquer the world. He can do great things, and I will be there to keep him supplied in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
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