Tag Archives: holidays

June 20, 2021 · 9:34 am

Daddio-sir

Daddio-sir. Not sure when I started calling you that, but it just fits!

TheHarvZ. My dad. The first man in my life. And he did it pretty damn gracefully (excluding those teen years that we all know are pretty much temporary insanity). Coining the phrase, ‘doing it the Amy way’, he taught me to navigate the easier roads to travel.

To know my dad is to to know his warmth. His no nonsense, massive love for his family. There is nothing more important to him. And if you marry in, you are his now too. This is evidenced by his famous ‘birthday letters’. He does not buy cards. (I think it may have something to do with the fact that my mom single-handedly supported Hallmark’s stock price for her entire life). The way he expresses emotions so freely is a gift we all cherish. His support and interest in every one of our lives and accomplishments is astounding. And he is the first to dust us off during challenges and failures. There is no better cheerleader.

Harv is a funny guy. He can become wildly aggravated by the inefficiencies of the postal service or the dining room in his place, but never once complained about being locked into his apartment for almost a year during the pandemic.

He has sucked up more things in his lifetime than I can count, and always keeps a smile on his face, a humorous twist and a positive lesson.

There is no greater gift a daughter can have than a dad who remains her champion her entire life. After the loss of my mom, he took on the role of the daily chatter. We never miss a morning, and when I am pressed for time there is never any guilt. Only the greatest support for getting through my day.

A big fat wish I were there with you Happy Fathers Day to my hero.

Love you to the moon, Daddio Sir.

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December 16, 2014 · 7:55 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Olympic Ribbon Curling

ribbon-curling

If ribbon curling were an Olympic sport, my mom would have surely taken home the gold. This woman lived to wrap packages. When the holidays came around she was in all her glory.

Today, being the first night of Hanukkah, I needed to do a little last minute wrapping and went in search of a scissor. There in my kitchen drawer I found one that I had rescued from her house when I was cleaning it out. I thought to myself, ‘just like Elaine to have a floral scissor.’ And then I remembered that I had bought it for her. Perhaps as part of a Hanukkah present one year. This actually looks like her!

At that moment I was so thrilled to have saved this item. There were so many things I had to let go of, but there are special little everyday items of hers that I have sprinkled around my house to remind me of her. Every room has a little bit of Elaine in it. My brother and dad notice when they are here. Hopefully it gives them the same comfort it gives me.

There is no real need to have her ‘things’ around, other than to make my home feel like hers did. She is everywhere I go, in everything I do. So much of her lives in me now. And I am proud to carry out her traditions, both big and small, to honor the type of mother she was. Again, I hope this gives my family comfort.

Let me tell you, that crazy ribbon curler would be damn proud of what her scissor and I turned out on that package tonight.

How lovely to share a little bit of Elaine on the first night of Hanukkah.

Happy and healthy to those of you who are of the tribe.

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April 8, 2013 · 9:50 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Disappointment

disappointment

Disappointment… such a lousy emotion. It comes tethered to expectations and rears its ugly head out of nowhere when you think you have ‘it’ all handled.  I have tried my best to manage expectations to avoid this nasty sucker. But sometimes shit happens, you are at its mercy, and it takes you down.

Big time.

To make it short and avoid a pity party, I have managed high blood pressure. It has been controlled for a long time, went a little wacky back in the fall and got back on track. Then I had a reaction to some meds that made me feel very ill and caused my ankle to swell (of course the one I sprained a while back) and the switch of meds set me on a BP roller coaster I do not wish on my worst enemy.

The net: I could not fly. And what was I supposed to do… you bet. Fly. To Spain. To see my boy who is studying abroad. Who I have not seen since January. On a trip we had planned forever. At a time when we really needed a break. On the first real vacation in many, many years. That we can’t reschedule. Not life shattering, just a piece of life that I can’t get back. One of the really fun pieces.

I am coming out the other side of this huge disappointment and all I can do is run through my head all of the things I have told my kids over the years when their expectations were shattered:

  1. Sometimes you just have to feel like crap.
  2. Misery gives happiness context.
  3. Everything happens for a reason and sometimes we don’t find out what that reason is for a long time.
  4. Who you are when things suck says more about you than who you are when they are great.
  5. Sometimes its not fair. Period.

On the other end of that wisdom I was fully aware of how annoying that wisdom could be. (sorry kids)

Until a friend of mine posted a favorite Maya Angelou quote that made me smile and think about who I really want to be:

“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”

Even a Jewish girl gets the last one.

So if you see me knocking on a christian neighbor’s door asking to borrow their christmas lights in the rain wearing the same thing for 2 days in a row, you will know that it is just an exercise.

As is all of life.

 

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May 28, 2012 · 9:03 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday — Summer

Honeysuckle! This has to be the quintessential sign of summer. My mom used to have a honeysuckle bush right outside the kitchen door. The smell of it still makes me feel like a little kid. I remember picking the flowers and pulling out the tiny filament in the center to release the tiny droplet of sweet nectar on my tongue. It was one of those fascinations that I have never tired of.

This mass of honeysuckle is on my morning walk. I could not resist but to pick a flower and taste that sweet flavor again. It did not disappoint.

The memorial day weekend – with its unofficial start to summer – did not disappoint either. It was filled with all the things I love about this season. I will never take these glory days for granted; when being in the basement is out of the question and there is more to do than hours in the day.

I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and just think… a four day work week, not so bad.

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October 31, 2011 · 4:52 am

Snowlaween

Seriously? Snow in NY in October?! Not sure I am ready for another winter just yet. I still have it in the back of my mind that I can get in another beach day.

We were lucky; just a dusting and we kept power. Many of my friends north and west of hear got dumped on AND lost electricity… again. With no hopes of it returning before Tuesday or Wednesday. Just a tip you guys, you get a free pass to eat as much candy as you want today.

Here’s hoping you all get your power back sooner than later and have a happy and SAFE Halloween.

I, for one, can’t wait to see all the little kids in their costumes.

On a not so kid oriented note, here is my favorite urban dictionary word of the week:

Damn, I wish I thought of that one!

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August 14, 2011 · 10:58 pm

Happy Birthday to the World’s Best Mom

No, not me! I would never be that self-serving. I am talking about MY mom.

This weekend we celebrated a very special birthday with my mother. Through some miracle and lots of corralling of 3 generations of cats, we were able to get the entire family together. Even Danny made it – fresh off the camp bus.

A huge thank you and hugs forever to the Chef love of my life, Don, for making this meal over the top amazing. Big plug for Valentino’s on the Green (might I highly recommend EVERYTHING on the menu)

As my mom put it so eloquently in her little speech after dins, having everyone all together in one place made turning this rather strange number worth it.

Here’s to my mom, the bravest woman I know. Wishing you the best birthday ever. May you always feel the love that surrounded you tonight, and know that we are all blessed to have you in our lives.

Now, if all you readers would be so kind as to come out of the woodwork, please wish mom a happy birthday.

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May 8, 2011 · 12:37 am

Happy Mother’s Day

For the first time in 22 years, I will be spending Mother’s Day without at least one of my kids. It is so very weird to write that… I don’t even know what to do with it. When they were little I used to ask for the morning to myself to plant flowers. Be careful what you wish for.

Since we cannot be together till next weekend I will do a little reflecting on what it has meant to me to be a mother. I was trained by the master… so a great big fat Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and of course to my mother-in-law as well.

Since I cannot be with my kids I decided to send them a random list of mom thoughts so that I feel like they are here. When they wake up (around 2PM) you will probably hear a collective ‘Awwww, mom’ from the Midwest.

1. Just when you both started to learn how to sleep late, I lost the ability to do so. So when I make too much noise in the morning when you are home, don’t think it is by accident. I do take more than a little bit of pleasure in the payback.

2. Although the house is very much in order when you are not here,  I would trade that for a hallway full of big sneakers and a kitchen full of bakers in a heartbeat.

3. A reminder that as your mother I feel obliged to tell you that although you are sure it is, Funfetti is NOT a flavor.

4. No, you may never consider calling the dog mommy (even when Daddy tells you it is ok – actually, especially at that time)

5. Danny, this may be hard to believe but I would sort of kill to be on the soccer field at 8:00 tomorrow, even if it is in Ronkonkoma. After so many years of complaining that there was no respect for family time by the soccer league, I realize that WAS family time!

6. Jana, don’t ever stop taking pictures on your phone and sending them to me. Even when you were on the other side of the world you always made me feel like I was right there with you.

7. Always remember when you see one of THOSE sunsets to say the words ‘sky blue pink’ to yourself and know that no matter where I am… I am with you.

8. Remember that nothing is ever too bad that you can’t tell me and no matter how much trouble you get into, chances are you will have a better shot of getting out if you call me first (with the help of Alan, of course, if it’s really bad).

9. If you think the milk is spoiled… it is. And don’t ask someone else to taste it, that’s mean.

10. I hope you both know that the single best thing I have done in my life was to become a mother. And that if I were given the chance to write down the qualities that I hoped my kids would have grown up to possess, it could never match the people you have become. I love you both so much it hurts.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

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February 22, 2011 · 9:50 pm

Bizarre Neighborhood?

It is beginning to occur to me that perhaps we do not live in the most normal of neighborhoods. I mean, it looks normal. We have neat houses with classic slate roofs and pretty landscaping. Everyone takes pride in their homes and for the most part keeps everything in good repair.

But when I start to think about the condom wrapping of snowmen, the bizarre garbage and the curb side art galleries, it would appear that we are a bit of an eclectic group. Those are all sort of charming, but THIS? The picture at the top of this post was taken at a house with the most bizarre residents. These ‘decorations’ were put up for Christmas but hung around for quite a while. The whole yard was filled with these wacky angels.

Honestly, I am sort of afraid to go past this place at night.

So? Do all neighborhoods have this sort of stuff or is it just us?

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January 3, 2011 · 10:33 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – 1.3.11=0 to 60

If you were as lucky as I,  you were able to take it easy for the past couple of weeks. I was not officially on vacation, but I did take advantage of both the holidays and Snowmageddon ’10 to slow it all down and lose the frenzied pace.

My kids were home, there were many friends to celebrate with and we saw a bunch of movies and simply just hung around. We started a jigsaw puzzle, I became obsessed with Scrabble and Words With Friends apps (both of which I royally suck at and don’t care) and I even did a little office cleaning and organizing.

It was lovely.

And then I got hit with the ton of all bricks Monday. It was if the business world awoke from its hibernation and was mighty hungry. Somewhere around 3:00 I had a mad craving to finish the top left corner of that puzzle and new I could not leave my desk. (so sad)

Hard to switch gears.

But there is something nice about getting back into the routine and being what you are. Certainly not as nice as a bloody mary at 11 am, but still – it has its merits.

How did you guys do on your first day back?

 

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December 30, 2010 · 8:24 pm

Goodbye TwentyTen

New York Times Square New year celebrations in...

Image via Wikipedia

Not sure if I will ever get used to the ‘twenty’ thing in the date. I guess I have the rest of my life to adjust to it.

I am never one for big New Year’s celebrations or resolutions. For me, if my desk is clean (it is, along with my desktop that finally has the current operating system) and my kids are happy (they are) and we are not staring down the business end of a full-blown crisis (we aren’t) I am relatively content at the end of the year.

2010 has had it’s moments; some good, some not so much – all part of the roller coaster of living. We have learned to live with ever changing expectations and to realize that what you think is going to take you down probably is not the one that will. But watch the hell out for what you least expect. Be nimble. Laugh whenever possible. Cry, on Tuesday’s of course. And most of all, appreciate the people in your life. Those who believe in you are your best assets.

So as we roll the calendar over to the new year, I will take this moment to thank all of the people in my life for being the PEOPLE in my life. And I thank the cosmos for always throwing out things to amuse me, even when I don’t think that I can be amused.

Oh, and Happy New Year to you all. May you turn the calendar to find what you have been looking for. Or better, maybe something that you haven’t.

 

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