The way to a man's heart

Last weekend we went to Chicago for a few days to visit with my aunt and my brother. All in all it was a very relaxing and fun weekend. Only one small glitch. The morning of the day we visited my brother he had just installed a 55" LED, LCD tv in his family room. Now, this may not seem like such a big deal. Unless you're married to my dear Ed. When he saw the size of the screen (and yes, Virginia, size does matter) and the nice clear picture, the game was on. On the way back to my aunt's house the next day we had to find a Best Buy (thank you Garmin) to look at the tv's and try to get information on Comcast services because there was no way Ed was waiting until we got back home in 48 hours.

By the time we did get home, Ed was hyperventilating over the whole project. Now, he'll tell you it wasn't THAT big a deal to him and I'm being overly dramatic. If you wish to believe that, it's fine with me.

Currently we have three TVs, 2 PCs, 2 laptops, 2 phone lines. Our services include Direct TV, Tivo, AT&T for phones, Comcast for cable. I know, that's so 20th Century. So we decided to look at the package deals out there. The major focus of our next two days was Comcast vs AT&T U-Verse. Ed was totally in the Comcast camp because of some "less-than-pleasant" experiences we had with AT&T DSL a few years ago. But with Comcast you can't transfer recordings from one room to the other which is a biggie for me. Comcast has On Demand (which AT&T only has a weak version of) and that was big for Ed. I called AT&T, got all the information, and was offered $100 in cold, hard cash if I signed on right then! But we weren't ready just yet. Ed got the scoop from Comcast and then he called AT&T with a few more questions. This time he was offered a $100 VISA card if he signed on immediately.

Finally we did a Ben Franklin balance sheet and listing pros and cons for both - with lovely highlights for the winning entry in each category (yes, we're OCD) and decided on AT&T U-Verse which will be installed in early December. First, it will save us around $100 a month vs the piecemeal system we have now.

And it might prevent Ed from buying that really big tv he wants if we can get a better picture on our itsy bitsy 46" screen!

Grout and Music

Today we are having Wendy's baby shower at our house. It was initially scheduled for mid-July, but she had to go on bed rest so we postponed it until the twins were 3 months old (which happened on November 3rd). So, this morning I was rushing around to make two loaves of pumpkin bread, and a batch of Ceviche before we have to head to Costco to pick up additional food. Ed thought that would be a fine time to clean the grout on the kitchen counter!!

He started with Comet then switched to Soft Scrub - in the process splashing some on his new sweatshirt which immediately went into the washer.

The point is (and I do have one), for some reason when he pulled out the Comet I thought about Ajax. When I was a kid, that was the only cleanser there was. As others came on the market, they were all labeled Ajax in our minds. Sort of like Kleenex and Xerox machines. Then, being me, I started recalling the Ajax jingle

"Use Ajax, the foaming cleanser (badda, bom, bada, bom, bom), [something, something] the dirt right down the drain!"

Then I started humming the old Pepsodent commercial "You wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent."

And Lucky Strike cigarettes: Be happy, go lucky. Be Happy, go Lucky Strike

Chevrolet: See the USA, in your Chevrolet (followed by a big air kiss from Dinah Shore)

Texaco: You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big, bright Texaco Star!!

Brylcream: Brylcream, a little dab'll do ya, Brylcream, you'll look so debonair. Brylcream a little dab'll do ya. They'll love to get their fingers in your hair.

Do you have any favorites from the past? By the way, our grout looks lovely.

The "Old" People

Earlier this week my good friend in Tucson wrote on her Facebook Status, "I Miss My Old People!!" I knew what she was talking about - her mother passed away in the Summer of 2008, and her stepfather died a month or so ago.

My hairdresser just lost her mother a month ago after a long illness. And over the past week there has been a man walking by our office who looks a lot like Ed's dad. All of these events brought so much back to me.

My mom died over 14 years ago, and between Jan 2007 and Jan 2008 Ed and I lost my father and both of his parents. All of our "old people" are gone, too. My dad was in a nursing home for over 2 years before he died, and Ed's parents both spent eight weeks in the hospital or nursing homes at the end of their lives. For two years our lives consisted of a series of hospital visits, flights to Chicago, nursing home visits, dealing with mounds of paperwork, knots in the stomach every time the phone rang. It was emotionally and physically draining - and I miss it!

I miss having them around. I miss their stories that they told over and over again. I miss being able to take my dad out of the nursing home and to a restaurant for oysters, white wine, and Caesar Salad. And driving him to downtown Chicago so he could see the buildings and the lights. He so loved Chicago. And Scrabble - up to the end it was hard to beat the guy at Scrabble.

I miss having Ed's dad over a couple of times a week for dinner and watching him enjoy our grandkids. And hearing his great phrases like "tall hog at the trough" and "knee deep in high cotton". And his laugh - boy could that man laugh. Mostly it was silent, you would just see his face light up and his belly jiggle.

I miss Ed's mom with her bright red hair and the perpetual kleenex in her hand. And her bright lipstick. I miss her yelling across the room, "Where's Clyde?" anytime her husband dared to stray out of her sight. I miss seeing her in that recliner where she sat for every holiday and dinner at our house. 90% of the photos we have of her are in that recliner!

I miss my mother's laugh and the way she always said, "Hi, Sweetheart!" when I would call her on the phone, and I could hear a smile in her voice. And how we called each other almost daily just to chat - often about nothing in particular. And how she was able to center me with just a few words. She was my best friend so I lost two people when she died.

I even miss all we had to do at the end of their lives because it gave us a chance to give back to them some of what they had given to us. To take care of them. My dad once said to me, "I hate that you have to do all of this for me." I said, "Dad, you took care of me for 20 years, let me enjoy the chance to pay you back a bit."

After all of our "old people" were gone, I made a separate collage for each of them and have them hanging in our hallway. I smile every time I look at them - and I tear up.

Now Ed and I are the "old people" ! I'm not sure I like that much.

1963

This morning I watched last night's episode of Mad Men (thank you, Tivo). The show is exquisite and probably my favorite thing on tv right now. For those who haven't watched it first, shame on you! Second, it takes place in New York in the 1960's with all the slickness, drinking, smoking, womanizing, etc. of that decade. Last night's show revolved around the Kennedy assassination.

Throughout the episode, tv's in all the scenes were showing various stages of that awful weekend from the first shot to the notice of Kennedy's death, to the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald. I found myself crying all over again watching Walter Cronkite announce that the president had died.

Any of us who are old enough remember where we were that day.

I was in my senior year in high school that year and in Journalism class. We were all babbling about needing a big story for the front page of the school paper when one of our classmates walked through the door and said, "The President has just been shot!" We all started laughing and said, "We don't need something quite that big." But then we realized he was serious and turned on the classroom radio. We had a phone in the classroom so all took turns calling someone - our mothers, best friends, dads - just needed to connect with someone.

Next class was Chemistry. My teacher was this very large black man from the South who was one of the best teachers I ever had. He actually made chemistry fun and we learned so much. He was well over six feet tall and had been a football player so had arms and thighs the size Texas and was a big, tough guy who always had a smile on his face. Class that day consisted mostly of talking about what was going on. He was sitting at his desk in front of the room just letting us have conversations with him and with each other. Shortly after 1:00 the Principal came over the loud speaker and announced to the school that President Kennedy had died. We were horrified. Our teacher looked up at the PA speaker, looked at us, then put his head on his desk and sobbed. We watched his shoulders shaking. This strong man felt apart in front of our young eyes. That told the story of how devastated we all were. Within a few minutes we were all crying and trying to comfort each other.

Our age of innocence was over. School continued for the rest of the day because they weren't allowed to let us go home early. But we all just drifted from class to class crying, talking, and waiting for the bell. When school was finally out and my mom came to pick me up, she was crying. Her eyes were so swollen and puffy.

We were glued to the tv all night. Stayed in front of the tv all weekend and I remember I was drying dishes and watching when Oswald was shot. By then we were so numb that I just sat on the floor and stared at the tv. What more could possibly happen.

Then the funeral, then John-John saluting his dad. It was a horrific week. I don't know that Kennedy was all that great a President. I was much too young to know enough to make that determination. He certainly had his faults, as all Presidents do. But he was young and charasmatic and the first President that my generation really had. His death was such a stunning blow to our way of life and all that we thought we knew.

Mad Men captured all of this perfectly. It made me cry, made me remember.

Ghosts, Goblins, and leftover candy

Halloween is over for another year. We had a lot of kids again this year, but still have candy left over. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

Our House gnome donned his witch's hat and got ready for the evening's festivities.

Ed did his number as the Shadow Man and managed to make a few teenagers revert to 4-year olds, and then try to recover their dignity. The girls don't mind screaming and squealing, it's part of their nature. But the boys strut up the sidewalk looking all cool and then lose it when Ed says something. One especially brave young man decided to touch the Shadow Man with his bag proving that it wasn't real. When Ed reached out and grabbed the bag, the kid squealed like stepped-on cat.

This was the first Halloween for Wendy's twins. They got all dressed up, but not sure they enjoyed it much. Their treat was formula and their "trick" was some nasty diapers. Maybe next year.

Jenni's kids were here in all their glory. Eamon as yet another Star Wars character (that's three years in a row) and Vika as an Asian Princess.

The best part was this morning when Ed went into the hall bathroom and discovered a chunk of chocolate on the rug, a bunch of empty candy wrappers in the wastebasket, and a glob of chocolate on the sink. I could just picture Vika and/or Eamon going in there and shoving as much candy as they could in their mouths before Mama and Papa noticed they were missing!

One thing scratched off Ed's Bucket List

Today was quite a big day in our house. First, we got to turn the clocks back and regain the hour that was stolen back in March. It's my favorite day of the year. No matter what time I get up, it's earlier! You just can't beat that. I don't re-set my clocks until morning so I have the euphoric feeling of going back in time with every clock that I adjust.

But what made this day really special is that Ed made pancakes for breakfast. The man has NEVER made pancakes in his six decades on this earth. Amazing. Apparently he developed a craving for them yesterday afternoon. As I'm sitting at my computer this morning, he comes in the room, bag of pancake mix in hand, and asks if we have a griddle (!). Why, yes, we do. Since I was in the middle of an online relationship with Amazon.com I figured he could handle this without my help.

He went into the kitchen to begin the project. Following the directions on the package he measures the mix and the water. Comes up with a bowl of thick sludge. Calls out to me, "Hey, I'm having a problem here!" I went in and looked at the muck in the bowl and the wooden spoon standing straight up. Not sure why that happened, but I never actually measure the water or follow the directions. Just pour in enough to make them the consistency I like. So I told him to put in more water, in spite of what the package says. He put in a teaspoon of water at a time, but eventually got them right. I also showed him how to use the whisk to blend the batter. I pulled out the griddle, sprayed it with butter spray, turned on the stove, gave him the scoop I use for pancakes, and went back to my computer.

A couple of minutes later I hear, "How do I know when to flip them over?" I yelled back, "When all the little bubbles on the top burst and the bottom looks brown." He flipped them and called out, "These look funny."

So I went into the kitchen and they actually looked fine for the first batch. I explained that the first batch usually looks a bit uneven, but they'll taste fine and the rest of them will be more uniform. As I walked out of the kitchen, I jokingly said, "Don't touch the griddle, it's hot." Back to the computer.

After I finished my online order, I went back into the kitchen where Ed informed me that he had burned his finger on the griddle! But the pancakes were done and were tasty, and I think his finger will be fine (I'm sure there will be a Neosporin moment).

Calling all Princesses and Transformers....

One of the many benefits of retirement is that I get to pick up my grandkids from school on Fridays and have them with me for a couple of hours. That, of course, includes giving them a snack which they remind me about the minute we hit the doorway!

Today they had their annual Halloween Parade. Each year the kids dress up in their costumes the day before Halloween and parade down the street about three blocks from the school, then back up the other side of the street to return to their classrooms. It's quite an event. The teachers and administrators dress up, also. As do some of the parents. At least I think the lady with the black leggings, black t-shirt, tattoos on both arms, and a pierced eyebrow and lip was dressed up! Didn't dare ask!

Some parents bring younger siblings to join in the fun. People who live on the street haul out the folding chairs and sit on their front lawns waving to the kids. And the kids are all told to do the princess wave and say "Happy Halloween" to the crowd. A few of them actually do! Some of them have masks so we hear, "Hmpfhhh Hffpggwwn". But you get the idea.

It was a perfect Fall day - if you stood in the shade. In the sun it was still summer. Because our house is always cool, I wore a sweater so had to deal with a 60-minute hot flash. All of us parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. huddled around the parking lot waiting for the kids to come out. There were many, many transformers (who didn't transform into anything so that was a bust), princesses, witches, Darths, and Snow Whites. Also one boy dressed as Phantom of the Opera - I'm guessing his parents picked that one out.


As soon as the kids got past the school, the hordes of above-mentioned family members went across the street to catch the kids on their way back to the school. Imagine a couple of hundred people trying to huddle under the three or four trees that had shade.


There was even a witch helping with the street crossing.


It's really a fun event and my second time watching it. Tonight they have a Halloween Carnival at the school, but I'll leave that to Mama and Papa. I'll be on the couch with a glass of wine watching tv.