Fired!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Her first and only job and Ms. Sylvie has failed. All she had to do was carry her bags in the little container on her collar. You could tell it annoyed her when she first started as she would try to shake it off but she got used to it very quickly. Then this morning I took her to the ball field where she loves to run. It is fun to watch her run free around and around in circles. Well, the bags stopped her. She just wouldn't run with it attached to her collar so I took it off because what is the point if she is not going to enjoy her walk/run in the morning. I guess she isn't really fired. Perhaps she needs to go on disability for her mental fragility.

Taking Responsibility

Friday, April 12, 2008

Probably the most awesome animals in the world are service dogs. I guess there are service cats but I would wonder what they do. Anyway, the dogs function in so many roles and provide so much stability to their owners as well as enable them to do things that their particular situations would not otherwise allow them to do.

I look at Sylvia often and wonder why she doesn't have a job besides being my companion and always making me smile. Baby steps. Today she took the responsibility for carrying her own bags on our walks. I found a neat little container that has a roll of 30 bags in it that hooks right to her leash. She found it quite annoying at first but got used to it and has become the responsible canine that I always knew she was. Baby steps. Thanks, Rich, for a great idea.

Happy birthday a day early, Kathie. Will talk to you tomorrow.

Spring!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Today was one of those beautiful spring days, one of those beautiful first springs days when it felt like everything was going to burst open at any minute. It seemed that I looked at the hostas that had just broken through the ground a few days ago and when I looked two hours later today they already were a couple inches higher. It was one of those days when you just didn't want to come indoors but it got dark and quite a bit cooler and you know all good things come to an end. Now it is supposed to start raining in a couple of hours and rain for days and days and days.

I have gotten a lot of work done in the my postage-stamp-sized yard this week, feeling like I have a real head start. I pruned the heck out of my forsythias, hydrangeas and lilacs. I don't know if prune is the right word as I know this is definitely not the time of year to prune flowering shrubs as you will lose all the flowers. What I actually did was cut out probably half of all of their branches down to the ground. They all were way overdue and now they are much lighter and will get a lot more light down at their base and everything that is there will still bloom.

I also made my first visit to the nursery last week, the nursery being the most dangerous place for me to go to shop. I always, always bring home far more than I intend to buy and then have to find a place to dig and plant whatever I bought. The annuals aren't in yet and only the large shrubs are really for sale. Oh, there were lots and lots of pansies but that was about it. So I got my nine bags of mulch which will probably only be enough for most of the back yard and came home.

Today I started working in the front yard and that will be more mulch and dahlias added to the shopping list. I started digging up the coreopsis and splitting it up, putting some in the back yard.

I could go on and on but what I love about the garden is that it is a work in progress, a job that will never be finished so we are meant to enjoy the trip.

I got a surprise package this week and was thrilled to open it and find rhubarb plants. Whenever I go to my sister's home in Michigan, Karen fixes rhubarb sauce for me. It is the only time and place I ever eat it. I did some rhubarb stalks in a grocery store here for a very brief time last year and it was very costly. We grew up eating rhubarb from our yard and my Aunt Eileen made the best rhubarb pie. But then she made the best blueberry pie also. I think it didn't matter what the fruit was because it was always the best because there was about an inch of pure sugar in the bottom of the pie.

Chives and parsley and oregano and garlic and hens and chicks are also ready to go into the ground as soon as the monsoon is over next week.

All of this means that the knitting and crocheting has slowed down. I actually have three things going on at the same time which I hardly ever do. The life sweater has ground to a screeching halt while I work on the baby blanket which is coming along nicely. In the meantime I have started a "community project". I have been making squares, actually rectangles, with leftover yarn for a while that will eventually be put together into an afghan and donated somewhere. Now I have a "community" project laying on the table for anyone to pick up and work on when they feel like doing something with their hands for a few minutes. Liz has become quite the crocheter so these should get done faster than they have been.

"Pardonable Lies" by Jacqueline Winspear takes place in London and France in 1930 and I am finding it pretty enjoyable. It is the book chosen for our book chat group this time around.

At the same time I am reading "Second Glance" by Jodi Picoult. Jodi always takes her readers into a controversial area, making them think a little more, wonder a little more, always raising issues with two or more sides to them. This one is about paranormal activity, the presence of those who have passed away and are caught in our arena, not quite having crossed all the way over to the next life as of yet. At least that is the impression I have of the book although I have only just started it. It is something that I have thought about often and don't really know the answer to or what I really think. I often feel that someone is "around" although we have buried them. But then on the other hand I get incredibly sad when I think that Nick's father isn't going to be at his wedding. Like I said, I don't understand it all nor do I know what I believe either.

Seat Belts

Monday, April 7, 2008

I cannot believe that people still don't wear seatbelts. Can anyone give me one good reason, just one, not to wear it? I don't want to hear about you might get stuck in your car and it is on fire or it goes off a bridge and you can't get out. What are the chances? The guy who runs the neighborhood market and drives from PA to City island every morning of his life was killed driving to work Friday morning. No seat belt. He was a very macho guy, very Italian and all. Well, just wonderful. Now he is very macho dead. Sounds harsh I know but I cannot understand that there are still actually people out there who don't wear seat belts.

Catching Up

Thursday, April 3, 2008

I had the opportunity to visit the Unites States Holocaust Memorial on Monday. It was a beautiful day in DC, chilly but nice. I left my camera at the apartment because I knew there was a good chance that photos would not be allowed and even if they were it just wouldn't be the right place to take pictures. When I got to the museum, there was a significant line. I had no idea how significant until I had walked through to the next street and then down the entire block to get to the end of it. But it moved pretty quickly so I should have figured out what was going on. The line was only to get a timed ticket when you got to the front of it. Let's see. It was half an hour on line so now it was 10:45A. I figured if I spent two hours in the museum I would still be back by 3:30 when we were going to drive to Annapolis. My ticket time was 3:15P. By then I figured out that this was Easter vacation week and I think every yellow bus in the United States was there. I was able to enter and visit "The Story of Danny" exhibit which was wonderful. It was a diary written by Danny whose family first moved to the ghetto and then the concentration camps. I guess I will have to go back when it is not Easter week.

It was emotional and disturbing but very very disturbing on another level. There was a class going through the same time I was and there were two young girls walking through talking on their phones, obviously to friends not on the trip but who were shopping instead. They were loud and seemed even louder because it was all so rude. What is going on any more? The teachers were more than aware of the phone conversations and didn't address it either. I don't get it at all.

It was disturbing also because I had a very strong sense that all of these kids piling through the museum really had no concept of what they were seeing. There certainly was little interest but I don't know, maybe it was the teacher's fault because they hadn't introduced the topic to the students.

The baby blanket is coming along. This is the boring part so I don't pick it up quite so quickly to work on it. Can't wait to get to the fun part.

Opening Day. The last Opening Day in the House That Ruth Built. We got there in plenty of time and Nick came from work. It was raining and cold so we moved to the top part of the stadium to keep dry. Afte an hour and a half, they postponed the game until Tuesday night. So all 56,000 of us left the stadium at the same time trying to pile into a couple trains. You can all imagine how well that worked. So we were back Tuesday night for a great night. Good picture but what's the deal with the face on that old lady in the middle?

Yeserday I went to The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. I think I took close to 150 pictures. The orchids were exquisite and the displays were even more so.

Complaining

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Six more days.

Every morning when I walk I meet a man who walks quite a distance, at least five miles every single day. I see him out there when it is raining, snowing, it doesn't matter. Never, ever misses a day. Sometimes I meet him face on, sometimes I pass him but we always greet each other. He always comments on the weather and it is never negative. "We need the rain." "The snow is so beautiful." "It is such a beautiful day, isn't it?" What is remarkable about it is that I know he always means what he says. It is never just an automated statement. The truly remarkable thing about him is that he is walking with a cane, a Canadian crutch. A Canadian crutch is a cane with the three prongs on the base of it. He has clearly had a stroke, sort of drags one foot and one arm just hangs at his side. His pace is very slow but he is always cheerful and appears strong despite his disabilities.

I called a remarkable friend of mine this morning. Bill is my age and I have know him since our sons started kindergarten together in 1979. At one point he and his wife and Al and I were very good friends, spending a lot of time together in each other's homes and the neighborhood beaches. Then life got in the way, his wife, Netta, and I both found jobs and everyone's life changed. We would still see each other occasionally on the street but never spent time together intentionally any more.

I saw Bill about six years ago and he had just been diagnosed with colon cancer and I have stayed in touch with him since. Chemo and radiation. More chemo and radiation. Then lung cancer. Chemo and radiation. Then liver cancer. Chemo and radiation. Except for possibly one or two weeks in the past six years, Bill has been receiving chemotherapy. He has had innumerable surgeries and procedures. Just to add to the insult of all of it, he had a heart attack and open heart surgery in the middle of all of this. Oh, he did stop chemo temporarily at that time and was very upset as he felt the cancer would gain on him. I cannot even begin to capture with words what this man has endured over time. Yet, he never, ever even came close to giving up. Never. He just wanted to play golf with his son "next summer", wanted to be "around for Janet's (his daughter) wedding" and now, all he wants is to be around for the birth of his first grandchild in June. "There is always something to look forward to, Mary, always."

Two remarkable men, one a total stranger. What could I possibly compain about?

A new baby blanket for a new baby. Just started

this Sunday. This is another reason the sweater is called my "life sweater". Life gets in the way of finishing it. It can wait but this baby is going to join this weary old world in the fall so this blanket won't wait. It is a great pattern and is going to be fun to finish off.

I have been listening to Garrison Keillor and his "News from Lake Woebegone". I don't know if he writes it still or if he has writers but it is all so good. It sucks you in. The episode I listened to the other day was from the beginning of December, I think. He started singing a couple of very old songs and the audience joined in. I didn't even know the songs although I was a little familiar with "Juanita". It struck me when I was listening to him that that is probably something else we are losing as life becomes faster and more high tech. Do our kids stand around a piano and sing"old songs"? All of us McIntyres will always remember Dad playing the piano and Mom singing her heart out, especially if it was "When Irish Eyes are Smiling". And Uncle DC and Aunt Pat singing their own rendition of "Dark Town Strutters' Ball". I am not sure that our kids' music actually lends itself to anything like this but I think not.

And the garage floor is finished and well over half of the stuff headed off to the dump. Pretty sad actually. We had a very old piano in our home for a number of years that just never held a tune, etc, etc. It found its way to the garage at some point and has been there for years keeping Al's mother's sewing company that has been there for 25 years. We pulled them out and really looked at them yesterday. As one would expect, the wood was in very bad shape, all of the metal parts were badly rusted. Seemed an impossible project to restore them. So they are gone. Now, if I could figure out what to do with the pool table that Al just had to buy and store when we bought this house, 30 years ago this week. The slate is in the garage and will never be damaged. The rest of it is in pieces in the attic. I have moved that to the list of things that "the kids will have to deal with some day".

Holy Saturday

March 22, 2008

Life is really about continual change on every level of our being. Holy Saturday. I think I remember or I remember hearing about Holy Saturday when I was a kid and my parents had a big party at the house to mark the end of Lent as Lent ended at noon on Holy Saturday then. Dad and Mom always gave up drinking for Lent and I think they were probably the only people I know who really gave up something for everyday from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (or Holy Saturday then). They didn't drink on Sundays or on St. Patrick's Day. The rest of the world seemed to need those days of reprieve. I think I remember or, again, remember hearing, about laying tiles on the basement floor Holy Saturday morning so that the party could be in the basement starting at noon. Heating the floor tiles in the oven or on the stove and running them down to Dad.

Nick, my hat's off to you. I know you gave up ice cream for Lent and I am quite sure you didn't eat it on Sundays or St. Patrick's Day. Nor meat on Fridays during Lent. You come from some solid Irish Catholic stock there, boy.

Speaking of Irish stock and St. Patrick's Day-Tara and Lizzie at the Throgg's Neck parade.

It has been a frustrating couple of weeks as the contractors were here replacing the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floors. They were only two years old but were done poorly the first time and needed replacing as the grout was all coming up, etc. So the usual testosterone surge for the first few days and then no one showing up for a few days and then they're back for one, one guy for two days, etc, etc. Now they are done and I am thrilled with the results, never mind it is nice to have a kitchen and bathroom again. The floors look boring but I am really pleased with them.

But the most exciting thing they did was build me shelves for the top of my kitchen cabinets. For years I have been gathering mugs when I travel places and the kids have brought me mugs also. They piled up in boxes in the basement while I half heartedly looked for shelves. I had in my mind I wanted shelves like the ones behind bars that hold the liquor bottles so I asked the contractor if he could build them. Sure, sure. Is there anything they can't do? Well, is there anything they can't do when they are doing the selling? He did build them and I am really happy with them so I spent this morning again gathering mugs and put them on the shelves. I will have Christmas mugs to add when I get the decorations out again and I still have two empty shelves

running the full length. I think the message is that I have to do some more traveling.

So since I really like this everything-being-a-mess-all-the-time thing, they are going to come on Monday and take everything out of my garage (yikes!) and put down a lot of gravel, tamp it down and return only half of the stuff to the garage under my direction. The rest is going to get thrown out. Right. Half. Will let you know how that goes.

I finished reading Richard Cohen's "Blind Sided" last night. It is about his 30 year battle with multiple sclerosis and is an excellent book, pretty depressing in parts but certainly portrays a very determined man. I used to be amazed at the patients and families I knew at work who lived with chronic illness and how they adapted their lives to it, or didn't. They were always people that I admired greatly. I started reading Kathy Reichs' "Deja Dead". It is her first book, thank you, Margaret and Liz. Her main character is a forensic archeologist and her work is what the TV show "Bones" is based on. I enjoy "Bones" a lot, so----

Eight more days until opening day at Yankee Stadium. The last opening day in "The House That Ruth Built". I am really happy to say we have tickets. Nick dropped off our ticket package yesterday so we are all set to go. We got email last week offering seats/suites in the new stadium for next season. I did hear on the radio yesterday that the $500/seat tickets and the $2500/seat tickets for the five seats directly behind home plate were sold out. That is $500/seat and $2500/seat PER GAME! Yes, indeed. Sold out. But there are suites still available for the season. Thank God for that, right? Whew!

And last but not least, Liz and I met Nick and Janet on the island for dinner last night at one of the seafood restaurants. So much food and a good time. Thanks, Nick and Janet.