My New Year's Poem

And so another year comes to a close,
as I sit here to jot down a couple of prose.
I can only hope that the new year brings
back my ability to remember things!
Like where I put that shopping list,OR
what the hell I walked into a room for!
Some other things I've noticed too,
that I simply don't remember to do
such as water the plants or take a pill
or now and then forget a bill!
And now in the mirror all I can see
is my mom's face staring back at me!
I used to run up the stairs with greatest of ease
but now I get breathless at the end of a sneeze.
I can't rise from a chair without making a sound
which makes me feel like my dad's still around!
I remember when the mail delivery made me happy
now it's just bills and letters from AARP!
My point just got proven, as I've darted off track,
cause when I started to write this, it was about memory lack!
Even at work I forget things all day,
like where I put that letter or if I filed it away.
I used to deliver messages without writing them down
and now I forget so fast that I have a breakdown!
So the moral of the story is this you see,
I just don't appreciate what is happening to me.
And one of my wishes for 2009
is to once and for all find that brain of mine!

Here's what I think about resolutions...

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other." ~Author Unknown - Now that's funny!

Christmas in Pennsylvania...

There may not have been chestnuts roasting by an open fire, but we all were certainly roasting in front of the pellet stove!! Justin thinks he's so smirk, telling me it's in the 80's down there while we're all freezing up here, well guess what, Jus? It is hotter than hell in this house!!!!

Anyhow - Just thought I'd share with all of you some of our visit so far, fun was had by all (especially last night, when we played Catch Phrase and the very first clue, Momma described was what she thought was "Colonial Sandals." Apparently, the Herbanese language does not fall far from the tree, because the clue was "Colonel Sanders.") I simply cannot put into words how much we all laughed. And so my good friend, Jani- your "Cannonball" (rather than cannibal) from Thanksgiving has just been trumped by Momma's blunder. Not to fret; however, I'm sure before the weekend is out, someone will outdo Momma. It's just the way it is down here!

Anyhow - here's a sampling of the photo frenzy:

For my kids...

Dear Wise Guys,

I am truly sorry that we will not be together for this holiday season. I wish for both of you a happy and peaceful day(s). I hope you remember that this was the song I always played as you opened up your gifts. I assumed neither of you have a copy of it, so here it is......enjoy! I love you both with all my heart.

Merry Christmas to all

I found this on youtube - enjoy the cartoons as the song plays - I think they're hysterical!

Tell it to your "Friends"

Merry Christmas, from my favorite show, Friends, to my favorite friends:

Happy Chanukah!!!!

Although the festival of lights does not official start until sundown on Sunday night, go ahead, enjoy this little diddy:

What a way to spend a birthday

Today is my hubby's birthday (yes, the party was a month ago, but today is his actual birthday). Here's pictures of him playing with his latest toy. While he was at it, he went across the street and decided to use the old southern charm with which he was raised (thanks for that, Momma!) Enjoy the pictures: (click on them to enlarge.) By the way, notice that his really fancy rims are missing from the car (the blue one) -too bad he can't travel about town in style all year round!! I wonder if he likes his new snow blower as much as those rims - somehow I doubt it. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? 50 some odd days til pitchers and catchers!!

Happy birthday, honey. I'm sorry we couldn't go out as planned. I'm also sorry you can't watch your beloved Baltimore Ravens on t.v. Thank goodness for satellite radio though.

Oh yes, and honey - one more thing: You ARE old!

December 19, 1982

I found a picture last night. In it was a very pregnant me, sitting with my 17 month old son, the same son, who today turns 26! In the picture I am 26. The almost born baby was born on May 26!

Today, as I sit here looking at the snow falling harder and faster, (the weather report isn't helpful, because the tv screen is completely white!) I remember that day, in 1982, at 5:08 in the morning, when my first born child arrived. Unlike today, it was not snowing! I think my mom got to the hospital before I did! (I remember that my dad couldn't be there because he was in Florida taking care of his ill mom - but as soon as the baby was born, my mom called him on the phone and said "hello, Grandpa" and he immediately returned, with a baseball bat and glove, of course.) Less than two weeks later I flew down to Florida with my new son and my brother (I can still hear his imitation of my son crying at 3:00 a.m. for his bottle while the three of us bunked in her living room - "wah, wah, wah, wah") to visit my grandma and introduce her to her great grandson. She passed away about a week later. Yep, I might be becoming extremely forgetful lately - but there are some things you just never forget.

Happy birthday, JoeY!

Here's that picture - do not judge me for the hair, I truly don't know what I was thinking!





P.S. - for friends and family who live south of the border and have to deal with the sweltering 80 degree heat - here's what you're missing today up north - now aren't you jealous? (yeah, right!)

Love these quotes

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying. ~Charles C. Finn

You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough. ~William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full. And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?" So I drank the water. No more problem. ~Alexander Jodorowsky

The scars you can't see are the hardest to heal. ~Astrid Alauda

The Empty Nest

So, my friend and I are driving back from Brooklyn yesterday when she asks me: "How do you do it? - how do you stand it that your kids are so far away from you?"

It's a great question. Sometimes I don't really have an answer. That's not what I told her though. What I said was this: "When I know that I'm going to see one of them later that day - like when I'm on the plane flying to Florida, or when I'm in the car driving to Boston, that feeling of anticipation and excitement is so awesome, and the hugs hello given and received, are so delicious that it is almost - yes, ALMOST worth the wait.

I didn't tell her this, either - at least once a day, I picture one or both of them surprising me with a visit. And when they do, though it's not often - that almost makes it worth the wait, too.

Ode to Women

I received this little diddy via email and liked it so much I posted it here - I wish I knew the author:

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If
> you give her
> sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house,
> she'll give you
> a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a
> meal. If you give
> her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies
> and enlarges what
> is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to
> receive a ton
> of shit.'
>
And speaking of quotes, my son's (JoeY) birthday gift arrived in the mail the other day. A beautiful box which holds about 125 photos. On the top it can be personalized with two of your own photos and it has a beautifully engraved plate that reads: "If the heart holds memories, then this box holds my heart." I thought that was so nice. Then I found out Joey actually wrote it - now I think it's AMAZING!!!
>

Winter Wonderland, my butt...

Did I ever tell anyone how much I HATE winter? Technically, it's still fall, but here's our first measurable snow of the season - CRAP!! I just know my son, Justin, will call later to tell me it's 80ish degrees there. Just remember how you got there, Jus...

Let the mind games begin

One of the things I brag about most often is that I'm too smart to be outsmarted. Really. No one has successfully ever truly surprised me (except for Kathy's sister, Susan, with the table, but that's a whole other story). I'm always one step ahead of everyone else. Until yesterday. The hubby and I went to dinner with Janice and Kenny for my birthday. Like we always do for our birthdays. We went back to their house afterwards, like we always do. So they thought I wouldn't suspect anything. Or so I thought, they thought I wouldn't suspect anything. As we pulled into the driveway, I was already attempting to see movement through the windows. And Janice caught me looking. As we entered the house there were decorations, but no people. Hmmm....I thought, they're hiding upstairs. Nope. They're hiding in the other room. Nope. No people. "Why the decorations?" I asked. "Because it's your birthday" I was told. She did not lie, it was. "Open our presents" they said. So I did. They were all awesome, but I think it would be tacky to list them here. Still no people. For a while I was convinced there would be no other people and for a while I still thought they'd appear from upstairs. My husband and Janice and Kenny totally succeeded in leaving me clueless. No control of the situation. Not a comfortable feeling. They messed with my head so bad that I had a wine cooler (no big deal for most, but I have had no alcohol of any kind for the better part of a year now.) Shortly thereafter, there was a knock on the door and lo and behold, enter Sonia and Bill! What a lovely surprise. And then, another knock - enter Debbie and Melanie! Oh my, that was awesome! Right behind them, enter Mandi - whose laugh and smile alone can light up a room! As I said last night - I got the chance to be with some of my most favorite people all at once, when normally I'm with them one at a time. Very nice. I loved it. Although I missed terribly the folks who could not make it (and you all know who you are) I still had a wonderful time. At one point, I laughed so hard I peed myself (yea, I know - no different than any other day) but it still makes for a good laugh when I tell people. The moral of the story is that a successful party is not measured by the number of people, but by the people who count. I must say, that from the phone call I received from my father in law singing to me 2 days early, to the best card I ever got from my mom (with a great gift as well), to the phone call I received from my brother the night before my birthday because he wanted to be the last person to speak to me in my 40's (LOL), to my husband being the first person to wish me happy birthday by singing (off key, of course) shortly after midnight, when he came home from work, to the fun day at work (yes, at work) beginning with balloons, decorations, and candy splattered all over my desk (thanks, Jani), not to mention numerous extremely funny cards, to the countless phone calls from everyone in my life who counts, (thanks for those calls (in order of receipt): Justin, Kenny, Kathy, a flower delivery from Kathy (with an AWESOME card!!) Joey, Will, Josh, Charlotte and Rob, Mom, Vanessa, Jennifer, Kathy again, Anne, and some guy named Brad (that was funny, Kath), to the emails from Caryl and Wendy, to the messages on my blog from Claire and Caryl, to the text message from my cousin-in-law, Lori, to the dinner, to the gifts, to Janice's poem (her very best yet!) to the party, to the fun - this truly was the best birthday I have ever had. Go figure, so far 50 - I'm actually liking it!
P.S. I know I said it would be tacky to list the gifts, but I think you should all know that Kenny got me an "Emergency Loss of Control Kit" (An extra large Depends, in a box, complete with a hammer to open it quickly!) What can I say? The man knows me well.
P.P.S. - Check out some of the photos (thanks so much, Jani!) If you look carefully, you will see some of my presents!!

Agghhh....I'm 50!

It's here. And now that it is, I will share what my mom wrote to me:
"Dear Lori,
Fifty years ago, when you were an infant, we had a ritual. As soon as Daddy came hom from work, he would take Barry by the hand and say to him, 'Let's go see how the little girl is doing.' Then they would walk over to your crib and 'check you out.' Well, fifty years later, with lots of changes in our lives (some good, some not so good), I would like to think that somehow he knows that 'the little girl' is doing just fine!"

And so, in honor of my dad, whose birthday cards I miss so much, here's a little diddy from Ole Blue Eyes, himself:

Fleetwood Mac is Back!!

Friday night, March 13th - Nassau Collesium - you bet your ass I will be there!!!!!!!!!!

2 more days

For the last six months I have been having so much fun tormenting the other members of the Commack Clan (and some non-member friends as well) because they are now all 50 and I'm not. Well, be it as it may, my tormenting days have dwindled down to two. I can deny it no longer, I too, will be 50 in just two days. I tried to turn back the hands of time, but much to my dismay, the day is nearly here. I cannot hide under the blanket any longer. I've received numerous cards already (some of which were literally the ones I sent to someone else and recycled - you think you're so funny, don't you Kath?), even a phone call from my father-in-law, singing happy birthday to me (better early than late, he said). The deal sealer; however, was the card from my Mom. In the years since my dad has passed, one of the things I've missed the most have been his birthday cards to me, he always had such a gift of saying so much in so few words. Today, as I read my Mom's card, the tears rolling down my face, I still had to smile - she brought my dad back to me, if even for a fleeting moment. Thanks, Mom. Maybe 50 won't be so bad, after all.