…… coop.

Son #3 heads back to Oklahoma tomorrow.
We’ve had a short, but a very, very good visit.
He’s growing up.
And becoming a young man whom I know makes Jim proud.

He did a great job in his classes last semester. He’s now in the Honor’s College.
And still president of his pledge class, with higher political aspirations …… at least in his fraternity.

I’m going to miss him.

So today was a rainy day, which made it good to stay in-doors.
Unfortunately, that also gave me too much free time.
Bad decisions can be made in such circumstances.

I decided to color my hair, thinking that it wouldn’t look all that different.
Wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
And I hate it.
It’s too dark, which means that I’ll be stopping at a store tomorrow after a visit to my doctor (just a regular check up after 6 test tubes of blood removal on Tuesday, straight from the airport …. See? I generally make pretty good use of my time.) to see what I can do to lighten it.
Which means that it will most likely end up a lovely shade of green.
Since I’m going to California on Saturday that may be ok, right? I mean, the people there are really “green”, right?
🙂

Let’s see, what else did I do today?
Oh yeah, I donated to George’s favorite cause, in an attempt to win a date with him.
If you have to ask, “Who’s George”, then you don’t know me at all and I wonder how you came upon this blog.
He’s just the most fabulous looking man I’ve ever seen.
Except that I’ve never seen him in person.
But who knows? That could all change very soon.
Lololololololololololololololololololol ……. plop.
Sorry, that was me, laughing so hard that I fell out of my chair.
Because me winning a date with George? SO not going to happen.
But I can dream.
And I may become a stalker to the woman (?) who wins.
And not in a good way.
(Is there a good way to be a stalker?)

So I arrived to Houston on Tuesday, later afternoon.
I had lunch with a friend yesterday.
Then Son #2 and #3 and I went out for dinner.
And had a good time.
And a fabulous margarita.
I had the margarita, they didn’t.

And today …… well, you’re all caught up with today.

Yes, I know I still have to write about my experience last Friday.
I’m still getting over it.

But I will do this: As soon as I hit “publish” on this post, I’ll go back to my picture posts and put in captions.
That should tide you over.
A bit.

Hey, it’s something, isn’t it?

Happy Thursday.
🙂

…… to the most wonderful man I ever knew.
He was a great husband and a terrific father.
Mostly.

Because no one is perfect.
Not even part of the time.
And we sure do love to idolize our dearly departed.
Don’t we?

Trust me, I know he was a pretty terrific human being.
But he could still be a pain in the butt.
He didn’t like everyone who thought he liked them.
That would be a huge surprise to many.

He didn’t have the patience of Job.
But then, I don’t think anyone besides Job has that.

But he was very often a man of few words. And when he spoke, he most often had something good to say.
Something that needed to be said.

He wasn’t all warm and fuzzy.
That’s why he needed me.
He wasn’t spontaneous.
That’s why I needed him.
We balanced each other out.
For a very long time.
In very many ways.

I wish it could’ve been longer.

Happy Birthday, honey.
I miss you more than most people can understand.
I love you as much today as I did 6 years ago.
You have continued to support me, love me and love our children …… even in your physical absence.
I have continued to learn from you, even though I can’t hear you.

I know that you’re proud of our children, even if there’ve been things you wouldn’t have agreed with.
I know that you love our children, and always will, just as I will. No matter what.

I also know that there have been things that would’ve caused you pain, as much as they did me.
And I know that you would’ve been there for me, and fought for me, and spared no wrath when it was needed.
Just as you would’ve spared no love and support when it was needed.

Thank you for loving me as long, as hard and as well as you did.
Thank you for our six children.
Thank you for the example you gave them of what a husband should be.
Of what a father should be.

Thank you for choosing me.
I will love you forever.

And hope that there’s someone out there who can love me as well as you did.

Happy Birthday, Jim.
I miss you.
With all my heart.

…… in pictures.

As in the previous post, comments will come later.
I need nap.

OK, this is a picture of all of the pieces of dried food that I picked up off of the floor in my hotel room. Yes, I know, that’s gross.

This is a picture of the drain in the sink of the wet bar in my room. It contained many pieces of macaroni and beer bottle cap.
Ummmmm, yeah.

These two pictures of pretty obvious, right? I mean, you can clearly see that the “Do Not Disturb” sign has been placed in the lock on my door.
Obviously the hotel maid didn’t see it all that clearly. Saturday morning (remember, I only had about 2 hours of sleep total Thursday night, because I kept waking up and checking to see if United had cancelled my 6:45 a.m. flight), she decided to knock, hard, on my door. Then she decided to bang on my door, using something other than her hand, all the while shouting, “MAID SERVICE!! MAID SERVICE!!” She woke me up from a dead sleep. It took me a moment to realize that this was real life and not my dream. You know how that goes. When I finally realized, rather incredulously, that she was banging on my door …… and WAS NOT GOING TO STOP …… I yelled, “NO!!”. She stopped knocking.
I took these pictures afterwards, because I was still pretty much stunned that this had happened. I figured that the sign must’ve fallen out. Because …… REALLY?!!!!!!!

This is where the reception was to take place that night:

These are of the girls getting ready. They had their hair and makeup done (I also got to have my makeup done … cool!):

This is the wedding dress (duh).

This is the beautiful bride, getting her hair done:

This is a really cool sign that a friend had made for the happy couple, using a chalk board and chalk paint:

These are more pics of the reception room …… and the flowers:

More of the bride. Isn’t she gorgeous? Sigh ……

Writing in a card for her groom …… such a lovely tradition:

Vicki and her Daughter #2, who was the Jr. Bridesmaid. She, too, is lovely. 🙂

The bride’s shoes and jewelry:

Vicki, putting a necklace on her beautiful daughter:

Me, ready to go to the wedding.

This is where the wedding took place. The bride and groom and minister stood on the first landing, and the wedding party stood on each side of the second level of stairs. It was beautiful. The string quartet on the bottom right did a wonderful job.

The parents of the bride, welcoming everyone to the reception.

My two lovely dates, Kem and Susan. Yes, I had two dates.
Because I’m special. 🙂

There you go.
A wedding day.
It was beautiful.
And the wedding and reception were, too.
As well as a lot of fun.
And who could ask for anything more when it comes to a wedding?

…… in pictures.

Comments will come later.

My plane:

…… is here.
Believe it …… or not.
Sometimes I’m in the “not” category.

Tomorrow I’m heading back to TX and then on to Oklahoma for what I believe will be a beautiful wedding.
And time spent with friends.
Then back to TX to hopefully spend some time with my Texan sons before heading back here to NY.

And of course I haven’t even pulled a suitcase out of a closet.
Oh well.

New Year’s Eve was a quiet night for me.
Daughters #2 and #3 had several friends over to the apartment for a party. I decided to hang in my room and watch the event in Times Square on TV. I didn’t really feel like I belonged in the 20-something crowd, though I know they would’ve welcomed me.
It was that kind of night.
At about 11:50 I made my way to Central Park to await the midnight announcement with fireworks. It was great.
And long.
I think that they lasted about 20 minutes.
As soon as I figure out how to upload a video I’ll try to post it.

In the meantime, here are some pics of our evening at The Stand, the comedy club where Daughter #3 and I performed a couple of weeks ago.
Tracy Morgan made a surprise appearance, as did Judah Friedlander (also of “30 Rock”), who performed with us last time.
We had a fun time.

Sunday night the girls and I attempted to attend a church service, which …… unbeknownst to us or anyone else in our crowd …… had been cancelled.
But on the way we passed Cafe Lalo, where we had brunch a couple of weeks ago (you remember, the one that was in “You’ve Got Mail”). So I took a pic:

Here are the comedy club pictures:

Here are the New Year’s Eve in Central Park pictures:

So there you go …… another couple of days in NYC.
I love this place.
🙂

Happy New Year’s, Peeps.
I wish you a peaceful and joy-filled 2014.
🙂

…… in pictures.

This is kind of like showing your vacation slides to guests back in the 60’s – 70’s …… I think. Only you’re not being held captive in my living room. You can close this window any time you want.
Lucky you.
🙂

I walked into my bedroom to find Jack, appearing very comfy in a stack of gift boxes.

I’m sure he was trying to make a point. I’m just not sure what it was.

Oliver was napping on my bed, pretty much out cold, and Daughter #2 decided to either make an art project with him, or bug the hell out of him. I’m leaning towards the latter.

She kept adding articles on top of, and around, him. Just trying to see how much he’d take before getting ticked. Evidently he took a lot.

Until he could take no more.

There was much karaoke-ing.

Daughter #1 worked at Lush for the holidays.  This company is so green (in a good way) that they use packing material that looks like styrofoam, but it dissolves into a watery foam when you add water to it. Which we proved.

We thought it was pretty cool.

Son #1 and Oliver napped together. You can’t really see this clearly, but Oliver’s face is snuggled up against Son #1. He prefers to sleep like that.
And so does Oliver.
Ha!

Tonight Son #1 and I met up with my wonderful friend Beth and her lovely family at Rockefeller Center.

We went to the top.
You’re welcome. 🙂
(These were taken at almost the top)

These were taken at the very top.

This one’s a bit blurry but Times Square is in the center of this picture. They’re setting up for the ball drop (the long vertical line of lights).

OK, that’s it. If you’re still here then you’re a trooper.
🙂

Happy Saturday.

…… I feel so crummy.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in my pjs, but not in a good way like Christmas Day. I mostly just laid around and used up a ton of Kleenex. I think Daughter #2 and I have killed an entire forest.

I felt a bit better this morning and made myself get out of the apartment by making an appointment to get my hair cut.
It worked, I got out of the apartment.
Then I cleaned up around the apartment while the girls went shopping and Son #1 got himself ready (I only say this because that usually takes a while).
He and I walked downtown and met them at a movie theater to see “Saving Mr. Banks”.
It was very, very, very good.
And it made me cry.
I think it made everyone in the theater cry, especially a woman in front of us, who I thought was going to have a break down. Seriously, she was crying …… that hard.

That made me feel better …… about crying anyway. Physically, I was going down hill. I was running a fever and just wanted to get home.
So here we are.
Waiting for pizza to be delivered and watching an ongoing marathon of “Parks and Recreation”.

The excitement never ends.
🙂

Happy Friday.

…… La La La ….. La.

It’s 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Christmas night.

It’s been a a mostly quiet day, except for all of the karaoke singing that’s been going on most of the day here in the apartment.
I meant to bring this gift out last night, for all to enjoy, but I forgot. So it came out this morning. Right before the stockings that Santa left in my bedroom came out.
Whatever.

The karaoke set up is pretty sweet. It’s two microphones, with a stand that holds an iPad and/or a cell phone, and a decent speaker. So you can use the iPad to use whatever Karaoke songs are out there …… and believe me, there are too many to name.
I truly thought that I would either hear a knock on the door, or my phone would ring, telling me to cease and desist, or inform me that I’ve been evicted. It was that loud.
The kids sang rap, Broadway, 80’s, 90’s, Madonna, Elton, Spice Girls …… you name it, they sang it. And it was fun.
So far, no knocking or phone calls.
So far.

Last night I Skyped with the two Texans as they opened their gifts. Unfortunately, the biggest gift for Son #2 did not arrive. Unbeknownst to me. So now I get to go back and forth with eBay to see if we can come to an agreement.
Ho. Ho. Ho.

Daughter #2 arrived here with what appears to be a sinus infection. I think we’ll be looking up a clinic tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the same day she and Son #1 arrived, I, too, felt like I was coming down with something. Today that something has blossomed into a stinking cold. I think.
I rarely get sick. Really.
Of course, I come down with all kinds of serious illnesses, but rarely do I get a cold or a virus.
Lucky me.

So between Daughter #3’s on going allergies, Daughter #2’s sinus infection and my cold, we’re using a boat load of Kleenex.
Tis the season.

We started watching Christmas movies yesterday and at the moment we’re up to “Christmas Vacation”. We may not make it through all of this one, as we’re all pretty tired from just hanging around the apartment, singing and watching movies. We’re spent.

We broke tradition this year and didn’t leave the apartment. Over the past several years we’ve always gone to see a movie on Christmas day. I took a vote today and it was 5-0 on leaving the apartment. And so we didn’t. Well …… Daughter #1 and I left to take the recycling down the hall. And I left one other time to take the cat poop to the trash. Don’t be jealous.
It was more excitement than most people can handle.

We have all stayed in our pj’s all day. Well, Son #1, Daughter #1 and I took showers …… and changed into different pj’s, but the costume de jour has still been pj’s. I’m quite proud of that.

I attempted to call various relatives tonight …… and by the 5th person …… and the 5th voice mail …… I was trying really hard to not take things personally. Thankfully, my brother answered when I called him. And then other family members returned my calls.
Ho Ho Ho.

All in all it’s been a very peaceful, musical, and nice Christmas. I’ve had a few moments of melancholy, but I suspect that will always be the case.
I miss him.
I wish he were here.
And things were different.
But they are not.
And all things considered …… life is good.
In spite of.

I hope that you all had a peaceful and joy-filled Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Peeps.
🙂

…… and I’m not dreading one moment of it.

Well, except the fact that my two Texans won’t be joining us, but they chose to stay south. I wish they were here, but I understand their choice.

This week I’ve been creating lists of all of the things in the house I need to either move to NY, give to the kids, sell, store, donate or trash. There’s a lot of stuff. A whole lotta stuff. I don’t intend to bring much at all up here, aside from some personal affects. I don’t plan on keeping any furniture at all, which leaves 2 king bedroom suits, 1 queen bedroom suit, 1 full bed, and 3 twin beds plus dressers. I have an almost full sized pool table/air hockey game and a beautiful baby grand player piano that I haven’t decided what to do with.

I also have a really cool Nordic Trak Home Gym, that’s pretty amazing. But I have no room in NY for it. Or for many things.
I may even decide to sell my 2000 red Mustang convertible that Jim bought me for my 40th b-day.

I have a kitchen table, dining table plus buffet, 2 sofas, serval charis and ottomans, recliners, love seats, king dual temperpedic mattresses (oh how I love those), plus tons and tons of kitchen stuff, 2 fridges, 1 freezer and a front loading washer and dryer.

Add to that the 50 ” tv and surround sound system, plus 4 other flat screens and it would be MUCH easier to just sell the house furnished.
Totally.
Do you know anyone that wants a huge house at a great price that’s fully furnished?
Now that would be a miracle.
🙂

Back to NY …… Son #1 and Daughter #2 made it here last night. Daughter #2’s suitcase didn’t make it with her flight, but it did follow closely behind, so she just stayed at the airport to see if it made it. Thankfully it did.
Yesterday it was in the 60’s here.
I could be in Houston for that warmth.
Ugh.

Today we hung out around the apartment, except for Daughter #1, who went to work and D #3, who went to babysit today. For $15/hour. I think I may take up babysitting because …… REALLY?!!!!

I went to Harlem to read to my class today. One little girl was so glad to see me that she gave me a hug as soon as I walked in. Who can’t love that?
🙂

After I came home Son #1 and I headed off to a private screening of “August: Osage County”. I have no idea how I got these tickets. I just opened my email yesterday and there was an offer for 2 tickets. For free. I checked “Yes” and printed them off and we went to the theatre tonight. Got great seats, settled in, and started people watching. Which was good for us because Bernadette Peters sat in front of us. The guy with her looked like Joel Grey, but I couldn’t get a close enough look to make sure. She, however, I had no doubt was BP. And let me just say this about her (and Son #1 agrees) …… she looks FABULOUS!!!! At first, I wasn’t sure that it was her because she’s older than I am and I thought she should look it. Alas, she does not. Plus, she doesn’t look tightly operated upon, either. And she seemed very kind when she SPOKE TO ME after the movie!!!
Indeed.

Down from her a bit was that woman who used (?) to be on the NY Housewives reality show. She was the “countess”, but I never cared for her. She was with a girl friend.
The auditorium was kept rather dark so it was difficult to see if any other celebrities were there, but I have to believe that there were. I have to answer a survey now that I’ve seen the movie. The director was there and he introduced the movie.
It was very, very good. It was very, very funny in places and very, very difficult to watch in others. It’s not a comedy.
It’s dark. But it’s about a dysfunctional family, which we all have, only this one has more DYS than many.
And it takes place in Osage County, where I used to live at one point, so I could relate …… a bit.

So now you’re all caught up with me. Mostly, I think. The rest of the week is just time to hang with the kids, and Skype with the Texans Christmas morning. I miss them.
But I’ll see see them in a little over a week. Then off to Tulsa for V’s daughter’s wedding, and then off to California for the Soaring Spirits board retreat with some of my most favorite people in the world!

I think that all just made me tired.
Now if I could sleep during regular hours, that would be great.

Night, Peeps.
And Happy Monday/Tuesday.
🙂