Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone…yet I can still hold on to it for a bit…according to my scale! Yes, I am able to eat turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, string bean casserole, candied yams, and cranberry plus a little pumpkin pie (no crust). My portions were small but it was nice to be able to enjoy these traditional foods that bring back smells, tastes, and memories.

Let me begin with out Thanksgiving Weekend from the-night-before-turkey…

Kelly, Logan, and I were able to finally see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Logan had only finished reading the book when I walked through the door and two hours later we were on our way to see it on screen. Without ruining it for anybody, you can imagine that there will be some very sad and hurtful scenes considering it is about little boy in a concentration camp. Kelly cried a bit as we knew she would, then a bit more, and sniffed her way through most of the movie. Logan already aware of her soft heart from previous movies experiences couldn’t help jabbing me and stifling his laughter at her. The movie did the book justice which is not an easy thing to do. After, we went out for a quick drink and appetizers across the street. Logan enjoyed his night out with the girls and his DS Game Boy.

On Thanksgiving Day, as traditions calls for it, I called my mother four times as I was preparing to prepare the turkey and even while actually preparing it. Logan made his delicious S-W-E-E-T potatoes with ginger, cinnamon, brown sugar, marshmallows, and half-n-half and let’s not forget the sweet potatoes. It was a diabetic coma waiting to happen! Of course, we loved them! Dad came down to join us and within 30-minutes, maybe less, we were done. After cleaning up, Logan and I went out in front and threw a football and then Frisbee around in the dark. After being beaten up by the ball and the Frisbee, I went in to start the desserts…and we had a lot. Our dear neighbor Lisa brought over some home-made pumpkin cake. Pies, cake, and even rice-crispy treats put us over the top. (Again, I could only have a bit – but it was yummy!)

Unfortunately I had to work on Friday which left Logan and Papa home to their own devices. Luckily our day was shortened and I got to spend a little time with Logan before he left for his weekend with Bill.

Hoping to get my Christmas tree set up in its new location in the living room over the weekend so that when Logan returns on Monday, we can dig into the new holiday season!

And so the curtain closes! (11/20)

As only a very few of you know, Logan had a fleeting thought of joining the school play this year. He unknowingly missed the mandatory meeting on 11/10 and only received a packet of info yesterday. Within this 24 hours, we got the sheet music for the theme song of Mamma Mia which he was going to sing. Luckily enough they requested only Broadway shows and Logan knows only one. It was fate!

Together we filled out the paper work, checked our conflicts for rehearsal dates, made note of his special talents – juggling, British accent – and packed his juggling balls. Both he and I signed a contract that was part of his “audition packet” and we…I mean…he was ready.

After spending the day in the city for a class trip to see Cirque de Soleil: Wintuk, Logan arrived back at school. I, in the meantime, was counting the minutes until his big break would occur.

As time neared, I called my father and told him half-jokingly, “I’m waiting for Logan to call to tell me he’s on the bus coming home.” Then I walked down the hall, with cell phone in hand and handed something to my boss. I told her “Logan’s auditioning any minute now for the school musical.” Her response, “How exciting!” And then it happened….CHIME, CHIME…I look down and see a text “ma, i changed my mind.” Followed by an actual phone call. Being the ever supportive mom, I told him that it was okay and that maybe next year he could give it a shot.

Head hung low, mother shuffles back out of the spotlight, and longingly looks across an empty stage

Boy in Striped Pajamas

While waiting for a movie to begin a while back, I was drawn into a preview of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It showed a young German boy befriending a young boy through a barbed wire fence. Quite obvious from this scene was the fact that the German boy was healthy, clean, and well-cared for compared to the toothless, sickly, young boy in striped pajamas. I waited patiently to see this movie and was surprised when it opened on November 14th and could only be found in five theaters within a 500-mile radius of my home – only two in my state & too far for me to go.

So what’s a girl to do?

I went to the library, only to find that it was out and already on hold. I thought maybe the audio book version, that too out and on hold. When I noticed it was in the Young Adult section, I took a quick look-see. Lo’ and behold – it was there! I opened it up to learn more.

Let me say that if you read the inside of the book jacket and hadn’t seen the coming attractions as I did, you’d have no idea what it was about. The inside flap of the jacket said:

"The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that it would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter one."

In less than 1½ hours, I was done with it. All I can say without adding any spoilers is...

Wow!


PS Logan is now reading this novel for a school book report.

Being Content (11/9)

Yesterday in Church my seat-mate, a sweet Italian lady who has been visited by St. Padro Pio three times, touched my shoulder and said "you seem so happy." The funny thing is I was just sitting there chatting with Mrs. Salerno before mass began. And to realize that my aura is one of happiness, pleased me beyond words. About a month or so ago, I listened to a visiting priest talk about being content. We always think "the grass is always greener in the neighbor's yard."

I don't think that way.

He went on to say that when we're 10, we want to be 18. When we're 18, we want to be 21. When we're 21, we want to be 25. When we're 35, we want to be 25. When we're 50, we want to be 35. With all those examples, I understood what he was saying: appreciate every moment and realize the beauty of that age. The priest did admit that at 70 years, he most certainly did not want to be 18 again…but 50 wasn't so bad.

And I think that's where I'm at in life - my "content stage." This includes my weight-loss story. I'm no longer calculating how much I'll weigh in six months. I'm happy to know that I'll get there. I'm not regretting that Logan's not my baby anymore (always will be!) but instead, I'm enjoying his pre-pubescent years and the wonders of discovering that girls are not entirely icky. Though they're not babes…yet. And finally, my family is healthy - what more can I ask for? So yes Francesca...I am happy!

Are you?

Let me end off this little monologue with a saying that I have taped on my computer at work:

"You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won't last."

Slow down folks and enjoy every moment of this song we call Life.

The Day After (11/5)

So…there’s a new president-elect. As a woman, I am excited to see a minority achieving a top position. It’s going to take a while to get used to the non-traditional American surname. With predecessors like Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, and Kennedy – I think you get my picture – Obama is not going to run off our tongues.

I mean out of the names I mentioned maybe a foreigner would struggle for a split second on Reagan but then again the south said “Ree-gen” and the north said “Ray-gen” so that was more of an accent issue not pronunciation. Obama just doesn’t flow for me. Not yet at least. (I don’t think I have to mention Barrack Hussein falls under that same direction for me.)

I’m sorry. I’m losing my thoughts. As a woman, it’s wonderful to see the glass-ceiling of politics cracking. But is it going to shatter the nation into a multi-cultural unity? I for one hope that we become one nation – American. No black American. No white American. Just American. But truthfully…my main issue is color-blind. What is going to happen with our economy? If President-Elect Obama can turn this around and help us to pull away from Bushenomics, then he’s my man! And if he can’t, he’s just another president to me.

Many of you know that I do get involved with local politicians and issues that touch my world. My faith in my voice counting continues to give me the confidence to believe that America is still the best country in the world. And if in four years, the nation is worse off, there are two options. We can elect a woman to finally get it right or maybe we can elect *Tom Clancy for President. She or he may be the only ones to save us!

Good Luck Mr. President Elect! As a nation, we are behind you. We have to be.
*Ref: “Executive Orders”

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors! Oh…and a New President (11/4/08)

On this Election Day, I was pretty busy bringing dad to his doctors. He had had blood work done on Friday and was then surprised when his doctor requested from him on Monday morning to make an appointment to come in and discuss. I – of course – am thinking the big “C” but didn’t share my paranoia with him. (End result – no cancer!) So I was able to make an appointment for Election Day. Why not – we already had an appointment for his semi-annual chest cat scan for that morning and his monthly allergy shots. What’s another appointment? {{{Dad felt horrible eating up Logan’s day off.}}}

So we began with 9:30 a.m. cat scans, on to voting which was in and out, on to 11:00 a.m. allergy appointment, and rounded out his day with a 2:00 p.m. appointment to find out his blood is not too bad. No big issues. So why did his doctor ask him to come in? I’ll tell you. The HIP center he belongs to now requires the specialist doctor to send a referral to the primary to tell him why he needs to come back. Sooooo this means that when his primary sends him to the pulmonogist, the pulmonogist has to write back to primary to ask him to allow him to come back. Too much red-tape. Dad finally blew a fuse and called the head of the PBA which agrees that chronic patients (asthma and chronic bronchitis) should not have to ping-pong back and forth. We have a lot of respect for Dad’s primary care physician so we will do what needs to be done. Ugh!

I also spent time setting up a blood drive donor sign-up table at Logan’s middle school which was being wo-manned (“manned”) by my small committee of four and then later in the evening, I sat on duty at another table that I set up at his elementary school. I did get about 20 people to sign up in the 2 ½ hour time I was there. Hopefully they will follow through when we remind them in January.

The night ended with a new day dawning. President-Elect Barrack Obama is that new day. Some of you know my political views and this is not my place for them. We’ll see how he does and hopefully keep with the thought that it can’t get any worse. Or can it?!?

Trick-or-Treat! (10/31)

Once again, we joined Vinny and Kenny along with Michele for some trick-or-treating after school. From about 3:30pm to 6:00pm, we walked their neighborhood and watched as the two burglars and the karate kid filled their pillow cases with treats (250 was Logan’s final count later that evening.)

Some of you readers may not know about the newer way to leave out candy when you’re out and about with your own little goblins. Well, what happens is that the kind parent leaves a bowl of candies or treats on the front steps. Some of us leave a note attached asking to only take one or two pieces. Others just leave the candy with the hope that the children will not dump the entire contents of bowl in their goody bag. Every year, I come home to a few straggler pieces at the bottom of my bowl. (pssst! Logan doesn’t agree with me but I always am surprised to find them when we come home; so I know I’m right!) This year we had a few firsts.

Let me begin with the Karate Kid. Logan decided to hand out “free class” coupons for his karate center a.k.a. his dojo. For every child that winds up signing up for a month of classes, gives Logan a $50 credit at the dojo to use for classes or products. So we put Logan’s name on all coupons and taped them to the candy that we left in our bowls as well as left one behind at all the people’s houses that left candy for the kids. In those cases, the coupon had a “thank you for the treat” message written on them. Hoping that with the 50 given out, Logan may see at least one possible credit. So that was a first for us – truly capitalizing on a holiday.

The second first was that when we got back to Michele’s house. Not only was the bowl empty…it was missing. Looks like some little prankster thought a good trick would be to take the bowl. After all that’s what “trick-or-treat” means. You can choose to give a treat or pay the consequences with a trick. Sorry Michele! That wasn’t very nice of them.

After Trick-or-Treating, Logan and I met up with Tina’s crew at her house and enjoyed some pizza (Logan not me) and then went off to a very scary Haunted House in the neighborhood. School mates/parents of Tina’s set up a haunted backyard filled with scary monsters and horror scenes. They ask for donations that go to help different causes. This year’s cause was for a very sick young lady. We were happy to donate a few dollars as Logan, myself, little Christopher, and two of Courtney’s girl friends, walked through the backyard in a huddled mass. Things popped out at you, spider webs were blown on you, legs were grabbed from below, and screams were every where…the monsters and OURS! What a blast!

Postscript:
There was one upsetting moment earlier though. Dennis and Barbara’s daughter Haley ran into Logan while playing tag and needed 5 stitches inside her mouth. I must say though for the very first time in Logan’s life NOBODY blamed him. It was a pure accident. Logan says he was standing still and turned to her when she ran into him. Courtney thought he was moving but no matter what it was nice to know that Tina’s crew recognized this for what it was. Logan got a bit of a bruiser over and around his eye, but no lasting bruises. I guess no holiday can go totally stress-free. But if it could…this was almost there.

A “Boo-tiful” Pre-Halloween Weekend (10/26)

Our original plans for Saturday were rain dated to Sunday due to icky, wet weather. I was thrilled with that. Instead of our plans to go to a local amusement park, Logan and I visited our library and spent some quality time there. While I was looking for some good books for my daily commute, Logan found some great books on the Mayan civilization for a project he is doing. This is the first time that Logan is actually researching a project with pen and paper in hand. After a good jumpstart on this project, we checked out our books and went home to a nice quiet evening. I made my now famous (famous to me…because I made them) Buletten and Logan and NuPapa watched two “Scary” movies – Scary Movie I and Scary Movie II. These very ridiculous spoof comedies were a perfect time for me to catch up with some of my taped shows.

The next day, Logan and I enjoyed the town’s annual Rag-A-Muffin Parade which consists of local neighborhood kids dressed in their Halloween costumes marching up our main street. This year, Logan’s “pseudo-cousin” Christopher joined us as we walked on down to the Fire House. After some High School entertainment and speeches from the Fire House, it was time for what we came for…the raffles. Unfortunately once again, we did not win a bike, an iPod, or the college scholarship $500. The boys did enjoy hot dogs and drinks before we walked back home.

Part two of this gorgeous fall day …we went to Pumpkin Park at Adventureland for an afternoon of trick-or-treating. The nice thing here is that the kids understand we’re there strictly for the treats and the scenery. No rides. No games. The upside for me – no money! As you walk in the entrance to this popular amusement park, you are handed a Trick-or-Treat bag with a sheet of coupons. Each coupon has a sponsor’s name on it which you give to the sponsor as you visit their tables spread throughout the park. Besides candy, the park gives out free pretzels (big, hot ones!), Icees (slushee sweet drink), and ice cream cups (this year’s flavors: Play-Doh and Cotton Candy.) After a couple of hours of eating & drinking, you are ready to go home. When we got home, I snuck in an hour nap and then made some sausage and peppers. The house still smells yummy! (Let’s see if I feel that way tomorrow.)

It was truly a weekend that makes you happy to simply exist.

Miscellaneous Happenings (10/20)

It’s been a great October. I’ve had a few different get-togethers with new and old friends. My dear neighbor Lisa had a “Tastefully Simple” party where old neighbors got to catch up with each other and taste some little treats. My tastes were limited but I nibbled, tasted, and licked enough to know it was a successful party. One old friend – old friendship, not OLD friend – who I saw was Margaret.

The following weekend, I went to have coffee with Margaret and her younger son Bryan. What a treat to sit in their cozy kitchen and catch up on two years of adventures. Margaret was there during the divorce era and some of that was rehashed but at such a different level now that it’s so far away. We left off with promises to keep in touch.

I was also able to enjoy a Principal’s Tea with Logan’s new principal. All parents are invited, but only about 10 of us made it. (Let’s be fair, it was in the a.m. and I was off that day.) What a great chance to go around the conference table and bring up personal concerns or issues. I touched on bullying from an incident that Logan had with some students the day before on the late bus. Also went to the second PTA meeting of the year. As usually…nobody goes. There are over 1300 students and there was less than 20 people there including school reps. How sad. And to those who say “I used to go”…tell me why is now the middle school years less important to your child? Don’t mean to be preaching from my high-horse, just can’t hide my feelings.

On to nicer things: I had a 3K night – Kelly, Kerry, & Karen at Café Symposium. Another perfect night there!

And I even added some depth to my life by taking a 6-hour Defensive Driver’s Course. For a $24 fee, I will get in return a 10% discount on Auto Insurance for the next three years PLUS may even be a better driver for it.

Introducing “Logan PHELPS” (10/14)

The day finally arrived – the first night of swim practice via the route of CYO Swim. Logan joined the Catholic Youth Organization Swim team for our local school’s parish. They will practice 2x a week for 2-hour sessions. We missed the registration day since I was at Madonna the week before, but were able to register right before practice.

And boy was it overwhelming.

Bill took Logan in and I met them there at the beginning of the session. As I walked into the pool and smelt the smell of chlorine, I had flashbacks of some not-so-good memories, more like feelings from the past. When I walked in with Zach (hitched a ride with Karen & Zach), you could see the apprehension on Logan’s face as he was still dressed in his sweats and hoodie.

After signing him up, he & Zach swam back & forth one lap for a coach & were put into a swim group. I think they were supposed to go to a different group, but they just hooked up with their classmates in the 11/12 year old team. Logan reminded me before joining the group, that “I’m just trying this right?” After swimming a few laps – which I have to say he did quite well with – he came over and said “…I don’t think this is for me.” I snarled at him “Oh, give it a try for a few sessions; don’t make any decisions this soon.” He snarled back and then turned back to swim. (Then his good friend Zach felt overwhelmed and sat out for the rest of the session. It was quite a work out and many lungs & legs were feeling it that first session.)

A few minutes later, I noticed him laughing & talking animatedly on the sidelines with boys and girls. There are a few classmates of his from prior years that he got on quite well with – girls of course! At the end of the night, he turned to me and said, “It’s not so bad. I’ll come back.”

P.S. Both Logan & Zach came back and are having a blast. The second week was much less chaotic. Less people came which I believe is because other commitments occur & the week before everybody made a point of “claiming their spots.” They also divide the four teams into four stations: diving, kick boarding, laps, and calisthenics. A great 2-hour workout for all! But hot as hell for the audience…my mascara was unclumping as I sat there cheering Logan on.

Oktoberfest ’08 (10/11)

Heute war ein Oktoberfest bei Kelly’s Haus. Yes, that’s right – today was an Oktoberfest at Kelly’s house. What a blast! We are begging her to make this an annual event.

My day began with Karate for Logan and my cooking – for the first time – Tic Tac Omi’s Bulletens (German meatloafy-hamburger.) Personally, I think that they were delicious! Anyways…back to the party…it was great!

Almost all of our shared friends were there from Tina, Michele, Kerry, Lenora, etc. etc. The only persons missing were Anna & crew. And the kids were EVERYWHERE but by us. Could it get any better?!? Yes – Anna could’ve been there!

They actually extended the guest list to their neighbors and classmates’ parents. So there were more children then normal which added some flavor. One little boy, a friend of Lil’ Charlie’s, took a shine to Logan. Or should I say nearly took a ‘shiner’ from Logan. For some reason this boy & my boy rubbed each other wrong. Ironically, I got on nice with this boy’s dad and had fun with Logan as I teased him by saying “…oh…this is Brian’s dad…and we’re going out next week.” Ha ha! Logan found no humor in this joke but I did (and that’s what counts, isn’t it!)

The food was plentiful, the beer was brewing, the wine was pouring, and the party had it all – laughter, tears, new friends, old friends, and a few things that are better left unsaid and put behind us. With the exception of one or two things…I’d say it was a perfect autumn party and hope that we can do it again & again. Vielen Dank Kelly & Charlie!

ML-fest starring…MADONNA! (10/6)

Once again our entire department was treated to an awesome night at Madison Square Garden. Carol was able to get us the luxury box once again. Everybody but Joe made it and it was some night!

The food & drinks were abundant. The privacy and cozy seats were quite inviting. And the best part was enjoying the company of my dear colleagues. We are very close and quite a dysfunctional family – but lots of love and laughs.

Knowing that most of us know Madonna from the ‘80s, I burned CDs for everybody in the department and gave them out the day before the show. This gave us all the chance to pop them in either at our desks or able to bring home and learn some tunes. Quite often you’ll know a song and not realize it’s one of hers.

The only negative was that towards the end she decided to use her Freedom of Speech rights and started trashing Sarah Palin. As somebody close to me said, “…I’m here to enjoy her music and show not her political views. I come here to get away from all that.” As it was the end of the show and there were maybe two more songs, people started to leave. Truthfully that could have been strictly coincidence. Timing was perfect for me – I don't need political vice from the "material girl" and it was time to grab an 11:30pm train.

All in all, this may be our last MSG hurrah. Not sure if when BoA takes over ML, if we’ll still have access to these treats. I’m thinking not. But you never know – that Carol can pull a rabbit from a hat!

The Root of All Evil...is indeed money!

Back in August while in Florida, I bit into something that wound up being my back, bottom molar. I waited to fly home to NY and made appointment with my dentist. It winds up I need a root canal - my first! Not as exciting as when Logan lost his first tooth...in fact, at that time I was contemplating pulling it for only $175 or getting it fixed for close to $1,800. And that was WITH a 20% no-insurance discount!

With the guidance of my all-knowing-mom (hi mommy!), I joined a dental plan for $136 called Delta Dental. I had to wait until September 1, to see a dentist. My kind dentist reviewed the list of participating dentists & knew one or two of them. I went with a local one. After meeting him, actually not him but another dentist from his practice, I was told I'd need two (2!!!) root canals. They calculate it to be about $700 a tooth. Not!

I discussed with the sometimes-all-knowing-dad (heh! heh! heh! he doesn't read the blog) and decide to switch to his doctor. Get this...I have to wait until October 1 to see him. So yesterday (September 30th), I go to see him. Wait - yesterday was not October 1. The receptionist was so eager to help me that she had made an appointemnt for ASAP. Neither one of us honed in on the date. While there I'm told I can see him for $120 or wait a day. I waited a day. I did not see dad's dentist but his daughter-in-law. After hearing the root canal, post, and crown would be $400ish...we had a winner.

So I sit here now running a numb tongue over a mini-tooth waiting for the pain to hit me. I've already paid the $192 for today's portion - I was numb at that time. That pain ($$$) is already hitting me.

When all is said and done...the ROOT (canal) of all evil truly is money! I'm living proof.

New Form of Commuting: Walking

I can now walk to work if I want to. After all, I've been walking 1.5 miles a day for the past 29 days. That is a total of 43.5 miles. I do recall about 2 or 3 days when I had to cut it short, so let's say I did 42 miles. Looking at Mapquest, it seems that my office is 40 miles away. Now if I can only find 29 places to sleep over 29 days...no problem.

Okay, let's go back to this blog and update you on my walking progress...

I am now in the habit -- love to say that -- of walking 30 minutes a day. Mom's great suggestion to "just get up and do it," has proven very, very successful for me. I set the alarm to get up and plan my mornings around it. Considering that I have to get up between 5:50am and 7:30am on some days, I'm very relieved to have this as part of my routine.

Just yesterday, as Kerry & I were driving to meet Kelly at our favorite restaurant Cafe Symposium (remember from an earlier post), Kerry pointed out 1.5 miles daily turns into 10.5 miles a week. That impressed me.

Now interestingly enough...I do not see the scale moving. This is motivating me to increase my exercise with yoga. I have a 20-minute work out for a.m. and p.m. Let's see if that can help move that scale. Between that push and turning to a food journal tracking my every BLT -- bite, lick, taste, let's see if we can find a culprit there. I really can't imagine that since I believe I have less than 800 calories a day. But we'll see. I'll tally it up for the week and see what I average.

Feeling good. Feeling proud. Signing off.

The Week Wall Street Went Wacky

Merrill Lynch has been in my life for the past 15 years in the roles of employee, travel staff, and consultant. So last Thursday, 9/11, the ML walls started to come tumbling down. Actually, this began over a year ago when the mortgage crisis began and we replaced our CEO Stan O'Neil with NYSE President John Thain.

In his reigning year as our boss, he was unable to turn it all around. he did sell off billions of dollars but that was not enough to save us. It first came to my attention when my boss called to see where the stock was at. I pulled the market info up on my computer & emailed her back that it was $20.01. From then until Sunday afternoon, I kept my eye on the stock - for ML & Lehman Brothers. By Sunday afternoon, I had seen that Bank of America had backed out of a deal to save Lehman Brothers. The next post a few minutes later was that ML was negotiating a merger between the two companies. Furious emails & text messages & voice messages were shared by a few of us from our department - this hadn't hit the TV or news yet. Before I went to bed, it was finally on TV and was official: ML was taken over by BoA and Lehman Brothers was going bankrupt.

It's only a week later now that I see how lucky we were to be bought over. The very next morning, Monday - 9/15, I woke up for my a.m. walk and saw that the news was still showing the Lehman employees entering their building and leaving with cardboard boxes containing their personal items. My heart broke & made me anxious to see what was going on at ML.

Since then there have been numerous town halls, conference calls, and meetings. It looks like ML made out the best from all the other brokerage houses. We have to get through the next six months before we really know who is safe and who is not. Keeping fingers crossed that our division stays intact and especially our department. In the meantime, some interesting things are brewing but will be posted at a later date.

So my plan right now is to continue walking and increase exercising while continuing to eat healthy and wise (Psst! Forever works for me!) and get myself a part-time job at the Garden City Hotel. I'd like to earn extra money on weekends when Logan's not here and see if the hotel industry is a back-up career for me.

This roller coaster that I've dubbed Wall Street's Wacky Ride is still chugging upward...I'll keep you posted as the twists and turns are conquered.

Walking Away the Pounds...NOT!

Quick update on my walking process...it's going great. Today was my 18th day in a row walking 30 minutes as soon as I wake up. I do about 1.5 miles a day and love it. I listen to either my music or one of my favorite TV shows "Ugly Betty" and just walk, walk, walk.

I'm now part of an elite group of walkers. We are the Early Risers. We walk, jog, run past each other and in that shared moment we either nod, exchange "Good Mornings", or if we're real talkative we comment on the weather.

Now the most interesting thing is that the weight is not falling off me at all. As of a day or two ago, I was the same old weight. I feel different. Even I think I can see it in my face, but the scale doesn't mirror that.

Ironically, I jumped on the scale this morning and nearly wet myself. The scale said I dropped 100 lbs. Of course I realized immediately the scale was broke but let me tell you, I loved it! The scale is way off (weigh off - another unintended pun!) and goes up and down. At the moment, I cannot replace it but am interested in buying a new scale. Maybe by that time, I will see the loss on the scale.

Throughout all this lack of weight loss, I have kept up a positive attitude. More and more I look back at the many times that I tried to lose weight and was discouraged by the scale needle not moving. Now that I understand it's not the defining factor for weight loss or healthy living, I am at a comforting level of peace and patience. My new mantra - all in due time, all in due time!

What Black Cloud?!?

The last six months (almost to the day) have been rather trying from me. Not wanting to believe in luck or believing in black clouds…I'll stick with "the tides are turning."

Since March I have had some -- ahem -- trying moments. I've listed the ones that really stand out for me:

Oil tank needing to be emptied, dismantled, removed, and replaced. Instead we emptied & disconnected one of the two tanks. Not too bad as I was told it would cost over $5,000 for this job. We capped off at about $330.

Drip in the walls over Easter weekend. After five months - a new kitchen was installed and repairs were made.

Dog slipped on wooden floors getting down from couch. After several months and a thousand dollars, we are unable to give him his orthopedic surgery costing $4,000 to repair torn crucial ligament. Keeping fingers crossed that other leg doesn't go. Shadow is often called Limpy now, especially when instincts kick in and he chases something!

Car window stuck in down position. Got off easy - $110.

Lap band surgery. After four months no pains and much contentment. Ready for this $41,000 hospital bill (not even surgeon's fee!) costing me $500 deductible and about $500 in copays. Pssst - I'm sending copy of hospital Bill to Congressman King, Obama, and McCain! Ridiculous cost for a one-hour surgery and one-night stay.

Landscaper M.I.A. After chasing down Jose' with no luck and numerous other landscapers…finally found one and was able to clear meadow from front & back yards. A little late in the season and too late for planting. Costs minimum since grass dead, dead, dead.

Pool a.k.a. "Me Fool" Opened pool - hooray. Found out motor shot - boo. Got inexpensive as-new-refurbished motor - hooray. Filter soon dead - boo. Pool covered - hooray. Hope to unload on Craig's List - HOORAY!

Pay Lien - Five years to the day…monkey off my back (see earlier post.)

Kitchen done - but basement toilet now giving me "valve" trouble.

Weekly doctor visits with dad for allergy shots. We're now down to once a month. A big Wahoo!!!

Lost monthly LIRR ticket mid-August. New month = new zippered compartment in handbag.

And now…life seems to be taking the upturn it needed.

Kitchen done & came to a final agreement on additional costs. Basement coming along as well!

Walking daily and feeling great (16 days in row and counting!) Appetite diminished greatly.

Logan enjoyed his first week of Middle School (see next post.)

Plumber coming to do some much needed maintenance. Hoping to be avoid future basement/kitchen fiasco. Hiring Plumber-for-the-Day at an agreeable fee.

Cleaning Lady returning for at least once-a-month visits. Hooray Mrs. Clean!

Work continues to be good for me just hope that the current market situation gets better. Enjoying opportunities to get out of the red.

And lastly - I'm most happy to have order back in my life with work, school, and after-school activities working well together.

"The New Adventures of Old Logan" (new ABC TV Series)

It happened. Logan grew up. He's no longer the little boy holding my hand with glassy eyes waiting for the big-mean-yellow-bus to pick him up and tear him out of my arms. Instead, he is the 11-year-OLD-MAN who lets me brush a quick kiss on his cheek as he backpacks it up the block by himself and maybe meet up with Jillian on the corner. Sniff! Okay, okay - it's not that bad. In fact, it's quite good.

Logan began 6th Grade last Wednesday and boy - was I nervous. He was so calm, cool, and collected when he woke up that morning. I'd say it was only when he put on his sneakers before grabbing his bag that he got a bit silent and apprehensive. The good thing about him when he's like that is that he becomes quite loving and gentle with me. He did grab my hand and did give me some big, big hugs. Otherwise not much to say. He met up with Jillian in her front yard and they walked uneventfully up the street to the corner bus stop.

It did become a little exciting when Jillian's mom Lisa and I saw them get on the bus on the "other school district's" side of the street. We joked that wouldn't it be funny if they got on the wrong bus. I left Lisa for my now daily walk and was shocked to see as I went to the same corner all the other bus stops on our side filled with kids. I called Lisa from the corner and told her the bus was only coming now. At that point with Bus #2 appearing at the corner, Lisa swore that she saw the name of the other school district on the side, but I was not reassured with this. After all, she was four houses away and I was only 10 feet from the bus. I mean, come on - how could I miss that! She left a message on her daughter's phone -- Logan's was off as planned for school policy -- and I jumped on cell to call new school's attendance office. In the meantime, I told the bus driver that stopped hat he was missing two kids. As I waited on the phone with our district's transportation office, I was happy to have Lisa yell down to me that Jillian called and they WERE on the right bus. Oh, well…I was a bit sheepish as I hung up with my call and continued my walk.

After school that day, Logan came home to our tradition of home-baked cookies & milk. In our home, we use the Pillsbury spoon edition for home-cooking. He loves them and I am quite good at timing it just right for his return. He did not hate school - that was a start. In fact, I actually got to enjoy some cookies and info on all his classes as I learned to shut up and let him tell it. One local boy -- a very nice one I remembered from Cub Scouts -- who is on his bus is also in all of his classes. This is quite a coincidence as only the four core classes (actually five since English is now a reading class AND a writing class) share the same students with different teachers. For his special classes (music, language - French, study skills, & lunch), he's with all different students and teachers for each.

That evening, Logan, Zach, & I drove up to the school to set up their lockers. Since then it has been uneventful and for me quite exciting to see how smoothly he transitioned into this new and different routine. He is really quite amazing at being able to adapt so effortlessly.

And that is where we leave off on this new TV show…that exists in only my head…so far that is.

Cruising on to Another Adventure

Logan is on his way back to the states. From the graphic on the left, you can see where Logan's Carnival Cruise ship The Inspiration is headed at 2:25pm EST. [Right click on the diagram and then hit your internet's back button to return to blog.] I was happy to see that Gustav stayed out of his path. I'll be happier tomorrow a.m. when he calls to say "I'm back!"

But the fun does not end there.

I understand that Bill and Logan will spend the day and night in Tampa and enjoy themselves at Busch Gardens. Me - I'm thrilled to have one more day to put the finishing touches on his room as he will be beginning school two days after returning. We'll be reunited on Sunday late afternoon/early evening and then on to two enjoyable days together as I took off next week to be there for him when he starts middle school. Now that's the adventure I'm talking about - Middle School!

Got That Monkey Off My Back

It has been five years or 60 months or 260 weeks - oh heck! - a long time since my marriage was dissolved. I'm not talking about when the papers were finalized. I'm talking about the day Bill and I walked out of court knowing it was over and agreements had been made and signatures given. Most interesting is that when the process first began 23 months earlier, we had sat together at what is called a four-way. No,nothing sexy about that. The players were Bill, his attorney Phil Sands, me, and my attorney Arthur Giorgini formerly my mother's lawyer in my parent's divorce. [Sidenote: Dad had me call him as soon as he heard what was going down.] At this conference, it was laid out what Bill wanted and what I wanted. In the end, it pretty much went down that way when figuring out time with Logan and final costing of both attorney's fees. If we would have agreed then, the money would have been divvied up between Bill and me not the lawyers. Anyways...

It has been five years of a cloud hanging over my head, my finances, my emotions, and anxieties. With the help of some loved ones, I was able to save some and borrow some more but finally get that monkey off my back. What a relief!

Bill & Logan are still away but Bill will come home to a small windfall. Irene and I are wondering how much will go to the new costs of Jets season tickets, a new car, and/or maybe a down payment on a house. What would I do with so much money? Oh, well, that is something I will have to work on when Dad hits the lottery. In the meantime, I am blessed with a job I love, a home that is celebrating its liberation from a matrimony-choke-hold, and the ultimate prize...living in a peaceful household with our amazing son. Looking back, it was all worth it!

I'm in the zone! (The green zone that is!)

I had a busy week with my lap band. On Tuesday I saw my doctor who scheduled me for a follow up on Friday. My port area has been a little sore and he wanted to make sure that my band hadn't slipped. It hasn't. I then met with P.A. Gabe to discuss where I'm at and if I should sneak in a fill. (Truthfully I was scheduled last Friday for a fill but I didn't think I needed it and was just as happy not to lay out another $100 for a fill.)

Good news - I was right. I did not need a fill. Gabe and I discussed how I am satisfied with three meals and that I don't have hunger pains between meals. [Right click on chart above and back button to return to blog.] He would prefer only three meals a day with no snacking but I did confess that I do a snack twice a day - one on the train and one after dinner - and he had no objections. I'm losing an average of one pound a week and that is what they look for. Now that I've added a daily 30-minute walk in the mornings (so far six days in a row!), this should up it between 1 1/2 - 2 lbs weekly. That works fine for me.

I did make a follow up appointment in October because even though it looks like I hit my Sweet Spot, this will change as I continue to lose weight. You might remember from an earlier post that as you lose weight, the internal fat pad will thin out and allow the band to loosen. Think of a ring and how tight it is when you retain water and when you lose that water how the ring slips around a bit. That's what happens with the lapband. It is at those times that you need to tighten it's hold on the stoma (top of stomach.)

It's been 4 1/2 months since surgery and over 5 months since I began the pre-op diet. And let's add the months before that when I first met this group back on January 9, 2008. For all these months, I've been waiting for the lap band to be at its most effective point. And here I am...at the Sweet Spot.

Back to my Walking Queen post: it's been six days since I turned a new leaf. The second I wake up, I take care of the animals, throw on some clothes, put on my iPod and I'm out walking. I try to vary it up each day. The first two days I went the same way just reversed it on Day Two. On Day Three, I laughed when I saw my 30 minute (okay, okay - 27 minute) walk took me only 20 minutes. No, I didn't increase my speed by 1/3 but made a left instead of a right and took a shorter street. On Day Four, I took Kris' advice of walking 15 minutes out. Well, that took me two blocks from a main road, so I added the two blocks. Round-trip that makes an extra four blocks. That ended up being a 37-minute walk. I'll perfect it eventually. The best piece of advice that I had in a long time.

Do it first thing in the morning and get it over with!

Genius! Pure genius!

"Cruise Logan Cruise" (Run Forrest Run)

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gustav is travelling a similar path as Logan's 2nd cruise.

TOP PHOTO: Logan was stopping at the Caymans today (above 'b.') and on to Cozumel tomorrow (above 'a.')

BOTTOM PHOTO: That is where the Carnival Inspiration was today.

As many of you know I try not to borrow trouble. After all, my day-to-day living has enough troubles lately and I do not need to find unwarranted worries. That being said...I'm worried.

I wasn't really concerned until a colleague at work came out to say that Gustav is on the way to her Jamaica vacation spot. No worries for me there. Then I got a call from a Financial Advisor who is trying to get a client home from the Caymans and thought my department Meeting Services could help out. Hmmm! Little worries churning.

I casually call Carnival Cruises to see if they have any changes in their itinerary. Nothing at that time. Still uncomfortable, I call Bill's parents and ask if they've heard anything. They hadn't. We left off that if Bill calls them that they'd call me and let me know all is fine. No news yet.

So here I am sitting at my computer and pulling up the Gustav path map. Side by side on the screen I have the map of the Caribbean and the weather map Guess what? According to my observations, Gustav is only an inch away from Logan.

Another call to Carnival Cruises and I hear they're on still on schedule. I asked Iris -- my cruise guide -- if they'd change the itinerary. She said they would but only when Gustav would be closer. I asked her "isn't one inch close enough?" She laughed and told me a resounding "no." Funny thing - I wasn't joking. I did feel better though when she said it wasn't hitting the Gulf until Sunday. That was I felt better until I computed in that not only do I have to be anxious about the cruise but I can also be concerned about Logan's return flight. Yippee! I love cruise season! {{{heavy sarcasm}}}

Walking Queen

See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the 'walking' queen

Once again Super Mom a.k.a. my mom (translates to Mamma Mia)came to the rescue. After a nice conversation with my mommy, she pointed out such an obvious solution to me being so tired and having no energy after work to walk. Her suggestion -- hold on to your seats for this one -- to walk in the morning before I even shower. Am I that thick (again no pun intended) to not have come up with that on my own?!? So after putting the dog out and throwing on some capris, I hoofed it around the neighborhood for 30 minutes enjoying -- another seat gripper -- the "Mamma Mia! Soundtrack" that has taken over my auditory world.

Did you know that if you listen to this soundtrack again and again that you actually think you are in Greece and are expecting three hot older men to come to your side and either adopt you or get involved with you? Really. Ask my sister and mom who are also addicted to this enjoyable set of songs.

On the home front, I spent the afternoon with Tina's family and enjoyed a Sweet 16 BBQ for Lindsay six weeks early. Lovely time as usual. The kitchen is done with only one box left to unpack. It's something in my nature that stops me from doing this...but I promise to do It by tomorrow. What is that all about? Let's delve into that in my next blog but only if I don't get to it tomorrow. Until then!

One if by land, two if by sea...

Okay, I'm not Paul Revere but it was a good title. Logan has left for his cruise with his dad. At the same time the kitchen was finally completed. While he cruises through warm waters, I will be organizing the kitchen. Might not sound like too much fun, but I am so excited to clear out the living room from the boxes surrounding my arm chair. Hence, one by land and two by sea!

While he's gone I have only two things to do: organize the house for the new school year and work, work, work. It's a great opportunity for me to catch up at the office while everybody and their mother are on vacation next week. Traditionally Merrill Lynch executives take off the last two weeks in August.

I haven't really seen any friends recently as we all have so much going on. Kerry's mom is on the road to recovery but that puts stress on her free time. Kelly's busy trying to keep three busy children busy. Tina is trying to get through the days with full-time children around and taking care of all else including a big Sweet 16 party at her house. Michele is busy with baseball, tennis, and family activities. Karen is working and I'm not actually sure where she's at. All-in-all it will be nice when school begins again and we can reclaim some adult time together. I tell you if it wasn't for the great group of people I work with...I'd go batty. I can't say it enough "I love my department!"

Let me share an update on my banding experience. While Mom was up for two nights (one day), she joined me at the monthly lapband support meeting. I think she was impressed to see over 50 bandees (ppl)filling every seat in the house. Gabe-the-PA is the coordinator of this group. It's taking me a little time to get used to his no-nonsense ways but they are having their effect.

I think it was great for mom to see the struggles that I often talk about are echoed throughout the room. I walked away -- poor choice of word -- knowing that if I don't increase my exercise, I won't lose. My metabolism is so low that it needs to be jump started. I heard it from Mom, heard it from Gabe, and was most impressed to hear it from two successful young ladies who both lost of 120lbs in the past 15 or so months. These two ladies were overflowing with energy both positive and physical. I want that. I also realized that I haven't been drinking enough water nor eating enough food. So many little changes I have to fold into my life.

Tomorrow I'm setting two simple goals: drink four glasses of water and walk my local walk. I'll track these changes and let you know how successful I am by next Friday. Thanks for e-listening!

And as the summer comes to an end...

...at least for me and my young son. Logan is getting ready to enjoy a back-to-back cruise with his Dad. Thus ending our endless summer together. It's been a great 7+ weeks of him being able to relax and recoup from a hard year of 5th Grade. His summer was quite full: nearly six weeks of summer rec, two weeks in Florida, days playing with friends, awesome 4th of July party, another slew of birthday celebrations (his), and tomorrow we're off to the pool.

Now for me the summer was full of fun, stress, sun, stress, work, stress, and many nice days. The stress really stems from getting an old debt off my back and living in limbo as I wait for a kitchen. Well, here's the update...

The debt will be paid off on time - August 26, 2008. Whew!!! Can't take all the credit for it but it's nice to know that it is gone.

The kitchen is finished, well, I'd like to say it is. It's like 97% done. All that is left is a back board on a base cabinet, the exhaust fan cover being cut to fit, the discussion of the unhappy counter corners, and sanding a drawer to slide better. All in all, I am able to maximize my kitchen and be a normal person. Logan and I have spent some time putting away things from the living room that now seem part of our decor. After all it's been 5 months since I moved my food processor in to the corner of the room. And what's that - the Teddy Bear Cookie Jar doesn't belong next to the telephone table?!? I guess I'll have to find a place for it. Photos to follow in the next few days.

Another fine moment for this summer was having Mom once again up for a visit. I've been living it up in Mamma Love -- my own version of Mamma Mia! I got to see her when I dropped Logan down there for his visit, got to see her again when she dropped him back, will see her in a couple weeks as Rudi and Mom pass through NY for 2 nights/1 day and am very excited to spend the first Christmas in 13 years together.

This was just a quick catch-me-up blog. Stay tuned for updates on the latest with Living with the Band (Lapland that is.)

Who needs a kitchen?

It began with a stressful dripping and has now developed into an infinite promise of tomorrows. Each day I wake up thinking "today's the day." But now I ask myself "who really needs a kitchen?"

As I sit in my dining area, I look over at the beautiful new cabinets. When they first went up two weeks ago, I thought it was almost over. It's not. I'm waiting for the counters and back splash to be attached, paint to be painted, the microwave to be installed, the sink put in place, the handle-holes to be drilled, the exhaust fan to be put on, the crown molding to be nailed in place, and the switch plates screwed in.

I guess the trade-off for this never-ending wait is that I am dreaming of becoming the next Rachel Ray. I'm picturing omelets with chopped vegetables and fresh squeezed orange juice (wait-I'm not allowed to have orange juice). I can see Logan and me leaning over the counter looking at a cook-book planning out the week's menus. I'm picturing my bank account growing as we save hundreds of dollars on fast, processed unhealthy foods.

And now as I see the rain pouring onto the pool, I'm forced to wonder...is today the day? Can Marco deliver the counters or will we have to wait until next Monday when the rain is projected to stop?

The answer my friends to this simple reflection of who needs a kitchen...I do!

"It always rains in Southern Cali...Florida"

Swish, swish, swish. Drip, drip, drip. Oh...what's that...we've arrived in Florida? That's right, the windshield wipers are going again and again and again and a final (and fourth) time as we drive home from Tampa airport. Mind you that is an hour car ride not eleven minutes.

But that was the only damper for this mini-mom-vacation. I flew down with Logan (see Jetblue post below) to deliver him to my family for a nice two-week stay. Lucky Logan gets to enjoy being spoiled and entertained while I work full-time to get that monkey off my back as the lien comes due.

While I was there we swam, swam, and swam. One of the high points was enjoying the movie Mamma Mia! with mom, Kris, and Logan. We were singing Dancing Queen all the time. Logan and I actually made our own aquatic dance. Not sure if Abba was the influence or our favorite show Malcolm In The Middle's dance to Sway. Either way we were spinning, floating, jazz handing it, and having a simple blast in the pool.

Logan is staying on enjoying sleepovers at Aunt Krissy's, bowling, hands-on museum, beach, pool, card games, movies, and simple summer fun. Hopefully he is blogging so we can see what he's up to down there.

The weather was actually very nice and the rain does not last long...so I guess we'll change the title of this blog to "Dancing Queen..."

Jetblue or Not Jetblue...that is the question!

You might already have heard my Jetblue saga...if not...it's happened again. We have been not Jetblued rather Jetscrewed once again. You might remember back to a cold, wet, February 14th when Logan and I were frozen to the runway. After six hours on the tarmac -- translated to 4 Law & Orders, 1 Murder She Wrote, and some Seinfeld -- we made it to Florida for a 3:00 a.m. arrival. Or maybe you remember the next time we flew out to Florida where we were delayed four hours due to a crack in the JFK runway and arrived in Orlando close to 2:00 a.m. and Logan was starting Sea World Day Camp six hours later. And let's not forget when I finally flew from the Sarasota airport which is only 10 minutes (11 max) from Mom & Rudi's home. That time I was delayed in the airport for four hours because it was windy over Chicago. Well, here is the latest saga...

After going to bed at midnight, I woke up 2 hours 50 minutes later and took a taxi to the train station. Taxi was late but the company called and warned us they'd be late but assured us we'd make our 3:52 a.m. train. We were pleasantly surprised to see many people on this train including a detective friend of ours. We then continued with the AirTrain from Jamaica to JFK. It was then that the poop hit the fan. We waited on the baggage claim line from 4:45am-5:50am before finally getting bumped to the front. You see we had a 6:05am flight.

With only 15 minutes to spare we handed over our one suitcase and ran for security since we were told they would not hold the plane for us. We flew through security after I explained we had a 6:05 flight. Unfortunately the gate was not right there but the line for the shuttle was. We jumped on the shuttle for the one-minute ride to the just-being-built Jetblue shuttle. I handed Logan his boarding pass and told him to run to our gate (the last one of course-#22) and followed huffing and puffing behind. We made it with 3 minutes to spare and then sat for 45 minutes waiting to take off.

Once we landed, we found out our luggage did not. After a bit of gentle pursuasion and holding my ground, Jetblue's Vanessa agreed to have the luggage sent. It arrived at 8pm that night. Kris picked us up, we went home for breakfast, and ran to Target for Logan's new bathing suit.

[See post above for Florida stay.]

So far the feel is "not to Jetblue" for the next go-around. Until we got to Sarasota for the return. I walked right in and had one person in front of me. I spoke to the agent and saw a man in dockers and button down next to her. When I commented on how much I loved this airport, I shared my journey down and joked about previous Jetblue experiences. He kindly wished me a better time and thanked me for flying. It was a dream. No baggage lines. Very reasonable security line. Gate was once again the last one -- always is -- and bathroom had no line. A perfect return! I waited until almost everybody boarded before getting on line. Once again I saw my new friend and we began discussing airlines and my experiences as an airline brat. As I settled in my seat and looked up, I noticed the man standing there. I figured he was just jetting to a different location or travelling as a stand-by. I was right but he wasn't just a man. he was introduced as the CEO of Jetblue. Boy, did I laugh. Only I would be so outspoken and find the perfect audience for my light-hearted but serious complaints. Glad to say that I grabbed him after the flight and told him how great their children area was.

So the answer for me...for now.."to jetblue" is the answer. We'll give the new terminal a chance and see how it goes next time.

I'm Stuck!

Okay "I'm not stuck" but food is now getting stuck more often then ever. I had my last fill a month ago today and I have since discovered I can no longer eat bagels, pizza, chicken fingers, carrots, and hamburgers. Mind you I am not going out of my way buying, making, or eating this. I am plate cleaning...Logan's plate. One day he had some pizza left on the crust and I really felt like a taste. Well - one bite, two bite, three...no more! Luckily for this carbaholic my body no longer allows me which is the tool doing it's trick.

My next fill (8/22) will hopefully bring me to the sweet spot where the final step is the feeling of fullness. I still do not feel full when I eat. I just lose the desire to eat.

At this point I'm down 41 lbs. Interestingly enough I no longer weigh myself every day. It is such a yo yo when I do that. I can sometimes gain/lose 4 lbs. in one day but at the end of the week I've only maintained. I know that exercise is the key but finding the time and the comfort level (soooo hot!!!) does not motivate me to rush to it.

I've been playing with weight loss in the 30s for nearly three months and cannot wait to bring it up in the 40s. Reading various websites and from the materials I was given at the support meetings, I know that I'm on target. Who'd have thought that they (the doctors) really know what they're talking about?

As I explained to my mom since I know that I'm not doing anything "bad" and see that it's been over 4 months since pre-op diet began, I've learned to be happy with the average of 10 lbs. a month. I figure if I'm lucky enough to keep this up -- and add more exercise -- in another two months I'll finally feel it.

So slow and steady is the pace that I am finally forced to take.

The Karate Kid

"Grasshopper...it is time to move up to Yellow Belt."

After spending an hour in the dojo, Logan moved up from white belt to yellow belt in his Shaolin Kempo Karate class. Proud Mama here was very excited to see how great he looked as he went through various moves, maneuvers, stances, poses, and defenses.

The testing of the Juniors (7-12 years) took one hour and began with jumping jacks, push ups and other warm-up exercises and then went into the various karate activities. One example front roll (or back roll) on a floor mat and jump up into a defense pose...otherwise risk getting bopped on the head by Sensei Nick who was at the end of the mat. Another example is lining up to face the Sensei and break free of a grip while bringing him down. All activities stress self-defense and disabling the attacker.

The funniest part was what a quiet group they are. In a previous post I explained how that the word "kia" {pronounced as KEY-YA}tightens up the stomach but I also learned it moves the organs to a different part of the body as well as announce to the world that you are being attacked. Going back to the funny part...there were only 2-3 kids who spoke it loud so Master Kadir gave them a gentle warning that he needed to hear all of them or there would be push ups for all. Throughout the hour they must have done 5-7 extra sets of push ups. Lots of groans from the students and laughter from the parents resulting in a few more kias here and there.

At the end and after the cool-down Master Kadir congratulated the nine students on moving up belt levels. There were many different colors being shown as this group of Juniors was mixed. Different belts had different stances and goals to reach.

It was a great experience for Logan. His jumping jacks were high. His push ups were deep. His running in place unbelievably fast, high knee-ed, with hands protecting face the whole time. His kias were quiet BUT his kicks and punches were loud, hard, and fast. I felt sorry for the young man -- who was a head taller than Logan -- who had to hold up the kick/boxing pad for Logan. He looked amazing!

Congratulations Logan! You are my favorite Karate Kid!

Now let's bring my blog back to me. I almost sat next to Bill but he was saving a seat for Betsy. So I took the other empty seat in the front row one (last one) next to that seat. Hence, my seat mate was Betsy. Only wish I had a pedicure since I had to take off my shoes in the dojo. Otherwise I was told that I look great and lost so much weight. That by Betsy. I was also told Logan's getting a haircut. This told by Bill. I asked him not to short and typical Bill - "did I say short?" Ugh! Why can we not have a normal toned or simply even toned conversation. Oh, well! This is who we are.

"Can you hear me now?"

Today was another day of cell-fish behavior by me, Logan, and Zach. Today Zach got his new phone - The LG Chocolate Blue Ice. So there we were...again...texting, photoing, videoing, ringing, musicing, and I think one of us actually may have used it to make a phone call.

The boys had their bowling league this afternoon and enjoyed themselves. While they were bowling I became a little engrossed in texting Jen at work. Suddenly a mom called out to me and said "Karen, your baby got hurt." I smiled at her and said that I didn't have a baby. When I looked up to see the hurt toddler...I see Logan grabbing his ankle. You're kidding me right?!? Who gets hurt bowling? Yes, that's right...Logan-who-steps-into-the-ball gets hurt. No black and blues - yet. A hug, some attention and a little ice and we're all better. Hmmm! Did I ever return that text to Jen?

We went on to the library where Logan signed off on his third book (it's only been three weeks since he began) and got his weekly toy plus a free lunch bookmark for Friendly's. So far he's gotten free bowling, free Chili's lunch, and a puzzle. I too am in the book club and am ahead of Logan by one book. Though I'm cheating. I'm in a Danielle Steel mode - just the easy reading I like in the summer.

Ending our afternoon at Karate with Zach getting ready to sign up as well. Logan will be tested on Saturday for the next step as a yellow belt. More to follow on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Dear Logan!

Eleven years and one day later I am sitting here in my almost new kitchen (still waiting on counter top and microwave installation) and remembering how blessed I was sitting in the hospital holding my little boy.

It has been an eventful time for us these past days. Logan has an impromptu time with Vinny, Christopher, and Charlie on Friday - it was kind of backwards - and continued celebrating all the way through the weekend.

On Sunday he went to spend 24 hours with his dad and Betsy. I understand he got an awesome 24-speed bike and helmet. So glad to see him getting into biking. I think Mom & Rudi can appreciate that. Note to self: lose weight, strengthen knee, and give it a try next year.

Logan returned to me and Nu Papa at 4pm on actual birthday and then went on to celebrate an absolutely perfect night with his buddy Zach. Logan was surprised (or not so surprised) with a Juke cell phone that Nu Papa gave him. He loved it. Logan, Zach, & I went to Dave & Busters for dinner and arcade style games. The whole time at the table we texted back & forth to each other. Zach already had a phone and I have my new one (we did a family plan) - lots of fingers flying. After playing through 200 tokens the lucky guys found a card with 99 tokens on it. I insisted they turn it in but was told to come back in 15 minutes. If it wasn't claimed...it was theirs. It wasn't claimed. It was theirs. We came home to enjoy some late night ice-cream cake and settle down for a sleep over.

It was real nice this year not having a big party for him. I think he also really got a kick out of the gifts he got. No chachki gifts - all quality and limited quantity. Beside the phone and phone holder he got gifts from me - a Ripstick Skateboard and helmet and new sneakers. He was so grateful and has been on the phone & on the board on and off since then. It was truly lovely to spend time with him. Zach sweetly said several times "I'm having a great time!" So glad to see he enjoyed himself as well.

Very excited to see kitchen coming together. should be done by next week. Cannot wait! In fact, this weekend I can put things away finally. Wahoo!!!

Off to Kelly's for some Girls Nite Only time.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today is the 5th anniversary since Bill officially walked out this door. I remember that day quite well and find it interesting that Logan does too. I didn't mention today what it was to Logan but in the past he commented on this day. His memory is that him and I were volleying a balloon back and forth as Bill came up from the basement with a long yellow box in his hand and left the house. Logan is actually remembering the last 5-minutes literally. He does not remember what happened before that moment but he does not have to know. The good news was that I did not have to be aware of my every move, comment, action, non-action, etc. any more. Bill disappeared for two-three days; I'm thinking more like three days but I knew he was at Betsy's one-month old apartment only six blocks away. Nice,huh?! I don't need to remember all that but it does come back as a memory. Five years later and I survived.

The nice part of today's anniversary is that so much has improved for me. During the whole ordeal of living together while going through this ugliness (tapped phone lines, CPS, no money, threatened custody suit) I was able to remind myself three things:

1) what goes around comes around
2) the world rights itself
3) it's not my place to judge

And then my dear Omi reminded me at the end of every conversation "Du bist ein starkes Frau!" "You are a strong woman!"

Today I celebrate owning the house with my bank, raising Logan with the daily ethics I want him to embrace, being in charge of myself and doing what I please, and freedom to be me. I also share some sad times of loneliness, loss of emotional support, and a bit of financial in-security. Looking back Bill did not offer me so much in these areas but now I'm forced to realize it and am working through all.

I go forward with 40 lbs. less of me and 250 lbs. less of conditional love. Remember Ich bin ein starkes frau! I never forget that.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Pool Daze

Today I took Zach & Logan to Wantagh Park Pool. This place is amazing. They have six different pools. Logan uses four of them - the diving pool, the slide pool, the interactive pool (see photo - click on photo for a better view), the regular pool. We never used the baby pool which is about 6" high and no longer use the toddler pool - an old favorite.

The boys had so much fun running from one pool to another and playing with other boys in the various pools. Logan recognized a boy from his bus and Zach knew somebody from baseball. While they swam, I did about 10-12 laps via my crawl method and then sat to enjoy another Danielle Steele book.

The lifeguards at this pool are unbelievable. They rotate out every 20 minutes and have a great response system. Twice today two not-so-good-swimmers (younger kids - all fine) had the whistle blown in the diving pool. Three sharp whistles means "all hands on deck" and then the lifeguard jumps in the pool as the floater/walk-around lifeguards all run to help at that pool. None of the assigned lifeguards leave their posts so the rest of the pools remain safe. It is because of this great team of lifeguards that I can relax and sit at a central point where I can see the four Logan pools.

We actually closed the pool. Logan & Zach were the last ones in the water until I reminded them that the lifeguards wanted to go home too. On the way home I bet the boys that they'd be sound asleep by 9pm. Logan thought he'd last longer to about 10pm. The winner was 9:04pm. Logan was out like a light!

It was a classic summer day that will go down as a very happy memory. Gotta love the summer!

Happy Birthday Karen K!

Happy Birthday to a dear friend who is there when you need her! Wishing you a great day and a year filled with great wins in the casinos!

Love ya!

Karen

Annual "4th of July" Party

It's taken me a good day to recover from another great July 4th party. For years we enjoyed this day at our dear friend The Licata's home. Three years ago we transferred the party to Tina's cousin Kim's home in Commack. What a lovely home and fabulous salt water in-ground pool plus plenty of yard for the kids to play in.

We all bring a couple of trays (I do two trays of brownies) plus chip in money for fireworks. Logan and I timed it that we arrived when Kelly & her crew did. (Michele always celebrates this day with her family for their annual BBQ.) Usually the entire Licata clan goes which can be up to 15 adults and 15 children - this year not all were in attendance. Considering I know this family since I was born it's very nice for me to see so many of them which keeps some old Pine Street memories alive.

As usual, Logan arrived in his bathing suit & jumped right in after playing pack mule for me and carrying all our bags in. (The bags are filled with extra towels, more bathing suits, food, camera, bug spray, and whatever else I'll need for this "day trip" to the country.) I played lifeguard for a short time and then sat to catch up with old friends.

As the day went on we had a great barbecue which included the second year in a row a BBQ grill fire. Not too worry - burgers & dogs were saved! I munched on cold shrimp and nuts as an appetizer and later enjoyed two pieces of sausage and a scoop of beans. I did try to have a bite of soft cake in the evening and once again discover that that sort of food is out of my life. It just sits there -ugh! Luckily fruit goes right down so I can still enjoy a nice snack. I was told that moderation is the key but I'm actually glad that I can't enjoy bread/cakes. There is no temptation when it is laced with pain. So maybe shock therapy would have been a cure for me years earlier; I consider this choke therapy and that is quite successful!

Kerry came to join us in the evening after we had a few boughts of rain. The kids began the evening festivities with sparklers. We then gathered chairs on the great front lawn and sat in a drizzling rain enjoying 30 minutes of some great fireworks. (Thanks to the folks who drove to PA for them - much appreciated!)

Another great year for all...hopefully next year Bill lets Logan join us again. He's actually been very decent over the past years and allowed him to join in the fun.

14 Years and Where Did It Go?

It was July 4, 1994 when Bill and I got married in Montego Bay, Jamaica. So much has happened in that time. We bought a house, had a son, adopted a homeless cat, and got a new dog. Those were the positive things. We also gained weight (average 10 lbs a year - me / 5 lbs for him), got divorced, got engaged (him), broke the engagement (her...my theory), and got into debt. The only monumental thing that we have to show from this day 14 years ago is Logan...and he is worth it all!

Seems like July is Bill's time for change. We got married (2x for those who remember), bought a house, had a child, left his home and family (five years on July 10th), and his latest July change -- he's a bachelor once again.

Now as I prefer to be positive, there have been many wonderful changes for me since our marriage ended. I live with my lovely little boy, I own a house with my bank, I work at a wonderful, flexible job that I love, I have more friends then I did back then, and now I am happy to say down 40 lbs. These are just a few of the things.

Looking over the past five years my greatest lesson comes from what my mother has taught me. You deal with what your dealt the best way possible and sometimes you win. I've learned from other loved ones that sometimes you lose but hopefully that teaches me to treasure what I have.

Our week began with some ups and downs for poor Logan. He joined a summer program that had some not so nice children in it. Realizing my guy is not an angel I look at it with cautious eyes. And I did see he did not deserve the ridiculing and comments that were directed to him. After a conversation with the director of this program it seems that things are better. In fact, yesterday -- only three days later -- Logan was last man standing in dodge ball representing his group and this time he was cheered and encouraged. (Amazingly he still found a way to put a negative spin on this but we're working on that.)

Another up - the pool was opened and quite clear compared to previous years. The down - the filter is broke. I'm waiting to see if I can get a refurbished motor for a low cost otherwise "Auf Wiedersehen Pool!" We've already decided to ditch it at the end of the season. Since Logan and I have discovered the Wantagh Park Pool, we are ready to be public pool people. It will save me money and I can reclaim my backyard.

We're off to an annual July 4th party at Tina's cousin Kim's house. Should be lots of fun!

Keep safe!