God's DVD

I was driving the other day when I noticed a family riding in a van. There were two young children riding in the back seat. There was a DVD playing on the screen. It looked like some sort of cartoon. Why did the parents need to entertain their children digitally when nature can entertain them naturally. I like to call it "God's DVD". Look out of the window. See the trees and the houses and the other cars go by. Watch the colors and look at the birds. Things will be in constant motion and the view changes instantaneously. Use your imagination. Look for out of state license plates. There is so much to keep your mind busy. Why do parents take away that skill and replace it with a mind numbing activity?

From The Heart

I will be seeing my granddaughter in 2 weeks. This will be the third year that we will meet in Cape Cod for a few days. I wanted to bring along something special for her. I could have brought toys. I could have brought clothes. Instead, I decided to make her a gift. I bought a wooden treasure chest and mosaic tiles. I covered the chest with colorful tiles. I made a rose pattern for the lid. Tonight I will grout it. It came out beautiful. A work of art. Hopefully she will keep this gift forever. I will write a note inside the box, so it will be a special keepsake for her. When you live far away from a loved one, every gift must have special thought. It needs to be like no other. This one is a gift from my heart.

Cookies

Cookies used to be simple. They were small baked goods that tasted delicious. The only way that they followed you was on your waistline. Now, cookies track you in other ways. They are like tiny spies that keep records of your internet use. This morning when I logged into this blog, there was a notice that my international readers will have a disclaimer notifying them of how Google uses cookies. If you block cookies on some sites, the sites will not open up. Something that used to be associated with pleasure is now associated with annoyance.

One Per Visit

A few weeks ago one of my friends went to her primary care doctor. She was there to have him look at her leg. While she was in the room she asked him to look in her throat, as is was sore. He said that he could not. According to the new insurance guidelines, if she was here for her foot, he could not look at her throat, since that was not what she came in for. The guideline says that you can be seen for one thing at a time. If you have another ailment you must make another appointment. She was stunned. She was already there, he was in the room, so what was the problem? Again, he told her that for him to look on her throat, she would need to come back tomorrow. This was not his rule but the rule of the healthcare system that he works for. Healthcare is now a business and has nothing to do with quality of life.

Reprimanding Yourself

I know a woman that frequents the town pool each week. She is the kind of person that looks around to see who is not following the rules. As soon as she spots someone, she tells the authorities. For some reason, seeing other people reprimanded gives her pleasure. Yesterday she saw people eating on the pool level. Years ago there was s strict rule that food could only be eaten at the snack bar. She called over the head lifeguard to complain. I do not understand why she did this as she and her family eat their lunch on the pool level every day. She knows the rule so why does she break it? Is breaking the rule good for her and not others? The lifeguard told her that the rule was changed this year as the snack area did not really have enough seating. I do not know why anyone would complain about a rule that they themselves are breaking. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Mini Market

This morning we are have a small garage sale. My basement is becoming hazardous and needs to be cleaned out. We are only putting out a few large items and will have a regular garage sale in the fall. We are hoping that the saying that, "One man's garbage is another man's treasure" will hold true today. We placed a free ad online and will put large signs on our corner. Then we will sit and wait and watch the cars come down the block. Hopefully some of them will stop at my house.

Not What You Think

Last week my mother went for a biopsy. Her mammogram showed a spot. They say that women over 85 do not need to have a yearly mammogram. I always want to know who "they" are because I think that standard is not correct. Her results came back yesterday. I called the doctor to get the news before her. The spot was benign. To get my mother's mind off of the pending results, my father took her to her favorite place, the casino. I wanted to tell them immediately that she had no reason to worry. I called their cell phone. They were still at the casino, in the food court. I gave them the good news and they both broke into tears. Tears of joy and relief. Now, picture this.... two senior citizens sitting at a table in the food court at the casino, crying. People must have thought that they lost all of their money. 

Conversing

I have reached a new level with my grandson. He is now my little friend. We are able to have conversations and discuss things. He can answer my questions when I ask what he did that day. He will tell me when he did something that his mom and dad did not like. I can explain why they were unhappy and I see that he understands. He is growing into a toddler that is able to think and reason. I never noticed these milestones with my own children. I guess being a grandmother allows you to see the wonders of childhood with different eyes.

Memories

I speak to my sister every morning, right after I get up. We always have something to talk about. Sometimes it is just about random things. This morning we were both tired because we were thinking too much before we fell asleep. For some reason we were both thinking of childhood memories. We decided to quiz each other on random facts. She did better than I did. Some of the questions included what pattern of wallpaper our room was decorated with in 1960, what cut of steak a neighbor ate every night and the name of the boy across the streets band. Only we know the answers and for some reason, that feels good. It means that we have a bond with each other that no one else can have. It is not only a sisterhood, it is a friendship.

Insurance

My mother had a small procedure yesterday. While she was in the exam room, I was called in for advice. There is a new DNA test that could be added on at the end of the procedure. In case the test results showed a malignancy, they would match it up to the DNA and make sure the results were actually hers. The additional test would cost $295.00 extra. I declined the test. I told the tech that I assumed that the office would not mix up the results. I put my faith in the idea that medically trained people would pay attention t detail.

Dumb vs Stupid

Years ago I wrote a blog titled "Smart vs Bright". It is the most searched blog that I have written. I even think that it is on page one of the google search if you key word that phrase. Today I am writing about dumb vs stupid. Last night my older son found out that my husband bought a motorcycle. As expected, I was blamed for "allowing " it. Buying the motorcycle was dumb. Riding it unsafely would be stupid. My husband took a state approved course so he would have the skills to be safe on it. It was an intense military type course that was about twenty hours in total. Part was classroom and about fifteen hours was on the cycle learning safety skills. If he rode without the course, he would have been stupid. I tried to explain to my son that dumb and stupid are two different things in this matter. My son ended the conversation saying that we are neither dumb nor stupid. We are just insane.

Tombstone

My husband has purchased a motorcycle. He is slowly adding on options. Last night he was trying to install a windshield onto the handlebars. The name of the shield was Tombstone. How foreboding. He looked at the directions and drew a blank. He then called me out. I got a bit further down the line and then was stymied. We had to call in the real troops, our younger son. By the time he arrived it was dark out. He sat in the driveway, in the dark, reading the instructions. He figured it out and within a few minutes it was on the bike. My husband now has a brand new tombstone all hooked up and ready to go.

Full Boxes

My husband knows how to send email but he does not know how to delete email. He knows how to answer his cell phone but not how to check or empty his messages. To the world it might seem like he is a busy and popular man. To me, he is just too lazy to learn. Who has 496 unread emails? Who has a full voicemail box? How many messages does it take to fill it up? This morning I spent time deleting his emails. Now his inbox is empty, ready to be filled again with nonsensical emails from Ebay. We have no idea what his telephone password is, so that box will stay full until my son lets us know what password he set up, five years ago.

Day of Relaxation

Yesterday I did something that I rarely do. I did nothing. I had no errands and my family was out doing their own thing. I pulled my lounge chair into the backyard, took out a few Reader's Digest magazines, a bottle of water and my portable telephone. It was an arsenal of weapons. The sun was shining but I set myself up in a shady corner. I did not move from that chair for hours. I daydreamed and pondered the world. I even closed my eyes for a while. Before I knew it, the afternoon had passed. I filled my day doing nothing and it was wonderful.

Tea

My granddaughter is away on vacation. She took her parents to New Hampshire. She has an important meeting there. She is expected to be at Tea with Cinderella. She and "Cindy" made these plans weeks ago. She is all dressed up in her favorite pink outfit. She will have her breakfast and get on the road, as Cinderella likes her friends to be on time. I asked for pictures of this meeting. I can't wait to see both of their smiling faces.

Gossip Girl

I once knew of someone that worked in an office that had a no gossip policy. You had to sign a paper that if you were found gossiping you could lose your job. That sounds a bit outlandish but in a way it is not a terrible idea. My morning receptionist has been on vacation this week. When I leave for vacation, I never think of what is going on in the office. Isn't that what vacation is for? Yesterday I received a text from her asking how the office was getting along without her. I said we were doing fine. She asked if anything was new. I said everything was status quo. She said that something must have gone wrong. I said no. About an hour later I received a text from my afternoon receptionist saying that the other woman keeps texting her asking what went wrong. She wrote back that everything was fine. Then the woman started to call. The girl was afraid to answer the phone because she did not know what to say. I told her to answer the phone, say everything was good and tell the woman to enjoy her vacation instead of worrying about what she was missing here.

5-3-1

This morning I heard a mathematical sequence that made a lot of sense to me. It is a formula to live a good life. It was given to my sister by a good friend who is living a positive life even though she has problems that others would not be able to handle as well. Below is the equation:

5- Meditate for five minutes each day

3- Think of three positive things each day

1- Do one random act of kindness each day

It is a simple concept that might be hard for some people to apply. From now on, when life gets tough, I will repeat 5-3-1 and get myself back on track.

It Was Only

My husband has a new expression, "It was only". I am sure there are a lot of spouses that hear this expression. It is used when someone buys things that are not necessary. The "purchaser" thinks that if the price is low, the purchase is fine. What they do not realize is that 10 "it was only's" add up to one "are you crazy". I try to add up my husband's " it was only's" and show him that the monthly total is more than he thinks. Somehow during this discussion, his eyes glaze over and I see that I have lost his attention. It is like shoveling sand against the wind. A futile exercise.

Genealogy

A few weeks ago my father received a telephone call from a stranger. She asked him if he knew someone named "John Smith". My father said that he new someone by that name and was close friends with him until he died. The woman said she was his granddaughter and was doing a genealogy search to find out about her grandfather. He passed away years ago and she wanted to find out more about his life. My father was thrilled to tell her everything that he knew. He recanted old stories and memories. The granddaughter was amazed that my father recalled so much. They spoke for over an hour. She said that she would love to meet him and my mother. She said she would call again. Her call made my father's day as he was very close with her grandfather. Two days ago my son was looking in the closet of his old room and saw a lockbox. I never noticed the box since it was on a high shelf. He took down the box and inside it were some of my father's friends personal keepsakes. The friend had been a police officer and the keepsakes were the man's hat shield and collar brass with the badge and precinct numbers on them. First thing the next morning, I called my father to tell him. The granddaughter had called him the previous night to make a date to get together. He gave me the woman's phone number and I called her. She was so happy she almost cried. One day this week she will come to my office and pick them up. Everything has come fill circle.

Surprise Reaction

Last night my husband broke the news to my younger son that he had bought a motorcycle. I dreaded that moment because I thought that the blame for doing that foolish act would fall on me. Surprisingly he took it well, although he thought that it was not a good idea to begin to drive a motorcycle at 63 years old. After work he came over to inspect the new purchase. He went over every inch of the motorcycle with a fine tooth comb. He thought that it was in good condition and a good value. There was no yelling as I had expected. He actually liked it. I would have bet money that there would have been an argument. I guess you can never predict someone else's reaction.

The Good Fight

Some things are worth fighting about. Some things are not. Some are worth giving the "good fight" and knowing when to give up. Today is my husband's birthday. He has been wanting a particular item for a while. I did not agree with him. For months we have argued about getting it. I yelled, screamed and threatened. After a while I realized that the energy I was putting into fighting against it, was not worth it. My husband is a dreamer and I try the best to protect him but as I will explain to my children when they find out about this purchase, I do not own him and he is an adult who can make his own decisions, even if they are crazy. Yesterday, he bought the item of his dreams. I allowed it because it was the best of the worst items he looked at. I know I am being vague about what he bought because my children do not know yet and I want a few days to get strong before they kill me.

Hiding Spot

We have all done this. We want to keep something safe and put it in a special place, only to forget where that place was. We run around frantically looking in every corner and do not find it. We take a break and sit and think. Then we search again to no avail. Then we start to sweat. Where could it be? If I had to hide it again, where would I put it? We then call in reinforcements because by this time we do not care about being yelled at. All we want is the missing item. In most cases the item is found that day. In other cases it appears years later. This happened to my husband yesterday. He was lucky and found the missing item. I am lucky because I did not want to go another hour searching.

Ronald McDonald

For many years I have donated to two charities. St. Jude's Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House. I never knew anyone who needed their services until this week. One of our patients lives two hours away and a daily commute was hard. They could not afford to stay in a hotel as treatment itself was very expensive. The family called Ronald McDonald House and asked if they fit the criteria to stay there. They were told that my office had to fill out a from saying that the young girl was having daily treatment and they would reserve a room for them. I filled out the form. Monday they began treatment and checked into their room. They said that they feel like they are in a five star hotel. The lobby and rooms are immaculate and beautifully decorated. The staff is wonderful. They are served dinner each night. All that Ronald McDonald asks for is a $25 nightly donation, if it is possible. If you cannot afford it, that is fine. The patient's mother started to cry as she described how wonderful this charity is. Without them her child could not get the treatment she needed. When the mother returns home she plans to volunteer at her local Ronald McDonald House as a way of giving back. I will continue to donate to them, but I will donate more.

The Waiting Game

My receptionist has come in a bit late two days in a row. She keeps trying to have her blood work done before work but her attempts are in vain. The first day she arrived at the lab at 7am to find a long line waiting outside the door. She signed in and after a while realized that she would be there forever, so she left. The next morning she went to the lab location closer to our office. She went in and signed her name on the list. Other people did the same as they walked in. After a half hour she noticed that some people were being taken before her and some other patients that came in with her. She went to the reception window to question why she was still waiting. The girl said that this location does not take walk in people like the others do. It is by appointment only. My friend was furious and so were the other walk in people. Why weren't they told this when they signed in? The girl shrugged her shoulders. There was no other office person there to complain to so they all left. She will try again today, this time with an appointment.

Unlikely Couple

This afternoon one of our doctor's is coming to visit us. She relocated to Chicago three years ago. She was just out of school when she started working for us, so in a way we watched her grow up. About two years after she started working, she met a young man in a club. He was a tall, skinny kid, almost waif like. He had no job and wanted to become a hair stylist. She was one of the brightest people I know and a hard worker. After about six months, her boyfriend's visa expired. She decided to marry him so he could stay. She had to go through the green card process and it cost her a lot of money for lawyers and paperwork. She did not tell her family that she married him. Some of my office staff said that he was taking advantage of her. I thought that they were really in love. It has been six years since their wedding. Four years ago she had a real wedding for her family. Three years ago they relocated to Chicago and bought a house. He is now employed in a hair salon. They are so happy together. It really was true love.

Stand By or Stand Up

I am at the age where I will no longer stand by silently and not speak my mind. If you have the right to speak, so do I. Yesterday I was at the town pool with people that I have not seen for a year. One woman there is outspoken in an obnoxious way. She will yell at stranger's children and scream if people play music too loudly. Her communication skills are extremely poor. A group of us went into the water and as we stood there talking, she started to point to a woman sitting on the deck. I knew what was coming. She began to say that the woman was "too fat to wear a bathing suit". As soon as those words came out of her mouth, I told her that I would not stand there and listen to her criticize anyone. That woman is someone's daughter, mother, friend and I bet she is a wonderful person, so who are you to say such things about anyone. Everyone standing with us agreed with me. She told me to stop acting like a life coach. I said it had nothing to do with being a life coach but everything to do with being a decent human being.

Picture Perfect

I am not the biggest picture taker but I love pictures. My daughter in laws give me framed ones of my grandchildren a few times a year. They are the professional pictures so the children look great. Each year I add to the assortment. I am at the point where there is no more room on the end table. Now comes my dilemma. Which pictures do I put away? Even though some are of them were taken when they were newborns, I still love looking at them. If I put them into albums, I will only look at them occasionally.  I can't part with any. I am now debating whether or not I should make a wall display. I like that idea. I will keep filling the wall space until there is no more room, and enjoy every moment of it.

Lola

When I furnished my first home, I wanted to find the perfect picture to hang in the dining room. In those days there were not the stores that we have now, so I was having some difficulty. My mother in law suggested that  I"commission an artist" to paint one for us. I looked in the phone book and called a woman named Lola. My husband and I drove to her gallery and explained what we wanted. I brought a swatch of the carpeting and showed a picture of the type of painting I wanted. Two weeks later Lola called to say that the painting was ready. We went into the gallery and she unveiled the artwork. It was nothing like what we wanted. We were young and embarrassed to speak our minds, so we took the painting home. We put it up and it has hung in our dining room for 35 years. When we remodeled our house this month, we decided to put the painting away and buy a new one. Last night we put back all of the furniture into the rooms after the floors dried from being refinished. The room looked sad. The Lola picture was not there. That painting felt like "home" and without it the room would never feel right. We brought it up from the basement and hung it in its spot. Everything seemed right again. Lola had become a part of the family.

Call Waiting

Years ago the call waiting feature was offered on our telephones. It was a slightly extra charge. I can vividly remember the commercial for it. There was a young girl standing in the rain with a flat tire, calling home. Her mother was sitting in an easy chair talking on the phone. The call waiting beep is heard and the mom takes the daughter's call. She then goes to help her. That commercial made every parent think. What if that was my child? Most of us then added the feature. Call waiting now comes free on all services including cell phones and now it is coupled with called ID, so we can see whose call we are taking or rejecting. There is a pecking order of importance when it comes to caller ID. Solicitor calls are always rejected. Pecking order starts after that. Who is more important the who? Yesterday, I was on the phone with my younger son, when my older son beeped into his brother's call. Within a split second my younger son hung up on me. I saw that his brother's call was more important than mine. I was glad that was the choice he made.

Super Hero

There are many superheros. There is Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman and many more. I have decided to become a new Super Hero. I will call myself "The Reprimander". I will travel the world reprimanding contractors and home improvement people. While they do their job well, they are lacking in skills that are necessary for having complete customer satisfaction. I had to reprimand my bathroom contractor for never showing up on time. The time issue seems to be a common one when it comes to many contractors. The ones that come on time have other issues. While my painter was punctual, he ran in and out every few hours. I can't say for sure, but I think I smelled beer when he came back. The floor men seemed to be normal thinking homosapiens but that was until I went upstairs at night to go to sleep. I paid them to move my furniture out of the house so the rooms would be empty. They put the living room, dining room and foyer furniture in the garage, but they moved the two small bedroom furniture sets into my room. It looked like a hoarder's house and was a fire hazard. He blocked off the bathroom, dresser and night stand. The coup d'gras was when he placed the wall unit in front of the air conditioner on an 82 degree day. I called him up, furious. I  asked if he had any common sense or spatial relation knowledge. I had an empty wall on the right side. Why put everything on the left side and block all things that are necessary for a person to stay in the room. He offered to come and rearrange the furniture at 9pm but I said no. We did it ourselves. I looked at the room, looked at the furniture and placed it so everything was accessible, including the air conditioner. Why couldn't he have done that? Did I need to reprimand him like he was a child? By this weekend things should be back to normal and I can hang up my superhero cape.

Chamelion

I would be a terrible chameleon. I do not like color change. For thirty four years I have lived in a Navajo white world. All rooms were painted that color. They looked clean and bright. When we decided to repaint the house, we went with the modern trend and added colors to the rooms. I quickly learned that there are green grays, pink grays, blue grays and yellow grays. I stood in the paint aisle until my knees grew weak. I ended up with the following color palate. The kitchen is a cucumber green. So is the small bathroom. The large bathroom is a light golden yellow. The den is a blue gray. The main level is a light yellowish cream color. Two small bedrooms are a shade darker than the main level. All ceilings and window frames are white. Now I come to the master bedroom. We did not want to make it the same as the other two bedrooms so we decided to go bold. I chose an orange tinted medium brown. On the small swatch it looked great. When the entire room was painted it looked a bit dark. Maybe I am just not used to it. It is a cross between My T Fine pudding and doody (or is it spelled doodie as some family members think). I am joking a bit. It is bold and a designer look and when the room is carpeted, it will look great. I am just not used to that color change. I will adjust.