Concrete Thinking

I have realized that over time, we are losing our ability to think on our own. Years ago if you had a problem you would solve it by yourself. You would sit down and reason the ways of doing something. Sometimes it was trial and error,  but eventually you got the answer. Nowadays, we rely on an electronic device. When we started searching, we stopped thinking. We use calculators to do our math and You Tube to teach us most other things. My generation seems to be the last one who exercised our brains.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is my father's 92nd birthday. He still drives and can outthink most of us. Other than walking a bit slower, he still does everything he did at 40. He still walks hand in hand with my mother. He just had the pleasure of welcoming his fourth great grandchild into the world. He will meet him for the first time this weekend. When I need advice, he gives me sensible options. When things break, he always has a way of fixing them even when they seem unfixable. He is still the patriarch of the family. This year I celebrated his birthday twice. Once in New England and once at home. Happy birthday daddy. We love you!

New Math

The other day I went to the store to buy paper towels and toilet paper. It used to be a no brainer. One roll equaled one roll. I went into Walmart and looked for Bounty paper towels. There was a six pack with the writing 6=11. It was $8.89. I went next door to Stop and Shop and they also had Bounty. There were eight rolls and the pack said 8=12 for $8.99. The toilet paper was either 6=24 or 8=48. In order to find the best price, I would have to get out my calculator and look for the number of sheets, multiply it by the number of rolls and divide by the price. Why are the manufacturer's making a simple purchase so complicated? I want to buy one roll and pay for one roll. Don't make me do extra work.

Early Arrival

He is here! A beautiful baby boy. He arrived eleven days early. He couldn't wait to meet his family. There is an old saying "Man plans and G-d laughs". No one expected the baby this early. We thought at least another week. We had a birthday party for my father planned for today. It was going to be at my nephew's house. Instead it will be at my house with a different, but equally as wonderful, guest list. The baby's father always says that instead of always planning, sometimes you just need to see where the day takes you. We use that quote a lot. My sister did not think she would be in New Jersey this morning. My niece did not think she would be holding her son this morning. I did not think that I would be hosting a party today. We waited to see where the day took us and it took us to a wonderful place.

Mini Tech

When I was two years old, I knew what a two year old should do. I ate, slept and went to the bathroom in my diaper. That was all that was expected of me. I did not know how to turn things off or on. I did not know anything about electronics. I was not yet up to Lincoln Logs or erector sets. That was too complicated. I was a toddler doing what a 1950's toddler did. Act cute and behave. Now it is a different story. When I visited my granddaughter last week we asked her to dance for us. When I was little that meant jump up and down while the adults clapped their hands. She was excited to show us how she danced. Her dad brought out the computer and played a song from a music app. When the song was over, my little two year old went to the computer, stood on her tip toes and scrolled through the music menu. She then double clicked and the next song came on. I couldn't believe my eyes. At two years old she was doing technology that I did not learn until I was 50 years old. Even then I had to concentrate on learning. Two is the new fifty.

The Road Less Traveled

I was on my way to work yesterday when my phone rang. My father was calling telling me that my mother was not feeling well. She had not been herself since taking the flu shot. Since he had to go to dialysis, he was afraid to leave her home alone in bed. He was going to cancel his dialysis appointment. That is not really an option. He sounded upset so I said I would come right down. I switched parkways and instead of heading north, I was now heading south. When I arrived, I assessed the situation. Nothing seemed really wrong. She was tired and he was scared. I sent him off to his appointment and took a strict tone with her. I got her up, fed, dressed and outside to sit on the porch to get fresh air. I gave her a pedicure and we gossiped like school girls. I made her a hot breakfast and lunch and prepared another hot lunch for my father when he arrived home. All in all it was a very pleasant day. The only down side was that I was supposed to be at work. This morning, on my day off, I am heading to work to do what needed to be done yesterday. No rest for the weary.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

There is a kids song titled, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Children learn it in nursery school. It is supposed to teach them body parts. Parents love to watch the kids point to each body part as they learn. I remember watching my children and now my grandchildren. Now, years later, the song has a new meaning. Senior citizens discuss their health using the same phrases. I have friends who have HEAD aches, SHOULDERS replaced, KNEES replaced and arthritis in their TOES. Life has come full circle.

Worship

Today is Yom Kippur. It is a day of atonement. A day to look back on the year and evaluate. As the world changes, so does the way we worship. Rules have relaxed. We do things in a way that works best for us. That doesn't mean that we love G-d any less. My parents are in their 90's and things that used to be easy for them, no longer  are. They were not able to visit the cemetery this year. They forgot to buy yahrzeit candles. I wanted to take them to the cemetery to visit their families on the way home from New England but they were just too tired. When I spoke to them yesterday, they felt bad. This was the first year that they had not done things in the traditional way. I explained to them what my philosophy is. I believe that G-d hears your prayers no matter where you are. It is not the building you pray in that is important but the prayer itself. He does not love you less if you forgot to light a candle. He loves you because you think of the person who the candle was supposed to be lit for. Your temple is your body and it travels with you so that you can pray at any given moment. There should never be any guilt when your intentions are pure.

Love Story

My parents will be married 63 years this coming February. They are a team. They still walk holding hands and take good care of each other. Last weekend I took them away to see their great granddaughter. They had a wonderful time just looking at her. They were very good passengers. I seat belted them in the back seat of the car and within a few minutes they were both asleep, like two good "kids". After about one hour I looked back to make sure they were okay. There they were, heads down, sleeping, holding hands. After sixty three years, they are still in love.

Happy Faces

I am in New England with my parents visiting my children. All I saw yesterday was smiling faces. When family lives out of town, every minute of every visit is precious. We caught up on news even though we speak a few times a week. We saw my granddaughter dance and sing. We watched her climb her swing set ropes and swing from the monkey bars. We met her favorite dolls. We ate so much food that my stomach is still full. This morning we will drive home on a beautiful, sunny September day. I am the only early bird. Everyone else is still asleep. I count my blessings every day. Today I am counting them twice.

Family Visit

I am up, packed and ready to go. Today I will pick up my parents and head to Massachusetts. It has been a year since they saw their great granddaughter and they can't wait. The weather is beautiful and maybe we will see some leaves changing colors as we drive. Even though we are just going overnight, it will still seem like a vacation.

Music To My Ears

Yesterday afternoon my phone rang. When I answered it, my father was on the line. He said that he had a song for me. I was not sure what he meant until he started singing. He has always had a good voice and loves to sing. He began to serenade me with the song, "You Are So Beautiful to Me". I soaked in every word as he sang, with a big smile on my face. I asked him what made him call me to sing that song. He said that my sister's granddaughter sang that song to my sister and he loved it, so he wanted to sing it to me. Hearing him sing was a gift. Some moments in time stay with you forever. This is one that surely will.

Fraud

Yesterday morning I opened my emails and found a fraud alert from my credit card company. I immediately called them. They said that someone from another state tried to use my credit card to buy $205 of groceries. I confirmed that it was not me. I was told that someone made a fake card and tried to swipe it at the store. The reason why it was red flagged was because it was out of state. It took me over a half hour to take care of this problem. A new card was issued. I was glad that the transaction was denied, but now I wonder what happened to that person when the card was declined. Did they just pull out another fake card? Were they questioned by the store? Probably not. So a credit card criminal, just one of millions, is left to roam the streets.

Crossing State Lines

I have been having a ten month conversation with AARP. My father took the AARP defensive driving course last December. He never received his certificate to hand in to the insurance company. I called every few weeks to see where it is. Each representative tells me that they will reorder it and it will arrive in a week. The next month I call again and get the same story. Finally, after ten months, we solved the puzzle. My father is a New York state resident but he took the course in Florida. New York requires a certificate. Florida only gives a receipt. There is no way around this. No one seemed to know this until one representative did the research. Now, he will have to take the course again. They said they would refund his course fee in a week. That was two weeks ago. I have given up.

Pitching In

My husband has been volunteering at the local Children's Hospital for a few weeks. He has two assignments. One is a greeter in the lobby and the other one is at the library cart. He likes both areas. Yesterday morning he got a call that he was needed in the OR. We joked that we hoped they did not expect him to do surgery. The job he was needed for was simple but very important. He was the person that notified the families that their children were out of surgery. He beeped them with their assigned beeper and then walked them to the room where the doctor was waiting to speak to them. During their wait, he supplied snacks and drinks. As each family left, they thanked him. It was a simple job for a complicated reason. No family wants to see their child in surgery so a friendly face who takes care of your needs is so comforting. The hospital thanked him for pitching in. He may need to do it again today. I am proud of him. His retirement is not only about him and that is something to be praised.

A Sure Thing

There are not many sure things in life. The one sure thing in my life is having a great time with my family at holiday dinners. Last night we celebrated Rosh Hashanah at my sister in law and brother in law's house. No matter what my sister in law makes, it is delicious. I think she can turn dirt into a delicacy. The atmosphere was as good as the food. Everyone was happy and laughing. My grandson loved looking at his uncle's collectables and was thrilled when he was allowed to play with one of the trucks. Nothing feels better than celebrating the holidays with family.

Happy New Year

Today is the beginning of the Jewish New Year. It is a beautiful September day. As society changes so does our ways of worship. People that never worked on this holiday now find themselves going in. My morning receptionist is on vacation and my boss is out of the country, so I need to be there. My belief is that you do not have to be in a building to worship. Like our ancestors, my religion travels with me. I can pray for my family's health while I drive. I can pray for a good year in my office. God does not limit himself to one location. It is not about the place you are "in" but the place you are "at". I am at a place in my life where I see more clearly than I ever did. I am more compassionate. I am more understanding. I am also more comfortable with life as a whole. I will worship this week, in my own way,  wherever I happen to be. I am good with that.

No Words

It has finally happened. Schools are phasing out books. Along with this decision they are phasing out a lifestyle. In order to conserve on space and save our environment, books are being taken out of the curriculum. Classes will be taught from a Smartboard and information will be online. Books can be downloaded into your Smartphone, computer or reading tablet. Many schools are assigning each child a personal laptop. Life as we know it not will never be the same. Everything will eventually be affected. The next generation will never know the fun of hanging a fifty pound backpack from their shoulders. They will not have to use their delicate little fingers to turn pages. Down the line, yellow highlighters will fade from their existence as there will be no paper to highlight. Children will not know how to hold a pencil correctly as they will be typing. Cursive (if anyone even remembers that word) will downgrade to printing and printing will downgrade to hieroglyphics. Just the thought of throwing out books leaves me with no words.

Slow Boat To China

My husband is a fan of eBay. Years ago when people bought things from" mail order" it was because they lived in a very rural area. Now people do it for convenience. Since my husband bought his motorcycle, he feels the need to dress the part. He wanted a leather jacket but did not want to spend too much money. He searched the web and found a leatherette jacket in China. He bought the men's large and waited for it to arrive. It cost $30 not including a small shipping fee. When it arrived, he put it on and could not zipper it. It was too small. He asked me to try it on and I could not zipper it. He asked to return it. They said ok but he would have to pay shipping. He packed it up and went to the post office. The fee for the slowest boat to China was $24. He did not send it. He went back to the company to complain and they refunded $10. We are trying to resell it on eBay as a small size but no one wants it.

Refinish

When I redid my house, I had a lot of good furniture that no longer matched the décor. Instead of throwing it away, I decided to refinish it. One room I did in black gloss paint. One room I did in a stone textured salmon tinted granite theme. The last room I did in a semi gloss ebony brown. Each room came out perfect and I did not have to spend money on new furniture. The conference room in my office was beginning to look shabby. My boss was standing in it pondering what to do. I told her to paint one wall an accent color and refinish the large light wood wall unit in a dark brown. She gave me the okay to do what I pleased. I picked out a maple leaf red as the accent wall and a dark cherry wood color for the wall unit. Her painter came yesterday and did the job. It looks like a new room. I ordered a metal wall hanging that depicts the tree of life in the red tones and I will hang it on the accent wall. The room is now transformed into one she will be proud of and it only cost $90.

Bad Planning

There is an old saying, "Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine". Working in the medical field, I see this weekly. Yesterday my regular receptionist was out sick and for the first time, I had no one to run the front desk. One of the doctors said she would help out and be my receptionist for the evening. At about six o'clock she called me. A patient had run out of his medications and needed a refill immediately. The doctor was not in the office and she cannot call it in. Didn't the patient realize that when he took his last pill and had an empty bottle that he would not have his medication for the next day? I always advise people to have an emergency bottle with at least a five day supply hidden away in case of emergency. At this point, there was nothing I could do but have the doctor paged. It would now be his problem. 

Senior-isms

Senior citizens. God bless them. I am not talking about the 65 year old ones. I am talking about the over 75 crowd. They are a breed all to themselves. Most of them are a walking comedy sketch. They have lost the filter that younger people have. They say what they feel, no matter how inappropriate it is. The funny thing is that they don't care. They will talk, in a loud voice, about a person that is standing two feet away from them. When you try to "shhhsh" them, they say, "They can't hear me", in an equally loud voice. They make up far fetched stories, just to get a reaction. They don't hear well so either they ask you to repeat a sentence ten times or just fill in their own blanks.These things are embarrassing at the time, but funny in retrospect. When I discuss this with my friends, they have equally as funny stories. If we got together and wrote a book, it would be a best seller. Just to give a brief example, the other day, my mother was in a doctor's office. She was talking to another woman who was wearing a nice outfit. My mother asked where she got it. The woman said,"In the mall area". Another elderly man heard what he thought she said, and started yelling, "Who has malaria"? Enough said........

Dress Code

Yesterday was the last day of the town pool being open until June 2016. There was a large crowd there. Many of the faces I recognized but many were there for the first time. As long as you live in the town and pay the admission, everyone is welcomed. Certain things are expected of you though. You are to act in a civil manner, no floats or toys in the pool and proper pool attire must be worn. Some people never got that memo. A few families thought that it was fine to jump in the pool fully dressed. Maybe that is how they do it in their native countries, but not here. When the lifeguards told them to get out of the pool they looked perplexed. Did they really think that jeans and shirts were pool clothes? One woman had on a spandex yellow tank top without a bra and looked like she had just participated in a wet tee shirt contest. All they needed to do was look around to see the dress code. Cultures may differ but common sense should remain a constant.

Sleeping Citi

Citi Bank has a slogan, "The Citi never sleeps". I think they need to change it. I have points on a Citi Bank credit card and I keep forgetting to redeem them. On Sunday I had some extra time, so I decided to call them. I spent five minutes going through the prompts. I verified the card number, the zip code, the points ID number and my home phone number. After doing all of this, a recording came on saying that the redemption center was closed. Did that mean that Citi Bank was sleeping? If they never sleep it means they should be at work. I won't call today as it is a holiday. They might still be sleeping.

Miss Popularity

I am a very popular person. Every morning at least fifty people beg for my attention. Even though I dismiss them, the next day they are back trying to catch my eye. Some want to show me things. Some want me to travel. Some want to dress me in new clothes. Some want me to eat in new restaurants. Some want me to add a new hobby to my life. These are my morning emails. Even though I try to unsubscribe, they find a way to worm their way back into my good graces. This morning I had to push aside 46 demands. The only good email was from my Avon lady. She told me how to make perfect pumpkin muffins. I will share that with you. Buy a box of yellow cake mix. Add a can of pumpkin pie filling and bake for 20-25 minutes. No eggs, no oil, no water. Two ingredients. I will also add pecans. One email out of 46 was worth reading.

Book Of Life

A few weeks ago, when I was looking to see the list of DVD recordings on my television menu, I noticed a recording of "The Book Of Life". Since I was not the one who recorded it, I did not look at it. It seems that my husband was doing the same thing. He thought I recorded it. It seems no one recorded it or maybe it was just an error when we were programming another show. Finally last week, when my grandson was at my house, my husband decided to see what the recording was. It turned out to be one of the most beautifully animated children's story. The artwork is almost mesmerizing with its beautiful colors. The storyline is very nice and the music was wonderful. My grandson never took his eyes off of the screen. Neither did my husband. Last night when my family was over, we decided to play it again, as my daughter in law and I had never heard of the movie. Now, the four of us were glued to the screen. It was such an enjoyable evening. This will be a recording that will remain on my television forever, even though it was never supposed to have been there.

Structure

As a grandparent, I seem to notice more about things that my grandson does than I did about my own children. He is being brought up with more structure. There were rules in my house but I guess certain things I let slide. My grandson is being taught more structure, right from the beginning. I notice that in how he plays. There are more battery operated interactive toys now. He was taught from the beginning that when you play with one of those toys you turn the switch on to play with it and as soon as you are through playing, the switch gets turned off. He systematically did this with each toy. Switch on, play, switch off. When he was done playing, he put each toy back in its place. He did not need to be told to clean up. He just knew it was the right thing to do. I was very impressed.

The Farmer

Now that my husband has more time on his hands, he is finding different things to do. If he sees something on television or on the internet, he has to do it. He reminds me of a young impressionable child. I woke up this morning to find 16 plastic cups filled with dirt on my den windowsill. Eight were marked with the letter "D" and the other eight were marked with the letter "T". It seems that he saw an ad for two different kinds of plants. One plant dances when it hears music and the other closes up when it is touched. So, the D is for the dancing plant and the T is for the tickle me plant. I am not sure how long they take to germinate but he will be checking on them daily to chart their growth. It reminds me of a litter of puppies. I will keep two and give the others away.

Positively Negative

Some people are just negative. They take any situation and put an unpleasant spin on it. One of my young receptionists has gotten a regular job and came in to hand back her office keys. She decided to bring her mother to show her the office and have her meet the people that she spent two years with. She introduced me to her mother and I said that it was an absolute pleasure working with her daughter. I went on to say that every time her daughter walked into the office she made us smile. Her mother was beaming with pride. Then she introduced her mother to my morning receptionist, a woman my age that makes it seem like she has authority, but has none. Immediately after she said hello, my morning receptionist turned to the young girl and informed her that she never finished putting away the charts before she left the previous day. I stood there flabbergasted. Why on earth would you feel the need to embarrass a girl in front of her mother? What was there to gain? The girl looked stunned. I jumped in and said that even if a chart was left out, the girl was still the best evening receptionist I ever had. I am still shaking my head remembering this. One of my friends has an expression that taking water out of your bucket doesn't add it to mine

September

September has a special feeling. It feels like a Monday. A beginning. June feels like a Friday. The beginning of a fun weekend. End August feels like a Sunday night. Today people will say, "I can't believe it is September". The mood is different. It is now serious. School is starting and play is over. Even though it is still hot out, swimming seems like something out of the ordinary. Overnight, things have changed. No one ever says they can't believe it is October.