Elves

My parents have been in Florida since November. During the winter months, the new owners of their house have remodeled their apartment. My parents will return on Sunday. My sister and I were given explicit instructions to not unpack all of their belongings that were stored away in back closets. My father said that when he got home, he would do it. We promised we would not touch anything. We lied. Yesterday we went to their house. The new owners had painted, installed a new bathroom, new windows and new sliding glass doors that lead onto a terrace that overlooks newly planted fruit trees. We went to the house to unpack the items that would turn their house back into their home. We unpacked lamps, pictures and "chachkas". Even though the new owners had a cleaning woman dust the apartment, we dusted again and my husband vacuumed and polished the furniture. I can't wait to see their faces when they walk in.

Old Fashioned Common Sense

In the past two weeks my staff has come to me with the same problem. The printer in their office was not working. Bear in mind that these people are doctors. They are smart. In each instance, they explained the issue. The computer does not send the information to the printer. They  tried rebooting it, new toners, new drum and filling it with paper. Last week I was called at home to troubleshoot the problem. When I got into my office the next day, I immediately diagnosed the problem. The cleaning people had unplugged the wire from the power source so they could vacuum. I did not need to go to techie school, nor have my PhD in computer studies. I just needed my common sense.

24 Hours

We are having a luncheon in work today. One of our research volunteers is leaving after one year. His visa is up so he needs to return to Switzerland for a few months. We decided to order wraps and salads for lunch. We called Stop n Shop yesterday at 9am to place the order. The girl who answered the phone said we had to call 24 hours in advance. Since we wanted to pick up the food at 7am, it was 22 hours in advance. She would not take the order. I questioned her as to why. She had the food and the wraps, so why couldn't she make the order. Even if I had called the day prior, the order would not have been put together until yesterday evening, since the pick up time today would have been early. Nothing would have been a special order. Nothing needed to be cooked. She said that the only reason was the 2 hours. I did not argue as I knew she was locked into the 24 hour rule. Instead, I called the deli on the corner and gave the order to a small business. Next time I will do that from the start.

In God's Hands

I am not a religious person. I am a spiritual one. I pray every day for my family. I live by the philosophy "so it is written". I never second guess why things happen. We are where we are, because that is what God intended for us. Good or bad, this is our destiny. I hope for the best, but I understand that what I think is best might not be what is in my life's plan. I tell this to my children. If something that you wish for does not come to fruition, then it was not meant to be. I feel at peace with my belief and I hope that throughout their lives they will too.

Three Years Old

Yesterday was my great niece's 3rd birthday party. It was in New Jersey. I am a New York girl and feel like a fish out of water on the Jersey roads. The ride was long but well worth it. The party was great. The gym was very interactive and every child had a huge smile on their face. They ran and played. When it was time for food, they gobbled down their pizza. Everyone had worked up an appetite. The pizza was followed by cupcakes baked into ice cream comes. The kids loved them. My grandson talked and sang the entire way home. My niece had a great party. She deserves the best of everything.

Finally Corrected

My husband has OCD. Some things in his life must be perfect. Other things that would bother other people, he is able to overlook. There is no rhyme or reason to his choices. About nine years ago, our golden retriever, Shannen, died at fourteen years of age. We were all heartbroken. We had her.cremated and have her remains in a box in the living room. My husband wanted to plant a garden for her and scatter some of her ashes over it, so she would remain a part of our house forever. He wanted to make a wooden placard and hang it over the garden. He bought the wood, shellac, wire and plastic letters for her name. He worked for hours on it and when it was finally ready, he showed it to me. The sign said "Shanene's Place". He spelled her name wrong. It seems that the store did not have any more "n" letters so he bought and extra "e". I told him that was ridiculous but he said that it did not matter. Everyone that passed her garden, for the last nine years, has commented on it and laughed. How can someone with OCD live with a sign with a wrong name? After the snowy winter, the letters on the sign fell off. This time, I made the sign. It says "Shannen's Place". Somewhere in doggy heaven, she is barking in delight.

National Guard

My son emailed me a great article. It was about the impact that grandparents have on a child's life. It said that the closer the bond was, the greater the child's overall social skills would be. It correlated the ability to bond with grandparents as a stepping stone to formulating bonds with other people, as the child grows. The article was from a magazine named "Over 60". I was touched that my son read the article and sent it to me. It validated what I already knew. There was one sentence in the article that rang true, above all others. It stated that grandparents are like the National Guard. They are always on call, ready, willing and able to come in to any situation with a moments notice. They will assess and take control in a calm manner. Although they play an important role, no one really thinks about thanking them as much as they should. The National Guard does not do their job to be thanked. They do it out of love and loyalty.