shall we stroll down memory lane?

I think I'm going to be one of those old people that young people just don't understand: living in the past. Maybe I won't bore people in REAL life, maybe I'll just blog about it. See, once upon a time, I was knee deep in small children. I had babies and toddlers and kids and teenagers, all at the same time. New drivers and diaper changes, orthodontist appointments and infant check-ups. High schoolers who needed to be picked up from basketball or volleyball practice, juggled with a breastfeeding baby. There were days when the whole lot of them had to be buckled into the big van and brought along, just to pick one of them up from something...play practice, maybe. Life was a continuous game of changing priorities, based on diaper blow-outs, temper tantrums, or perhaps two small children painting their room with Desitin. Now, my life is relatively quiet, aside from the grandchildren visits. But humor me as I post a few pics from the past...eleven years ago, this was the first day of school. The older kids: Samuel was 14, Aaron 17, Molly 15, Margaret was 12, Miss Kathryn in the front was 11.

(Emily was 24, Abigail 22, Benjamin 20, Mariel 19, and Joseph 18, they are not pictured) The second trip kids, the elementary students were:

Evelyn 10, Suzanne 8, Sonja 7, and Jonathan 5. At home with me during the day:

Miss Charlotte Claire, 3, and Miss Camille Anaya, almost two...and Rosie, the dum-dum sheepdog. I'm pretty sure they all still lived at home, but since I'm old, ha, I can't quite recall...Emily might have been in Norway for a year at that point. But still, there were a LOT of kids here, and by that time, having only two home during the day, my life was getting quite a bit easier, in many regards. So these nine kids would get off the bus each day, have their snacks and do their homework without trying to sneak the tv on for a few hours of WORD GIRL, never fight or hog all the yogurts, put their school clothes neatly in the hampers and change into play clothes. They gladly emptied the dishwasher, took Rosie for a walk, and helped with dinner. Did I fool you?

school!

Off they went on the big yellow bus, Miss Charlotte Claire and Miss Camille Anaya, 9th and 8th graders. Jonathan is homeschooling, and Sonja is in college (mostly online, some in-person classes, commuting from home). So we went from a peak of ten kids leaving for school in the morning to...two. They are going in-person two days a week, then virtual school the other days. I hope it all works out, and everyone stays healthy. I don't so much believe in public education, I do prefer homeschooling, but the kids get to choose, and I fully support what they want to do. I totally get them wanting the social interaction, limited as it might be, that going to school provides. It's a sad day, because I've decided to give up on the pool for the year. Why turn that filter on, skim and clean a pool that's just too cold to enjoy? Our forecast is for nice pleasant days....nice pleasant AUTUMN days. Chilly at night, one night it's going down to 48! Even with a sunny day in the seventies, that water will be ice cubes! Fall will come, whether I like it or not. I have my warm slippers on already! I've been putting pumpkin wax melts in the warmer!

Isn't he cute? Mr. Tennyson Paul, little handful...he wants to eat all day. Ah well, since I am quaranting, I won't be going to get some new flea treatments for the dogs, or some stamps, or some freshly roasted coffee beans today. No sir. Not me.

a beach vacation, and some excellent deals....

First of all, can I please tell about my upcoming beach vacation? Please?! I'm kind of excited about it. It's next month, at a place on an island on the gulf side of Florida. Three nights, on the beach, with a heated pool to boot. Or to swim in, ha.

My daughter and I already made plans to go visit grandma in October, round trip tickets only $86 from NY to Orlando. Grandma was talking the other day when I was there with her about a reservation on the beach that she had to cancel because of Covid. Her very good friend Gladys was supposed to go, and sadly, she won't be able to make the trip anytime soon, as she also lives in NY...and she's a bit older. Grandma didn't want the reservations to go to waste, so Grandma, her niece (Paul's cousin), and the two of us, are going on a little getaway when we go to Florida next month!

You know, these things come up, and I just can't believe it. Little old me (okay, BIG old me!), going on a trip! I was the kid in elementary school who NEVER went to Florida. I was the kid who didn't go on a plane, until I was 17.

And, for years and years and years, I was busy, so busy I didn't know what my name was, some days. I'm not complaining, because you know I'd do it again all over again, but it was tiring and BUSY. Back then, a vacation was driving to a doctor's appointment, with all the kids buckled into the van, and I could just drive. Never mind that the baby might be crying, and I'd giving instructions to the four year old to please try to put the pacifier in, or to try to figure out whom hit whom in the back seat. A TRUE vacation was when, once in a blue moon, I went to an appointment all by my lonesome, and when the dr. apologized for the long wait in the waiting room, I'd say, "Oh no, I thoroughly enjoyed it!"

If I weren't on state mandated quarantine, I would probably have gone to the thrift store today, to drop off half of Camille's closet. She said the bag of stuff hadn't been worn in at least a year. I would have maybe found a pair of slippers, brand new, never been worn, in my exact size, from the Vermont Country Store, worth $89.95, for $3.50. I might have found some really cool Ryka boots for four bucks, in my size.

The CDC said a few weeks ago that is not necessary to quarantine after travel, but the king of NY...well, we won't go there.

I did have a nice swim in the pool this afternoon, while Sonja was at college and the girls got their backpacks filled with all the going-back-to-school goodies. I watered the flowers, repotted some succulents, raked up some "things" in the yard, did lots of laundry, washed the crockpot from last night, and finished a book.

Ah well...the girls are in here, and I'm going to spend some time with them, and put this laptop away...

oooh baby!!!

Today, I'm being grandma. Ophelia was going to come for a visit while her daddy fixed the brakes on his car, but she's coming probably tomorrow instead. In a few minutes, Wulf will be here for a visit while his new baby brother Tennyson goes in for a check up. He's coming early, because baby boy was very bad for his mommy and daddy last night, you know how it is, he decided to stay awake and fuss. So mommy needs a nap, and Wulf, well...Wulf isn't inclined towards naps. He's two years old, and he has things to do! (This is where I stop and ask myself: how in the heck did I ever do it?)

Anyway, Wulf is coming over soon.

I'm glad to be home. Traveling is fun, and I love it, but there are details that I detest. Airport security, everyone's favorite, is on my absolute poop list. I have TSA pre-check, worth every penny of the 80 bucks I paid back in March, when I so ignorantly and blissfully thought I was going to Hawaii...anyway...on the way to Florida, I breezed through the pre-check line, while Paul got his bag searched. What set off the scanner? His bible, with it's silver edging...it had to go back through the scanner, and the TSA agent stood there leafing through it, I wanted to yell over and ask him if he found anything good in it.

On our way home from Florida, in Orlando airport, much bigger and busier than our little dinky one in Syracuse, I decided to forego the pre-check line, and stay with Paul, big mistake.

I don't know what it is about me, or why I seem to set off the scanners in the airports. Maybe since I carried so many babies, my tummy gives off a magnetic field or something. I walked through, put my feet on the yellow feet painted on the floor, held my hands up, held still, then stepped out. Sure enough, the image was all lit up in the front...tummy and lower. The nice lady asked me to step back in for one more image, then back out, then patted all over my soft doughy tummy, which come on, that is MY tummy, and I'm actually very sensitive about it. I just don't let ANYONE touch it. So she prods and feels, and tells me: I had you step back in so that I didn't have to pat down your groin area. Your dress with it's pockets sets it off. Well thank you, I told her, very sincerely, it's not exactly the usual protocol to get a second ride in the scanner. I do appreciate that she did that, rather than jump right to the...oh dear, I can't even think about it. It's horrible. It's not her fault, she just works there, but there's no way it's necessary to have anyone anytime pat down someone's "groin area", in a public place. It's just humiliating. I only had my fat tummy patted down, and I was all teary eyed and embarrassed. I mean, I pat my tummy on MY OWN, after a very good meal, but to have someone else just help themselves to it...me no like. I know, I know, you guys are all like, "She makes such a BIG DEAL out of it." I did survive, but next time, goodbye, Paul, I'm going in the pre-check lane.

Little Miss Lydia Eleanor went to her first day of kindergarten today!!!!

Wulf came over today! We face timed with Kathryn, and her little Achilles...Wulf and Achilles are double cousins, because Kathryn and Margaret are married to brothers, Darius and Adrian.

Kathryn lives in Oregon, near Salem, near the fires out there...it's really smoky. Suzanne lives in California, near San Fran, in Walnut Creek...it's really smoky there, too plus it's 108 degrees today...not sure their power is back on...

We had chuck roast in the crock pot today, with some baby carrots and yellow potatoes...oh dear how autumn-winter-y it was, despite that it was 82 today. I filled the little pool for Wulf, he played with the hose and it was lovely outside. I do love summer...today I picked tomatoes, yellow squash, one beautiful cantaloupe, from our garden. I love walking around in my bare feet, watering the flowers and puttering around. Tomorrow I think I had better make some sauce, or salsa, or maybe brushetta with all these tomatoes. Yes, I love summer.

shh, a night in Orlando...:)

View from our room on the ninth floor.


Alligators! We saw one! That one pic is a huge-0 turtle! We went for a night swim, then for a walk along the little lake, ugh, hoping we didn't see any critters, but kind of hoping we did. There are geckos galore here, something one never sees in the north.

Baby is home from hospital and doing well...

Don't you almost hate me, that I get to go home and snuggle with that little one!? He is precious, Mr. Tennyson.

All by ourselves, the whole world of restaurants of food to choose from, and this is what we chose:

Did you guess it? New York pizza and wings. Just one slice of pizza to share, and a pile of wings...we couldn't possibly eat them all...we ordered 30 and only managed twenty. Oh well.

We like to eat in our room, all comfy, rather than a restaurant. Ah well...back to New York in the morning, up at five and headed to the airport...bye!

clearwater beach...and a baby, a new baby!!!!

We've had warm weather in New York, but Florida in the summer, ouch. It was 98 degrees yesterday, so hot on the beach it was smothering. The water was 88 degrees, but if felt even warmer, like bathwater. It was nice, it was fun, and rather adventuous, just Paul and I. A young couple on the beach asked us to take their pic for them, then insisted on taking one of us...so much for a pandemic, right? We decided to leave, after two hours of going in and out of the water and enjoying the waves, to go to a brewery we had read about. I actually changed from my old lady bathing suit into shorts and a tank top, in the parking garage next to the car, I figured if there were security cameras, so what, someone's eyes would hurt, oh well. The brewery was fun, we sat outside at the patio, where we met the huge Mastiff, with a friendly English couple. He was all set for lots of pets. We shared one flight of beer, one for Paul and three for me...what? He was driving! The beer was quite yummy, all brewed in house, I had coconut, vanilla, and a coffee hemp. Paul went for a boring old pale ale. We stopped at a little Mennonite stand for sweet corn, then grilled steaks for dinner. But during all of this, threaded through this wonderful day, our eighth grandhcild was born! Margaret and Adrian, on their way to bring Wulf to Ben and Ashley's so they could go to the hospital:

(Wulf is so cute in that Cookie Monster shirt!) I won't keep you all waiting anymore, here he is, Tennyson Paul...

Eight pounds, thirteen ounces, what a big boy! I can't wait to meet him! Today, we are going to visit Paul's cousins, then go out to dinner. Right now we're relaxing with grandma and having our coffee...

just beach-y...and sandy...

Ah, there is nothing like the beach. Lake Ontario, love it.

Today is breezy and overcast and stormy, and I also love it. It's packing day, for tomorrow's departure to Florida. We are flying a cheap-0 airline, our tickets for both of us round trip, just over two hundred bucks, including ONE CARRY-ON BAG. Not even a checked bag. It's only for four days, but harrumph, my old-lady bathing suit takes up half of my space, and what if I wanted to bring two?

I will be squishing my laptop in, even if it means no clean underwear, because...well, vacation sometimes means having more time to blog, right?

Margaret and Adrian and little Wulf will be coming over in a little while...she's now four days overdue!