Check out what arrived in yesterday’s mail. Prezzies!

not only that, but prezzies in cool packages!

with poetry. 

and chocolate.

how about some close ups?

This was a very well timed package.  Yesterday started off being a day to do some housework.  Just the usual stuff – dusting, bathrooms to be  scrubbed, vacuuming and mopping.

And then it morphed.

Into cleaning two cabinets.  And the entire pantry.  And organize the spices.  And go through all those freaking knick-knacks and box some up.  And wipe the walls. and, and, and ……

All the while bleeding profusely from feminie issues running amok.  And wishing I had never quit smoking.

And just when I thought I couldn’t take another minute, I went out to the mailbox and found a surprise!

**editor’s note:  I felt compelled through certain forces –  other people (and you know who you are) clamoring to know when I was going to post pictures and various canines getting into all sorts of mischief – to publish this entry before it was fully finished.  Please know that these ungodly blogging deadlines have forced me to forgo a corresponding poem and a full accounting of my present! a little hemp tote bag, a stuffed pig that I will be naming after my SP once she takes off her Invisibility Cloak, beautiful stitch markers, handy-dandy scissors, gum, a dark chocolate/espresso bar and my very, most favorite chicken/egg tape measure!!  thanks again SP – I’m still bleeding over here, but now I am happy!

Thanks buddies!  I knew that picture of the bear would get to you ….. or was it that pale and somber one of me?

I was telling Wendy, Daughter #1 has had that bear since the day she was born – actually a few weeks before that date – we were living in Michigan, I was nearing the end of the pregnancy and taking advantage of the department store’s (Hudson’s) air conditioning when my eyes locked onto Ted – it was love at first sight!  I don’t know if I was more upset to see her go or him!

Anyway, by all accounts she is having a great time.  Loves her roommate, loves the dorm, says the food is okay and is enjoying all of the orientation activities.  I have been keeping tabs on her through her away messages. 

I would say the strangest thing about her being gone is The Boar. Throughout his fatherly career Boar has been great – loving & supportive.  But the fact is, he has left me at the helm of the ship and has largely taken on the role of money-doler-outer and fixer of all things mechanical or possessing a mother board.  And occasional back-Ann-up-cause-she’s-about-to-blow sort of part.  I have been the organizer and discipliner, nutrition provider and schlepper.

Well, Boar is freaked out.  It has thrown him way off kilter.  On the second day she was there, Daughter #1 was invited to an off campus party (her roommate’s older sister is a junior at the university), D#1 has also met loads of people – including many of the boys in her cooed dorm.

All of this has Boar wigging out!  At first I thought he was joking around, playing up the father of daughter type of concern.  Why all of a sudden is her growing up throwing him off balance?  He has never quite known what is going on, so how is this any different?

He knew that I did.  You know the ‘I don’t need to know how the car works as long as it starts’ type of thing —- he knew that I knew what was happening and that was good enough for him.  (believe me – he does the same for me in other areas … blissful ignorance works in our relationship)

So anyway, now that I only have a sense of what is happening in D#1’s life, Boar is less than thrilled.  I know he wanted her to be happy ….. but maybe not quite so ecstatic.

cranky driver & sad passenger

dorm room & co-oed

no, she did not forget and neither did I!

Brooklyn Tony ON GRAMMAR

One day, during lessons on proper grammar, the teacher asked for a show of hands from those who could use the word "beautiful" in the same sentence twice.

First, she called on little Suzie, who responded with, "My father bought my mother a beautiful dress and she looked beautiful in it."

"Very good, Suzie," replied the teacher. She then called on little Michael.

"My mommy planned a beautiful banquet and it turned out beautifully."

She said, "Excellent, Michael!"

Then the teacher reluctantly called on  Brooklyn Tony.

"Last night at the dinner table, my sister told my father that she was pregnant, and he said ‘Beautiful, just fucking beautiful!’"