An Innocent Observation

Pookie (age 12): See all those men walking their dogs in the neighborhood?

Me: Yes.

Pookie: Have you ever noticed that in the warm weather it’s the women walking the dogs? And now that it is getting chilly all the men are doing the dog walking.

Me: Ummmm, Hmmm, good observation Pookie.

Oh My Land Have I Been Busy

But I have great news. And am in need of advice.

So where do I start?

How about with the good news?

Yesterday we (me, my sister and niece) drove my 26 year old nephew to Boston where he was scheduled for a battery of tests and a meeting with his neurosurgeon. (John has an extremely rare disease called Moyamoya). He is supposed to see his neurosurgeon every year but as he is getting older and his parents get busier and life just happens, (his dad just had a double lung transplant and is doing fine) everyone has put it on the back burner because John has been stable.

So five years have passed since his last Boston appointment.

And his mom, my sister, doesn’t drive off of Long Island.

But I do.

So off we went.

And, by the way, yesterday Boston was a very busy little town. It seemed like everyone there was wearing Red Sox apparel. Children’s Hospital of Boston is very close to Fenway Park. Very close. Traffic was at a stand still.

Mental Note: I should really start paying more attention to sports, even if it is only to forecast the traffic situation.

Note to Readers: I don’t like to watch sports, except basketball, that’s fun to watch.

John’s tests were supposed to start at 11am and the last appointment was scheduled for 4:40pm.

The hospital had mercy on us since we had a long drive ahead and let us see the doctor at 2pm. We got to leave Boston at 3pm instead of 6-ish.

Pure Grace!

The results are that John is no longer on the critically ill list. Praise God! There is no more damage to his brain. He is expected to live a long life.

It is a miracle considering the damage there is to his brain from numerous strokes.

As for your advice.....my niece has been telling untrue stories.

All the time.

It’s getting to the point of concern.

She is 9, she is adopted, she has ADD and she is beginning to realize that she isn’t at the same educational level as other children her age.

Have any of you had a child that continuously lies?

If so, what did you do about it?

My heart just breaks for her.

Empty Nest

Last night we took the ferry ride together, my youngest son and I, all the way to CT.

It's been a long time since any of my children spent a whole weekend with me, usually they are too busy to come out and visit so we just get together during the week. (I work on Long Island, NY and live way up north in CT.)

At first it was shocking to hear the words, "Mom", interposed in consecutive sentences as we sat across the booth from each other. It was a shock that reminded me of days long ago when I would be lost in thought as I was doing my chores and I would be interrupted by being summoned by one of my children, "Mom, Mom", I would hear. And then I would cast my eyes downward to answer back only to be shocked that in front of me stood a grown teenager, taller than me. "When did he/she grown that tall?", I would think to myself.

That kind of shock is what I am talking about.

I've been insulating myself out here in the woods. It's good though; my children are grown and since we've all gone our separate ways (6 months ago) I see good changes in their maturity.

I've just forgotten how much I miss being their mother....and hearing myself be called, "Mom" in person.

Green Thumb

I did something this morning that I rarely do.....I went to a deli on my way to work to get myself some breakfast.

As I was standing in line, I recognized the ‘gentleman’ standing in front of me.

Which is not a good thing.

At all.

A few years ago my children set me up on a date with him, Jack (not his real name, not even close).

Our first date was nice and short. I remember we walked a lot.

Our second date we met at a restaurant and had a good time chatting about our children. His daughter and my twins are good friends.

When he got up to leave with me I commented to him on how he must have had a hard day because he seemed a little stiff.

He laughed and said, "Didn’t I tell you that I have a wooden leg?"

"Oh, ummmm, no, I mean....I didn’t realize....ummmm", was all I could think of saying.

Not that it was a problem, it was just a surprise since as I explained above, we did a lot of walking that first date. And I am clueless....most of the time.

The next day my son asked about my date and I told him that Jack was a nice guy and that I’d go out with him again.

Then he told me a story about Jack.

It seems that Jack likes to grow a type of plant in his home and he raised his daughter in an environment were smoking said plant was encouraged and shared.

So when he called me to set up another date I told him that I felt it was best that we didn’t continue further.

And he got angry.

And later on he found out the reason why I didn’t want to continue dating him.

And he threatened my son with something like, "If I ever see you again we’re gonna talk". And I doubt if he meant that in a nice talk way.

I was standing behind him a little while ago and he turned to look at me and recognized me. I just smiled and turned my head and thanked God that I have a wonderful son and a wonderful man in my life.

Unfortunately, I have a few of those 'bad date' stories.

There's one with a former Dallas Cowboy who got food poisoning on our first date and had to sleep over.

There's one where my date got very angry at me for not having pictures of my children with me. Whew, got out of there fast!

There's one where my date gave me a stern talking to for not finishing my dinner.

In my experience, dating in your 40's is not fun.

Until you meet the right man.

Do any of you have strange dating stories to share?

An Afternoon With The Elite

This week I had one of the wealthiest men in the world in my office.

Wealthy as in, Oprah and Bill Gates-ish wealthy. Close to that type of wealthy.

It wasn't that I was so much impressed with his wealth, I didn't treat him any differently than any other client going through a divorce, it was what he ordered for lunch.

After sitting in my office hammering out the final details of his settlement (5 hours) I heard his stomach start to growl.

I asked if he's like me to send someone out to get him lunch.

His eyes lit up.

So I rattled off all the possibilities I could think of that he could have from the area. Sushi, steak, Italian, Greek, Chinese.....

When the secretary came into my office to take his order he asked for a burger and fries from Wendy's, hold the pickle.

When she brought it to him, he devoured it with a passion and gusto, right there at the other end of my desk.

And I just sat back and smiled.

Oh, to be that wealthy and appreciate the little things in life.

(He even shared a french fry with me.)

God is Love

In my quiet time with the Lord this morning (which took place on a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride), God showed me something that hit me hard.

So hard I wanted to scream "HALLELUJAH!!!!" over and over again. And jump up and down with my arms raised.

But I resisted out of pure consideration for my sleeping cabin mates. 'Cause that's how we roll on the first early morning ferry out of CT....we sleep.

The great revelation that God showed me was from 1 John 3:20....."God is greater than our hearts".

There are so many times when my heart feels discouraged, when my heart feels hopeless, when my heart feels like God must hate me for what I just did; but, HE IS GREATER THAN MY HEART. (And my heart can be awful at times.)

Just think about it for a minute or two.

I've always known this...that God's love is pure and truth, but I never thought about how He is greater than my heart.

It just blows me away.

What has God been showing you? I'd love to know.

Living In Denial

During my lunch break I thought I'd stop by the local grocery store and help my sister out by getting some Halloween candy for her.

Instead of leaving it in my car, I brought it into my office.

And instead of leaving it in the kitchen, I put the bag on my desk.

And just to make sure that they weren't stale or anything, I ate one.

And one more, just in case.

And another.

HELP - SOMEONE STOP ME- I NEED AN INTERVENTION !!!!!

Because You're Dying To Know

Things around this blog have been pretty scarce lately. I haven't found the time to think about blogging much.

Since I've moved to Connecticut I haven't found a routine yet. Heck, I'm still living out of suitcases.

Hopefully I'll find a job in CT next year and my life will settle down.

Here's a Meme I picked up from Dawn.

My Blog name is: Yew Nork Babe

But people usually call me: Theresa, Aunt Terri, Babe

I was born here: Brooklyn, NY

And I've lived here: Wantagh, Levittown, Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, West Sayville, Bohemia, Sound Beach, Ronkonkoma (all on Long Island)

Until I wound up here: Connecticut (5 months ago)

My occupation is: Matrimonial Paralegal, Office Manager, Bookkeeper, Calendar Clerk. I'm also a Hearing Citation Officer in Connecticut, but that doesn't officially start until January.

My favorite color is: Green, but I'm starting to like blue and orange.

My favorite hobby is: Cooking and Baking.

My favorite season is: Autumn. Last weekend we took a trip to Maine and sucked in all the beautiful foliage.

A few favorite books are: The Time Travelors Wife. Middlesex. East of Eden. The Life of Pi.

My favorite kinds of music are: It is so varied I can't put my finger on it, but I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE NICKELBACK!!!! I love their deep, gravely voices and the way they write their songs. I just "get" them, even if I probably shouldn't be listening to that type of music.

Some of My Favorite Movies Are: When Harry Met Sally.

My favorite actor is: Meg Ryan

My Favorite Food Indulgence is: Avocado with lime juice and Kosher salt, but lately I've been liking me some chocolate (which I've never liked before).

My Favorite Drink is: Perrier sparkling water with lemon. Zero calories, no chemicals. I don't like flat water anymore.

My Favorite Dessert Indulgence is: Creme Brulee

One Weird Thing About Me: Oh my land, there are so many. I freak out whenever I'm driving in a snow storm because I can't see the sky, or the ground. I feel like I'm suffocating.

One of My Fantasies Is: To take a trip to the Grand Canyon and watch the sunrise and sunset.
One of My Pet Peeves Is: (Again, so, so many.) I don't like to look up bible passages when I'm being told to....I'd rather listen to the speaker read the passage(s) from his/her own bible. I know, I'm such a rebel.

Well, consider yourself tagged, if you'd like.

Destination Unknown

I’ve known for a few weeks now that Capt had a big surprise Columbus Day weekend getaway planned for me and him.

The only clue I had was that we were not taking a plane to get there.

Since we were driving to our destination I figured the climate wouldn’t be too different.

It had been forecasted that the weather in NY and CT will be in the upper 80's, low 90's for the weekend, so I packed up summer-ish clothes. I also packed my bathing suit, just in case.

After his son’s baseball game on Saturday we started heading North. And we didn’t stop talking until we reached here some 5 hours later:

In Boothbay, Maine.

MAINE. Where it's cold. And near Canada.

We ate lots of these :

And they sure do taste fresher than NY lobstas.

And we ate lots of these

And we talked. Lots. Of. Non-stop. Talking.

And the foliage, there was aplenty.

Amazingly beautiful.

What a wonderful surprise and what a wonderful man... still after 3 years.