SORRY, SHE'S MINE!!

This is my gorgeous granddaughter, Siena.  I know what you're thinking:  What in the world made her smile like that....well, me, of course!  I'm taking the picture and blowing her a giant kiss.
But to tell you the truth, she is always smiling.  No kidding.  Even when she is pouting (rarely) or crying (even more rare) there is still  a glimpse of that smile.  Does she smile when she is sleeping?  Yes!  She does.
(OK, perhaps I'm exaggerating a little bit; but only a little bit)
I have many more pictures of Siena, and I could have posted them all.  But why clutter?  They all show the little darling being the same gorgeous little darling.  (Doesn't she just take your breath away!)
Now, for your information, Siena is almost 3 months old (dob 7 June).  Sleeps 10 hours at night (NEVER tell Gina this), and is skipping already!
OK, ixnay the part about skipping.  And as beautiful as her mother Corinne is, she definitely and actually and without a doubt looks like
 her daddy, Dave.  Handsome boy of mine!  
I'm not going to go on anymore.  I don't need to.  Just wanted to share Siena's smile to brighten up every one's day.  So go ahead, smile back!

HATS OFF TO GINA!!!

This is my beautiful daughter Gina.  Notice the carefree smile on her face.  This was before moving to Puerto Rico!  Yes, I know what you're thinking:  vacation capital of the world.  True, but the word vacation only counts when you're actually on vacation and does not describe Gina's life in any way, shape, or form.  Let me see--OK, her air conditioner does not work (try that on for size in the 100 degree humid air), the dishwasher does not work...(the bottom was corroded from a giant nest of cockroaches),  they can't use their cell phones there, they haven't been able to get Internet connection, and--oh yes, most of the doors on the kitchen cabinets are hanging off (and this is in an upscale development..ha..)!  The owners (they are renting, thank goodness...or maybe not...) left a mangy dog in the backyard which "someone" was supposed to come and get, and hasn't.  And now, the crowning item of them all---the downstairs toilet, which didn't work, was ripped out of the floor and remains to be fixed! 
Now, having said all of that, look back at that picture, and Gina remains the same Gina---still smiling, still beautiful, still "hanging in there".  Luckily, she has made new friends, has learned how to drive amid the maniacs on the road, and has learned how to get to the beach!  Did I say beach?  Oh, yes, they "have" to go to the beach every day (except yesterday when the hurricane passed over) because of the heat.  Did I mention Gina can see the beach from her back yard...(but I must mention here that Gina hates sand and oceans..it's a shark thing...)
But taking everything into account, and putting ourselves in her shoes, (the shoes that are chasing after 3 little boys running wild) let's put our hands together for Gina, a brave and fabulous woman!

LUCKY LEO

Lee has been known by many names.  All of them are good, if you must know.  But the name that describes him best is:  LUCKY!  For example:

               

LUCKY IN LOVE!

What a doll!  Let's just wonder if he could have been any more lucky!

LUCKY AT WORK!

That's Lee on the left, capturing the most notorious mob boss in the world!

LUCKY IN LEISURE!

Here is Lee in his Rose Garden, clipping and trimming away.  Tomorrow he will be working in his Vegetable Garden.  (40 tomato plants...please!)

But of all the luck that Lee possesses, he is mostly known for being:


LUCKY IN THE PARKING LOT!

Here he is, as always, and I mean ALWAYS, parked in the first parking space outside the store.

To document this phenomenon, I carried my camera

to all of the parking lots at all of the stores

and without fail, and I mean without fail,

there he was, parked front and center!

That lucky Leo--
that man of mine!

WHERE HAS THE SUMMER GONE???

Gina and the boys spent most of the summer with us, waiting for their furniture to arrive in Puerto Rico.

Here they are waiting for Grandpa to hand over his credit card!

This was

their favorite place

to survive the summer sun!

When it was too hot outside
they just "hung out" inside,

or painted

Pirate Ships!

Tyler had a birthday

and played the usual (and unusual) games.

And of course, thank goodness for basketball,

and for soccer,

and for each other!

Naturally that includes their new cousin, Siena.

And then---sadly---came the worst day of the summer.
Saying "good-bye" to Grandma, Grandpa, Naperville,
and the USA.

(I'm crying still!!)

CAN'T SKIRT AROUND THE ISSUE

I wear skirts!  Everywhere and all the time.  I don't want to wear skirts but I have a serious and terrible and creepy damaged nerve...you can probably guess where it is.  So for the last 6 years I have worn skirts to the movies, to the park, to the baseball game, to the grocery store, to watch TV, to clean my house, to read my books, to walk around the block, and NOW----to physical therapy!  Yes there I am, surrounded by people in their shorts or workout clothes--and me in my skirt.  OK, I'll admit that I do have some very cute skirts.  And luckily skirts have been in fashion for the last couple of years.  But  who wants to go to the beach in a dang skirt?  Actually, I'm over being embarrassed.  I'm just sad.  Sad that my life has been reduced to hoping I can find a skirt that will resemble a swimming suit!  On the bright side, I'll never get lost in a crowd----"Mister, have you seen my wife?  She's the one wearing a skirt."  Oh, well, life is life.  And I can't skirt around the issue.  The doctors say the damaged nerve won't go away, so, what the dang heck, my skirts won't go away either.  Anyone have a skirt they want to trade...? 

"BACK IN THE DAY...."

    I have always been a reader--even in the womb, I think.  But "back in the day", I had to hold my book open with clips and even press down with my elbows to help keep it open. (This is because I have small and delicate hands....)   And if a clip fell off, then I lost my page.  Drats!  Lost page, lost time!  Small paperbacks were the worst, but hardcover books were difficult as well.        But clearly it had to be done.      Until!!!!!!!!: 

Six months ago, my son Dave bought me a Kindle.  Oh the joy of it!  No more clips--no more elbows--no more lost pages.  How my life has changed!  As you can clearly see, I can read (and drink..Diet of course) anywhere in the house and anywhere else with great ease.  My Kindle slips easily into my purse and then slips easily out to my small delicate hands.  And I have so many books on my Kindle.  I can change my mind and change my book at the press of a button.  (And no more trips to the store...again,  just press a button.)  I am in Heaven!  So, what do I feel like reading today?  Hard to tell, but read I will,  and with no clips to get in my way!

WHAT I MEAN IS.....

When I say "What the dang heck" it is usually because someone has done something stupid, mean, or awful----- like saying something bad about my hair...do they really think I asked for this hair color!! Or parking their car so dang close to my car that I hurt myself trying to get in...(I am delicate.)  Or how about the people who invented the orange "butter" that we put on our popcorn at the movies!! What the heck is that stuff??  (OK, I know that we don't have to use it, but come on, what is popcorn without butter?)  It not only makes me sick--every time--(stupid me), but it gets on my clothes and ruins my darling skirts.  (OK, again, stupid me).  But what the dang heck, it is dark in the theaters...     So, I bet that some of you have had a couple of "what the dang heck" moments.  Right?  And if you share them, I'll feel so much better about my life.  Thanks!

CLOTHES DO MAKE THE MAN

THIS IS MY MAN! Just look at him--- on his bike and ready to conquer the world--or at least the neighborhood. I surprised Lee with this bike for his birthday. Well the surprise was just that I was getting it for him. Clearly I didn't pick it out by myself---isn't a bike one of the most personal things a man must pick out for himself? So off we went to the bike store. Who knew! Bikes and helmets and shorts and shirts and gloves. This was going to be a long afternoon. But not so. This bike "spoke" to Lee right away. Off he went to the parking lot to give it a test ride. I couldn't look. (Some of you know how Lee drives a car...). But he came back healthy and happy (no "incidents" in the parking lot). This was the bike for him! No doubt about it. So then we had to find a biking outfit. Again, this, too, took no time at all. Lee went straight for the Chicago shirt---isn't that where the Cubs are from!! And all the rest just fell into place. I've never seen a man spend so much money so quickly.
Now I must admit I did have my concerns. Yes, he had been on a bike before, but when all you do is swing a golf club---well I have to say that I didn't know how his legs would work. I happily take back my fears. He is a biking maniac! He rides on the streets, on the bike paths, in the forest preserves, and through the neighborhoods of Naperville. And while he is drenching in sweat when he arrives home, he has yet to come back with any cuts, scrapes or dog bites. Lee, I'm very proud of you---and of myself: isn't it every wife's dream to find her husband the perfect birthday present! (see p.73 of Fascinating Womanhood...)

FOUNTAIN OF LOVE!

IN MY FRONT YARD I HAVE A FOUNTAIN. A FOUNTAIN OF LOVE. IN THIS PHOTO YOU CAN SEE IT AT THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER, BEFORE ALL OF THE ROSE BUSHES HAVE GROWN UP AND AROUND IT, HIDING MOST OF THE BASE. BUT EVEN SO, I LOVE IT ALWAYS--HIDDEN OR NOT. AND WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE? NOTICE HOW THE WATER TRICKLES DOWN THROUGH HOLES IN THE TOP LEVEL. OH, IT IS HEAVENLY! AND WE CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF THE WATER THROUGH THE FRONT WINDOWS. THIS IS AN ITALIAN FOUNTAIN, FROM A GARDEN IN TUSCANY. (not really, but it could be, right?) ACTUALLY I FOUND THIS, IN PIECES, CRUMBLING IN THE TRASH OF ONE OF THE GARDEN NURSERIES IN NAPERVILLE. IMAGINE, SOMEONE WAS GOING TO DISPOSE OF THIS TREASURE! THEY PRACTICALLY PAID US TO TAKE IT AWAY, AND THREW IN THE PUMP AS WELL. LEE LOVINGLY RESTORED IT TO ITS FORMER BEAUTY, LEAVING JUST ENOUGH CRACKS AND CHIPS TO RESEMBLE THE JEWEL THAT IT IS/WAS. HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT IT IS THE SAME COLOR AS MY HOUSE/SIDEWALK! (and if you know me well, you know that color is EVERYTHING). WE HAD ACTUALLY BEEN SEARCHING FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS FOR JUST THE RIGHT FOUNTAIN. EARLY EVERY MORNING LEE GOES OUTSIDE AND FILLS IT WITH WATER. SOMETIMES HE CLEANS IT WITH A BIT OF CLOROX. AND THEN HE JUST SITS ON THE STEP AND LISTENS TO THE GLORIOUS SOUNDS OF THE WATER.   BIRDS LOVE THE FOUNTAIN AS WELL. EVERY KIND, SIZE, SHAPE AND COLOR LIVE TO SPLASH IN OUR FOUNTAIN. WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEIR FLUTTERING ABOUT IN THE WATER. BUT, PERHAPS I HAVE GONE ON TOO LONG. I AGREE, I HAVE. BUT WOULDN'T YOU? SO COME YOURSELF TO SEE AND HEAR THE GLORY OF IT ALL. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE FOUNTAIN OF LOVE!

THE STAFF OF (MY) LIFE

I NEED TO GO ON A DIET! I HAVE to go on a diet. I SHOULD go on a diet. I even really WANT to go on a diet.  But there is just one thing keeping me from it: BREAD! I love bread!  I adore bread! In Italy I lived half a block from a Paneria (bread store).  I was in heaven.  I just can't give it up.  Every morning I have toast--Pane Turano.  With butter. Two slices. (sometimes more). At Panera, for lunch, I order a cup of soup, with the bread roll, and then I just eat the roll!  What is better than a snack-- of toast??  I recently learned how to make rustic Italian bread--the big round kind just like the picture--in an iron skillet at 500 degrees.  I had to give it up!  I wouldn't share with anyone, and you can imagine what that meant. Correct!  Plenty of pounds. But.... luckily I wear full shirts.  So why am I worried! Gotta go...I hear the toaster popping up.  YUMMMMM!            

OK---I'LL TRY TO BLOG

My friend Lisa has been wanting me, for a long time, to start a blog.  And so this morning I just said, (what I'm often known to say),

 '' WHAT THE DANG HECK!  I'll do it".

But I'm finding out that this is not for dummies!  After spending the whole morning with me Lisa was only able to find me a background that I liked and a photo that was not damaging. 

 (I'm the dummy--not Lisa!)

About the background:  I am books!  Books am I! I couldn't have a day without reading. A book--well now it is my Kindle--and a Diet Pepsi,---could it be any better?  As a young child, and as a teenager, my mother had a Coke, popcorn (or warm bread) and my books waiting for me when I came home from school.  So even before homework, this was how I could unwind and refresh myself for a little while before getting into Algebra or Western Civ.

So now, on my blog (is this really mine?) I find myself surrounded with books!

 I'm not sure where to go from here. But before I think about it, I'll just go read for a little while  and see if I can finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest ; there are so many more to read!