Nothing Specific

I've not had any good ideas for blogging lately, and no time to think of a topic, so this is off the cuff, and will probably disappear when I have something to write about! Life has been very busy the last couple of weeks. We had Paco's birthday (actual day was Saturday, but party Sunday) and I moved to a new office at work, which also means a slight change in hours--earlier, so I shouldn't be up writing--should be going to bed, but oh well!

The boys started school a little over a week ago, and they love it! But today, when I told G-man that doing homework was a part of going to school, he was willing to give up school to not have to do it. I told him it doesn't work that way. Hubby says Bean claps every time he sees the school bus coming--wish I could see that every day!

Hubby and I are in the process of dealing with some stuff that is long overdue. I never realized until this week that we really never get time to ourselves. Trying to talk things out without little ears around seems almost impossible. Can't wait for the weekend. Even a trip to the park at least keeps them occupied so we can have a grown-up discussion.

Time for bed! There used to be a time when midnight was early for me, and now 9:30 seems like I stayed up too late! Must be getting old. Doesn't bother me! G'night!

Junk, Junk, Junk!!!!

Constant argument with myself this weekend: "Want to save stuff." vs. "Need to throw away clutter." In the end "Attack the dirt" won out. Two rooms down (plus the laundry room, but that doesn't count, because it's more of a closet than a room), four to go. And it only took me two full days. Ugh!

My biggest problem items to get rid of are books. I love to read, love books, but never have time and don't have the room to keep them, if I am to be completely honest with myself. I can make myself box them up and put them in the attic, but then I feel so badly that they are just sitting there and can be no use to anyone where they are. I've gotten to be OK with throwing out the ones that the kids have completely or almost completely destroyed. Baby steps, Janners, baby steps! For now, not being used in a box in the attic is better than not being used gathering dust on my 3-too-many bookshelves.

Second biggest problem issue: papers from school. It's going to start up again in a week and a half, and I have to figure out a way to determine what is a keeper, and what is a tosser. I am thinking it's a good time to start the boys scrapbooking, and limiting them to one page a week for stuff from school to keep. I would feel much better about keeping a nice book that they made themselves than a pile of papers that I couldn't throw away.

I will say this about de-cluttering: it is SO much easier to keep a relatively clean, uncluttered house clean than to clean all around the junk. Picking up after dinner tonight was a cinch, and it's so nice to be able to lay out on the couch without folding and putting away clothes for 20 minutes first. Of course, the first thing my hubby says to a room that I feel finally looks as it should: "It looks empty in here--needs more pictures." That can be HIS project--I don't need any more!

St. Pete's

I've been remembering with fondness today the people I had opportunity to meet during my two years of working in a hospital as a unit secretary and patient care technician (vital sign recorder and bed bath giver). I loved working in that environment, exhausting as it was, and was seriously considering going back to school to be a nurse, until one fateful day during which I almost passed out during a procedure--good thing I didn't have an important role in the room that day! Anyway, these are the people I most remember, and why:

Witold, my Polish patient who spoke very little English, but was always able to express thanks--he even bought flowers for Lani (the other tech) and me. Imagine, the PATIENT giving flowers. Who thinks of that? Well, Witold did.

There was George, who had sung with Sinatra. He was impressed that I knew some of the songs. George and his wife, Cookie, were crazy about each other, and she would come sit by his side all day, each day he was in the hospital.

Tom was afraid to die. He is my biggest regret--perhaps my biggest regret ever, but certainly of my time at the hospital. I made it a point to bring him the Times Union each day, but didn't visit as much as I would have liked to. He wouldn't sleep in the bed--I think because he was afraid he would not wake up. At least one of his nurses was also a Christian. It is still a mystery to me how both of us failed to share Jesus with someone facing death who was afraid to die. He died within hours of my friend, Witold. That was a VERY hard day.

Mr. Murphy passed out at least once a day--there was something wrong with his blood pressure or circulation that did not allow enough blood flow to his brain when he stood up. He always called me "Honey" and was always glad for a visit. I took all my lunch breaks with him while he was on our floor. The last I saw him was right after he had the surgery to correct his blood flow problem, and he was doing well. Once in a while, I wonder how he is now.

Miss Bev looked horrible when she was admitted. She was on the young side to be in our unit, and to have been so seriously ill, and many people said it was a miracle she recovered. I remember how friendly she was and how hard she worked at her physical therapy, even though she hated it.

Mary was so sick, she couldn't communicate, but I know she must have been quite a lady, for the attention and devotion of her family. She needed to have someone with her at all times, because in her confused state, she was liable to get out of bed, and if she did, would almost certainly fall. It is because this lady needed a sitter that I was able to fill out the paperwork for my job with the state, but that story is for another blog.

One man had been Babe Ruth's bat boy. He was blind as a bat and a little confused, but he was a die-hard Red Sox fan, and a pleasure to be around. I think his name was Frank, but I might only be thinking that because it's my grandfather's name, and he reminded me of him.

One lady's husband used to be the milk man in one of the local towns with which I am familiar. One day, the horses got tired of waiting for him, and walked back to Albany without him! He brought in some meatballs and homemade spaghetti sauce his daughter made. It happened to be a very hectic week, and I was grateful to only have to heat up the sauce and boil pasta for dinner that night--and it was delicious!

There was one lady who had a very worn Bible handy at all times, and at least one flock of visitors from her church each day. I was shocked to find a bag of chew under her pillow while changing the sheets one day. I guess I was supposed to confiscate it, or at least report it to her nurse, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Guess I figured if she'll go through pains to have it in the hospital, she would certainly have it when she went home anyway.

The doctor (not medical, the teaching type of doctor) was another young patient. Not teenage young, but young in comparison to our normal 55 and over crowd of patients. She was glad to know that we could wash her hair, even though she couldn't stand to take a shower. It was the mood of a girls' slumber party when I was in her room. I enjoyed her company very much. She sent us a package after she was discharged, with wool scarves and thank you notes for each of her caregivers. It is still my first choice of scarves to wear in winter.

There are others that I have not forgotten, but the ones mentioned here are those that I think of most often. I may add to this in the future, but that's it for today!

Family Vacation--Boston, 2009

Day 1, Tuesday

After a full morning of Mom trying to clean the house, and Mom and Dad packing up Rocket (the family car, name derived from the Lil' Einsteins cartoon), we set off to get travel guides from AAA, then back to the house to pick up the electronic games for the boys to play in the car, and the Entertainment Book. After a quick stop to check Nana & Papa's house (they are away in Columbus, OH for the week), and picking up a Room Saver at Denny's, we're on the road to Boston--about 1 1/2 hours after we left the house the first time. We decided within the first few minutes on the road to spend the night in Sturbridge, Mass. We quickly found the Motel 6, right on Main St., and right across from the Old Sturbridge Village, which we are planning to visit tomorrow. We had dinner at the Piccadilly Pub--Mom loved the lobster-stuffed Seoul that our server, Crystal, had suggested--YUM! The boys liked the bowls of popcorn while we waited for dinner. We drove around a bit after dinner, and found a really cute park down the side street adjacent to the hotel. It has tennis and basketball courts, a playground, pavillion with picnic tables, and a nice little beach--we thought it would be perfect except for the rain! We decided this could be a weekencd getaway spot for our family in the future. Back at the hotel, Dad was glad to find his favourite TV show, Hell's Kitchen, on TV--Mom and Dad had a good time watching TV and going over the Boston travel books together. Looking forward to the Old Sturbridge Village tomorrow (maybe even a swim in the pool first in the AM!) then on to Boston!

Our favourite parts of the day:

Paco: watching TV together in the hotel room

G-Man: playing games in the car

Bean: having his stuffed frog, Alfred, along for the trip

Mom & Dad: dinner at Piccadilly Pub

Day 2, Wednesday

This morning, after a nice, easy breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, and a quick trip to Walmart for sandals, we packed up and were off to Old Sturbridge Village. Mom and Paco liked it so much that we got a family membership (we even got the plus one membership, so a guest can come free with us each time--Mimi?) We didn't get to see all of the village, but G-man and Bean did make it long enough to stay for the 19th century baseball game--they ran the bases backward, which confused most of the kids--it was fun to watch! Paco & G-man participated in the game, but Bean was content to play in the dirt under a tree. Then we were on the road to Boston! Had quite a time trying to find a hotel, and wound up in the middle of downtown for rush hour, but in the end, we found the original Motel 6 in Danvers, where we were planning on staying before we even started out this morning. Papa Gino's for some pizza, Hannaford to get some breakfast & picnic lunch, and back to our hotel--finally! We happened to get a handicapped accessible room, which is nice, because it is bigger than average. The plan is to stay here for 3 nights and use the park & ride to take the train into downtown each day. Looking forward to our first day in Boston tomorrow--probably to the science museum.

Favourites:

Paco: firing of the musket at Sturbridge Village

G-man: FINALLY finding our hotel

Bean: the pigs at Sturbridge Village

Dad: the tin shop and the cobbler at Sturbridge Village (learning from the people who work there about how things were in the 1830's)

Mom: "Meet the Schoolteacher" time at Sturbridge Village

Day 3, Thursday

Breakfast of donuts and bananas, then off to our first day in Boston! It was the boys' first time on a train, which was really cool for them. The walk from the North Station to the science museum goes through Nashua Street Park, where we stopped for our picnic lunch. It was hard for all of us to stay together with all the different exhibits to see at the museum. Dad, G-man, and Paco's favourite part of the museum was the hands-on Discovery Zone. Bean's favourite exhibit was Science in the Park, especially the see-saw. Mom's favourite part was the gathering to learn about animals' defenses and predator mechanisms, particularly seeing the live owl. We took the train back to Salem, missing most of the rain on our walk back to the station. After driving up and down the strip of rt. 114 with all the restaurants, we finally settled on Tennessee BBQ--delicious!

Day 4, Friday

Writing this Saturday morning, because we were all exhausted last night! Friday, we missed our train, so we gassed up Rocket in Salem and had our picnic lunch at the train station, waiting for the next train to Boston. We walked across the Charles Street Bridge in the rain (Dad wasn't crazy about that, and would not have agreed to it if he had known the floor was a grate through which you could see all the way down to the river). We waited to see the USS Constitution in the rain, too. It was reallly neat seeing the Constitution, especially since the tour included what life was like on the ship. For example, the sailors slept in hammocks, and had to drink two pints of grog each day to keep from getting scurvey. By the time our tour was finished, the weather was beautiful, so we took the water taxi to the aquarium, to see where we would be going Saturday. We found the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Park, where the boys got drenched in the fountain. Took the subway back to the North Station, train to Salem, and picked up McDonald's on the way back to the hotel. We put on the movie "Independence Day", but none of us made it through the whole thing.

Favourites:

Paco: walking over the bridge in the rain

G-man: McDonald's

Bean: (Saturday) "I don't remember."

Dad: being with my family--really feels like a vacation is supposed to

Mom: watching the boys play in the fountain

Day 5, Saturday
This morning, we all slept in. Being on vacation wears us out! We made it to the train station just in time to catch the 11:20 train to Boston. We had a picnic lunch at our new favourite Boston park (the Rose Kennedy Park) and then went to the aquarium. Mom stood in line for about 20 minutes to get tickets. All the animals and fish at the aquarium were fun to see. After that, we returned to the park to play in the fountain (this time, we brought dry changes of clothes!) Then, Dad thought we should take the subway up the blue line to check out Revere Beach--great idea! We had a delicious dinner of pizza & a steak sub from Nick's Place. The boys played in the ocean for a while, and then we got some ice cream (Dad had the biggest cone EVER) before catching the T back to the North Station. We've been sitting there now, waiting for the 10:15 train to Salem. The man sitting next to us asked if we tried Kelley's Roast Beef, so I guess our trip to the beach tomorrow will have to be back to Revere so we can try Kelley's before heading home.

Favourites:

Paco: seals, the electric eel & the beach

G-man: the octopus & finding his seashells

Bean: the frogs & riding the train

Dad: the beach--Nick's Place and the half-gallon ice cream cone!

Mom: turtles at the aquarium (especially the granddaddy turtle) & seeing the ocean

Day 6, Sunday

The last day. This morning, after an uneventful packing up and loading Rocket, we drove back along the coast to Revere Beach. In spite of the gloomy forecast, we had several hours of beautiful beach weather. We played in perfect waves, built several sandcastles that promptly got knocked over by the rising tide, with the exception of the last one, which was knocked over by the boys' new friend, Adam, before the waves had a chance. G-man and Mom took a walk down the beach and collected quite a few seashells. We changed in the car, and stopped at the famous Kelley's Roast Beef before leaving town. We decided it was good, but next time, we'll stick with Nick's Place, down the beach. It's just as good, for half the price, and there's a bath house close by, so G-man won't have to pee in a bottle again. Speaking of peeing, it is worth mentioning that during our time on the beach, Bean had to go, and since there were no bathrooms around, he just pulled his suit down, and was ready to pee right there on the beach, in front of everyone. Dad caught him just in time! We drove back through Boston, saying goodbye to the USS Constitution, the big bridge, the science museum, and the fountain. We got to go through the tunnel part of the "Big Dig", which was absolutely amazing. The name is no exaggeration. It was a

HUGE project. Dad wanted to take rt. 20 back for part of the way, so once we were well

out of Boston, we got off I-90, and went through some of the towns. We got lost in Springfield, and the rest of the navigation home went downhill from there. We found rt. 20-W out of Springfield, but ran into a detour, which got us lost again, taking us over a few mountains and through a little town called Middlefield. Finally, we reached Pittsfield, where we all felt better, because we finally knew where we were and how to get home. It had been a wonderful family vacation--I'd go through everyone's favourite part, but the three boys are all tuckered out and sleeping, and in about 3 minutes, I will be, too!