A Gia's Life!

Triathlon, the day is here!

2011-08-29T07:01:00.000-04:00

All the training . All the time worrying. The sleepless nights wondering if I was up to this. Scared of failing.
The morning of the race loomed cloudy with the beginning bands of hurricane Irene getting closer and closer. The afternoon Olympic Trials were cancelled but the Triathlon Sprint was a go! Off to Lakeville, MA at 5 am to set up my transition area, get my body markings and wait for the start whistle!
We were all nervous!

Lining up for the swim, hearts in our throats! And we are off!

After what to me felt like a lifetime (or at least an hour) I am out of the water, having swam the .50 and making it to shore still breathing!( I showed a time of a little over 12 minutes from start to transition for the swim!) Off to the transition area and the next leg, the 11.2 bike ride.....

Not an easy way to catch your breath after the swim!

Finally after the 3.1 mile run, I am done! I made it to the finish line amidst applause,yells and well wishes!
And there were my co racers and family waiting with food, water, and especially lots of hugs! I cried as I went over the finish line, still feeling surprise and pride at having completed my first triathlon!

At the time, I did not know my total time but later found out it was 1:38:07 ! Wow! I am proud of those times for my first race!
Will I ever do another one? I may. I may not. The swim was horrific in the fact that I am petrified of water and there I was surrounded, over my head, panic attack in full bloom, but I was not gonna quit! When I heard my family screaming to me, I just knew I could somehow make it to shore, for them to be proud of me!

But most of all for myself. One more mountain I have conquered!

2011-07-12T05:18:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since all my grandbabies were together. And I was around. So I contacted a Photographer I know and quickly had an impromptu photo shoot. All my babies surrounded me, smiles huge! Even the newest, born so early, home at last and healthy as can be!

The ten days my Florida family was here for sped by like a freight train! They are back in Port St Lucie, resuming jobs and summer fun. I am optimistic that someday they will move back. Closer to me. I admit to being selfish when it comes to my time with my offspring and their children. They need me. I need them. Alot!

Lunch!

2011-06-28T03:47:00.000-04:00

Today was a very de-stressing day! After getting off work at 8 am, I went home to find the housepainters setting up for the day.... But wait, what is this? I noticed that the color "daubs" on the cans were four different colors....great! So off I went to try to get the paint store to redo the custom color paint! Got that done, without many threats of mayhem! Back home to get out of my running clothes that I never got yo use and into my sloppy clothes and headed to my 90 minute massage! That as usual, was perfecto! Then after a call to the Clam Man, off Iwent to pick up my "lunch" for work tonight....

add to that a few large shrimp, some red bliss potato salad and a chunk of Dove dark chocolate and there is a perfect meal!

It was delish and decadent! I loved every tender bite of that lobster... the tail awaits me at home for another meal. What was on your plate today?

Gia

Deck

2011-06-26T06:20:00.000-04:00

You may remember the new deck Dad and I built last year.....

I had the painters here and here it is now , stained a mahogany shade...

The painters were here as I was sleeping this afternoon and they woke me up with the sound of the power screwdriver sounding like a giant bug eating thru my bedroom window! I had NO idea what was going on as I was under the influence of a Unisome sleep aid!

Poor guy

! I think he was more scared than I when I popped up through the blinds with my hair all askew, blue eye blinders crookedly splayed over one eye and a horrified expression, I am sure, on my face! Ha! They were removing all the shutters and window boxes, preparing for Monday when the house was getting painted! Yay! I love a new spruced up face to the house! I picked a dark tan with a slightly lighter shade for the trim and for the window boxes and doors, a navy.

It will look great,

I just know it! I really wanted the trim and such to be in the navy but the painters talked me out of it, saying the house would look small, and it would make it really noticeable from the street... HUH? Well I conceded and they can have their way with the colors as long as it gets done in a timely manner! I am so Excited. I will take pictures of course and display them here when it is complete! I also added nice gazebo to the back yard and had a corner of the yard cleared of the bushes I had there to place the gazebo and I will have Dad make a floor for it!(dont mention it to him, I havent told him yet!)

Oh the fun times I will have in that! But that is food for another blog post.......

Gia signing out!

The New Addition is here!

2011-06-25T02:25:00.000-04:00

AYDEN LEE..

Okay so he is a wee bit early, (11 weeks)

His hand is as big (small) as my thumb nail!

Ayden telling us a story! (feeding tube)

But he is a superstar according to the Doctors and Nurses at Tufts Medical and now at Jordan hospital where he was transferred one week ago! He was born on the 5th of June. Poor Mom had a three week, bedridden stay, 75 miles from home! What a trooper she was!
He is now eating on his own, and the feeding tube may be removed in the next two days. We also heard a rumor that he may be able to come home around the 7th of July! That would be perfect as my Florida daughter and her family are here for ten days vacation during that time and I have arranged with a local photographer to have a "Gia and her grand babies" photo shoot if Ayden comes home! I will be busy, busy in the next few weeks but its the kind of busy I love! No work, all play and lots of hugs and kisses from the kids!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the good life!

Tri-Athalon training update

2011-05-31T05:27:00.000-04:00

Wow! I finally finished my swimming instruction. I can now swim like a pro and will have no problem, technically, with swimming in the tri..... now mentally, that's another challenge ,a hurdle I will get over before the actual race!
Re-"Learning" to swim all over again was such an interesting accomplishment as an adult. Nothing was the same. Of course they have improved the way to do it over the years but who knew it would be so very different!

Here is the technique....

I was made to watch hours of videos (for homework) of Ian Thorpe and all the Olympic swim meets to try to gain some visual knowledge, how the body should glide through the water on its side, was made to "swim" my strokes outside the water, wherever I happened to be sitting as a matter of fact, to gain muscle memory on the correct way to swim. I was flippered, and paddle-boarded,cajoled and timed. I was taught to bilateral breath on the third stroke. I now know I will survive a dunk in the water and may even make it back to shore if lost at sea!
It was an exhilarating experience, proving once again this old dog can learn new tricks and learn them well!
Now to just practice the tri combo of swimming, biking and and running!

2011-05-02T05:23:00.000-04:00

I just find it so convenient once again.................................

Cancun Mexico, 2011

2011-04-13T02:10:00.002-04:00


Stand back while I blow off the dust and vacuum the cobwebs from the corners of my blog! Here are some highlights from my recent trip to Mexico with my BFF Jackie.

This will get you moving in the morning..................

2011-02-28T04:42:00.000-05:00

Listen and move!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You will thank me, I know you will!

Triathalon training

2011-02-10T03:36:00.000-05:00

Well I did it! Yes today I set up my training schedule with the swim instructor to prepare myself for the upcoming Cranberry Trifest triathlon that I will be participating in in August. As I lay down to sleep I could not stop the mantra of "Oh no what have I done" from circling around and around in my head! What business does a 51 year old woman have attempting to become a triathlete? Am I crazy? Going through some kind of midlife crisis?

Well, as a matter of fact every ten years I set myself up with a list of things I want to accomplish in the next ten years. No, scratch the want to and change it to need to.
I made a pact with myself when I was thirty to always have a list so that I would never become complacent, never stop trying new things. Never stop learning, no matter what age I am.
So far I have run in a 5k race, climbed mountains, jumped out of planes, rafted the rapids, skied the slopes, walked the paths,cruised the waters, sailed the seas, etc. What fun, surprises, exhilarating and downright scary, times I have had.!
The fantastic people I have met!
I want to be able to complete all the things on my list, always.
They are not always huge physical feats, sometimes they are to read an old classic. Write a play. Try a new craft. whatever comes to mind and is something new, goes on the list when I am in the "9" year so when the "0" comes, I am ready! So far I have crossed off three items on this ten year journey. I learned to snowshoe and love it! I joined an online dating service, and now I entered a triathlon. No too bad a start!
I have miles to go before I sleep and want to make each step a memory to take with me and leave a footprint for all to see!

New hobby with all this snow

2011-02-07T07:30:00.001-05:00

I researched snowshoes before I bought them. I watched videos on Youtube to see how to use them. I figured with all the snow storms we were getting, I could at least get out and walk in it! I gave up on downhill skiing years ago, too afraid of breaking something I need. I still want to try cross country but decided to take baby steps and snowshoe first.

Can I tell ya that I love it? What a great time! Sister and I trekked the Eel River Reserve in Plymouth, MA. The trail we followed was approximately 3 miles, along a newly erected fence which guards 17000 white cedar tree seedlings that the town has planted to reforest the area. It is boggy, with lots of streams and little shallow ponds. The fence is to keep the deer out for five years so the cedar trees can grow strong.

It was so beautiful, a black and white world, where the geese went undistrubed inside the fenced area. It was very quiet and I hear the songs of many birds i thought had migrated! The sun was behind some pretty low clouds which gave the light a diffused feel. No wind and that made for a beautiful first snowshoe walk!

This question has been consuming me................

2011-01-17T03:03:00.000-05:00

Why is the American Government and the American People responsible for paying restitution to the survivors of 9/11? I am sincerely saddened by those events and feel for each and every one of those families that have lost someone. But tell me again how and why we have to make them millionaires for an act perpetrated by parties unknown from faraway lands? While families are going hungry, losing jobs,homes? While our national deficit is multiplying by the billions almost daily? This is an honest question that I hope someone can adequately explain to me the reason for us doing this.

An addition to the Gia family and it ain't a porch!

2011-01-14T02:53:00.000-05:00

Yes I am going to be a Gia again for the fifth time! This little one is due August 2nd and is right now only the size of a lime!
How exciting my family is growing again. I seriously thought that four grandchildren were enough but obviously I am not in charge of that so they threw me a curve ball and look what happened! It is exciting even if a bit scary but I keep reminding myself that if everyone waited until their lives were perfect financially, mentally, etc, the human race would have died off a long, long time ago! So I threw the worry away and now I sit back and think of all the times I am going to have 5 grandkids to tell my stories too, to make myself larger than life (you know we do that!) and to watch them grow and take a part of me with them, forever! Oh it is exciting!
My daughter is doing great. If you remember back to my Miss Lillie being born too early and the scary times driving back and forth to Boston as she struggled to survive on her own, they are treating this baby with kid gloves. more Doctor visits more often, more ultrasounds (which I am a bit leary of for the baby's sake) and keeping a great watch on my daughters overall progress. They may have to put a few stitches in to help keep the baby in but if it helps, why not! So I have 7 months of planning and worrying and wishing and praying!

Shhh don't tell her, but I ordered her a cute maternity set and had it shipped to her. She isn't big enough to wear it but what fun to get it in the mail!
Of course Gavin wants a brother and Lillie says she needs a sister. I hope its a girl. That will keep Gavin as the big brother to his two little sisters!! But then again who cares as long it is healthy, right? My daughter has a girls name picked out which I adore! Chloe Ann. I love that name (well the Ann is mine and my Mom's middle name after all!) I love the name from the TV series 24. Remember Chloe ? Whatever it is and whatever the name I will make room in my already full heart and welcome another addition to my family portrait!

Dinner and a movie............

2011-01-11T02:42:00.000-05:00

I have'nt felt like a Gia in such a long while! I miss my grandkids tremendously! I had the opportunity last week to take Gavin and Lillie to the Pub Cinema to have a bite to eat and to see Gulliver's Travels. The Cinema was empy save one other older woman (who for some odd reason chose the table next to ours in an empty room!). The movie was rated G and Gavin had seen trailers on tv so knew the premise. Lillie on the other hand was already to eat and go home! I ordered a bowl of clam chowder,which Lil and I split, she ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and curly fries with a blue (how natural was that!) slushy while Gavin had the hot dog and curly fries and a red slushy. The seats were very comfty and the movie started ontime. About one quarter way through, they have a scene where the Liliputians have their hooks and ropes on Gullivers (Jack Black) pants and proceed to pull them down so his butt crack shows. Lillie very loudly proclaimed "this is not age appropriate, Gia" What? She is four. How does she know its not age appropriate? And the movie was rated G.! I think the rating board needs to be a little more attentive to what they let out as a G rated movie. I understand that the world is a bit more jaded these days but do G rated movies really have to have the words "ass" and other mild expletives in them? Or show body parts best left unseen by four year olds?
I enjoyed the movie . I didn't enjoy the $91.00 I spent on the food. Yup I said $91.00. That did NOT include the cost of the movie itself, which was $21.00. Of course the interaction with the kids, the time alone spent with them, was worth that and millions more, but really, that much for curly fries? Lesson learned once again! Hope you all are healthy and happy at the mid month mark!
Ciao for now!
Gia

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T02:00:00.000-05:00

Wishing everyone a beautiful New Year, a fresh start!

Forceing a bulb........

2010-12-27T03:27:00.000-05:00

When I had my hair salon, I had a client named Claire who along with her husband, was on the Beatification Commitee for the town I live in. Each spring, my employess and I would get an area aound town to plant and keep beautiful throughout the spring, summer and clean it up in the fall. Each winter the committee would hold an awards ceremony to honor those places who showed outstanding work,. I had several years where I received plaques for a job well done. Each year for Christmas, Claire would stop by and hand deliver some surprise bulbs, a bowl and some rocks to force the bulb to bloom,. It was always a fun surprise to watch and see what was going to bloom!

Well Claire and her husband moved to a retirement community in upstate New Jersey about 6 or 7 years ago. I hated to lose such a dear friend! Each year at christmas I get a box in the mail from Claire, surprising me once again with bulbs to force the growth of! Last year were georgeous Amarylis! This year, to my delight because I love looking at them and my horror because they smell like cat urine, the bulbs bloomed into Narcissus. I took photos of thier journey as I am always surprised how fast they grow when there is no dirt just rocks and water to grow in! Thank you Claire, wherever you are!

Orlando 13 degree's and an ICE spectacular!

2010-12-21T05:50:00.000-05:00

The Floridians surprised me with a trip to Orlando and the ICE spectacular there. It was at the Gaylord Palms and they kept it between 9 and 16 degrees. In Florida. It was a fabulous, wondrous, amazing display of "Twas the Night Before Christmas. The pictures here do not do justice to the artistry and clever design of the ice sculpters from China. In the second half, Snow, there was an actual snow machine and a sledding area for the kids and adults to have snowball fights and go for a spin on the rubber tubes overs the snow. What a clever idea and to see some of those childrens faces who have never experienced a snow fall was priceless! Enjoy!

They supply the big blue parkas to everyone, and even with mine from home and the big blue one, it was a cold day in Orlando but worth it all the way!

All those scarves!

2010-12-21T05:28:00.000-05:00

Remember my post on making scarves? Here are six of the completed ones! I still have three more done but the fringe needs adding and one more on the needles!

The Florida Bathroom Project

2010-12-21T05:20:00.000-05:00

The concrete subfloor after I removed all the vinyl flooring.

the toilet area after removing the toilet

Add caption

removing the old vinyl flooring

taking out the vanity

vanity gone

Well my "vacation" last week to Florida was no vacation!! Never mind the fact that it was in the 20's at night and warmed up to the 50's during the day, but I had no time to spare worrying about the weather if I wanted to complete the total gutting and remodeling of my daughters bathroom in the six days I had left!!

I needed to first demolish the old bathroom which was a bigger job than I imagined! The vinyl flooring came up quick except when I got the the heavily travelled areas. Then it required every once of strength and stamina I had left, even my reserves were petering out! I primed the concrete floors and called it a day! The following day I patched and taped and mud(ed) the sheetrock that needed repair where the old vanity was and even behind the old toilet. Then when my son-in-law came home from work that night, he painted all the walls. That completed day two. Morning again and the paint had dried and and I was ready for the next step. I laid down the new floor. That started out to be too easy As I went along, the floor started to not cooperate with me. No side was the same. the room was not square!! all of my chalked lines intersected at funny times! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 But I finally finished that, after daughter rescued me from one more corner!! Next replace the toilet, which of course was wobbly. How is it that you take out the old, sturdy one and replace it with new and the new just won't sit right? Jeesh, so I had to put some hydraulic cement under it to raise it up and stop it from rocking. Whew I am almost done here. Next comes the vanity and sink. Of course the vanity's holes in back for the plumbing didn't line up! some sawing and hacking by daughter fixed that problem! next came the lights, which daughters Dad was nice enough to put up after I left. Now all that is left to do is for my Dad to get to Florida early January and tear down the wall near the tub and replace all the tiles there and then the last thing to do is to call the company that will refinish the tub with new fiberglass and change it to white. Alot of sweat and tears and love went into this project for my daughter! Definitely a working vacation. But I enjoyed all the smiles from my daughters family and from her,. All the right reasons for me to plan and execute that project!

Here is the remodeled bathroom as far as I did....................

Tis the season

2010-12-06T03:20:00.000-05:00

This is a photo of the recepticle I made and put in the lobby of our Police Department to accept donations of non-perishable foods. The Service Centers and Food pantrys around the country are inundated all year long with people seeking groceries to feed their familes. With the amount of Americans now unemployed, layed off, hungry, won't you be an angel this season and donate some food to your local agencies. No one knows what the future holds and hopefully none of your families will ever have to experience going hungry even for one day! Be generous, we all have "enough" and then some. If donating food is distasteful to you, how about sending a check to them? What do you care where it goes as long as your intentions are pure and good, the circle of life and the theory of paying it forward will fill your life! It's a great way to feel good about yourself, guarenteed to lighten your step and put a smile on your face. Don't let politics, religous beliefs or prejudices stand in the way of you being a good person, willing to help your fellow Americans, your fellow humans, in need!

In my world I say thanks! And a Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a perfect year ahead for all!

Disney Christmas Parade

2010-12-05T06:23:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be seeing my Florida family next week! Seven days of hot sunny weather and tons of hugs from my girls!
Today they spent the day at Disney in Orlando, being involved in the taping of the Disney Christmas Parade! How so very exciting is that? Gotta be a childs dream come true! I am going to have to tape the special of course so I can scope them out in the crowd!
I am going to be remodeling my daughters bathroom this trip. Well first have to repair the commode in the master bath and then I can gut the second bathroom and put in floor, walls ,vanity, sink, toilet and possibly even a new tub! Wow I am already tired!!
I can rememeber being a young house wife, working raising the kids, never having quite enough spare time or money to get the projects done that needed to be done on the house, So I thought what a great thing if I could do those things for them while they are working and then the stress of it is over for them!
I don't imagine I will complete it all in a week but I spoke to Dad and as he is in Florida all winter, he has offered to finish what I can't! His payment? Time spent with his great grandkids and a few hot meals! How awesome is he??
I am getting so excited! I have remodelled almost my whole home, with my own tools and hands. I used to go to classes that Lowes and Home Depot had to learn the skills to do repairs and such because it was always so expensive and the kids always needed something! So I am the proud owner of a huge selection of power tools and all the skills to use them!! Wish there was some way to get them to Florida so i wont have to buy them out there but, we shall see!!

Whatever I do, I will enjoy the moment I can see my daughter relax and enjoy her new bathroom! (((rubbing hands together in glee))) Gia can't wait to start with the sledge hammer!!

There is room for more than one history; there is room for many voices!

2010-11-25T02:43:00.000-05:00

Below is a copy of what you will find on the Wampanoag website concerning the "celebration" of Thanksgiving. We use this day to remind ourselves to be thankful for what we have and the health and happiness of our families and friends but take a moment and reflect on how this day came to be and offer up more thanks that these days are gone and the world has changed a bit!
I wish you all a joyful day filled with love from family and friends and a day filled with remembering those who came before and left us too soon!
Gia
THE NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING
On Thanksgiving Day, many Native Americans and their supporters gather at the top of Coles Hill, overlooking Plymouth Rock, for the "National Day of Mourning."

The first National Day of Mourning was held in 1970. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts invited Wampanoag leader Frank James to deliver a speech. When the text of Mr. James’ speech, a powerful statement of anger at the history of oppression of the Native people of America, became known before the event, the Commonwealth "disinvited" him. That silencing of a strong and honest Native voice led to the convening of the National Day of Mourning.

The historical event we know today as the "First Thanksgiving" was a harvest festival held in 1621 by the Pilgrims and their Native American neighbors and allies. It has acquired significance beyond the bare historical facts. Thanksgiving has become a much broader symbol of the entirety of the American experience. Many find this a cause for rejoicing. The dissenting view of Native Americans, who have suffered the theft of their lands and the destruction of their traditional way of life at the hands of the American nation, is equally valid.

To some, the "First Thanksgiving" presents a distorted picture of the history of relations between the European colonists and their descendants and the Native People. The total emphasis is placed on the respect that existed between the Wampanoags led by the sachem Massasoit and the first generation of Pilgrims in Plymouth, while the long history of subsequent violence and discrimination suffered by Native People across America is nowhere represented.

To others, the event shines forth as an example of the respect that was possible once, if only for the brief span of a single generation in a single place, between two different cultures and as a vision of what may again be possible someday among people of goodwill.

History is not a set of "truths" to be memorized, history is an ongoing process of interpretation and learning. The true richness and depth of history come from multiplicity and complexity, from debate and disagreement and dialogue. There is room for more than one history; there is room for many voices.

See the whole talk HERE.

Hobby to pass the night away....................

2010-11-09T02:09:00.002-05:00

Growing up in the sixties with four other siblings was great to say the least. We lived very simply till I was nine in the western part of the state. My Mom was a great teacher of all things "homemade". She taught me how to sew, to cook, to can , to knit ( I am so happy she taught me these skills, which are becoming extinct as the generations go by and no one cares to teach their kids and pass on the knowledge of how to do it yourself!). She tried to teach me to crochet. I can still do all the things she taught me and do them well, I might add. Except for crocheting. I could never get the hang of that one needle doing all that beautiful work! Mom did it with such ease and speed it was amazing to watch! I stuck with knitting and through the years have made some pretty impressive things.

Some of the Dolls of the World Mom made for my daughters!

I am determined to put long stretches of downtime to good use. I downloaded some patterns found free on the Internet, for sweaters and scarves and afghans that looked like they would make great gifts or for myself. Off to the Yarn Basket, a fabulous store that carries all that you need and could ever hope to find in the way of yarns and threads and all the instruments to turn it into garments and useful items. The owner, Dot, was pleasantly surprised to hear that I was a Dispatcher for the PD. She was also a dispatcher years ago for the same department! We chatted for a bit and then she helped me choose my yarn after I stated I was in need of a nice brown for a scarf as I had none in that color and the days were getting chillier. I picked a brown tweed that would be perfect and did the neck skin test (making sure that it would not be itchy is a high priority when I choose my yarns!)

A new customer walked in and she was wearing a beautiful butter yellow cowl neck sweater in a beautiful lacy look knit. I commented on it and she told me that she makes them herself, takes two days, and that she crochets them! My frown was long when I heard that. Oh well, guess I wouldn't be making a sweater with that stitch after all! She then went on to say that it was so easy, was very fast, etc. I told her that I just never got the hang of crocheting even though Mom had spent hours and hours instructing me on the basics and that I gave up and just kept to knitting. Well, Dot the owner whips out a crochet book, looked like it was from the 60's and tells me that it will teach me in minutes how to crochet. She tells me that I can go in anytime if I have any questions and she will help me! Sweet! I cannot tell you how excited I was as I gathered up my purchases (I added the book and a crochet hook to the yarn) and I made my way home to start this learning to crochet!
I can proudly say that I now know how to crochet. Dot was right. It took me all of maybe 10 minutes to perfect the three basic stitches used to crochet. I am now adding this new talent to my repertoire of hobbies I love to do and making that brown scarf in a crochet stitch instead of knit. After I complete this, I will venture to try that beautiful sweater the other customer in the store was wearing. I don't think I will be finishing in just two days but I will finish!

Imagine that, me crocheting after all these years. Mom would be proud. I think I felt her near me as I heard her voice in my memory telling me to "hold the yarn in those fingers, wrap it around the needle......."

A Biking weekend on Martha's Vineyard!

2010-11-07T01:53:00.000-04:00

Seagulls just seem like typical "photo ops" when travelling to the Vineyard! And they have no problem posing!

We had the double rainbow before the storm!

Those storm clouds came overhead fast and the temperature dropped 20 degree's in what seemed like an instant!

sister and I after the 20 mile bike trek to Chappaquiddick Beach. The wind was horrific, making the bike ride seem like it was through marshmellow!

East Chop lighthouse across the way

Helmets are essential but make for very bad hat head hair!

Doing a little shopping before lunch in Edgartown.

All jazzed up for a night on the town!

We had the greatest trip! The weather was perfect if a bit chilly but sunshine reigned!
Sister and I took an early boat over and had time for a lunch date at the Atlantic with an old friend who lives on the Vinyard.
After the other women arrived we had wine and cheese and chatted a bit and then went into town for a bite to eat.
Early night as we were planning on an all day bike ride around the Island. We set out around 10:30am and rode all 20 miles with a strong wind in our face making the twenty seem like fifty! Not that we minded, the stop at Chappaquiddick Beach was so worth it! It looked as if no human had ever stepped foot on the beach. The waves were huge, crashing on the shore and the spray carried by the sind into the dunes that lined the sand. Awesome show of nature!!
After we had lunch shopped and returned to the cabin we relaxed again with some wine, leisurly taking turns in the showers and getting ready for a night out! Dinner was at David Ryans. Yum! As it happened to be Halloween, we were treated to some fantastic costumes at a couple of the local establishments. It was a great night to people watch and dance to the fantastic band , Sultans of Swing, that was playing at the Atlantic.
A great time was had by all, dancing the night away with ghouls, goblins, witches and more!
After all was said and done, our bike trip was a great success and we vowed to make it an annual event, adding to our hiking trips to Maine and summers on the Vineyard! I am now trying to get a wine tasting weekend together on Nantucket in the summer! Hope we see you there!

Crock pot chicken stew

2010-10-23T04:30:00.002-04:00

WORKING THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT BUT I REMEMBERED TO GET ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR A CHICKEN STEW IN THE CROCKPOT! Sweet potatos, sweet vidalia onions, baby carrots, small whole chicken, basil, garlic,dill,oregano, black pepper and a few crushed red peppers for a slight hot aftertaste!

Nothing smells better than opening the door to your house after an eight hour shift and having dinner done and the house smells of the chicken stew in the Crockpot! By the time the chicken cooks down and the veggies are tender there will be enough liquid to make a few dumplings to enjoy with it! Oh come on 0800 !

Breast Cancer Awareness month

2010-10-21T06:56:00.004-04:00

You are probably a little sick of seeing the title, the pink everything, the shouting from the rooftops to be aware of breast cancer. I am seeing all of it, on every venue there is. Big companies using the platform to sell their products under the guise of contributing to the cause. Nice. Good for corporate America. But good for you? Good for breast cancer? I don't believe so. I see all the advice on how to check your breasts, when to check your breasts, what to do if you find something in your breasts. But I want to know why no one is telling us what to do to not get that far in the first place?

What about wearing anti-perspirant? The ingredients in them cause cancer.
Shampoo, soap, body washes? The ingredients in them cause cancer. Laundry detergent. The ingredients cause cancer. Older microwave ovens, women (and men) stand in front of the door waiting for the food to cook, exposing their skin to a leaky door? The ingredients in processed food, KNOWN to cause cancer. Wouldn't it be wiser, healthier, more important, to place these warnings alongside the treatment plans? Umm no because then the products with the pink ribbons on them, donating money to the cause, would not sell, would not be used by the consumer to possibly cause cancer in the consumer who bought the item to support the FIGHT AGAINST breast cancer? Does anyone else see anything wrong with this way of doing things?
(I believe in finding a cure, I believe in teaching women and men to take control of their bodies , this is not the issue. Why put those cancer causing things on the market in the first place? We wouldn't need pink ribbons if corporations looked instead of turning a blind eye for profit.........just saying......)

I took a moment, on a fall afternoon...

2010-10-14T08:30:00.002-04:00

To stop and see the sights! The flooded cranberry plants make a very green trail in the water as the sky is reflected very blue! I stopped with my camera by the side of Old Meetinghouse Road as the afternoon light was so fall looking! I traversed the bogs, following the ducks and geese, who stayed just ahead of me the whole time.

This time of year, the bogs get flooded and the cranberries ripen for the harvest before thanksgiving comes. It is a wonderful sight when they are are all floating, red against the water!

(this one was last year)

I tried to sneak up on the geese and ducks but they high-tailed it quick!

Ducks and Geese enjoying the recently flooded cranberry bogs. I stayed a while, listening to the bird calls and the gurgle of the water as it went into the sluice and crossed the street to the other bogs. A wonderful afternoon interlude after a busy morning!

Talk about sticker shock.............

2010-10-13T05:56:00.001-04:00

I had an occasion to visit the dentist today................. Well let me change that statement to I was held hostage by my dentist today..... there that really is more like it!

I broke a cap on one of my back teeth, it kinda peeled back like a can of tuna and was stabbing my tongue. Yes a bit of an irritation to say the least and as I was due for a cleaning I figured I would do both, I called asap. Sure we can see you in two weeks... Not a lot I could do but take it and hope I didn't saw through my tongue while I slept.!

Well there I was in the waiting room, updating all the pertinent medical info. Waiting, and waiting some more. Half hour later I am ushered into the exray room... woah.. I already had full mouth digital exrays less than year ago.... oh ok so just one tooth then, right! Ushed into the "chair" where they placed a Flat panel TV (HD of course!) on the tray and said to watch the video.... ok it was a repeat of a show I happened to see a part of on Dr. Oz.. NO I don't watch that show I just happened to catch the dental episode.... so anyway, after watching the "new" segment on new ways to detect mouth cancer, I was given a paper to read and sign if I wanted the procedure or if I declined it. What? Doesnt the Dentist look anyway while he is there?? Well I guess not!

So then the dentist (female) comes in looks at the peeled back cap, pokes, prods and says hmm looks like you need a crown now on that tooth..

Okay.. so I am now forced to wait again and watch another promo about a toothbrush only sold by dentist, the ROTADENT, on the tv screen that magically reappeared as the Dentist disappeared again into another room, now in ORAL SURGURY! Umm hello? I had an appointment didnt I? to fix this steel prong inside my mouth and to clean the fangs?? Well come to find out, after an hour and a half of videos and paperwork, I need to speak to the financial manager who will then set up an appoinment for the actual work. Holy cow! I knew I was in trouble if I needed a financial manager! But wait I have Dental Insurance right? Oh yes. They will cover $1000.00, thinks I . I go confidently into the Financial Manager's office, my swagger pronouncing that I am confident! I have insurance!

45 minutes later, I slink out of the office, shock and dismay on my face, my swagger deflated, my tooth still stabbing my tongue and I start the long trek home. Who knew that without "periodontal scaling", at $1000.00 for the quadrant and $1591.00 for the crown (WHAT???) after my insurance, I would owe a mere $1591.00 due when I came back in two weeks (two weeks of stabbing my tongue!). They would not even do just the crown, I had to do the scaling or they wouldnt do it. I was held hostage, made to watch propaganda videos to purchase high end dental instruments and scared into getting a cancer screen. I did not get my teeth cleaned. I did not get my cap fixed. I did not like this type of gouging at all!! Now I understand that you wouldnt put a clean crown on a rotted tooth. Its not rotted. I understand if I had poor dental habits. I don't. I floss and brush more than anyone I know. It borders on obsession. Why in the name of all that is clean do I have to have this scaling done before I can have my tooth fixed is beyond me. Believe me I asked. the answer was that the dentist ( and I quote here) " was kinda responsible for the tooth if it got loose and broke" KINDA???? try getting a dentist to repair or guarantee their work!! Ha fat chance!! When did it become ok for the dental community to tell me what I had to do? Don't I even get a say in my treatment? I think the industry is so unregulated that they have found a gold mine in forcing patients to have whatever they want them to have before they will even do the simplest of cleanings!

Well there I have ranted for a full post and feel semi better! I am sure I will get lambasted by dental professionals and students and such, but I still don't like the fact that I couldnt just have the tooth fixed and my teeth cleaned without committing to a procedure I am positive I didnt want done. I had it done once. Owwwww I don't want to do it again!

Such is a

Gia's life

October day

2010-10-09T05:53:00.000-04:00

We have had a huge number of days around here with nothing but rain, clouds, dark skies, rain, rain and rain! Yesterday was sunny with beautiful blue skies as far as the eye could see, windy but warm for October. I finally had the chance to get out and get to mowing the lawn, trimming and getting rid of the vegetable garden. Much to my surprise, the grass was so long I needed to mow twice and the garden was still producing red peppers and grape tomatoes! The tomatoes were bunched so tightly together they looked like grapes instead!

I gathered those up and picked only one pepper, letting the others ripen a bit more. I really need to be careful and vigilant as I expect a frost any time soon and that means disaster for them! The front yard yielded up some beauties that have bloomed! I found the Montauk daisies in full bloom, the pink Asters ablaze with color which really stands out amongst the rusts and yellows of the changing trees. I also found this last one that I am not sure what it is (looks like a Dalia?), I remember planting it but it has never bloomed! A beauty to be sure!

I had to get a shot of the fall display in my front yard. Corn stalks, pumpkins, gourds, mums and hay bales surrounding my wooden wagon make for a nice look as people drive past! I have found so much wonder again in decorating for the seasons. Death sure has a way of opening your eyes to what you have let pass by! Loving life and all its imperfections, perfections and glorious splendor! Enjoy the photos! I am off for a run.

Hiking Bethel Maine

2010-10-07T03:31:00.002-04:00

The last weekend of September drew to a close with a hiking trip to Bethel Maine. Seven women, one hunting/skiing/hiking lodge and perfect weather were the ingredients we were working with! The hike was harder than I had anticipated, vertical for the first mile, over boulders and steppes cut into the rock iron handholds and log ladders embedded in the mountainside

Tough but each of us found the inner fortitude to press on and reach the summit! That is always the payoff on a hike such as this, the view from the top, 360 degrees of breathtaking beauty! The camera never does justice at times like that , possibly because the hazards and hardships of the climb make the beauty threefold?

Finding affirmations

2010-09-08T06:19:00.005-04:00

After everyone was gone and the house was quiet once again, I found some post-it notes on the cabinets in the kitchen, left there by my daughter whom I had just driven to the airport for her trip back to Florida. How wonderful to pass them each morning. A daily reminder that I am loved. That I am worthy. That someone needs me. That just because I live alone, I am not alone in the world.

I had put similar ones up a few months ago which were still there when company came. I removed them out of a bit of embarrassment that I was caught with reminders to myself to smile, to be happy, etc!. She must have felt how important they have become to my daily living! They will remain there until I need new ones, when the power of these to reaffirm my existence has waned and are ignored and I find new daily reminders to put pen to post-it note!

The Wedding.............

2010-09-05T17:57:00.005-04:00

The Bride and Groom.......................

The Bridal Party

The Falmouth kids and I waiting for the Limo

All my grandkids on one cedar swing~ impossible to get a good face on them all at the same time!

Waiting with the Florida girls for the Limo

The beautiful bride!

What a wonderful whirlwind of a week it was! With little time to mess around, the bridal party was off and running!

Thursday the "girls" gathered together and brought the bride out for her bachlorette party. I was too old to be invited so I took the kids to see the Jonas Brothers at the Comcast Center! What was I thinking?? I rented a luxury van to escort the crew to the show in comfort, as my available vehicles would not hold 4 kids and two adults. It was a nice time, thankfully the kids were all young enough to become irratated with people screaming in their ears and wanted to leave about half way through the Jonas Brothers themselves. We were secretly jumping for joy at that! Got to leave early, avoid the massive crowds and the snarling traffic, you bet I was dancing a jig out of the show!!

Then on Friday we had the rehersal and the dinner. She chose a chinese resturaunt! Whew good for my pocketbook as I was footing this bill!!
The morning of the wedding dawned and bloomed into a most perfect day! We all were ready and relaxed, until the limo was 50 minutes late!! Yeah, that ruined the photo shoot at the beach as the lighting was now all wrong!
But the bride took it all in stride, surprising me with her calmness and acceptance!

The wedding was perfect, even if I almost tumbled down the rock stairs, taking the bride with me! I was supposed to be wearing silver flip flops at this point but forgot them so I was forced to wear my 41/2 inch spike heels on the rock pathway down to the dock where the ceremony was being held! Whew, made that work!

The reception that followed was a hoot! My bride danced her heart out, which made everyone want to fill that dance floor and dance with her! We all had a fabulous time and the happy couple partied until almost dawn!

I loved having my family here with me, gabbing, laughing, crying. My younger daughter and I had not cried for my brother together yet and this was a most perfect opportunity to do it and move on, together! It was a wonderful time, I will cherish these memories forever!

And then I left for Las Vegas.......................

(but that is another story)

2010-08-24T23:31:00.004-04:00

I am sitting here listening to Pandora radio, tired from the massive clean sweep I have accomplished today to prepare for the arrival of my daughter and her family from Florida tomorrow!! They are here to join in the festivites of my first daughters wedding. I don't know when the flip happened around here, but both my girls decided to have kids first and then wait to be sure before marrying the guys!! But who am I to wonder? Girls happy, guys happy and most of all kids happy!! So it is wedding bells for us on saturday. An outdoor wedding on a dock in a garden, perfect! reception for 70 to follow, get ready for fun times!

I am amazed how much I had to dust, sweep ,vaccuum! I pulled out the sofa bed that I have in the guest room instead of a bed, added a blow up mattresss on it, made that up, changed the linen's on the master bedroom bed in case they choose to sleep there instead, shopped for some staples that one person who lives alone doesnt use, but kids and fathers do! Now I am off to do the kitchen after this short break! I have to be up and meet my friend for a 4.5 mile run at 430 am, better get moving! What did you get done today

(Oh and I worked a full 8 hour shift at the PD got home , gave a lady a perm also!)

A Bento kind of day!

2010-08-24T06:19:00.001-04:00

Fresh tomatos from the garden. Sliced red and yellow bell peppers. Sliced avacado.
Thin squares of horseraddish cheddar cheese.
Fresh sliced cukes.
Spinich leaves topped with red grapes.
(Not shown is the grape seed oil and garlic drizzle I made with chives,basil,garlic ,cayanne pepper)

Afternoon snack will be a Red Delicious apple and fresh peanut butter!

A lot of brain food here!

Cape Cod Melody Tent

2010-08-16T19:01:00.008-04:00

Saturday night my sisters and I went to Sam Diego's Mexican eatery in Hyannis followed by a concert at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. We were seeing Counting Crows and Augustana. Although there isn't a bad seat in the place, our third row seats were magnificent! I took some of the best pictures! Unusually, the two bands combined and performed together most of the songs! They separated for some of their biggest hits but it was one of the best shows I have seen, musically! The stage was so small and turned at inappropriate times but they adjusted well! It was a great evening all around! Here are a few shots of the bands onstage. I took a total of 223 photos and they are all as is, we were that close to the stage!

Restaurant Review

2010-08-16T18:58:00.001-04:00

Pigalle
75 Charles Street South in Boston's north end was our destination last Thursday night. Little did we suspect how wonderful, enchanting, customer oriented the staff and owners were and the fabulous fare that awaited us! I believe my Uncle had something to do with the apps that just kept arriving at the table from the chef!
The wine list was magnificent. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that!

Oyster tart

Steak tartare

three sisters and an uncle

But the food pictures show just half of what each dish tasted like! And of course I have forgotten most of the names so I will just delight your eyes with the pictures!

Marthas Vineyard porches ,chairs and gardens

2010-08-08T06:25:00.003-04:00

Alot of the houses looked like they were taken from New Orleans!

Lavendar was plentiful!

These chairs were placed to encourage a rest in the shade!

Cleome! introduced to me at another blog and now I see them everywhere! Thanks Ann T.

I spent the day today on Marthas Vineyard again, this time taking pictures of the beautiful and interesting porches and gardens in the Oak Bluffs area. It was a glorious day weather wise, no humidity! Rocking chairs, porches and flowers!

stained glass on an old building in the middle of no where!

This was my favorite, all in lavendar and white , it just invited you to sit awhile!

New kicks

2010-07-31T16:37:00.000-04:00

Went out for a great run today with my new kicks!

I have always loved New Balance sneakers, for walking, running, circuit or just to mow the lawn!
On the advice of my chiropractor, Derek Carroll, I decided to try a Saucony shoe. Well, my feet now love me and will be my best friend till they wear out! What a fabulous shoe!

So after a great run and a few errands, my belly decided to be jealous of my feet and look what happened then..............................

Belly got a lobster, some haddock chowder, red bliss potato salad and cole slaw!

Good thing I scheduled a surprise weekend run on the beach tomorrow! Well I am off to ride my bike to get rid of a few of those carbs I just consumed, blissfully full and content! Movie tonight is gonna be "Book of Eli" recommended by my daughter Tanya.

(Gia is trying to live the good life while life is good!) Happy weekend ya'll

Spiral Cone

2010-07-27T11:08:00.000-04:00

After my trip to the Vineyard the other day, I thought I would try this ice cream place that opened quite a while ago but I never remembered to stop and try the delights!

Well I sure am glad that I did! It was average inside, looking like any ice cream shop, a little on the nostalgic side. I spoke with the owner, Robert Volosevich, a very welcoming man, friendly and informative about his ice cream!

Lots of unusual flavors/names! Check out the website HERE FOR ALL THE FLAVORS!

I tried a waffle bowl and filled it with graham cracker ice cream( ok so it really was graham crackers and some small bits of chocolate crunch and some crumbled graham crackers,) black chocolate ice cream and chocolate chip ice cream lathered with the silkiest hot fudge, ever! I think I may have passed out after eating this, the dilish factor was so over the top! Sister enjoyed a waffle cone filled with a scoop of the graham cracker ice cream and black chocolate.

Please stop here if you are in the neighborhood, you will not regret it if you are truly an ice cream aficionado!

Spohr Garden

2010-07-27T04:54:00.000-04:00

Today after work, my daughter, grandkids and I took a trip to Woods Hole and Spohr Garden. Lived here 40 years, and I have never been here, moments from my doorstop practically!

It is six acres of woodland gardens on Oyster Pond in Falmouth.

Margaret and Charles D. Spohr began creating this wondrous setting around their home in the 1950s.

Charles Spohr died in 1997 and Margaret Spohr died in 2001. At that time the Gardens were left to the Margaret K. Spohr and Charles D. Spohr Charitable Trust.

They don't charge to see the gardens but do accept charitable donations. There are many anchors and other nautical items that Charles collected throughout his lifetime. They are so well placed, with the gardens growing around them!

As the pictures show, we had a great time and the photo ops were many!

Martha's Vinyard partial visit!

2010-07-26T13:04:00.002-04:00

My sister and I took our bikes and headed to the Island Queen ferry for a trip over to Martha's Vineyard to spend the afternoon at the beach with other sister who has rented a house for vacation . It was hot and humid, so perfect for a ferry ride over the cooler water air!

We disembarked at Oak Bluffs and rode the bike path to just past the Jumping bridge, which I neglected to photograph. Mainly this trip I was concerned with finding the spot on the miles and miles and miles of beach that my sister was waiting and not getting run over!
We had a wonderful time talking and swimming and then it was time to ride back to the ferry. A storm was fast approaching and we wanted to be en route home before the sky opened up!
The rain started as we were halfway home, but we really didn't mind as it was cool and gave the illusion that the salt was being washed from our skin!
We decided to get the car, secure the bikes and head back to the entrance to the harbor and eat at the Clam Shack. I have been craving fried seafood for at least two weeks and that long bike ride was all the justification I needed to gorge myself on fried seafood!
Of course we needed to stop for an ice cream also, so we went to the Spiral Cone and had the most delicious graham cracker ice cream they make on premise! I actually have a post in progress on this very place!
What a spectacular day! I am sore today, but its a great sore and I worked out the kinks by running and taking in that beautiful moon at sunrise! Have a great day all, it's a great time to be alive!

Good Morning!

2010-07-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

On my run this morning, the moon was so bright and the sky was such a palette of colors! Thought I would share it with you !

I am such a flying machine junkie!

2010-07-21T18:24:00.014-04:00

Today at work I was monitoring the FD radio and in came a call for a chain saw accident, serious. (When isn't a chainsaw accident serious?) So I sent a unit to assist with possible traffic and one to ascertain if it was an industrial accident. The FD called for a MED FLIGHT. They called the landing zone way on the other side of town! I thought, "bummer". But then due to whatever, they decided to change the landing zone to RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STATION! I know most of you reading this are stifling a huge yawn, been there done that right? But I am mesmerized by helicopters! I love them, really do! So I quickly asked permission to step outside and take a few photos . My boss showed up next to me, two techno geeks standing out there! Well I got some great still shots but of course my cell phone video decided to crap out. But luckily for me my boss has the new IPHONE and the HD video is perfect! So here it is in all its glory! (I think there may be some "colorful language, please disregard it)(watch here)(blogger would not upload this for some reason!)

A big thanks to my boss for making me a copy of the video so I could post it on my blog! Look closely over to the FD, all the guys had their camera's out also! Ha not such a lone geek after all!

Thankfully, the injured party was MED flighted without incident, he was conscious and alert when they loaded him in. I can't help but be a bit jealous of that MED flight crew...what a dream job!

Sunday was a funday

2010-07-19T18:08:00.000-04:00

My family had an impromtu cookout at my sisters house in Plymouth. She has a fabulous pool! It was nice to all get together and having the kids there kept us from getting maudulin and sad. Kids, they always bring the HAPPY!

Lillie and DadDaughter, Lillie and Gavin Sister and LillieBrother in law and OscarDaughter and grandaughterNephew showing off!Great grandpa and Lilie, who is imitating him!Gavin the great white shark boy

Thought I would share a few highlights of the day. Hope your weekend was filled with sunshine!

"Gia, can we have a sleepover"

2010-07-16T06:06:00.001-04:00

Gavin asked that question, with that little boy voice. How can I resist?

I had great plans to buy a tent and have it set up in the lving room but I forgot, tents are meant to be staked down. I have wood floors. No stakes meant no tent. Oh what to do now? Aha sleeping bags! So off to the mall to buy two themed sleeping bags. Toy Story 3 and Disney princess.

( next purchased a bowling game, Gia has a long unobstructed hallway.)

Daughter dropped off the kids and away we went! First stop, pizza! I am not a great fan of delivered pizza so we picked up a couple Shoe City pizza's from a neighborhood store. After devouring those we hopped in the car and headed to Dairy Queen for an ice cream...

(note the rabbit ears Gavin is giving Lillie) We took our ce crem cones and walked up Main Street and over to the Harbor to watch the boats. We sat on a great bench for a while watching the boats and talking about life like only kids can! After taking the circular route back to the car I knew I was in for a long night!! We arrived home to cheers of "bowling, bowling". We set up the pins and let the games begin. What a wonderful time I had bowling in the hallway, the kids giggling and laughing and being so serious about the game! I think we played for over an hour, I was mostly the pin machine, spent most of the time bent over setting up the pins! (Lillie was nice enough to get a picture of that for us!

After the bowling tournament, we settled in on the floor with our sleeping bags and Gavin picked the movie Fabulous Mr Fox (OMG, whta wasGeorge Clooney and Meryl Streep thinking when they made this horribly boring stupid movie?) Lillie was the first to start snoring. Gavin needed one last movie, Christmas vacation (where does he get his horrendous movie choice genes?) Finally, two little snores can be heard, Gia gets up to try to repair the damage that two kids and a Gia create when fun is in the air! I admit, I stood for a while, watching them sleep, grateful for all the love they give me!

2010-07-15T06:57:00.002-04:00

Hard to write about trivial things when my heart is still breaking , that brown wrapped package sitting patiently on the chair in the livingroom, the decision as to what to do with it not solely mine.

I have started at least ten new posts. They will not write themselves just yet.

I have learned this past month, as I try to put the sadness behind me, that it is impossible to hide away your sorrow. The whole world seems changed, wait it is changed. I am changed. Intellectually I know that time marches on, relentlessly, without thought, or care, it marches on.

Those around you forget.

You are stuck in a moment while everything gains great speed and rushes by.

I am still an emotional wreck, secretly holding my smile on, my laughter bubbling out at appropriate times, socially right back in the game. Alone? holding tenuously to any lifeline I can find, any memory that will give me one more day, just one more day to try to rant and cry and shake my fists and tear out this lump in my throat, the hole as big as the universe in my thoughts.

It feels so irrational. I am so angry! Why am I angry? Who exactly am I so angry at? Or is what I think is anger really just such a huge amount, gargantuan amount of sad that it just feels like mad?

I want time to march on. I want to forget. I want to take off this mourning shroud and join the fun.

I am working on that. I don't think it ever really is going to go away. Don't you think we just adapt? We change ourselves so the hurt is in a different place where we can deal with it better? We twist and turn and wrap and tie and bury until we see it in the distance but it is no longer touching us every second?

I want to talk about him ,I want to keep him alive a bit longer, until I can accept that he is gone.

I have a friend. Never met her, but she is helping me. I don't expect anyone around me to want to listen. He didn't do anything great. He was not a pop icon, a pulitzer prize winner, a butcher a baker or a candlestick maker. He was just a guy. Not always a good guy, sometimes not even a great guy. But he was my brother. And he wrote our family history with us. A part of me. Stop trying to get me to move on. So I will take my time and cry and hurt and rant and scream and try to heal. But you won't see me. You will see the laughter, the talking the old me. I won't make you uncomfortable with my sadness.

You will see the lie that I am wearing so well.

Sunrise and a treasure found!

2010-07-07T12:43:00.000-04:00

This boat has washed ashore and is stuck on the rocks. I called about salvaging it. If the owner does not remove it 30 days from receiving my letter, she is mine!! There was an article about her in the local paper a while back and the owner stated he couldn't afford to have her towed off. Hmmm I went down and looked at her, she is not in too bad a shape....... I know I can find someone to help me get her home and in top shape, I just know it!!

Enjoy the day!

And on todays plate..........

2010-07-06T13:44:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a high fiber multi grain english muffin, topped with organic peanut butter and a bowl of fresh yogurt, blueberries, strawberries and maple syrup granola.Lunch is a salad of buttercrunch and redleaf lettuce, portobello mushroom pieces, tomatoes, cukes and crisp red grape halves, topped with walnut pieces, almond slivers and goat cheese. I love this Annie's Papaya Poppy Seed dressing! It changes the salad almost to a fruit bowl! And speaking of fruit bowls, these watermelon balls were the perfect afternoon snack!

Ahhhhhh the simple things!

Red

2010-07-06T13:06:00.001-04:00

This beauty has bloomed in my pond! It is the size of a dinner plate and spectacular to look at!! (taken with the macros setting on my camera)

2010-07-03T18:50:00.001-04:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, AMERICA!

Summer in the City.................

2010-07-01T16:55:00.002-04:00

My sisters, Robin and Laura, and I attended a screening to the new TNT Show "Rizzoli and Isles" at Ned Devine's Parris at Quincy Market place in Fanuiel Hall, Boston, last night! It was a fun evening which started with a ride on the redline inbound Train to JFK Museum to pick up Robin and then on to South Station to pick up Laura. We walked a few blocks to the marketplace and we were early for the 7:00 pm start so we had a chance to walk around the marketplace and then have a great dinner at Ned Devine's Parries. We saw Cheers and took photos with the cardboard cutouts, of course! There were so many great shops it was hard to take it all in during one quick walk through! There were street dancers, a group of young men break dancing, and several different musicians playing in different areas of the marketplace. Then it was off to Ned Devines.We all had the same entree, Chicken and pasta Gorgonzola! Wow was it fabulous! After two glasses of a nice house white, we headed off to the preview. I got to meet Tess Garritsen, bestselling author(see her website here) And I got a signed copy of her latest book and of course took the photo op!. TNT did a great job on the new show based on Tess's characters from her books. Angie Harmon is playing Rizzoli and Isles is played by Sasha Alexander. Gonna be a great show, make sure you catch it! And also I got the latest bestseller by Tess Garritsen, Ice Cold, and I am excited to be starting it this weekend! There was a Q&A after the show and from what I have read about the author I was prepared for a timid shy person when in fact she was upbeat, very well spoken and funny! And she didn't seem the least bit shy! I am happy I got to speak to her for a moment and that she afforded me the opportunity to take my picture with her, like a teenager I was so excited! It was a fabulous night and the city and its sights, sounds and lights always make for an interesting time even if the drive home is sooooo long!! (ps the pictures are in weird order as blogger would not allow me to rearrange them for some reason or write near them!)

(Tess Gerritsen and I at the signing)

Busy day of therapy......

2010-06-27T21:15:00.002-04:00

What a very busy day today was! I really needed to be super busy and man was I ever!

Once again, my daughter got her team, Cape Cod Housewives, together to raise money for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies. I got up a bit early and made us each a tank top to wear. We walk to raise money and awareness for babies born to early, with birth defects and some are born sleeping, forever. It made me cry to see all the t-shirts with angel wings on them, so many families walking for the same thing. We were lucky, our Lillie Ryan survived and is a thriving three year old!

Then it was home to mow the lawns, weed whack and weed the vegetable garden.

I needed some potting soil so off to the store I went, stopping at the local garden stand on the way to get some more flowers for pots and to plant around the yard. Enjoy the pics!

I have four different kinds/colors of hydrangeas.

The orange Tiger lilly's are over 4 ft tall this year!
The sweet peas are climbing and will attach themselves to the fireplace bricks! And I found these brilliant red amazing coleus and paired them with stark white geraniums! the pond is clear, the fish are happy the water hyacinths and water hibiscus are getting ready to bloom and there is a bee's nest under one of the rocks. I thought about getting it out of there, but then I thought, nope, that is why my gardens are so great, the bee's are pollinating up a storm!!
I have so many more than I am posting here. It has been an exhausting day and I am throwing in the towel for the night!

2010-06-20T07:59:00.000-04:00

My garden is starting to show signs of health!

The tomatoes are flowering as are the spaghetti squash and yellow summer squash, the cauliflower has a cauli(?) The lettuce is almost ready to harvest. The peppers have buds and the nasturtiums are spreading and the beans are climbing.!

I really haven't had to do much more than water as the weeds are at a minimum right now. I have a feeling like all the rest of the flowers in my yard this year, early will be the operative word. Everything seems to be on a sped-up schedule this year. The lilacs bloomed and went, the iris bloomed and are gone, the peonies are past. My summer cutting garden is already starting to bloom and it is only the third week of June!
I did overhear some oldtimers uptown talking about hurricane season and the weird way the animal and vegetable kingdoms know well in advance when a natural disaster is imminent! Guess we will just have to wait and weather whatever may come along! In the meantime I am waiting {im}patiently to eat the fruits of my labor!

The world has gone mad...................................

2010-06-15T08:39:00.003-04:00

Unattended, unexpected, unintended,unknown causes, were all followed by the word death. I apologize beforehand for it appears my blog has become a place of sadness,where I seem to only have time to attend to it when I have something wrong.
Did I say "something wrong" (((sigh))))) Yes it is wrong. It is unjust. It can't have happened.

Wednesday, I was on a flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale. I was meeting PeeDee of "Queen of the Dogs" blog for a nice lunch on Ft Lauderdale Beach (yes that's her on the scooter!), Lulu's Bait Shack. Met Jake and Remi, chatted by the pool for a bit and headed off for my visit with my daughter and her family. Tired but elated to be there, hot and tired from being up at 2 am for the flight. Daughter and family with open arms, hugs and love abounding! Just what my vacationing body needed!

Until the phone rang a little after midnight. My cell phone. My sister calling to tell me my brother in Chicago was dead. Dead. My brother. Dead. I am still having a very hard time with those words. Wrapping my thoughts around the phrase. My brother Don is Dead. reads like a 2nd grade reader, right? "The little brown fox jumped over the fence" It has been two days and I still cannot face those words. I will never see my brother again. period. Never hear his voice unless I can preserve the last phone message I have or the recording he put on his voicemail. I can not think this without feeling like I need to put my hands in my hair and pull, until I feel enough pain to offset the vast, bottomless, dismal hole that has appeared in my chest. My voice is horse from the continual cry that escapes my lips when I remind myself I will never see my brother again. The skin around my eyes tender to the touch from wiping them so much with whatever is handy, a sleeve, a towel, a shaky hand.
Finding a flight from Florida to Chicago on short notice, hours, was a miracle itself, but for my sisters to fly from Boston and get in at the same time, was profoundly perfect! A hotel, a vehicle big enough to carry we knew not what, back home with us . The Deputy Chief of Police, Forest Park, was so compassionate, caring and helpful, meeting with us, explaining the circumstances to us, answering our questions and believing what we had to say.
Traveling with the CIO team of Detectives back to the apartment, where they stood by while we stared in horror, disgust, hurt and confusion. Who would ransack a dead mans home, take what they wanted and close the door, leaving him there? They must have had to step over him while making their way out? With his clothes in their arms? his shoes on their feet? His pictures of our mother? Why would someone need those things?
As we were going thru what was left, a parade of people came thru, RETURNING HIS THINGS THAT THEY JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE TAKEN. Who does that? WHO DOES THAT TO A DEAD FRIEND??????????? A trio of old lovers traipsing through, gathering what they wanted, what they deserved what they told others he gave to them . Before he even had a chance to become a ghost.
Autopsy reveals no trauma. No cause of death for at least 12 weeks while the toxicology tests are performed. No closure. How can there ever be closure? How can there ever be memories of a time without feeling the loss. The sound of your Dad's voice when you wake him up to tell him by phone that his son was dead. At 47.
All the lies heaped on lies by the people he called friends. Lovers.
He and I were so close. We used to say that we were twins, he the male me, and I the female him, that is how much we resembled each other! I always had his back, even when I got mad at him, and he always believed I could fly!
I will never know why, how, what,who. There will be no closure, no answers in the dark of night to ease the ache of losing him.
I am not prepared to face the living yet. I am holed up in my home, angry at humanity, angry at him. Angry at the God I stopped counting on a long time ago. I am not used to being angry. It feels alien in my skin.

I cannot face the human race that has so disgusted me with it's treatment of one of their own.

Thank you.....

2010-05-30T12:04:00.003-04:00

We cherish too the poppy red

that grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

that blood of heroes never dies

Moina Michael, 1915

Garden started!

2010-05-29T05:43:00.000-04:00

Look whats happening in my garden!

All the veggies are coming up fantastically!

I have tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, yellow sweet bell peppers, romaine, Boston and red lettuces, sweet basil, spinach, spaghetti squash, melons and a few stalks of corn!

I still need some tubers, like potatoes and carrots, just get me some more time!!

The heirloom (over 60 years old!) Black Giant Iris' are in bloom, spectacular! And crazily for this time of year, my peonies are in bloom!!

I have filled the window boxes with scarlet and white impatiens and will gather pics as they fill in .
I also placed a scarlet mandevilla on the deck!
Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Gia

THANK YOU..................

2010-05-27T12:17:00.003-04:00

Thank you I Will always remember and honor you!

THE DECK PROJECT

2010-05-24T18:34:00.001-04:00

Wow have I been busy!
Seems I have either less time or more things to do since I started on the day shift! Either way, blogging has taken a back seat! One thing that was accomplished was I have a new ginormous deck! After whining to Dad (begging was more like it!) he was a champ and gave me what I wanted! Actually, I just asked for a little bigger deck than the one I had, but he used his magic and produced the deck of my dreams!!
I have already gotten new furniture for it, got a Chimera from my daughter for Mothers day, and bought a fancy fire pit!
I got all the vegetables in the ground and they are growing great. Now for a small chance to relax on my perfect deck!!!

Mothers Day from my daughter!

2010-05-09T13:22:00.000-04:00

This is what I am talking about! My daughter in Florida wrote this to me today!

to MY mother:
although our life's been turbulent
we've always seen the sun
your guidance and your tenderness
has taught us not to run
your marking's sewn upon our souls
your words imprinted deep
your courage and your stamina
determine the paths we keep
your never ending empathy
your heart's an endless sea
your wisdom spreads like wildfire
you've been our giving tree
your there when life takes over
you repair us when we're broken
you stand up for humanity
you are God's priceless token
this distance is our enemy
it tries to wedge a gap
our spirits too compatible
to fall into that trap
these thoughts of you run rampant
the words just spilling out
all it takes is love, mom
that's what it's all about
i treasure you, my mother
my heart is heavy here
i yearn to have you with me
i wish that you were near
but then i close my eyes
and i see you in my mind
and i know that there will come a time
a solution we will find
a time we'll be together
to experience the world
we'll conquer it together
as mom and little girl
today i want to tell you, mom
the impact that you've made
your holy grails of knowledge
for nothing would i trade
remember me upon this day
wherever you may be
smile as i know you will
let your heart be free
now it's time to to say the words
i'm proud to want to say
i love you from the depths of me
and thank you forever and a day!

happy mothers day mom! i love you

The birth of a storm

2010-05-08T14:01:00.002-04:00

This morning after my run I noticed the wind picking up. As I was standing at the sliders looking out towards the backyard, the sky cast a real strange color on my arm.

I looked up to see the sky swirling with clouds.

They were travelling really fast and then stopping short, all folding into each other. I began to hear thunder in the distance.

The photographs do not begin to show what fantastic artistry the sky was painting! Just seconds after the last shot, big, no huge blops of raindrops began to fall as the cluods melded into one large gray canopy with no beginning and no end in sight. I was so happy to have been there at the birth of this storm because otherwise, I never would have seen the majesty of nature performing its dance!

Mothers Day

2010-05-07T14:04:00.001-04:00

I really wanted to put up a post for mothers day about my Mom, who I miss every day more than the last, for the last fourteen years.
But the words sailing around in my head are about me. Me being a mother. A mother to two of the most loving, caring, empathetic, compassionate women. If I wasn't their Mom I would sure be standing in line to be their best friends! They are 11 months apart, born into a stormy home. They didnt notice. They had each other to occupy their time. When it became just the three of us, they kept me so busy, half the time I forgot to be scared! Even though they had some rough spots between them, they never once forgot me.

Being their Mom has been my whole world.

MY WHOLE WORLD!

I am amazed that it has been over thirty years since I had my first daughter. Thirty years that have been the moments that define me, made me decide what kind of legacy I wanted to share with them, let them see me turn my back on others or always step in and help when I was able. I chose the later. They choose the later.
When I think about the huge responsibility I took on by becoming their Mom, I am overwhelmed, surprised that I did such a great job! My daughters are still my whole world but they have expanded it, filled it to overflowing with grand children, the likes of which I never dreamed! How can one mothers heart be so full and then filled again. When my life was only me and my Mom, I tried to do things that she would be proud of, tried to show her how much I loved her. Not always picking the easy way, I still was always on the lookout for love and honors from mom. Being my daughters mother, I can finally stop searching. I hear that love and pride each time one of them call me. Each time one of them kisses me hello or goodbye.
Me, that really scared single Mom, did it. I provided a foundation that my daughters have built beautiful lives upon.
So happy Mothers Day to me!

((Gia hopes all people, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, humanity, enjoy the weekend and share a smile with someone who is wearing a frown!)))

When your children fight....

2010-05-06T11:53:00.002-04:00

When your children fight..........

My girls were best of friends growing up, holding hands and arms around each other all the time, never wanting any other friends but each other. they were close in age, 11 months apart, so they always were about the same size and to avoid feelings of jealousy, I always bought them the same outfits but one always got pink and the other got purple. If those colors were not a choice they got the same in whatever the available colors were. Until they were in 5th and 6th grade that is.
I think this is when they started to pull away from each other and try to establish a life without the other. By the time they were in 7th and 8th the differences between them were big enough to fill the grand canyon from end to end and top to bottom. I was heartbroken day after day as their fighting got worse and more violent. I would try to make it stop, make them see that they really only had each other. That they should always be friends with each other, they were sisters!!
It is sacred and special to have a sister!
None of this got past the outside of either of their ears. Life at my house turned into a major war zone. With physical violence a yell away, the threat of bodily harm was all too real. How does one go from being such loving sisters to horrendous, brutal enemies? I was not prepared to deal with this at all. I worked two jobs most of the time so that they would have all that their peers had. I would try to take them together to Broadway shows in Boston - disaster- to restaurants - disaster after disaster, I gave up. I don't know if I had to do it over again if I would make the same choices. Would it have made a difference? Who knows now.
After the girls went their separate ways and developed adult lives of their own, they sent out tentative signs that they wanted to be sisters again. The healing came in the form of a tiny belly bump and continued to grow along with that baby belly! As Miss Neveah was born and grew, so did my daughters try to resume their relationship. While it will never be that wonderful, blind devotion that it was, it makes my heart rest a minute to think they have recovered enough to respect each other and try to see things through the others eyes. Will it last if I am not here? I don't know, I hope it will.
Recently an argument ensued between them . I felt all that old fear creep in and take hold. I no longer have the strength to separate them. I can no longer sit them down together and make them talk it out, give each other a hug and move on, forgetting the argument. I can only sit by and hope that all the love and caring and compassion they show to the world will shine through to each other and they will not have to worry about ever being alone as long as they have each other., that there is nothing they can't do as long as they have each other, realize that they don't have to always agree, they can't always agree because they are two stong independant thinking women............but most of all , they are sisters!

Welcome!

2010-05-05T11:31:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Nurse Mommy is a new blog I am welcoming to the blogosphere.

I expect to be reading great things as she is a Mom, a wife and a Nurse, what a great combo!

So I would ask all my readers/friends to hop over and check it out with the thought in mind that its the first post! Show her around, send a welcome bouquet, leave a hello comment! but if you are thinking of sending chocolates, please send those my way !
Have a great day all, warm weather is really here!

I have some posts scheduled to go up now that the fog has lifted!
Happy day!!
Gia

Todays food obsession

2010-04-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

Again a drizzle of a day in the morning. What better way to start the day after a great workout than a great breakfast! (I did mention that I was becoming obsessed with cooking, right?)

So I chopped and diced and sauteed some sweet yellow onions, sweet red pepper, baby spinach leaves, mushrooms and some asparagus tips in my favorite grape seed oil. I put that aside and whisked up one whole organic egg and two egg whites with a little garlic and cayenne pepper. I ran that around the pan till almost all the egg was cooked and then spread the sauteed items and sprinkled with some mild cheddar cheese . I sliced some fresh multi grain bread, toasted it and swept some peanut butter on it. A feast for a king. No need for lunch today!

Then after shopping, working in the yard to move some plants so the crew can start on my new deck, I once again closeted my self in the kitchen to compose my dinner!

I tossed a baby spinach salad with tomatoes, peeled cukes, a few baby carrots and sprinkled some goat cheese over that. I drizzled some Organic Roasted Garlic vinagarete dressing and let that sit while I pan seared some scallops with Caribbean Jerk seasoning. Light meal that packed a wallop in taste!

I decided to read while I enjoyed the meal and I was halfway into this book..........................

2010-04-26T19:35:00.001-04:00

I was awarded the "Honest Scrap" Award by Ann T. Hathaway, go check out her blog. I must admit she is one freaking smart cookie! Some of her posts are darn near genius!

The Rules: You mention me, so that readers can follow the chain up and back and meet new bloggers. Then you tell Ten Things about yourself. That gives you the opportunity to choose other bloggers you believe should be highlighted! It is up to ten awardees.

You can mix it up, tell Ten things you believe about your work, or something like that. It's still personal but won't give your home address, if you know what I mean. Or you can just tell us any thing at all.

So the ten things about me..

I absolutely love, love, love dark chocolate, on ANYTHING!

I am terrified of dying.

I will read anything in my path, even boxes, wrappers, you name it I will read it!

I love wearing socks!

I love my job dispatching.

Sometimes I am afraid I will be alone , forever.

I love to travel, anywhere!

I love good food!~

My grandkids make me smile even when they are doing nothing!

Now I get to pick some of my interesting blogs to share the award......

(not in any particular order..)

Resuing Providence
Michael Morse is a firefighter in Providence RI, author of a book of the same name and soon to be movie. He writes about the nights and days of a firefighter on Rescue One. Go see his blog, you will laugh, and cry and you will cry somemore. He writes a fabulous story!

Story Teller Doc
This man will have you changing your mind about ER doctors with his heroic tales of compassion, caring and even the lunacy in an ER!

Texas Ghostrider
Here is a Texas Detective that posts about some of the most interesting Ties! Yes I said ties, neck ties, that he and Ninja Detective wear. He also has some good tips for law enforcement and is an all around good read!

Fooseberry pie
A working Mom who had weight loss surgery and all the things she has to deal with in her "Mom" life! A scrapper indeed!

Nobody Asked Me
Old NFO is a retired Navy guy, his blog is all over the world! He writes of his travels, whatever is on his plate for the day! I so enjoy reading his blog and his comments!

Frostbottom Farm
A wonderful read, all about anything from a to z, the garden, the animals in it, farming, etc. Well written and welll thought out with fabulous pictures! A very calm blog, never a cuss to be heard!

As for the rest, they have already received the award but I will name them anyway!
Queen of the Dogs - Pee Dee - reader beware great big heart with a bit of a potty mouth (her words not mine!) but she is a love !

Report on Conditions - Capt Joe Schmoe - He doesnt like to be on the hot seat so I give him honorable mention just to get you over to his Fire Blog!

So that is my award post.
Once again, Thank you Ann T. for putting me with the greats, a little fame feels good!
Gia

Road trip home

2010-04-25T21:00:00.000-04:00

Was a drizzler of a day, but we headed out early to try to outrun the rain that we had heard was heading out to Western Mass. We were driving into the Berkshires, to Agawam to be exact, sister Robin and I, to visit with our very oldest friends Laurie and Charlene and their mom, Mrs. Friends mom. We have known this family since I was about 4. Our Mom's were great friends, nine kids between them!. We had many kid capers well into our teens! Even when my parents uprooted us and moved us to the Cape, I would take a bus back to Agawam every summer and spend it there, a part of the family!
It has been many, many years since I last had contact with them but to my joy and great surprise, after Laurie having found me on FaceBook and her attending my surprise party in February, we decided to get together today, hence the road trip!
It was a great day of remembering, of getting "mom" hugs which have been missing since my mom died, and just falling right into place as if we were never separated by over twenty years! Friends like this remain in hearts and never really get lost! It was a wonderful day and we made future plans for sailing out of Mystic Connecticut where Charlene and her husband have their sailboat!

Going "home" was never so easy!

(l to r - Charlene, Robin, Gia and Laurie, front, Mrs. Friends Mom)

Food!

2010-04-24T19:12:00.000-04:00

I have been into cooking a bit more now that the weather is changing and I am feeling the newness of spring.

The other night I was craving a pizza. Not just any pizza. I really was craving a homemade "white pizza"
So off I went to Shaws and hurriedly picked up the items I would need before my hunger forced me to scourge the isles for anything and everything I could find!
Here is what I made

Looks scrumptious, yes?

I first took a piece of whole grain Nan (Indian bread), swept it with grape seed oil placed baby spinach and portobelo mushrooms alongside sweet red tomatoes and goat cheese and smothered that with some low fat cheddar and mozzarella over the top. After a bit in the oven, I was eating a deliriously wonderful pizza that not only tasted better than bought but was good for me too!

Tonight I was after some fish. Decided to hit the Falmouth Fish Market and start using my birthday Gift Cetificate! They were busy. So I had some time to meander around the fish case and decide. I decided on some large fresh scallops for use tomorrow and a very dark red piece of Sushi grade tuna. This I used for dinner.
I placed chives, cayenne pepper ,milled black pepper chunks and sesame seeds in a bowl and coated the tuna with it, pounding it in so it would be a thick coating. After heating a pan and grape seed oil, I placed the tuna in and seared it until the sesame seeds turned golden brown, thus assurring that the tuna inside would still be raw. ! Tuna Ahi! I steamed some asparagus, cauliflower,Brussels sprouts, baby carrots and cabbage and then sprinkled some rice vinager on it to give it some zip.
The Ahi was restaurant quality, as good as most I have had out and of course the veggies were great, steamed but still crunchy, leaving all the flavor and the nutrients! Now its time to relax and enjoy. Scallops on the plate next.
Until next time!

Sunny and cool.........

2010-04-19T18:08:00.002-04:00

It was a bit cold today but I cared not as the sun was shining and the birds were yapping in the backyard at the feeders!
I rediscovered the bleeding hearts that I always forget about until they bloom and really drip with color in an otherwise green spring! Love them!

Had the kids today and they amused themselves and me as well, on the swings and climbing to the "clubhouse" and sliding down. It is old but serviceable and I think will last till the kids outgrow it and I can reclaim that side of the yard!
I helped them with starting their seeds as they wanted to have a vegetable garden themselves this year so we planted watermelon, corn, cucumbers, purple cabbage, lettuce yellow squash and melons. I will be pleasantly surprised if the seeds germinate as Lillie liked to plant them and then dig them back up to see if they had started to grow yet! You really do learn patience when doing projects with a six year old and a three year old.
After a snack and a drink, Gavin informed me that he needed to go and see his Doctor as his ear was hurt and he had an infection.
Well, yes he does have an ear infection after all! He never complains so coming from him, we knew it had to be true! Ironic as Lillie is going in on Thursday to have tubes placed in her ears to stop her from having so many ear infections!
I "attempted" to put together the new cedar swing for two I bought over the winter amidst one comic disaster after another! I needed a few different socket wrenches , which should have been found in the basement tool area but were MIA along with just about all my hand tools.... teach me to hire a stranger to do a dump run for me while I was not at home! Darn near cleaned me out of tools! Thankfully he didn't spot the new router, skill saw and cordless drills!! That would have required a call to my local hometown POPO station!
Then while pounding the arms together with the rubber mallet prior to screwing the wood screws in, the mallet SPLIT IN TWO and almost took my nose with it! Nice,,,, who knew those things dry rot?
Then the new tool caddy I picked up at Walmart while getting some of those wrenches, had a metal bar across the top to carry it and I leaned on it and my fingers, to the second knuckle, were jammed between the metal and the sharp plastic, and it hurt so bad I thought I was screaming but realized I maybe whimpered a bit while screaming in my head!
Wow that hurt like effing hell!
I finally managed to unjam my hand and apply some ice while finally doing what I should have done in the first place after the first disaster struck... Used my uninjured hand to twist open a frosty cold bottle of Bud Light Lime, take a long cold draw from the upturned bottle and call it a day!
Oh a good thing did happen, got the measurements for my new deck addition! It is going to be a monster of a deck now! I will be entertaining before I know it and enjoying the company of friends and family.
If you see the torches lit, the pond lights aglow and music wafting on the warm summer air, stop for a bite, a drink and check out the new deck! Updates on that project soon! Along with the outdoor shower I am planning also! Oh I love working days! Happy feet!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2010-04-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

My month started out terrible and proceeded to get even worse!

Brother in hospital with blood clots in leg and lungs, He is still in danger but out of the hospital.

Sister had knee surgery to repair ACL and other assorted parts. In hospital on third day home - possible blood clot..... She is better and walking and recovering with PT!

Best friends mother passed away suddenly after complaining of pulled muscle in chest.

Then life got back on track. I got bumped to day shift, love it! (after a bit of sleep adjusting and learning how to be awake in the daytime again!) Bought my daughter a bike and a trailer for the kids for her birthday and we had our maiden voyage on the Shining Sea Bikeway into Woods Hole, a snack at Pie in the Sky.

Lillie brought Baby Dora along for her entertainment.

Making some delicious meals now that dinner is truely dinnertime again! Fresh veggies saute'd in grapeseed oil and garlic, lots of garlic, a dash of dill, pork medalions all over whole wheat pasta! Yumm does not begin to describe it!

I finally received my Vibram Five Finger shoes delivered. Tried them out slowly and just this morning put in a full run wearing them! A very odd sensation, barefoot but not quite! I am rediscovering some long unused muscles in my feet! They are funny looking but I am sure enjoying them!

Daffodils are everywhere and hyacynths are exploding! It is raining this weekend so I expect the landscaping on the Cape to turn green and full of new blooms!

And I always love the opportunity to see my grandson getting off the school bus as his face just shines from the inside out when he see's me waiting and he practically knocks me over with his oh so enthusiatic hugs!

Once again, life is good! Actually it is always good with an occasional bump to shake things up! I am getting plans ready to enjoy this new schedule of mine! Camping at Whispering Pines in Rhode Island, kayaking the ponds, lakes and streams of Cape Cod, biking the paths, Visiting Martha's Vinyard and training for a triathalon in august! Gotta get that bucket list going for this decade!

5 Alarm fire this morning

2010-03-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

Here
are some awesome fire pics for all the firefighters I know! This came in this morning and our FD had to respond with mutual aid! The pictures speak volumes!! They awe and scare at the same time. FIREFIGHTERS RAWK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Capt. Schmoe, this one's for you!!
Gia

How to make a rainy day sunny?

2010-03-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

With one each of these, that's how!! Add umbrella's and there you have the secret recipe for a sunny, rainy day!
('jammies are a requirement also)

This has to be a joke, right?

2010-03-25T04:59:00.001-04:00

Well I never post anything that happens while at work. Tonight will be the exception as I still am in awe, shock, disbelief at what people constitute as a reason to call their local police department when its not an emergency. Or even a police matter. Or even a civil matter.

ME: "Unknown Police Department, emergency recorded line....."

HIM: Hi....... this isn't an emergency.. Umm But I will give a big, no a huge , donation to the Unknown Police Department, to the Police retirement fund, or whatever you want,...Could you send an officer over to help me move my couch?/ No seriously, i would just need him to hold it for a couple minutes,.."

ME: "Sir....ummm.. I am not going to send an officer to help you move your couch.."

HIM: "But I will make a huge donation, I will, I know it's three in the morning, (It wasn't 3:00 it was 1:30!!) but I just need him for a couple minutes.. Please, Ma'am?"

ME: "Sir, again, I cannot send an officer out to help you move your couch now or in the daytime. Sir if you don't have any other emergency needs, I am hanging up now..."

HIM: "well, I thought it was worth a try.. It's too heavy for me to move it.."

ME: "well good luck Sir, and ahhhh ,,have a good night"

I can't make this stuff up, folks. I thought it was a practical joke by one of the Officers on the shift but I sent a message thru the MDT and he had no idea what I was talking about!!

Please go back to sleep and leave the spring cleaning for the lady of the house as you obviously have issues!

Now I am waiting for the Swan lady to reappear and ask for help with mating swans..................

2010-03-22T03:53:00.003-04:00

.

I have always been a farmer wanna-be.

I grew up in the western part of the state where my parents grew corn and other veggies. We used ducks for our egg supply and Mom used to can all the produce. I remember getting potatoes and onions from the "root cellar" we had in the basement and the smell and feel of apples gently aging in a bin also! It was scary, I recall, and I dreaded when Mom would ask me to go and get something from it! The rhubarb pies she would trade with the lady down the street for what, I can no longer recall. I remember when my uncle Dick would be over in the fall after hunting and give my Mom venison, wrapped in white paper packages, ready for the freezer. I remember playing on the humongous wood pile that was steadily being cut and split to sell for cash. I remember once Mom opening the side door to get the glass milk bottles the Hood man would leave and one burst and cut her finges nearly off and she needed stitches. We had a family doctor who would come to the house for all our needs, like shots, vaccinations, scrapes and coughs!
I have been thinking, remembering, when life seemed so much less.................
less costly
less violent
less away from home time
less lonely
less complicated
less "man made" food
(It's funny as I read the above, I sound like Little house on the Prairie instead of the 70's !!)

As you walk the aisles in the grocery store, all the tempting tastes you see make it hard to resist. I can. But those raised in the 1980's and beyond, don't have the memories of eating fresh from the garden produce that they grew, from eating fresh meat that they tended to themselves, eggs so fresh you still feel the warmth from the hen, or the wonder of being quiet for hours while standing beside your Dad fishing, trying to catch "the Big One" to bring home for supper, dreaming of your future. They are the new generations of fast food, faster food and man made to look like food.

In the last few years I have attempted to grow my own vegetables to try to stay away from big company pesticides and chemicals they use to mass produce food. It is not so easy to do this if you have a family. Or if you have never made anything from scratch.. really homemade, not homemade from a box mix. I have come to totally enjoy and look forward to the actual preparation of my meals as well as the taste. What a delight to eat after smelling the aromas as they are emitted from the food!

This spring, I am once again attempting to grow what I eat daily. I hope this year that the weeds do not hamper my efforts as they did last year and I was left with a tangled mess that I could not recover! I am enlisting the help of some older friends who have been out of work due to economics. they will tend to the weeding if I cant get to it. I will supply them with vegetable for their labors (I hope!) I am switching to days for at least three months at work so I will be able to spend so much more time in the gardens than I have before. I have been down and oh so gloomy for it seems forever. I am looking forward to this planting time and the resurrection of my" garden farming" plans!! I am looking forward to my fathers return from Florida so I can have some fresh eggs again as I have no leads on a local farmer who sells fresh eggs and he keeps several laying hens. I would like to finally use the food dehydrator that he and I bought two years ago. I plan on growing some herbs also. I am finally excited to be getting back to nature after a long hibernation on the night shift! I hope to chronicle my efforts and post pictures as I go along! (((Gia shakes herself, dusts off the cobwebs, throws her head back and breaths a sigh of happiness!)))
(here are some links to blogs that I read that talk of farms, gardens and eating !) Go and visit, grab a cup of tea and relax!
3 Acre Homestead Here is the link

MadGnomes

DinnerGarden here is the link
.

Signs of Life

2010-03-09T02:31:00.001-05:00

No matter what, I was determined to get out into the yard and assess the winters damage. What a beautiful day it was! the sky was so blue and the sun was so bright!

I meandered around and saw the hydrangea's were sprouting greenery! That is a sure sign that spring is at hand.

The bearded Black Iris was up as were the Gladiola's. The yarrow was green and the Foxglove was peeking out!

There were buds on everything, the rose bushes, the maples and the tulips!!It was a wonderful time, I wanted to stay outside all day! But had to sleep for the night shift! But really, tomorrow is another day and I plan on enjoying it too! My yard is a disaster but I am so ready to play in the dirt! I want to ride my bike, glide with my kayak on the little streams and byways and hike the glorious trails around the Cape! I have big plans for this spring, summer and fall, oh yes I do! So bring it on!!!!!!!!

Return of an old friend.

2010-03-04T03:32:00.000-05:00

As long as I can remember, I have written poetry when I am dealing with strong emotions or a crisis in my life. I have journals and pages of lined paper, filling boxes, from all the years of angst, from being a kid to being a teenager, first love, and heartache! Whenever I needed it, I could write and get rid of it. It always made me feel like I could breath again without the tears coming, fast and furious. When my Mom passed away, I was empty. I tried and tried to write, to get rid of the heavy stone that was a walking part of me. I ached but I was blank, the poetry, the music, the symetry was gone. My final writing was her eulogy. That seemed to have used all the last creativeness I held inside.

Over the years since, I have been called upon to compose something for an event, and have had to spend hours and days dragging the words across the page
.
As I sat with my friend Maude today, and my eyes were shiny with tears unshed, I felt the words crowding my head, tumbling over one another, looking for release. As I sat watching her life ebb away one tiny, struggling breath at a time, I saw again my Mom and all those feelings came crowding out.
As soon as I was in the car, I found some old receipts and hurriedly wrote the words below before I even left the parking area. Since, the words are flowing like hot lava and I am flying with release.
This gift was missing for so long.
My recent heartaches have been almost more than I can bear alone. Three friends dying from the same horrible thing, lung cancer. It is not an easy thing to show the world, your family, friends and co workers, a smiling face and mundane conversation when inside my heart is lying in pieces, floating on the puddle of my unshed tears. I know it is life. I know life goes on. I know I know. But it begs the questions that are timeless and that go unanswered until we, too, leave this journey for the next. It doesn't take away the feeling of having death around and sadness filling each thinking moment.

So I am glad I have my old friend back to help relieve my heartache. I am sure gonna need it in the coming days! Thanks for all your great comments on my writing on Maude below.
I am hoping I can start writing in my blog again, also, as that too has suffered! I want to run, hike,garden, kayak, feel alive with the spring!
Live. Love. Laugh
Gia

Today.

2010-03-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

sitting by your bedside today
the light was fading in your eyes
the morphine stealing your laughter
as we said our last goodbyes

you looked so very scared
didnt want to see me go
I knew you needed rest, though,
for your final journey home

How is it that you kept thanking me
for a friendship we both had
all the years we spent chit chatting
about the happy and the sad

I pray your journey ends tonight
with my love firmly in your heart
feel my hand in yours, Maude
when from this earth you do depart.

You whispered, "Please don't forget me"
Oh lord, hear my pleas
make sure she remebers nothing
but love when she is with thee!!

Masterpieces unveiled!

2010-02-28T03:04:00.004-05:00

With wide eyes and wider smiles, I was presented with these two masterpiece paintings. They are now framed and placed in the honorary Hallway of Perfection at Gia's house.

The bottom " Rainbow in Kindergarten" (8X10) was Gavin's proud gift and the top ,Lillie presented me with

the " Colors Were Not Mixed" (16X20) fine painting.

Of course photographs do not do justice to the majesty and care that went into these works of art. The very feeling behind them jumps out from the paint when seen in person! The artful brush strokes and color combinations just astound the eye and the beholder is left with quite a feeling of love!

I now share them with all the blogosphere!

Help for a Chicago Cop..............................

2010-02-26T11:24:00.001-05:00

I copied this and put it here (with permission from the blog owner here to see if we can't get this for the couple! How outstanding to have someone stand by you after you have been injured on the job, a head injury at that!. They deserve this no matter what department or city they work for!!

Come on, we'd do it for you too!!

Gia

Honeymoon for Densey Cole

This is a repost from Second City Cops Blog...... Densey Cole a Chicago Police officer was severely injured in a head on collision while responding to a burglary call. His wife Mary entered them in a Contest at CRATE AND BARREL for the ULTIMATE WEDDING. Please take a minute out of your day and go vote for Densey and Mary so they receive the wedding and honeymoon of their dreams!!!!! Here's the link........................

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/33527?vote=1

Thank you!

Food for Thought.........

2010-02-22T06:05:00.000-05:00

Had dinner here last week... wonderful! It was cozy, a bit on the romantic side, small enough to feel pampered without having your neighbor hear your conversations!

Grilled Thai Shrimp braised bok choy, spicy peanut sauce and
Parma Prosciutto Carpaccio wild mushroom risotto, Asiago cheese, white truffle oil started us off. A California Reisling for me, California Chardonney for Date. Warmed rolls and fresh butter. Ummmm delightful!
Vanilla Bean Cheese Cake strawberry puree and Chocolate Seduction Cake rich-dense chocolate cake, oreo cookie crust, crème anglaise, raspberry coulis, an espresso for me, a Grand Marnier for Date, was the finish.... The entree's were so delicious but unfortunately I can't remember what they were called and they were not on the regular menu they were the specials that night. How idiotic, right? The wine was not spectacular, priced high for mediocre tastes! But.....
I loved this restaurant immediately! Just the atmosphere alone turned me into an instantly relaxed customer!

Definitely will go back. And give it 5 stars! ***** I think though I am trying the Belfry Bistro Inn and Painted Lady Cafe in Sandwich, MA first though! That looks intriguing! See you there possibly?
Bon Appetite !

A Sustainable blog..

2010-02-14T12:07:00.000-05:00

I have been following a blog here (go take a peek!) as I am interested in sustainable gardens, food, energy anything that will produce better living for myself and those in my surrounding world. This blog interests me because the garden is in Japan yet he is struggling with the exact same issues as we do here in the states!

It is a small plot, a tract of land that looks unlikely to produce anything of value. Yet he just posted a picture that just pops with pink in his "dun" colored landscape (dun is his word!) I haven't told him I am blogging and linking to his site. Maybe I should give him a heads up. I read through his previous posts and what an interesting person he seems to be.! Not too different than I am after all, after worlds apart, just a step away, really! Welcome to the neighborhood, Matsuyama Eco-home!! I read with great interests your journey !

Gladys Knight.......She still has it!!

2010-02-14T11:31:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BwOg9aPPNk

My song for myself on this day!!

What a beautiful night for Broadway in Boston!

2010-02-13T06:47:00.001-05:00

The stage was set last week. My surprise party netted me tickets to Dreamgirls at the Colonial Theater in Boston.
With my two sisters! Sister Robin and I drove in, hit a small pocket of traffic upon entering the city, but otherwise the trip was uneventful. Sister Laura was waiting for us on the corner of Atlantic and Essex, where we proceeded to do a Chinese firedrill in the middle of the intersection! Sister Laura drives into the city almost daily for work so she would make the trip accross town easier (lol sure!) We found excellent parking that would later turn out to be a nightmare. The Colonial theater is small as far as theaters go, and old but still opulent, reminiscent of era's gone by. We walked around the District looking for a good place to eat. We found Rockbottom on Stuart street which was fabulous and they had a table for us right away! The wine list was mediocre and the menu small but the entree we all had was outstanding! It was Scallops, Shrimp and Halibut over grilled pollenta and smothered in a tomato white wine sauce. Fresh rolls we used to wipe the plates!! Dessert was a pint size mocha ice cream sundae with chocolate wafers crushed and chocolate sauce drizzled over all. Outstanding!! We lingered over a final glass of wine then made our way over to the show.
The show was fantastic. Very well performed by the cast and throughout the entire show, goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes by the great singing. One of those memorable nights that live on and on in your memory! The stage and sets were so well done and the costumes appeared authentic. Some of the costume changes were like magic, done under your very nose but they had you distracted elsewhere and viola' costume change! Watch this montage from the show. If you love musicals, you will love this clip. So turn up the volume and dream!!

I had a magical night once again with my sisters! Morning is here already and a new day rises but the night lives on! Ahhhhhh
Next stop John Mayer at the TD Garden on the 24th, dinner somewhere over the bridge and the great company of my sisters!

PS the nightmare parking garage where we could not find our car? Scary I tell you! We all remembered the exact same spot that we left the car, mass hysteria? Or haunted parking garage... you be the judge!

Surprise party for.........................................ME!

2010-02-09T05:55:00.005-05:00

I took Saturday night off to attend the surprise 70th party for one of my "coffee guys" (the group of 20 or so men I have coffee with mornings I am off work)
Turns out, it was MY surprise 50th birthday party! My daughter Sephra planned it.
Not only was I surprised, my heart nearly burst from the sight I beheld as I saw my Florida daughter, son-in-law and grand daughters step into my line of sight as I walked in the door. The ache in my heart melted as I was swept up into their hugs and kisses that I so dearly miss each and everyday. I could not stop my tears (boy I wish I had worn waterproof mascara)
As I looked around the large room at the sea of faces, I was so surprised by some and warmed by others! As the greeting lines dwindled, a final person stepped forward for a hug. My very best, first friend in the world, Laurie, (shown here with sister Laura) whose mom and my mom were friends when we were born.......... the years melted away and we were at once comfortable with each other, laughing, crying, looking at each other with all the wonder of five year olds!! And then one more face popped into view, my Dad also flew in from Florida!

There were old friends and new friends, my chiropractor Derek Carroll and his wife, Mr Date was there, as was my friend and old employee Sue. Too many people to name.
The food spread was fabulous, enough to feed a large army. The cake was a picture of me at five. There was a cash bar, DJ Frye spinning out the sounds that livened up the party and had me dancing the night away! (that is me with my new cowboy boots on oh and I cut my hair and turned it chestnut brown, dancing with the kids!)
I received so many gifts. I am still overwhelmed at the outpouring of love that was just for me. Had anyone asked me if I wanted a party for my 50th I would have honestly said no, I would rather be quiet and maybe a small dinner at a favorite restaurunt, But I will never get over the fantastically fabulous, magically wonderful night I had, covorting with the kids on the dance floor, catching up with old friends and seeing family. My sisters were both there. Their gift to me is the show "Dreamgirls" at the Colonial Theater in Boston with dinner in the North end first this friday night!. My daughters had a portrait done of all the kids together.

For the first time in such a long , long time , my world was complete. Both my daughters were at my side, my grandkids were before me, my sisters and Dad behind me, and friends surrounded me. I will have these memories with me forever,

The next morning we all gathered for breakfast at the Falmouth Grill. It was mediocore but the company was 5 star !
The day went by so fast. Daughter and family had to head back to Florida and real life.
I went back to my house which seemed even more empty and silent after the voices of the kids had filled it to overflowing once again.
I have to find a away to thank my daughter for planning this fabulous get together for me. She kept it a surprise (I can't believe she could keep that from me after all I have taught her about keeping secrets from her Mom!!) I am so thankful for all the people who made my night complete and my party a great success!
As the photo's start to creep in from those who had camera's, I am laughing and crying and reliving each and every moment again. I didn't realize how lonely I have been. I feel it now. I called in sick. My heartache was a physical thing. My tears would last forever the night they left. But how lucky am I to be so loved by so many. I could not ask for another thing in my life!

The day the music died..............

2010-02-03T08:47:00.001-05:00

February 3, 1959

Buddy Holly Here...

Ritchie Valens here...

Big Bopper here ....

They do live on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Song of the day!

2010-02-02T01:46:00.000-05:00

Go here if you want to Smile!

Bee Project

2010-02-01T06:52:00.000-05:00

As I was wandering the isles of numerous blogs I read nightly, I heard the *ping* indicating I had a new email. Checking it, I saw it was from Health Freedom Alliance, here ,a site my father led me to a few years ago. I won't say that I subscribe to all of it, but somewhere in the middle is the truth, as in all things! What better way to learn than to be curious.
Today it led me to a site on Bee keeping in the US and how it has declined and hundreds of thousands of bee colonies have just disappeared. Scientist are unsure where they have gone and if they will return.. Did you know that every third bite of food you take, a bee is responsible for it? Yes, that's what I said! every third bite! Imagine how many bee's that takes.... I joined a project called "The great Sunflower project" The website will send me seed packets for sunflowers, I have to input my garden size, etc. As the sunflowers grow and bloom, I have to record how long it takes to attract a bee. How many bee's I can attract. And how long it takes for those bee's to be attracted! Sounds like a great project. Will have to interest my grandkids in this one. Wow I really hope there are some bee's in the neighborhood. Have you noticed the decline of pollinating bee's in your garden lately? Join the hunt for Bee's here.

Quotes on happiness..

2010-02-01T01:18:00.006-05:00

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost. ~H. Jackson Browne

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens. ~Douglas Jerrold

Happiness is a function of accepting what is. ~Werner Erhard

On the whole, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so. ~William R. Inge

And my favorite.....

Some pursue happiness, others create it. ~Author Unknown

There I feel better now!

2010-01-31T08:28:00.002-05:00

There should be a standard procedure where if some person where you work is being a ~~dick~~ jerk you can just push a button and flush!! (No one in mind when writing this, just a suppose kinda post! That's my disclaimer and I am sticking by it!)

Tonight........A wolf moon.

2010-01-30T02:12:00.000-05:00

Tonight the wind is howling through the barren streets, the minus 7 degrees almost guaranteeing no one is out and about. If you were to look out your window, the sight that would greet you would be the Wolf Moon.(Really it's called perigee. In reality, there's no such thing as a full moon. The full moon occurs when the sun, Earth and the moon are all lined up, almost. If they're perfectly aligned, Earth casts a shadow on the moon and there's a total lunar eclipse. So during what we call a full moon, the moon's face is actually slightly less than 100 percent illuminated.)
Tides will be higher, and even pollution in the water is higher. The lunar draw on our gravity is amazing! No study has ever proven that the full moon affects people, makes them go crazier, no conclusive evidence of this exists. Go out, look out the window, take a midnight drive. The sky is clear, the temp is crisp and the wind will move you along,. Here there will be no wolves howling. Maybe a coyote? And that reddish light that almost looks like a star, will be Mars ! Highly visible during this Wolf Moon!

Crabby Old Man

2010-01-29T04:07:00.000-05:00

Got this in an email and thought it was great... something to ponder on a perfect friday............

CRABBY OLD MAN

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte , Nebraska , it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Missouri .

The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . . .. . What do you see?
What are you thinking . . . . . when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man . . . . . not very wise,
Uncertain of habit . . . . . with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food . . . . .. and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .. . . . 'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . . . . the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not . . . . .. lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . . .. The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? . . . . . Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . .. you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am. . . . . . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, . . . . . as I eat at your will..
I'm a small child of Ten . . . . .. with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another.

A young boy of Sixteen . . . . with wings on his feet.
Dreaming that soon now . . . . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . .. . . my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows . . . . . that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . ... . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . . . . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons . . . . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me . . . . .. to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children ... . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . . my wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing . . . . .. young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . . . and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . . . . . and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass . . . . . a young guy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years, all too few . . . . . gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . . .. open and see.
Not a crabby old man . . . Look closer .. . . see ME!!